Sport


Transfer Rumors 


Here is all of Tuesday’s transfer gossip and paper talk...

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is lining up a sensational £40million move for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.  Arsenal have already had an enquiry knocked back, but Chelsea are ready to test Liverpool’s resolve not to sell the Uruguayan. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are also eyeing Christian Benteke, who has stunned Aston Villa by handing in a transfer request. (Daily Telegraph)

Manchester United are preparing to increase their offer for Everton’s Leighton Baines to £12million. (Daily Telegraph)

Barcelona have launched a £30million bid for David Luiz – but Chelsea will refuse to sell him at that price. (Daily Mail)

Gareth Barry has opened talks with Arsenal over a possible £4million move to the Emirates. (Daily Star)

Manchester City are cranking up their interest in Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic. The Montenegro star, 23, has a £27million buy-out clause and Liverpool are also keen along with Chelsea and Arsenal. (The Sun)

But City will not be signing Pepe - new Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has refused to sanction the sale of the central defender. (Independent)

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is making a player-plus-cash deal for QPR’s Loic Remy. Pardew is willing to sacrifice centre-half Steven Taylor and pay around £6million to Rangers for their French striker. (Daily Mirror)

Norwich will move for Celtic No1 Fraser Forster — if John Ruddy goes to Chelsea. (The Sun)






Confederations Cup final: Brazil romp to 3-0 win over Spain at Maracana



Brazil have won the Confederations Cup after thrashing world and European champions Spain 3-0 in a one-sided final at a raucous Maracana Stadium.

Fred scored twice and Neymar once for the rampant hosts while the stunned Spaniards endured a miserable night, missing a penalty and finishing with 10 men.

The final got off to an incredible start when Brazil took the lead after just 95 seconds, Fred alertly lashing the ball into the net from close range as he lay on the ground, a cross to the back post having bounced off Neymar.

Brazil began the game at a ferocious pace and should have doubled their lead a few minutes later but Oscar shot wide after a lovely flick from Fred.

Paulinho then drew a decent save from Iker Casillas with a clever lob and the Brazilian players thought Alvaro Arbeloa was lucky to escape with just a booking after he pulled back Neymar.

Spain had an early penalty shout waved away and threatened again when Julio Cesar kept out a low shot from Andres Iniesta, Fernando Torres heading the subsequent corner over the bar.

But the Spaniards were looking unusually vulnerable at the back and Fred should have added to his tally, only to be denied by Casillas after latching onto a good pass from Neymar.
Luiz saves the day

David Luiz then saved the day for Brazil at the other end, sliding into the goalmouth to brilliantly clear a Pedro shot which seemed certain to find the corner of the net.

And Brazil made the most of their escape, doubling the lead just before the break when Oscar patiently waited for Neymar to get onside and then released him with a neat pass, which Neymar brilliantly smashed into the roof of the net.

The jubilant Brazilian fans were loving the action and were sent into raptures again just two minutes after the interval when Neymar dummied Hulk's pass and Fred steered the ball into the corner of the net, Casillas only able to get a hand to the shot.

Jesus Navas came off the bench for Spain and quickly won a penalty when he was tripped by Marcelo but Sergio Ramos's spot-kick was just wide of the left-hand post.

The entertainment was unrelenting in a hectic contest as both sides continued to attack and Casillas had to charge out of his goal to foil Hulk, before Marcelo shot into the side netting.

Calamity for Spain never seemed far away and they were down to 10 men with just over 20 minutes left when Neymar ghosted past Gerard Pique, who brought his man down and was red-carded for his trouble, the referee deciding he was the last line of defence.

The proud Spaniards kept fighting and came close to a consolation goal in the final 10 minutes but Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar capped a perfect night for the hosts by pulling off a pair of superb saves to deny Pedro and David Villa.

Sport Round Up



Sell Messi now
Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff believes that the Spanish giants should consider selling Lionel Messi having landed Brazilian superstar Neymar this summer.




Cruyff, who represented the Catalan club 143 times, scoring 48 goals, and managed them for eight years until 1996, thinks it is risky to build a team around two star players.

