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Manchester United in Mexican contract dilemma!

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When Javier Hernandez joined Real Madrid on loan in the summer, it was widely speculated that the diminutive Mexican would stay on Spanish shores and sign a lucrative contract with the European giants.

Despite netting 3 times during limited playing time this season in Madrid, reports are coming out that Real boss, Carlo Ancelotti, will not be offering Hernandez a permanent stay at the end of his loan.

This puts United in somewhat of a quandry. Do they offer the Mexican a permanent deal, and welcome his return to Old Trafford at the end of the season, or do they lose out completely and allow him to leave on a free transfer. Hernandez is in a position to sign a pre-contract with any interested parties as soon as January. 

This news will alert Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham, who are all known to be keen admirers of the forward from Guadalajara.

United signed the Mexican for £6million in 2010, under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson. Although thought of as cheap at the time, he has never quite secured a permanent spot in the starting XI, despite many a good performance. 

Hernandez plays with his nickname, Chicharito (Spanish: Little Pea), on the back of his shirt. It looks like United may have to start printing those shirts again soon.

 

Written by Michael Horne

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelHorne777

Liverpool looking favourite for Man Utd target!

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Simon Mignolet is not having a good time of it. He has been regularly singled out in recent Liverpool outings as one of the main reasons the Reds are continually coming up short. Kop boss Brendan Rodgers is growing a little impatient with his Belgian stopper, and is looking into Europe for an elite replacement.

Despite a relatively good performance against Stoke City this weekend, and one particularly memorable save, this week will be remembered for his blunder in the Champions League against Ludogorets in freezing Bulgaria.

Argentinian international Sergio Romero could be just the ticket. Liverpool are in talks with the 27-year-old’s agents, and are confident of a January move to bring him to the North West of England. Romero is currently playing in Serie A for Sampdoria, but is reported to want a move to the Premier League.

Manchester United are still keeping an eye on Romero, although it is now looking more probable that Victor Valdes may move to Old Trafford.

 

Written by Michael Horne

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelHorne777

Porto tell Premier League duo Jackson Martinez will cost £40m

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Porto have told Arsenal and Liverpool that forward Jackson Martinez will cost £40m.

The striker was in the Colombian squad for this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, scoring twice in a 4-1 win against Japan.

He has 53 goals from 70 games for the  Portuguese side, and this prolific form has attracted the attention of Liverpool and Arsenal.

Liverpool have struggled for a regular striker since selling Luis Suarez to Barcelona, while Arsenal have been beset by injuries this term.

Martinez is nicknamed Cha Cha Cha, for his fancy dance moves on the pitch. If either club can afford the fee, fans may be seeing these moves on a Premier League pitch soon.

Steve Osborne              @SteveOsborne23

Neville: “Courtois will be world’s best!”

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Former Manchester United star Gary Neville has earmarked Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois to replace Manuel Neuer as the world’s best goalkeeper in the next two years.

Courtois has already replaced Petr Cech, considered by many to be one of the best keepers in Europe already, as the first choice shot-stopper at Chelsea after moving from Athletico Madrid.

Despite Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Neuer being shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or award this year following his consistent performances for both club and country, Neville believes Courtois will eventually overtake him within the coming years.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Neville said: ‘Courtois has the talent to become the best goalkeeper in the world in the next 12 to 18 months.

I believe he will go past Neuer. The player of the season so far, for me, is not Sergio Aguero but Chelsea’s new No1, who has brought a smile to my face. And not many goalkeepers make me smile.

In the Premier League, the ultimate test of physicality, it was almost a hallelujah moment to see how he dealt with crosses and set-pieces.

My stance when a ball travels through the air into the box is that there has to be an excellent reason why it does not end up belonging to the keeper.

Watch Courtois’ starting positions when the ball is crossed. As he steps out he has already anticipated where the crosser is aiming it and is standing there already when it arrives.

It is a fantastic ability. I will always argue for catching over punching and Courtois destroys the myth that punching is always a better option.’

 

Samuel Skuse

 

 

Rodgers: Reds will ‘absolutely’ qualify for Champions League!

