Werder Bremen sign former Wigan striker
Franco di Santo has signed a three-year deal with the German side Werder Bremen.
The general manager of Werder Bremen Thomas Eichin has told his club’s website about how excited he is with the signing and that he thinks di Santo will be able to develop well there.
“We had been in the hunt for a robust striker with experience in a big league.
“We are very confident that we have found a good solution in Franco Di Santo.
“He is experienced but still possesses enough potential for development in order to make a great leap forwards.
“He wants to make it to the 2014 World Cup with Argentina and we would be very happy if he gained the necessary attention playing in Bremen, for him to achieve that goal.”
Franco di Santo admitted he is ready for a new challenge, he said: “Werder have a very good name and the Bundesliga is a very attractive league. I want to show what I am capable of here”.
Viktor Johansson
No offers for Cabaye, according to Alan Pardew
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has reiterated his desire to keep midfielder Yohan Cabaye at the club for as long as possible and has also revealed that no formal transfer offers have been made for the Frenchman as of yet.
The Toon playmaker has been strongly linked with a return to his homeland of France amid speculation that mega-rich Paris Saint Germain and AS Monaco were both interested in signing the former Lille man.
Not only is there interest from France, both Manchester United and Tottenham have also shown some interest in the 27-year-old, but Newcastle are adamant on not selling their star-asset to another Premier League side.
Manager Alan Pardew is keen to keep hold of the midfield-man, but he is also very aware that a late bid could come in from a club which could see them lose Cabaye nearing the end of the transfer window and that is a thought that worries the Newcastle boss.
Pardew told the Evening Chronicle on Cabaye and a possible late switch: “That’s a worry.
“We’ve had that before with Andy Carroll and it was a tricky time to lose Andy when we did. We managed to overcome that. But you don’t want to make it a habit.
“For me, of course I want to keep him.
“If one of the big clubs comes with a massive offer we will have to react to that.
“As it stands at the moment there have still been no offers. He remains our player and myself and the fans would love to see him stay come September 2, and still be in a black and white shirt.”
Pardew then added: “The speculation about Cabaye is right.
“He’s a top player and I wouldn’t expect no less. It’s good for his confidence.
“He’s not caused me one problem and he’s worked really hard. His professionalism has been brilliant and our fans need to know that.”
Queens Park Rangers have bid for Scott Parker accepted
According to Sky Sources, Championship side Queens Park Rangers have had a £2million bid accepted from Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur for English midfielder Scott Parker.
QPR manager Harry Redknapp, who worked with Parker during his stint as Tottenham manager, is confident that they can strike a deal which sees the midfield-man drop down a division, but it is thought that the 32-year-old is happy to do so in order to link up with Redknapp once again.
All that is left to complete in the deal is the personal side of things, so that means Parker will travel to QPR in order to undergo a medical as well as complete and finalise personal terms with the Loftus Road club.
However, things aren’t that simple for QPR as it looks like Premier League side Fulham are also interested in Scott Parker and may make a last-ditch attempt to hijack the move as Martin Jol eyes midfield reinforcement.
After the news broke that Fulham may be interested in the midfielder, QPR assistant Kevin Bond revealed that their chances of signing Parker would decrease as he knows the Premier League is what every player wants.
He said in the Evening Standard: “If a Premier League club came in for him, that is the holy grail for players, so it will be difficult.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
Steven Gerrard hits back at Rio Ferdinand
Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard has hit back at comments made by Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand about the current England squad after the former-international claimed the country lack ‘an identity’.
The attack from Ferdinand came on Monday after he revealed that the first-team squad don’t have any connection with the U-21’s, U-20’s or the U-18’s and the United defender also admitted that he wants England to miss out on a few serious competitions so that they can take that time reinforce a serious identity.
Below you can ready what was said by the Red Devil’s centre-back.
‘It’s going to take someone with big balls to come and grab England by the scruff of the neck and say, “This is what we are going to do and it might take 10 years to do it”.
‘We might not qualify for the World Cup or European Championship, but I would rather not qualify for one or two tournaments knowing, in 10 years’ time, we will have an identity we can be proud of.
‘I don’t see the connection between the senior team and the Under 21s or the Under 17s or the Under 20s — and that doesn’t bode well for the England team.
‘There is a new system being put in place and St George’s Park is part of that. We started to see something when Glenn Hoddle was in charge, a bit of an identity with free-flowing football.
‘Since then I don’t think we have had a real identity. If all the names were taken off the back of the shirts and the colours were changed, you couldn’t tell an England team.
‘You look at an Italian team, a Dutch team, a Spanish team, a German team or a Brazilian team, without seeing the names on the shirts you would identify them because they’re working from a script.
‘You could put an Under 16 lad into the senior Spanish team or Italian team, he might not have the attributes in terms of physique and speed to be able to deal with it, but positionally I’m sure he’d know what to do because they’re taught that, day in, day out.’
