Bernabeu Bites: Put on your big boy shorts edition

Welcome to Bernabeu Bites. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we bring you news as it relates to Real Madrid, La Liga and European Football. All in bite size form , so sit back relax grab a beverage & enjoy!

While Arsene Wenger whines and cries about the Cesc Fábregas to Barcelona saga, he's poaching young players from La Liga. He's already taken two from the aforementioned Barca and is now set to sign Real Madrid's 16 year old midfielder Jose Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a U17 Spain international, caught the eye of the Arsenal scouting staff during the recent U17 World Club Championship which, interestingly enough took place in Madrid.

Here's my thought: they can't even win their own preseason trophy, and to an MLS side no less. Maybe they should be focusing on that - not trying to snatch up anyone they can get their hands on.

Rodriquez really has no hope of cracking the first team for los blancos, so the lure of playing for Arsenal's first team within the next two years was a prospect I think that no 17 year-old would turn down. The other part of this is interesting--you know who was brought in to convince the youngster to move to the London side? Cesc Fábregas.

As we all know by now, the Neymar saga is over for the time being, as talks are supposed to resume when the winter transfer window opens. But now it seems Barcelona's left back Adriano thinks that Neymar would be best served if he played for the European Champions (it pains me to write that).

"He is a great player and he could play for any team. I hope the best for him. I don’t know how this all story will end. When we were in the National Team we talked about it, he will be the only one to take the final decision. But it is clear that we would like him to play with us at Barcelona."

Speaking of Neymar, it seems that Pele is shooting off his mouth again. Listen, I remember Pele growing up - he was amazing. But sometimes the old man doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. This time, he's warning Neymar about an early move to Europe to play football. Which isn't surprising since Pele as I'm sure you know is played most of his career at Santos.

"He can be a great player, he can be like (Lionel) Messi or Ronaldo, no doubt," Pele told reporters at an event in London to launch an opus for the New York Cosmos, where he ended his career.

"But I think it's a little complicated for him to move to a club in England or Italy at the moment. The marking is very tight there.

"He would find that a little difficult because he's very young. The game is very physical in England and Italy. Maybe in Holland or France or even Spain it would be better for him."

"I think it is very difficult to keep him in Brazil," Pele said. "Santos is my team and he started there with us. I hope he stays there until more or less the 2014 World Cup but it will be a little difficult to keep him here.

"He hasn't reached his potential yet, but he is already an excellent player."

So I guess the bonus there is that he didn't rule out Spain as a potential stopping point in his young career.

Kettering Town FC have signed defender Jaime Navarro on a two year deal. Navarro played for the C squad last term and spent time on trial with the Bolton Wanderers (who believed he wasn't ready for first team play). It was Cristiano that advised the youngster that first team football would bring along his career.

Here's what Kettering FC's president had to say about the 20 year-old.

"It's not about money. Real Madrid don't pay their C team extraordinary amounts, so he's not used to the millionaire lifestyle.

"He's a confident lad, he's technically gifted and [we are] the perfect fit for him. It's about getting the right opportunity, hopefully in a successful side and hopefully being a stand-out player."

He also makes no bones about it that he may not be there long as a lower tier team like Kettering is nothing but a stepping stone. 

This one, I just don't get. It seems that Turkish Midfielder Hamit Altintop (even though he hasn't even made his debut with los blancos) wants to leave the La Liga side. Which as you can imagine has sent the Spanish media into a frenzy. Apparently he told the Turkish media that unless he feels "important" he wants to make an exit during the winter transfer window.  Oh, and it gets better--I guess he's already been in contact with Turkish side Galatasaray where he hopes to go come January.

"I'm an important player and people have to see me do well," he is said to have told Terim in a phone conversation. "And I must feel it. Unfortunately, it is not perceived this way here [Madrid]. This is not about playing, it is that I must feel important."

I do not know what will happen. First I want to see all what happens here up until January. But if something changes, I will go to Istanbul to play for Galatasaray," reportedly said the player.

Emphasis is mine. I've got a tip for Mr. Altintop: Dude you're playing for one of the top sides in the WORLD. Put on your big boy panties and deal. But hey if you're not happy, I'm pretty sure that Mou will have no problem shipping you back to the Turkish Football League. Which really is mind boggling to me.

And to wrap things up we know that Lassana Diarra was on his way out. Premier League side Tottenham are all but ready to sign the midfielder. Apparently Harry Redknapp is a fan of Diarra, there's some sort of other joke there. But I'll just leave it alone.