TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Roberto Mancini was always destined to coach Ten years ago at just about this time of year, your correspondent sat down in a rather grim, underground office at Lazio's Formello training ground with then-Lazio coach, Swede Sven Goran Eriksson. cbc.cacbc.ca |
Nani seeks an end to Old Trafford stay • Man Utd offer Nani to Benfica as part of deal for Di Maria• Nani not keen on a return to Portugal as agent looks elsewhereNani's inability to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United has led to the Portugal international exploring the possibilities of a move to Spain or Italy in the January transfer window.After an encouraging start to the season Nani's form has become such a concern for the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson that the former Sporting Lisbon player has been offered as bait in a possible cash-plus-player exchange with Benfica for the Argentina international Angel Di Maria.Benfica informed the Premier League champions they did not want to lose their best player midway through the season unless one of his many suitors, Manchester City included, met a release clause of around £30m in his contract.Nani is also reluctant to move back to Portugal but his agent, Jorges Mendes, has sounded out possible buyers in Spain and Italy.Manchester UnitedBenficaTransfer windowDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
BenÃtez keen to keep Babel as he plans for summer • 'I will fight on until the end,' says Liverpool manager • BenÃtez admits he is working on limited meansRafael BenÃtez has reinforced his desire to remain at Liverpool by revealing he has commenced his transfer strategy for next summer, even though a lack of spending power at Anfield lies behind his reluctance to sell Ryan Babel this month.The Liverpool manager yesterday confirmed he is working on limited means during this transfer window, despite selling Andrea Dossena to Napoli for £4.4m and agreeing a fee of almost £2m with Dynamo Moscow for Andriy Voronin, and he may struggle to improve his options beyond the impending £1.5m arrival of Maxi RodrÃguez from Atlético Madrid. Liverpool rejected an offer in excess of £8m this week for Babel from Birmingham City, despite the £11.5m capture from Ajax falling short of expectations at Anfield.Liverpool's hierarchy are confident the interest of several European clubs can produce an auction for the Holland attacker but BenÃtez, acutely aware there is no guarantee he can reinvest any fee for Babel in January, has admitted the depth of his squad is also a factor. "If I do not find any good replacements, I will try to keep him," the Liverpool manager said."He said that he wants to stay. We will try to train with him in the right way and, if he can give something to us, I will be really pleased. We signed a player with talent, with pace and ability and we want to see the best from him. So we will try to push him and hopefully he can play well. He has the potential and he has shown this a lot of times but we want to see him playing at this level more frequently."BenÃtez claimed Liverpool's reticence in this month's transfer market was due not solely to a lack of funds but to a dearth of available talent. "At this moment we have to do the best for the club and this means accepting the situation," he said. "There aren't too many good players in the market now that you could bring here because the majority of them are with top sides or in the Champions League and they want to stay until the end of the season."But he refused to deny claims he will offer the Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh – a long-time Arsenal target – a pre-contract agreement this month, merely revealing that work on potential recruits was under way. BenÃtez said: "I have to plan for the summer. When I decided to stay it was because I wanted to stay. I gave my word and I want to fight, so I will fight until the end. Always you have to be ready and you have to know the market."LiverpoolRafael BenÃtezTransfer windowPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Barney Ronay on the defender's return The former England defender tends to divide opinion but his return to Arsenal is fascinatingIt's hard to put your finger on exactly why Sol Campbell returning to Arsenal seems so fascinating, and also so unlikely. On the face of it, it makes a lot of sense. Arsenal have a mini-defensive crisis: Philippe Senderos doesn't seem to be good enough, Johan Djourou has a knee injury, Alex Song is in Africa and William Gallas has diffuse niggles. Campbell may not be Mr Right for the long term; but he's Mr Right Now, a well-muscled shoulder to lean on in times of mid-season strife. After all, he played in the Premier League and Uefa Cup only last season. He's 35 years old. So what's the big deal?For some reason, it always is a big deal with Campbell. For all his mildness and outward humility, he seems to be one of those players people can't help having an opinion about. Campbell just makes some people cross. But why?Of course Tottenham fans will never forgive him for joining Arsenal. This was a particular shock at the time: Campbell had seemed to be solidly Spurs. Plus