Everton manager David Moyes has revealed that the club are ‘very close’ to agreeing a new contract for midfielder Marouane Fellaini.
The Belgium international midfielder cost a club record £15 million fee back in 2008, and has become a mainstay in the Merseyside team, impressing this season with excellent performances.
With his current deal expiring in June 2013, Moyes has been keen to extend the versatile player’s deal, and feels this is close to being completed.
“I think it is very close to getting done,” the Scottish coach told the club’s official website.
“The chairman and the chief exec have been working on it for a while and I’ve been waiting on the good news and hopefully it’s not too far away.
“He has been a really good player for us over the last few seasons and if we can keep him it will be really good,” he concluded.
Everton’s financial troubles are well documented, and the Goodison Park outfit were forced to sell star player Mikel Arteta to Arsenal in the last transfer window to balance the books.
Moyes knows that if Fellaini does not sign a new deal soon he may be forced to sell the player amid the risk of losing him on a Bosman, but an extension would be a major boost for the club.
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the advantage lies with his side after the draw with Marseille in their Champions League tie.Ferguson admitted the 0-0 stalemate at Stade Velodrome in Wednesday’s first leg was far from entertaining, but the Scot said knowledge that a win at OId Trafford in the second leg on March 15 would guarantee progress to the last eight was comforting.”The result is fine, I think it was a fair result,” Ferguson said.”I don’t think Marseille presented any great problems to us in an attacking sense, they only had one strike on goal.”Ferguson heaped praise on defensive pair Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic for quelling the French club on their own turf, allowing them no time or space to construct forward thrusts.”I thought our two centre-backs were very good. In the first half both teams cancelled each other out. Nothing really happened in the match and I don’t think it was a good match to watch,” he said.Marseille manager Didier Deschamps agreed with Ferguson that United had the upper hand heading to Old Trafford.”I am very happy with my players because they have done their best tonight as Manchester United showed what a good team they are,” Deschamps said.”Maybe we will have an opportunity to score in the second leg. It is not a bad result for us but it is a good one for United.”Marseille’s defence was able to limit the influence of English Premier League leading goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov, and Deschamps said the clean sheet was one aim of their encounter.”It was very important we didn’t concede a goal and we did that. It was a tough, hard game because Manchester United are a good team. It was not easy. We had a very good time in the second half for 20 or 25 minutes but we didn’t find a goal,” he said.”At the end it was more difficult because United changed their system to 4-4-2 and we were behind the ball a lot. They had some players missing but those who came in were excellent. It shows what a high level they are at.”
I know, I know – there’s no ‘I’ in team and football is a team game blah blah blah – but that doesn’t mean that players aren’t more valuable than others right? That’s why the fat boy at school, (e.g. me,) was always picked last in P.E and all the cool kids just so happened to be amazing a sport of some description. When it gets to international football – it’s similar. (I’m not suggesting that Capello is going to stick Lampard or Heskey in goal or anything like that; I’m just saying that despite what the managers, pundits and players say about it being about the squad rather than the individual – it is no secret that there are a number of ‘star men’ that are vital to England’s success.) Everybody knows who the most talked about ones are – but are they strictly speaking the most crucial? After spending the last 10 or so minutes studying the squad, I’ve devised my list of the most ‘crucial’ players… though I’m sure that many of yours will be different to mine.
1. Wayne Rooney
I think that this is one that we can all agree on right? Wayne has had the season of his life and he literally is our only world class striker. Crouch and Defoe are good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re nowhere as lethal in front of goal as this man can be. An injury to Rooney or a couple of unnecessary bookings for rash challenges could prove to be disastrous for England’s World Cup campaign. I’ve been saying for a few weeks now that becoming a father may have made him more mature and that he’ll be harder to wind up… let’s find out if I’m right! (By the way, yes I did deliberately leave Emile Heskey out of the ‘good strikers’ list.)
2. Ashley Cole
Hardly a popular figure across the country for his infamous off-field antics but he is without a doubt our best left-back by a country mile and arguably one of the finest in the world. The man is both sensational and direct when going forward as well as strong and brave at the back. Warnock as cover is a reasonable option but he isn’t the same. The good thing about Ashley is that he has a real desire and hunger to win and I think he’ll be one of the mentally tough ones off the field who gives those around him a lift when they need one. Probably one of my spot-kick takers too for the same reason.