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Brendan Rodgers has revealed his ‘inherent belief’ that Liverpool will still qualify for the Champions League. The Reds currently lie in 12th place in the Premier League table ahead of their home match against Stoke on Saturday after losing six times already this term,their worst start to Premier League season for 22 years.

Despite this, Rodgers believes that his team can turn their fortunes around, get the right results and climb back up the table.

I have an inherent belief that we can still make the top four – absolutely,’ he said.

I know what we are all capable of here. For whatever reason, it hasn’t happened for us yet but I said to the players the other night our standards will go up after the game against Ludogorets.

Thankfully no matter how we have been, we are still within touching distance and that is the initial aim. Fourth and then moving forward.

If that is the aim – and we are only five points off it – then that gives me belief we have every chance of doing it.’


Samuel Skuse

 

 

Chelsea fork out £16.7m to agents for landing big signings

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Chelsea have seen a number of top signings arrive at Stamford Bridge over the past two years, whilst also seeing fan favourites Juan Mata and David Luiz leave the club.

Figures released by the Premier League earlier this week have shown that Chelsea lead the way in terms of agent fees spending an incredible £16,771,328 during this summer as well as last winter.

The Blues completed the signings of Matic, Mohamed Salah and Kurt Zouma last Janaury as well as bringing in Costa, Fabregas and Filipe Luis in the summer.

The three Atletico Madrid men were brought in whilst Luiz and Romelu Lukaku were sold for a combined £68m.


Chelsea players signed in last two windows:

Nemanja Matic (£21m)

Mohamed Salah (£11m)

Kurt Zouma (£12.5m)

Cesc Fabregas (£30m)

Diego Costa (£32m)

Mario Pasalic (£3m)

Filipe Luis (£16m)

Didier Drogba (£0)

Loic Remy (£10.5m)



By Phil Wellbrook

Rewinding The Clock On Torres

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Firstly they said something in regards to his knee injury in 2009-2010

What set off this entire scene was the way that Fernando experienced several knee injuries amid 2009 and 2010 that left him on the sidelines for the most part of the season.

Guillem Balague and some other generally regarded writers, later uncovered that amid this time of time, Liverpool decided to give Fernando either false or deficient data about the progress of his injuries, the only purpose of this being that he would play more, as he was the team’s most important and consistent player then, and the one who’d been single handedly winning matches for them.

Fernando got two knee surgeries in the space of four months amid that same season, and amid his restoration process, he stretched himself as far as possible to make it to the World Cup. A couple of weeks after the fact, he got a ring from Del Bosque to go to South Africa.

Spain lost their first match against Switzerland (a match Fernando didn’t begin), which made Del Bosque re-shape his arrangements, and he included Fernando in the beginning eleven for the following diversion.

Fernando still had some pestering torment, however his craving to be fit and disposition through his restoration procedure empowered the Spain therapeutic staff to provide for him the green light to play for whatever remains of the competition. His exhibitions weren’t great and Del Bosque dropped him for Pedro.

He didn’t begin in the last, yet he played the additional time and got included in the play that prompt Iniesta’s objective.

Amid the diminishing minutes of the match, Spain cleared a ball, which made Fernando sprint through the pitch, fall and get yet an alternate terrible groin injury. Not long after that, the official blew the last whistle and Spain got to be World Champions.

Liverpool sacked Rafa Benitez and designated Roy Hodgson, however his poor run of results created the holders to sack him also and in came Kenny Dalglish. The majority of this happened between the mid year of 2010 and January 2011.

Hmm…they notice his exchange to Chelsea and the dull mystery behind of it.

On January 31th, Liverpool sold Fernando to Chelsea. He needed to leave and (in spite of what’s been said by both the club and most media outlets), Liverpool needed to offer him also.

The Liverpool medicinal staff had known for some time that Fernando’s knee was still could be better. The two surgeries he’d experienced and his surged endeavor to recoup could end up being deadly for him. Be that as it may Liverpool immovably accepted that if Chelsea were mindful of that, they may not have any desire to purchase him any longer.

The most recent day of the exchange window arrived, and despite the fact that Fernando had voiced his longing to leave around three or four prior weeks and submitted an exchange ask for not long after, Liverpool just made it known to the general public on January 29th, two days before deadline. Luis Suárez was close to signing for them and as the Fernando move was imminent, they lined up Andy Carroll as his replacement.

