Tottenham will complete the £12 million signing of Hugo Lloris, but only once Luka Modric is sold according to The Sun.
The north London club are adopting an aggressive transfer strategy this summer, with Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson already having completed moves to White Hart Lane.
However, Andre Villas-Boas is eager to sign a new goalkeeper to replace ageing Brad Friedel between the sticks, with the Lyon man the Portuguese manager’s preference.
After negotiations between Spurs and the Ligue 1 club, a fee of around £12 million is thought to have been agreed, but Tottenham need to wait until they are given a cash injection from Modric’s sale.
The Croatia international is in the process of moving to Real Madrid, with negotiations ongoing.
Lloris’ father has also confessed that the goalkeeper’s move may hinge on the future of Modric and the money received from his sale.
“I’m sure that Hugo’s move will be accelerated if Modric joins Real,” Luc Lloris is believed to have said.
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As Tottenham look set to lose Luka Modric to Real Madrid, Andre Villas-Boas is considering making a move for Malaga ace Santi Cazorla as a replacement for the Croatian playmaker, according to Talk Sport.
Cazorla is currently said to be unhappy in Malaga following a dispute over wages, and Spurs will be hoping to lure him to White Hart Lane as they look to offer double his current earnings.
Having cost Malaga £17 million from Villarreal last summer, the Spanish international could be moving away from La Rosaleda just one year on.
However, north London rivals Arsenal have also been linked to the 27 year old, as they look set to part company with Andrei Arshavin, who is looking for a permanent move to Zenit St Petersburg.
The arrival of Santi Cazorla to the Premier League would no doubt add to the wealth of talent that England’s top flight has to offer, as the Spaniard featured in both of Spain’s European Championship winning campaigns, only missing the 2010 World Cup due to injury.
Andre Villas-Boas has already stated his intent at revamping the Spurs squad this transfer window to turn them into genuine title contenders, and Santi Cazorla would mark another high profile signing this summer having already secured the services of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Emmanuel Adebayor.
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“A big signing, or simply the signing of a big name?”
That was the question put forward by ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser following the New York Yankee’s acquisition of Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. However, that question is equally appropriate when dealing with Manchester United’s latest signing of Robin van Persie. Despite the obvious levels of excitement surrounding the Dutchman’s arrival at Old Trafford, does it really put United anywhere closer to wrestling the title away from their city rivals?
The team is lopsided, that much is evident. There’s nothing particularly wrong with their attack, and the signing of van Persie is always going to be welcome when you’re chasing silverware. However, the Dutchman’s goals do absolutely nothing to plug gaps all over the rest of the pitch.
As of right now, Alex Ferguson’s greatest worry is his defence—even more so than the huge void in the centre of midfield. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were brought in last year to make up a very deep and capable group of central defenders. However, they, alongside Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans, are missing from the United line up, with a one or two looking at long spells on the treatment table.
Patrice Evra and the position of left-back remains a problem, and there are a number who are questioning United’s choice to seek a replacement—or at least an alternative—from Vitesse. Likewise, the right-back spot has now seen the attacking positions weakened through the necessity to place Antonio Valencia there. Man United don’t have a problem with scoring or even creating goals, so why did the club spend so much time and money chasing a player in van Persie who they evidently don’t need?
Shinji Kagawa is a magnificent signing, as he would be for any club. The youngster managed to make a name for himself in Germany with the Bundesliga champions before elevating that status into superstar territory.
But the problem isn’t what he brings to the team, rather it’s how he can get in the way. At some stages during the away loss to Everton, it seemed like Kagawa and Wayne Rooney were in a head on collision with each other, constantly occupying areas on the pitch extremely close to one another. Kagawa doesn’t provide natural width, and even though he is capable of taking up a position on the flank, he will continue to force his way to the centre of the pitch.
So what do the team do with Wayne Rooney if they want to accommodate their new £24 million striker and their latest big-name midfielder? What happens when Javier Hernandez decides he’s fed up of sitting on the bench? And Dimitar Berbatov is still no closer to the exit at Old Trafford.
