Tuesday 31 July 2012

Guess who's back, with an EPL Transfer Update:





Hello and welcome to my first EPL Update in over a week.... Wow. It feels weird, but I MUST continue.


This will be a VERY long update, because a lot has happened over the last 10 days, including the official start of the London 2012 Olympics and some more EPL transfer activity, not to mention lots of football friendly action at the men's Olympic toournament has started.


So, without further ado, let me begin:

Chelsea have confirmed the £25million signing of Sao Paulo midfielder Oscar.

Promising startlet: Brazillian International Oscar has joined Chelsea for £25million.

American club New York Red Bulls have announced the signing of Everton midfielder Tim Cahill, subject to international clearance. 

It's official: Everton midfielder Tim Cahill has moved to New York Red Bulls for an undisclosed fee.
I'm here: Cahill talks the walk out into the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

Interesting or what?: Tim Cahill has not ruled out a move back to Everton (on-loan)
Cahill said this on the club website:
'I am very happy to start a new chapter of my career with the New York Red Bulls'
'As we have seen over the past few years, MLS has developed into a very competitive league with many talented players.' 
'I am impressed with what the Red Bulls are trying to accomplish in MLS and within American soccer and I am looking forward to this new challenge. I will do everything I can to help bring New York its first MLS Cup'





Does anyone remember the news article that I had last post about Lens winger Thorgan Hazard?


Well, he has signed for Chelsea now, and will link-up with his brother next season.

It's official: Winger Thorgan Hazard will join Chelsea next season.

He will slide into the U21 squad, and may be loaned out for some first-team experience..


Interesting transfer done deal here: 


QPR have signed Blackburn Rovers winger Junior Holiett after agreeing a four-year contract deal.

Back to the EPL: He will fit into the way QPR play football, and will be their star player next season.



He wants to play EPL football next season, so you cannot blame him for wanting to move from a relegated club Blackburn.
He will be their young gem, and could score a lot of goals next season.

The following video proves that he has a lots of potential in the future and his talent from this video:

EPL Transfer Rumours:
Fulham forward Clint Dempsey has dropped a big hint fore his future, after missing The Cottagers pre-season trip to Switzerland. He has been linked with a move to Liverpool as he looks to play CL football before the end of his career.
Not surpirsing: Clint Dempsey may NOT play for Fulham next season, as he tries to force his way into a CL club.
Newcastle have made a £4milllion bid for FC Twente defender Douglas Texeira.
FC Twente may accept the offer, considering the fact that he only has one year left on his contract and he can leave next season on a free transfer.
England bound, surely? Newcastle have made a £4million bid for FC Twente defender Douglas Texeira (right).
Liverpool have rejected a £13million bid from Manchester City for defender Daniel Agger, who are looking to bolster their defence.
Hard decision: Defender Daniel Agger could be on his way out of Liverpool, to move to City or Barcelona.
Chelsea are ready to sign Wigan winger Victor Moses for £7.5million now after having being rejected twice already. 
Sunderland are looking to replace Asamoah Gyan with a decent striker who can give them a mid-table finish next season. 
They have had a £12million bid rejected from Wolves for Steven Fletcher.
If I was Wolves, I would accept the bid, because for a Championship club £12million is a lot and they want to return to the PL next season. They should be able to replace him anyway.
Liverpool reportedly have made a £12.5million bid for Swansea midfielder Joe Allen.
Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay says that the club are still in the transfer market for a few more signings.
Tottenham are considering a £7million bid for Liverpool's 17-year-old winger Raheem Sterling. 
Wanted: 17-year-old Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling is wanted by Tottenham Hotspur.
There is just over 2 weeks left until the start of the EPL 2012-13 season begins. It would not be fitting to start the season without a montage of the last, so please watch this 4 minute video to remind you of why this is the best league in the world.  
Everton have completed the signing of Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar for £4.5million on a four-year contract deal.
Guess who's back again: Midfielder Steven Pienaar re-joins Everton for his 4th spell at the club.
He will be Everton's talisman along with Nikica Jelavic after the departures of Mikel Arteta and now Tim Cahill in recent seasons.
He joined Spurs 18 months ago, but was not given a chance to shine and only started 5 matches.  Everton signed him up on a season-long loan in January where he scored 4 important goals.  
EPL Poll:  
Goal of the EPL Season:    
A: Papiss Cisse vs Chelsea: B: Fraizer Campbell vs Norwich City C: Peter Crouch vs Stoke City D: Robin Van Persie vs  E: Stilyan Petrov vs Everton F: Hatem Ben Arfa vs Bolton       ALL THE GOALS ARE ON THE FOLLOWING VIDEO BELOW:
   
