Rossi staying at Villarreal

Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi will not be leaving the Spanish side for Serie A, insists the club’s vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza.

Rossi, whose agent said he was upset following the 2-1 Champions League defeat to Manchester City in midweek, has long been linked with a return to Italy.

Juventus were reportedly keen on signing him during the summer but talks collapsed over a 30 million euro transfer fee.

Napoli were then linked with the 24-year-old after coach Walter Mazzarri and president Aurelio De Laurentiis said they were interested in signing him.

Recent reports claimed Juventus have reignited their interest in Rossi and view him as a replacement for Alessandro Del Piero whose contract in Turin expires at the end of the season.

Llaneza made it clear that Rossi is staying at Villarreal.

“We are very happy with the way Rossi has been playing this season, but his excellent performances are nothing new to us,” Llaneza told Tuttomercatoweb.com.

“Will we sell him? This is not our intention at all. We are happy with what he is doing for us and we have no reason to sell.”

“There is nothing regarding Juventus. Giuseppe is staying with Villarreal.”

Villarreal are set to welcome Levante to El Madrigal on Sunday in La Liga.

View the original article here

Pastore staying put: Zamparini

Sought-after Argentinean Javier Pastore will be staying with Palermo, according to club chairman Maurizio Zamparini.

Pastore, 21, has impressed for the Serie A side since joining from Argentine outfit Huracan in 2009 and is a reported target for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. But it looks as if he could be staying in Italy for at least another season, with Zamparini setting an asking price of close to 60 million euros.

“Pastore wants to remain at Palermo,” Zamparini told Gazzetta dello Sport. “He is a very intelligent man, who wants to improve. He has decided to remain with us for another year.”

“I have already turned down a 50 million-euro offer for Pastore. Even if Chelsea were to make an offer this year, he would not move.”

“Barcelona already made an offer and I said to them that this year he would not leave.”

Pastore, who has scored 10 goals in 30 appearances this season, is contracted to Palermo until June 2014.

Thu 24 March, 2011

Pastore staying put: Zamparini

Sought-after Argentinean Javier Pastore will be staying with Palermo, according to club chairman Maurizio Zamparini.

Pastore, 21, has impressed for the Serie A side since joining from Argentine outfit Huracan in 2009 and is a reported target for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. But it looks as if he could be staying in Italy for at least another season, with Zamparini setting an asking price of close to 60 million euros.

“Pastore wants to remain at Palermo,” Zamparini told Gazzetta dello Sport. “He is a very intelligent man, who wants to improve. He has decided to remain with us for another year.”

“I have already turned down a 50 million-euro offer for Pastore. Even if Chelsea were to make an offer this year, he would not move.”

“Barcelona already made an offer and I said to them that this year he would not leave.”

Pastore, who has scored 10 goals in 30 appearances this season, is contracted to Palermo until June 2014.

Thu 24 March, 2011

Babel staying put, says Dalglish

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has revealed Ryan Babel will be staying at Anfield for the remainder of the season.

The Reds accepted a seven-million-pound bid from Hoffenheim for the Dutch international last week, but it appears Babel was unable to come to personal terms with the Bundesliga club.

It was mooted that Babel may be used as part of a deal to sign Ajax striker Luis Suarez, but Dalglish was giving little away about Babel’s future, saying only: “He’s staying here.”

It was a typically tight-lipped performance from Dalglish at his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Fulham on Wednesday, with the Scot refusing to comment of potential bids for Suarez and Blackpool’s Charlie Adam.

“I’ve said before, when we’ve got some business to discuss, we will discuss,” Dalglish said.

“We’ve said that we will try and adopt the way of Liverpool Football Club, certainly one of our ways is to be respectful to other club, and certainly players at other clubs.”

“The most important thing we have is the ones at our football club, not somebody else’s players.”

Dalglish earned the first win of his second managerial stint at Anfield with a 3-0 away victory over Wolves on Saturday.

The victory brought a sense of relief to Liverpool fans and Dalglish believes the impact of the win spread through his dressing room.

“There were thousands or even millions of Liverpool fans that had huge smiles on their faces on Saturday but, by the way, so did the players,” Dalglish said.

“We stick as one, we need their help and we’ve got to help them at times.”

“Together we will move forward, as individuals we will get nowhere. We will stick together as a unit and stick together as a football club and see what happens.”

