..::Football III::..

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Benitez: Napoli still in the market for new signings

Napoli coach Rafael Benitez is hopeful of bringing in some more players before the end of the transfer window, but will not reveal his targets.

The Partenopei currently sit third in Sere A, 12 points behind league leaders Juventus, but their Spanish coach, whose most high-profile signing so far this month has been that of Jorginho from Verona, believes his team could close the gap with a few more shrewd signings.

“I spoke yesterday [Monday] with the president [Aurelio De Laurentiis] and I am convinced that we will make a few offers, sure,” the manager told Kiss Kiss Napoli.

“Up until January 31, there will be fun. We are working seriously, and the good thing is that not all of our targets have featured in the newspapers.

"I think a lot of people here have seen that Napoli can be competitive. We are growing as a team, we can spend money, which will improve us. This is a unique period in the club’s history.

“We are close to the top positions and we are still growing. We should all think positively because I see that the team can do even better.

“The idea is to make an entertaining football team that can win games."

The 53-year-old added that he is happy with his team and the way they are performing, though he remains disappointed by their failure to take all three points from Saturday's clash Chievo.

“The players are training very well; yesterday was spectacular," he enthused. "The players are focused, we are prepared.

"Mentally, the team knows that we have to continue this way, with intensity every day. Then we’ll see what happens on the pitch.

“It was a shame to lose two points against Chievo [with a 1-1 draw], but we know that if we were to replay them the result would different."

Consequently, the former Liverpool coach is looking ahead to Napoli’s home Coppa Italia quarter-final against Lazio on Wednesday with real optimism.

"Of course we know that it will be different against Lazio," Benitez mused. "It will be difficult but we have faith in ourselves, in our quality. If we have intensity, as at the beginning of the season, we can go forward.

“Our fans are smart, they know that supporting the team will make it easier for us. For some players it is very important to feel the warmth of the audience. I'm sure that will help us."

Benitez also took time out to hail new signing Jorginho, after the 22-year-old made a promising debut in the draw against Chievo.

"He has personality, he is smart, he knows what his qualities are," the Champions League winner enthused.

"He's not afraid of making mistakes. We decided to bring him here because he is different from other players.

“Playing fast is crucial for us given the quality that we have up front. If the ball goes fast, it will be easier for our strikers to find spaces.

"We'll see if he can play against Lazio from the beginning; you have to give him some time to settle in."

 

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Arsenal rocked as Ramsey ruled out for further four to six weeks

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Chelsea boss Mourinho plans Eto'o contract talks

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho plans to discuss Samuel Eto'o's future at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old striker joined the Blues on a one-year deal last August and has scored six goals in 12 Premier League appearances - including a hat-trick against Manchester United - after taking time to settle in English football.

Mourinho has been happy with the Cameroon international's contributions but notes that the forward's destiny is up to himself.

Asked by reporters if whether Eto'o would be offered a new contract, the Blues boss replied: "It's not a similar situation with the boys who have history in Chelsea for a long time, so we cannot compare his situation with Frank [Lampard] and Ashley [Cole].

"We cannot compare because it is a different situation but we can compare in the sense that he's very comfortable and we are very comfortable.

"He's the kind of guy that, with his career, he feels very free and comfortable to make decisions, just for himself.

"He decided to come here, play Premier League with Chelsea, [he had] never played in the Premier League, so Samuel is enjoying his career to the end. So, at the end of the season, we will see what he wants to do.

"Maybe he wants to go to Mallorca, as he promised to his son, maybe he wants to stay with us, maybe he wants to go back to Italy and finish with Inter. Samuel doesn't need titles, doesn't need money, he just needs to enjoy his life.

"He's playing well and has a good understanding with our attacking players. His contribution to the quality of the team is very high. We're happy."

The Chelsea boss was speaking prior to Wednesday's Premier League clash with West Ham, a game which he expects new signing Mohamed Salah to miss.

"I think he will arrive maybe [on Wednesday] in England, but not to play," he explained.

Mourinho handed out champagne to the assembled journalists to celebrate his 51st birthday - which was on Sunday - before toasting the progress being made by his side, who are third in the Premier League.

He said: "I think we have to drink champagne because we are improving a lot - the team, the players. So the prospect of champagne in the future is good.

"We're going into a good direction. We're playing well. The results are arriving as a consequence of the team playing very good football."

 

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Guarin agent calls for Inter meeting

Fredy Guarin's agent Marcelo Ferreyra has called for an urgent meeting with Inter president Erick Thohir following the breakdown of his player’s proposed transfer to Juventus.Juve were set to finalise a swap deal which would have seen Guarin move to the Turin club and Mirko Vucinic head to San Siro, only for Thohir to call off the switch after claiming that it would not bring “any financial or technical benefit to his club”.