Since then, Steven Gerrard has given his thoughts on Ferdinand’s comments and he has admitted that he doesn’t pay too much attention to what the United-man has to say about England.
‘I’m not interested in what Rio has got to say about this group of players.
‘When you play for England, there are always a lot of opinons outside the group, especially in a World Cup year.
‘There will be more people voicing opinons but when we’re inside, we don’t take much notice of what is being said on the outside.
‘This team does have an identity. We’ve a good team, some top players and I’m confident we can prove it this year.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
Peterborough United reject Lee Tomlin transfer request
Peterborough United Football Club have confirmed that forward Lee Tomlin handed in a written transfer request on Wednesday morning, only for it to be rejected by the club.
The Posh were relegated from the Championship last season after final-day heartbreak away at Crystal Palace and they were expected to lose a whole-host of first-team players, but fortunately for the club, they have only lost striker Dwight Gayle, who they have replaced with Britt Assombalonga.
The news broke earlier on today after Peterborough’s chairman Darragh MacAnthony took to social networking site Twitter to confirm that the forward will be staying on at the club and will be helping them fight for promotion back to the second-tier of English football.
MacAnthony tweeted: Obviously L Tomlins agent has been speaking to the press as all classy agents like him do.He is not for sale & any T request is turned down!
Jack Wilshere will be England captain, insists Steven Gerrard
England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard believes Arsenal star Jack Wilshere will easily win 100 international caps for his country and will also go on to captain the team one day.
The 21-year-old is one of England’s brightest hopes for the future but has only been restricted to seven caps so far due to a serious injury picked up in the summer of 2011 which made him miss 17-months of his career.
However it looks like his injury days are behind him and his international team-mate, Gerrard, believes that he will one day be the captain of his country.
“I’ve got no doubt he can,” said Gerrard, when asked if Wilshere could succeed him.
“Jack is so good I am sure when he gets to my age he will be in my position with the armband on talking about another 100-cap player.
“It’s his quality, his example in training every day. He wants to learn, he loves England.
“He ticks a lot of boxes when it comes down to other players following his lead. I’ve been in a similar position, I missed a World Cup and many caps.
“I’m really paranoid about putting too much pressure on any player but he is that good there is nothing for him to worry about.”
Wilshere has also spoken out about the possibility of being England captain one day and he has admitted that it is a dream of his to lead his country.
He said: “It’s every kid’s dream to captain your country.
“I grew up watching David Beckham. He was my role model.
“Playing for England is the pinnacle. Missing matches has not been a good experience.”
The two midfielders are preparing for their international friendly against Scotland that takes places tonight.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
Arsenal planning double swoop for PSV youngsters
The Gunners have only signed Yaya Sanogo this summer and now also looks set to miss out on Luis Suarez, who’s been reported to change his mind and now want’s to stay at Anfield.
But according to talkSPORT, Arsene Wenger has now found intrest in two PSV Eindhoven youngsters.According to the reports, the youngsters Georginio Wijnaldum and Zakaria Bakkali are already being scouted by The Gunners.
The 17-year-old Belgian Zakaria Bakkali is seen as one of the hottest young prospects in European football, and became the youngest to ever score a hattrick in Eredivisie. At the same time, the 22-year-old Georginio Wijnaldum have already been capped by Holland at senior level.
Atletico Madrid challenge Milan for Ljajic
The Fiorentina playmaker have during the latest week’s been reported to agreed a deal with Milan, but at the same time Fiorentina have told that they won’t sell their playmaker to the Rossoneris. And maybe that opens the door for a La Liga move for the playmaker.
According to Punto Pelota and AS, the Viola youngster is on the radar of the Spanish capital club Atlético Madrid. The Serbia international’s move is, however, only possible if the Madrd club first off-load Adrian.
Manchester City’s pursuit of Pepe continues
Manchester City have been linked with the Real Madrid defender Pepe during the whole summer, and according to Marca their intrest is still alive.
According to the Spanish newspaper, the Premier League- outfit is desperate in the chase after a new defender, after the unlucky injury for Matija Nastasic. The reports say that the English club sees the Portugal international as their main target in this transfer window.
But Real Madrid is reported to not be willing to sell the 30-year-old defender. But at the same time, Los Blancos is said to be ready to listen to offers over 30 million euro.
Gareth Bale will not play for Tottenham again
Gareth Bale have been chased by Real Madrid the whole summer, and reports have even said that Los Blancos was going in with a world record bid worth 100 million euro for the Wales international.
At the same time, the 24-year-old star have not played a single game in the Asian tour and not in the friendly matches against Monaco and Espanyol. And now, The Sun reports that the 24-year-old will refuse to play for the Premier League side, after becoming disillusioned with the chairman Daniel Levy.
“I will not wear the Spurs shirt again,” Gareth Bale have told his teammates according to The Sun.
And a source close to the Brittish club have told the tabloid that: “He is confused and somewhat bitter. Gareth cannot understand why Spurs would shut down the deal.”