Depth is good, especially in the forward positions, but it becomes an unnecessary headache when you’re splashing out cash that you don’t really have; a collection of very good full-backs could have been brought in with the money spent on van Persie.
To go back to Tony Kornheiser’s question, it looks like the club have brought in a big name to appease those who are continually questioning and attacking the club’s owners. Van Persie can be a big signing, but is he the big signing that will turn United from runners-up and into champions? Not right now and certainly not if he is the last big name to come through the door at Old Trafford.
The team have to face the likelihood of another year with defensive worries, while there is still no deep-lying creative figure in the centre of midfield. Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs won’t be playing every game, and it remains to be seen what kind of impact and influence players like Tom Cleverly or Anderson can have over the long-term.
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The pressing need for this United team was to address those areas of significant weakness: Michael Carrick at centre-back simply won’t do. It’s not even reasonable to compare him to players like Javier Mascherano or Javi Martinez, who have both found success by moving from midfield to defence.
If van Persie continues in the form he was in last season then many fans will find a distraction from the other problems at the club. But will the addition of van Persie’s goals be enough for a title when gaps around the rest of the team remain?
Andre Villas-Boas’ troubled start to life at Tottenham continues as he is forced to recall axed captain, Michael Dawson to the side. The Sun reports.
Dawson almost completed a move across London to QPR in the summer, but the deal broke down as Younes Kaboul was ruled out for four months after undergoing knee surgery.
He has since been left out of all of the first three games, but looks set to be called in to bolster the Spurs defence.
Villas-Boas said: “We have chatted. Younes’ operation means he’s out and it is up to Michael to compete. I’m sure he will come good.”
Villas-Boas is attempting a mass overhaul at Spurs, but the North Londoners have made an unconvincing start to the season- collecting two points from the first three games and twice squandering leads at home to West Brom and Norwich.
He has also reportedly upset new £8million goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris after claiming the French international will have to battle it out with Brad Friedel for the number one jersey.
According to his national team manager, Didier Deschamps, the comments have not gone down well with the player, who feels he needs to be the undisputed number one at Tottenham to continue playing regularly for France.
But there could be some good news for the Portuguese, after the club appealed to the FA to overturn Tom Huddlestone’s red card in the match against Norwich.
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Manchester United dispatched with Wigan at home at the weekend with a resounding 4-0 victory, but the biggest talking point to come out of the match was the debut performance of Dutch left-back Alexander Buttner, as he went on to score one and set up another before earning himself the man-of-the-match award. Simply put, will Patrice Evra be able to keep his place in the side after the emergence of a genuine and serious rival for his position?
The club were linked all summer with Everton full-back Leighton Baines but were reportedly put off by the England international’s price-tag, which was north of the £10m that they were willing to pay. When you consider that the club moved for Robin van Persie shortly afterwards for £24m, it left them with little in the bank to bring in another defender, and they surprisingly swooped for one-time Southampton transfer target Alexander Buttner, signing him from Vitesse Arnhem for a fee of £4m.
The club’s head scout in Holland, Ed van Stijn revealed shortly after the move was completed, though: “Every season (United) ask all European scouts for a list of players. They ask you to create a top five of the best players in the league for every position. I had Buttner at number three or four on my list.”
It’s fair to say that this created some undue pressure on the 23-year-old’s first appearance at the club, but he was exceptional against Wigan, even if he was at fault for seven turnovers of possession, which were conceded because of a poor first touch – a record which is currently the most by any player in a single game this season.
Ferguson first aired in public last week that he was considering resting Evra for the game against Wigan, but his words were laced with caution about what may soon become a more permanent switch: “We have to protect the future, that is sensible. Evra is 31 and Alex comes to challenge that position. But nobody has played more games than Evra over the last five years. He has played with injuries – he has guts. He has been up and down that touchline for five years. It’s 240 games he has played. Patrice has been an absolute soldier.”
Of course, it didn’t help the Frenchman’s case that he delivered another shoddy performance for France in their World Cup qualifier against Belarus and the left-back hasn’t been at his best for nearly 18 months now and the slump has alarmingly become the norm. The main cause for concern has been Evra’s positioning and judgement, which have completely left him; aspects which are supposed to improve with age and experience.
