football !!

We´ll see if Barca has the money to buy him. It was interesting enough to know they had to get a loan to pay the wages as the players were not paid in time in June....Another big team ending up in the huge debt row? Well, they still got their shirt front to sell to merchandising...Just gotta wonder what is Real Madrid´s debt amount?

 

Especially with all the money they splashed out last season. Teams shouldn't be allowed to buy players if they're already running a debt and can't play their current players.

 

Heskey calls time on England career

Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey will not be adding to his 62 England caps after today announcing his retirement from international football.

Heskey scored only seven goals for the national team but he remained a popular choice for several England managers and went into the World Cup as Wayne Rooney's first-choice partner.

 

West Ham wins in the first friendly of the season... next up, 1st place in the Premiership!



:lol:

 

Arsenal striker Eduardo looks set to complete a £6million move to Shakhtar Donetsk.

The 27-year-old is poised to sign a three-year contract after passing a medical and agreeing terms with the Ukrainian champions, according to The Sun.

Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said: "We wanted to buy Eduardo before he moved to Arsenal.

"Not everything went his way last season, but he is still a player of very high quality, a real marksman.

"Yes, he had a serious injury, we are aware of the risk, but at the same time we realise he can give a lot to Shakhtar. We expect a lot from Eduardo."

------------

Titus Bramble is due to undergo a medical at Sunderland on Wednesday as the Black Cats attempt to tie up a deal for the Wigan defender.

----------

AC Milan have completed the signing of Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Genoa.

The Rossoneri have confirmed Gianmarco Zigoni, Nnamdi Oduamadi and Rodney Strasser have gone the other way in a co-ownership deal as part of the transfer.

------------

France internationals Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have been charged with having sex with an under-age prostitute.

The charges are the first stage of a formal investigation that could lead to a trial and, if convicted, both players face up to three years in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros.

 

580 000 000 € . My question is : How is possible any one have give them so huge quantity of money?

 

Barcelona lost more than 77million euros last season, the club's vice-president for economic affairs Javier Faus has revealed.

The previous board, led by former Barca president Joan Laporta, had announced the club was 11million euros in the black at the end of their mandate in late June, but a new audit carried out by Deloitte for Sandro Rosell's team has revealed a far less healthy scenario for the Catalan outfit.

The new audit shows that Barca had an income of 408.9million for the 2009/2010 season, but costs amounting to 477.9m.

Further spending of around 8million euros means the overall deficit is calculated at 77.1million.

"The figures presented by the former board don't reflect the real image. They have cheated," Faus said.

"There is a structural problem. The sporting excellence in the last few years has not been reflected in economic excellence. The new board's goal is to bring economic excellence alongside sporting excellence."

Barca recently took out a loan of 155million euros after falling behind with the payment of player wages at the end of June.

Central defender Dymtro Chygrynskiy was also hastily sold to Shakhtar Donetsk to raise much-needed funds for the club.

------------

Edgar Davids appears keen to resume his playing career after training on Tuesday with former club Ajax.

The 37-year-old has not played professionally since leaving Ajax in 2008, attracting interest but never agreeing terms with both Vitesse and Leicester City.

-----------

Sir Alex Ferguson admits injured midfielders Owen Hargreaves and Anderson may be left out of Manchester United's Premier League squad.

Every team has to name a pool of 25 players, including eight who have been at the club for three years before they turned 21. Those under 21 do not count.

The list has to be in at the end of the summer transfer window and renewed if needed in January.

---------

Sol Campbell is due to have a medical with Newcastle on Tuesday afternoon with a view to signing for the newly-promoted Premier League club.

The 35-year-old defender has been out of contract since his deal with Arsenal ran out this summer and had been linked with the Magpies' North-East rivals Sunderland as well as Celtic.

It is understood, however, that Newcastle have won the race for his services as they look to strengthen their defence ahead of their return to the top flight.

------

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Javier Mascherano wants to quit the club - but insists he will only be sold on their terms.

Hodgson has been speaking to the Reds' key figures since taking over from Rafael Benitez at Anfield and while captain Steven Gerrard has indicated he wants to stay, Argentina skipper Mascherano is keen to move on, with reports linking him with a reunion with Benitez at Inter Milan.

Hodgson has had more positive news from Spain striker Fernando Torres, who has confirmed his intention to return to the club on Monday and to remain at Anfield.

"Yes, he wants to leave the club," confirmed Hodgson when asked about Mascherano.

"He has made that perfectly clear. I think he wanted to leave a year go.

"He wants to leave now but he is contracted to Liverpool so whether he leaves or not will be our decision."

 

The audit has estimated the total debt of Barcelona FC in 558 million euros.

Delloite. A photo of the FC Barcelona's expresident sr Laporta (The Barça is something like a foundation) could explain many things better than my explanations.

