David Villa expressed his intention to play in the Premier League. This statement opens opportunities for English clubs to bring him.
In the transfer market last summer, the two Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are interested to bring in David Villa from Valencia. However, a strong desire that the two clubs failed to reach the club. Villa actually survives in Mestalla.
Entering half of this season, Villa began to look the new future. The main attacker Spain’s national team had intended to seek a new challenge at another club. However, this time it’s not La Liga teams who will be the next destination Villa. English League competition is likely to be the next port for Villa.
29-year-old striker was openly acknowledged love Premier League atmosphere. He even intends to leave the UK at the opening of the transfer market next summer.
In recent years a number of English clubs have been interested to bring Villa. Recorded Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City lining up to get the Villa’s signature.
On the stock transfer mid-year window I was. Villa could have left Valencia. Proposal from a number of English clubs he had received. But at that time the situation was not conducive to doing a new career at the club. Read more…
REAL MADRID president Florentino Perez’s bid to prise Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal has been dubbed ‘Operation Cesc’ in Spain.
Perez and his director general Jorge Valdano have held summit talks over a £43million summer bid for the midfield ace - and how they can knock deadly rivals Barcelona out of the running.
Arsenal are desperate to hang on to their captain but might be willing to talk if Real’s £25m-rated striker Gonzalo Higuain is thrown into the bargain.
Against that, Barca hope to weigh in with a straight £40m bid.
If that fails, an alternative is to offer unsettled Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, brother of former Gunners defender Kolo, plus £30m.
Barca president Joan Laporta has already promised “to fight for the kid” who played for the club as a teenager.
A Real insider revealed: “The price demanded is £43m and that is what we are basing our calculations on.
“This is ‘Operation Cesc’, which we hope will prove a blow to Barcelona.”
Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira is expected at Manchester City on Thursday for talks over a possible move to Eastlands, BBC Sport understands.
City boss Roberto Mancini signed the 33-year-old when he was in charge at Inter, and both are keen on a reunion.
Inter manager Jose Mourinho revealed on Wednesday that Vieira had played his last game for the Italian champions.
But the former Arsenal star refused to confirm a deal had been done when contacted by BBC Sport on Thursday.
If the Frenchman does join City he will become Mancini’s first signing since succeeding Mark Hughes at the City of Manchester Stadium in December.
Vieira moved to Italy after bringing his spell in English football to an end when he left Arsenal in the summer of 2005 after nine years at the London club.
He joined Juventus for £13.7m but spent only one season at the Stadio Olimpico before signing for Inter, where he won two Serie A titles under Mancini in 2007 and 2008.
Vieira won a third successive Scudetto last term but has made just 16 appearances in all competitions this time round - with most of those coming as a substitute. Read more…
Juan Sebastian Veron has sensationally claimed that Manchester City attempted to lure him to Eastlands in a shocking £7million deal.
According to the former Manchester United flop, new City boss Roberto Mancini personally rang him, in a bid to bring him back to the Barclays Premier League.
Veron, now captain of his hometown team Estudiantes in La Plata, played alongside Mancini at both Sampdoria and Lazio.
But the 34-year-old snubbed a reunion with the City manager insisting he is happy to stay with the Buenos Aires club.
‘It’s not a fact of money. First of all is the family, and second, I have made a decision and I want to respect it, that is what I feel and Estudiantes is the place where I feel comfortable,’ Veron told Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport.
‘If I would have accepted this offer I wouldn’t have been true with my convictions, with myself and with the people.’
According to the player’s agent, Veron was offered a mega-bucks one-year deal by Man City, who are just two points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the Premier League.
‘Veron said to me that he received a phone call from Mancini and that he had offered him £7million and the same to Estudiantes for a one-year contract,’ Miguel Pires said. Read more…
Rafa Benitez will hit the January sales with a vengeance, by offloading two players and bringing in a new signing within the next 48 hours.