The fact that the club conceded five goals in their opening three league games only served to help confirm Ferguson’s suspicions that his defence was fragile, with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling both still on the treatment table. While the performance against Everton on the opening day may have been understandable to an extent, given that Michael Carrick had to start at centre-half, the manner in which they let both Fulham and Southampton back into the game has brought forward the need for a shake up.
The main issue concerning Evra is his age, he will be 32 at the end of this season and this could be his final as a guaranteed regular in the side. Buttner is still raw and will take time to adjust, but the return of Fabio, who for my money looks a more rounded player than Buttner at the moment, is also worth considering as we look further down the line.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest managerial strength is his ruthlessness; he simply knows when to cut his losses on a player, despite all of their years of service. Evra is one of the senior members of the squad, is often vice-captain and his trophy haul of four Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph do earn him a degree of leniency, but even then, it can only last so long.
Had the club been able to afford Baines in the summer, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would have seen Evra become the deputy and relinquish his first-team place. Nevertheless, despite his troubles, Ferguson will remain loyal to Evra for the time being, knowing that he has an enthusiastic understudy capable of coming in and performing.
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Tne quality of the opposition will be taken into account and Ferguson will know that when it comes to the big crunch games, that he will likely plump for Evra over Buttner, but the first seeds of doubt may have been sown in his mind by how quickly the Dutchman settled into the side. It won’t be enough to shift Evra just yet, but it’s certainly a start.
Not since Gabriel Heinze was at Old Trafford has Evra faced this sort of challenge to his first-team starting berth and his chronic lack of form in recent times has prompted his manager to bring in an alternative this summer. You suspect that Ferguson will continue to act out of loyalty towards Evra for the time being, but that even this currency is in danger of becoming spent, particularly with the emergence of a new rival within the ranks.
A goalscoring midfielder is something Sir Alex Ferguson has craved for the best part of the last five-years at Old Trafford. The Red Devils boss has gone to great lengths to unearth a player with a scoring streak akin to that of Paul Scholes in his pomp even suggesting that Wayne Rooney could be played deeper in the wake of Robin Van Persie’s arrival. But on Wednesday his prayers may have been answered by a player brimming whose talents were moulded closer to home. Tom Cleverley’s first senior goal in a United shirt on Wednesday has been a long time in coming but may provide the answer to Ferguson’s quandary. Cleverley has certainly started the season brightly and poses another welcome selection headache for his manager who now has a wealth of options to choose from in midfield as he continues to plot how to regain the Premier League title from rivals City.
This week on FFC is it time for Ferguson to make a decision on Anderson’s future and which Chile international is the United boss interested in signing?
[divider]
Best of FFC
Exclusive Interview with Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley
WAG Weekly – Man United ace bags himself a beauty!
Time for Sir Alex Ferguson to make a decision
An ideal transfer target for Manchester United?
A constantly undervalued asset at Old Trafford?
The Top TEN players that have emerged from their League Cup exploits
Manchester United keen on deal for Chilean
Lots of transfer interest, but is he the real deal?
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Best of WEB
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Is Nani Playing His Way Out Of United? – Red Flag Flying High
Now or never, Ando – 7Cantonas
Young guns push for place with history no longer on side – United Rant
Phil Jones: Destined To Be Another John O’Shea? – Red Flag Flying High
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“He’s a great player so he’ll add to our squad.” – The Busby Way
Marouane Fellaini Sadly Lacks The Finesse To Join United – Transfer Tavern
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Quote of the Week
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“It has been playing on my mind a little bit. I have always scored goals when I have gone on loan, so it was bugging me that I had not been doing it for my club or my country. The gaffer gave me a bit at half-time for missing the one in the first-half, so it was nice to stroke that one in. We practice those sorts of finishes a lot so when the ball came to me I knew what I was going to do. I have got the first one out of the way now. Hopefully they will all come at once.” Tom Cleverley admits his lack of goals was starting to get on his mind
Stoke City managed to hold onto a point at Anfield in a fiery game that lacked quality throughout. Brendan Rodgers’ side can’t seem to find any consistent form this season and they will see it as two points dropped at home.
