Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Jitex defender Emma Herbring, with 30 youth national matches on her record, moved to Malmö a few days ago together with with her boyfriend Ola Toivonen, Sweden's rising midfield star who transferred to Malmö FF for a substantial fee. But Emmas anticipated move to the women's side of Malmö FF could be at risk. She claims she has a verbal agreement with Jitex, that she could leave the club if Ola moved. But Jitex demands a SEK 60,000 transfer fee from Malmö FF.
Both Emma, who with the benefit of hindsight thinks that she should have got that in writing, and Malmö FF's management are surprised by the demand. "This is a huge transfer sum for women's football, the more since we haven't been actively persuing her", says head caoch Jörgen Petersson. Jitex' Lennart Lindorsson on the other hand think's it is pennies: "It's a reasonable sum considering the investment we've made in her and just a fraction of the men's transfer fees, half a percent of Ola's transfer fee or 25 percent of his monthly salary."
(It should be noted that Lindorsson is greatly exaggerating Toivonen's transfer fee and salary, but the general picture is still true.)
Malmö's former chairman Gert Sparr tells local newspaper Sydsvenskan that the biggest transfer fee he knows of is the SEK 80,000 that Linköping paid for Hedvig Lindahl's contract 2003. "But that was just after the World Cup and Hedvig was one of Sweden's best goalkeepers."

On the other hand there is Kif Örebro's forward Lollo Östman.  She also moved to Malmö recently, following her boyfriend Axel Kjäll's move to Swedish premier league newcomers Trelleborgs FF, and has signed a contract with Malmö FF. Lollo had two years left on her contract with Örebro, but the club does not demand any compensation. "Both she, Axel and Malmö FF appreciates this" says Malmö's sport director Kenny Jönsson, "the more since Örebro is a Damallsvenskan competitor".
Malmö FF: Ytterligare en spelare klar för Malmö FF DAM 

In other transfer news, AIK has signed Anna Bohlin, a winger from 2nd division side Enskede. There will be two Bohlin playing in the club, since her sister Ingrid joined AIK already last year.
Damfotboll.com: Enskedetjej klar för AIK

16 year old Swiss prodigy Ramona Bachman started her 10 day try-out at Umeå last Thursday. She is not the established world class player, that Umeå is looking for, but they are nonetheless very interested. "She could be a new Marta", says head coach Andrée Jeglertz. And there are more clubs that are aware of her qualities. Besides Umeå, Djurgården/Älvsjö has announced interest and so has an unnamed German club as well as the ever present FC Indiana in USA. FC Indiana has come pretty far in their contacts and a few days ago released a press statement that a contract were "imminent".
Ramona Bachman told the press after her first training session that the level was very high and that it was a very special thing to train with Marta. In spite of her age the young Swiss is very determined: "I want to be a professional footballer, so I am prepared to move abroad".
Umeå's manager Roland Arnqvist says that he won't make up his mind until after the try-out: "She could be of interest for this year's squad, she might not play for us until next year or maybe not at all."
Västerbottenskuriren: "Hon kan vara en ny Marta"
Västerbottens Folkblad: Supertalangen tränar med UIK
EDIT: I must learn to keep up with the local news stations. A nice Bachman (and Marta) clip from Västerbottensnytt. Thank's to Agent_Westberg at forum.football.co.uk for the heads-up.

In other Umeå news, the player to replace Malin Moström might be - Marta. Head coach Andrée Jeglertz tells a local newspaper that they will not find a midfielder to fully replace Moström. Instead a probable solution is to pull back Marta from the attack and put her in a "number 10 position", between the two remaining attackers and the three midfielders. Marta has all the qualities that is needed to be successfull in this kind of Totti or Zidane positon. Unlike for example Hanna Ljungberg, Marta doesn't take many forward runs without the ball but can with her speed and superior ball control easily move into position from a place a bit further back. And from the 2006 season, we can see that even when she isn't the one that scores, she is almost always involved in the set-up.
Västerbottenskuriren: Marta som Totti

Jill Oakes talks to local newspaper Corren on her first day of her two week trial in Linköping. Apart from moving away from her boyfriend in Los Angeles (Lakers rookie Jordan Farmer, if a quick glance in Google's direction is to be trusted), she thinks most things points in favour of moving to Sweden. "Everybody says Sweden has the best league", she says. She has been talking to Tiffeny Milbrett, who played with Linköping FC last season, and that didn't scare her away. She describes herself as talented and easy to work with and that her strong sides are that she is reliable and gets the job done.
Linköping's sport director Bengt Ekholm says that the club is leaning towards Jill Oakes and Tiffeny Milbrett for the 2007 season, but they see Kacey White as an alternative if the deal with Milbrett doesn't work out. White played with Bälinge last year, and the Uppsala club has offered her a new deal for 2007. Linköping probably have to make up their minds pretty fast if they want her.
Corren: Oakes mer slitvarg än showartist, pictures 
Corren: White ett alternativ i LFC?

The 20 year old former Mallbacken forward Maja Johansson only needed a week to convince Umeå's management. Maja and the club has reached a verbal agreement. "I am surprised and it feels unexpected", says Maja, who was thrilled already by being invited to train with the Swedish champions.

Not only Maja is surprised. Her home town newspaper Värmlands Folkblad bluntly asked Umeå's manager Roland Arnqvist "How can a player that only scored three goals last season be of interest for you?" Arnqvist answers that she is young and shows a lot of potential. Given the right environment , she can develop into a really good player. He is a bit more vague when it comes to the actual contract. "We're taking a day at the time. Maja will be a Umeå player and then we'll see what happens."

A reasonable guess is that she will spend a lot of time on the bench and possibly on loan to 1st division teams. But, as Maja says herself: "You learn a lot from just training with these players".
Värmlands Folkblad: Maja skriver på för Umeå
Västerbottens Folkblad: Johansson klar för UIK