Eden Hazard’s growing number of potential suitors has been bolstered by the news that Spurs have joined the chase for the 20 year Belgian international, according to the Metro.
North London rivals Arsenal have long tracked the rising star with Arsene Wenger hopeful of doing a deal next summer. However, recent developments have seen Manchester City and now Spurs join the race, with Barcelona and Real Madrid both watching on with interest in Spain.
Lille will not allow Hazard to leave on the cheap, and a bid of at least £30 million has been touted as the required fee for the playmaker. This may rule Arsenal out of the running with the clubs strict financial model, yet Spurs are allegedly ready to smash their transfer record in order to sign Hazard and challenge for the title.
Another Belgian courting interest from the capital is centre back Jan Vertonghen. The 24 year old Ajax stopper is likely to be available for around £10 million in January and both Arsenal and Spurs are considering making a move.
However, despite Arsenal’s long standing interest, the return of Thomas Vermaelen has quelled Wenger’s desire to move for a centre back in the immediate future.
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Porto, Benfica and Sporting Braga all progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals in a good evening for Portuguese sides on Thursday.The night was not so kind for British teams, with tournament favourites Manchester City, Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers all exiting continental competition far earlier than they would have liked.Porto, who are unbeaten in 32 league games and are 13 points clear of Benfica at the top of the Liga Sagres table, produced another excellent performance to defeat CSKA Moscow 2-1 at the Estadio Do Dragao.After they won the first leg in Moscow 1-0, Brazilian striker Hulk, who has 29 goals in all competitions, gave Porto the perfect start with a goal inside the first minute.Freddy Guarin doubled Porto’s advantage after 24 minutes and although Zoran Tosic scored five minutes later for CSKA, the Russian side was unable to take advantage of their chances and were knocked out of the competition.After a 2-1 victory at home, Benfica’s 1-1 draw in France against PSG secured their progression.Nicolas Gaitan’s 27th-minute goal put the Portuguese side two goals in front on aggregate and despite Mathieu Bodmer’s equalizer eight minutes later, Benfica progressed to the last eight where they will be joined by Sporting Braga who held on for a 0-0 draw at Anfield against Liverpool to give them a 1-0 aggregate triumph.Aleksandar Kolarov’s first-half strike was not enough for Manchester City, who despite defeating Dynamo Kiev 1-0, failed to progress after losing 2-1 on aggregate while Rangers also missed out by a goal, with Jeremain Lens’ 14th-minute away goal at Ibrox giving PSV a 1-0 win on the night and over the two legs.Villarreal knocked Bayer Leverkusen out of the competition after a 2-1 second-leg win at El Madigral.The fourth-placed La Liga outfit claimed a brilliant 3-2 away win in the first leg and booked their spot in the last eight with goals to Cazorla and Giuseppe Rossi, before Eren Derdiyok struck a late consolation for the Bundesliga side.Other results saw four-time European Cup winners Ajax Amsterdam knocked out after they were hammered 3-0 by Spartak Moscow, thanks to goals from Dmitri Kombarov, Welliton and Alex, which ensured they won 4-0 on aggregate.But Ajax’s Eredivisie rivals Twente had more luck, progressing despite a 2-0 defeat at Zenit St Petersburg.Twente won the first leg 3-0 but first-half strikes to Roman Shirokov and Alexander Kerzhakov made for an exciting second half, in which Zenit were unable to extend their advantage as the 2008 UEFA Cup winners exited the competition.
Portsmouth have confirmed that David James is on the verge of leaving the club after they withdrew a fresh contract offer to keep him at Fratton Park.
England's veteran World Cup goalkeeper looks set to move to Scottish Premier League giants Celtic and chief executive David Lampitt and manager Steve Cotterill have reluctantly decided against offering him new terms.
"It was a tricky situation. Steve Cotterill and I discussed it at length," Lampitt told The Portsmouth News.
"From my point of view, we did our absolute best in trying to keep him. I would have loved for him to stay at the club.