Friendlies and The Olympics: 
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2, in Beijing - July 27th
Midfielder Yaya Toure and defender Pablo Zabaleta both scored for City as they beat Arsenal by 2 goals to nil. 
Promising start: Midfielder Yaya Toure slots the ball out of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski's reach into the net.
EPL Champions City celebrate Yaya Toure's 45th minute goal to give them a 2-0 lead against Arsenal in China.
Arsenal's brick wall: Defensive midfielder Alex Song prevents Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez from scoring.
Do not be fooled by the scoreline though because:
Arsenal played better football throughout the match, and had all of their youngsters on. Much fitter than City and passed the ball better.
They look very promising for the next season.
Arsenal 2 Kitchee 2, Hong Kong - July 29th
Arsenal continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-2 draw in Hong Kong against Kitchee.
Midfielder Thomas Eisfeld who joined the club for £450,000 in January from Borussia Dortmund equalised with 12 minutes to go of the match.
Forward Theo Walcott who has been subject to transfer speculation also scored for The Gunners.
Make it seem easy: Theo Walcott cooly slots the ball into the net to give Arsenal a goal against Kitchee.
MLS All Stars 3 Chelsea 2, Pennslyvania(USA) - July 25th
Chelsea suffered their first pre-season defeat in their America tour against the MLS All Stars.
Happy faces: Chelsea defender John Terry shakes LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham's hand before the match.
Defender John Terry and Midfielder Frank Lampard both scored for The Blues, but it was not enough for them to win the match. 
Thank you very much: Midfielder Frank Lampard has played over 560 matches for Chelsea.
Notable faces for the All Stars included Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and David Beckham.
Chelsea 0 AC Milan 1, Sun Life Stadium, Miami(USA) - July 28th
Midfielder Urby Emmanuelson scored the only goal of the match for AC Milan as they beat Chelsea 1-0.
Notable faces including Fernando Torres returned to the Chelsea side but were not able to prevent The Blues from losing against the Italian giants.  Manchester United 1 Shangai Shenhua 0, Shangai Stadium - July 25th  United continued to send a message to local rivals City that they would challenge to regain their EPL title next season. This time, £17million signing Shinji Kagawa stole all of the headlines against a Chinese club who snapped up both Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba from Chelsea over the past year.
Raring to go: Manchester United winger Shinji Kagawa scores his first goal for the club against Shangai Shenhua.
Golden Boy: Kagawa is mobbed by his team-mates after a great start to his United career.
EPL, Here I come: The Japanese winger could be United's secret weapon in the next few seasons.
He scored the only goal of the match, and fitted in well playing for United. Looks promising for the future, and could even dominate the EPL. Watch this space.
 
London 2012 Men's Football Olympics:
Team GB's Results:
Great Britain 1 Senegal 1 - July 26th at Old Trafford
Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy scored the only goal of the match for Team GB as they drew against African side Senegal.
19-year-old Pape Moussa Konate equalised for Senegal in the 81st minute to give them 1 point.
Great Britain 3 UAE 1 - July 29th at Wembley Stadium
Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge, Swansea winger Scott Sinclair and Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs were all of the scoresheet for Team GB as they cruised to a 3-1 win against United Arab Emirates.
Golden Oldie: Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs heads Team GB into the lead against UAE after 16 minutes.
 FACT: Ryan Giggs has become the oldest football player to score at the Olympics.
Deadlock broken: Ryan Giggs does the trademark fist pump as he celebrates his goal.
'Flying like a Swan': Swansea forward Scott Sinclair celebrates make it 2-1 to Team GB in the 73rd minute.
Recovered: Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge recovered from meningitis to score for Team GB with a delightful chip to make it 3-1.
Other Groups News:
Spain have been knocked out of the Men's Olympics Football Tournament after 2 losses against Honduras and Japan. 
Japan and Brazil and the first two teams to go through to the Quarter-Finals. 
Thank you for reading my EPL Blog.
Please spread the word to your family and friends (who like soccer/football!). 
I truly appreciate all the support from daily views and my followers. If you like what you are reading, then do nto forget to follow me for updates when I post.
I will speak to you all very soon for my next update.

Friday 20 July 2012

Friday Night EPL News and Transfer Coverage:



Hello and welcome to my Friday Night EPL News and Transfer Coverage.

In this EPL Transfer update, there will be the LATEST from Robin Van Persie's situation at Arsenal, and Newcastle want Liverpool striker Andy Carroll back for around £15million plus much more....

So, without further ado, let me begin with more on Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie:

He (Van Persie) has been spotted training with his Arsenal team-mates in their training HQ at London Colney.


Guess who's back? Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie has been seen training with The Gunners today.


Juventus, Manchester City and Manchester United all want him, to say just a few.


BUT, Arsenal have said that they have not recieved any official bids for him yet.


FACT: He is STILL the most rumoured football player in the world right now.




Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said that the club is close to signing Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric.


Newly promoted side Southampton are closing in to sign Crystal Palace right-back Nathaniel Clyne by Friday.




Manchester United may cool their interest in 19-year-old Brazilian midfielder Lucas Moura after a £30million bid was rejected by Sao Paulo.

Maybe now they can focus on signing Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen who has formally requested a move to Manchester United.


Cool it: Sao Paulo have rejected a £30million bid for midfielder Lucas Moura.


Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made a £9million bid for Corinthians midfielder Paulinho and wants to sign Schalke midfielder Lewis Holtby.

We want him: Arsene Wenger has made a £9million bid for midfielder Paulinho to bolster the squad for the upcoming season.
Come join The Gunners: Schalke midfieler Lewis Holtby (right) may move to North London.


This comes about after Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott will reportedly be leaving before the start of the season.

Van Persie's future is still uncertain despite the statement made earlier this month saying that he would NOT renew his contract with Arsenal.

Theo Walcott only has one year left on his contract, and his wage demands may tempt Liverpool and Chelsea to fight for his signature in the race for a pacy winger. 


Think about it: Walcott has an important decison to make in the next few weeks as Juventus, Chelsea and Liverpool are all looking to sign him.



They have both declared their interest in Theo Walcott, and if RVP leaves surely you have to believe that Walcott will follow suit. 

Swansea have completed the £2million signing of Rayo Vallecano midfielder Michu. 

Who's Sigurdsson? Swansea replace winger Gylfi Sigurdsson with impressive midfielder Michu for £2million.


He is expected to replace Gylfi Sigurdsson (who was supposed to move to Swansea on a permanent move after a successful loan spell last season), but he moved to Tottenham instead.



Chelsea are reportedly looking to sign Lens winger Thorgan Hazard - brother of Eden Hazard who just joined for £32million in June.


He has told his club Racing Lens that he is looking to move to London, and could join up with his brother Eden who is two years older than him.


The Chelsea Brothers: Thorgan could join his brother Eden Hazard at Chelsea.

Fulham manager Martin Jol has declared his interest in Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku. He wants to sign a short-term deal with the youngster on a season-long loan as he is not getting enough first team action at The Blues.



LATEST European transfers:

Hamit Altintop from Real Madrid to Galatasaray - £2.75million

Back on home soil: A bad spell at Real, Altintop has moved back to Turkey.


Thiago Silva from AC Milan to PSG - £34million

£34million man: AC Milan defender Thiago Silva has joined the 'French Revolution' at PSG.
And even though I had reported this Alba to Barcelona story earlier this month, it is official that Valencia full-back Jordi Alba has moved to Barcelona and will wear number 18 next season with this picture:

Barcelona Blue: Full-back Jordi Alba impressed during the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
Manchester United have unveiled their new away kits for next season: 

Here it is:

Interesting: United players Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand unveil their away kits for next season.

DON'T MISS:
 

Team GB vs Brazil: LIVE from 19:45pm, TONIGHT




Brazil have lots of talent including PSG defender Thiago Silva, Neymar, Ganso, Porto winger Hulk, Lucas and Chelsea new signing Oscar.


Team GB will have some trouble dealing with their pacy attacks, but they do not have a bad squad either with Ryan Giggs the captain, alongside Micah Richards who will dominate the defence tonight and Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy who will give service to Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge.
 



NOTICE: I will not be posting any updates over the next 10 days as I will be going abroad. I WILL be back on the 31st of July though, see you then.

Here is a link to my favourite football blogger:


http://dansfootballmusings.blogspot.co.uk/














Saturday 14 July 2012

Saturday Night EPL Transfer Delight:



Hello and welcome to my Saturday Night EPL Transfer Delight.

This week, in particular Friday and Saturday have been the most BUSIEST days of the transfer window so far.


In this EPL update, I will have all of the LATEST news, transfer rumours and LATEST done deals; 
Including the LATEST on Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie's future and Liverpool's hunt for their 'exciting signing' that new manager Brendan Rodgers promised.


So, let's begin with the final verdict from the John Terry vs Anton Ferdinand racism trial.

John Terry has been found - NOT GUILTY


Chelsea defender John Terry has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence by the jury involving Anton Ferdinand during a EPL match between Chlsea and QPR on October the 23rd last year. 
Terry was charged after he was seen mouthing the words 'f****** black c***' in Ferdinand's direction.


Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is eager to make £25million-rated Brazilian midfielder Lucas Moura his third signing after securing deals for Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell.

He officially unveiled them to the press this week:

Challenge for the title: Sir Alex Ferguson is desperate to take the EPL title back to United - off rivals City.

United captain and defender Nemanja Vidic has given his side a pre-season boost, by training with the first-team.

Fitness is the key: Vidic looks to be back for the new season.
Feel the burn: Despite the pre-season training, he is not 100% yet..



He is recovering from damaged cruciate knee ligaments suffered in December in a CL match against FC Basel.

United are ALSO ready to make a £10million offer for Everton left-back Leighton Baines, despite the fact that Everton believe that he is worth £15million.

Wanted: Everton left-back Leighton Baines is on the edge of a £10million move to Manchester United.


New Arsenal signing Lukas Podolski believes that he can fill the boots of Arsenal talisman Robin Van Persie, if he is to leave this season. 


RVP? We don't need him: Striker Lukas Podolski believes that he can replace Van Persie if he leaves.



Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said on Tuesday that he will be announcing a new 'exciting signing' before next week.

And now, the player who has signed for Liverpool is....

Former Chelsea youth striker Fabio Borini who is only 21 years old. 
They have signed him from Italian club Roma for around £8-10million.


He has already passed a medical and has agreed personal terms with the club.


I'm here: Striker Fabio Borini on his way to Melwood in his new Liverpool training kit.
Borini poses for the camera as he signs the personal terms contract with LFC.
All is good and well: Borini is tested at the medical.




He will have GREAT chemistry with Brendan Rodgers because of the fact that he played with him at Swansea on-loan last season.

Now, the big question is:
Will he replace Andy Carroll and link up with Luis Suarez? 

Newcastle are set to complete a £7million move for French right-back Mathieu Debuchy.

Debuchy: Bargain, and a quality signing for Newcastle as next season they will have a lot of matches to play.


His current club, Lille have accepted the offer and as long as the personal terms and medical are fine he should be a Newcastle player by midweek.  

DONE DEAL:
Fulham have signed Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega on a free transfer.  He has signed on a three-year contract deal.


Bolstering the Fulham strikerforce: Hugo Rodallega has moved to West London on a three-year deal.



DEAL ALMOST DONE:
Tottenham have agreed a permament deal for Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor after a successful loan spell at the club last season.


A deal in the midst of £5-7million is in the making.


Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has said that he is settled in a City now, and is looking at Champions League glory after his latest EPL success.

Tottenham winger Rafael Van Der Vaart has said that he WILL stay at Tottenham this (next) season, but has not ruled out a move back to Germany in the near future. 


Hamburg and Schalke are just two of the clubs admitting their interest in the Holland international.


Liverpool have announced that 31-year-old midfielder Maxi Rodriguez has left the club to move back to Argentina to Newell's Old Boys. 
That is a sad story as Maxi played very well since moving to the club in January 2010. They did not fulfill his potential to the highest and could have used his talent even more than they did, especially last season when they needed a good creative midfielder when Lucas got injured.



QPR have made a last-minute bid to sign Liverpool winger Craig Bellamy under the noses of his old club Cardiff. He is down the pecking order at Liverpool and wants first-team action EVERY week.


QPR look like being the better option because;
1. They are in the EPL, which is the higher league.
2. They have a stronger team and would be likely to offer him more wages each week to tempt him there.


Bellamy has said that he will decide his future after representing Team GB in football at The Olympics.


NEWS UPDATE:

  • Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani will stay at Liverpool to try and attempt to revive his career
  • Manchester City defender Kolo Toure is reportedly in talks with Turkish club Bursaspor over a possible move there
  • FC Porto winger Hulk has confirmed that he will only go to London - for the Olympics and has said that he denies claims that he agreed a fee with Chelsea to move there
  • Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar is set for a £5million move back to Everton after a succesful loan spell from January
  • Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter are both battling it out to sign Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, after City admitted that they are listening to all offers for their 26-year-old


 Today's EPL Friendlies:

Morecambe 1 Everton 4 

Everton get their pre-season fixtures off to a great start with a 4-1 win against Morecambe. Midfielders Jack Rodwell, Apostolos Vellios and striker Victor Anichebe were among the scorers today.


Looking good for the new season: Midfielder Jack Rodwell gives Everton a 3-0 lead.



AFC Wimbledon 0 Reading 7

Newly promoted side Reading have kickstarted their friendlies in preparation for the new season, by thrashing AFC Wimbledon by 7 goals to nil. They will be hoping that it will be as easy as this in the EPL.

Burton Albion 1 Aston Villa 2


Aston Villa were desperate to start off their pre-season friendly matches without a loss, and despite a close call in the first half this is what they did thanks to new signing Brett Holman's 83rd minute strike to give Villa a narrow 2-1 win over Burton Albion.

Southend 0 West Ham United 3



Nicky Maynard, Jordan Spence and Sam Baldock were all of the scoresheet for newly promoted West Ham as they cruised to a 3-0 win against League Two's Southend.


 
2-0: West Ham captain Kevin Nolan congratulates Jordan Spence after his 34th minute goal.


(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)