Arsenal target Eden Hazard prepared to leave Lille this summer

Arsenal target Eden Hazard is prepared to leave Lille this summer for “the right opportunity”

Prepare to leave next year!

The French champions have been bullish about holding on to the golden boy of Belgian football, who they value at around the £26 million mark.
Hazard told the Lille hierarchy earlier in the window that he would like to stay in France for one more season before moving to one of Europe’s big guns.

Eden Hazard

But a source close to the 20-year-old playmaker revealed “Eden has said all along that he won’t leave until next year unless the right opportunity comes along. It would need to be a club who can match his ambitions but they are running out of time to get him.”


Arsenal are heading the queue for Hazard and made their interest known to Lille earlier in the window and again in recent weeks.



The two clubs have a good relationship following the sale of Gervinho to the Emirates Stadium last month, while Hazard’s age, ability and technique appeal greatly to Arsene Wenger.


However, the French club are in a strong position to hold on to their prize asset in the window after generating £20m from the sales of three of their title-winning team – Gervinho, Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle and Adil Rami to Valencia.


Arsenal are believed to be unwilling to pay more than £20m for a player who was dropped from the Belgium team for a friendly in June for misconduct following his reaction to being substituted in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

Hazard and Glen Johnson

Lille believe that Hazard could be worth another £5m in 12 months’ time if he has another strong season in France, which could enable them to demand more than £30m for a player who has been tracked by all the elite European clubs.


Lille general manager Frederic Paquet has said: "Eden will not be leaving this season. We are aware of interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe but we are not prepared to sell.


"He is very happy here, he understands our project and wants to stay for at least another year."


Wenger has a formidable transfer kitty of £90m to spend before the summer window shuts.

Chelsea fall short with £22m bid for Valencia ace Juan Mata

Chelsea have had a £22million bid for Valencia winger Juan Mata rejected by the Spanish club.

Juan Mata

Roman Abramovich made the offer - £18m up front and £4m to follow - on Wednesday after Andre Villas-Boas identified the 23-year-old, also a target for Tottenham and Arsenal, as the man he wants out wide to help bridge the gap on champions Manchester United.



Valencia are determined not to let Mata go so close to the start of the season in Spain - this weekend's start has been delayed due to a player strike - but the player is desperate to leave for Stamford Bridge.
Such is Chelsea’s desire to sign Mata, who was the star of this summer’s Under 21 European Championship, that Abramovich is considering flying to meet Valencia president Manuel Llorente to push through the deal.


An extra £4m should be enough to force Valencia’s hand, which would be a huge bonus considering there was a buy-out clause of £22m which expired at the end of July.
Mata has been keen on a move to Chelsea all summer and has been promised a pivotal role, a pay rise and Yossi Benayoun’s No 10 shirt by the London club. 



That should be enough to see off the persistent interest from Arsenal and Tottenham.
Mata scored nine and set up 15 goals for Valencia last season, coming on the back of being part of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad.

Desperate Sneijder drops demands by £60,000-a-week to convince Man Utd

Inter Milan ace Wesley Sneijder is attempting to resurrect his deal with Manchester United.


The Dutch star, 27, looked to have blown his chance of leaving Inter Milan by asking for £200,000 a week.

Sneijder wants to go to United

Sneijder is now prepared to slash that demand by £60,000 a week.


It would still making him the second highest paid star at United - behind Wayne Rooney on £250,000 a week.


United offered Sneijder a contract last month and Inter were happy to sell at £35million.


But the Premier League champs could not agree on Sneijder's pay.


The attacking midfielder was sure they would come back with a new offer but that has not happened.


Manchester United have said they do not expect Wesley Sneijder to join the club from Internazionale before the end of the transfer window. 


Although the Premier League champions did not want to go on the record, the official stance from Old Trafford is that the deal is not going to happen. 


The information comes from boardroom level, with the chief executive, David Gill, giving his approval for it to be known that United are not actively trying to sign the Dutchman.

Ferdinand could be out for six weeks

Rio Ferdinand plunged England and Manchester United into an injury crisis after limping off against West Brom with a torn hamstring.

The Three Lions centre-back could be out for SIX WEEKS.

And that gives Fabio Capello a headache as it puts Ferdinand in doubt for the country's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales next month.