It will be seen as a highly controversial perspective from the Dutch legend given that Messi has scored no fewer than 215 goals in 246 games at Barcelona, but he is adamant that there will be a clash if Neymar and the Argentine join forces.

"With Neymar on board, I would have planned for the possibility of selling Messi, and some would agree with that, others not,” Cruyff told Spanish newspaper Marca.

"You are talking about a team, its players, the things around it. There are too many things at stake. That’s why it’s so difficult to manage such a top class squad.

Asked if he would have signed Neymar in the first place, Cruyff added: "No, I wouldn’t have signed Neymar. We’ll have to wait and see – it could turn out well or badly. It’s a risk.

"It’s like the free kicks. Neymar is very good at taking them, and Messi has already shown he is. Who’s going to take them?

"Or the fact that Neymar and Barcelona are with Nike while Leo is with Adidas. These are situations that could cause problems.

"We’ll have to wait and see. He is talented but we’ll have to see how he gets on with everyone – that’s a problem."


Carlo Ancelotti to sign for Madrid within 24 hours



Paris Saint-Germain’s advancement in talks with Laurent Blanc to take over as their coach for next season has the French expected to agree to release Ancelotti from the final year of his contract with them.
On from this situation, reports in Spain have suggested that the Italian could agree a deal with Madrid inside 24 hours, and it is something that the club’s president has now confirmed.

“It is a possibility that he will be here by Wednesday. Today [Monday] he has not signed,” Perez told 20 Minutos this week.

As

Manchester United line up record bid for Cavani

Manchester United manager David Moyes has emerged as a shock contender to sign Napoli and Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani.



The 26-year-old could be one of the most expensive acquisitions in this summer’s transfer window – and indeed, if United land him for the £50m quoted by the Daily Mirror, he would become their record signing.

The key rivals for his signature at this stage are Real Madrid andChelsea, the paper adds, and although Cavani has a £54m release clause, since no club has yet matched that Napoli may be prepared to let him go for slightly less than that.

Now Paper Round is naturally a cynical sort, so whether United will spend twice their previous record in the Glazer era on a single player remains to be seen – especially if the man asking for the money is Moyes, rather than Sir Alex Ferguson.








Cristiano Ronaldo Gets World-Record €155m Deal




Cristiano Ronaldo is close to agreeing a new contract with Real Madrid which will make him the world’s highest-earning footballer.

Madrid are in advanced talks with Ronaldo’s representatives over a deal totaling around €155 million over five years, with the Portuguese forward set to earn €15m annually after tax in what will be the most lucrative contract in the history of the game.

Madrid are ready to meet Ronaldo’s wage demands and make the Portuguese a higher earner than Lionel Messi.

As
Higuain Set To Become Arsenal Player This Week.




Arsenal FC will be hoping to smash the club’s transfer record this week by signing Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid for £22 million.

The 25-year-old Argentine has been on the Gunners’ radar since breaking into River Plate’s first team in 2004. They tried signing him in 2006 but eventually lost to Real. Reports claim that the Argentina international has privately agreed to make the switch to the Emirate Stadium this summer.
Real Madrid had told Higuain he is free to leave the Bernabeu and it seems all that is left at present is for the two clubs to agree on a price. Arsene Wenger will formalise their interest in the striker this week as the move is considered the most realistic, compared to Wayne Rooney and Stephan Jovetic chase.

In addition to smashing the club’s current transfer record, the £15m paid to Zenith St Petersburg for Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal are willing to make Higuain their top earner on around £150,000 a week.

The long overdue wait could be over this week as the North London club is now willing to splash out hefty fees for top class players.




Bale wants to cash in on goal celebration logo



Gareth Bale could stand to make up to £3million (€3,534,624) a year if he successfully manages to trademark his ‘Eleven of Hearts’ goal celebration logo, according to a leading sports marketing expert.

Bale has filed an application to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to trademark a logo which copies the goal celebration gesture he makes every time he finds the net, with a number 11 — his shirt number — inside the heart.