3. Steven Gerrard
The new captain for the summer is 30 years old now and realises that, like many others in the England squad, this is probably his last chance to win the World Cup. A poor season in club football for Stevie G & his Liverpool chums may well work out nicely for England as he looks to prove his worth on the biggest stage of all. Something else that Stevie probably loves about playing with England is that he doesn’t have to do all the work. He knows as well as anybody else that he has struggled to carry his club form over to international level in the past but hopefully the added pressure of the armband and that ‘last chance’ feeling could be that little extra that he needs.
4. Aaron Lennon
Fortunately Azza enjoyed a good season during the 08/09 campaign as well as the one just gone; otherwise the injury that kept him out for a few months may have seen him slip through Capello’s net. I was relieved when the off-form Walcott didn’t make the 23-man squad solely because I think that Capello would’ve been tempted to pick reputation over form and that would’ve seen one of the fastest players going to South Africa be limited to substitute appearances. Wright-Phillips is quick… but Lennon is lightning quick. The fact that other areas of his game such as crossing, passing and shooting have all improved drastically over the last 2 years is such a relief – he could be a real worry for defenders in South Africa. Who knows, he may even get tripped in the box a few times… not that we’d score the resulting penalty if he did though.
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5. John Terry
The injury to Rio puts even more pressure on John to prove his doubters wrong this summer. He will need to be back to his best both on and off the pitch – although he’s not the designated captain anymore, he still has the attributes of a leader and that will never change. John is without a doubt a trooper and he’ll be willing to risk life and limb to help the country that he adores lift the World Cup next month. Whether it’s an inch-perfect last ditch tackle or blocking a shot from point-blank range – Terry can be a hero this summer. God knows he needs to be.
Having secured their spot in the Champions League for another season, Mauricio Pochettino knew that his Tottenham side could afford to take their foot off the gas somewhat on their final match of the season against Leicester.
That allowed Lucas Moura, the January signing who has struggled for gametime, the opportunity to get a rare start in Spurs’ final game at Wembley before their return to the newly-renovated White Hart Lane next season.
The Brazilian – valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt – is a clearly talented player but it would appear that Pochettino has reservations over his ability to adjust to English football as he has seldom thrown him in at the deep end since his arrival in North London.
Nevertheless, the decision to start Lucas went down well with the Spurs faithful and we’ve taken a closer look at some of the most enthusiastic reaction on Twitter to the team news…
Crystal Palace confirmed the signing of Connor Wickham from Sunderland on Monday and they through the striker straight into action in their final pre-season game against Dagenham and Redbridge, which ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Eagles.
The game wasn’t important, but the fact Alan Pardew decided to throw the striker straight in to action perhaps gives us a bigger indication to the role the former Sunderland striker will have in South London this season.
The Palace boss has already enjoyed a productive summer, signing Yohan Cabaye, Alex McCarthy, Patrick Bamford and Bakary Sako.
Wickham, who reportedly cost Palace a fee in the region of £8m, struggled to set into life in the North East and hasn’t ever replicated the form he showed for Ipswich when he broke onto the scene in the 2010/11 season, which earned him his big money move to the Premier League.
Pardew said after Palace’s 1-1 draw in a pre-season friendly at Fulham before signing Wickham on Saturday: “Connor is somebody we feel will be great for the club.”
But will Wickham be great for Palace? He hasn’t scored prolifically in his Premier League career so far, though he has scored regularly in the Championship, highlighted by an impressive eight goals in eleven games during a loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday two years ago.
However, replicating that form into the Premier League has been a problem for Wickham.
That same season, he came back and scored five goals in the last eight games to keep the Black Cats up. Other than that, though, Wickham hasn’t delivered the goods in the Premier League and has struggled to find the back of the net on a regular basis, with five goals remaining his best Premier League goals tally to date.
But it is a bit of a mystery that he hasn’t been more of a success as he’s got all the attributes to do it. He is 6ft 4in tall, really strong in the air and on the deck and can bully defences with his size and power.
But he isn’t cumbersome by any stretch. He still has a decent turn of speed to get in behind defences and once there, he is a decent finisher in front of goal.
He is built to score goals at the top level and you can’t help but feel he is yet to deliver his best, and we’ve only seen glimpses of what he is capable of in small bursts of form for Sunderland. Given time and the right environment, he may well produce the form that warranted his big move up north so early on in his career.
And Selhurst Park could well be the perfect environment for Wickham to finally reach his potential. In Pardew he has a manager who will put his faith in the striker and play towards his strengths. Wickham will be the main striker at Palace as he is arguably the best striker at the club, which is something he didn’t always enjoy at the Stadium of Light, and he found himself forced to play out wide on the left on many occasions.
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The move to Palace could well be the perfect thing for Wickham as he would be moving back down south where he is from, and it could be the fresh start he needs to kick start his career and start firing in the goals again.
