Manchester United are lining up a bid for Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool target Leandro Damiao.
The Daily Mail reports, that Spurs failed in a £20m bid for the Brazilian who was also offered to Liverpool on loan.
United initially held talks with the 23 year old in February and have met with Damaio’s representatives on Monday to outline a potential January move.
Having finished as top-scorer in the Olympics the Internacional man is extremely highly rated and is likely to cost any potential suitors £24 million.
United already contain the most impressive striking options in English football, with Robin Van Persie adding to a frontline already boasting Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney.
It was another £24 million striker who bailed Sir Alex Ferguson’s men out against Southampton on Sunday with Robin Van Persie notching a hat-trick to turn defeat in victory in the dying minutes at St Mary’s.
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The Dutchman’s strikes coming in the 87th and 92nd minute respectively for a 3-2 win for the Red Devils.
Tottenham’s summer signing Jan Vertonghen has admitted that he is loving life at White Hart Lane.
The Belgium international moved to north London from Ajax in the transfer window, and although he has confessed that it will be a long season, has revealed that he is glad to have switched to the Premier League.
“I think at the end of the season I will need a good vacation! But no, I love it here,” he is quoted as saying in The Telegraph.
“The atmosphere is amazing. There are the best players in the world and we have an amazing team so I am very happy I made this decision.”
Spurs beat QPR 2-1 at the weekend but were losing at half-time and booed by their supporters; Vertonghen understands the supporters’ frustrations.
“It’s frustrating when you can’t play your own game so I understand the supporters. We want to dominate at home and away so the supporters expect that from us,” he continued.
Spurs have Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend, and the defender is looking forward to facing Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.
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“I played at Old Trafford with Ajax last year and it’s an amazing atmosphere. I am looking forward to my first game there with Tottenham and I think we are strong enough to do some good things there. Confidence is high now,” he concluded.
Magpies striker Demba Ba has welcomed his return to goalscoring habits this season which has made him the current Premier League top goalscorer.
The star striker has started in sizzling form scoring 6 goals domestically and he believes that he has finally recovered from the hangover he endured from the African Cup of nations in January.
“I needed two months after the tournament to recover from it,” admitted the Newcastle United striker in an interview with the Daily Mail.
Senegal lost all three of their group games including a surprising defeat to Equatorial Guinea which the striker found a bitter pill to swallow.
He went on to to say how he had no intention of repeating the barren goal drought that followed after the competition and that he needs to keep adding “hard work” to his games to consistently deliver the results he has initially achieved this season.
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Ba will be looking to put in a similar performance to the one he gave last season when Manchester United visit the Sports Direct Arena this Sunday.
It’s the age old question in the game these days; fans, players and managers all want the club to have more of it but only a select few ever truly get their hands on it. Manchester City, Chelsea and Real Madrid have all shown over the course of the past few years that having plenty of money is certainly conducive to success, but is that in itself a guarantee?
Firstly, let me just lay my argument down for all to see – money is the single most important factor currently operating within the global game. To borrow and paraphrase the speech Mr Smith gives in the second Matrix film “it guides us, it drives us , it defines us, it is money that binds us.” So much of the game as we know it is dictated by how much you have, but in football, there are no guarantees and without the right man at the helm, the right system or style, having untold riches can only lead to an inflated disaster both on and off the pitch.
Manchester City serve as a fine case in point having ended their 44-year wait for the league title last season during a campaign where by and large they were head and shoulder above the competition. You could accuse the club of having essentially ‘bought’ the title, which would seem a petty complaint given the money spent by previous winners, but it’s certainly an interesting case using the above theory of having all the right ingredients in place first.
Mark Hughes spent £127.7m on players back in 2008-9 and he followed that up with £118m the season after. Progress was slow but slowly but surely Manchester City were beginning to establish themselves in the top six. However, when you consider that this hugely expensively-assembled side included the likes of Robinho, Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy, just two seasons on and none of those players even played a part in their title win.
Like a kid in a candy store who didn’t know what to do with himself with so much choice, Hughes wasted money on a grand scale and bought plenty of players simply not up to the challenge of being in a title-winning side. While it may have been harsh to sack Hughes when they did, you could hardly criticise them now for placing their faith in Roberto Mancini instead, a manager with more ability who brought in players of better quality and won the FA Cup and Premier League title inside his first two years. Would they have done that with Hughes still in charge? Extremely doubtful.