Ferreyra has now denied that he and his player instigated the move and stressed the need to iron out the facts of the situation with the Nerazzurri hierarchy.

“The situation is unclear,” Ferreyra told Sky Sports. “What I am asking is that the president, Erick Thohir, thinks for a minute of Fredy Guarin.

“I would like Thohir to ask for an urgent meeting in private with the player and I, in which we will talk about the situation.

“Neither I nor Fredy have started negotiations with any other team, but we need Thohir to think for a minute about Guarin and his family.

“Guarin is now very sick,” he continued. “His wife, his children, his father and his brother arrived from Colombia, and, as a result of the uncertainty, are also feeling very bad too.

“It has been a week since an executive at Inter talked to or with me. It has been a week where we have not heard from Inter, which is why we have asked for a private meeting with Erick Thohir.

“Have we had contact with Juventus? I do not want to talk about any other team, we just want a meeting with Thohir.”

 

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Inter-Juve swap deal 1kak yai godak welawata Guarin ta

 

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Klopp: I belong at Borussia Dortmund

Jurgen Klopp says he belongs at Borussia Dortmund and revealed what he believes to be the crucial reasons behind the club's disappointing season so far.

Klopp took charge at Signal Iduna Park back in 2008 and has since has led BVB to two Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal and a solitary DFL-Supercup success.

However, after finishing runners-up in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League last season, the 46-year-old has endured a disappointing campaign at the Dortmund helm, with the club third in the league and 14 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

However, Klopp says this has done little to dim his love affair with BVB and admits he has been blessed with both quality staff and players throughout his tenure.

“No-one has to ask me which club I am at, everybody knows where I belong,” the manager told Welt. “I was lucky at Mainz 05 and have been lucky at Borussia Dortmund. At these clubs you'll find a top team of players and a top team of trainers.

“The coach job can be a dirty job. They are responsible for the dismissal of many colleagues, but I have never said to a player: 'if we don’t win, you're gone’. This would be extraordinary." said the 46-year-old.

Klopp then cited a lack of concentration as the reason behind his team's struggles this term, but he also noted the spate of injuries to key players as another hard felt blow.

"Maybe we find that we sometimes lack concentration," admits the coach. "However injuries can also be a problem.

“We moved into the knockout stages of the Champions League without seven injured players. This is extraordinary."

 

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Galliani: Essien is not injury prone

AC Milan director Adriano Galliani has dismissed claims that new signing Michael Essien is injury prone.The Ghana international has twice ruptured his cruciate ligament and rumours surfaced that the 31-year-old had failed his medical ahead of his proposed transfer to the Italian club from Chelsea.

"Essien is fit, all the rumours about his fitness are just urban legends, I don't even know where they have come from,” Galliani told reporters. “I directly followed all the medicals and they assured me that there has never been any problem.

“We thought our squad was good enough, then we faced a problem concerning next Champions League game against Atletico Madrid. We won't be able to field both [Riccardo] Montolivo and [Sulley] Muntari, so we looked for a suitable replacement, and we agreed that Essien was the man.”

Transfer speculation has also linked Milan’s Kevin Constant with a move to Napoli, with Pablo Armero moving to the San Siro in exchange, but that switch now appears dead in the water.

“The Constant-Armero swap? Constant doesn't agree, so at the moment everything is on stand-by. Our transfer window is not closed yet.”

Meanwhile, Filippo Inzaghi will remain in his coaching role with the club until his contract expires, after reports linked the 40-year-old with a move to Sassuolo.

“Sassuolo wanted to sign Pippo Inzaghi as their new coach, but we didn't let him go. He has a deal until 2016 and he will stay with us for two more years. He understood the situation. "

 

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Cabaye set to complete €24m PSG switch

Yohan Cabaye is expected to complete a €24 million move from Newcastle to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The Ligue 1 giants dispatched representatives to Tyneside to thrash out a deal for the 28-year-old after their initial offer - believed to be in the region of €17m - was rejected and Cabaye has now been excused from the Newcastle squad to face Norwich City on Tuesday evening as he flies to Paris to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew had already admitted on Monday that he was not confident of keeping his star playmaker beyond Friday's transfer deadline in the face of PSG's interest and a transfer now seems to be a matter of time.

"Am I confident of retaining Cabaye? No, I'm not confident and I don't think any team not in a Champions League position or fighting for a Champions League position could be," Pardew stated earlier this week.

Paris Saint-Germain have long been in the market for a new midfielder and Adrien Rabiot's knee injury further sped things up, prompting the Ligue 1 champions to move for Cabaye.