An independent tribunal will decide in the next two months whether he can trademark the logo. Should it give him the green light, the Tottenham forward will then have a powerful icon which he can incorporate into his image rights.

That could stand to make him up to £3million (€3,534,624) a year, according to Nigel Currie, director of sports marketing agency brand-rapport.

He said: “The possibilities are huge for Gareth Bale. Once he has that right he can cash in on it and become a more well-known player. A third of his overall income could be made from his image rights, potentially up to £3million a year.”

Bale first incorporated the heart sign in to his goal celebration in 2010. He revealed afterwards that he did it as a gesture to his childhood sweetheart Emma Rhys-Jones, with whom he had a daughter last year.

Details of Bale’s application to trademark the logo were first published last month. The 23-year-old, who scored 31 goals for club and country last term, has applied to trademark the logo for use on clothing, footwear and headgear as well as jewellery.

According to the IPO website, he has also applied to use the logo on leather goods, and “animal skins, hides; trunks and travelling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness and saddlery.”

Bale is not the first British sportsman to try to cash in on his image rights. David Beckham was the most famous person to do so, but the ‘Eleven of Hearts’ logo gives Bale a head start on the former England captain.

“Beckham does various things for various brands, but having this logo gives you the opportunity to use it as the brand image,” Currie added. It can appear on any sort of product he wants, so it has massive potential.

“Once you have got something that is readily identifiable with the person and has the potential to be seen by millions every time he scores a goal, then it becomes more and more recognisable globally.”








Highest Paid African Footballers In 2013 -- See How Much They Are Making

At the beginning of this year we had opportunity to watch Africa Cup of Nations where Nigera won Burkina Faso in final and showed great overall performance. African football players can compete with other highest paid football stars all over the world. One of the main benefits african players can bring is strong desire to win. Especially Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure showed their will and reached some remarkable achivements in European football club competitions.


5. Emmanuel Adebayor


(Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Emmanuel Adebayor is well known Togo striker, especially in English Premier League where he performed for Arsenal, Manchester City and currently Tottenham. Adebayor is paid around $13 M per year and compete with Tottenham for Champions League spots, but unfortunately this is not his season as he collected only 13 appearances. I think Defoe and Dempsey are prefered by Villas-Boas.


4. Seydou Keita


(ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)


Seydou Keita did impressive transfer last year after successful four years at Barcelona in Chinese Super League. Malian midfielder plays for Dalian Aerbin FC and earns around $15.5 M. He is also captain of Mali national team which won 3rd place on ANC 2013 second consecutive year and both wins over Ghana.

3. Didier Drogba


(Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)


Didier Drogba is another Ivory Coast internetional star and Chelsea club legend. Drogba did unexpected transfer from Shanghai Shenhua to Galatasaray between Africa Cup of Nations. According to several media Chinese side could no longer pay salary around $17 per year for the Ivorian attacker. Drogba grabbed the opportunity to play with Wesley Sneijder at the highest level in Europe again. His national team unexpectedly dropped out of ANC 2013 before the final as with Yaya Toure.


2. Yaya Toure


(Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)


Lately impressive Manchester City’s midfielder Yaya Toure is earning a salary of $16.5 M annually and around $2.5 M sponsor income. The Ivorian is probably one of the best transfers Mancini ever made. Toure had the opportunity to represent Ivory Coast, which was the main favorite for final victory on ANC 2013, but were stopped before the final by Nigeria.

1. Samuel Eto’o


(VI Images via Getty Images)


Samuel Eto’o has dominated top of the list since August 2011, when he transferred from Inter Milan to rich Russian Club FC Anzhi Makhachkala. Eto’o is great example how much rated are african players, he’s highest paid player in history of football with $28.8 M and $4 M other income. Unfortunately, Cameroon has not qualified for CAN 2013 last year and Cameroonian striker did not get a chance to show his good form at international level.