He could also be touch and go for the Group G crunch against Montenegro in early October.

The situation is even worse for United boss Alex Ferguson who saw his other centre-back Nemanja Vidic crocked in the hard-fought win against the Baggies.

Vidic faces a lengthy lay-off with a calf problem, while Rafael needs an operation on a dislocated shoulder after getting KO'd in training on Friday.

The Brazilian will be out for almost three months. But United boss Fergie insists his kids can handle the heat.

Ferguson said: "It's been a torrid few days because young Rafa will be out for 10 weeks with his shoulder.

"Rio will be six weeks and with Vidic we don't know yet.

Phil Jones

"If it's a nerve he could be out for a couple of weeks. But having young Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling is a Godsend. Patrice Evra is back next week so we've got options.

"The two most experienced players had to come off with injuries but Jones and Evans did terrific."

Ferdinand is likely to miss home league games against Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea, plus a trip to Bolton.

United have strength in depth and despite losing their two most experienced players, held off a strong West Brom performance before winning it through Stephen Reid's unfortunate 81st-minute own goal.

Ashley Young

The Red Devils started like a 100 metres sprinter with Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young in particular causing problems.

Rooney gave them the lead after combining with Young and shooting through the legs of Gabriel Tamas into the far corner on 13 minutes.

But David de Gea's pathetic attempt to stop debutant Shane Long's weak strike saw the Baggies level before the break.

Young was involved in the winner, getting to the left byline before his cross hit Tamas and Reid and bobbled in.

Ferguson has been impressed with £20million capture Young, who signed from Aston Villa this summer.

But the United boss reckons the winger needs to go round the outside of defenders rather than cutting in.

Fergie added: "He has good composure on the ball and is a threat but he had a few crosses blocked.

"Getting to a byline is a dangerous thing, that's where the goal came from."

Meanwhile, Baggies boss Roy Hodgson has slammed Wigan for a laughable bid for Peter Odemwingie.

Hodgson said: "Odemwingie has an ankle injury and we are taking our time. Peter is not for sale and if you'd seen the size of the bid you'd have been laughing all the way out of here.

"I don't understand why a club bids something so ludicrously far away from what he is worth. But they can and I suppose I could bid for Wayne Rooney."

Hodgson added: "I saw a very good 1-1 turn into a not-so-good 2-1. But after the way United started, we did very well.

Sir Alex Ferguson set to promote Paul Pogba to Manchester United's first-team squad

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Paul Pogba is likely to be promoted to Manchester United's first team.


The 18-year-old midfielder won the FA Youth Cup with United last season and Ferguson has admitted the Frenchman is likely to leave if an opportunity in the senior side fails to arise.

Paul Pogba

"We've got Darren Fletcher to come back," Ferguson told reporters.


"Michael Carrick, who tends to develop more around November/December. And we’ve got a young boy Pogba who's showing great promise for us. He came on in a couple of games in terms of progress with the youth team, we’re quite positive about him.


"I mean if we hold Pogba back, what’s going to happen? He’s going to leave. You know, in a couple of years’ time when his contract is going to finish. So we have to give him the opportunity to see how he can do in the first-team and he’s got great ability, plus he’s got the physique and athleticism."

Paul Pogba won the FA Youth Cup with Man Utd

With the potential transfer of Wesley Sneijder looking increasingly in doubt, Ferguson concedes he is content with his current squad, despite constant media speculation.


"He is a possibility so, when you take that roll call of players you know, I’m certainly not looking to add anybody," said Ferguson.


"I’ve been saying that for weeks, but you’ve all been writing differently, you’ve all been writing about how I’m going to buy this one, I’m going to buy that one but we’ve said nothing, I’m carrying on with business."

Red Devils win epic Community Shield at Wembley.

Nani's injury-time goal settled a wonderful Community Shield as Manchester United roared back from two goals down.

Emerge victorious!

The Portugal winger had already netted with a jaw-dropping leveller in what turned out to be the highest-scoring of these encounters since 1992.
He then capitalised on Vincent Kompany's blunder to win a game that seemed City's for the taking after Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko had taken advantage of David de Gea's hesitancy.

