Liverpool v Sunderland
English Premier League
Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, England
28 March 2010 – 16:00 GMT

Liverpool looks for a win on Sunday as their Champions League hopes for next season are slowly slipping away.

Liverpool v Sunderland Preview

Liverpool is four points back of 4th place Tottenham but has played one more game than Spurs. They have only two wins in their last six matches and currently in the last Europa League spot.

Sunderland are 11 points clear of relegation and one more win could guarantee their survival. They are undefeated in their last four matches but have a 0-3-3 record in their last six away matches. The Black Cats have had an up and down season but ultimately should stay up in the Premier League. The club has been two different teams this season with a +11 goal difference at home but a -17 goal difference on the road.

Liverpool have a similar issue with strong performances at home and disappointing results on the road. Fortunately for the Reds, Sunday’s match will be at Anfield where they have a 11-2-2 record. There a few injury concerns for Liverpool but Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel will both be unavailable. Sunderland could be without striker Kenwyne Jones, defender John Mensah, and winger Andy Reid.

This is a match that Liverpool needs to win to keep pace with Manchester City and Sunderland for 4th place. They already have played one more match and trail both teams on points. Steven Gerrard has not had a great season and needs to step up on Sunday. The Englishman will need to link up with striker Fernando Torres, who is finally healthy and has five goals in his last three matches.

The Reds will be the favorites in the match and will want to avenge the “beach ball” match that took place at Sunderland in the fall. If Torres and Gerrard play to their potential then it will be an easy win at Anfield for the home side but with Liverpool it could also be a nail biting 1-0 match.

Last 6 EPL Matches

Liverpool – L D W L W L

Sunderland – L D W D W D

Liverpool v Sunderland Prediction

Liverpool will win the match 1-0.

Watch Liverpool v Sunderland Live Online

You can watch Liverpool v Sunderland live online as well as dozens of other Premier League and European football games. Read our live Premier League football page for more details.

“Liverpool v Sunderland – Preview – 28 March 2010” was originally published at Soccerlens.com – Football News.

Today’s rumours are gallivanting around town with an umbrella and a copy of the Economist

It’s the most spectacular high profile popular comeback since that bloke out of The Office, the smarmy boss bloke, turned up in that film where Clive Owen looks really tired and shouts at people and tries to kill a bank for some reason. Since the return of the Wispa to a prestige spot on the front desk of the BP Garage. And since the aged John Craven laid to rest the ghosts of Newsround to find a new kind of happiness on Country File.

Not so long ago Real Madrid were a joke. They’re still a joke. But they also have masses of money now, and to The Mill’s eternal gratitude they have become the source of all rumours, a rumour grande bouffe, a hand that just keeps on giving. Today it’s Franck Ribéry, who this morning’s Sun has taking his strangely lop-sided and ill-managed hair to Madrid rather than Manchester United or Chelsea, in return for a stammer-inducing £70m. “We’re approaching it calmly,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, doing a series of handstands before performing a wildly energetic MC Hammer dance in front of his bedroom mirror.

David Villa has told ‘close friends’ that he only wants to play for Rafael Benítez in the Premier League, and some friends who he doesn’t really see that often that they should all maybe meet up some time, even though they’re all fairly sure it won’t really happen and it’s sad but there you go life moves on. Manchester City are ‘closing in on a mega-deal’ for Roque Santa Cruz, who was quite good two years ago before apparently giving up.

Spurs have had enough of paying inflated fees for middling English players from slightly less successful Premier League clubs and will instead splurge £12m on Stewart Downing, who plays for a Championship club. The Mirror has Spurs lavishing £37m on a large brown-paper and string parcel containing Real Madrid’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who people on the internet thought was good three years ago, Gabriel Heinze, who has wonderfully soft and well-conditioned hair but seems too pleased with himself, and Arjen Robben, whose Lego foot keeps falling off.