.
Yes,the guy in thecenter of the photo is Joan Laporta and they weren´t in a Barça's celebration. Politics.. "leftisch" and nationalist ERC. The aesthetics chosen gives us an idea of what's in the head of these guys, right?




It seems like this other one: SA Torchlight parade

 

Real Madrid have confirmed that Germany midfielder Sami Khedira has accepted a five-year contract to join the club from Stuttgart.

German outfit Stuttgart announced earlier on Friday that an undisclosed fee - believed to be £8million - had been agreed with Real for the sale of Khedira.

"Real Madrid C. F. and VfB Stuttgart have agreed to the transfer of Sami Khedira, who will sign a 5-year contract with Real Madrid," the club said in a statement.

----------

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal maintains he has too many strikers and is more likely to sell one than buy one this summer.

The Dutchman has Ivica Olic, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez on the books and, since he prefers to play with only one striker, he feels he has a surplus.

"Even if I play with two strikers, I still have two too many," he said.

"We need to sell rather than buy."

-------------

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits he is looking to sign a new centre-back this summer, and has "plenty of names" on his radar.

Sol Campbell, William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre have all left the club since May, while Laurent Koscielny from Lorient is Wenger's only addition to his central defence.

Johan Djourou has made his comeback after being sidelined for almost all of last season with injury, but with Thomas Vermaelen that leaves Wenger just three established centre-backs to choose from.

The Gunners boss admits he required five central defenders last season, and is looking to bring at least one more to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

 

Should make things interesting for teams in the Premier League:

New legislation now stipulates that each club in the top flight can only work with a 25-man squad, of which eight members must be 'home-grown' by 1st September.

 

mr wenger is not amused, it means the likes of big named injured players, who could have long term recovery, injuries! wont likely be registered, which means? they cant play in that season..if your not registered..your sidelined ...should be interesting to see if owen, woodgate, hargreaves, and the likes, make the register?

 

Roberto Mancini hopes to have Mario Balotelli and James Milner hitched to his Manchester City bandwagon by next Thursday.

Although Martin O'Neill hinted on Friday night that Milner was on the verge of completing a big-money switch to Eastlands, the contract remains unsigned.

Milner is due to link up with the England squad ahead of Wednesday's friendly with Hungary early next week, which further complicates matters.

Balotelli has Italian national commitments as well, although Mancini is hoping to tie up both deals very swiftly once those midweek fixtures are over.

"We are close with both players but now they are going with their national teams," said Mancini after tonight's 2-0 friendly win over Valencia.

"We hope that we can have these players by next Thursday.

"For now we have two days off and we are not going to talk about the market. Next week we will see.

"These deals could happen but we need to wait."

------------

Cesc Fabregas insists he is "100 per cent focused" on playing for Arsenal after the London club rejected two offers from Barcelona this summer.

The Gunners captain, 23, committed himself to the London club for the 2010-11 season after saying that he respected their decision to reject two offers from Barca, who were keen to re-sign a player who had come through their academy system.

It is a great piece of news for the Gunners, who steadfastly refused to negotiate with Barcelona over a player whose contract runs until 2014, with manager Arsene Wenger describing it as a "huge lift."

However, it may be that speculation resurfaces next summer after the player admitted a return to his native Catalonia was an "attractive" proposition.

Fabregas said: "I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me.

"I owe a lot to the club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal.

"I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100% focused on playing for Arsenal.

"I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me."

-------------

Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu admits Cesc Fabregas' decision to stay at Arsenal has come as a major blow to the Catalan giants.

Barca chased the 23 year-old midfielder all summer and made two bids to bring the Spain star back to the club where he started his career, but Arsenal were unwilling to do business and the player himself released a statement on Friday confirming he will be staying in north London.

"The Cesc issue is over," Bartomeu told reporters in Beijing, where Barcelona are currently on a pre-season tour.

"It is a bad piece of news both in a sporting sense and sentimentally."

And Bartomeu admitted that Arsenal had never been willing to part with their prized asset.

"Arsenal never gave us a price for Cesc. They declared him non-transferable," he said. "The team still has weaknesses, but we'll now look at home (to the youth team) first."

Bartomeu also revealed that out-of-favour trio Aleksander Hleb, Martin Caceres and Victor Sanchez are all set to leave the club on loan before the transfer window closes.

"We are looking for the best option for the players and for the club," he said.

 

Bit of a shock really...

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Gareth Southgate are interested in managing Aston Villa, BBC Sport understands.

Villa are beginning the search for a new manager after the abrupt departure of Martin O'Neill on Monday.

The club have yet to comment on the situation but former England manager Eriksson and ex-Middlesbrough boss Southgate are being linked.

