SerieA front runners AC Milan are lining up a double swoop this summer for Porto’s Brazilian duo, Fernando and Hulk.
The reports in Italian paper Corriere dello Sport suggest AC Milan chief Ariedo Braida has outlined the Porto pair as his main transfer targets for the summer.Milan’s aging squad is in need of an injection of fresh talent if they want to make an assault on The Champions League next season. Luring Fernando and Hulk away from the Estadio do Dragao over the summer would certainly augment the Rossonari’s credentials
Fernando would be seen as a long term replacement for Andrea Pirlo, while Hulk’s physical presence and fierce shooting ability would add power to Milan’s attack.
Porto’s resistance will be tested if the Milanese giants come in with hefty concrete offers for their two star performers. The temptation of playing in front of 80,000 supporters in the San Siro in a top league may prove sufficient to unsettle the players.
It was only last week AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi reportedly wanted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. The link to Hulk and Fernando seems a much more realistic prospect.
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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp hopes the Premier League will ratify the £8million transfer of Netherlands international midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart to White Hart Lane.
Redknapp made a late move for the Real Madrid star on transfer deadline day after hearing that the 27-year-old's proposed transfer to Bayern Munich had fallen through.
However, the Premier League have as yet refused to sanction the transfer and are examining the circumstances of the switch.
"He's a great passer of the ball, he's a top footballer, he will join in here and be a big plus," said Redknapp.
"It was a last-minute job. When I came in on Tuesday morning it wasn't something I was looking to do.
"I think he was going to Bayern Munich on Monday for £18million and suddenly he became much cheaper.
"They let me know around 1600 BST that he was available for £8million and, for that money, he is a top player who will definitely improve us. The fee has come crashing down because the deadline is so close."
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Van der Vaart moved to Real from Hamburg two years ago and went on to score 11 goals in 68 appearances for the La Liga giants.
He helped his country reach the World Cup final in July and came on as a substitute in the Final defeat to Spain.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The debate about which league is the best in the world is boring, but that doesn’t mean that the arguments for the Premier League are irrelevant. The major draw of the Premier League over other leagues such as La Liga has been that, over the last decade, in England the league has been more competitive. And it’s true; in comparison to the duopoly in Spain our league is competitive. The recent influx of foreign money to has made the title race and competition for Champions League places a tighter affair and the same can be said of clubs further down the table too such as Queens Park Rangers. However, despite this perceived increased competitive edge certain facts suggest that this isn’t true.
For example at Christmas last year Wolves were only a point away from their current total yet they were bottom of the league. This year they sit in seventeenth , two points ahead of the drop zone and five clear of last year’s position. Obviously this alone is not the be all and end all but there are other issues too. You can look at the league and see very little between the teams but it was like that last year and what we can take from this is that all of the teams who were in the relegation zone last year would currently sit above it this year. The difference is that teams from both the upper and lower halves of the table have been performing worse.
We also have to consider what it is to be ‘competitive’. Is competition within our own league enough to make the fact that the league is competitive a positive attribute? Or has the demise of both of the Manchester club’s European campaigns helped to emphasise the demise of the strength of quality in English football?
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When a small team beats a top club we all like to say that our league is so exciting and anyone can beat anyone, and this is true, but when you have the top clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all conceding five or more goals against their rivals in a single game you have to come to the conclusion that it is less a case of the bottom teams getting better and more a case of the top teams getting worse.
Yes, Manchester City’s rise has made the top of the table more competitive, as has Spurs’, but does that sentiment ring true if the clubs who were previously thought of as ‘top’ clubs appear to be in some sort of demise? And what sort of statement do we as a country send out to the continent if our top two clubs can’t even make it out of the group stages of the Champions League.
If our league was, as everyone seems to suggest, becoming more of a tightly run contest then why do the bottom clubs have fewer points than they did at this stage last year and the top clubs have more? In fact, after the Boxing Day games last year Manchester United topped the table with 37 points. This year Manchester City are top with 45 points. Moreover, the top five teams all have more points than the same stage last year and the bottom five teams all have fewer points. Therefore you can only come to the conclusion that the league is less competitive than it was last year, and all this in despite of the fact that teams like Arsenal and Chelsea are performing far worse than they were twelve months ago.
Believing they hype from fans and watching the build up to games on Sky Sports might have you in some sort of montage induced frenzy thinking that this is the year that your team can scale new heights, but when you look at the facts it appears that our league is more dominated by the few than ever, it is just that those teams are not the same ones as last year.
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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has revealed he tried to sign Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand prior to the season.Redknapp gave Ferdinand his English Premier League debut at West Ham in 1996 and admitted he made an approach for the former England captain before the 2010/11 campaign began.
But last season’s Premier League runners-up rejected the audacious bid, as the Spurs boss told The Observer.
