The season of goodwill is upon us, and in the footballing world that signals only two things; watching Boxing Day matches in the freezing cold with the obligatory poultry-saturated hangover, and the January Transfer Window is just around the corner. As with your high street New Year sales, you have to see which shops are offering the best merchandise at the lowest possible price, and you must say, it seems as if Eastlands could see a flurry of interest in the early moments of 2011.
As with all teams with cash to burn and an insatiable appetite for quick success, Manchester City have spent fast and loose since Sheikh Mansour purchased the club. This means one of two things; either the new players will fit into the team, meaning others that were previously pivotal to the starting eleven will become surplus to requirements (for example Stephen Ireland). Or those that have been bought will not gel with the squad, perhaps seeking pastures new. Either way, clubs will certainly be keeping a close eye on proceedings at Eastlands over January as there will be a few top-class players looking for first-team football;
Shay Given
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper was a star acquisition when he was purchased from Newcastle in 2009. With his rival for the number 1 shirt at Eastlands, Joe Hart, going out on loan to Birmingham for all of last season it seemed his place was safe. But with Hart impressing hugely this season for City, Given may well be looking for the exit, with many sides interested.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Returning to City in 2008 having been surplus to requirements at Chelsea, Wright-Phillips looked to be settling in nicely. But with Roberto Mancini coming in as manager, and the likes of Adam Johnson and James Milner taking his place in the City side, the England international may be looking to re-ignite his career elsewhere.
Emmanuel Adebayor
After whinging his way out of Arsenal in the summer of 2009, the Togolese striker is discontented once more, this time with life at Eastlands. A lack of opportunities in the City first team has left the 26 year-old unhappy and wanting away from the blue half of Manchester,
With City reported willing to listen to offers for many other players, including Roque Santa-Cruz, Jo and Wayne Bridge and the club looking to streamline its squad, Eastlands could be a hotbed of activity over January, with most of it involving exports.
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The sacking of former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton shocked all of those in and around football. The empathy that all feel for Hughton is making the job of replacing him at the Premier League club all the more difficult. No-one knows this more so than the incumbent manager, Alan Pardew.
Arguably Pardew’s biggest job is trying to convince his players to stay at St James’ Park past January; furthermore he also has the massive task of encouraging them to fight for the club’s Premier League survival.
Even Alan Pardew has acknowledged he faces a difficult task winning over not only the Newcastle fans but the players too as he was unveiled as manager. Pardew says, “The problem I’m going to have initially is the players – I need to get my message across quickly and with clarity, so as not to get any resentment at a time when they are doing reasonably well.”
Several players voiced their disappointment at the departure of Hughton, and credit to Pardew, he has said that he is “privileged to be sitting here and looking forward to a tough job.” However, I do feel it is telling, especially in this day and age that the players’ disappointment might cause them to look elsewhere in the upcoming January transfer market.
Saturday’s win against Liverpool on Saturday did however soften the blow and if results follow suit then I am sure it is only a matter of time before the fans and the players come around to Pardew’s way of thinking.
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The saying one swallow doesn’t make a summer springs to mind and only the future will determine how the fans and more importantly the players take to Pardew. One thing that is sure though, is that he will need to prove to the players away from football that he is someone they can trust and someone who wants the best for them and the club, much like Hughton did previously.
Chelsea are reported to be considering making a mega-money move for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero.
Chelsea had enquired about Aguero during previous transfer windows, but the massive €60 million buyout clause in his contract put the London club off making an offer.
However Aguero, who is married to the daughter of Diego Maradona, has recently signed a new contract with a reduced clause thought to be €45 million. Aguero’s new price tag is thought to have reignited Chelsea’s interest in the Argentinean striker who has been at Atletico Madrid since 2006.
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Chelsea have suffered an almighty drop in form since November and are a shadow of the side that brushed aside all-comers in the early stages of the season. Manager Carlo Ancelotti knows that something drastic needs to happen in order to get Chelsea’s title push back on track and a new striker to partner the misfiring Didier Drogba may put the spark back into Chelsea’s season.
There’s been a fair amount of rumours flying around this winter concerning Andrey Arshavin’s future at Arsenal. The little Russian has gradually become a target for the Emirates boo-boys, after a string of lacklustre performances this season. With this being said, one has to ask, has Arshavin’s time at the North London club finally run out?
