Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Kolbotn's Ingvild Stensland will stay behind after the UEFA Women's Cup semifinal in Umeå this coming weekend for contract talks with the Swedish champions. At the same time a Sanna Valkonen move from the club to either AIK or Finnish HJK Helsinki sounds more and more likely. Finding a good defender to replace her should be a top priority for Umeå. And signing Stensland could probably make Lise Klaveness stay on for another year.
Stensland is under contract with Kolbotn for the 2007 season, but her contract states that the club shall not stop a move if it gives her a full time professional deal. There will most likely be a transfer fee, but nothing that Umeå can't afford to pay.
Västerbottenskuriren: Norska förstärker UIK - Valkonen väljer AIK
Østlandets Blad: Stensland i samtale med Umeå

In other Umeå news, the USA club FC Indiana has notified UIK that they are interested in Marta (not the first time we've heard that) and, more interesting, Anne Mäkinen. Mäkinen, who has spent most of her football career in USA (college, WUSA and W-league) has earlier declared that she might return to USA at one time or another.
Marta has hired herself a new agent, Fabiano Farah, who also manages the affairs of Real Madrid star Ronaldo. Umeå's manager Roland Arnqvist doesn't think that will be any problem in their contract negotiations. They have had some preliminary talks "and he seems like a reasonable guy", Arnqvist says.
Västerbottenskuriren: Ronaldo och Marta har något ihop..., Amerikansk klubb jagar Marta och Mäkinen

Lise Klaveness talks to Norwegian press while in Kolbotn for the UEFA Women's Cup semifinal. She says it's fifty-fifty wether she stays in Umeå another year or not. "You can't get it better as a footballer than in Umeå, but it's about life outside football too", she says and adds that she dreamed about being a professional footballer but it turned out being really boring. She needs something outside the trainings and matches and wants the club to help her get a trainee-ship if she is to stay.
Another thing that could persuade her to stay is Umeå signing her Norwegian best friend, national team defender Ingvild Stensland. Umeå's manager Roland Arnqvist confirms that he has notified Stensland's club Kolbotn that they want to talk to her, but that she is neither more nor less hot than any of the other players on their list.
Adresseavisen: Fotball eller livet rundt for Klaveness
Västerbottens Folkblad: UIK intresserat av Kolbotnspelare

Umeå defender Sanna Valkonen says she has made up her mind about her future, but will not get into details until after the season has finished. Manager Arnqvist says he thinks he knows what Valkonen has decided, but he has no answer from her yet. He adds that he thinks it's completely natural, and a good thing, that a few players move every year.
The Stockholm club AIK has been named as a possible destination for Valkonen. The club confirms the talks, but will only comment further when and if there is a signed contract.
Västerbottenskuriren: Valkonen på väg att lämna UIK

Finally a non-rumour: Sunnanå's young forward Madeleine Edlund will sign a 1 year contract with Umeå IK later this week. She says she is thrilled to play and train with Umeå's world star squad and even thuogh she knows she will be spending time on the bench, she really wants and looks forward to the challenge to break in to the first team.
Norra Västerbotten:  Madde Edlund väljer Umeå IK

Promoted AIK has resigned 11 of the players from the 2006 squad (Jenny Lundqvist, Anna Lundin, Lina Hedkvist, Ingrid Bohlin, Freja Egebrand, Anna Karlsson, Camilla Ulander Nilsson, Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Madelene Göras, Madeleine Wedin and Hanna Jöhnk) and also found a 17 year old midfielder from 2nd division side Brommapojkarna, Danielle Wallander. She has been on Sweden's U17 team, but I really don't think that 17 year-olds is the way to go to prepare for Damallsvenskan. Unless they are Hanna Ljungberg or Marta. She might be one of those.
AIK: Danielle Wallander damernas första nyförvärv

To continue the youngsters theme, Hammarby made an agreement with two 18 year-olds to trial with the team in December. Michelle Lilja and Lina Frank are playing in 1st division team Gideonsberg and Sweden's U18. Just a trial so far though.
Vlt: GIF-talanger ska provspela med Hammarby
Damfotboll.com: Landslagsduo provtränar i Hammarby

At last it seems like Bälinge will get their 2005 top-scorer Annette Kent back with the team. Kent, who played her college soccer at Perdue University, played an instrumental part in Bälinge's 2005 promotion campaign, tearing up defenses of all 1st division sides and scoring loads of goals during her 6 month stint with the club. It looks like she will return for the 2007 season and it will be interesting to see how it works out for Kent at the top level.
No link. I'm pretty sure on my source here, but this entry might actually be the place where the rumour starts.

Friday night Linköping FC could announce that goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl has signed a new contract with the club. Sport director Bengt Ekholm said that it feels very good that they now have secured such an important part of the team as the goalkeeper.
The club could also announce the renewed contract for their young forward talent Sandra Landberg.
Corren: Lindahl klar för LFC
Linköping: Två spelare till klara

KIF Örebro's striker Louise Östman has decided to leave Örebro and move south to live with her boyfriend Axel Kjäll, who plays professional football with Trelleborgs FF (just promoted to Allsvenskan, the men's top side). Her quite endearing explanation is that "football is not forever, but I want Axel to be". Lollo, 23 years old, scored 5 goals for Örebro this season and will probably not have any problems finding a new club. Both Malmö FF and 1st division side Husie IF is nearby her new home.
KIF Örebro's Thomas Rasmusson says Lollo's move is a loss för the club, but understandable. He can also reveal that the club has secured the services of national team defender Stina Segerström for another year.
Nerikes Allehanda: Louise Östman lämnar KIF Örebro