Liverpool’s home form may be worrying their supporters and they sit in the bottom half of the league table going into a run of games they will hope to get something from, but then again they said that about this game.
Stoke rarely worried the Liverpool defence with Liverpool old boy Peter Crouch unable to make much of an impact and another former Red, Michael Owen, was injured and not involved.
As usual most of Liverpool’s good work came through Luis Suarez but Stoke’s physical approach to the game didn’t suit the Uruguayan and youngsters Suso and Raheem Sterling couldn’t create many clear cut chances.
Martin Skrtel did hit the post late on for the hosts but that’s as close as they came to beating Asmir Begovic in the City goal.
It seems Stoke’s approach to game will have disrupted Liverpool’s free flowing football and despite picking up six bookings, Tony Pulis will be delighted with a draw.
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Liverpool’s chances of breaking into the top four or even top six are already looking ambitious and the lack of strength in depth in the squad, mainly going forward, is becoming very clear.
Both teams are still in the bottom half of the table after the draw and both have won just once in their seven Premier League games this season.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has revealed that his star defender Ryan Shawcross will not be leaving the club in the January transfer window.
Since moving from Manchester United to Stoke in 2008, the defender has gone from strength to strength.
His form has been rewarded with a call up to the last two England squads for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.
One of the biggest compliments that Shawcross could receive was the praise from Sir Alex Ferguson in Saturday’s match programme the Scotsman said he wished to have kept Shawcross.
Ferguson revealed that the reason why he let Shawcross leave was because of a strong group of defenders coming through the ranks at the same time.
“We had Jonny Evans, Gerard Pique, Ryan Shawcross, Craig Cathcart, and Paul McShane, and something had to give. He told the BBC website.
“We made the right decision keeping Jonny Evans but I’m not sure about letting Shawcross join Stoke.”
However current manager Pulis has said there is no chance that he will sell the defender.
“Ryan is our captain, he is only just 25, he told BBC sport.
“We won’t see the best of him for another two or three years.”
Shawcross played in Stoke’s 4-2 defeat against Manchester United, but could not prevent defeat.
Pulis is delighted that he benefited from the arrival of the defender and that Shawcross will only continue to get better.
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“The big clubs spend a hell of a lot of money on their youth development programmes but there is always a player there who might get stuck in the traffic of people coming through, Pulis added.
“Ryan is one of them. He was a great signing and the good thing is he wants to get better. He has that desire about him.”
A black player’s union being formed to combat racism in football; not something you would expect to see in 2012, when we should have moved on from such barbaric and ignorant views held by a supposed minority.
The topic of racism has been splashed all over the news with Terry/ Ferdinand row dragging on for the past year; whilst repercussions from the Suarez/Evra case also dragged on, with trivial talks of handshakes and T-shirts dominating the news.
So when assessing whether a black union would undermine the work by the Kick It Out campaign, one must judge what strides the campaign has taken to eradicate racism from the game.
The PFA, who are responsible for the campaign, released a six point action plan to tackle racism which screamed of desperation in trying to get black players back on the organisation’s side.
Former Wolves striker, Noel Blake admitted he would be keen to join a black players’ union as he feels there is a lack of empathy among those dishing out punishments for racist behaviour.
This is a sound argument, as how would someone know the true effects of racist abuse without being a victim themselves?
It seems that not being in charge of their destiny is causing the likes of Blake and current players like the Ferdinand brothers to shun the campaign.
But this serious issue has been dumbed down to such a degree that we are left wondering who would wear the kick it out T-shirts during the campaign’s week in action- a chance to for the campaign to promote activities encouraging greater multi-cultural awareness and review the progress made so far.
Rio Ferdinand’s decision involving initially deciding against wearing the T-shirt provoked a backlash from Sir Alex Ferguson, who many believed at the time showed a lack of sensitivity in the issue.
Rio along with his brother Anton, made reference in a statement that they felt let down by the PFA and FA’s lack of action to combat racism in the past year, thereby giving a degree of credence to not wearing the shirts as a form of protest.
Reading striker, Jason Roberts also refused to wear the shirt, despite being on the PFA’s decision committee.
