Juventus have offered 45 million pounds for Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, according to Corinthians president Andres Sanchez.Brazilian Serie A club Corinthians have already seen a bid in the region of 35 million for their former player rejected by City, who are believed to be looking for a fee around the 50 million-mark.
And Sanchez has claimed that Juventus have joined the race to sign the Argentine, although there has been no confirmation from the Italians that this is the case.
“Nothing has changed. They have to decide whether to sell or not,” Sanchez told reporters in Brazil.
“They have a proposal for 52 million euros (45 million pounds) from Juventus, but Tevez does not want to stay in Europe.”
“I keep dreaming. I made the offer in the end, even I was surprised. But it now depends on City. If I am president of a club that has Tevez then I would not want to sell. But the word of the player has a lot of weight.”
Juventus’ Serie A rivals Inter Milan have confirmed their latest signing, swooping for Brazilian defender Jonathan from Santos for an undisclosed amount.
The defender had been training with the Milan club since Wednesday, with the final details have now been ironed out to officially make the 25-year-old an Inter player.
“I’m delighted to have this chance to ply my trade here and show what I’m capable of,” he said.
Returning to the English Premier League, Aston Villa have reportedly lodged a bid of 10 million pounds for Wigan Athletic midfielder Charles N’Zogbia.
Villa are looking to fill the void left by the impending departure of Stewart Downing to Liverpool and see N’Zogbia as the perfect replacement.
The Midlands side currently have money to spend given the fees received for both Downing and Manchester United new boy Ashley Young.
The Frenchman scored nine goals in 34 appearances last year for Wigan, and Alex McLeish will hope he can replicate that form for the Midlands club.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Blackburn appear set to land Argentine forward Mariano Pavone on a three-year deal.
The 29-year-old spent the 2010/11 season on-loan at River Plate from La Liga club Real Betis, but now is destined for a move to England: “He is now looking forward to the next chapter with an ambitious club like Blackburn,” Pavone’s representative Barry McIntosh told Sky Sports.
Having spent time in Spain, England and Turkey over the past three seasons, USA international Jozy Altidore is move again this season after revealing via Twitter he has signed for Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
“To all my amazing fans, I have indeed agreed to terms to join AZ In holland!” the 21-year-old wrote on Friday.
In Germany, Rosenborg midfielder Per Skjelbred will join Hamburg in August after the two clubs finally came to an agreement on what date he would link up with the Bundesliga club.
It was this fixture last season that first alerted football fans that all was not well for Liverpool’s future attempts to end their years without a title. Villa have hardly hit the heights either over the last 18 months, and from being outside bets for the title themselves the season before last, Gerard Houllier may have to re-adjust his aims this season to merely keeping inside the top ten, such is the high number of well matched sides in the division.
The one hope for silverware this year evaporated with a very disappointing defeat at St Andrews on Wednesday night. Villa had a large chunk of the possession and will be angry that they were unable to convert this into goals.
Defeats such as the late one experienced by Roy Hodgson and his men last weekend at Tottenham are inevitably disheartening; however throughout this poor start to the season, performances at Anfield this season have been strong.
Jamie Carragher will be missing from the heart of the Liverpool defence, as he begins a three-month rehabilitation from shoulder surgery. Whilst Carragher is not the player he was, his absence will be felt and I fancy it may stop the Reds capturing all three points this weekend.
Prediction: 1-1
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Liverpool owner Tom Werner has hinted that the club would be interested in signing Fulham star Clint Dempsey this summer.
The United States international has had his best season in England to date this term, and has taken the goalscoring responsibilities at Craven Cottage on his shoulders this campaign.
With the north American’s contract expiring in the summer of 2013, rumours have it that Martin Jol’s men may well have to part with Dempsey when the transfer window reopens, with Arsenal a potential suitor.
However, with Liverpool expected to strengthen in the summer also, Werner has praised his countryman.
“We never talk publicly about our transfer targets, however, any team would be lucky to have Clint Dempsey playing on their squad,” he told Mirror Football.
Liverpool’s lack of clinical finishing has been on of the reasons for their poor league form this term, and Dempsey would certainly add a threat on goal if acquired.