The Gunners forward has been linked with a move away from the Emirates this January with Juventus, and newly, Zenit St. Petersburg said to be highly keen on the Russian’s services. Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Latcher, recently stated that a move to Turin is not out of the question this winter, but remains optimistic that his client will be an Arsenal player until at least the end of the season. Speaking to Russian online publication Lifesports.ru, Latcher said:
‘There’s a possibility of Andrey Arshavin’s move to Juventus, but there are two things that can prevent this deal. First, Arsenal can win the Premier League this year. The gold medal of the English league is a dream of any footballer. Second is the financial ability of Juve as Arsenal are demanding no less than $26 million (£17m) to release Arshavin. It’s difficult for me to comment on certain items because he is a player who still has two-and-half-years on his contract with Arsenal and there are no formal offers.’
Latcher finished off by saying:
‘In any case, I think it’s just speculation. Juventus could have taken Arshavin two-and-a-half years ago, but they didn’t want to. The player is happy in London. There could also be possibilities to move in January but, I repeat, we are talking about a player under contract and for which currently there is nothing concrete.’
Taking all this into account, it seems very unclear as to where Arshavin’s long-term future lies. However, the diminutive forward is highly likely to stay at Arsenal until the summer, after Wenger declared his admiration for the Russian playmaker. However, due to his inconsistency and growing unpopularity amongst the Arsenal fans this season, I decided to conduct a poll on Gunnersphere.com. I asked the simple question to my readers: Has Arshavin’s time at Arsenal run out? Yes or no.
The outcome of this poll was extremely close. Results showed that 57% of votes cast believe that Arshavin’s time has indeed run out at the Emirates. However, 43% of voters still consider the Russian to have a future as an Arsenal player. As you can see the difference is marginal, and clearly shows that fans are split on the matter. In my opinion, I believe Arshavin still has something to offer to the North London club. Ok, he hasn’t been on form this season and at times appears lazy, but when he’s on his game, he is clearly one of Arsenal’s best players.
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Arshavin simply needs to show more desire and heart to get the Arsenal boo-boys off his back. If he can do this, then this will all be forgotten instantaneously. Nonetheless, the jury remains out on the matter.
Read more of Tony’s articles at the excellent ‘Gunnersphere’
We have passed the half way point of the season, the title race is starting to heat up and the dog fight to avoid relegation is becoming more and more intense with every passing game. There are still four months left of the season to unfold in front of us but due to the PFA’s flawed player of the year award, it is already time to start considering the player of the season in late January.
Firstly it must be argued what a ridiculous decision it was to stage the awards in April, essentially turning the award into a “player of the first half of the season” accolade. Last year’s award, which went to Wayne Rooney, would have surely been handed to Didier Drogba, Premier League top goal scorer and League winner, had the voting taken place at the appropriate juncture.
The last few years has seen an obvious candidate (or two) stand above the sea of Premier League players. Last year, as mentioned before, was a toss up between Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney. Both played phenomenally and had the best goal scoring campaigns of their careers. The 2009/10 award was more of a lifetime achievement award to Ryan Giggs, but could have easily been given to Nemanja Vidic, Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres. While no one came close to Cristiano Ronaldo in the two years preceding Giggs’ success.
This season however has seen no front-runner for the award; several players have had good seasons. However no one has quite reached the levels of the previous winners and nominees for the award, while big name stars and obvious candidates for the award pre-season have had severely disappointing campaigns thus far. Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and Joe Cole are amongst the guilty parties. But who are the most likely nominees? Three nominees will be announced in April, with the winner being announced a few days later.
Nemanja Vidic – has been the most prominent reason Manchester United are still (somehow) unbeaten. He has been an absolute rock at the back, winning every personal duel that has been presented to him. His performances against Arsenal, Bolton and more recently Tottenham Hotspur have been the highlights of fantastic campaign. The big Serbian seems to have relished the honour of being made captain by Sir Alex and has even saved United at the other end, by netting the equalising goal against Aston Villa to salvage another unlikely away point.
Carlos Tevez – since Berbatov’s elevation to a degree of form, thus cushioning Wayne Rooney’s miserable season. No club has been so reliant on one player as Manchester City. Tevez continues to demonstrate, that Ferguson was devastatingly wrong to let him go. With fourteen goals in the league this season, at least twenty-five at the end of the season looks more than likely. Without Carlito City would be nowhere near where they lie currently. He has even managed to fit in a transfer request during an eventful six months at Eastlands, Mario Balotelli may have been correct in saying that Wayne Rooney isn’t the best striker in Manchester. Currently no one sits above Carlos Tevez for that honour.
Samir Nasri – wrongly or rightly accused of being the Enfant Terrible of French football, left out of the World Cup squad and accused of the traitorous deed of sitting in Thierry Henry’s seat on the French national side’s coach. This has been Nasri’s breakout season for both club and country, with fourteen goals in all competitions for Arsenal and being crowned French Footballer of the year by the influential French Football magazine. Nasri can already bank on the vote of Rio Ferdinand who tweeted his love of Nasri, whilst French legend Zinedine Zidane gushed that Nasri “represents our national side’s biggest hope.”
Charlie Adam – Blackpool have gone from being written off as no hopers to everybody’s second favourite Premier League side. They have refused to back down on their footballing ethos, playing some of the Leagues most attractive football and the Scot Charlie Adam has been the ideologue behind it all. He is fast becoming one of the league’s most in demand midfielders and no disrespect to Blackpool but it surely won’t be too long till he’s playing at an even higher level. It would be for the good of the game if he resisted any overtures in the January transfer window and stayed at Blackpool, especially for Clubs such as Aston Villa and Birmingham. Ian Holloway believes he’s good enough to play for Man United, he might be right.
Gareth Bale – for three weeks in late October and early November, Gareth Bale was the “unofficial best player in the world.” Or that’s how it seemed, everyone was lining up to wax lyrical about the mercurial Welshman and while the furore has slightly died down, (at least until he returns to Milan) Bale has continued to have a remarkable season at the lane. An old school mixture of raw pace and power has seen Bale progress into the upper stratospheres of the game. Whilst not quite as good as Messi or Ronaldo, (sorry Patrick Barclay) Bale is certainly on his way to that level.
Rafael Van Der Vaart – already the signing of the year, Tottenham’s bargain bin Dutchman has taken the Premier League by storm. With nine goals in the league and six assists to his name, Van Der Vaart has taken no time to settle. His introduction into the league has seen a reinvigoration of the playmaker role, Redknapp has given the Dutchman a free reign to go out and create as he sees fit. Bought for £8 million from Real Madrid after a torrid few years at the Bernabeu, Van Der Vaart has proven himself at the top level, not only performing in the Premier League but also being central to Spur’s Champion’s League Progress. Not bad for someone worth three times less than James Milner.
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All six deserve to be nominated and in their own way all deserve to win, unfortunately only three will fight it out for the prestigious award. My prediction? Samir Nasri to be the first Arsenal player in seven years to win the award, closely followed by Carlos Tevez and Nemanja Vidic respectively.
Read more from Lee Wilson at ‘This Is Futbol’
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Bolton manager Owen Coyle could hand on-loan striker Daniel Sturridge his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.
With chances at Chelsea limited, Sturridge completed a deadline-day move to fellow English Premier League outfit Bolton until the end of the season.
The former Manchester City player has struggled to make an impact behind Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou at Stamford Bridge.
And with the arrival of Fernando Torres from Liverpool for 50 million pounds – a British record transfer fee – Sturridge was likely to find himself pushed even further down the pecking order.
But Coyle is adamant a successful spell in the Bolton team will help the 21-year-old force his way back into the plans of Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti.
“We’re absolutely delighted to bring him to the football club,” Coyle said.
“He has attributes in abundance and I’m very excited to see him in a Bolton shirt.”
“Daniel is capable of playing in the Chelsea team and this move can give him the platform to go and show everybody what he has in his locker.”
“He has pace, he’s a goalscorer and he has terrific technique. Would I like to sign him permanently? Yes. But I don’t think I’ll be able to sign him permanently because of how well he will do while he’s here.”
For Sturridge, the promise of regular action was all he needed to hear before agreeing to Bolton move.
“It’s difficult for all young players not to play regularly,” Sturridge said.
“Owen Coyle wanted me to come here to play first-team football. As soon as he said those words I was straight down the motorway to sort everything out.”
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Sturridge could make his debut when Bolton host Wolves in the English Premier League on Wednesday.
Defender Gary Cahill and midfielder Stuart Holden will be recalled to the starting line-up after being rested for the 0-0 FA Cup draw against Wigan on Saturday.
Midfielder Chung-Yong Lee has returned from Asia Cup duty but faces a fitness test.
Sao Paulo crushed Bragantino 4-0 in the Campeonato Paulista on Saturday, while Sao Caetano, Oeste, Paulista and Americana all won.Paulo Cesar Carpegiani’s men moved into second with their comprehensive victory as Brazil international Joao Miranda, Fernandinho, Lucas and Willian Jose all netted at Sao Paulo’s Estadio Cicero Pompeu de Toledo home.Bragantino remain in tenth place on the Paulista table following the loss.Second-half goals to veteran midfielder Jose Fumagalli and Marcinho helped Americana beat Ituano 2-0 at the Estadio Decio Vitta.Striker Vandinho scored the only goal in Sao Caetano’s 1-0 victory over Portuguesa at the Estadio Municipal Anacleto Campanella.Oeste’s trip to Gremio Prudente proved a fruitful one, as Fabio Goncalves and Roger struck at the Estadio Municipal Eduardo Jose Farah to post a 2-0 win for the visitors.Paulista crushed Santo Andre 4-0, with Barboza and Hernane striking in the first half before Joao Paulo and Guigov goals helped bolster the side’s goal difference.