Torres arrived at Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window with only a few minutes to go until midnight. Journalists (such as Duncan Castles and Ben Jacobs) have stated that Fernando Torres didn’t go through a complete medical at Chelsea as the clock was ticking and he had to sign his contract ASAP. So, Liverpool didn’t tell the Blues about his condition, but Chelsea didn’t test him right away either, just concluded from very superficial scans that he was “lack of match fitness”.

a Liverpool staff member after Torres made the switch to Chelsea said: “When Fernando left Melwood that day we were conscious of the possibility that he might come back”, because they didn’t even think he’d pass the medical at Chelsea. But as there was no full medical and Chelsea never learned about his condition that day, Fernando signed for them and stayed.

He arrived at London with a shotty knee and to this day he hasn’t recovered from it. Liverpool knew this but chose to not disclose the information to Chelsea because they wanted to sell him and cash in while they could. Since then, Chelsea has found out about the problem, and hopefully has treated him accordingly. Ben Jacobs (who interviewed Rafa Benitez and talked about this situation with him), qualified Fernando’s injury as “degenerative”, and said the issue “has been apparent since before he moved from Liverpool, making that deal a fab bit of business”.

Clearly mentally and Physical Torres has burnt out, (for the time being) clearly without the mind games from Club bosses and injuries, We can only hope to see the old Torres firing into the back of the net again

So what do you think? Leave us a message below or hit me up on twitter @SteveMilneNews

Mourinho ends Chelsea speculation

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The Blues have been linked with Barcelona star Lionel Messi this week, with Spanish reports claiming he is unhappy at the Camp Nou.

But when asked about the validity of these claims ahead of his side’s game against Sunderland, Mourinho said: “Your world has changed so much that our world has changed. It’s so easy to have untruths circulating.

“Some people put news without confirming. Speak about rumours like they are true. It’s obviously not true.”

It is the second time in a week that the Chelsea boss has had to dismiss rumours, the first being that Chelsea keeper Petr Cech was set for a switch to Arsenal.



By Phil Wellbrook

Arsenal enter Varane race

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Arsenal are the latest side to be linked with a move for Real Madrid centre-back, Raphael Varane, making them the third English team keen on the Frenchman.

The Gunners, who are in dire need of more defensive players, have entered the race alongside Chelsea and Manchester United for the young defender, and all are ready to make formal moves in January with Varane’s game-time at the Bernabeu still not improving.

Varane is behind the likes of Sergio Ramos and Pepe in Carlo Ancelotti’s side and after telling the club in the Summer he’s  unhappy with limited first-team football, he is likely to leave the club after nothing has changed.

Jose Mourinho, who gave Varane his chance at Madrid, once labelled the Frenchman as the ‘best young centre-back in the world’, and he is desperate to bring him to Stamford Bridge as a long-term John Terry replacement.

However, he now faces competition from both Arsene Wenger and Louis Van Gaal who are both in need of new defenders due to injuries.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Jose Mourinho rules out Messi move

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Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, has rubbished reports claiming The Blues are ready to sign FC Barcelona star, Lionel Messi.

According to reports, Chelsea were set to launch a staggering £200million bid for the Argentinian international, with his future at the Nou Camp in doubt, but in his press conference ahead of the weekend, Mourinho confirmed the speculation was rubbish.

‘Your world has changed so much that our world has changed. It’s so easy to have untruths circulating,’ he said.

‘Some people put news without confirming. Speak about rumours like they are true. It’s obviously not true.’

Reports and sources in Spain are claiming that Messi WILL leave Barca in the near-future, but it seems like Chelsea will not be the ones forking out the substantial price-tag for the world’s best player.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Arsenal and Liverpool need to ‘Break the Bank’ to secure Isco deal!

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Isco coming to the Premier League? £64million says not. That’s a lot of money.

Rumours are abound that French giants, Paris Saint Germaine, are prepared to offer that amount to secure the services of the Real Madrid star. Arsenal and Liverpool are also following the versatile midfielder…..but £64million? 