Barcelona have seen a cleverly edited 50-second YouTube video of Robinho’s Manchester City career and are convinced he’s a capering genius worth at least £35m. And Milan’s irritating Asterix-bearded midfield scuffler Gennaro Gattuso has told Chelsea ‘come and Gatt me’. Whatever that means. He only costs £5m.

In The Times, West Ham are sniffing around after jinky Roma winger Mancini, who also wrote the theme tune to the Pink Panther. Galatasaray have noted Ryan Babel’s ability to gallop really fast in one direction while veering uncontrollably from side to side before falling over in a pile of knees and ankles and powerfully-muscled thighs. And they want a piece of that. Atlético Madrid and Espanyol are ‘interested’ in Emmanuel Eboué, but only in a polite, eyebrow-raising, maybe talk about him over dinner with people you don’t really know kind of way.

And a Nigerian goalkeeper called Vincent Enyeama, who plays for Hapoel Tel-Aviv, has narrowly missed out on a move to Arsenal, which is a shame because it sounds like it might have been fun. The Telegraph says Manchester United will have to ‘fight off’ Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, perhaps using a sharpened umbrella ferrule and a pair of shoes with a secret metal spike in the toe, in order to sign capering, free-spirited, but somehow unconvincing Ronaldo-replacement Antonio Valencia. And in the Gazzetta dello Sport, via Goal.com, Giuseppe Rossi has ‘declared his love for Milan’, city of ice creams, leather jackets and thin, orange women. “If [Milan general manager Adriano] Galliani would call me, what would I do? I would reply with a ‘hello’,” Rossi has declared, weirdly. And the most exciting player in Malta, Andre Schembri, is desperate for a new car, a large apartment in a new-build Cheshire development, a few inconclusive appearances in the Carling Cup, a series of lucrative, doomed moves to clubs like Middlesbrough and Birmingham and then three years topping up his pension on the bench at somewhere like Coventry. Sorry, that should read ‘for a shot at the Premier League’.

Have you got a transfer rumour you feel the world needs to know? You can tell us in the comments section below

]]> http://www.latestfootballnews.net/football-transfer-rumours-klaas-jan-huntelaar-to-tottenham/feed/ 0 http://www.latestfootballnews.net/09-10-premier-league-fixtures/ http://www.latestfootballnews.net/09-10-premier-league-fixtures/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:33:16 +0000 admin http://www.latestfootballnews.net/football-news/09-10-premier-league-fixtures/

The 2009/2010 English Premier League fixtures list was announced earlier today.

The Premier League kicks off on Saturday, 15th August 2009 with Tottenham taking on Liverpool at White Hart Lane and Everton hosting Arsenal the pick of the fixtures on the opening weekend. The biggest game of the opening month will surely be Manchester United v Arsenal at Old Trafford on 29th August.

The fixture list will change during the course of the season as cup games (FA, Carling, Champions League and Europa League) and internationals take their toll on a congested season which is due to end a week early to accommodate the 2010 World Cup.

You can see the full list of Premier League fixtures here or select your club from this list to see fixtures for just your team.

“09-10 premier league Fixtures” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

The other shoe has finally dropped.

Real Madrid have put up nine players for sale, including their whole Dutch contingent. Joining Heinze, Saviola and Mahamadou Diarra on the transfer list are Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rosten Drenthe, Rafael Van der Vaart and perhaps most surprisingly, the young trio of Arjen Robben, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Wesley Sneijder.

According to Sid Lowe, Real Madrid have faxed a list of players for sale to several Premier League clubs and are desperately looking to reduce their wage bill, reduce the number of non-Spanish players in the squad and to bring in funds to supplement their transfer strategy. Robben, Huntelaar and Sneijder are all expected to net Madrid handsome transfer revenue, even if they are unlikely to recover the full amount spent on these players.

After spending nearly £150m on Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka in the space of 7 days, a massive deal already planned for David Villa (£40m) and with Madrid still needing a central defender, left back and central midfielder, Perez is, in his own words, condensing a 3-year plan into 1 year. If the past is any indication, Perez will not only bring more Galaticos to Real Madrid this summer but he will also load the club under massive debt and clear out the squad to make space for his Galacticos.