Nani's double helped Manchester United to victory

But Sir Alex Ferguson's introduction of three younger members of his squad at the break triggered a comeback for which United are so famed, Chris Smalling setting the ball rolling six minutes after the restart, triggering a richly-deserved victory charge for the Premier League champions.
It had been some 24 hours for Danny Welbeck.
Selected for England ahead of Jermain Defoe yesterday, he started this afternoon's showpiece whilst Dimitar Berbatov was on the bench and Michael Owen remained in his suit. The 20-year-old was part of a scintillating performance from the Red Devils that lacked only an opening goal.

Nani celebrates his injury time winner

Between them, Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Nani and new signing Ashley Young cut City's midfield apart. Had United's final ball been better, they surely would have got their noses in front.As it was, Lescott got in the way of efforts from Young, Smalling and Welbeck. Rooney curled a free-kick narrowly wide.


City's tackling grew increasingly desperate and after Mario Balotelli and Dzeko had got themselves embroiled with Nemanja Vidic and Anderson respectively, Micah Richards was fortunate to stay on the field for a studs-first lunge on Young that sent the former Aston Villa winger flying.

Lescott started the goal-fest at Wembley

Ferguson has already admitted to taking a gamble on De Gea, who - at just 20 - is being asked to fill the boots of a man with twice his age in Edwin van der Sar.
It had been accepted by Old Trafford's coaching staff that some work was required in the weights room for De Gea to have the best chance of dealing with the more physical nature of English football.

It was, unsurprisingly, a fiery clash at times

It got even worse for United, and De Gea, in stoppage time.
Dzeko was given far too much room in midfield to decide what to do with James Milner's square pass and after advancing 10 yards, lashed a fine shot into the United net.
It was one of those that, on first viewing, appeared to be De Gea's fault. Replays showed there had been some movement as the ball flashed in, which made life harder for the Spain Under-21 international.

Smalling struck back for United early in the second-half

However, there was a degree of culpability and clearly, De Gea is on a steep learning curve, not just in his goalkeeping but also United's DNA.
Ferguson's response was to replace three of his most senior players - Vidic, Ferdinand and Michael Carrick - at the break and introduce a trio of youngsters in Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Tom Cleverley.
Within six minutes of the restart, Smalling had dragged the champions back into it, touching home Young's free-kick after Dzeko had completely failed to track his run.

De Gea will be disappointed to have conceded Dzeko's low drive

Then came the equaliser, with Rooney, Nani and Cleverley opening City up with a devastating series of short passes before Nani beat Joe Hart with a delicate chip.
De Gea showed his raw talent by beating away a ferocious goalbound effort from Adam Johnson, then palming Richards' powerful header over.
The City duo were two of 14 Englishmen involved. The oldest member of United's second-half side was Young, at 26, during a spell following the departure of Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov's introduction.

De Gea's poor positioning led to City's first

It was a taste of the future, with Cleverley in particular electrifying until he hooked an excellent chance over from eight yards.
The pity was it took a blunder to win it, Kompany failing to read Rooney's clearing punt, allowing Nani to rob him and charge forward, rounding Hart before tapping home.

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson salutes the crowd

Mind you, this Manchester United team is still not in full-strength! Glory glory Man Utd!!

Why Man Utd, Liverpool and half of Europe are red-hot for Teteh Bangura

He's the breakout name of this summer's transfer market.


But for Teteh Bangura, his road to soccer stardom was far from conventional.


(scroll down to watch his video)


The AIK Solna sensation now has Manchester United and Liverpool chasing his signature - but it wasn't three years ago he was playing on-loan at Cascade Surge in the USL Premier Development League.

Teteh Bangura

Expressen rattled off the clubs that had been in contact with AIK about Teteh last week: Newcastle United, Schalke 04, Chelsea, Bursaspor, Lokomotiv Moscow, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Tottenham. This was before it broke that United chief scout Martin Ferguson would be attending AIK's clash with Elfsborg on the weekend to run his eye over the 21 year-old forward.


The speculation isn't just tabloid gossip, Nebojsa Novakovic, the AIK legend, already regards Teteh - at 21 - as the club's greatest EVER.


“He is already too good for the league and is the greatest attacking talent AIK has ever had," declared the AIK assistant manager.


"The bids from Russia were certainly not a surprise, Russian football is top class but he will attract bids from much bigger clubs and from one of the major leagues if he continues like this."


