EXTRA BOLLOXManchester United and Manchester City target Henrique Ganso not in talks with Real Madrid Representative quashes earlier quotes as fake...
The agent of Santos starlet Henrique Ganso has branded claims the player favours a move to Real Madrid as fake.
Ganso, 19, has emerged as a star player in Brazil and had been linked with a move to Manchester United and Manchester City. Quotes had appeared from 'agent' Sabatino Durante that the midfielder - who was part of Brazil's 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup - was likely to move to the Spanish capital rather than the Premier League.
Speaking to reporters today, however, Diogo Kotscho scotched the talk and stated he was Ganso's real representative.
Kotscho said: "We do not know this man at all, and, of course, he has no authorisation to speak on behalf of the player."
Manchester City have already secured first refusal until August 4 when Robinho's loan to Santos expires. United are also believed to be in the chase to secure Ganso's signature.
The race is on to sign Manchester City winger Martin Petrov with Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton all linked.
City have told the Bulgarian that he will not be offered a new deal at Eastlands and is free to leave and that has alerted a host of clubs who would all be interested in taking the player who cost City £4.7m when they signed him from Atletico Madrid back in 2007.
He has found first team football difficult to come by in the past couple of years and was not a regular under either Mark Hughes or successor Roberto Mancini.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has also been linked and it would appear Petrov has the pick of half the Premiership with Stoke, Bolton and Blackburn all registering an interest but Villa boss Martin O'Neill is hoping to steel a march on his rivals and land the player
WAG OF THE DAYhttp://italy.theoffside.com/wags/wag-of ... relli.htmlManchester City & Tottenham Hotspur chasing Palermo ace Edinson Cavani Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is ready to allow Edinson Cavani to experience Premier League football after claiming both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are chasing the Rosanero striker.
Cavani, who is currently in South Africa for the World Cup with Uruguay, is being tracked by a number of teams including Inter, but it seems the Premier League duo are at the forefront of developments.
"I can see Cavani as doing really well in England. His physical characteristics suit the Premier League," the chief told Rete Rete 24.
"Both Manchester City and Tottenham are on him."
Uruguay take on France in their first Group A clash on Friday at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.
MERCHANDISING BOLLOXThe 2009/10 campaign was memorable on many levels as the Blues broke one Premier League club record after another.
There were fantastic goals, individual brilliance and breathtaking matches along the way with all the key moments captured on the new club DVD, plus plenty more.
More goals, points and victories were secured than ever before as the Blues attempted to gate-crash the traditional Premier League ‘Big Four’- only to agonisingly miss out in the final week of the campaign.
Enjoy the thrilling victories over Chelsea, the dramatic home wins over Arsenal in the League and Carling Cup and the breathless Carling Cup semi-finals with Manchester United.
Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy were two players whose skill and composure continually lit up the Premier League last season and you can enjoy their sizeable contributions again at your leisure.
The DVD includes plenty exclusive interviews with Roberto Mancini, members of the first-team, Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and comedian Jason Manford.
Priced at £15.99, it's the perfect gift for Father's Day - order your copy online or pick it up from the City Store.
Bolton Wanderers loanee Vladimir Weiss hopes to silence doubters at World Cup Slovakian international Vladimir Weiss believes the World Cup will give him the ideal opportunity to put his critics in their place.
The 20-year-old winger, who joined Wanderers in January on loan from Manchester City, is well aware that being the son of coach Vladimir has led to accusations of nepotism
But Weiss is determined to enjoy his South Africa experience and the upcoming games against world champions Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand in the group stages.
He told Bolton News: “There are a lot of people on the internet, or wherever, saying that I shouldn’t be in there but there are also a lot of people who support me.
“There are a lot of haters, I suppose you call them, but I just try and get on with my football.
“Being a Slovak, this could only come around once in your career, so there are a lot of people who wanted to try and get in the squad, and a lot of opinions.”
Weiss had struggled to find regular football with the Whites until the closing stages of the season, and he admits his lack of match time had him worried about making the squad.
“I have been trying to keep sharp for Slovakia and doing extra in training,” he said.