“Every game is different, just because we’ve won one it doesn’t mean we will get carried away. We have seen what it takes to win a game and now we need to repeat that.”

Dalglish denied there have been wholesale changes since he took over from sacked predecessor Roy Hodgson, and said Fernando Torres’ upturn in form is all down to his own attitude.

“We have done training the way we think it should be done. There has never been any doubt about many the players’ ability here,” Dalglish said.

“I think Fernando Torres comes in the same bracket as many others, they are doing better than they were before and they are more like themselves than they were before which is a great credit to them.”

Mon 24 January, 2011

Ancelotti staying upbeat

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has insisted his side will finish in the English Premier League’s top four and clinch a Champions League spot.

The reigning Premier League champions have slumped to fifth place in the league table, but Ancelotti is confident they can re-launch their title bid at Wolves on Wednesday.

“It is important to end up in a Champions League position, but we have the skills and ability to stay in the top four without a problem. I’m not worried at all,” he said.

After just one win in their last eight league games, Ancelotti’s men are now six points adrift of leaders Manchester United.

But the Chelsea manager is adamant his side still has enough time left to retain the title, and is eyeing the trip to Molineux as a good opportunity to turn the Blues’ fortunes around.

“I think we have enough time to come back and fight for the title. It’s not easy closing the gap, but we will try. We are improving and the team is close to moving on. We have to keep going but I have confidence that the team will improve,” he said.

“We will win.”

Ancelotti has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match, and is tight-lipped on buying any new players in the January transfer market.

The Italian also brushed aside speculation linking the club with a move for David Beckham.

He said: “I think that he is a fantastic professional player but we are not interested. We already have good players in this position.”

The Blues have only scored nine goals in their last nine league games, but Ancelotti is hopeful his strikers will return to form at the right time, starting at Molineux.

“Didier (Drogba) has started to score, Malouda scored against Bolton and I think their bad moment is behind them. I am also hopeful that Anelka will start to score,” he said.

The Chelsea manager also rubbished reports linking striker Daniel Sturridge with a loan move away from Stamford Bridge

Ancelotti said: “He has not asked me to go on loan. If he did ask me, I would say ‘no way’.”

Tue 4 January, 2011

Ancelotti staying upbeat

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has insisted his side will finish in the English Premier League’s top four and clinch a Champions League spot.

The reigning Premier League champions have slumped to fifth place in the league table, but Ancelotti is confident they can re-launch their title bid at Wolves on Wednesday.

“It is important to end up in a Champions League position, but we have the skills and ability to stay in the top four without a problem. I’m not worried at all,” he said.

After just one win in their last eight league games, Ancelotti’s men are now six points adrift of leaders Manchester United.

But the Chelsea manager is adamant his side still has enough time left to retain the title, and is eyeing the trip to Molineux as a good opportunity to turn the Blues’ fortunes around.

“I think we have enough time to come back and fight for the title. It’s not easy closing the gap, but we will try. We are improving and the team is close to moving on. We have to keep going but I have confidence that the team will improve,” he said.

“We will win.”

Ancelotti has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match, and is tight-lipped on buying any new players in the January transfer market.

The Italian also brushed aside speculation linking the club with a move for David Beckham.

He said: “I think that he is a fantastic professional player but we are not interested. We already have good players in this position.”

The Blues have only scored nine goals in their last nine league games, but Ancelotti is hopeful his strikers will return to form at the right time, starting at Molineux.

“Didier (Drogba) has started to score, Malouda scored against Bolton and I think their bad moment is behind them. I am also hopeful that Anelka will start to score,” he said.

The Chelsea manager also rubbished reports linking striker Daniel Sturridge with a loan move away from Stamford Bridge

Ancelotti said: “He has not asked me to go on loan. If he did ask me, I would say ‘no way’.”

Tue 4 January, 2011

Masch Headed to Barca, Kuyt Staying, and Europa League Draw

By: Ed | August 27th, 2010

A couple of fairly big pieces of news this morning.

Goodbye Javier, I Liked You Most of the Time

The first is the confirmation that we’ve all known was coming—Javier Mascherano will be headed to Barcelona after the clubs agreed on a fee that’s rumored to be in the neighborhood of £17.25m with the possibility of incentives to follow. It’s still slightly below Liverpool’s valuation, which was in the £25m range, but it’s an end to a saga that’s been ongoing for over a year.