“I can’t ever see us getting Rio now,” Redknapp said.
“I was interested. Last year, I tried. I tried at the start of the season.”
Redknapp believes Manchester United are a much stronger team when Ferdinand is playing and admitted he wanted to sign another leader in defence, after his bid to lure Everton’s Phil Neville to White Hart Lane in January failed.
“When he was on the team-sheet against Chelsea in the Champions League, I thought Man United had got a much, much better chance of getting a result and it proved that way,” he said.
“I’ve said many times to the chairman, it’s not always about the best players, it’s about getting characters in your football club.”
“William (Gallas) has come in and given us experience and we’ve got Michael (Dawson) at the back but in the long term I still feel that you need to find another one or two if you’re going to keep progressing, that type of real character, who has opinions and that will to win around the dressing room – a few leaders.”
“You can’t have too many at your club. That’s why I tried to take Phil Neville from Everton in January.”
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Redknapp also said he has next season on his mind and would be after additions to his squad in the transfer window at the end of the season to ensure Tottenham do not stagnate.
“You’ve got to add to the squad. The chairman knows … if we can’t move on, then you have to accept trying to get into the Europa League every year and trying to finish sixth or seventh,” he said.
“But if you want to try to make the Champions League, you have to keep improving.”
There is a midfielder blessed with special talent whom can play for England but has so far been overlooked, his name is Mikel Arteta. Although he has played for the Spanish under 21’s, he has never been capped by the senior Spain side. Under residency rules, Arteta is eligible to play for England after living in the country for 5 years. Had he been born in here, there is no doubt at all that Mikel Arteta would have been capped for England. Arteta possesses the skills not many other English players have, he is technically excellent and his passing is masterful, assets that were so sorely missed in England’s World Cup bid. The problem is that although Arteta can play for England, he is not really English, and many fans baulk at the idea of fielding a foreign player in the England jersey. Perhaps though, pragmatism rather than pride should be taken into consideration after another English failure.
The fact is that other national sides are doing what England are not. As early as the 1950’s, Argentinian great Alfredo di Stefano turned out for the Spain national team after gaining citizenship in the country. In modern times, Brazilian Marcos Senna has also turned out for Spain, whilst Brazilian born duo Deco and Pepe have both played for Portugal, another Brazilian Eduardo da Silva has played internationally for Croatia. There will be many more examples, and if other countries are doing it, why shouldn’t England? Marcos Senna in particular played a crucial role in the Spanish side that lifted the 2008 European Championship. If Arteta played for England, greater success might be achieved. English fans are very proud of their national team however, and for many picking a foreign-born player is an idea that they instantly dismiss. The choice would be Fabio Capello’s though, and if he wanted to cap Arteta, he could do.
Fabio Capello brings us on to another point, England have already appointed foreign managers, something most other major national teams have not done. If England were willing to make this brave step with Eriksson and Capello, why not do so with players as well? When these managers were hired, many fans and many in the press pilloried the FA for making such a decision, and their lack of success did not help their case. If Arteta was capped for England, a similar reaction might initially be seen, but if it brought success to the team, it would surely die down.
English national teams in other sports have long since fielded foreign born players. The England cricket team contains a number of South Africans, whilst the England Rugby Union side capped Tongan born Lesley Vainikolo. These teams were pragmatic, they brought in players who were eligible in order to give them the best chance of success, and the results of the English cricket team especially since, have been spectacular. As seen with video technology however, football seems to hold itself in higher regard to these sports and the capping of a foreign player for many is simply unacceptable. Perhaps though Capello should brave the backlash that would occur if he picked Arteta, his current stock could probably not fall too much lower anyway. If he did, and Arteta helped drive England to greater success then England fans would surely forgive him. If England do want to win some silverware, it might just be the perfect place to look.
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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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So many authorities, so many agendas. Football today is at the whim of so many different authoritative bodies that the work they do is arguably conflicting. Just take England for example. The top clubs have to deal with rules from the Premier League, the FA, UEFA and FIFA. It isn’t possible for clubs to adhere with full effect to all of the agendas set out in front of them. Furthermore the actions of some undermine the proposals of others. How can UEFA expect the European clubs to take them seriously on the implication of the financial fair play rules when there are never ending exposures of widespread corruption within FIFA? It may not be UEFA’s fault but ultimately if the top governing football body does not set an example how are people supposed to learn. FIFA has its own agenda, mainly the spread of football to nations that do not currently participate to any high level. However this goes against the idea of a meritocracy that UEFA is trying to introduce. FIFA giving the World Cup to Qatar is like saying that this year’s Champions League Final should be played in someone’s back garden in Luxembourg. The agendas don’t match. But what are we going to do about it?
What this really comes down to is an argument that has plagued politics for years: central vs. local government. Which is the more effective way to govern?