According to Sid, Madrid remain determined to sell players, even if they do not recuperate their original fees, and would also consider loans. Together, Sneijder, Drenthe, Robben and Van Nistelrooy account for almost 10m a year in wages, while Diarra is on 2.8m, Saviola 2.5m and Heinze 2m. So effectively speaking getting these 7 players out makes way for Ronaldo and Kaka at the club. The price one must pay for making the same mistakes twice.

I expect Manchester United to consider a bid for Huntelaar, Sneijder and possibly Mahamadou Diarra, considering that they were interested in signing Diarra at one point and both Sneijder and Huntelaar will add quality in the right areas at the club.

Then again, when it comes to Huntelaar, Robben, Diarra and Sneijder, they will have no shortage of suitors this summer, and you can expect Liverpool and Chelsea to be in the mix as well, not to mention Tottenham and Manchester City.

Fans of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Everton and even Portsmouth (if the takeover goes through before Madrid sells all the players) – who do you think your club will sign from Real Madrid?

“Real Madrid Firesale: Sneijder, Huntelaar, Robben, Diarra, Van der Vaart and Ruud for sale” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

We’re already in the middle of June, and though the signings haven’t been coming hard and fast just yet, that doesn’t mean that there’s a shortage of action thus far in the summer transfer window.

In this morning’s transfer news and rumors roundup, we’ve got tidbits from England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Greece, with many big names and big clubs looking to spend, spend, spend. Some of the rumors are pretty concrete, while there is at least one in the bunch that, like Manchester United being linked with a move for Fernando Torres, are a little head-scratching, to say the least.

There are also a couple of signings to report, and remember, to keep up with all of the latest confirmed signings, check out our summer 2009 transfer lists.

England

Manchester United After Valencia Stars

There has been a great deal of speculation over the last few days about what Manchester United are going to do with the money they get from selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, and it could be that a sizable chunk of those funds go towards signing Valencia stars David Villa and David Silva.

United are reportedly set to make a £45m bid for Villa (The Mirror). The competition could wide open between United, Barcelona (Sky Sports), and Chelsea for Villa, as his potential move to Real Madrid appears to have broken down (Daily Mail).

Meanwhile. Rafa Benitez might not like hearing about United making a concerted effort to land Silva, as the winger has been a target for Benitez for a while now but could be the subject of a £25m bid from United. (The Mirror)

Analysis: £25m looks to certainly be enough to land Silva, but even though they could outbid Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Chelsea for Villa, they could be out of luck if Villa prefers the chance to stay in Spain. Of course, if Barcelona land Villa, that’d all but free up the opportunity for a United move for Samuel Eto’o.

United and Boro In Downing Swap Deal?

Middlesbrough are heavily interested in Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and there are reports that they could offer Stewart Downing to United to try to make a deal happen. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Both Scholes and Neville could be reluctant for such a move, but even so, it’d seem like United would come out a lot better in this deal, especially if they didn’t have to spend much of that sizable transfer kitty on purchasing Downing.

Costa On Shortlist To Replace Ronaldo?

Along with the moves mentioned above, United could be set to swoop for Gremio starlet Douglas Costa. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: Brazil’s becoming more and more of a hotspot for United, and signing a prospect of Costa’s ability and potential would be worth the fee United may have to stump up. He’s only 18, so he’s more one for the future and wouldn’t be expected to step in and star right away. But as Ronaldo did when he arrived at United, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him earn first-team opportunities immediately.

Bolton Lead Race For Veloso?

Bolton are back in for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso, and after refusing to overbid for Veloso in January, could be in with a £10.2m offer for the 23-year-old, who’s also been linked with Arsenal. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £10.2m is still a little lower than Sporting might like to get for Veloso, but it could be a sign that Bolton are willing to fork out a little more in order to land him.