Barcelona desperately need a defender or two. So Barcelona are in for a player whose best years were at Liverpool some seasons back. They're in for Daniel Agger, of course. Sorry. They're in for Fernando Torres of course. In the how-to-outdo-Arsenal-in-signing-players-who-don't-fix-the-problems-that-are-effin-obvious stakes, Barça are world champions. Apparently Tito Vilanova has been impressed with Fernando's sulky sub performances for Chelsea and has a comfy cushion on the Camp Nou bench for him to park his rear on. He'll replace current sulky sub David Villa, who is off to Liverpool/Tottenham/Manchester United/Manchester City/Arsenalfootball club. Chelsea will likely dump Torres outside Napoli's Stadio San Paolo, however, along with £30m and a note asking for them to post Edinson Cavani to Stamford Bridge thank-you-very-much.



Qatari lottery winners Paris Saint-Germain heard someone was worth £85m yesterday. So, naturally, they're happy to throw the money at whichever club wants it for whatever they're selling. Luckily for them it's not a bag of spuds from Stoke. But that's enough of Charlie Adam. It's Gareth Bale and Spurs. In fact they're going to pay £10m in compensation and nab André Villas-Boas to replace Carlo Ancelotti as manager first. You see, Bale's daughter, Alba Violet Bale, has the same initials as AVB which, obviously, means it's an insult to her if he doesn't follow AVB everywhere throughout his career.

If Bale does hot foot it to PSG or Real Madrid, Spurs will have to replace his GB initials in the squad. Today's Rumour Mill-monger would be in with a shout if he wasn't crap at football these days and contracted to a seven-a-side team in Holloway. So instead, £4m Gareth Barry will step in. Probably quite slowly. You see, Spurs hope he can replace Scott Parker, who looks to have run around in circles for the last time at Spurs. At 33, he probably can't take another innocuous kick to the groin or ball in the face anyway. Unless it's for Sunderland cheerleader Paolo Di Canio, who is interested. Spurs are still hopeful that £36m will bring both Leandro Damião and Roberto Soldado their way from Internacional and Valencia.



David Moyes wants Cristiano Ronaldo or Robert Lewandowski atManchester United. He's not bothered who. He just loves his new comfy chair in his Old Trafford office and the fact that he can make inquiries about such players without being laughed at. He may have to send a couple of million euros the way of Bayern Munich to snaffle Lewandowski, though, as they supposedly have an agreement with the Poland striker. But in the meantime, he's going to sign the Benficadefender Ezequiel Garay for £15m. And then chuckle to himself at the novelty of it all.



Hubris's Nicklas Bendtner may finally leave Arsenal. Apparently, five clubs have made a £3m bid for the Dane, which isn't an awful lot of money really, is it? Even for a Big Man who doesn't score many goals. Speaking of which, Andy Carroll is close to completing a £15.5m move from Liverpool to West Ham, where Sam Allardyce is hoping to bringDemba Ba back on loan from Chelsea in the hope that at least one of them will be fit each weekend.



Elsewhere, Aston Villa are going to spend £4m on the Nordsjaellendand Denmark defender Jores Oklore. After shambling around in the 4-0 drubbing by Armenia in midweek, he could slip right into Villa's patchwork defence unnoticed. Mark Hughes is going to pounce on free agent David Bentley and ask him to be free-flowing football Stoke City's metronome next season. Having attracted no interest from Manchester United – despite his best efforts – Yohan Cabaye's agent has sent smoke signals to southern France instead, where moneybagsMonaco may get a whiff and send £10m to Newcastle for the 27-year-old.



Liverpool are close to an £8m deal for Sunderland's Simon Mignolet. With Pepé Reina likely to do one back to Barcelona.



"Let's all have an Isco," trill Manchester City beancounters, who reckon sending £15m to Málaga will be enough to get him parcelled up and posted back to the Etihad.



Wigan foghorn Dave Whelan will interview Steve McClaren and Owen Coyle for the Latics job. Neither will get the chance to say anything so how he'll choose between them, the Mill hasn't a clue.



And still no word on whether Tony Pulis is going to be the new Marcelo Bielsa at Athletic Bilbao. Funny that.

1 comment:

  1. Ronaldo should come back home, no league like EPL, Laliga is just a mumu league!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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