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Centralised Government
So what are the benefits of organizing sport through a more centralised system? Firstly: clearer objectives. Not only that but a clearer prioritisation of objectives that clubs and countries must adhere to. Centralised government provides, in theory, better organisation by using the top minds to set out plans for the whole of football instead of letting lesser minds at lower levels determine how things are run.
If we put this in football terms it would be similar to taking away the powers of the FA and having a FIFA committee determining what the FA should be doing each year. The benefit of this is that, in theory, with more people to choose from FIFA should have more competent people working for it who have better strategies at hand. Certainly the FA is not the best-run organisation in the world and at times it definitely seems as though it could do with some help. Moreover, if the FA is not directly accountable to FIFA or UEFA then the rules they could be imposing might contradict measures imposed by other bodies. Also, with one higher organisation dictating the agenda for our country there wouldn’t be conflict between the FA and the Premier League.
Local Government
The benefits of local government, or localized football authorities, are that it is far easier for them to identify the problems at hand within the areas of governance. They should also, in theory, be more efficient with their resources as the amount of red tape involved is less than it would be if they had to report everything back to, and have their actions approved by, a higher body. Ultimately this is the deciding factor.
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Football as a sport is too large to be governed by one singular institution. But that does not mean that our system does not need to be altered. There needs to be local authorities that are properly represented by both FIFA and UEFA. The local authorities need not be directly accountable to the higher bodies but they should have some input into the agendas of the more international organisations. There is no ‘either or’ argument for this debate in football just as there isn’t in politics. The lack of cohesion in the organisation of football is damaging for the game but inevitably a worldwide body would not have the ability to identify and address the problems that football faces in each country. The representation of each country in FIFA and UEFA is what needs to improve. Only then can we combine the necessary authority of a singular body with the local expertise of national organisations.
Mark Hughes has quashed speculation linking him with the manager’s job at Bayern Munich, insisting he is fully committed to Fulham.Reports have suggested that Hughes, who took over at Fulham at the beginning of the season after Roy Hodgson’s departure to Liverpool, is on the shortlist to take the reins at the German club after confirmation current manager Louis van Gaal would leave at the end of the current campaign.But the Welshman denied he was considering leaving Craven Cottage.”I wasn’t aware that I was in for the (Bayern Munich) job,” Hughes said. “I’m not interested as I am quite happy here at the moment.””If an opportunity presents itself in the future then we will see, however, I am not even considering looking at the moment.””I am enjoying my time at the club and I think we are going in the right direction. I think if we can invest more in the players next season I believe we can kick on. That’s certainly my focus at the minute.”Hughes’ side face Everton this Saturday, and the Fulham boss hopes to have midfielder Dickson Etuhu available for the game at Goodison Park.Etuhu aggravated a hamstring injury against Blackburn a fortnight ago, but Hughes may be handed a major boost by the midfielder’s return to fitness.”Etuhu twinged his hamstring last week but he trained today (Thursday). We will just have to wait and see how he does tomorrow,” Hughes said.But despite the possibility of a return for Etuhu, fellow-midfielder Steve Sidwell will not be available for the trip to Merseyside because of a knee injury.The game, which is the Premier League’s late kick-off on Saturday, looks set to be a tight affair with Fulham sitting 11th in the Premier League, only two places behind Everton.However, Fulham are yet to pick up a point at Goodison Park in the Premier League and have only scored five goals in their last nine games at Everton in the league.
Blackpool have completed the signings of four players just a matter of days before their Premier League season-opener against Wigan Athletic.
Seasiders boss Ian Holloway has been frustrated over a number of potential targets, but has finally landed defender Craig Cathcart and midfield trio Elliot Grandin, Malaury Martin and Ludovic Sylvestre.
Twenty-one-year-old centre-half Cathcart joins for an undisclosed fee from Manchester United on a three-year contract, having failed to break into the first-team set-up at Old Trafford.
His only senior experience came during loan spells with Plymouth Argyle and Watford.
French winger Grandin, 22, heads to Bloomfield Road from Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, with the former Caen and Marseille wideman having agreed a two-year deal.
Martin has impressed during the pre-season campaign with Holloway's side and the 21-year-old has penned a one-year contract to seal his switch from AS Monaco.
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Finally, Sylvestre, 26, has signed a two-year contract to head to England from Czech club Mlada Boleslav, having played twice for Barcelona earlier on in his career.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Italian football hasn’t had a great decade. Corruption, debt, plummeting crowd attendances and a subsequent decrease in league status have plagued a period in Italian football that won’t leave many feeling nostalgic. Champions League victories for Inter (2010) and Milan (2003, 2007) and the brief tenure of Jose Mourinho spiced up life in Serie A for moments in an otherwise uncompetitive era. We can look to our Mediterranean counterparts with a vague sense of sympathy and superiority but the reality is that in this country that we are not a million miles away on many of these issues. Italy is there to serve as a warning for Premier League clubs, in the same way that the Bundesliga should stand out as a positive example. The fate of our league rests with a few laws and attitudes and we would do well to pay heed to the situations in nearby countries.
