Brazilian club Santos have rejected an offer, believed to be in the region of £20million, from Chelsea for teenage striker Neymar.
A brief statement on the club's official website suggested the bid had been made on Tuesday morning but they were unwilling to sell the 18-year-old this summer at any price.
Neymar has played for Brazil's Under-16 and Under-17 teams but has not played for the senior side. There was a clamour from fans for him to be included in the World Cup squad in South Africa but Dunga refused to bow to the pressure and excluded the teenager from his 23-man squad.
Earlier in the summer, West Ham United failed with a £12million bid for Neymar while Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan have also been linked with him in recent months.
At the time of the Hammers' bid, Santos' director of football Pedro Luiz Nunes said:"We received an offer from West Ham for Neymar, worth 15million euros.
"Our position is clear, we do not open negotiations. These athletes only leave the club by paying the release clause."
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Neymar scored 27 goals in 29 appearances for Santos last season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has stated that he is not concerned that his side are in the bottom three in the league, and feels that good results are just round the corner.
The Latics were beaten 3-1 at home by fellow strugglers Bolton on Saturday, making it five defeats on the trot for the DW Stadium outfit.
Despite this, the Spaniard is not panicking and feels the league table should only be assessed come the end of the season.
“The table counts in May. That’s the only time it counts,” he told Mirror Football.
“The top seven got stronger, but of the other 13 teams, they can all get dragged into it.
“If you are in a good position now it doesn’t mean you’re going to be OK. It’s such a competitive league. We know what we’ve go to do.
“We’ve got many good options and we need to work on very basic concepts. If we’d not been able to compete in those games it would be more of a concern.
“But good results are around the corner because in every game we’ve been competitive at some stage and there have been specific reasons why we’ve had these scorelines,” he commented.
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Wigan take on in-form and unbeaten Newcastle at St James’ Park next weekend, and will be keen to get something from the game to stop their slide.
We are guaranteed to hear a number of football cliché’s during the season from the old classics “it’s a game of two halves” to “he’s got a good touch for a big man.” But one of the most common has to be “this is one of the best Premier League seasons ever” usually said by one of the pundits on Match of the Day when they’ve run out of superlatives for a particular team or player. However, the current Premier League season has been more unpredictable with the top four now becoming a genuine FIVE and currently only 10 Points separating 7th from 18th positions. So is this one of the best seasons we’ve seen in the top flight? Or is it simply one of the worst?
The Good
Over the years we have seen the Premier League title race battled out between the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal with Chelsea and Liverpool joining in the last decade. However, with Liverpool dropping out of the top four last season and replaced by Tottenham Hotspur, plus the transformation at Manchester City has seen a genuine top 5 at the top of the league.
It has brought a fresh approach to the Premier League with extra competition for the Champions League spaces, whereas in the past there was almost a gap forming between the top four and those making up the numbers outside of it (although the likes of Everton have tried to break through). The rest of the league table remains rather close with the unpredictable results this season, there is no club(s) who are doomed at the bottom of the league and are the seasons whipping boys.
It has been helped by the three teams that were promoted from the Championship last season, Newcastle United, Blackpool and West Bromwich Albion all showed a more positive approach to their first seasons in the league which has saw them all record one or two surprising results, especially the likes of Blackpool. This season has been one of the highest for goals and draws this year which suggests that games are more competitive which makes better entertainment, or this it a lack of quality?
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The Bad
Despite their unbeaten form this season Manchester United have not looked as good as previous United sides that have led at the top of the table. Their away form this season has been questionable but with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal failing to show a consistent winning form, United are still leading the pack.
Possibly players are suffering from a World Cup hangover. In previous EPL seasons we have seen the likes of Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba light up the season with their fantastic performances and goal scoring prowess. However, a look at the current Top Goal Scorers table shows you all three of those players are missing. Even Andy Carroll is 4th and he didn’t even finish in the top 5 top scorers in the Championship last season.
Although the close gap between the top half of the table and the relegation zone will be adrift come the end of the season, it also shows that there has been a change in quality this season. Whilst teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the table have got better, the teams at the top have got a little worse making the League very mediocre.
Entertainment
When Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United, Barcelona playing some of the best football ever seen and Spain dominating International competitions there was a feeling that the English Premier League is dropping in quality and that La Liga in Spain is the new hub of football.
However, despite this the EPL has seen Manchester City spend an awful lot of money to make them a competitor for the top four and attracting players like Mario Balotelli and David Silva to England. Whilst Tottenham have added Rafael Van der Vaart and have made a great impression on their Champions League debut.
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Although there has not been the high quality the Premier League is used to displaying, there has been more entertainment and drama. With the potential for the Title to be decided on the last day of the season, plus the Champions League places, as well as the Europa League places….Oh, and the several teams that could drop out of the division. I am personally excited and anticipating a thrilling end to this season because that is why I watch football.
New West Ham United signing Thomas Hitzlsperger cannot wait to make his debut against former club Aston Villa on the first day of the new Premier League season.
The 28-year-old Germany international is new Hammers boss Avram Grant's first signing since taking over at Upton Park.
Hitzlsperger penned a three-year deal with the east London club at the beginning of June and the fixture computer has handed him an immediate return to his former club on the opening day of the 2010-11 campaign.
The midfielder left Villa to join Stuttgart back in 2005.
"It's funny – you know sometimes these things don't surprise you, because you think it might happen!" he told the club's official website.
"I am looking forward to it, be good to go back there. I made over 100 appearances for them in the time I was there and it was great, but I am looking forward to going there as a West Ham player and helping my new club to hopefully get a good result.
"It is still a little way off yet I know but I am getting a little impatient now for it to all start.
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"I am looking forward to meeting the manager and my new team-mates and for pre-season to begin and then for the season to start.
"I signed and when it is this time of the year there is then a wait for everything to start, but now the fixtures are out, it is exciting, I can't wait to get started as a West Ham player."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
After a match and usually followed by a trip to pub, football supporters often spend time visiting club forums, sites and unofficial message boards to debate the fortunes of their club in the company of their fellow supporters. However this sort of freedom of expression has come under threat from the powerful clubs who want to clamp down on any dissent towards them or anything that they think may harm their chances of success.
Just this weekend we have seen a high profile case where Neil Warnock criticised a QPR fan after details of his team selection ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 home draw against Blackburn were posted on a fans forum website on Friday afternoon. Warnock made his feelings towards the perpetrator known as he believed that such a leak was giving a potential advantage to their opponents.
The information was sensitive and I can understand why he wouldn’t want it being leaked to the press and ultimately to Blackburn but to suggest that Steve Kean was going to spend time scouring messages boards looking for team news seems very unrealistic and indeed he said after the game that he had not seen the message about the team news on the QPR forum. It is also very clear that the person responsible did not mean to harm the clubs’ chances by posting the information on a public board but in truth what is more concerning for Warnock and what he should be focusing on is that one of his players is willing to release information like this into the public domain despite the fact that it is obviously confidential information.
The QPR manager certainly has a reputation of blaming others for his teams’ hardships but even for him it seems harsh to have a go at a loyal fan who probably thought he was providing a service to his fellow fans in this instantaneous world we live in. It is not like the team news was of the utmost importance either as Campbell has only started one game this season and it wasn’t that surprising to see the irrepressible Taarabt on the bench.
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It appears that some football managers and clubs have never quite got the hang of the internet with all its free speech. The days of a few hundred copies of a fanzine have been replaced with a website that has potential audience of millions and this caused some draconian over reaction aimed less at protecting a team’s good name and instead trying to creating a climate of fear that will cause fans to falter before sounding off or even offering an different view.
Football message boards and forums can be compared to your local pub as you can meet your friends there to relax, say what you feel like and next day people will struggle to remember what was actually said. Like any pub it is sometimes quiet so you leave and there is the odd time when a fight breaks out but after a while it all calms down again. Any strangers are immediately treated with suspicion until they prove they are friendly and are then welcomed in by the regulars. However imagine how you feel if you walk into your local pub and it has been taken over by a huge multinational breweries. If you or any of the regulars mention about the new furnishings, loud quiz machines, or over-priced flat beer you’ll be thrown and banned for life. Any discussions about contentious issues are banned to prevent liable action against the pub.
Only a few years ago a major Sheffield Wednesday message board was threatened with legal action by their club after the site published ‘damaging posts against the club, its chairman and directors’. The club told the owners of the site that they were taking action to “to protect the honesty and integrity of its directors and employees” despite them removing the supposedly offensive posts. The action was dropped when the owners of the message board apologised but it just shows what these owners are capable of in trying to prevent fans having any kind of freedom of speech.
The QPR story is somewhat a storm in a teacup with Warnock looking to distract attention away from a poor performance against a struggling Blackburn side but it has highlighted the sort of problems football fans face over freedom of speech. What Neil needs to remember is that supporters love to have their say about their club, whether that is on national or local media, online or even in the pub and of course for 90 minutes every match-day when they can just about shout any abuse at their players and managers. That’s the real freedom of expression Mr Warnock and don’t forgot the fans are the people who will still be around long after you have left the club.
Follow me on twitter @aidanmccartney for more discussion about free speech in the beautiful game.
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Real Madrid dropped two more points in their fading La Liga quest after they were held to a scoreless draw by Deportivo La Coruna.Jose Mourinho’s side created several gilt-edged chances yet could not convert, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor both striking the woodwork in the final 15 minutes.It was a very fortunate draw for a home side who were on the back foot throughout the match, but Deportivo somehow managed to keep out a rampaging Real and deliver a body blow to their title credentials.Mourinho’s men are seven points behind Barcelona in the league standings fter the Catalans dismantled Mallorca 3-0. Lionel Messi scored a delightful lobbed header in the rout, while David Villa and Pedro also netted for the visitors.Espanyol broke a run of four league losses with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad.Sevilla and Atletico Madrid played out a 2-2 draw at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, with Atletico twice coming from behind to salvage a point. Relegation candidates Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza failed to boost their survival chances after playing out a 0-0 draw at Estadio Municipal El Molinon.
Every summer there is plenty of transfer rumours banding around and lately there have been links between Chelsea and two high profile strikers. Allegedly Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken to Carlo Ancelotti as the pair are both in Miami on holiday and other reports have suggested that the Blues will table a huge offer for Liverpool’s Fernando Torres. Hypothetically speaking, which of the two would provide the better investment?
The obvious answer is Torres as he’s two years younger than Ibrahimovic at 26 year of age and he’s proven in the Premier League, with a good goal scoring record at Anfield. However, the Barcelona forward has come under some harsh criticism from the Spanish press during his time at the Nou Camp and the 28-year-old Swede’s services could be attained at a considerably cheaper price.
Many think that Ibra (also a target for Manchester City) is somewhat misunderstood and he’s body language gives of negative connotations, much like Dimitar Berbatov or Didier Drogba at times. But he has a great goal scoring record and was once described by his former manager Jose Mourinho as the ‘best player in the world’ (probably for motivational reasons, but he still rated him). The claims of him having a poor season in La Liga are overstated in my opinions as he has scored 21 goals in 41 games and has laid on 10 assists for his team mates, not bad for a debut season in Spain.
But it was at Inter Milan that the Sweden international made his name scoring 66 goals for the club in 116 appearances over three seasons racking up 28 assists. In the 2008/09 season his 25 Serie A goals made him the Capocannoniere (Italian top goal scorer) and earned him a lucrative cash + player (Samuel Eto’o) to Barcelona. After being marginalised at the L’equip blaugrana it looks as though they may want to sell the player.
His agent Mino Raiola caused a stir when he said: “If you don’t play a footballer after spending €65 million, then you should be sent to a mental hospital. English football may be an option for him [Ibrahimovic], it would be a good test.
“Everything depends on Barcelona. At the moment his future lies here.”
…apparently he doesn’t like the English rain though.
As for Torres, he would be welcome at Stamford Bridge according to Drogba and Ancelotti. Reports suggest that Roman Abramovich may capitalise on the turmoil at Liverpool following the departure of Rafael Benitez and step up their attempts to sign Torres for a would be British record £50 million, but other reports suggest he could cost up to £75 million. Manchester City are also in for the player and he is said to be uninterested in their money as unlike Chelsea they do not play in the Champions League, a competition that Abramovich wants to win desperately.
A player of the Spaniard’s quality could take Chelsea on to the next step and become champions of Europe and he has a great record in England scoring 72 goals in 116 at Liverpool.
The Chelsea fans would definitely prefer to have Torres over Ibra, but some do not fancy giving Liverpool £50-75m to rebuild their struggling squad. Speaking to other fans on 606 they seem to be dead against a move for the Barcelona man (being labelled a flop hasn’t helped his cause) as they consider him to be incompatible with Drogba. Should Chelsea sign another striker it would be a pretty big indication that Ancelotti will revert to his preferred 442 diamond formation, or a version of it. But in my opinion they would also desperately need to sign a playmaker (Kaka? Rafael van der Vaart?) for such a formation to work and perhaps a right-sided midfielder to balance out what Florent Malouda offers down the left flank.
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…but these are but rumours and as yet have no truth in them. Who would the fans like to see in the blue of Chelsea for the 2010/11 season? Who could be the man to take them the next step off the back of an impressive Premier League and FA Cup double winning campaign?
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Niall Quinn is a surprise contender to replace Garry Cook at Manchester City. Quinn has been undertaking a similar role at Sunderland and City is hopeful they’ll be able to attract him back to the club where he arguably made his name. Whether Quinn will be tempted remains to be seen, given the large amount of work he has already put in at the Stadium of Light.
Elsewhere in the papers Rooney and Walcott give Capello injury worries; Moyes accuses Kompany, while Alan Hutton is happy to be a wanted man again.
Furious Moyes accuses Kompany of deliberately hurting Cahill – Mirror
Niall Quinn is a surprise contender to replace Garry Cook at Man City – People
Rooney and Walcott injury worries for Capello – Daily Telegraph
AC Milan to make a January swoop for Spurs star – Mirror
Theo Walcott: Still haunted by trophy-hunter ambitions – Independent
I’m in for the long haul at QPR, insists new owner Fernandes – Daily Mail
Chelsea, Manchester City and United in £30m battle for Everton starlet Barkley – Daily Mail
Arsenal and Liverpool face fight for Valencia star – Mirror
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Hutton happy to be a wanted man again – Independent
Spanish superstar Raul returns home on Tuesday when his Schalke side visit Valencia in a Champions League round of 16 first-leg match.
The 33-year-old has scored 10 goals for Schalke this season to help them into 10th place in the Bundesliga after ending a 16-year love affair with Real Madrid last July, and said he was looking forward to heading home.
“This game is special for me, because it is the first time that I have returned to Spain in eight months since I moved to Germany,” he said.
“I am delighted with the reception, and the fans have shown me a lot of love. I thank them for that.”
“A Champions League knockout game is always special, and this one is against a great team in Valencia and with a fantastic atmosphere. I am really up for this game, and I hope that we get a good result and are able to seal the tie in two weeks time.”
“I’m here to play a great game, and to play in a great stadium. I will try to do the best I can for Schalke and enjoy the game.”
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“I hope that everything goes well, and that we are able to score a lot of goals. I think that the tie is very even.”
“I am confident that we can hurt them, and the objective is to win and score goals to set up the second leg.”
Sunderland’s preparations for the new season appear to have hit a wall as the club struggle to attract quality players to justify their lofty ambitions. A new chairman, manager and kit sponsor seemed to signal the beginning of a new era at the Stadium of Light but if their efforts so far this summer are an indication of things to come then mid-table mediocrity may be the most likely outcome. For a team that has only recently shaken off their yo-yo tag to establish themselves as a regular part of the Premier League, such reserved targets are not what the terraces want to hear but given the pitfalls suffered by the red and white part of North East in recent seasons, there are plenty of tough realities to be faced if the club is to move forward.
