The World Watches
"It's just like watching Brazil" is a chant often heard ringing around football grounds. But in Lebanon during the 2006 World Cup it was just like being in Brazil.
Children running around wearing the famous yellow shirt, people samba-ing on the streets -a slice of the Copacabana had come to Beirut. And the sheer number of shirts and flags showing support for England, Italy, Spain and Germany (to name but a few) illustrated the passion the Lebanese have for football.
With a number of cable channels readily available, the Lebanese are fortunate to be able to watch a wide range of Premier League matches and indeed many do. Patrick Makhoul, a 20-year-old Liverpool fan, believes that number is growing all the time:
"When I walk through my university I see people wearing jerseys from the Premiership, the Italian league and the Spanish League. While it's difficult to estimate how many people are interested in the Premiership, I'd say it's maybe as much as 40 per cent or 50 per cent.
Passion
"I became interested in the Premiership because of the support from the fans and the passion shown by the players. One club stood out for me and that was Liverpool. I was attracted by the passion shown by the players and fans alike. Nothing beats a Man United v. Liverpool match."
Support for Premier League clubs is not matched by passion for local teams. Football in Lebanon comes a poor second to basketball - where the national team regularly make the World Championships and there are huge sums of money put into the game.
Lebanon have never made the World Cup finals, although they did come close in 2006. Had they beaten Vietnam they would have gone through to the second group qualifying stage instead of Korea.
Lebanese student, Jean Moukarzel, admits that football in his own country doesn't arouse the same excitement.
Eric Cantona
"Our own league is less supported and watched than foreign leagues," he said. "I don't think it can get better, because the Lebanese have chosen their sport - basketball.
"I support Manchester United, because of Eric Cantona. I fell in love with him when I was a kid while watching a game he was playing for United. I've been a fan since.
"The television coverage of the Premiership is really good. Big games are always on live and you can often enjoy smaller games too. From what I've noticed more and more people are interested in the Premier League."
This growth is illustrated by the new broadcast deal signed by Showtime Arabia. Their agreement will see more than 760 hours of live Premier League football broadcast a season as well as over 500 hours of live studio coverage, with commentary available in both Arabic and English.
While their own football clubs might not be well supported, it is worth noting that the legendary Pele once played a friendly for top club Nejmeh. A Lebanese footballer did once come close to the Barclays Premier League. Pierre Issa was at Chelsea on loan but never made an appearance for the Blues. The former Marseille star also spent the 2001/02 season at Watford in the old Division One. Though Lebanese, he played for South Africa, going to the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
The official broadcaster of the Barclays Premier League in Lebanon is Showtime Arabia. Three Sports channels are on the network with commentary available in both Arabic and English.
http://www.showtimearabia.com/Default_en_gb.aspx
MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE
ARSENAL
Croatian hotshot Eduardo Da Silva hopes to fill the void left by Thierry Henry's departure.
IN: Bacary Sagna (Auxerre, £6m), Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo Zagreb, £10m), Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw, £2m), Havard Nordtveit (Haugesund, £2m)
OUT: Carlos Vela (Osasuna, loan), Jose Reyes (Atletico Madrid, £8m), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham, £3.5m), Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £16m), Jeremie Aliadiere (Middlesbrough, £2m), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham, £2m), Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina, free), Mart Poom (Watford, undisclosed)
ASTON VILLA
Martin O'Neill has made a double swoop on West Ham for Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood.
IN: Marlon Harewood (West Ham, £4m), Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham, £8.5m)
OUT: Eric Djemba-Djemba (released), Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham £2m), Steven Davis (Fulham, £4m), Aaron Hughes (Fulham, £1m), Gavin McCann (Bolton, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton, free), Lee Hendrie (Sheffield United, free), Robert Olejnik (Falkirk, free), Chris Sutton (retired)
BIRMINGHAM CITY
Steve Bruce has made plenty of signings to ensure Birmingham survive in the Barclays Premier League.
IN: Franck Queudrue (Fulham, £2.5m), Liam Ridgewell (Aston Villa £2m), Olivier Kapo (Juventus, £3m), Garry O'Connor (Lokomotiv Moscow, £2.7m), Fabrice Muamba (Arsenal, £2m), Stuart Parnaby (Middlesbrough, free), Daniel De Ridder (Celta Vigo, free), Richard Kingson (Hammarby, free), Rafael Schmitz (Lille, loan)
OUT: DJ Campbell (Leicester, £1.6m), Stephen Clemence (Leicester, £750,000), Julian Gray (Coventry, free), Bruno N'Gotty (Leicester, free)
BLACKBURN ROVERS
Blackburn have swooped for Dutchman Maceo Rigters who finished top scorer in the European U21 Championships.
IN: Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich, £3.5m), Maceo Rigters (NAC Breda, undisclosed), Gunnar Nielsen (BK Frem Copenhagen, free)
OUT: Andy Todd (Derby, £750,000), Michael Gray (Wolves, free)
BOLTON WANDERERS
Bolton manager Sammy Lee has bolstered his squad with several new players.
IN: Andy O'Brien (Portsmouth, undisclosed), Daniel Braaten (Rosenborg, undisclosed), Heidar Helguson (Fulham, £1m), Gavin McCann (Aston Villa, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Aston Villa, free), Zoltan Harsanyi (FC Senec, free), Blerim Dzemaili (FC Zurich, free), Gerald Cid (Bordeaux, free), Mikel Alonso (Real Sociedad, loan), Christian Wilhelmsson (Nantes, loan), Danny Guthrie (Liverpool, loan)
OUT: Tal Ben Haim (Chelsea, free), Henrik Pedersen (released), Quinton Fortune (released), David Thompson (released), Cesar Martin (released), Chris Howarth (Carlisle, free)
CHELSEA
French winger Florent Malouda is Chelsea's only cash buy this summer - the rest arrived on free transfers.
IN: Juliano Belletti (Barcelona, £3.75m), Florent Malouda (Lyon, £13.5m), Tal Ben Haim (Bolton, free), Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich, free), Steve Sidwell (Reading, free)
OUT: Arjen Robben (Real Madrid, £24.5m), Geremi (Newcastle, free), Khalid Boulahrouz (Sevilla, loan), Juan Sebastian Veron (released), Yves Makabu-Ma-Kalambay (Hibernian, free), Nuno Morais (Apoel Nicosia, free), Jimmy Smith (Norwich, loan), Michael Mancienne (QPR, loan), Ben Sahar (QPR, loan)
DERBY COUNTY
Hopes rest on new signing Robert Earnshaw to score the goals and keep Derby in the top flight.
IN: Andy Griffin (Portsmouth £500,000), Lewis Price (Ipswich, £200,000), Andy Todd (Blackburn, £750,000), Claude Davis (Sheffield United, £3m), Robert Earnshaw (Norwich, £3.5m), Tyrone Mears (West Ham, £1m)
OUT: Lee Camp (QPR, £300,000), Paul Peschisolido (Luton, free), Lee Grant (Sheffield Wednesday, free), Seth Johnson (released), Morten Bisgaard (released), Paul Boertien (released)
EVERTON
Sheffield United's utility man Phil Jagielka is the Toffees' major summer signing.
IN: Stefan Wessels (Cologne, undisclosed), Leighton Baines (Wigan, £6m), Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United, £4m), Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund, loan)
OUT: James Beattie (Sheffield United, £4m), Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United, £1m), Richard Wright (West Ham, free), Alessandro Pistone (released)
FULHAM
Lawrie Sanchez has shaken up the Fulham squad with a raft of new signings.
IN: Kasey Keller (Borussia Monchengladbach, undisclosed), Hameur Bouazza (Watford, £4m), Adrian Leijer (Melbourne Victory, undisclosed), Lee Cook (QPR, £2.5m), David Healy (Leeds, £1.5m), Paul Konchesky (West Ham, £2m), Chris Baird (Southampton, £3m), Diomansy Kamara (West Brom, £6m), Steven Davis (Aston Villa, £4m), Aaron Hughes (Aston Villa, £1m)
OUT: Franck Queudrue (Birmingham, £2.5m), Michael Brown (Wigan, undisclosed), Heidar Helguson (Bolton, £1m), Claus Jensen (released), Tomasz Radzinski (released), Mark Crossley (Oldham, free), Mark Pembridge (released), Matty Collins (Swansea, free)
LIVERPOOL
Striker Fernando Torres is expected to make a big splash after his £26.5million move from Spain.
IN: Ryan Babel (Ajax, £11.5m), Yossi Benayoun (West Ham, £5m), Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid, £21.5m), Lucas Leiva (Gremio, £8m), Sebastian Leto (Lanus, £1.8m), Andriy Voronin (Bayer Leverkusen, free), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao, £270,000), Nikolay Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, undisclosed), Krisztian Nemeth (MTK Hungaria, free), Andras Simon (MTK Hungaria, free), Ryan Crowther (Stockport, undisclosed)
OUT: Craig Bellamy (West Ham, £7.5m), Djibril Cisse (Marseille, £6m), Luis Garcia (Atletico Madrid, £3.5m), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Recreativo Huelva, £2.7m), Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid, free), Bolo Zenden (Marseille, free), Robbie Fowler (Cardiff, free), Danny Guthrie (Bolton, loan), Adam Hammill (Southampton, loan)
MANCHESTER CITY
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has spent big in an effort to bring glory to Manchester City.
IN: Valeri Bojinov (Fiorentina, £6m), Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk, £8m), Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb, £4m), Javier Garrido (Real Sociedad, £1.5m), Geovanni (Cruzeiro, free), Rolando Bianchi (Reggina, £8.8m), Gelson Fernandes (FC Sion, undisclosed), Martin Petrov (Atletico Madrid, £4.7m)
OUT: Joey Barton (Newcastle, £5.8m), Sylvain Distin (Portsmouth, free), Trevor Sinclair (Cardiff, free), Nicky Weaver (Charlton, free), Stephen Jordan (Burnley, free), Hatem Trabelsi (released)
MANCHESTER UNITED
Alex Ferguson acted swiftly after winning the Barclays Premier League by bringing in England star Owen Hargreaves plus wonderkids Anderson and Nani for £46million.
IN: Anderson (Porto, £17m), Nani (Sporting Lisbon, £14m), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich, £17m), Tomasz Kuszczak (West Brom, £3m)
OUT: Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, £8.4m), Alan Smith (Newcastle, £6m), Giussepe Rosski (Villarreal, undisclosed), Kieran Richardson (Sunderland, £5.5m)
MIDDLESBROUGH
Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli beefed up Middlesbrough's attack after Mark Viduka left for Newcastle.
IN: Mido (Tottenham Hotspur, £6m), Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal, £2m), Tuncay Sanli (Fenerbahce, free), Luke Young (Charlton £2.5m)
OUT: Mark Viduka (Newcastle, free), Abel Xavier (LA Galaxy, free), Stuart Parnaby (Birmingham, free), Malcolm Christie (released), Danny Graham (Carlisle, free)
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Jose Enrique is the most expensive of Sam Allardyce's summer captures.
IN: Jose Enrique (Villarreal, £6.5m), Alan Smith (Newcastle, £6m), Geremi (Chelsea, free), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain, £3m), Joey Barton (Manchester City, £5.8m), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, free)
OUT: Kieran Dyer (West Ham, £6m), Scott Parker (West Ham, £7m), Titus Bramble (Wigan, free), Antoine Sibierski (Wigan, free), Craig Moore (released), Pavel Srnicek (released), Olivier Bernard (released), Alan O'Brien (Hibernian, undisclosed)
PORTSMOUTH
Harry Redknapp has spent more than £20million, including the club record signing of John Utaka and England ace David Nugent.
IN: David Nugent (Preston, £6m), John Utaka (Rennes, £7m), Sulley Muntari (Udinese, £7m), Sylvain Distin (Manchester City, free), Hermann Hreidarsson (Charlton, free), Martin Cranie (Southampton, £150,000), Arnold Mvuemba (Rennes, undisclosed)
OUT: Andy Cole (Sunderland, free), Andy O'Brien (Bolton, undisclosed), Lomana LuaLua (Olympiakos, undisclosed), Collins Mbesuma (Bursaspor, free), Andy Griffin (Derby, 500,000), Svetoslav Todorov (Charlton, free)
READING
Midfield duo Kalifa Cisse and Emerse Fae are Reading manager Steve Coppell's summer buys.
IN: Emerse Fae (Nantes £2.5m), Kalifa Cisse (Boavista, £675,000)
OUT: Steve Sidwell (Chelsea, free), Greg Halford (Sunderland, £3m)
SUNDERLAND
Kieran Richardson links up with his former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane in a £5.5million move.
IN: Andy Cole (Portsmouth, free), Craig Gordon (Hearts, £9m), Roy O'Donovan (Cork City, undisclosed), Paul McShane (West Brom, £1.5m), Kieran Richardson (Manchester United, £5.5m), Michael Chopra (Cardiff, £5m), Russell Anderson (Aberdeen, £1m), Greg Halford (Reading, £3m), Dickson Etuhu (Norwich, £1.5m)
OUT: Stephen Elliott (Wolves, undisclosed), Tommy Miller (Ipswich, free), Arnau Riera (Falkirk, loan), Kenny Cunningham (released)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Tottenham have broken their record transfer fee to prise Darren Bent from relegated Charlton.