"We had various meetings with him and the process went on for quite a long time. The difficulty for us is that we have got to resolve our goalkeeping situation.
"It got to a point where we needed to have some certainty with only three weeks to go until the new season and we need to look at other options.
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"We kept the offer open for as long as we reasonably could to try to give us the best opportunity of retaining him. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has stated that he will give £3,000 to charity if Tottenham finish higher in the league than his side, and has challenged the White Hart Lane faithful to donate to a good cause also.
Spurs’ 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday night lifts Harry Redknapp’s men up to third place, three points ahead of The Gunners with an extra game to play.
The England midfielder feels that talk of Spurs finishing above Arsenal is premature, and has issued a challenge to his rival fans on Twitter.
“All Spurs fans buzzing that they are ahead of us in the league (for once). Its a marathon, not a sprint!
“I tell you what; at the end of the season if Spurs finish above Arsenal I will give £3,000 to charity and if Arsenal finish above Spurs every Spurs fan that follows me must send me a pound each and I will give it to the Jack Marshall charity,” he stated on the social networking site.
Wilshere has been sidelined for the entire campaign due to injury, but is expected to return to action for Arsene Wenger’s side towards the end of the year.
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West Ham capped off a great week with their second win in seven days, as they followed up the impressive victory against Liverpool to cruise past Stoke 3-0 at Upton Park and in turn move out of the Premier League relegation zone.
It has to be said that Avram Grant’s men were gifted the opener by Stoke, as Demba Ba capitalised on a defensive mix-up to give the Hammers the lead after 20 minutes. 10 minutes later it was 2-0 thanks to a Manuel Da Costa header, a two-goal cushion that West Ham took into the break. They were tested more after the break, but managed to keep a clean sheet and Thomas Hitzlsperger continued his good form since his return from injury with a trademark strike to put the icing on the cake.
So what FIVE things did we learn about West Ham today?
Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle believes that central defender Gary Cahill has a big future on the international stage.
The 24-year-old missed out on selection for the World Cup finals this summer, but is expected to be called up by coach Fabio Capello if the Italian decides to make changes following England's dismal performances in South Africa.
Coyle told the Bolton News:"I still think he was very unlucky not to be in that squad for the World Cup. Michael Dawson and Ledley King are great players, but I would also put Gary in that bracket.
"He showed such guts to get over his injury and get back to top form. I know people will accuse me of bias or whatever, but from a purely footballing view I would definitely have given him a shot.
"Regardless of whether there are major changes, or people hanging up their boots, I honestly think that Gary will go on and earn international caps for England.
"He's good enough right now, it's not as if we're talking about whether he will improve and mature in the future.
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"Hopefully, he can hit the ground running this summer and get back into the England squad. Once he gets his chance, I'm positive he'll take it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
So, it’s derby week. Everyone loves derby week. What self-respecting City fan doesn’t want to read endless articles by ex-United players (and current ones too) telling us how you can’t buy history or class or how the match doesn’t matter to them, and on and on and on, all merely a warm up until Alex Fergurson starts his legendary mind games.
Align this with Paul Scholes’s autobiography being out and I expect we won’t be able to shut up the notoriously shy and private family man in the lead up to Sunday. Oh Paul, how I yearn to hear your views on City’s emergence, it really will complete my week. Not that it’s all one-sided of course.
So we are treated to five days of tiresome, banal interviews with ex-players, ex-managers, or current players talking PR-fed nonsense and endless clichés like it being another game at the end of the day and the lads are over the moon at the thought of winning and sick as a parrot with the thought of defeat and so on. Sky Sports News will wheel out some fancy new graphics with accompanying bombastic music and the charade is complete.
