Damallsvenskan Newsblog

If people hasn't speculated before, the end of the domestic season opens the flood-gates.

Linköping FC has re-signed Ann Westermark, Charlotte Rohlin and Finnish international Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, but there still hasn't happened anything in relation to Hedvig Lindahl. "We'll get to it this week and hopefully find a solution", says sport director Bengt Ekholm. Lindahl has, as reported here earlier, attracted interest from Umeå IK and Arsenal LFC. Linköping is also hoping to reinforce the team with one or two players, capable of competing for a starting position. No names mentioned this time.
Linköping is also looking for a new head coach and Daniel Pettersson, a 33 year old with a university coaching degree and currently coaching Linköping FF in the men's 2nd division (4th level), is rumoured to be on top of their list.
Corren: LFC vill ha Pettersson
Linköping FC:  Tre till helt klara

Sunnanå finished the season on a high note, defeating Djurgården/Älvsjö in the last match. But Rebecca Smith, who scored the winning goal and has played an important role in Sunnanå's defense all season, has attracted interest from Bayern and FFC Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga and will explore these options further. She says however, that it is really important to find a team where she will get a lot of time on the field, especially if her New Zealand qualifies for the World Cup in China. She will have contract talks with Sunnanå before she leaves Sweden for the winter break.
Sunnanå, that is aiming for a smaller but sharper squad next season, will anyway lose veteran Carolina Marklund (retiring) and a few players from the bench. Their young striker Madeleine Edlund (13 U21 matches for Sweden) has attracted some interest from Umeå and perhaps also Malmö FF. If she goes, the club might want to get Emma Lindkvist from Bälinge. Other possible recruits are Josefine Johansson from Umeå Södra and Umeå IK's defender Anna Paulsson (maybe not as likely as Johansson). The only new contract that is signed is with Lisa Renberg, a Sweden U19 player from nearby Morön.
Norran:  Smiths minnesvärda mål sänkte Djurgården
Västerbottens Folkblad: Spelare kommer och går när Sunnanå bantar truppen

Umeå IK is still looking at goalkeepers, partly because current keeper Sofia Lundgren has offers from several other clubs. Umeå's goalkeeper coach Patrik Nordström says that Linköping's Hedvig Lindahl is interesting only if Lundgren leaves. But, he adds, there is a need for alternatives. Which might mean that relegated Mallbacken's Carola Söberg is interesting as competition for the starting position. Söberg is also interested, since she thinks she's capable of winning that competition, but comments that Umeå maybe isn't the best place to develop: "There is a risk you won't get that much to do in goal".
Umeå's first priority is to re-sign Marta. The club will present an offer this week and Marta says she wants to stay, "but I have to think a bit and talk to [Umeå's general manager] Roland [Arnqvist] first".
Västerbottenskuriren: UIK jagar Sveriges bästa målvakter
Västerbottenskuriren: I dag erbjuds Marta nytt kontrakt

While it seems like relegated Jitex is counting on keeping most of their squad and make a quick return to Damallsvenskan, Mallbacken is likely to lose several key players. Their highly rated goalkeeper Carola Söberg has been contacted by "eight clubs, six of them from Damallsvenskan" and has already stated that playing 1st division fotball is unthinkable. Mallbacken's captain Therese Stolpe and the Icelandic international Erla Arnadottir are both on Pia Sundhage's list of names to bring to KIF Örebro and they both seem willing to move. Defender Kathlene Fernström also wants to continue in Damallsvenskan, maybe with nearby Qbik.
Qbik has mentioned all these four players as interesting transfers. Therese Lückner, former Mallbacken player that spent this season with the Norwegian top side Team Strømmen, has also shown some interest for Qbik. On the other hand, it is very unlikely that Qbik's Nigerian national team players will be with the club next year and Qbik chairman Lars-Inge Hallstensson seems unwilling to have anything to do with the Nigerian Football Association in the future (if you don't know what I'm talking about, there are a couple of entries in this blog between October 18 and 24). But he says it should be possible for the club to hire foreign professionals next season too. One of them might be their German attacker Jennifer Meier, whom they will have talks with in the next few days. Qbik's American goalkeeper Maria Yatrakis is another one. Yatrakis says they will have talks "and hopefully the club wants me to continue playing here". Hallstensson thinks Yatrakis is "a great goalkeeper and I really hope we will be able to keep her".
Värmlands Folkblad: Lückner till Qbik? Qbik intresserade av flera spelare i Mallbacken
Tyskan Jennifer Meiers framtid oviss Fernström kan tänka sig comeback i Qbik Lagkapten Stolpe på väg att lämna skeppet Mallbacken kan brandskattas på stjärnorna Osannolikt i dagsläget att Qbik tar tillbaka nigerianskorna - eller värvar afrikanskor
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro vill värva isländskt

Norway's and Kolbotn's star defender Ingvild Stensland tells local paper Östlandets Blad that she has been contacted by Umeå, Jitex, Malmö FF and Kopparbergs/Göteborg. The 25 year old has been with Kolbotn for 5 seasons and "I might need a new challenge". But she under contract with Kolbotn for the 2007 season too and she probably won't come cheap, so lets put this in the less likely categorie for the time being.
Östlandets Blad: Er ønsket av fire klubber

Norway's 2006 cup winners Asker has promoted back to Toppserien, Norway's highest level, and head coach Eli Landsem has signed a new contract with the club. When the renewal was discussed in the press a short time ago, she stated that she wanted the club to aim for the top if she should stay. One of the players she wanted to reinforce her squad with is Djurgården/Älvsjö's midfielder (and Danish national team captain) Katrine Pedersen. It is unknown whether she got the club to committ to her ambitions.
Budstikka: Krever forsterkninger, Landsem fortsetter