he moved on a free transfer, and he refused to apologise, or soften the blow. But parochial concerns aside, it did still make sense: Campbell was one of the world's best defenders. He won the league twice at Arsenal and got to play in the Champions League. Top players move on so they can do these sorts of things.Outside of this, Campbell has long been a more widespread terrace abuse-magnet for reasons that aren't entirely clear. It still seems strange to note that he drew even more ire while he was a Portsmouth player by suggesting people shouldn't actually be allowed to chant unpleasant things at him and that the police should intervene.Often this kind of thing is brushed aside with some references to Campbell being "a complicated character". But I'm not sure he really is. He's just a little different: pensive, self-absorbed, even a little precious; and some way from the archetype of the bullying and bullish, outwardly one-dimensional English centre-half.And let's not forget how good he was. Campbell played with distinction at France 98, Euro 2000, World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004, and was still serving his country at the World Cup in Germany in 2006. He helped Arsenal to – and scored in - a Champions League final. He's also unusual: a member of the (warning: teeth-grinding cliché approaching) Golden Generation of the late 1990s who never noticeably let anybody down, didn't just seem to give up like some, or become obsessed with his own bewildering wealth and status, or succumb to injury, or seem not to care enough.Perhaps there is a lingering sense, as there is with many of the top English players from the first decade of the Premier League, that there might have been so much more. Campbell was in Fifa's World Cup XI two tournaments in a row, but playing for an England team that never got past the quarter-finals. And even at his peak he was always awkward in possession, prone to the lofted panic pass, and therefore often a scapegoat when England performances have tended to go wrong in the way they always tend to go wrong, when the ball suddenly looks square, or helium-filled, and English players develop a terrible allergic reaction to holding on to it for more than three seconds.It may never entirely be clear why Campbell has been such a prolific source of matchday spleen and messageboard bile. There are those who think there is an undigested racial angle to it, a sense of something old and inexpressible and still not quite processed through the gut. But you would need a degree in anthropology in order to draw any kind of conclusion, no doubt jaundiced and overly generalised and instantly out of date, about such a complex and sensitive issue.One thing is sure: if you give it a chance, Campbell returning to Arsenal is actually quite heartening. Here is a man who isn't doing it for the money (he has loads); who isn't just easing off and fading away; and who clearly still loves playing football. Just listen to this: "I cannot tell you how much I've missed playing after being out for so long … It's fantastic, great, marvellous … I'm ecstatic really to be back at Arsenal, and I have worked bloody hard to get there."The soundtrack to Campbell's career seems destined to be a fevered, albeit largely baseless, ambient jeering. But still, at the end of it, he finds he wants a little more. Doesn't that sound like something worth celebrating?Sol CampbellArsenalBarney Ronayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
David James's loan move to Stoke from Portsmouth still on, says Tony Pulis • Portsmouth goalkeeper had appeared to be staying put• 'We're still interested ... We just hope we can close the deal'The Stoke City manager Tony Pulis expects to sign Portsmouth's England goalkeeper David James in the next few days. A loan deal to take the 39-year-old to the Britannia Stadium has been on and off for the past fortnight but had appeared to break down over the issue of who would pay James's wages.But Pulis told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We were hoping we would have done [the deal] and got that sorted out before now but it hasn't. It has gone on a little bit longer than we thought it was going to take, but sometimes these things happen."We're still interested in David. If we can do the deal we think it'll be a good deal for Stoke and we think it'll be a good deal for David."James is keen to move to Stoke to improve his chances of being in the England squad for the World Cup and cash-struggling Portsmouth would welcome the opportunity to offload one of their highest earners. Stoke, however, do not want to break their wage structure to sign James, especially as the goalkeeper has been suffering with injuries this season.The midlands club were also concerned that James's contract with Portsmouth runs until the end of June which, with the Premier League season ending on 9 May, raised questions about who should pick up the goalkeeper's salary thereafter.Pulis, however, expects a deal to be done by midweek. "Hopefully," he said. "It's a chicken and egg situation. We're just hoping we can close the deal."Stoke CityPortsmouthTransfer windowguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |