Liverpool will turn to France’s next major star Mamadou Sakho if their campaign to land Gary Cahill ends in failure.
Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish has earmarked the Bolton and England centre half as a major priority when he is given funds in the summer.
But the Reds manager is painfully aware that Wanderers are determined to hold out until the bidding reaches
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is hoping to secure two Premier League signings to help beef up his defence as the Gunners manager looks to make successful moves for Man City keeper Shay Given and Bolton centre back Gary Cahill.
The North London club are reportedly in search of a reliable goalkeeper having seen Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianksi and youngster Wojciech Szczesny all make elementary mistakes this season. Arsene Wenger had attempted to sign Fulham veteran Mark Schwarzer last summer and has been linked with moves to capture Liverpool custodian Pepe Reina.
Having made enquiries in the past Wenger is now hoping to persuade Man City to sell Irish international Shay Given this summer. The former Newcastle United man has found himself frozen out at Eastlands and has not played a single minute of Premier League action this season but there are doubts that Roberto Mancini may not be willing to sell to a rival club.
Wenger also hopes to haggle with Bolton over their somewhat inflated
Stamford Bridge owner dreaming of acquiring a Galatico or two when the transfer window re-opens.
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Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema believes his former club Lyon are in safe hands under manager Claude Puel.
France international Benzema spent his final season at Lyon under Puel before joining Real for a reported fee of 35 million euros.
Now in his second season in La Liga, Benzema will return to the Stade de Gerland on Tuesday for the first leg of a Champions League round of 16 tie.
And with 49-year-old tactician Puel in the home dugout, Benzema has no illusions about the challenge facing the Spanish visitors.
“He (Puel) is a very good coach, and he is at a club now which is competing for the title and playing in the Champions League on a regular basis, so he has the chance to get the success there that he deserves,” Benzema told Ligue1.com.
“Without doubt, he is a top coach.”
Benzema was part of the Real team that lost 2-1 on aggregate to Lyon over two legs at the same stage of the competition last season.
And the 23-year-old is keen to pay the French side back by moving ino the last eight at their expense this time.
“It’s always great to go back to the club where I started my career,” he said.
“I have many fantastic memories from my time there, but as much as I love Lyon, I really hope we can beat them this time.”
“The mistake we made last year was that we just felt we were superior to them without proving it on the pitch.”
“Everyone here dismissed Lyon as a team that we would easily beat, but it was not like that, and it will be really tough again this time.”
“Their team has changed a lot from my time there. Half the players there now were not at the club with me.”
“I don’t speak with many of their current players, and I don’t get to see as many of their games as I would like but there is no doubt that they remain a very good side.”
“They have been on a terrific run recently, putting together win after win, and every time they play against Madrid they make it an incredibly tough game.”
Sun 20 February, 2011Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema believes his former club Lyon are in safe hands under manager Claude Puel.
France international Benzema spent his final season at Lyon under Puel before joining Real for a reported fee of 35 million euros.
Now in his second season in La Liga, Benzema will return to the Stade de Gerland on Tuesday for the first leg of a Champions League round of 16 tie.
And with 49-year-old tactician Puel in the home dugout, Benzema has no illusions about the challenge facing the Spanish visitors.
“He (Puel) is a very good coach, and he is at a club now which is competing for the title and playing in the Champions League on a regular basis, so he has the chance to get the success there that he deserves,” Benzema told Ligue1.com.
“Without doubt, he is a top coach.”
Benzema was part of the Real team that lost 2-1 on aggregate to Lyon over two legs at the same stage of the competition last season.
And the 23-year-old is keen to pay the French side back by moving ino the last eight at their expense this time.
“It’s always great to go back to the club where I started my career,” he said.
“I have many fantastic memories from my time there, but as much as I love Lyon, I really hope we can beat them this time.”
“The mistake we made last year was that we just felt we were superior to them without proving it on the pitch.”
“Everyone here dismissed Lyon as a team that we would easily beat, but it was not like that, and it will be really tough again this time.”
“Their team has changed a lot from my time there. Half the players there now were not at the club with me.”
“I don’t speak with many of their current players, and I don’t get to see as many of their games as I would like but there is no doubt that they remain a very good side.”
“They have been on a terrific run recently, putting together win after win, and every time they play against Madrid they make it an incredibly tough game.”
Sun 20 February, 2011West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has blasted Tottenham’s development plans for London’s Olympic stadium.
The two clubs are competing for the right to inherit the Olympic stadium in Stratford after the London 2012 Olympic Games.
While West Ham’s proposal would retain the running track around the pitch and promote the use of the stadium for other sporting events, Spurs intend to convert the arena into a football-only stadium.
The original deadline for the decision was delayed to allow more time to consider the two clubs’ proposals, but a final decision is expected this week.
And Brady has stoked the flames of the argument once more.
“It’s a corporate crime to spend 500 million pounds on a stadium and, just four weeks after the Games have finished, bring the bulldozers in,” she said.
“The Olympic Stadium was built on a promise, made in the Queen’s name, to have a legacy for athletics.”
“Through
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has blasted Tottenham’s development plans for London’s Olympic stadium.
The two clubs are competing for the right to inherit the Olympic stadium in Stratford after the London 2012 Olympic Games.
While West Ham’s proposal would retain the running track around the pitch and promote the use of the stadium for other sporting events, Spurs intend to convert the arena into a football-only stadium.
The original deadline for the decision was delayed to allow more time to consider the two clubs’ proposals, but a final decision is expected this week.
And Brady has stoked the flames of the argument once more.
“It’s a corporate crime to spend 500 million pounds on a stadium and, just four weeks after the Games have finished, bring the bulldozers in,” she said.
“The Olympic Stadium was built on a promise, made in the Queen’s name, to have a legacy for athletics.”
“Through
Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar insists he has no plans of leaving the Italian giants in the near future.
Cesar has been linked with a move to Manchester United, as the Premier League giants are looking to bring in a replacement for Edwin van der Sar, who is set to retire at the end of the season.
“United? I never heard from anyone, and from what I know, neither have Inter,” Cesar told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“If the club has something to tell me in future then I will sit down with president Massimo Moratti and speak with him.
“For me Viviano’s arrival wouldn’t change anything.
“I don’t see why I should change club when my contract expires in 2014.”
Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar insists he has no plans of leaving the Italian giants in the near future.
Cesar has been linked with a move to Manchester United, as the Premier League giants are looking to bring in a replacement for Edwin van der Sar, who is set to retire at the end of the season.
“United? I never heard from anyone, and from what I know, neither have Inter,” Cesar told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“If the club has something to tell me in future then I will sit down with president Massimo Moratti and speak with him.
“For me Viviano’s arrival wouldn’t change anything.
“I don’t see why I should change club when my contract expires in 2014.”
Bloomfield Road boss set for busy few days.
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The English Football Association is planning to revive the British Home Championship for a special one-off tournament in 2013.
The competition, which pits England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland against each other in a round robin event, was last played in 1984 before political unrest in Northern Ireland forced its cancellation.
There were rumours the English FA was hoping to resurrect the tournament as an annual event, but general secretary Alex Horne said talks with the other associations were focused on holding the event to mark the FA’s 150th anniversary in 2013.
“We’re talking to the home nations about a possible one-off round of matches with them,” Horne told the BBC.
“I think we’d be talking about a series of one-off matches in 2013 to mark our 150th anniversary.”
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are scheduled to take part in a similar tournament, the Carling Nations Cup, in February and May this year.
The biggest issue standing in the way of a regular tournament involving the home nations is the congested international schedule, which already involves Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014 qualifiers.
But Horne admitted the possibility of a regular tournament sometime in the future had not been ruled out.
“What I don’t want to do is determine a footballing strategy for future management,” Horne said.
“The reality of preparing for qualifiers that we face for the European Championship and the World Cup mean that managers rightly want to experience different playing styles, and fans want to experience different playing styles, and we only have a limited number of friendly matches available.”
“So I wouldn’t want to commit to a resurgence of a tournament, but as a one-off it has real merit and I think we should take it a step at a time. It’s still early days in the conversations at the moment.”
Wed 12 January, 2011The English Football Association is planning to revive the British Home Championship for a special one-off tournament in 2013.
The competition, which pits England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland against each other in a round robin event, was last played in 1984 before political unrest in Northern Ireland forced its cancellation.
There were rumours the English FA was hoping to resurrect the tournament as an annual event, but general secretary Alex Horne said talks with the other associations were focused on holding the event to mark the FA’s 150th anniversary in 2013.
“We’re talking to the home nations about a possible one-off round of matches with them,” Horne told the BBC.
“I think we’d be talking about a series of one-off matches in 2013 to mark our 150th anniversary.”
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are scheduled to take part in a similar tournament, the Carling Nations Cup, in February and May this year.
The biggest issue standing in the way of a regular tournament involving the home nations is the congested international schedule, which already involves Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014 qualifiers.
But Horne admitted the possibility of a regular tournament sometime in the future had not been ruled out.
“What I don’t want to do is determine a footballing strategy for future management,” Horne said.
“The reality of preparing for qualifiers that we face for the European Championship and the World Cup mean that managers rightly want to experience different playing styles, and fans want to experience different playing styles, and we only have a limited number of friendly matches available.”
“So I wouldn’t want to commit to a resurgence of a tournament, but as a one-off it has real merit and I think we should take it a step at a time. It’s still early days in the conversations at the moment.”
Wed 12 January, 2011Emirates manager has some thinking to do.
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Anfield side captain to be back in action soon.
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