Whilst corruption may be endemic in football it seems to be arguable that the Premier League is relatively clean cut in comparison to Italy and Turkey, however the other issues are more pressing.
Club debt
The debts of Serie A clubs can be seen as a metaphor for their national economic crisis. For years they have simply borrowed and spent too much whilst doing little to increase their actual revenues. The combined revenue of the top three Italian clubs for last season (as stated in Deloitte’s Football Money League) was €166m which was significantly less than that of Spain’s top three (€295m). English clubs too have a long way to go before they reach the commercial heights they should be. Only Man Utd is anywhere near to reaching its potential but they still lag behind the Spanish giants by around €50m. The astronomical debts of Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd don’t really bare thinking about in comparison to their revenues and although they have wealthy backers the FFP rules will make for uncomfortable times at the top of the English game. Club debt at the end of 2010 reached over £2.5b for the Premier League clubs alone, a figure that has surely risen in 2011 due to increased club spending from clubs such as City, Chelsea and Liverpool (The Guardian). Italy’s combined debt for all three of its top leagues was recorded in 2010 as €2.9b (World Soccer), and they think they’re having a crisis.
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Attendance
Attendance in Italy has been a real problem recently with the average for the league at just over 23,000 for this season, a drop from last seasons tally (ESPN). Although England’s is considerably higher at around 34,000 this figure too has fallen from last season despite the presumed increase in popularity for teams like Man City. Teams like Arsenal and Man Utd make a considerable amount of their money from their stadiums but if we look at the risks we face in domination from the top few clubs whose spending power vastly outstrips the rest of the league then we can see a startling similarity to the reason Italian football is experiencing low crowds. This has been perpetrated by the unequal television rights distribution that was only changed back to collective selling two years ago. People like Liverpool’s Ian Ayre should take a look at Italy and their forced abandonment of individual television rights before they start clamouring for it.
Obviously there are huge differences between the Italian and English leagues; the pace and style of the football here is considered to be more entertaining hence its worldwide appeal. However that doesn’t mean that there aren’t warning signals for us to heed coming from Italy and other nations whose leagues are infested with unmanageable debt and a lack of competition. Instead of waiting for FIFA or UEFA to take action perhaps it is time the Premier League attempted to combat the rising and unsustainable spending in our league.
Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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Swansea’s challenge for an automatic promotion spot took a blow after a 2-1 loss to lowly Preston North End in the Championship.Trailing Norwich by just one point heading into the match, Swansea knew a victory away at bottom-side Preston could move them back into the top two.
Ashley Williams? 24th minute goal looked like it would at least give Swansea a share of the points after Iain Hume scored from the penalty spot on three minutes for Preston.
But a second from Hume in the 83rd minute gave Preston a much-needed three points, while Swansea drop down to fourth.
It was a much different story for Norwich City, who cemented their top-two spot with a 6-0 hammering of 10-man Scunthorpe United.
Scunthorpe were already a goal down when Paul Reid saw red in the 31st minute and Norwich went for the kill after that, with both Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson scoring hat-tricks.
Cardiff City broke their four-game winless streak and moved into third with a 4-1 thrashing of Derby County.
Jay Bothroyd, Dekel Keinan, Paul Quinn and Peter Whittingham were all on the scoresheet for Cardiff, with Robbie Savage’s late penalty a mere consolation for Derby.
Leeds jumped to fourth after a 4-1 win over Nottingham Forest in a heated battle at Elland Road.
The dismissal of Forrest?s Chris Cohen in the first half saw tempers boil over, with several scuffles breaking out across the pitch.
It took Leeds until the 51 minute mark to make the most of their numerical advantage, with Jonathon Howson eventually putting them ahead.
Luciano Becchio doubled their lead soon after only for Garath McCleary to pull one back for the visitors on 65 minutes.
A late double from Max Gradel settled the matter, consigning Forest to their eighth successive game without a win.
A Shane Long double gave Reading a 2-0 win at home to Portsmouth, while Coventry City won by the same margin against Watford.
Ipswich Town won 2-1 on their trip to Burnley thanks to first-half goals from David Norris and Connor Wickham, while a late penalty from James Vaughan gave Crystal Palace a 2-1 win at home against Barnsley.
A last-gasp goal from Shane McManus salvaged a 3-3 draw for Middlesbrough against Leicester City after a Yakubu hat-trick had earlier put the visitors 3-1 up.
Britsol City beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0 courtesy of Nicky Maynard’s 76th minute goal.