Monday, 26 May 2014

Ince: Inter deal not done yet

Tom Ince would relish the chance to be part of Walter Mazzarri's Inter squad next season but says a deal has yet to be agreed.


The 22-year-old, whose contract with Championship club Blackpool expires at the end of June, has been strongly linked with a move to San Siro and arrived in Milan with father Paul, a former Inter player, on Sunday.

Ince spent the second half of last season on loan at Premier League club Crystal Palace, but struggled to break into the first team under Tony Pulis.

While the winger has revealed his admiration for Inter, he insists nothing has been finalised despite talks with club president Erick Thohir.

"I'm not an Inter player yet," Ince told Sky Italia at Milan airport. "I'm very happy to be here (for) two or three days in the meantime.

"Inter is a fantastic squad and Italy is a great country, where I have many fond memories.

"I remember the San Siro with affection, players like (Javier) Zanetti, (Massimo) Paganin and (Aron) Winter.

"I'm young, English, a winger, a fun player to watch. Inter are changing, they have new young players and a new owner.

"Thohir has told me that there are changes taking place, that he wants to return Inter to being big, to win in Italy and in Europe, to take them back to the level of great clubs on and off the pitch.

"This is fantastic for me."

Paul Ince added: "The important thing for Tom is to be here today, to see the training ground, get to know the stadium and the city.

"Then we will go back home and take a decision."

Sunday, 25 May 2014

Baines hails influential Martinez

Leighton Baines has paid tribute to the job that manager Roberto Martinez has done in leading Everton into Europe.

Martinez took over from David Moyes in June and guided the club to their highest Premier League points tally this season as Everton narrowly missed out on UEFA Champions League football.
Midfielder Gareth Barry, who spent the season on loan at Goodison Park from Manchester City, recently stated that even he, at 33, was learning new things from Martinez.
And 29-year-old Baines, who is in England's FIFA World Cup squad, is looking forward to continuing his own working relationship with the Spanish boss.
"I would definitely agree with Gareth," the full-back told Everton's official website. "As a group I think everyone will have learnt a lot from the manager.
"I have never worked under anyone like him. He is always introducing new things and he has so many ideas about how to play the game.
"I think we are all still learning and for someone like Gaz - with the experience he has - to have said what he did, you can get no higher praise than that.
"I think we can all be quite happy with the way things have gone.
"Getting back in Europe is a step in the right direction and it's what we all wanted. It's what we probably deserve as well. We have played well enough to have earned that.
"We were clinging to the hope of reaching the Champions League so to have that in the first season under a new manager shows where we are at."

Chelsea and Tottenham chase £18 million French starlet

Marseille midfielder Florian Thauvin looks set to leave the club this summer with Chelseal and Tottenham both keeping their eye on the player’s uncertain situation.
Thauvin moved to Marseille from Lille last summer for £12million but new boss Marcelo Bielsa is happy to cash in on the young attacking midfielder.
The 21-year-old would fetch around £18million and TuttoMercatoWeb reports interest from Chelsea and Spurs.
The Frenchman actually almost joined Arsenal 18 months ago but opted to continue his development in France.
Thauvin is a talented creative midfielder who scored eight goals and assisted three in just 25 Ligue 1 starts.
And Blues boss Jose Mourinho is believed to be chasing such a player after selling Juan Mata in January and with Oscar’s future also up in the air.
Spurs on the other hand have plenty of attacking midfielders but doubts surround most of their futures after an unconvincing season.
There may well be interest from Arsenal again too as Arsene Wenger was certainly an admirer last year.
Wenger likes to delve into the French market and has chased a number of attacking players in recent months.