There was no change at the top of the FIFA world rankings in March, with Spain, the Netherlands and Germany still occupying the top three spots.A total of 55 friendly matches were taken into consideration for the latest edition of the rankings, with Argentina moving into fourth place courtesy of their 2-1 win over Portugal to be the top-ranked South American side.Brazil slid one spot to fifth after a 1-0 loss to France in Paris, while England remain sixth and Uruguay seventh.Croatia improved to eighth place at the expense of Portugal, while Serbia’s 2-0 win over Israel secured them 20th place.Italy climbed to 11th place, level with Norway, and Japan climbed two places to 15th on the back of their triumph in the Asian Cup.Ghana are the highest-ranked African nation, down one spot to 16th place, and Jamaica were the biggest climbers – jumping 11 spots to sit in 48th position.
The new season of the Chinese Super League kicked off in uncertain fashion on Friday – without a major sponsor.Tyre manufacturer Pirelli ditched its contract with the league and national broadcaster China Central Television is refusing to show the matches.
The league has been hit by a series of scandals in recent years.
Several senior officials from the Chinese Football Association have been arrested over match-fixing allegations.
Top referees have been sacked for taking bribes and even players have been tainted by claims of corruption.
The national team has not helped either – years of poor results have seen China drop to 76 in the FIFA rankings.
Highlights of the opening round included home wins for Hangzhou Lucheng and Tianjin Teda.
Defender Marko Zoric scored the only goal in the 34th minute as Teda beat Shenzhen Ruby 1-0.
Hangzhou Lucheng scored a goal in each half in their 2-0 win over Nanchang Bayi.
Uruguayan midfielder Paulo Pezzolano opened the scored in the 12th minute and veteran Honduras midfielder Ramirez made it 2-0 in the 58th minute.
Han Pen gave Shandon Luneng a first minute lead in the 3-3 draw with Chengdu Blades.
Australian midfielder Brendon Santalab equalised in the 11th minute but Wang Yongpo restored Luneng’s lead with a goal on the half-time whistle.
Santalab struck again in the 65th minute but Brazilian striker Obina made it 3-2 to Luneng three minutes later.
Blades ensured a share of the spoils when Australian Adam Kwasnik equalised 11 minutes from time.
Shanghai Shenhua and Qingdao Jonoon also shared the points in a 3-3 draw.
Argentine striker Luis Salmeron scored twice for Shenhua, in the sixth and 48th minutes with Brazilian striker Eber responding for the visitors in the 38th minute.
Leo San made it 2-2 in the 67th minute before Colombia’s Duvier Riascos restored the home side’s lead in the 70th minute.
Zou Zheng earned Jonoon a point with a goal in the last minute.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that former goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will come out of retirement to sign with Arsenal for the rest of the season.The 41-year-old German joins as a free agent after retiring in 2010 following two seasons with Bundesliga club Stuttgart.Lehmann made 199 appearances for Arsenal between 2003 and 2008, winning the Premier League title in 2004 and the FA Cup in 2005.The move comes after injuries sidelined regular goalkeepers Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski, meaning Lehmann will be used as back-up for first-choice Manuel Almunia.Italian youngster Vito Mannone is out on loan at Hull City and also injured. “He will sign for us for the rest of the season because we have Wojciech out for six weeks, we have Manuel out for six weeks and we have Fabianski out for the rest of the season,” Wenger said.”So, we have no cover of any experience at all in the Premier League and that is why I decided to get Jens back to cover up Almunia and, of course, to give us some experience.”During his previous spell at the club, relations between Lehmann and Spaniard Manuel Almunia were reported to be tense. And Wenger revealed that Almunia was not consulted before the decision was made to bring Lehmann back.”No. You make your decision,” he said.”Much more has been said that what basically happened, like many times.””There is a lot of respect between the two goalkeepers and I personally think that Jens Lehmann will get the best out of Almunia because he will be showing every day that he is ready to fight for his place as he has always been doing and Almunia will be motivated by that.”Wenger confirmed that the former Germany international will be on the bench for the Premier League game at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.