In the 2012/2013 Premier League campaign at Newcastle there was a lot of vehement criticism thrown in the direction of the club’s manager Alan Pardew. The former Southampton and West Ham boss has reached his lowest ebb on Tyneside in recent months, as his charges decided to surrender to a 3-0 defeat to deadly rivals Sunderland with barely a whimper, whilst the 51 year old still insisted his side were the best team outside of the top six.
The pressure has been mounting for a significant period of time at Newcastle United as the once named ‘Pardiola’ appears to have believed his own hype amongst making a heap of costly errors both on and off the pitch within the last season. The one consistent excuse which appears to have bought the Premier League second longest serving manager a reprieve though appears to be the belief that the business model installed at Newcastle United is failing to provide Pardew with the tools to succeed. Is this a legitimate reason for the club’s drastic fall from grace as they plummeted from 5th place in May 2012 to 16th in May 2013?
This argument is one which several have used to justify the failure of Newcastle United, myself included, but it is one which is falling upon extremely weak foundations. The only way that Alan Pardew can in the short term quell the unrest at St James’s Park is by signing strength in depth in all areas of the side. Even if Pardew fulfils this objective, is this even enough? Or has the tide already turned?
It is clear that several supporters see their manager as a puppet to the club’s owner Mike Ashley. They see the mediation and motivational skills as irrelevant if Pardew can’t ultimately ensure that his playing staff deliver on matchdays. What appears to be far more important is the style of play which the Magpies are offering. The direct style of play was miserable for the fans to endure when Sam Allardyce was the at the helm, let alone when it has been ineffective under Pardew. The use of Papiss Cisse as a target man is a tactic which immediately needs to be disregarded.
The personnel Pardew already has at his disposal have superb potential. Hatem Ben Arfa is a talent that can capture the imagination of all his supporters at any given moment, whilst the ability of players such as Debuchy, Cabaye and Sissoko offer reason to be optimistic that the Magpies can succeed next term. They need to be given direction and licence to develop within the system that suits their playing style.
If Pardew is to have a chance of winning the supporters back around, he needs to silence his pleas for help from Mike Ashley channeled through the media. It is extremely naive for the Magpies boss to think that the fans believe they can influence their owner. There is an acceptance on Tyneside that the Sports Direct Owner has own agenda which he will carry out regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of his actions. Alan Pardew needs to realise that he must handle what is within his control if he is to succeed. That is ensuring that the club play attractive football, which will give the fans a chance to warm to their boss again like they once had.
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It may seem highly unlikely to many in the North East that Pardew can restore his ailing reputation, but it is not impossible. He survived in his first season in charge with Peter Lovenkrands, Nile Ranger and Shefki Kuqi, struggling to as the man at the helm would say “get him over the line”, and the squad has certainly improved since then.
The current business model at Newcastle United may be a discussion relevant to the future of the club in years to come. The brutal honest truth now though is the supporters are far more worried about the desperation on the field of play that they witnessed at the end of this season, than the financial solvency of the club in three or four years time.
As reported by The Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are interested in signing Swansea City defender Kyle Bartley this summer.
Bartley had a successful spell on loan at Leeds last season, striking up a formidable partnership with Pontus Jansson in the heart of the Elland Road side’s defensive line.
Struggling this season to get regular first-team football at the Swans, a return to Leeds could be tempting for the 26-year-old.
Leeds could certainly do with the defensive improvement having conceded more than all 13 of the teams currently above them in the English Championship table.
Fans are eager for the deal to happen, believing signing the defender could be the start of an exciting summer as the club look to build a squad capable of competing for play-off positions next term.
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Will his return see an improvement in Leeds’ fortunes?
Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…
Regardless of whether you believe Harry Kane will go to Manchester United this summer or not, it’s a story doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Some say a £40million move to Old Trafford would be a step up too soon for the England international, who has only had half a season of success in the Premier League so far. Others, though, believe he’s the kind of striker Louis Van Gaal should be targeting in the summer.
So we booted up our copy of Football Manager 2015 to see just how well he does as a Manchester United player, and the results speak for themselves…
The arrival of Kane from Spurs didn’t mark the end of Luis Van Gaal’s summer business, having already secured Memphis Depay from PSV, he also brought in Wesley Sneijder, Jan Vertonghen, Adriano of Barcelona and his Camp Nou teammate Marc Bartra.
Oh, and a dramatic u-turn mid-way through July saw Falcao turn up at Old Trafford again, snubbing Mourinho’s Chelsea to sign a permanent deal at United.