For the player, Teteh admits his sudden elevation as one of Europe's hottest transfer properties is something he still is getting to grips with.

Teteh and Mohamed Bangura

"I do not know if I'll play in the big leagues, I'm not sure," he said. "Right now I am happy here at AIK, but I hope to someday play in the big leagues. It is every footballer's dream and if it happens, I will appreciate it."


His route to Sweden came only after he was forced to return to Sierra Leone following the bankruptcy of USL outfit Cleveland City Stars.


"It was not bad, but not like here in Sweden," he recalls. "It was different, first and foremost it was the second division, so it was not like here in Europe. I had a three-year contract with the team, but they went bankrupt.

Has been compared to Drogba

"First, they lent me to another team because I was not ready to play. I played for a team called the Cascade Surge and scored a few goals. After that, Cleveland called me back and I scored a couple of goals at the end of the season."


Cleveland's financial woes forced Teteh back home, but it wasn't long before a new opportunity arrived through his agent, Patrik Mork. The chance came via trials at fourth division outfit Köping FF, which were battling relegation at the time. A contract was offered to the Sierra Leone striker, who immediately repaid Koping's faith with a hat-trick on debut.

Teteh Bangura

"It went well and I scored twelve goals in nine matches, then came AIK and they snapped me up," says Teteh.


"It's been good, but the Allsvenskan is really a tough league. But it has really gone well and I appreciate it. It's not a surprise, because I've worked hard to get here."


That "hard work" hasn't only involved maintaining self-belief as he chased his pro dream around the world, but also overcoming a serious knee injury in 2007 when a junior with BK Hacken.


But it was during rehab and a chance pick-up game with friends which set Teteh on the road to where he is today.


He explains: "I broke a ligament in my knee, so I had surgery here in Sweden and did five months of rehabilitation. Then I went back to Sierra Leone in late 2007 and was there in 2008 too.


"I started practicing and going to the gym.


"I have a friend who was then playing in the United States, he arrived in Freetown having just finished the season in the USA. He had never visited me there.


"Then we played soccer with some friends, just for ourselves - when he noticed me and said 'Wow!'. He came straight over to me and asked if I wanted to play in the US, the club invited me and I got a contract with Cleveland City."


From that pick-up game with friends in Freetown, Teteh is now on the verge of a move to England - something his Sierra Leone coach Lars-Olof Mattson is convinced will happen before the transfer deadline falls.


“He has already shown that he has the ability to take big strides. I think he will be sold this summer," said Mattson.


"He is very ambitious to improve and I am convinced that he can step up his game. I also understand he is a very important player for AIK, but I think he will be sold this summer.


"I hope there will be no second choice in the Netherlands or France. I definitely think he would fit well in England, but I don’t think he will meet the rules that prevent English clubs to recruit players from nations that are located less than 75 in FIFA’s world ranking."


Perhaps, but you have to believe the UK work permit tribunal that inevitably considers Teteh's case will recognise his credentials. After all, how can they reject the potential of a player dubbed "AIK's greatest" at just 21.

PSG offer £18M for Man Utd striker Berbatov

PSG are planning a mega offer for Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.

The Mirror says PSG are targeting Berbatov in an £18million swoop.

Dimitar Berbatov

PSG are enjoying a stunning revolution under new Qatari ownership, who are poised to beat Chelsea to the £35m signing of Palermo's rising-star playmaker Javier Pastore.

Pastore

Berbatov, 30, has just a year left on his contract after signing for £30million from Spurs in 2009.

Although the likes of Javier Hernandez, Antonio Valencia and Park Ji Sung are set to have new deals confirmed at Old Trafford this week, that will not be the case with Berbatov.

Anderson backed by Ferguson to replace Scholes

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted he's ready to go with Anderson as Paul Scholes' replacement.


He is backing Anderson to emerge as the player who can do the job.

Anderson: tip to succeed Scholes

After watching the 23-year-old put in a stylish shift during Wednesday’s 4-0 demolition of the Major League All Stars team in New York, Ferguson said: "The boy is a fantastic talent. We expect him to be a key player this season.


"He has a good football knowledge. He understands the game very well. He has made tremendous improvement and he is going to get a lot better.


"He scored four goals for us last season and if he gets eight or nine next season it would a huge asset because the football side is very good indeed."