The circumstances under which Mascherano leaves are less than ideal, and it’s left many supporters with a bitter taste in their mouths. We found out last summer that he had his sights set elsewhere—there were rumors that he and his family were unhappy with life in England, and he had already targeted Barcelona as his desired destination. He stuck around for the entire 2009-2010 campaign, putting together a solid, if not relatively unremarkable, season.

Once the World Cup ended this summer, it became clear that he was once again engineering for a move away from the club—when he finally did return from vacation, he immediately put in his transfer request and made no bones about wanting away quickly. Week-by-week we heard different stories—he was headed to Inter, he was headed to Barca, he wasn’t going anywhere, he would only be sold at the right price, etc. etc.

The breaking point came this past weekend, though, as he reportedly refused to be a part of the squad that traveled to the Eastlands to face Manchester City. Hodgson did nothing to deny these allegations, only commenting that Barca had “turned his head” and that he “wasn’t in the right mind” to be playing for Liverpool.

When these rumors started we had a pretty healthy discussion about the impact that it’s had on Masch’s Liverpool legacy (if you can have a legacy after four seasons). Right now, it’s awfully hard for me to see past the circus that he’s created around his exit—refusing to play, drawing in his international teammates to assist with the move (not that they needed much prompting, eh Martin?)…it’s all a bit souring. For me, a player’s loyalty, dignity, and grace extends beyond what they do in the shirt, and at the current moment I wouldn’t say I rate Masch too highly in any of those categories. Yes, that comes off as bitter, and it disregards the very real issue of prioritizing family over sport, which should always be the case. It’s just a bad time for all of this to go down, and whether it’s the media narrative or me just being butthurt, I’m not feeling too understanding at the present moment.

At best, maybe this removes the bad juju that Arsenal fans have put on Pepe Reina because of that whole Cesc Fabregas soap opera. See, we got ours, now back the f*** off.

By Contrast, Dirk Kuyt is Walking on Water

He never wanted to leave! He loves Liverpool! He wants to be buried in a Reds shirt!

Maybe a bit unfair to Javier Mascherano (but f*** that guy), but the news about Kuyt’s commitment to the club makes the departing midfielder look even worse. I know the family angle looms large for the Argentine, but both players had relatively big-money moves on their horizons and chances to move to clubs that, at the current moment, are in a much better place than Liverpool. And we’re not just talking about climate.

So after a performance in which he was decidedly average but still managed to net the goal that capped the 2-1 win, it was refreshing to hear Kuyt deny the reports that he’s on his way to Inter. As usual, I have no idea how much veracity there was in the news that had his agent accepting the Italian club’s advances, but it was more than enough to be cause for concern. Given the current state of Liverpool, it wouldn’t have been entirely shocking.

For me it’s good news—I know there’s still mixed, and even polarized, opinions on where he fits in Liverpool’s best eleven, and his last two displays haven’t helped his case much. I’d still argue that too much was asked of him on Sunday at City, and I don’t think we can tether that performance too strongly to yesterday’s. Plus, as he’s so often done for the club, he found a big goal when they needed it. Regardless of where or how he fits, I think he’s a great one to have around.

Europa League Group Draw

A little less pomp and circumstance involved in today’s draw, which apparently took place at about 7:00am EST and likely didn’t involve most on Inter’s starting eleven. The twelve different groups were settled, though, and you’d have to say that Liverpool didn’t come away with a walk in the park:

Group K

Liverpool
Steaua Bucharest
Napoli
Utrecht

Liverpool start with Steaua at Anfield on September 16, and then proceed to play their next two matches on the road before returning home for two of the final three matches. The final match of the group stage against Utrecht is scheduled for December 15.

Once again, Liverpool are tasked with facing continental opponents about which I know very little. We all know that Andrea Dossena moved to Napoli in the summer, and at face value I’d say the Italian side are the toughest challenge in the group. That’s not meant to underestimate Steaua or Utrecht, both of whom will likely present a healthy challenge for the Reds.

It’ll be interesting to see how Hodgson and company approach these matches—Liverpool’s play in league is always going to take precedence, and the first match comes just four days before United visit Anfield. So far nothing has indicated that the Europa League could or should displace the league campaign as the top priority, but given Liverpool’s draw, there’s potential for the club to get punished in a group that’s plenty difficult.