But how can racism be tackled if divisions are being created? Surely a united front needs to be presented in order to challenge racist behaviour head on?
If there is a formation of a black players union, then how would those of mixed race or Asian backgrounds who have suffered racial abuse feel?
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It could lead to an undesirable scenario where each minority feels the need to form their own union- something which the true racists would love to see.
This is discrimination its own right and in my opinion, the game’s governing bodies simply need sit down and address the concerns of those players who feel let down by a perceived lack of action in tackling the problem.
A message needs to be conveyed that we’re all in this together; something which the FA and PFA have clearly failed to do in recent months.
The matter of international friendlies is one that has caused much debate over the years.
England have already played six international games so far this season, with the latest batch of international fixtures having happened this week.
However, it is clear that this week’s cycle has had an adverse effect on many Premier League teams.
For example, Papiss Cisse was banned from playing in Newcastle’s Swansea match this weekend because of national team Senegal invoking FIFA’s five-day rule following his withdrawal from their friendly due to an injury concern. And Newcastle’s result? Well, coincidentally, they lost, and in a match, arguably, they would have been expected to win.
Newcastle were hit with another problem stemming from an international friendly, with Yohan Cabaye missing the game after picking up a groin injury while playing for France, and now could be unavailable through to January.
Many clubs have suffered through injuries players have sustained in international friendly games. For instance, Pepe Reina injured himself playing internationally, while Moussa Dembele aggravated an existing injury playing an international game and is still missing matches for Tottenham.
Take the example of Robin Van Persie in 2009. Before Van Persie took part in an international game on 14th November 2009, his then club Arsenal had been on a forward march in the race for the Premier League title, second in the league, and trailing leaders Chelsea by five points. Van Persie had already scored eight times across all competitions by this date.
However, the striker suffered ankle ligament damage, and was sidelined for the remainder of the season. Where did Arsenal eventually finish that season? Third, eleven points behind winners Chelsea, and ten behind runners-up Manchester United.
Perhaps this cannot be entirely explained by the absence of Van Persie, but must be seen as a factor which damaged the club that season.
Of course, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has been particularly critical of international friendly matches ever since. He talked last week of how he feels that the motivation behind them is “greed”, and was reluctant to let Jack Wilshere play for England in Sweden last Wednesday.
He said: “There are a lot of politics behind these games because when you see some teams travelling during that period, you think it is more to pay back some corporation rather than preparing a team for the next official game. I believe the friendly games are there as well to help some federations to raise money. The problem is not to have too much conflict with the interest of the club.”
Other managers have also been angered by issues surrounding international friendly games. Roberto Mancini stated how Sergio Aguero’s call-up to Argentina’s international squad in September, was “ridiculous” after the striker had injured his knee.
However, this is not to say that all international friendly matches should be scrapped. Of course, international football is a significant part of the game, and it is vital to work out what the best team is before an essential international match. However, why are we having the games now, when the next World Cup qualifiers are not until March?
But changes are coming, from 2014. FIFA have decided the friendly in August will no longer be played from 2014.
Following the beginning of the 2014/15 season, nine sets of two dates will happen over the period of two seasons, which allows up to 18 international friendly matches and qualifiers during that cycle. The “international weeks” will last nine days, with each set of teams playing three days apart from each other, for example, one group of teams would play on Thursday, and the other on Sunday.
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While this will be an improvement, with the August friendly usually proving a headache, often taking place days before the Premier League season’s first games, surely the calendar of international friendly fixtures should relate to when significant international games are taking place?
It could also improve relations between country and club. It can be guessed how Alan Pardew feels about the row over Papiss Cisse. Newcastle have accused Senegal of holding “an agenda” against them. Could this situation have been avoided if the timing of international games held more of a compromise between club and country?
So do international friendlies pose too much risk to clubs? Well, of course, international football is an enjoyable part of the game which captures the attention of football fans across the globe and encourages great passion. However, it must be ensured that a compromise exists between club and international football, which could be achieved through a massive shake-up of the international schedule. Otherwise, players will sustain unnecessary injuries, which can damage clubs and their campaigns, as well as the international sides.