IN: Kevin Prince-Boateng (Hertha Berlin, £6m), Younes Kaboul (Auxerre, £8m), Darren Bent (Charlton, £16.5m), Gareth Bale (Southampton, £5m), Adel Taarabt (Lens, undisclosed)
OUT: Mido (Middlesbrough, £6m), Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria, £1.4m), Mark Yeates (Colchester, undisclosed), Emil Hallfredsson (Lyn-Oslo, undisclosed)
WEST HAM UNITED
Hammers manager Alan Curbishley has brought in six new players this summer.
IN: Kieran Dyer (Newcastle, £6m), Freddie Ljungberg (Arsenal, £3.5m), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, £7.5m), Julien Faubert (Bordeaux, £6m), Scott Parker (Newcastle, £7m), Richard Wright (Everton, free)
OUT: Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa, £4m), Paul Konchesky (Fulham, £2m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, £5m), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, £8.5m), Tyrone Mears (Derby, £1m), Roy Carroll (Rangers, free), Teddy Sheringham (Colchester, free), Shaun Newton (Leicester, free)
WIGAN ATHLETIC
Midfielder Jason Koumas is Wigan manager Chris Hutchings' biggest buy.
IN: Michael Brown (Fulham, undisclosed), Jason Koumas (West Brom, £5.3m), Carlo Nash (Preston, £300,000), Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborgs, £750,000), Mario Melchiot (Rennes, free), Titus Bramble (Newcastle, free), Antoine Sibierski (Newcastle, free), Antonio Valencia (Villarreal, loan)
OUT: Matt Jackson (Watford, free), Arjan de Zeeuw (Coventry, free), David Unsworth (released), Andy Webster (Rangers, loan), Lee McCulloch (Ranger, £2.25million)
MAGAZINE
New faces - 2
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
The Frenchman is Chelsea's only big-money signing of the summer so far, and manager Jose Mourinho will be expecting rich reward for his outlay. The Portuguese tactician knows that in Malouda, he has acquired a player at the peak of his powers. The 27-year-old international played a major part in Lyon's recent title successes, providing a sustained attacking threat from out wide. He can also play more centrally behind the strikers, and his ability to break into the box means the Blues may have signed a midfielder capable of scoring 10 to 15 Barclays Premier League goals a season.
Previous clubs
Châteauroux
Guingamp
Lyon
Steven Pienaar (Everton)
Like Bojinov, many critics believe Pienaar has yet to realise his full potential. After making his name at Ajax, he joined Borussia Dortmund in 2006, touted as a replacement for Thomas Rosicky who joined Arsenal that summer. He could not find the form that established him as such a bright prospect at Ajax and will hope that his loan move to Everton can signal a change in fortunes. Possessed with a fine right foot, Pienaar is a good creator who can play in a number of midfield positions, but prefers the left wing. In 2003 Pienaar finished as runner-up to Arjen Robben for the Dutch Young Player of the Year Award.
Previous clubs
Ajax Cape Town
Ajax
Borussia Dortmund
Valeri Bojinov (Manchester City)
The Bulgarian international made his professional debut for Lecce in Serie A at the age of just 15, making him the youngest player ever to appear in the Italian top flight. Now 21, Bojinov hasn't hit the heights that many expected, but his talent is not in question. His impressive form for Lecce earned him a move to Fiorentina in 2005, and he joined Juventus on loan last year. Neither stint has seen him rediscover his best form, but there are numerous examples of past players hitting their peak once they have arrived in England.
Previous clubs
Pietà Hotspurs F.C.
Lecce
Fiorentina
Juventus
Anderson (Manchester United)
The 19-year-old has been compared to his illustrious compatriot Ronaldinho. Like the Barcelona playmaker, Anderson started his career at Gremio. He moved to Porto in January 2006 after impressive showings at the 2005 South American U-17 Championship and 2005 U-17 World Cup. The official Manchester United website reports that the club fought off interest from Barcelona to sign Anderson from Porto. Capable of playing wide left and more centrally, Anderson catches the eye with his pace, dribbling skills and passing. He is also not afraid of tracking back, a crucial asset for any midfielder in the Barclays Premier League.
Previous clubs
Gremio
Porto
Manchester United
David Rozehnal (Newcastle United)
One of Sam Allardyce's main priorities when arriving at Newcastle United in the summer was to strengthen the Toon backline. In Rozehnal, Allardyce will hope that he has signed a player who can form a strong central defensive partnership with the promising Steven Taylor. His commanding form for Paris Saint-Germain last season saw him named the club's Player of the Season and earn a place in the Ligue 1 Team of the Season. A strong presence in the air, he is now a regular for his country, the Czech Republic.
Previous clubs
Sigma Olomouc
Club Brugge
Paris Saint-Germain