Enjoy your Friday, folks—preview for Sunday’s match with West Brom up tomorrow.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Europa League Draw and a Bid Confirmed from HuangDraw with Grasshoppers, Exit for Riera, and Europa League NewsEuropa League Draw, Hodgson on Gerrard and Torres, and a Deal for Insua?Javier Mascherano Returns and a Europa League Decision for RoyThe Arjen Robben Endorsement, Europa League, and Ownership Pseudo-News

Category: Europa League, Miscellaneous, Team News, Transfer News Tags: Dirk Kuyt, Europa League, Javier Mascherano, Miscellaneous, Team News, Transfer News
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PrintShare.wp-notable img {border: none;margin-left:5px;}  RoscoI for one (possibly the only one, ED!! Kidding kidding, before Noel attacks me) wish masch the best he has gave 110 percent every game I've watched and, as u have rightly pointed out a mans family comes before choosing which way to receive ones ridiculously over-zealous wages. I genuinely don't think it worse case scenario that's if ( big big massive big huge big IF) toys gets the money to bolster elsewhere. No sense pointing out where its pretty plain to see. Oh and keeping with the blog, twos up u argentine dick good luck on the nou camp bench!!!EdThat last sentence is more like it, Rosco!

I think I'll get to the point you're at, but right now it stings even though we knew it was coming. Like I said, I'm a sucker for players that are unquestionably committed, and that faltered a bit with Masch. He can't be blamed for wanting to do what's best for his family, but the string of events towards the end made it a little more sour.

And this is all assuming that the club was the one acting in a completely straight-up manner...in which case, maybe there's no fault on Masch's part and he's been a hostage for over a year.

Off to drinking.RoscoMazel tov to that!!!!!RoscoThtll be ROY gets the money. Bloody iPhone spellcheckerSairaxCouldn't he have left BEFORE you guys played my beloved gunners?

Seriously though, this seems a big one for you guys. Are there any other transfers you expect to happen? It's weird to see what's happening to Liverpool right now.EdNone on the horizon, Sairax--I'm sure we'll see something happen before Tuesday, but I don't know what. Hughes says Konchesky's not for sale, there's no leads for depth at striker/LB...strange times are here.SairaxWhat about going out :SEdOh. You mean that could still happen? I...oh.steven.between Macherano leaving and our draw, my lunch is ruined ..EdLiquid lunch, steven.NoelI'll enjoy seeing him sit on the bench and drift out of his national team's picture (Of course I'm not bitter. Why do you ask?)ChrisIs this a "careful what you wish for" kind of thing?EdI think it's a very likely possibility, at least the sitting on the bench part. He's new to the league, probably not match-fit, and certainly not going to be preferred to Busquets anytime soon.

Hard to see any chance of him fading from the NT setup, though, even if you are poking your voodoo doll at a feverish pace.blog comments powered by Disqus
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LATEST COMMENTS

Ed: Liquid lunch, steven.
Ed: Oh. You mean that could still happen? I...oh.
Rosco: Mazel tov to that!!!!!
Sairax: What about going out :S
Ed: None on the horizon, Sairax--I'm sure we'll see something happen before Tuesday, but I don& ... [read more]
Ed: That last sentence is more like it, Rosco!I think I'll get to the point you're at, but right ... [read more]
Rosco: Thtll be ROY gets the money. Bloody iPhone spellchecker
Rosco: I for one (possibly the only one, ED!! Kidding kidding, before Noel attacks me) wish masch the best ... [read more]
Sairax: Couldn't he have left BEFORE you guys played my beloved gunners?Seriously though, this seems a b ... [read more]
steven.: between Macherano leaving and our draw, my lunch is ruined ..
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Neymar lauded for staying back at Santos

By Shourin Roy on August 24, 2010 6:56 AM | Comments | TrackBacksShare|

Chelsea tries to lure the highly rated Santos prospect who shone in Brazil's victory over the USA in a recent friendly. But he commits himself to his club- a decision that is being celebrated as an act of patriotism but as Tim Vickery reveals is based more on common sense.

Categories: English Premier League 2011, Gossip/Trash Talk, Soccer Business, Soccer Coaches & Coaching, Soccer Culture, Soccer History, Soccer Players, Soccer Skills, Soccer Teams - Club Tags: Chelsea, Santos, World Cup 2010 No TrackBacks

TrackBack URL: http://www.soccerblog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/7527.

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