Qbik is looking for a new coach. Linköping FC's former coach Per-Johan Karlsson has been named as an interesting option, but he has now declined. Another name is Janne Jansson, who coached one of Norway's top teams Team Strømmen the last two years, and he says it could be interesting to work with Qbik. Qbik's assistant coach Jan Svensson is under contract for 2007 and might be a name for the head coach position.
Jennifer Meier, Qbik's German forward, has been negotiating with the club and even if no papers seems to have been signed, they have agreed on a deal for the 2007 season. She will have to take a pay-cut, but the club will help her getting a part-time job.
Qbik had 5 professional players this season and they won't be able to repeat this 2007 - they lost about SEK 700,000 this year. But there is still place for "a couple of professionals". But for the moment their main focus  is on resigning players from their current squad.
Värmlands Folkblad: Två tränare kvar på Qbiks önskelista

Linköping's interest in Hanna Ljungberg is still hot news. Bengt Ekholm, who is responsible for player transfers, tries to modify the story: "nobody would turn down Hanna Ljungberg, but she is not our prime target". Who is, he will not reveal, but the journalist adds Anne Mäkinen's name to previously mentioned Therese Sjögran and Asthildur Helgadottir.
Corren: Ljungberg kan bli aktuell

Malmö newspaper Sydsvenskan adds Caroline Jönsson to possible targets for Linköping. The Malmö goalkeeper, probably interersting for Linköping only if Hedvig Lindahl moves, has been in touch with Linköping, but will not make any decisions until the questions around Malmö's Damallsvenskan license have been answered. "If the club gets renewed license, I will probably stay, but I won't stay if Malmö get's relegated".
Sydsvenskan: MFF-trio jagas av Linköping

Hammarby has renewed the contracts for Elin Sölveskog, Jessica Landström and their Belgian international Marijke Callebaut.
Hammarby: "Coco", Elin Sölveskog och "Landis" förlänger

Linköping FC wants to take the next step after defeating Umeå in the Swedish Cup. They know they need to get at least one more top player to do that. Linköping's chairman Christer Mård reveals that their prime target is Umeå's Hanna Ljungberg. Hanna, who has been with Umeå since 1998, says that she will not consider any contract proposals until after the UEFA Women's Cup semifinals the next two weekends.
Västerbottenskuriren: Linköping vill värva Hanna
Expressen: Linköping vill värva Hanna Ljungberg

Linköping is also looking south. Malmö FF's Martin Sjögren confirms that Linköping has been in touch regarding Malmö's national team players Therese Sjögran and Asthildur Helgadottir: "and so has other clubs, but Linköping seems to be more eager than the others". Malmö hasn't started any contract negotiations with their players, since they want to get the Football Associations ruling on their Damallsvenskan license for 2007 first. Malmö is in trouble because of their shaky economy and the licensing committee will make their decision within two weeks. Malmö's management seems worringly uncertain on the outcome, though.
Local newspapers, no link

Newcomers AIK, that spent one year in Damallsvenskan 2005, has learned that dominating the 1st division means nothing in Damallsvenskan. Without serious reinforcements you will suffer Jitex' fate. So AIK is in talks with Umeå and national team goalkeeper Sofia Lundgren as well as Umeå and Finland defender Sanna Valkonen. Lundgren tells tabloid Expressen that she is trying to find an agreement with AIK, but she is not prepared to take a pay-cut to move. But she expects a lot of tougher matches with AIK: "There are so many good players in front of you in Umeå, that you hardly get anything to do". She also confirms that Valkonen might end up in the Stockholm club. "It would be fun if there were two of us that moved down south".
Expressen: Linköping vill värva Hanna Ljungberg

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

Hammarby has signed a new coach to replace En Perlskog. Anders Bengtsson is a former player with experience from most levels of the men's football series and currently working as a highschool football coach.
Damfotboll.com: Ny tränare klar för Hammarbys tjejer

Several Hammarby players have signed contracts for 2007. Among them several key players like Sara Johansson, Louise Fors and Annica Svensson. Others are Sara Andersson, Therese Sandström, Josefin Christensen, Lisa Björkvik and Therese Dahlberg.
Hammarby:  Lollo, Sara x 2, Annica och flera klara för nästa år

Zaine Söderlund has signed a 2 year contract as head coach for Bälinge. He coached the club already the 2000 and 2001 seasons and has also coached Uppsala's two main men's teams, Sirius and Gusk.
Damfotboll.com: Zaine Söderlund tillbaka i Bälinge

Linköping's successfull coach Per-Johan Karlsson has turned down the clubs offer to renew his contract. He says he will not be able to give the 100 % committment the club and the team deserves. As I interpret his statement, there are family reasons behind his decision.

The club says they've been very pleased with Karlsson and are sorry to see him go.

Linköping FC:  PJ tackar nej till förlängning  

Since February, Malmö FF's star striker Asthildur Helgadottir has taken the three hour flight between Iceland and Malmö 30 times. "And I can't keep on like that, it wears you down", says Asta in a interview with her Malmö local paper Sydsvenskan.

Asta, who is 30 years old, finished her Master of Technology early this year and got a great job with Iceland's leading building consultants, Linuhönnun. Thank's to an understanding employer and a sponsor for the trips back and forth between Iceland and Sweden, she's been able to continue playing for Malmö and is having one of her best seasons ever. "I have to decide about my future now", says Asta. She would like to keep on playing, but in that case needs to do it one a more professional basis. She says Malmö FF is her only alternative: "I've had the best years of my life here".

Asta, who made her debut in the Iceland national team 17 years old and is Iceland's leading player both in matches played and goals scored, studied and played football in Nashville, Tennessee, before she joined Malmö FF.
Sydsvenskan: Asta: Det kan bli så att jag slutar helt