Bentley And Huddlestone To Sign For Villa?

It could only be a matter of time before Aston Villa seal the deal on a couple of new signings, as there are reports that they are close on Tottenham pair David Bentley (Goal.com) and Tom Huddlestone (Birmingham Mail).

Analysis: Considering their interest in Bentley, Huddlestone, and Jermaine Jenas, I’m surprised they haven’t been strongly linked with Darren Bent or Roman Pavlyuchenko, considering a forward should also be on their summer wishlist.

Several Sides Interested In Newcastle’s Martins

Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Everton are all interested in Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins (Tribal Football), but they could face competition from a mystery Bundesliga club (Tribal Football).

Analysis: Everton would be a great fit, considering the familiar faces that would await, but wages would likely be a stumbling block, and that could also be the case with Aston Villa. No telling what the situation could be with the Bundesliga club, but Arsenal may well be the best match financially – but that could all hinge on whether or not they sell Emmanuel Adebayor.

Fulham And West Ham Interested In Acquafresca

It’s a London battle for young Italian striker Robert Acquafresca, as Fulham and West Ham are both interested in the 21-year-old. Acquafresca was supposed to go to Genoa as part of the deal that brought Diego Milito and Thiago Motta to Inter, but he could yet move elsewhere, with even Juventus being linked with a move. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: I don’t have any doubts that Acquafresca could succeed in the Premier League, but if Juventus come in for him, that might be an opportunity that’s too hard to pass up.

Sunderland Bid For Cattermole

Sunderland have made a £7m bid for Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Well they sure aren’t sitting on their money, are they? That’s certainly a tempting offer for Wigan, considering it’s double what they paid for Cattermole just last summer. I don’t know if Wigan will offload him right now though, unless he’s just that eager to be reunited with Steve Bruce. If someone’s willing to pay 7m for him right now, they could be in line to get a lot more if he continues to develop well over the next season or two. Besides, the sale of Antonio Valencia will net a nice amount of transfer funds for Roberto Martinez.

Wolves Sign Milijas

Wolves have completed the signing of Red Star Belgrade midfielder Nenad Milijas. (The Guardian)

Analysis: For a little while, the deal looked to be in some doubt, but in the end, Wolves fought off some pretty good competition to land the free-scoring midfielder.

Birmingham Bid For Gomez

Birmingham have made a £1.5m offer to Espanyol for midfielder Jordi Gomez, who starred on loan for Swansea last season. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: With Roberto Martinez set to complete his move from Swansea to Wigan anytime now, Birmingham could face some competition from Wigan for Gomez, so it might be in Birmingham’s best interests to try to get him signed, sealed, and delivered as soon as possible.

Spain

Real Madrid Offer Sneijder For Inter’s Maicon

Real Madrid could be set to offer Inter Milan €20m plus attacker Wesley Sneijder in a bid for right back Maicon. (Goal.com)

Analysis: Sounds like a reasonable deal. Sneijder’s someone that has been linked with Inter, and €20m + Sneijder would meet the €40m asking price that Inter have for Maicon.

Italy

AC Milan Sign Cissokho

AC Milan have completed the signing of Porto defender Aly Cissokho for €15m. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: This time last summer, Cissokho had just made the jump from France’s Ligue 2 to Portugal, joining Vitoria du Setubal, and now, he’s signed for AC Milan. Talk about a quick rise!

Inter Closing In On Double Swoop

Jose Mourinho could be close to being reunited with Deco and Ricardo Carvalho, as Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti spoke hopefully about being able to agree a deal with Chelsea for the duo. (Daily Mail)

Analysis: Seems to be only a formality, really.

Juventus To Swap Trezeguet For Rossi?

Juventus are prepared to offer striker David Trezeguet as part of a swap deal for Villarreal star Giuseppe Rossi. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £15m + Trezeguet would fall a little short of Rossi’s buyout clause of £40m, but it could get Villarreal to bite, or at least think seriously about the offer. Trezeguet might turn down the chance though, considering the interest that he’s had from the likes of Inter, Real Madrid, and others.