It started on Wednesday with a laughable Daily Mail article, by that notoriously shy “Sportsmail Reporter” who is too modest to put his name to the endless guff he, or they produce. The article claimed that Anders Lindegaard had claimed that the Manchester derby was not that important – a complete lie, he said nothing of the sort, simply pointing out the obvious- that it won’t decide anything at this stage of the season. Sadly Nigel de Jong was soon being quoted saying City were the top dogs now – I didn’t open the article, he probably said nothing of the sort, merely mentioning the league table. Inevitably one of the old guard had to have a word or two, and it was Ryan Giggs who broke ranks first, making some laughable comments about Mario Balotelli:
“He is a little strange….. god knows how many fines he has received in England! No one except ManchesterCity fans really like him. ..”
If only he could cheat on his wife or girlfriend with a succession of women like most footballers do, and stop embarrassing himself by getting the odd parking ticket instead (which was a made-up story anyway). And if Giggs had the remotest idea of what football fans in this country think, he might be aware that Mr Balotelli seems rather popular with many opposition fans, due to being two pepperonis short of a pizza.
It has always been thus. Before the derby that fell close to the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, Paul Scholes had plenty to say, as fears rose that the minute’s silence may be disrupted:
“There is always that few who might cause problems. It would reflect badly on their club but that’s not stopped them over the years.”
Rick Boardman of the band Delphic said in a recent interview, talking about City fans before a derby:
“They care more about us losing than winning games themselves – I just don’t get that. It could all change but I’ve got confidence in our club. And whatever happens, we’ll always have the history. “
Today we see Mario Balotelli proclaiming the Manchester derby will soon be the biggest in the world, Chris Smalling discussing Aguero, Micah Richards claiming United are frightened of City and various other fascinating insights (such as some tactical advice for City on Sunday from Robbie Savage – cheers Robbie).
The media don’t help. After all, Sky Sports News will hype up anything. If the intensity of a Norwich v Ipswich match can be compared to the last days of Rome, then a Manchester derby is perfect fodder for them, especially if it falls into one of their Grand Slam Sundays, Super Sundays, Magnificent Mondays, Showdown Showcase Specials or World War Wednesdays.(I may have made a couple of them up). What’s more, as the internet has taken over the world, papers have more room to fill, with as much news available as they’ve always had.
Of course it’s not all bad – derby week can offer the odd nugget of gold, such as positive in-depth interviews with managers and players (there are ones with Balotelli, Young and Mancini this week), but please spare us Lou Macari’s views on City’s money. Every man has his breaking point.
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But the last word should go to the The Daily Telegraph’s pointless feature about Wayne Rooney’s bicycle-kick goal against City last season. Fans and players commented on WHERE THEY WERE at that historic moment, but the go-to man must be David Prosperi, the vice-president of Aon Global PR.
“Not only was the Aon logo extremely visible throughout the multiple global TV replays and photo images when it happened, but years from now, when the goal against Manchester City is shown time and again as perhaps one of the greatest of all time, you will still see the Aon name. That one image epitomised the value of Aon’s relationship with Manchester United.”
AC Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso has apologised for losing his cool in his side’s Champions League defeat on Tuesday.
Tenacious midfielder Gattuso was involved in several incidents during the Italian giants’ 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham, which means Milan will need to win at White Hart Lane to make the Champions League quarter-finals.
The game became ugly when AC Milan’s Mathieu Flamini only received a yellow card for a crude two-footed lunge on Tottenham’s Vedran Corluka, who had to be substituted.
Gattuso traded words with Tottenham’s assistant manager Joe Jordan before shoving him in the face. Tempers flared again after the final whistle, with Gattuso head-butting the Spurs coach.
The retired Italy international had to be restrained by team-mates and escorted down the tunnel. He is expected to face a sanction from UEFA.
“I lost control,” Gattuso told reporters after the match.
“There is no excuse for what I have done. I take my responsibilities for that.”
“I was nervous. I didn’t want to argue with players and I did it with him, but I was wrong to do what I have done.”
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp did not want to comment on the incident at the post-match press conference, but was quoted as telling The Daily Mail: “He picked on the wrong man there. I know who I’d pick between Joe and Gattuso anyway … Joe all night long.”