Mancini spent £230m on players over the course of two summers, an astronomical figure, but importantly, the players he brought in, such as Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Mario Balotelli were all absolutely instrumental at different key junctures in the season. Money is a fantastic tool to have in your armoury but it all depends how you use it and without the right man in charge, City’s wait for the title would probably still be going on to this day.
Roman Abramovich’s millions helped transform Chelsea from a top six club in the Premier League on the verge of bankruptcy into a major player on the European stage and while their Champions League triumph last year had a large helping of fortune about it, there’s no denying that it was the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of sustained investment, but the fact that they had to wait so long to win it disproves that money guarantees you success. Yes, the side assembled was hardly done on the cheap, but it was their team spirit which played the biggest part and without it, as they displayed under Andre Villas-Boas previously, they were riddled with inconsistency.
Liverpool spent north of £80m in 18 months after Fenway Sports Group took over the club, but a deeply flawed transfer policy of buying expensive British players has cost the club dearly in the long-run and the ruinous nature of their acquisitions is still impacting on their movement in the transfer market now. Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing cost £55m together in total yet they’ve contributed very little.
Over in Spain, while Barcelona are often lauded as the very model by which every club should aspire to be like in the future, playing as many as seven or eight academy players every week, the three of four that they didn’t bring through have certainly been brought in at a cost, with Javier Mascherano, Alexis Sanchez and Daniel Alves hardly signed on the cheap, while Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid finally reaped the rewards of their £80m man Cristiano Ronaldo last season as they pipped their bitter rivals to the league crown. Would they have done it without the Portuguese forward? Of course not, but it was the system and talent around him which made the difference this time around.
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Money does not guarantee success in football but what it does do is increase your chances of achieving it and grants you more opportunities to display your quality in games of magnitude. As a standalone factor, it is important but not decisive and financial mismanagement is commonplace in the game. Without the right manager and most importantly players, money can often act as something of a burden on the side, like an albatross around its neck with the weight of expectation dragging it further down, but with the right ingredients, as Manchester City and Real Madrid showed last season, it can prove an unstoppable force.
Reading’s Jason Roberts is set to continue his protest against the Kick It Out campaign and will not wear the “One Game, One Community” T-shirt during the Royals warm-up when they take on Fulham at the Madejski stadium this weekend.
The veteran striker is one of a number of the Premier League’s black players who are refusing to wear the anti-racism campaign t-shirt, in protest against the F.A., P.F.A., FIFA and UEFA’s failure to stamp out racism in the footballing world.
When asked by reporters whether he would consider ending his T-shirt boycott against Fulham, Roberts replied: “No, I won’t (wear the shirt) – that’s my own choice.
“If it was a T-shirt from another organisation I wouldn’t have worn that either. This is not an attack on Kick It Out. I am passionate about the PFA and Kick It Out but they have to do better, we have to do better,” he said.
The Reading striker admitted he was pleased with the new proposals set out by the PFA, intended to tackle the issue of racism. The proposals include the introduction of the Rooney Rule used in the NFL, in which at least one applicant of an ethnic minority must be considered by clubs for management positions, as well as immediately sacking players found guilty of racial abuse regardless of their profile.
“I think one of the issues is the employment side of things. [The Rooney Rule] is a step in the right direction.
“I would agree with that point [sacking players found guilty of racism]. You would think that something like that would already be written in. I am quite surprised it’s not,” he added.
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Ajax striker Ryan Babel has slammed Manchester City ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash with the side at the Etihad Stadium.
The former Liverpool ace insisted that their team is full of individuals and this could be the reason for their failure to yet hit top form in Europe.
He feels that City players are plagued with inflated egos, something which is hindering them at the moment both in European and domestic competitions.
Manchester City lost the reverse fixture against Ajax 3-1 and Babel put that result down to teamwork and a successful work ethic in the Dutch side.
“Against City in the first game you could see the perfect example of a real team effort by Ajax against a team of individuals,” Babel told the Daily Mail.
“We noticed how the frustration got the better of them during the game. And we saw how the players were directing those frustrations towards each other.