Lazio In Talks For Barnetta

Lazio are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Barnetta’s valuation is reportedly €10m, but even though Lazio don’t exactly have the room to break the bank on summer purchases, it shouldn’t be a problem to spend the right amount on a player who’s certainly worth it.

Germany

Wolfsburg Want Berbatov?

In one of the more interesting transfer rumors of the day, Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is being linked with a loan move to VfL Wolfsburg. (Sofia Echo)

Analysis: Though things didn’t exactly go completely swimmingly at United last season, Berbatov’s not going anywhere.

Stuttgart Interested In Tottenham Striker

VfB Stuttgart could be targeting Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. According to Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt, the Russian striker has come up in discussions within the club. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: After selling Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich for €30m, Stuttgart have money to spend and a big void to fill up front. Replicating Gomez’s 33-goal output from this past season might be a little much to ask, but Pavlyuchenko does have the quality to succeed in the Bundesliga, even though his struggles at Tottenham last season might convince some otherwise.

France

Shevchenko Offered To French Trio

Chelsea have offered striker Andriy Shevchenko to Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco. Lyon have turned down the opportunity to sign the Ukrainian, but Marseille and Monaco are still considering the chance to snap him up. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Safe to say then that Sheva doesn’t have a future at Chelsea, eh?

Coupet To Sign For PSG

Former Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet could be set for a quick return to Ligue 1, as he has agreed personal terms over a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Coupet moved from Lyon to Atletico Madrid last summer, but after seeing little time last season, will be back on familiar soil if a fee can be agreed. (Goal.com)

Analysis: With current #1 Mickael Landreau looking to leave, PSG needed to swoop for a quality replacement, and Coupet, with his long history of success with Lyon, certainly fits the bill.

Greece

Panathinaikos Close On Drenthe?

Panathinaikos are going all out in their efforts to sign Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe, as they could offer £11m in order to land the versatile Dutchman. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: That’s about the same amount Real spent to sign Drenthe from Feyenoord in the summer of 2007, so I don’t see them turning down an offer of that amount. Drenthe hasn’t exactly blossomed at Real, and he wouldn’t appear to have much of a future there, so the only holdup might be whether or not he wants to move to Greece or to a more elite league.

“Transfer Rumors (15 June 09): Man United after Valencia stars Villa and Silva, Aston Villa close on Tottenham duo, Berbatov and Pavlyuchenko linked with Bundesliga moves, and more” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

They echo throughout fields all over the UK during the football season, and on many occasions have been known to give players a lift. I’m talking about football chants.  From Fernando Torres’ “Liverpool’s Number Nine” to “Glory Glory Man United,” songs and chants are a massive part of what makes football such a unique sport.

Some of the best chants out there rarely get the credit they deserve. And for those rare few who can come up with a proper chant, it’s time you stepped into the spotlight. In other words: it’s time to give credit where credit is due for those who come up with unique chants about their favourite club or player.

Directgov’s ‘Get On’ program decided to take matters into their own hands this year with the introduction of a ‘Chant Challenge’ that allowed supporters from all over the country to try their luck at coming up with the most unique chant possible.

Football legend, John Barnes, along with Barnsley FC’s resident poet, Ian McMillan, took on the task of going through over 300 entries to find nine finalists. The finalists, who represented such clubs as Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland AFC, will be going to London in August prior to the beginning on the season to face-off for the chance to be crowned the chant-off champion.

“Chants are a great way of getting behind your team and can make a real difference to players on the pitch. I was really impressed by the level of skill and imagination that came through in the entries,” Barnes said.

The competition has been a huge success in its inaugural year, and has even garnered support from Liverpool’s Fernando Torres (Liverpool supporters sent in the highest number of entries), and Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs.

Here are just a couple of the chants that were entered into the competition this year:

Don’t wave at us David Jamo
Just try to catch this corner
All through your mishaps
And crazy haircuts
We still support you
Just hoof your clearance

[to the tune of ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’]
Entered by Richie Turrell, Portsmouth supporter

I believe in a man of steel
His name is Lucas Neill
If you think he can score a goal
He’ll put you in hospital
I believe in a man of steeeee-eee-eeel
Our boy, Lucas Neill!

[to the tune of ‘I believe in a thing called love’ by The Darkness]
Entered by Jordi Greig, West Ham supporter

FA Cup Opposition Taunt

Oh when we get to Wembley in May
We’ll think of teams we thrashed along the way
And you’ll be watching when we win the cup
You’ll be so gutted when we lift it up
We’re going through to the next round baby
You know whose winning and it isn’t you
We’ll think of you in the next round baby
All of your hopes and dreams are blown away
What a magic day.

[to the tune of ‘Warwick Avenue’ by Duffy]
Entered by Lee Dooley, Manchester United supporter

So there you go! If you think you’ve got a chant better than some of the above, then I’d suggest you throw your hat into the ring next season to see if you’re good enough to be one of the nine finalists.  Make sure you take a look at Get On’s chant competition page in August to see who wins the right to record their chant in the studio with John Barnes.

“Football chant challenge gives fans something to sing about” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

Carlos Tevez is out, Dimitar Berbatov is out, Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Giggs are in. The paper claims it’s a real ”insult” to Tevez to be left out, but we’re not sure why as no-one has expected him to play from the start with all the focus on his future.

John O’Shea keeps his place at right-back and Cristiano Ronaldo continues his not-going-to-give-the-ball-away-as-much effort as a lone striker. So it’s pretty much exactly the same team as against Arsenal in the semi. Except Darren Fletcher of course.

Transfer gossip now, and there are some pretty interesting deals going on if you believe the media. Chelsea, for some reason, are being linked with a new right-back. We all thought Jose Bosingwa had done rather well this season, but the Blues are apparently tracking Inter Milan’s Brazilian defender Maicon for £22m.

The Daily Star reckon that when Carlo Ancelotti takes over in the summer, he’d just love to take him along for the ride. Probably wouldn’t please Jose much, but he has given his backing to the Italian for the Stamford Bridge post.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, is looking to Fulham for his defensive stability next season. Brede Hangeland has done a good job at the heart of the Cottagers defence, and his extra height and power has caught the eye of the Frenchman, according to the Sun. But would he really spend £15m on him?

The Sun also have the news that ‘Arry Redknapp is keen to raid his old club once again for full-back Glen Johnson. Liverpool are believed to be in the prime position to sign the England defender as they need a player to shout back at Jamie Carragher when he gets in a mood; but Tottenham may swoop for their fourth right-back in the past year.

Once an England player, Dean Ashton gets the treatment (and he’s used to that) in the Daily Mirror. The paper thinks he’d be offloaded to Newcastle or Aston Villa in the summer, but someone would have to take a big chance to take the injury-prone striker anywhere.

However, Newcastle won’t be signing anyone decent if they go down and Sebastian Bassong could be the first to leave, says the Times.

Another team struggling for top flight status, Sunderland, could turn to Hamburg manager Martin Jol next season, according to the Daily Star. Quite why the Dutchman would want to trade a chance at the Bundesliga title and possible qualification for Europe for the drudgery of another relegation battle is beyond understanding. So he’ll probably just stay put.

And finally, Chelsea have cancelled their plans for an FA Cup parade. Not because they haven’t won it yet. Not because it’s a mere consolation prize given they really wanted to claim the Champions League. But because of the CREDIT CRUNCH! We know Roman Abramovich has been cutting costs, but if one of the world’s richest men can’t even get a open bus tour together, we know it’s bad.

Today’s tittle-tattle is off to live in a floating duck house – because we deserve to be safe from foxes too

Forget Manchester United v Barcelona, The New Harry Potter Movie v The New Terminator Movie or Peter Andre and Katie Price v The Possibility That Newspapers Might Stop Writing About Them Soon, the real heavyweight clash of the summer is going to be an all-out three-way tussle between Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Glen Johnson for the title of Interminable Transfer Story of the Year 2009.

