CITY BOLLOX
Steve McClaren wants Manchester City misfit Craig Bellamy to join him at Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg manager Steve McClaren wants Manchester City's Craig Bellamy to switch to Germany in an £8m deal.
McClaren, backed by Wolfsburg's wealthy Volkswagen owners, has earmarked the fiery Welshman to spearhead their challenge for Champions League qualification.
Bellamy, 30, is also wanted by Everton and Tottenham. He is on wages of around £80,000 a week but City are believed to be willing to help subsidise any possible transfer.
Abu Dhabi and English Manchester City have further strengthened their ties. The English club which is sponsored by Abu Dhabi has now made the UAE city an official destination partner. The three-year deal will increase the involvement of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority which will now sponsor City's training ground and also get increased advertising board presence at Eastlands. The deputy director general of the tourism board Ahmed Hussein said, “The rationale of broadening our destination awareness outreach is behind the move. In this case, Abu Dhabi’s name will touch a TV viewership of over two billion."
Chief executive Garry Cook said that Manchester City will also hold additional events in Abu Dhabi because of this deal.
Etihad Airways, Umbro, Etisalat and Ferrostaal are some of the other City sponsors. Source: euFootball.BIZ
Manchester City's Adam Johnson to receive first England cap against Mexico
Young winger has impressed since joining City in January
Manchester City winger Adam Johnson will make his England debut against Mexico on Monday. Fabio Capello will give the 22-year-old an opportunity to make the final squad for the World Cup and a good performance at Wembley could be enough to ensure that Johnson is among the 23 that the Italian will take to South Africa.
Capello has been impressed with Johnson’s performances with City this season, and acknowledged that the winger has a chance of making the final England squad.
“He has improved a lot. He is a really, really good player. I selected him because I think he can stay with us,” Capello told The Daily Star.
“He is young and the World Cup is different. There is the pressure, and the level of the games at the World Cup is really high. I don’t know if he will be with us yet, but he can play and his future is with the national team.”
Johnson started the season in the Championship with Middlesbrough, but improved sigmificantly under Roberto Mancini after joining City for £7million in January.
Capello has confidence in Hart
Joe Hart will play 45 minutes of England's international friendly against Mexico on Monday after Fabio Capello admitted the number one jersey is still very much up for grabs ahead of the World Cup.
Hart's stock has risen on the back of a superb season on loan at Birmingham City to such an extent that he is now challenging David James and Robert Green for the starting spot ahead of the tournament in South Africa.
West Ham's Green, who has started seven out of the last nine internationals, is the favourite to begin England's first game against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.
However, Capello has admitted that the door is still open for all three keepers named in his provisional 30-man squad.
"I have confidence in Joe Hart," said Capello."He will play 45 minutes against Mexico because it is important for him to play at Wembley.
"He did play in Trinidad and Tobago but the pressure at Wembley is really big
"Hart has played a lot of games this season and has improved a lot
"It is very equal between the keepers and they are all starting in the same position."
Arsenal Hope to Beat Manchester City to £20m Playmaker
Wenger Battles Mancini for Everton Ace Arteta
Manchester City are looking to flex their spending muscles once again by offering £20million for Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta.
City’s interest in the 28-year-old former Barcelona trainee is in addition to their hopes of landing Aston Villa’s James Milner.
They will face competition for the Spanish midfielder from Arsenal, who regard him as a replacement for Cesc Fabregas, now looking certain to return to the Nou Camp.
Manchester United are also monitoring Arteta, who has developed into one of the Premier League’s hottest properties. (Mail on Sunday)
There is no doubting Mikel Arteta’s class, the Spaniard has spent the last five and half year seasons wowing the Goodison Park support and has been targeted by potential suitors for some time now, could there be any chance either Arsene Wenger or Roberto Mancini could persuade the former Rangers man to leave the Toffees?
The 28 year old amazingly is still without a full Spain cap and may feel his chances of getting a call up would improve if he was playing Champions League football and maybe a move to the Emirates would be tempting. Is Arteta the type of player the Gunners need though? In many ways the abilities and assets the attacking midfielder offers are much the same as Cesc Fabregas, hence many reports suggesting that the north London club could turn to the Everton man if they do indeed lose their skipper to Barcelona.