Friday, 23 May 2014

Friday's TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United appear to have pulled out of the race to sign Bayern Munich's Toni Kroos, 24, after new boss Louis van Gaal cancelled the pursuit of the midfielder.
Another Bayern midfielder who will not be joining Van Gaal at Old Trafford is Thomas Muller, 24, who is set to reject the chance to move.
Chelsea defender David Luiz, 27, is set for a move to Paris St-Germain after the French champions saw off competition from Barcelona with a £50m bid.
Toni Kroos
Southampton want to sign Manchester City winger Scott Sinclair, 25, for £3m.
Inter Milan are lining up an offer to Rubin Kazan for 23-year-old France midfielder Yann M'Vila, a target for Liverpool and Everton.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is ready to re-sign former captain Cesc Fabregas, 27, from Barcelona, three years after the midfielder left the club.
Real Sociedad attacker Antonie Griezmann, 23, is also attracting Wenger's interest. The France international is rated at £18m.
QPR's 27-year-old striker Loic Remy, who spent the past season on loan at Newcastle, has held talks with Arsenal and Liverpool over a possible move.
Manchester United are prepared to sell midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 26, who cost the club £27.5m last summer, if they can find someone willing to pay £15m.
Loic Remy
Full-back Bacary Sagna, 31, has agreed a £140,000-a-week deal at Manchester City after his contract at Arsenal expired.
Arsenal are willing to bid £12m for Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, 24, but Liverpool are also interested in signing the Frenchman.
Swansea have agreed a £7m deal with Standard Liege for striker Michy Batshuayi, but the 20-year-old is waiting to see if interest from Everton and Arsenal firms up.
Hull are considering a £3m bid for Southampton centre-back Jose Fonte, 30. The Portuguese has one year left on his contract at St Mary's.
Taken From the BBC Sport website

Luis Suarez injury: Uruguay fans blame Newcastle's Paul Dummett

Newcastle defender Paul Dummett has received online death threats from Uruguay fans who blame him for the knee injury sustained by Luis Suarez.

Liverpool's Suarez, 27, had surgery on Wednesday, but is hopeful of being fit for next month's World Cup.
Uruguay fans have targeted Dummett, 22, via Twitter  for a challenge he made in a Premier League game on Suarez, but it is not certain it caused the injury.
Dummett was sent off but his red card was later rescinded.

There had been no report of an injury for Suarez as a result of the challenge in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Newcastle at Anfield, but he complained of pain at the start of Uruguay's training camp this week.
Uruguay open their World Cup campaign in the Group D opener against Costa Rica on 14 June and then face England five days later.
Uncapped Dummett was called into the Wales squad on Thursday for their friendly game against the Netherlands next week.

Matthew Upson joins Premier League-bound Leicester

Leicester City's preparations for the club's Premier League return continued on Friday as Matthew Upson joined on a one-year deal.
Upson joined Leicester on a one-year deal
The 35-year-old defender has moved on a free transfer after his one-year contract at Brighton and Hove Albion expired and becomes the second arrival in the space of as many days following the signing of goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
With over 400 appearances under his belt at club level, Upson adds plenty of experience to the Leicester ranks and was capped 21 times for England.
The majority of Upson's career has been spent in the top flight with the likes of Birmingham City, West Ham and Arsenal and he is relishing the chance of being back in the Premier League after Leicester romped to the Championship title.
"This is too good an opportunity to turn down," Upson told the club's official YouTube channel.
Nigel Pearson's men had the second-best defensive record in the Championship this season behind only Burnley, who also sealed automatic promotion along with Leicester.

Thursday, 22 May 2014

Manchester United GIVE UP on Toni Kroos as Louis Van Gaal looks elsewhere

toni kroos
Toni Kroos was David Moyes number 1 target

Manchester United new manager Louis Van Gaal is understood to have told the club's executive vice chairman Ed Woodward he is not interested in the German international.

Van Gaal has other midfield targets believed to include PSV Eindhoven's Kevin Strootman, Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho and Feyenoord's Jordi Clasie.

Scholes, though, thinks Kroos should be United's No 1 target.

“The first player I'd bring in is Toni Kroos," said Scholes, in his new blog for PaddyPower. "He's a top-class central midfield player but United need five or six [new players] to get anywhere near the top of the Premier League again.

"No player at Manchester United can take much credit after last season's performances, bar David de Gea. It was a disaster. The goal keeper being player of the year says a lot.

"Edward Woodward has an awful lot to prove this time that he's good enough at his job. He has to bring the players in that the new manager wants.

"It's obvious that last year he didn't manage to do that. If he doesn't we are not going to get anywhere near the top."