The France international had joined Newcastle from Lille in the summer of 2011, but is now on the verge of a return to his native country.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have earmarked Montpellier star Remy Cabella as Cabaye's replacement, with MHSC chairman Laurent Nicollin claiming a deal is in place to sign the midfielder this summer.

"We have an agreement with the leaders of Newcastle that I will not reveal," Nicollin told Midi Libre earlier this month.

"But it does not include a departure for Remy before June, it is a certainty."

 

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Transfer wenne naha kiya kiya idala anthimata transfer wenawa​

 

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Luuk De Jong set for Newcastle medical

Borussia Monchengladbach have revealed that striker Luuk de Jong is on the verge of completing a move to Newcastle.

The Bundesliga club delivered the following statement on their official Twitter account on Tuesday: "Luuk de Jong does not train with the Foals today. The attacker is on his way to his medical at Newcastle."

De Jong, 23, is a long-term target of Alan Pardew and spoke candidly on Saturday over his desire to move and seek first-team football after falling out of the Monchengladbach starting XI.

He told Goal: "I still have a week [to consider a transfer]. I just want to play again. I would still love to play for Monchengladbach, but when that's not possible I will look somewhere else."

The news of a move for the Netherlands international follows the expected departure of Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain in a £20 million deal.

De Jong moved to Germany in July 2012 after winning the Eredivisie under Steve McLaren with FC Twente in 2009-10 and scored eight goals in 31 games in his debut season in the Bundesliga.

He has failed to score in his 13 appearances this campaign.

 

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Wenger hints at late Arsenal arrival amid Draxler links

Draxler+ striker kenek ganna one

 

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Paris Saint-Germain explain Cabaye signing

Paris Saint-Germain owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi has confirmed the club are set to sign Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle and has explained why his side are eager to capture the midfielder.

The midfielder is expected to complete a €24 million to PSG on Tuesday and has been excused from the Magpies squad to face Norwich City in order to fly to Paris for a medical and to discuss personal terms.

Al Khelaifi has praised the 28-year-old and detailed exactly why he is so keen to bring Cabaye back to France.

"We chose Cabaye for three reasons," he told L'Equipe. "One, he is a very good player, very interesting to our eyes. Two, I have never met him myself but I was told that he is a good man as well.

"Three, he is French and it is very important for us to recruit French players to PSG, to bring them back to the French league."

Al-Khelaifi also responded to reports that some players did not think that Cabaye was a top player capable of helping PSG to win the Champions League.

"To each his own career. The players are there to play," he remarked.

"There are important players such as the captain, Thiago Silva, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who may have their feelings on such or such a player.

"But they are completely in phase with the club at any point of view. Of course, they want the best players in the world come to Paris. The fans also want that but Cabaye is a very good player, no doubt about it."

 

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Solskjaer thanks Manchester United fans for Old Trafford welcome

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thanked the Manchester United fans for their welcome upon his return to Old Trafford, but insisted his sole focus is Cardiff City.

The former striker visited Old Trafford, where he spent 11 years as a player, for the first time as a coach on Tuesday evening.

United's 1999 Champions League final hero received a predictably warm welcome from the crowd and was "humbled" by the reception.

"You feel honoured and humbled that the supporters still appreciate you," Solskjaer told reporters. "But I'm working for Cardiff - that's my job now."

Robin van Persie marked his return from a six-week lay-off with a close-range header after six minutes before Ashley Young added a second with a superb solo effort just before the hour mark.

Solskjaer admits the early setback hindered his side and is targeting home victories to move his side off the foot of the table.

"Obviously you get the [slow] start," he added. "It was a great goal by Van Persie, he gets three bounces on the ball, that's a goalscorer. That's what we need, we tried but we didn't have the 'oomph'.

"This month we've had away games to Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United. You've seen the team develop over the last month, now it's time to get points.

"We probably need another 18 points - we have to target the home games to get points."

 

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Juventus consider Osvaldo swoop

Juventus are considering a January swoop for Southampton striker Dani Osvaldo.

The former Roma star is looking likely to leave St Mary's before the winter window shuts in just over three days' time after he was involved in a training ground incident that reportedly involved him attacking team-mate Jose Fonte.

Osvaldo was subsequently suspended by the Premier League club for two weeks with manager Mauricio Pochettino conceding that he "doesn't know" if the 28-year-old will still be part of his squad at the start of February.

Serie A leaders Juve are interested in taking the controversial forward back to Italy, initially on loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.

Any potential move for Osvaldo is likely to hinge on the immediate future of Mirko Vucinic, however, with the Montenegro international keen to leave Turin having struggled for regular playing time under Antonio Conte.

Juve are keen to resurrect the mooted swap deal for Inter midfielder Fredy Guarin after talks had broken down following a backlash from furious Nerazzurri fans who do not want to see one of the club's prized assets depart.