Others in the frame include Ajax manager Martin Jol and the United States coach Bob Bradley.

Sources close to Eriksson said: "Of course, Sven would be interested in this job.

"He has always said that he would like to go back into the Premier League. It is a big target for him."

Villa play West Ham on Saturday, with reserve-team boss Kevin MacDonald preparing the team in a caretaker role.

The club's American owner Randy Lerner - said to be shocked at O'Neill's swift exit - has flown into Birmingham to meet Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner as the club look to replace a man who led them to sixth in the league, and to the Carling Cup final, last season.

O'Neill is believed to have resigned after four years with the club over its current transfer policy - but neither he nor Villa have disclosed any reasons behind the decision, which has thrown preparations for the new campaign into turmoil.

In May, Lerner insisted O'Neill had pledged his future to Villa after speculation over whether or not the former Celtic boss would leave.

Former Villa captain Martin Laursen said he was not surprised that O'Neill left the club but said that he did not think his departure would be followed by several players.

"He wanted more than Randy Lerner could give him," Laursen told BBC Sport. "He is so ambitious that when he doesn't get what he wants he walks away but I don't think more players will leave.

"If Martin O'Neill gets another important job then he might take some with him but I don't think players will leave because O'Neill has gone."

 

Chelsea set to sell Ricardo Carvalho to Real Madrid

Real Madrid are set to complete the signing of Portugal centre-back Ricardo Carvalho from Chelsea.

The Spanish giants have agreed a £6.7m fee to sign the 32-year-old, who will link up once again with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

"Chelsea can confirm it has agreed terms with Real Madrid for the transfer of Carvalho," said a club statement.

Carvalho, who was also with Mourinho at Porto, joined Chelsea in 2004 for £19.8m and won the league three times.

The Chelsea statement added: "The transfer is subject to a medical and the player agreeing personal terms. Chelsea would like to thank Riccy for his six years of service, and we wish him well in his future career."

 

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of striker Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan on a five-year deal.

The Eastlands outfit have been pursuing Balotelli for much of the summer and have finally landed him after agreeing an undisclosed fee with Inter thought to be around £24million.

The combustible forward will not be available for tomorrow's opening Premier League clash with Tottenham, but could make his debut in the home encounter with Liverpool on August 23.

Boss Roberto Mancini has predicted Balotelli will become an instant Premier League hit and he is convinced the player's muscular style is perfectly suited to the English game.

"Mario is one of the best players of his age in Europe, and I very happy to be working with him again," Mancini told the club's website.

"His style of play will suit the Premier League, and because he is still so young there is a big chance for him to improve.

"He is a strong and exciting player, and City fans will enjoy watching him."

He follows Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure, Aleksander Kolarov and David Silva into Eastlands and is one of the major reasons why Mancini has been so happy to discard Craig Bellamy.

-----------

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has confirmed his interest in signing former Arsenal defender William Gallas on a free transfer.

The France centre-back has yet to find a new club since leaving Arsenal over the summer and has been linked with the likes of Juventus and Panathinaikos.

However, he could now make the short move across north London to join the Gunners' arch-rivals after Redknapp revealed he has discussed a possible deal.

Redknapp believes Gallas, who turns 33 next week, would be an ideal acquisition and is waiting to see if a deal can be agreed for him to link up with Spurs.

"I like Gallas," said Redknapp. "I think he's a great free transfer.

"It's a possibility. He hasn't been greedy at all. His people have rung up and we spoke about it.

"I thought at the start of the year there were three fantastic free transfers available - David James, the England goalkeeper, Joe Cole and William Gallas.

"He's a player I think would be a good player, he's an experienced player. He's played at the top level, he won championships with Chelsea."

------------

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has labelled the Premier League's new squad rules "ridiculous" and "a disaster for this country".

The boards of the 20 Premier League clubs last year unanimously agreed that squads should be limited to 25 players, eight of which must be 'home-grown' in order to assist the England team.

But Wenger, who on Friday revealed he is close to penning a new contract with the Gunners, is far from happy with the changes and believes they will do nothing for the league's chances of remaining the best in the world.

Quoted in several national newspapers, he said: "Instead of asking 'we have the best league in the world, how can we make it greater?' they wonder 'how can we make it smaller?'

"The rules they decide are a disaster for this country. Ridiculous. They are all artificial and have nothing to do with top-level sport."

 

Arsenal have submitted a bid for Sevilla's France international centre-back Sebastien Squillaci, the Spanish club have confirmed.

The Gunners are short of experienced cover in defence, having seen out-of-contract veterans William Gallas, Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre all leave in the summer.

Squillaci, 30, asked to be left out of Sevilla's Champions League play-off against Braga on Wednesday night to avoid being cup-tied.

