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03/02/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea midfielder Deco seems certain to leave London this summer and return to his native Brazil.
The Portugal international moved to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona at the beginning of last season on a three-year contract but has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular during his time in the capital.
He was quoted in The Sun as saying: "I want to go back to Brazil. I still have a couple of good years of high-level football in me but I want to be near my kids.
"Ideally, I'd like to go after the World Cup and I've been talking to Chelsea about it. It will all depend on Chelsea - if the club release me or let me go on loan."
The 32-year-old ex-FC Porto midfielder was linked with a move away from Chelsea last summer with Inter Milan his preferred choice, only to eventually remain in the Premier League.
Deco has scored six goals in 52 first-team appearances during his time with the club.
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Juve striker Amauri out with thigh injury
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus striker Amauri will miss up to a
month of football with a thigh injury.
The development comes at a crucial point in Juventus' season, as The Old Lady
lie in sixth place, 10 points behind Roma
<< Miller expected to sit for Sabres on Tuesday
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller is
expected to sit Tuesday when his team returns from the Olympic break with a
contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Miller backstopped the United States to a
<< Chelios signed by Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios is returning
to the National Hockey League, signing a contract Tuesday to play for the
Atlanta Thrashers.
Chelios was an unrestricted free agent and recently inked a thir
<< U.S. names Kubik assistant coach
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States coach Bob Bradley named ex-Czech
international Lubos Kubik an assistant coach for the national team Tuesday.
Kubik's 20-year playing career included stints in Italy, France and Germany,
and a
Eastern Washington gives Earlywine contract extension >>
Cheney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington has given men's basketball
coach Kirk Earlywine a contract extension through next season.
Earlywine just completed his third season with the Eagles and has posted a
record of 32-58, in
Royals sign Hochevar, Rosa for 2010 >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have agreed to
contracts with pitchers Luke Hochevar and Carlos Rosa for the 2010 season.
Hochevar was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft and debuted for the big
league
Glazers rule out selling United >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Glazer family is adamant that they
have no intention of selling Manchester United.
A group called the "Red Knights" are reported to be interested in buying the
recent Carling Cup winners from the
Real, Barca are world's richest clubs >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona has overtaken Manchester United
in the latest rich list of European clubs.
Real Madrid still top the Deloitte Football Money League but Barca are now
second ahead of United, largely becaus
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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