“That is the danger of a club with so many big-name players and so many big egos.”
The 25 year old was quick to also hail his manager who has instilled a strong mentality within the side to not give in, when put under severe pressure.
Despite struggling to deliver the goods against Real Madrid, their 3-1 victory in the last round of fixtures was especially sweet for the Dutch outfit.
“[Manager Frank] de Boer wants us to understand that we can beat the biggest teams with good football,” Babel added.
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Ajax will be hoping to carry that belief into the 19.45 kick off tonight, where City are hoping to finally kickstart their Champions League campaign.
Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland may be sold by the club, unless Gianni Paladini completes a successful takeover at the club, according to the Daily Mail.
Premier League duo Southampton and Liverpool are said to monitoring the situation of the young stopper and could launch moves if the Italian’s proposal fails.
With money tight, the St Andrew’s-based outfit may be forced to sell their prize asset to ease financial worries, unless they receive a cash injection which would likely follow the potential takeover.
If they do fall into the hands of new owners, the Midlanders would be in a strong position to rebuff the advances of the top-tier duo, unless Butland actively pursues a move.
The Saints offered a reported £6m for the 20-year-old during the summer, however the bid was dismissed by the club who see him as key in their hopes achieving promotion.
Paladini’s initial £20m offer for control of the club is being considered by owner Carson Yeung and the former QPR chief executive is confident that it will be accepted:
“We want to get a deal done very soon because we don’t want to lose any players in January.
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“I am hopeful that we can get something agreed within the next ten days.
“I still believe Birmingham can reach the play-offs and our intention is to sign four or five players in the transfer window to strengthen.”
Paris St Germain are looking at the possibility of taking Manchester United left back Patrice Evra to the French capital in January, according to the Daily Mail.
PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti was thought to be chasing Chelsea wing back Ashely Cole, as the English defender’s contract comes to end in the summer, but instead he seems to be swaying towards a bid for Evra.
Mega rich PSG are expected to spend big once again in January as the sides performances in the French league have been sub-standard, but the Mail report the deal for Evra could be done for as little as £4.5million.
French newspaper Le Parisien broke the Evra story yesterday and claim that the 31-year-old would be a better fit to the side than Cole because of the language barrier.
Le Parisien also report that Evra and Ancelotti are close with the same agent and with current left back Maxwell’s performances underwhelming this season we may see the Premier League left back head to Paris in January.
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will make an £8m move for Crystal Palace starlet Wilfried Zaha later this week, according to reports from The Mirror.
The winger has been in impressive form in the Championship this season, alerting a whole host of top tier clubs, including the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham.
However, the Red Devils are set to make the first move, with Fergie confident that a bid of £8m will be enough to force through a deal.
Despite the 20-year-old’s manager Ian Holloway insisting that he will be going nowhere during the imminent transfer window, Zaha has revealed that he is open to a move:
“I’ve played a lot in the Championship so having that new challenge in the Premier League, where everyone wants to be, would be great.
“To be honest, if I had the chance in January and Palace agreed, it’s something I’d want to go for.”
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Arsenal are thought to have made tentative enquiries about Zaha’s availability, and if United do lodge an official bid, it would likely start a bidding war between the two giants.
The Ivory Coast-born man is seen as one of the finest talents outside of the top-tier and was called up to the senior England squad by Roy Hodgson for last month’s friendly with Sweden.
utility player Seamus Coleman is closing in on a new deal at Goodison Park.
Coleman arrived from Sligo Rovers for £60,000 in January 2009 and has since established himself as a key player on Merseyside.
The 24-year-old’s current deal runs until 2015, but Everton are keen to reward him with an extension, after Coleman’s contribution to the club’s fine form this season with a number of impressive performances, Sky Sports News reports.
The versatile footballer, who can play at right-back or right-wing, has also become a regular fixture in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Republic of Ireland squad over the last six months.
Coleman is thought to have a clause in his contract entitling him to a new deal after making a certain number of appearances and he is now believed to have achieved that quota of matches.
Coleman’s representative, Hayden Evans, confirmed talks were in progress and that he was hopeful of a successful conclusion.
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“We have held positive talks with Everton and I am confident there will be a positive conclusion soon,” Evans told Sky Sports.