And the Liverpool boss hopes to swiftly follow that up with another player-in/ player-out deal, that he hopes will allow him to spend upwards of £10million on a big-name striker.
The Anfield manager is confident of completing negotiations to bring Argentina international winger Maxi Rodriguez to Merseyside by the middle of the week, initially on a short-term loan deal.
That will be preceded by the swift departure of Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voronin, who were both locked in talks last night with potential suitors who had travelled to Liverpool for negotiations.
Rodriguez was left out of the weekend’s La Liga game against Sevilla by his team Atletico Madrid so he could open talks with Benitez over a potential switch to Anfield.
And last night the 29-year-old’s agent Jurgen Milewski revealed a move was close to being finalised. “I can say the chances of a transfer are high,” he said. Read more…
Patrick Vieira is expected to join Manchester City on a six-month loan deal by the start of next week.
The former Arsenal captain has spoken with his former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, now the boss at Eastlands, and a deal is ‘99 per cent agreed’.
First, the 33-year-old has been asked to stay in Italy and provide cover for injury-hit Inter, who play Chievo tomorrow and Siena on Saturday.
After that the France midfielder is expected to fly to Manchester and put pen to paper on the short-term loan, which carries the possibility of an 18-month contract to follow if everything goes well for both parties during his loan period.
Vieira has been desperate to quit Inter since last summer, when France coach Raymond Domenech made it clear he needed to be playng regular league football to guarantee a place in this summer’s World Cup squad.
He was on the brink of joining Tottenham last August after a bold move from Harry Redknapp but then had second thoughts when his former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also showed interest.
Vieira had led the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’, who were unbeaten champions in 2003-04. Read more…
ALAN SHEARER wants to take charge of managerless Sheffield Wednesday.
And the Match of the Day pundit hopes to install his former Newcastle team-mate Gary Speed as his No 2 at Hillsborough.
Shearer is eager to get back into management after failing to save his beloved Toon from relegation last season.
A close pal of the St James’ Park legend said: “Alan is keen to manage again and wants the Wednesday job.
“He has also said he would like Gary Speed to be his assistant.”
The Owls are now desperate to find a new boss after crashing out of the FA Cup on Saturday following a 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace.
Sacked Bolton chief Gary Megson and former Preston manager Alan Irvine have already been linked with Wednesday. Read more…
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has ruled out selling Dutch forward Ryan Babel in the January transfer window.
The 23-year-old Babel joined from Ajax in 2007 for an £11.5m fee, but has failed to start regularly and has been linked with a move away from Anfield.
“He (Babel) will have a chance to play,” said Benitez after his side’s 1-1 FA Cup draw with Reading.
“He has to work hard. He’s our player and he will have his chances. At this moment we are not trying to sell him.”
The Netherlands striker, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, has often found himself playing out of position on the left flank and has scored just nine league goals since arriving at Anfield.
In December 2008 Babel tried and failed to engineer a loan move to former club Ajax.
Benitez refused to be drawn on the possibility of Dutch pair Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rafael van der Vaart arriving from Real Madrid, only saying it would be “very, very difficult” to sign players this month. Read more…
RUUD VAN NISTELROOY looks certain to complete a shock return to the Premier League with Liverpool in the next few days.
SunSport also understands the striker’s Real Madrid and Holland team-mate Rafael van der Vaart may also join the Reds on loan until the end of the season.
It is a dramatic double swoop as under-fire boss Rafa Benitez desperately seeks to turn around a disastrous season.
Former Manchester United idol Van Nistelrooy, 33, is out of contract at the end of the season and is out of favour at Real.
The striker wants to resurrect his international career and go to the World Cup with Holland this summer.
He knows that his first-team chances in Madrid will be limited as he is behind Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema and Raul in boss Manuel Pellegrini’s pecking order.
The only remaining detail to be sorted out is whether Liverpool will pick up the hitman’s whopping £140,000-a-week pay package. Read more…