Today’s updates in brief, because if we’re not sick of these yarns already we certainly will be soon:

1) Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t going anywhere – “at the moment I’m at United and I don’t care what happens in Madrid”.

2) Nobody could be arsed making up anything new about Carlos Tevez yesterday, except for the not entirely surprising revelation that he’s going to start next week’s Champions League final on the bench.

3) Harry Redknapp and Rafa Benítez are giving Glen Johnson a clear choice between cockerel and liver bird. Either way it looks like he’ll have some kind of avian lifeform on his chest next season.

Now, on with the other stuff.

Firstly, an excuse to point you in the direction of the undisputed goal of the season (alright, you can dispute it if you like, but it’s pretty popular here at the Mill): Swindon goal machine Simon Cox is favouring a £1.2m switch to Celtic over rival offers from West Brom, Bolton and Leicester.

Because a couple of them happen to be quite tall, today’s defensive rumours will be brought to you in order of the players’ height: Birmingham City want 6ft 6in Zat Knight to make the long trudge from Villa Park in order to create a dream defensive partnership with coming-on-a-free veteran Bobo Balde. Arsenal – for whom Emmanuel Adebayor looks to have played his last game – are ready to test Fulham’s resolve with a £15m bid for 6ft 5in Brede Hangeland (for that money, the only thing they’ll be testing is Mohamed Al Fayed’s resolve to agree gracefully, rather than dropping to his knees, drooling and crying “yes, yes, yes” repeatedly).

And Chelsea are lining up a sensational £22m swoop for Internazionale’s 6ft 1in Douglas Maicon, although Real Madrid are also interested. If this is true and the deal indeed goes through at this price, it would take Roman Abramovich’s spending on first-team right-backs alone to £57.5m, following the purchases of Jose Bosingwa (£16.3m), Paulo Ferreira (£13.2m) and our good friend, the Rumour Mill veteran Glen Johnson (£6m).

Back to Birmingham, who are vying with Villa for £8m-rated Argentinian midfield starlet Lucas Biglia, currently wowing Belgians with Anderlecht, and plotting a £6m double raid on Derby County for Kris Commons and Giles Barnes.

While Blues are planning for promotion, Newcastle are making contingency plans for relegation. If they do go down, Sébastien Bassong will be off sharpish. “You have to plan for your career and playing in the second division would be a step backwards,” he says in one paper. “I’m an ambitious boy and playing Championship football never crossed my mind – it would be a step backwards,” he adds in another. It’s all in the translation, you see. They would also be happy to loan Alan Smith for the season if they go down – perfect for any club that needs a £60,000-a-week adornment to their treatment room.

Talking of which, West Ham are open to offers for Dean Ashton – perfect for any club that meeds a £7m adornment to their treatment room.

And Sunderland want Hamburg’s former Tottenham manager Martin Jol to replace Ricky Sbragia. “He wants another chance in the Premier League, where he feels he has unfinished business,” says “a source”.

]]> http://www.latestfootballnews.net/football-transfer-rumours-brede-hangeland-to-arsenal/feed/ 0 http://www.latestfootballnews.net/soccerlens-podcast-survival-sunday-manchester-united%e2%80%99s-banner-season-wenger%e2%80%99s-future-at-arsenal-and-more/ http://www.latestfootballnews.net/soccerlens-podcast-survival-sunday-manchester-united%e2%80%99s-banner-season-wenger%e2%80%99s-future-at-arsenal-and-more/#comments Fri, 22 May 2009 11:00:18 +0000 admin http://www.latestfootballnews.net/football-news/soccerlens-podcast-survival-sunday-manchester-united%e2%80%99s-banner-season-wenger%e2%80%99s-future-at-arsenal-and-more/

On episode twelve of the footballlens Podcast, Stephen Darwin is joined by the founder of EPL Talk, Chris Harris to discuss the final day of the Premier League and of course that intriguing relegation scrap.

