Really not a lot happening but this is what I've gleaned - again the usual proviso : Rumours, Lies & Innuendo with a sprinkling of the Truth
Marseille president Jean Claude Dassier insists defender Taye Taiwo will not be allowed to move to the Premier League this summer.
Taiwo, 25, has been linked with Tottenham and Liverpool, and former Marseille president Pape Diouf apparently told the player he would be allowed to move on.
However, Dassier, who replaced Diouf last summer, insists he has no intention of letting the Nigeria international go.
"It's done," he said. "He's staying with Marseille. He's a top player and he should be staying here. I don't know if the old president promised that he could leave, but that's not me."
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With Andrea Dossena having been sold in January and Fabio Aurelio departing on a free transfer last month, Hodgson is now without a recognised senior left-back with centre-back Daniel Agger having ended the season filling the position.
And the Liverpool manager said: “Yes, we are short. It’s going to be one of the priorities to find a replacement. It’s one of the jobs we have to do.â€
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FULHAM ARE confident Martin Jol will be appointed as their new manager this week, after the Dutchman signalled he is willing to leave Ajax and move to Craven Cottage. Negotiations with Jol and Ajax continued last night and although Fulham will travel to Sweden today for a pre-season training camp without a manager, the club are hopeful that Roy Hodgson’s successor will be in place for the friendly against Halmstad on Thursday.
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North London Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have been told by Ipswich Town that Connor Wickham will cost in excess of £10 million. The precocious 17-year-old has been scouted by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, but Arsenal and Spurs are believed to be the main two protagonists in the race for the Championship wonderkid having allegedly had £5 million offers rejected by manager Roy Keane.
According to the News of the Screws, the Championship club are refusing to budge on their valuation of the prodigious forward, with manager Roy Keane admitting the fans would “lynch†him if he sold the striker.
Despite Ipswich’s lofty asking price, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly undeterred in their efforts to lure the England Under-17 star to the Premier League, and the Championship is expecting two improved offers before the end of the transfer window. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all reportedly asked to be kept informed of Wickham's situation.
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Barcelona have not given up and a return to pre-season training on Monday accelerates the need for Guardiola to get his squad together.
Barca added versatile Brazilian full-back Adriano Correa from Sevilla at the weekend and have already signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia.
They have cooled on Javier Mascherano as a replacement for Yaya Toure, with the Liverpool man more likely to head for Inter Milan, and Guardiola believes Fabregas can be turned into a holding midfielder despite his brilliance for Arsenal in a more advanced role.
'It depends on the economic prospects of the club,' said the coach. 'We are looking at players with Toure's characteristics, but if we sign Cesc we can adapt him to that position and find another more attacking player.
Rosell is due to fly in to the capital on Tuesday alongside his sporting vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, according to Barcelona-based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, and a new £34million bid is expected to be presented.
The offer is £5m more than the £29m first proposal which was dismissed immediately on June 1, but it is still well of the level that is likely to interest the Gunners.
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Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has insisted he is not concerned about the future of Javier Mascherano as the midfielder continues to enjoy his post-World Cup break.
"He doesn't need to make contact with me,'' said Hodgson. "I've made contact with him telling him I'm looking forward to seeing him in training when he returns from his holiday but I did make the point in the voicemail that I didn't expect him to contact me.
"I just wanted him to know that I had been in touch and that I was thinking of him. I didn't ask him to call me back. I don't have a lot to say to him, to be honest, other than 'welcome back'.''
________________________
or the second summer in a row Ferguson insists there is no value in the transfer market. No reason to spend unwisely or waste the £80million which is supposedly still in the bank following the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
But has Ferguson really chosen to be much more prudent or is there no money left as the club creak under the weight of debt heaped on it by the Glazer family?
This, after all, is a manager who has broken the British transfer record six times, who decided Berbatov was good value at £30.75m and Juan Sebastian Veron at £28.1m.
Last summer he brought in Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen at a net cost of £19m — although the latter arrived on a free transfer. But after relinquishing the title to Chelsea at the end of a season that saw the growing threat from neighbours City, and seeing his side exit Europe at the quarter-final stage, the situation has changed for Ferguson.
Yet his stance is the same. He insists there is cash to spend, and it is a view supported by United’s last accounts which showed £95.9m on the balance sheet.
But there is a growing concern that cash will be needed to service the Glazers’ debts and Ferguson’s reliance on youth is born out of necessity rather than choice.
While £10m for Smalling is far from insignificant, and £7m has been spent on Javier Hernandez, United again look unlikely to break the £20m barrier, with Ferguson promoting from the youth ranks.
He said: ‘We have a collection of young players who have been growing up at the club like Danny Welbeck, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, and Federico Macheda.
‘If you don’t give them a chance they’re going to stagnate and move to other clubs who’ll get the benefit of the work we’ve done.’
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Tommy Smyth (sp. the Irish commentator) seems to have just tipped Liverpool to finish above Citeh this season. When asked if the Big Four still existed ...... "Liverpool are still a massive draw, so yes, still the Big Four. Many clubs have spent big money before and failed" he said. I thought he didn't like us ? Maybe he likes Citeh less.
Marseille president Jean Claude Dassier insists defender Taye Taiwo will not be allowed to move to the Premier League this summer.
Taiwo, 25, has been linked with Tottenham and Liverpool, and former Marseille president Pape Diouf apparently told the player he would be allowed to move on.
However, Dassier, who replaced Diouf last summer, insists he has no intention of letting the Nigeria international go.
"It's done," he said. "He's staying with Marseille. He's a top player and he should be staying here. I don't know if the old president promised that he could leave, but that's not me."
_______________________
With Andrea Dossena having been sold in January and Fabio Aurelio departing on a free transfer last month, Hodgson is now without a recognised senior left-back with centre-back Daniel Agger having ended the season filling the position.
And the Liverpool manager said: “Yes, we are short. It’s going to be one of the priorities to find a replacement. It’s one of the jobs we have to do.â€
________________________
FULHAM ARE confident Martin Jol will be appointed as their new manager this week, after the Dutchman signalled he is willing to leave Ajax and move to Craven Cottage. Negotiations with Jol and Ajax continued last night and although Fulham will travel to Sweden today for a pre-season training camp without a manager, the club are hopeful that Roy Hodgson’s successor will be in place for the friendly against Halmstad on Thursday.
_____________________
North London Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have been told by Ipswich Town that Connor Wickham will cost in excess of £10 million. The precocious 17-year-old has been scouted by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, but Arsenal and Spurs are believed to be the main two protagonists in the race for the Championship wonderkid having allegedly had £5 million offers rejected by manager Roy Keane.
According to the News of the Screws, the Championship club are refusing to budge on their valuation of the prodigious forward, with manager Roy Keane admitting the fans would “lynch†him if he sold the striker.
Despite Ipswich’s lofty asking price, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly undeterred in their efforts to lure the England Under-17 star to the Premier League, and the Championship is expecting two improved offers before the end of the transfer window. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all reportedly asked to be kept informed of Wickham's situation.
_____________________
Barcelona have not given up and a return to pre-season training on Monday accelerates the need for Guardiola to get his squad together.
Barca added versatile Brazilian full-back Adriano Correa from Sevilla at the weekend and have already signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia.
They have cooled on Javier Mascherano as a replacement for Yaya Toure, with the Liverpool man more likely to head for Inter Milan, and Guardiola believes Fabregas can be turned into a holding midfielder despite his brilliance for Arsenal in a more advanced role.
'It depends on the economic prospects of the club,' said the coach. 'We are looking at players with Toure's characteristics, but if we sign Cesc we can adapt him to that position and find another more attacking player.
Rosell is due to fly in to the capital on Tuesday alongside his sporting vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, according to Barcelona-based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, and a new £34million bid is expected to be presented.
The offer is £5m more than the £29m first proposal which was dismissed immediately on June 1, but it is still well of the level that is likely to interest the Gunners.
_______________________
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has insisted he is not concerned about the future of Javier Mascherano as the midfielder continues to enjoy his post-World Cup break.
"He doesn't need to make contact with me,'' said Hodgson. "I've made contact with him telling him I'm looking forward to seeing him in training when he returns from his holiday but I did make the point in the voicemail that I didn't expect him to contact me.
"I just wanted him to know that I had been in touch and that I was thinking of him. I didn't ask him to call me back. I don't have a lot to say to him, to be honest, other than 'welcome back'.''
________________________
or the second summer in a row Ferguson insists there is no value in the transfer market. No reason to spend unwisely or waste the £80million which is supposedly still in the bank following the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
But has Ferguson really chosen to be much more prudent or is there no money left as the club creak under the weight of debt heaped on it by the Glazer family?
This, after all, is a manager who has broken the British transfer record six times, who decided Berbatov was good value at £30.75m and Juan Sebastian Veron at £28.1m.
Last summer he brought in Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen at a net cost of £19m — although the latter arrived on a free transfer. But after relinquishing the title to Chelsea at the end of a season that saw the growing threat from neighbours City, and seeing his side exit Europe at the quarter-final stage, the situation has changed for Ferguson.
Yet his stance is the same. He insists there is cash to spend, and it is a view supported by United’s last accounts which showed £95.9m on the balance sheet.
But there is a growing concern that cash will be needed to service the Glazers’ debts and Ferguson’s reliance on youth is born out of necessity rather than choice.
While £10m for Smalling is far from insignificant, and £7m has been spent on Javier Hernandez, United again look unlikely to break the £20m barrier, with Ferguson promoting from the youth ranks.
He said: ‘We have a collection of young players who have been growing up at the club like Danny Welbeck, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, and Federico Macheda.
‘If you don’t give them a chance they’re going to stagnate and move to other clubs who’ll get the benefit of the work we’ve done.’
__________________________
Tommy Smyth (sp. the Irish commentator) seems to have just tipped Liverpool to finish above Citeh this season. When asked if the Big Four still existed ...... "Liverpool are still a massive draw, so yes, still the Big Four. Many clubs have spent big money before and failed" he said. I thought he didn't like us ? Maybe he likes Citeh less.