“But I had spoken to my dad and he was a bit frustrated that I wasn’t playing regularly.
“I got back in at the end of the season and did okay, so now I can’t wait. It will be one of the highlights of my career.”
FINAL FULL FAT PREMIER LEAGUE MONEY MATTERS BOLLOXDespite claims that the Premier League is in dire straits with its finances and wages are spiralling out of control. An in depth look into Deloitte’s report actually shows the Premier League is running rather well.
Firstly the Premier League’s turnover sits at an incredibly £2 billion. If we compare that with Italy’s Serie A or Spain’s La Liga, there is a £500 million gap in revenue. La Liga and Serie A are currently turning over somewhere in the region of £1.5 billon. In order to compete at the highest level the Premier League has put good use to this high revenue, by giving the players more money. Now to the average man on the street that sounds atrocious. Part of me takes his point too, but stick with me and I shall give you reasons why it’s working.
Firstly why is the Premier League arguably the best league in the world? Well one of the main reasons is the quality of players. The best players in the world play or wish to play in England. This isn’t because they want to enjoy the Manchester rain. It’s money. It is sad it has got to this, but it’s where we are at so we should accept it. The rise in dominance of the Premier League in the Champions League is all down to the increase in wages. The Premier League with its massive turnover can now spend much more to secure the best talent in the world.
I haven’t heard many fans complaining at the standard of football in the Premier League recently. That’s because it is the best in the world. The best things cost money. Furthermore if the Premier League is turning over £2 billion a year I would rather see the majority of that money in the pocket of the player rather than the fat cats sat upstairs. The players are the game. They create every goal, tackle, pass, free kick and corner that makes us coo so obediently. Their talent is a rarity and in the market rarity breeds value.
What also must be remembered is that the 67% of all turnover being spent on wages by Premier League clubs is not too alarming when compared to the continent. France and Italy both have higher ratios in the 70% region of wages to turnover. Spain is currently running at 67% also. So compared to the rest of Europe the Premier League is not haemorrhaging money on wages at ridiculous rates. In fact we are less than rivals. The Premier League’s profit last season was £79 million. Serie A produced figures of £116 million in the red and France’s Ligue 1 £64 million. So next time you hear Platini telling us how the English games finances need sorting out, tell him to look in his backyard first.
Ignore his and Sepp Blatter’s attempts at bringing in a fair play system in finances. It’s not revolutionary and will do little to change or help the game. If anything it’s bad for the fan and doesn’t create more competition. The basic idea would be that clubs could only spend in line with their revenue rates. So who would be able to spend the most money on players and salaries? Erm Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. They currently have the highest revenue streams in the UK. Lots of change there then for competition. Additionally and more worryingly for the fan, clubs may increase ticket prices, merchandise, etc in order to raise their revenue streams so they could spend more money. That idea is really not helpful for football.
So where could we cut some money out of football and give the clubs some breathing place? You don’t have to look at the players. It’s agents. I came across an amazing statistic yesterday that 36% of all transfer money in 2008/09 in the Premier League went into the pockets of agents. That totals to £80 million. For myself I find that more shocking than the players wages. The Premier League has come into stick for running at only £79 million profit considering the £2 billion turnover. Get rid of agents or minimise their earnings to double that instantly. The £80 million drain on clubs over transfers could make substantial savings. I don’t understand that if a player is bought by a Premier League club for £10 million why a chaperone has to be paid £2-3 million?! Let’s eradicate that from our game first and foremost to save some money.
There are some worrying numbers in the Deloitte report, particularly for the Championship and Football League who are running at wages being a staggering 90% and 80% of turnover respectively. The Football League needs to take steps to bring this down. The Premier League on the other hand is still healthy and providing some of the best football in the world. Long may that continue. The problems seen at Liverpool, West Ham and of course Portsmouth are nothing to do with players wages, it has been the complete mismanagement of finances by the owners. Portsmouth’s staggering wage bill doesn’t come from player’s demands, they should have signed less players or individuals whose wage demands would have sat with their budgets.