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Redknapp believes the incident showed Milan were ‘rattled’ – a fair achievement for a club who are making their first appearance in the Champions League.
“Milan lost their heads at the end there – they were rattled, for sure – and I guess that’s a good sign,” he said.
Gattuso also picked up a yellow card in the match, meaning he will miss the second-leg clash at White Hart Lane on March 9 regardless of any UEFA punishment.
Brendan Rodgers was left fuming at referee Phil Dowd yesterday, following the decision to dismiss Daniel Agger – as well as award two penalties in the space of minutes that ended any hope of a Liverpool comeback at the Hawthorns. The new Reds boss felt that Dowd was conned by Shane Long on two occasions and the soft red card knocked the stuffing out of the team – in a game that they were certainly in, before a mad five minutes in the second half. Rodgers believes that Liverpool will face more setbacks in the coming season, as he works on re-shaping the squad.
Elsewhere in the news Alan Pardew has apologised for shoving the linesman; Roberto Mancini thinks there are plenty of teams that could win the title, while Adebayor looks to have cleared the way for a permanent switch to Tottenham.
[divider]
Headlines
Man City manager Roberto Mancini feels ‘four or five’ sides could win the league this year – [Guardian]
Michael Carrick insists Manchester United will come back stronger than ever this season, given the events of last year – [Guardian]
Despite youngsters’ impressive display against Italy, England manager sees his senior citizens playing a key role on road to Brazil – [Daily Telegraph]
Alan Pardew has apologised for pushing a referee’s assistant Peter Kirkup that resulted in the Newcastle United manager being sent to the stands – [Sky Sports]
Frank Lampard enters the final year of his Chelsea contract with manager Roberto Di Matteo hoping player and club can agree a new deal – [Daily Mail]
Arsenal have confirmed the sale of midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona for £15m – [Guardian]
Brendan Rodgers endured horrendous start at Liverpool helm as club suffered heaviest opening day defeat in top flight since 1937 – [Daily Telegraph]
Emmanuel Adebayor is set to complete a permanent move to Tottenham before the end of the month – [Daily Mail]
Brendan Rodgers is ready to place a bid of £7.5 million for the highly-rated Birmingham goalkeeper – [Mirror]
Newcastle are braced for bids for Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye, with Chelsea and Manchester United keen on both midfielders – [Mirror]
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PLEASE NOTE – click on the sources to view the original article
The House of Commons has set a date for the debate surrounding confidential documents relating to the Hillsborough stadium disaster. An online petition has passed the 100,000 signatures mark, requiring the motion to be automatically added to the agenda for October 17th. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who was the club’s player-manager at the time of the disaster, has signed the petition, along with former boss Rafael Benitez, who told the Daily Mail he had “signed the petition already and have been supporting that decision”.
In other news this morning, Joey Barton’s ‘free’ transfer to QPR has sparked controversy after rumours began of massive payments to agents; Sir Alex Ferguson has dubbed striker Wayne Rooney the ‘white Pele’; Swiss side FC Sion step up their legal campaign to stay in the Europa League; and
Hillsborough files set to be debated in House of Commons – Daily Mail
FC Sion seek Platini’s arrest after UEFA re-instate Celtic – Daily Mail
FA asked to probe Barton agent fees – The Sun
Ferguson: Rooney is the white Pele – The Sun
City’s Champions’ League winners the key for Mancini – Daily Mirror
Rice: I missed having Arsene on the bench – Daily Mirror
Villas-Boas ‘forgives’ Torres following outstanding performance – The Sun
Blackburn fans planning massive anti-Kean march this weekend – Daily Mirror
Defoe: Adebayor the perfect partner – The Independent
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Woodgate will miss long Europa League trips to guard against injury – Daily Mail
Carson Yeung’s arrest leaves Birmingham unsure of finances – The Guardian
DJ Campbell backs Barton to succeed at Loftus Road – The Guardian