Goal understands a meeting has been scheduled to renegotiate the deal, with a potential Vucinic exit clearing the path for Osvaldo to make the move to the Turin giants.

Conte's Juve currently sit at the top of the Serie A table and have been drawn against Trabzonspor in the last 32 of the Europa League, a competition Osvaldo would be eligible to feature in.

 

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Hazard aims to challenge Ronaldo and Messi

Chelsea star Eden Hazard has revealed his aim to rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and become the best player in the world.

The Blues' top goalscorer this season has been in blistering form in 2013-14, notching 11 times in 34 matches as he ontinues to flourish under Jose Mourinho, but accepts that reaching the top level will prove no easy feat.

"I realise that I can compete with Messi and Ronaldo in the near future, if I put in some more effort," he told Het Laatste Nieuws.

"I don't know if I will ever reach their level. It'll be hard, they have incredible stats, but I accept the challenge. Of course I want to be the best in the world.

"Previously I was more worried about the game itself: Football was just a game for me - I wanted to amuse myself and didn't bother what the people thought about me - but since I've been here at Chelsea I've become more aware of my qualities, I guess.

"Before I knew I was a good player but not one of the better players in the world.

"I've matured," Hazard continued. "On the pitch I haven't changed much, I'm still the same, but I realised that, if I want to be among the best in the world, I'll have to perform consistently, game in, game out.

"I'm now important for the team, I give good passes, I score more goals and Chelsea are performing well.

"Everyone expects more from me. I hear it every day. Maybe I need these little comments, too."

 

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'I'm not smiling & happy' - Moyes demands more despite Mata-inspired victory

David Moyes insists Manchester United "still have a long way to go" following their morale-boosting 2-0 win over Cardiff City.

Robin van Persie, making his first appearance since December 10 following a thigh injury, put the Red Devils in front after six minutes of play at Old Trafford before Ashley Young’s effort after the break wrapped up the victory.

The Premier League champions remain six points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, and Moyes is keen for his squad to improve further in their bid to secure Champions League football.

"Don't think because I have won tonight I'm smiling and happy. With the vision I have got for the club we have got a long way to go," the Scot told reporters.

Juan Mata made his debut following his €45 million move from Chelsea, while Wayne Rooney returned from a groin problem to make an appearance off the bench against Cardiff.

But Moyes maintains the England striker and Van Persie will remain as a strike partnership in the wake of Mata’s arrival.

"I can play him [Mata] in any role. Left or right allows me to keep the Robin and Wayne partnership. I'm quite comfortable with that," said the United boss.

 

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Watzke: Dortmund could cope with Gundogan departure

Borussia Dortmund do not want to sell Ilkay Gundogan but CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke insists the club could cope without the midfielder.

The Germany international has been linked with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, though any potential move is expected to occur in the summer, given the 23-year-old is currently out with a long-term back injury.

With interest in Gundogan swelling, Watzke expressed his desire to keep hold of the player but insisted that it would not spell disaster for Die Schwarzgelben if they sold him.

"Of course you're always trying to keep your top players, this is completely normal and we want to extend Ilkay's contract," he told Sky Sport News. "But you also have to see a sale as an opportunity.

"In 2011, we lost Nuri Sahin, who was the Bundesliga player of the year and we recovered.

"Ideally, we manage it so that only one top player goes again this year, namely Robert Lewandowski."

The Pole had signed a pre-contract agreement to join Bayern Munich at the end of the season on a free transfer, just a year after the Bavarians paid €37 million to lure Mario Gotze away from Signal Iduna Park.

 

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Gundogan wa ganna puluwan nam pattaAth meh window 1kenam bari wei.Summer 1ke thamai

 

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Kroos refuses to rule out Bayern exit amid Man United links

Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos has refused to rule out leaving the reigning German champions amid links with Manchester United.

The 24-year-old has a contract with the Bavarians until June 2015, but talks over a new deal for the Germany international have stalled.
Manchester United are closely monitoring the midfielder's situation at Bayern and Kroos has admitted that a move abroad could be tempting at some point in the future.

"I am unable to rule anything out," Kroos told Kicker when questioned about his future.

"I am under contract with Bayern Munich. Actually there are no further [contract] talks scheduled as of yet. I will therefore fully focus on the second half of the season.

"There are worse situations in life. I play for a top club, and under a top coach. I am pleased, and sometime in the future a decision will be made."

Kroos joined Bayern Munich from Hansa Rostock in the summer of 2006 and has developed into a key player at the Champions League holders since his return from a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen in 2010.

The Germany international has been in sublime form for FCB this season, making 30 appearances in all competitions so far.

 

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Kroos PattaGuardiola th kiyala thiyanawa transfer wenna puluwan kiyala