Curb expectation
Every year Sunderland fans embark on a new Premier League campaign with renewed vigour but every season is deemed a disappointment when the team doesn’t qualify for Europe. While fans have every right to demand the very best from their team, it’s clear to onlookers that the Blacks Cats do not yet have a good enough squad to compete with the top flight’s established European challengers. The appointment of Martin O’Neill as manager has supporters dreaming that he will repeat the success he enjoyed at Aston Villa and while that’s a reasonable target, the reality is the Mackems are still a long way of finishing in the top 6 and envious glares at rivals Newcastle United will make any future respectable league finishes seem like an underachievement.
Don’t focus so much on Newcastle
Many a season at the Stadium of Light has been ruined by a failure to overcome the archenemy and such is the importance placed on the Tyne-Wear derby that managers have often seen their careers in the North East judged on how they fared against the Geordies. Ex manager Steve Bruce even cited his local roots and derby struggles as the main catalyst of his demise but while the Corbridge born former defender struggled against Newcastle, he was given a fair crack of the whip by the majority of fans. Still the comparison between the sides was there for all to see last season and seeing their bitter rivals punch above their weight in the Premier League only heightened fans desperation for improvements on the pitch. Had any other team overachieved as Newcastle did last time out then Sunderland fans would have been less inclined to write off their manager and his new players but such is the hatred between fans that they turned on the management and booed the team. Rightly or wrongly, such impatience cannot be repeated next season for if Martin O’Neill is considered to be their messiah then he must be allowed time to mould his team together. New signings are expected but fans must not expect instant miracles, even if Newcastle fans are gloating because they’re playing in Europe.
Stop buying players from relegated teams
As O’Neill slowly stamps his authority on the team during his first full summer in charge, fans are debating the procrastinatory nature of his transfer dealings and wondering how much money there is to spend and who he’s thinking of spending it on. The usual scenario for Sunderland is they have roughly £20m-£30m to spend but often need 5 or more signings and end up bring in a selection of cheap squad players instead of investing in one or two genuine talents. This has led to them snapping up the star performers from previously relegated sides and while players like Sebastian Larsson, David Vaughan and Craig Gardner all represent excellent value for money, they’re not the quality of player needed to take the club to the next level. This summer has seen Steven Fletcher, Matt Jarvis, Steven N’Zonzi and Martin Olsson linked with the club but these players need to be avoided if they harbour any hopes of moving away from the mid-table pack.
Don’t buy Manchester United cast-offs
Another pitfall of previous Sunderland managers has been to wash Sir Alex Ferguson’s hands of his unwanted Old Trafford talent and with little reward. Currently Phil Bardsley, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Kieran Richardson and Fraizer Campbell fill the quota more than capably but a brief skim down the history books shows a plethora of ex Red Devils brought in by former bosses Bruce and Roy Keane. The stark reality is that while these players may have seemed like they had decent pedigree and to a certain extent they satisfied the needs of an aspiring club on the rise from the Championship, the fact is they couldn’t make the Manchester United first team and are therefore not good enough if Sunderland want to push on to the next level.
Give the lads a chance!
Neutrals peering in on Sunderland’s situation often wonder why supporters demand so much of them given their underwhelming record in recent years. It’s been over a decade since Peter Reid’s side claimed back to back 7th place finishes and the Black Cats have little European pedigree to justify such lofty expectations. This may be true but Mackem fans know the club has a proud history and see their complaints more as constructive criticism then unwarranted condemnation. There are two sets of fans, the group with unrealistic expectations who demand success and the group with a realistic assessment of where the team is but are deemed to lack ambition. These fans needs to find some middle ground and let the team blossom without demanding too much from a side that are clearly worse off on paper than the League’s top teams and will need all the support they can get if their are to progress.
Supporting a so called lesser side is often a hiding to nothing as fans’ aspirations to improve are hampered by the reality of their mid-table predicament. If the Sunderland faithful have learned anything going into next season it should be not to expect success but rather enjoy it, if and when it comes along.
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Should Sunderland fans have more realistic expectations or should they have loftier ambitions ahead of next season?
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