By Gareth McKnight
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The countdown to the new Premier League season is truly underway now after the complete set of fixtures were released this week. It’s a time of tension and excitement, especially for the newly promoted sides like Swansea, who discovered they will face the tough test of Manchester City at Eastlands in their first premier league outing. It’s also the first chance the Title and Champions league contenders will get a chance to eye up the fixtures and potential season changing periods.
Although an array of myths and statistics surround the fixture list, do the fixtures actually matter and have an influence on where the Championship and battle for top places are won or lost?
Last season this debate was arguably chucked out the window with the unpredictable, roller coaster ride which was the 2010/2011 Premier League season; who could have predicted Wolves beating Manchester United and Chelsea or Newly promoted Blackpool doing the double over Liverpool. That’s football… but I will attempt to analyse where the 2011/2012 Premier league title could be won or lost.
At a glance champions Manchester United have a tough first 5 games, facing Tottenham , Arsenal and Chelsea along with the tricky West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers. However gloomy this may seem it is handy to note their fixtures against the ‘tougher’ teams of Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea are all played at Old Trafford, United will also have the fearlessness of going into the season as champions and a sense of invulnerability having just trumped rivals Liverpool’s Title tally of 19.
The winter and Christmas period are seen by most as the most crucial part of the season, it is often the team who can endure the tense schedule the best who comes out on top in the title race. On this evidence, Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased with the Christmas schedule handing him newly promoted Queens Park Rangers, Fulham, Wigan, Blackburn and Newcastle , although no game in the hectic Christmas bonanza is easy.
The Manchester Derby scheduled for the April 28th will be being touted as a potential title decider as the season draws to an end, the game at Eastlands could be decisive if both halves of Manchester are pushing for Title glory.
The Manchester City fans will be craving further domestic success following their FA Cup triumph last term. Roberto Mancini ’s men will be looking to kick off their campaign in flying style with Swansea City at home on the first day followed by tough trips to Bolton and Tottenham. Last seasons promising start unfortunately ended in The Sky Blues fading away in the latter half of the season, they will have a tough ask in seeking to keep stability over the pivotal Christmas period with home games against Arsenal and Liverpool along with clashes with Stoke, Sunderland and West Brom.
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Experts will however point to the two intriguing Manchester derbys, timed at crucial points in the season and say that whoever builds their confidence with possible big wins in either of these games could walk away with the title.
Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing last season; the new manager at the helms’ first league game in charge will be a challenging trip to Stoke City. The Blues however will not be too disappointed with the following home games against West Brom and new boys Norwich City . The coaching team will clearly be looking to set straight the disastrous winter the club had last term, when their season capitulated in a tangle of injuries, backroom debacle and poor performances. The Christmas period sees them face Wigan and Tottenham on the road followed by Fulham and Aston Villa at home.
However, the Christmas fixture list didn’t seem spectacularly difficult last year, so it’s hard to predict what Chelsea will bring to the table this year. The back end of the season seems a tough one for Chelsea, with some tough games facing them in any nail biting title chase they may be involved in. Difficult away games at rivals’ Arsenal and Liverpool would not be welcomed if the title chases goes down to the wire. It’s hard to predict how the fixtures will go with a team who last year won games they were expected to lose and visa versa, so anything could happen with Chelsea this year.
Arsenal will find it difficult replicating the solid start they had last season with matches against Liverpool and Manchester United in their first 3 games, aswell as an opening day trip to St. James Park, where they suffered at the hands of that infamous Newcastle fight back last season. The young Gunners’ squad will not want to see the pressure of being top dogs’ build up like last season, meaning the fixture list may have been kinder to them this term with Christmas fixtures against Manchester City , Aston Villa, Wolves and QPR .
Arsene Wenger will look to target this stage of the season to consolidate any good start they may have had and keep his players minds focused on the road ahead. Crunch match at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea aside, the home stretch of fixtures may also favour Arsenal, where they will face Wolves, Wigan, Stoke, Norwich and West Brom. The Gunners did however seem capable of beating and losing to anyone in equal measure last term so they will not be taking any perceived ‘easy’ games for granted.