Falcao’s return and Van Gaal’s failure to offload Javier Hernandez meant Kane was seemingly low down the pecking order, with Rooney and Van Persie also vying for first-team opportunities.
So it’s no real surprise that it took Kane until the end of November to register his first United goal, netting the first in a 2-0 win away at West Brom.
Kane then went on to become United’s cup competition striker, and he played a vital role in the Red Devils’ route to Capital One Cup glory. His 72nd minute goal in the second-leg of the semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday ensured his side went through to the final on away goals after a 3-3 stalemate over two legs.
Then Kane banged in the first goal of a 4-1 battering of Chelsea in the final to claim the first piece of silverware of his pro career.
Kane took his chances whenever he could and scored sporadically throughout the rest of the campaign, ending the season with 10 in all competitions (two in the Premier League) – sixth in the Old Trafford charts that season, behind Falcao (29), Depay (17), Rooney (14), Mata (14) and Di Maria (12).
SEE ALSO >> FM15 Stories – Falcao flops at Chelsea, Mourinho sacked
Two of those came in both legs of United’s quarter-final victory over PSG in the Champions League, though they were stopped by Real Madrid in the semi-final.
As you can see above, Kane only managed two starts in the Premier League and was mostly used as a substitute. He ended the season with 25 appearances in all competitions, 15 of which were off the bench, which means his return of ten goals wasn’t particularly disappointing.
His highlight of the season, despite his important goals in the Capital One Cup and Champions League, was being named in one of April’s Team of the Week after helping United to a 3-1 home win over Watford.
Man United wrapped up the Premier League title by beating rivals City to the post by just three points, though Kane will not be remembered as a vital member of that title winning side.
At the end of the campaign Kane is immediately linked with a move back to Tottenham who, despite ending the season in fifth, appeared to have missed his presence up front. They replaced him with Fabio Borini in the summer, but he could only manage three Premier League goals.
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Spurs did bring in Salomon Rondon in January to help chip in with the goals, but he broke his foot soon after arriving in north London and was sidelined for 2 months. Oops.
So it’s little wonder Spurs were keen on bringing Kane back home after he had little impact during Man United’s double winning season. Perhaps a loan deal might be in the offing. Shame we’ll never find out…
A lawyer who helped create the Bosman ruling in 1995 is to challenge UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play regulations in court.
French lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont has lodged an official complaint with the European Commission in opposition to UEFA’s new rules, due to come into play next season.
He is representing football agent Daniel Striani, who represents a number of high-profile players across Europe, including those in the Premier League.
Europe’s governing body hope the new regulations, which sets limits on the amount of losses a club can make, will ensure all sides will eventually break even.
They also hope it will keep wages under control and prevent clubs from falling into administration or even liquidation under the weight of heavy debts. Clubs who fail to comply could ultimately face expulsion from European competitions such as the Champions League.
However, Dupont believes the regulations will hamper the growth and development of smaller clubs and maintain the status quo, playing into the hands of teams such of Manchester United, who already have large stadiums and substantial commercial income.
It would also prevent the rise of a club like Manchester City, whose owner Sheikh Mansour bankrolled an almost unprecedented spending spree on players that ultimately delivered them the 2012 Premier League title.
“A club owner is prohibited from overspending even if such overspending aims at growing the club,” he said in a statement.
Dupont was part of the legal team that defeated UEFA and the European Commission in 1995 over Belgian midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman’s desire to move clubs at the end of his contract.
They challenged football’s transfer rules at the European Court, citing restraint of trade, and helped create the Bosman ruling which allows players to move clubs freely at the end of their contract.
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The European Commission confirmed it had received a complaint but would make no further comment on the case.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made a handful of changes for the visit of Stoke City at Anfield this afternoon.
With one eye on next Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg, the German coach made five changes.
Sadio Mane, James Milner, Dejan Lovren, Andy Robertson and injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made way, making room for Danny Ings, Georginio Wijnaldum, Joe Gomez, Alberto Moreno and Ragnar Klavan.
Overall, it was a lacklustre performance from the Reds, who dominated the ball but failed to get past Stoke’s defence as the match ended goalless.
One man who received criticism from the fans was Gomez, who recently lost his position at right-back to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Today, the 20-year-old – valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt – was included in the lineup, but struggled defensively and when moving forward.
The performance will not go down as one of Liverpool’s best, but they were unlucky not to be given a penalty late in the second half when the ball struck the arm of Erik Pieters.
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Despite the injustice, plenty of the fans’ focus was on Gomez’s disappointing display.