The show will be looking specifically at Manchester United and their unprecedented success, Newcastle’s woeful season, the future for Wenger and Arsenal, the remarkable work of Roy Hodgson at Fulham and Chris also offers his tips for the drop.Among the points of discussion raised with Chris Harris were:

• What Benitez must do to catch Ferguson
• Emmanuel Adebayor and his value to Arsenal
• Aston Villa, Everton and the Europa League
• Tottenham’s chances of a ‘big four’ invasion
• The promoted Championship clubs and their chances of survival
• Plus more on top of that!

Show Details
Date: Friday 22nd May 2009
Host: Stephen Darwin
Guest: Chris Harris

You can listen to the show below:
Download link (mp3, 28mb, 30 mins)

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Remember to leave your feedback on the show in the comments section underneath this post or alternatively e-mail the show at: podcast@footballlens.com. If you want to make your views heard on the podcast, make sure you email us at the above email address.

“footballlens Podcast – Survival Sunday, Manchester United’s banner season, Wenger’s future at Arsenal and more” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

Benitez’s attempt to lure Gabriel Heinze to Anfield from Old Trafford ended with the lawyers being brought in to block the move but with on loan Tevez owned by Kia Joorabchian and not United, Ferguson will have little say in the transfer – unless he decides to sign up the Argentina striker himself.

According to The Sun Tottenham Hotspur were lining up a £18m move for the 25-year-old but were blown out of the bidding when the Tevez camp revealed Liverpool were ready to offer the £26m asking fee and a staggering £160,000-a-week three-year deal – worth £8.3m-a-year.

A source close to the deal told SunSport: “It seems amazing that Liverpool have the money to do this when you consider their owners are looking for funds.”

Instead of chasing Tevez Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will lower his sights a little and concentrate on securing the signing of Sunderland forward Kenwyne Jones, according to The Guardian.

Jones, who scored his 11th goal of the season at Portsmouth on Monday, was a target in the mid-winter window but signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Black Cats at the end of January. Spurs’ prospects of signing the Trinidad & Tobago forward may depend upon whether the Wearsiders are able to retain their Premier League status this weekend.

The Independent report that ‘Arry is also interested in an audacious bid for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry as he looks to add the experience and leadership he believes Spurs have lacked this season.

Spurs hope that Liverpool’s uncertain finances mean that they will be able to tempt Barry away from Aston Villa where he has one year left on his contract.

Meanwhile, Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari, whom Redknapp signed for £7m at Pompey then sold to Inter for £14m last year, will reject a summer move to Tottenham.

The 24-year-old helped the Italians retain the Serie A title this season and told the Daily Mail: “I’m not moving from Inter – I would be crazy to – I’m very, very happy here. I’m in a winning team, at a great club and I want to keep winning at Inter.”

The annual ‘Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid’ transfer saga is in danger of being trumped this summer by the ‘Arsene Wenger to Madrid’ story that is slowly turning into an epic tale.

In Wednesday’s chapter the Daily Star claim that Los Blancos are still hopeful of landing the Frenchman and have given Wenger until Thursday to decide.

Wenger held a summit meeting for over two hours with Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis and It now appears the 59-year-old is seriously considering ending his 12-year love affair with the north Londoners.

According to the Daily Mirror Wenger, who is being offered a measly £13m to strengthen his Arsenal squad in the summer, is tempted by the £100million-plus war-chest dangled in front of him by Real Madrid.

The Daily Express claim that Barcelona are preparing a £20million bid to take Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole to Camp Nou. The Champions League finalists, have already sounded out the Blues about England full-back and are ready to come back with a firm bid when the season ends.

And finally… Chelsea target Carlo Ancelotti plans to join AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini on the pitch after their final home game against Roma as he says goodbye to the Italian club before heading to the Premier League, according to The Times.