The former Lyon defender is rated at around £6.5million, but it remains uncertain whether Arsenal have matched that valuation.

------------

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has given three of his players the green light to depart Eastlands if they request to leave.

The Italian boss said earlier this week that he would be open to the exit of goalkeeper Shay Given - linked with Arsenal, Fulham and Celtic - after favouring Joe Hart for the number one jersey for City's Premier League opener at Tottenham and Thursday's Europa League clash against FC Timisoara.

And he has now said, although he values the services of Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz, he would not stand in their way.

Brazilian Robinho is attracting interest from Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Schalke, while Paraguay star Santa Cruz is being monitored by Fulham and West Ham, and neither player is likely to be content with a spot on the fringes of the City first team this term.

------------

James Milner has completed his move to Manchester City from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, with Stephen Ireland joining Villa.

The England midfielder, 24, has joined the big-spending Blues after a summer of speculation over his future, although Eastlands always seemed likely to be his ultimate destination.

Milner has signed a five-year contract and midfielder Ireland has joined Villa from City as part of the deal.

-----------
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has backed new signing Mesut Ozil to be a key player for the Spanish giants for the next decade.

The Germany midfielder completed his move to the Bernabeu from Werder Bremen yesterday for a fee believed to be in the region of 15 million euros (around £12.4million).

"He's a player who can play for Real Madrid for 10 years," Madrid boss Mourinho told Marca after his side drew 1-1 with Standard Liege in a pre-season friendly last night.

"His contract was running out so we could get him at a lot less than his actual market value.

"With Kaka's injury, Ozil and Sergio (Canales) are two players who can give us a lot."

 

I'd like to see Shay Given move to Arsenal. ManCity has too many players as it is.

 

Interesting Manchester derby coming up:

Eleven attackers vs eleven attackers....

 

Liverpool have agreed a deal for Alberto Aquilani to join Juventus on loan for the season, subject to a medical, the Reds have confirmed.

Aquilani will join The Old Lady for a year subject to a medical - to be held on Monday - in a bid to gain regular first-team football.

The 26-year-old Italian joined the Anfield club for £20million from Roma a year ago to replace Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso

----------

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola still hopes to make more signings ahead of the new La Liga season, but is cagey on Zlatan Ibrahimovic's future.

Barca have signed striker David Villa and utility player Adriano Correia so far this summer, but Yaya Toure has left the Nou Camp and Guardiola has a relatively small squad of 19 at his disposal.

The 39-year-old has hinted young players will get a chance once again this term, but insists he is interested in bringing in more new faces as well.

"New signings could arrive," he said at a press conference ahead of Saturday night's Spanish Supercup second leg against Sevilla.

"The club knows how I feel and if there are some positions we can strengthen. Someone may come in or not."

------------

Bayern Munich centre back Martin Demichelis has admitted he wants to leave the club after falling out of favour with coach Louis van Gaal.

The 29-year-old was omitted from the starting line-up for the Bundesliga champions' opening game of the season against Wolfsburg by manager Van Gaal.

The Dutch coach opted for young defender Holger Badstuber to play alongside Daniel van Buyten, leaving the Argentine international to have to settle for a place on the bench.

Demichelis however refused to accept the decision, instead deciding not to attend the game, making his feelings to Van Gaal very clear.

"The truth is that a cycle is ending and it's better for both sides if we go separate ways," Demichelis told Bild newspaper.

"I don't think it is fair to remain with the team if the signs point to separation."

Van Gaal hit back at the player however, stating that he must deal with any decision he makes in a professional manner.

"I made my decision and the player must accept it. He won the title last season, but now has been replaced and he must accept that, it's not easy," added Van Gaal.

 

Roberto Mancini felt Manchester City "played with a good mentality" as they beat Liverpool 3-0 in front of owner Sheikh Mansour at Eastlands.

Gareth Barry put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute, Carlos Tevez claimed he had got the faintest of touches on Micah Richards' header seven minutes after the interval and the Argentinian converted a penalty.

It was City's biggest victory over Liverpool for 73 years and they were well worth it, although the visitors were poor on the night.

Manager Roy Hodgson was unhappy with his side's defending but is not too worried yet by their return of one point from two matches.

Spirit within the camp was not improved before kick-off when midfielder Javier Mascherano was withdrawn from the squad after Hodgson said his "mind was not right" after being distracted by a £12million bid from Barcelona.

------------

AC Milan claim they will hold talks on Wednesday with a view to signing Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona.

Milan have stated previously the former Inter star was out of their price range but vice-president Adriano Galliani now believes there is a chance of luring Ibrahimovic back to the San Siro.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: "The negotiations are officially open for Ibra. On Wednesday I will meet Barcelona's president Sandro Rosell. It will be difficult and we have not yet spoken of the economic aspect."