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If Liverpool are to defy many pundits and mount a title challenge in 2011/2012, they’re going to clearly have to start better than last season, Kenny Dalglish will not want to see the Reds sitting bottom of the Premier League in September, the scenario Roy Hodgson found himself in. Dalglish faces a sturdy challenge with a tough and relentless start with 20 million pound man Jordan Henderson ’s immediate return to Sunderland followed by Arsenal and Tottenham in September and then fierce rivalry battles with Everton and Manchester United in October.
Their final run in of games sees them face Chelsea at Anfield, potentially a huge game, aswell as West Brom and Swansea at home. If Liverpool were to show the same passion and consistency they did when Dalglish took over, no team will wish to face them and they could be right up there at the end of the season.
The recent flurry of transfer activity has only added to the intrigue of the fixtures being released and with no senior international competitions to look forward, everyone is looking forward to the new Premier league season and it promises to be just as unpredictable and erratic as the last.
Read more of Sam Scott’s articles at This is Futbol
Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle is confident that in-form striker Johan Elmander will only leave the club if an offer from a much bigger club comes in.
The 29-year-old Sweden international has already scored eight Premier League goals this term and is out of contract at the end of the campaign.
However, Coyle is hopeful that the Trotters can agree a new deal with Elmander and convince him to stay put.
He commented:"If players are playing well it is only natural bigger clubs will cast an eye on them. That is the nature of football and I am relaxed about it.
"Until those bids come in, it is all hypothetical. When they do we will give them respect and make a decision.
"I do not get caught up in it too much and beat myself up. Johan knows that.
"If it was a club of a similar size to Bolton I believe he would stay here. If an elite club came in Johan would be crazy not to think about it.
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"I have no problems with that. Johan is well within his rights to do what is right for himself and his family. What I will do game by game is try to get the best out of him.
"Johan has been terrific from day one and if they decide they want it to run its course into January, then so be it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
QPR have given themselves every chance of staying in the Premier League, after a 3-0 win over Swansea on Wednesday night moved them two points clear of the relegation zone.
Goals from Joey Barton, Jamie Mackie and Akos Buzsaky sealed a home win for the Loftus Road club, and Mark Hughes was delighted with the victory after the game.
“We had a game plan tonight and I thought the players were excellent,” the Welsh manager told Sky Sports.
“They got the job done. We’ve just got to get on with our business, and if we can do that we can be a match for anyone.
“You saw by the manner of our performance tonight that we can take on anyone here and that’s what we have to do – take maximum points from our home games and then take that form away with us.
“People looked at our run-in and told us it was too hard, but we’re getting good results at the moment. There are going to be twists and turns, but that will happen at the top and the bottom,” he admitted.
QPR have West Brom at the Hawthorns on Saturday next.
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Reports have suggested that this week Liverpool will open up negotiations with Blackpool over their midfield talisman Charlie Adam, who enjoyed a remarkable season in the Premier League, attracting many potential suitors. Liverpool are widely expected to continue their January transfer market approach by spending big, but is the former Rangers man actually needed on Merseyside?
Well, why wouldn’t a big side want Adam’s 12 goals and 9 assists? Imagine the statistics the Blackpool man could achieve next season with the likes of Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard around him. But perhaps the reason the Scot has done so well is because he was one of, if not the, main attacking outlet at Blackpool; on Merseyside he would be in amongst several world class players in the final third. Would Adam thrive or get lost in amongst some of football’s biggest names?
Tactically Adam is an ideal signing for any manager to have, centre midfield, attacking midfielder or even a deep lying striker, but who would he replace? Kenny Dalglish appears to already be onto a winning formation, so too much transfer activity could hinder his rebuilding process. If Adam were to join though, I simply cannot see who he would replace. Lucas’ performances have improved greatly this season, and he is the only defensive minded midfielder in the starting line up, so sacrificing the Brazilian would be foolish. Steven Gerrard is obviously the first name on the team sheet (even if his influence has dropped in the last couple of seasons) and then you have Raul Meireles and the returning Alberto Aquilani to consider. The main issue I would have in signing Adam is the impact it would have on Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing, both youngsters who have enjoyed breakthrough seasons and are key in what ‘King Kenny’ is trying to achieve at Liverpool, but signing another centre midfielder would no doubt force the two Englishman out on loan or reduce them to merely a few league cup appearances. Oh, and there is of course a certain Jordan Henderson to consider.