Real Madrid themselves are preparing high profile bids for David Alaba from Bayern Munich, and Lucas Romero from Cruziero, and therefore need to offload some of their prize assets. With Gareth Bale soon back on the horizon, will Real boss Carlo Ancelotti be prepared to lose Isco? Reports say yes.

Isco is only 23-years-old, and is already at one of the biggest club teams in the world…but does he want to leave? That will depend on how much the manager wants him to stay, no doubt. A conversation we won’t be privvy to.

The Spanish star would clearly be a bonus to any English club. If Arsenal or Liverpool can persuade their respective owners to match the £64million offered by PSG, then Isco could be on the way to North London or listening to the dolcit tones of Lennon and McCartney for the next few years.

Let’s wait and see, said the walrus.

 

Written by Michael Horne

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelHorne777

 

Layvin Kurzawa reveals his dream Manchester United move

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Monaco defender Layvin Kurzawa has revealed that his dream move would be that of one to Manchester United. 

The 22-year-old has been a prime target for both Chelsea and Manchester City, but has revealed that he has his heart set on a move to Old Trafford. 

Kurzawa’s statement recently could be seen as a come and get me plea to United boss Louis Van Gaal, who is keen to strengthen his defensive options once the January window opens. 

Reports in France earlier this week suggested that Manchester City were in pole-position to land the Monaco defender, having previously invited him to attend the European Cup tie at home to Bayern Munich. 

However, he has issued a bitter blow to his potential suitors, with Kurzawa stating that he hopes to play for Manchester United one day. 

He said: “The club of my dreams? Manchester United. One of my goals is to play for them one day.” 

Kurzawa recently won his first cap for the full French national team, having impressed in the full-back position for Monaco. 

by Ben Reardon 

@BenReardon1


 

Hazard dreams of being invincible

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Chelsea are currently sitting at the top of the Barclays Premier league and six points clear of second placed Southampton. 

The blues are also ubeaten after twelve games and Eden Hazard is dreaming of going the whole league season without a loss, something which has only ever been done once in the history of the English top flight, back in 2003-04 when Arsenal last won the Premier league.

Talking to The evening standard Hazard said “Twelve league matches unbeaten is good but we want to make it more.”

“We are a very good team this season. Everyone wants to be champions and why not unbeaten? It’s a good dream if we can stay until the end of the season with zero defeats.”

“It’s not the most important thing, we just want to play and win games and be in first position at the end. We all came back fresh from going away to play with the international teams.”

“Everyone wants to play and to win every game. The season is not finished, it’s still long.”

“We have to play the same way as we have been if we want to be champions.”

Written by Connor Breen

@Connor_breen12

Real Madrid to deny Chelsea and United of Brazilian Lucas Silva

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Reports from Spain claim Real Madrid will make a January move for the highly rated Lucas Silva from Brazilian side Cruzeiro.

Chelsea and Manchester United were both interested in the defensive midfielder, and were told they’d have to pay £12 million to secure his services.

But now Real Madrid look set to leave the two Premier League clubs disappointed, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.

The publication reports that Carlo Ancelotti is keen for negotiations over a move to begin as soon as possible.

Having sold Xabi Alonso in the summer, and with Sami Khedira set to leave the Bernabeu, Ancelotti thinks Silva could be an important addition to bolster his squad.

Manchester United scouts have been monitoring the 21 year old’s progress, and will have been impressed by his range of passing, reminiscent of Paul Scholes.

By Joseph Richardson

@Jj147Joseph

 

No distractions for Hazard

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Chelsea star Eden Hazard has insisted he is focussed on his club’s season and is not letting anything distract him. 

After a great start to the season for Hazard, Chelsea are currently top of the table and unbeaten which has attracted a lot of interest from Europe’s top clubs such as Real Madrid and PSG. 

“I don’t listen to any of the transfer talk,” the 23-year-old told the London Evening Standard.

“My focus is only on Chelsea and I want to be a champion this season. I think last season was very good [when they finished third] but in the end we lost one or two important games.

“This season we have added Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa and they have helped me a lot and the team. They are really good players.

“But I don’t score a lot of goals. I score sometimes but not enough. If I want to be up there with Ronaldo and Messi, I need to score in every game.” 

Written by Connor Breen

@Connor_breen12