Manchester City will of course be able to offer obscene amount in wages but perhaps that won’t be enough to convince Arteta to leave, clearly he loves playing for the Toffees and he may feel he could fulfill his ambitions at the Merseyside outfit.
David Moyes will again be hoping not to lose any of his top notch talents this summer and as always the Scot will hope to be given sufficient funds to help the club push onwards towards the top four next term.
TRANSFER BOLLOX
The news that Jose Mourinho is likely to leave Inter Milan to become manager of Real Madrid has sparked panic among Premier League clubs, who fear he will swoop to sign their best players. Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are reportedly in his sights, along with Liverpool stars Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. The Sun
Chelsea are weighing up a double-swoop for Liverpool midfielders Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun. Daily Mail
Barcelona's pursuit of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas has been aided by the willingness of the Spanish FA to let the Spanish Champions conduct negotiations with the midfielder during the build-up to the World Cup. Daily Mail
Prospective West Ham manager Avram Grant is planning to sign four of his former Portsmouth players once he takes charge at Upton Park. Tal Ben Haim, Kevin Prince Boateng, Nadir Belhadj and on-loan Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara are all on his wanted list. Daily Mail
Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar has put Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United on alert after revealing he has rejected the Goodison club's latest contract offer. Daily Mail
Birmingham have joined Wolves, West Brom and Everton in the race for Hull's Republic of Ireland striker Stephen Hunt. The midfielder, who cost £3.5m from Reading last summer, has already been told he can leave the relegated Tigers. Daily Mirror
Birmingham are set to make a £6m move for Valencia's 6ft 7in striker Nikola Zigic. The Sun
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is planning a swoop on former club Swansea to sign midfielder Leon Britton. Daily Mirror
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway wants to resign on-loan Everton defender Seamus Coleman for next season after he impressed at Bloomfield Road this campaign.Daily Mirror
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OTHER BOLLOX
Blackpool's play-off goalscoring hero Gary Taylor-Fletcher has warned England's players they risk ruining their World Cup through injury by playing on the much-maligned Wembley turf against Mexico on Monday. The Sun
England captain Rio Ferdinand says that he would have paid Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes to come out of retirement and play for the country during this summer's World Cup in South Africa. The Sun
Former United States defender Alexi Lalas claims it would not be a shock if the USA beat England in their big World Cup opener in South Africa on 12 June. The Sun
Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote could be poised to complicate Arsenal's ownership even further. Dangote is believed to be interested in buying Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith's 16% stake in the club to join Uzbeki tycoon Alisher Usmanov and American businessman Stan Kroenke as a big shareholder. Daily Mirror
Portsmouth stars want goalkeeper David James to become player-boss as a replacement for Avram Grant, who quit Fratton Park last week. Daily Mirror
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has emerged as a candidate to replace Jose Mourinho as boss of Inter Milan. The 62-year-old has twice managed the Italian side before, the most recent being as caretaker for a season 11 years ago. Daily Mirror
Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell will sign a new five-year contract worth around £30,000-a-week today, scuppering any lingering hopes Manchester United and Arsenal retained of securing the talented teenager this summer. Guardian
Hamburg chairman Bernd Hoffman wants to return the club to its glory days and believes former England manger Kevin Keegan is the man to take the German side forward. Keegan played in the Hamburg side that was beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest in the 1980 European Cup final. Daily Mail
Former keeper Mark Crossley will have talks with Oldham about becoming their new boss today. Daily Mirror
England are struggling to play with the new Adidas football that will be used at this summer's World Cup. Boss Fabio Capello said the players are "having problems controlling it" at their altitude training camp in Austria. The Italian expects the ball to be even harder to control in Rustenburg, South Africa, which is several hundred metres higher above sea level than the European base. Daily Mail
Argentina manager Diego Maradona has demanded two state-of-the-art bidet toilets be installed for him at the team's World Cup base camp in South Africa. Builders were rushed in to carry out a £1,400 overhaul of the football legend's private suite after his aides complained that the existing bathroom facilities would not meet his 'high standards.' Daily Mail
Blackpool striker Ben Burgess says his club boss Ian Holloway was short of the mark when he suggested the newly-promoted Tangerines would target a Champions League place in two years. "With him in charge we'll probably win the Premier League next season!" said Burgess. The Sun
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