The one thing Adam would add to Liverpool’s play is his ability from set pieces. Liverpool have always relied on Steven Gerrard for his free kicks, but when the Englishman isn’t available Liverpool lack that threat from free kicks and corners. Fabio Aurelio clearly demonstrates superb technique from short free kicks too, but since Liverpool are pursuing a new left back and with the Brazilian, now in the twilight of his career, already fighting for a place at full back with the ever-improving Martin Kelly and England international Glen Johnson, he will presumably have to settle for a place on the bench for much of next season. The Scotland international has a delightful left foot, that delivered some of the best corners last season as well as scoring a couple of contenders for Goal of the Season from set pieces.
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Adam’s sweet left foot surely isn’t worth £10 million though? Because in this writer’s humble opinion, that’s the only attribute Liverpool will be gaining in signing the guy who didn’t even get Blackpool’s player of the season award for the 2010/11 campaign.
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Let me know Liverpool are so Adam-ant on signing Adam at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-T-Blazer/185495024836102
Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton wants striker Andy Carroll to focus on football following his brush with the law.
Carroll, 21, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £2,500 in compensation after pleading guilty to a charge of common assault at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday.
The England Under-21 international had scored the winner in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory at West Ham and Hughton is hoping Carroll can now concentrate on his football after closing the chapter on an unsavoury incident.
Carroll also appeared in court last weekend where he denied a charge of assaulting a former girlfriend.
"We are all delighted with today, but what everybody wants to do is just get back to watching him do what he does best, as he did on Saturday at West Ham," said Hughton.
Meanwhile, the Magpies boss is keen to keep expectations surrounding the Gateshead-born striker to a minimum.
He added:"We are very definite about what we say about him. He is still a young lad and he is still a young lad who has improvements in his game to make.
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"We are conscious of not building him into something he isn't at the moment.
"But he has wonderful potential and he is a young lad who is playing regularly now in the Premier League and if you are able to do that, you are able to make progress."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Four different groups of investors have bid to become the new owners of toiling Scottish champions Rangers.
The Ibrox club went into administration last month due to unmanageable debt, and were docked ten points by the SPL.
However, administrators Duff & Phelps have revealed that four bidding parties will battle it out for the club’s ownership.
“Following our announcement on March 30, that best and final bids for control of Rangers Football Club should be submitted by April 5, I can confirm we have received four bids by close of business today,” joint administrator David Whitehouse told the club’s official website.
“The bids are structured in various ways but I would describe them as positive and constructive.
“The administration team will now analyse these bids over the forthcoming days and hold discussions with relevant parties to gain further understanding of the details of their bids.
“It will be our intention to accept an offer next week and this will be followed by a period of due diligence and exclusivity.
“At this stage, we cannot be precise in timescale but estimate that an exit from administration before the end of the season is achievable.
“We appreciate the need to conclude this process as quickly as possible.
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“It is, however, most important to secure the best possible outcome for creditors, Rangers Football Club and its supporters,” he concluded.
Vegalta Sendai remain unbeaten and moved into second in the J-League after a 1-0 win over Montedio Yamagata on Sunday.A 52nd-minute strike from Naoki Sugai ensured Makoto Teguramori’s side are the only team yet to lose after seven games.
They are within one point of first-placed Kashiwa Reysol, while Montedio Yamagata remain in the bottom two following the loss.
Shimizu S-Pulse recorded just their second win of the season with a 4-1 thrashing of Omiya Ardija.
Striker Naohiro Takahara hit a brace after Australian attacker Alex Brosque had opened the scoring, with defender Shinji Tsujio chiming in with a fourth before Rafael’s late consolation goal.
Brosque made it 1-0 after 39 minutes, sliding into the back post to place home to give the visitors the lead.
The Australian forward was involved in the second as he provided the lay-off with his chest for Takahara to volley home.
Takahara was the beneficiary of a horrible defensive lapse for his second five minutes into the second half, capitalising on a wayward 20-yard back pass before placing home.
Tsujio hit a fourth 20 minutes from the end before Rafael’s 90th-minute goal, as Shimzu moved into 11th, one spot below Omiya Ardija.