Serbia starlet Branislav Ivanovic has played down talk linking him with Chelsea and a number of top Italian sides.
Ivanovic caught the eye during the European Under-21 Championship in Holland over the summer and has reportedly been scouted by none other than Chelsea manager Avram Grant when playing for Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia.
Juventus and Inter are believed to be interested in the 23-year-old and reports in Italy on Tuesday morning claim that Milan are aiming to sign either the Serb or Chelsea's own Brazilian defender Alex.
However, Ivanovic is only focused on the job at hand with Lokomotiv at present and is unwilling to let himself dream of Serie A or The Premier League.
'For now I am only thinking about Lokomotiv,' Ivanovic is quoted in a national newspaper.
'England or Italy? That's a hard one. I don't want to mess my head up by worrying about that.'
29 October 2007
Tottenham have confirmed that Gus Poyet will join the club as one of two first-team coaches. Poyet will leave his current post at Leeds United to work alongside Marcos Alvarez under the new head coach Juande Ramos.
Poyet, 39, has left Leeds with the club's best wishes after they agreed an undisclosed compensation package with Tottenham. Leeds granted Tottenham permission to speak to their assistant manager yesterday morning following an official approach for the Uruguayan.
"The club would like to thank Gus for his efforts over the past 12 months and wishes him every success in his new role," read a Leeds statement. "He leaves with the best wishes of everyone connected with the club."
Poyet arrived at Leeds in October 2006 as No2 to former Chelsea team-mate Dennis Wise. The pair had forged a managerial partnership the previous summer at Swindon where they had steered the club to the top of League Two.
Poyet, who retired as a player after three years at White Hart Lane in 2004, has been an integral part of Leeds' unbeaten start to the season as the Yorkshire club look to challenge for promotion despite being hit by a 15-point deduction for financial irregularities.
28 October 2007
Manchester City are set to hold talks with Nigerian starlet Macauley Chrisantus next week.
The 17-year-old striker was one of the stars of the recent World Under 17 championship as he helped Nigeria seal the title.
Christantus is currently plying his trade in his homeland with Abuja but a move to England could soon be sealed.
The youngster's agent, Adam Mohammed, confirmed that he and the player are set to hold talks with Sven Goran Eriksson.
"I can confirm Sven has written inviting myself and the boy for a discussion and we will be in England next week to conclude talks," he told the News of the World.
Mohammed admitted that an application for a work permit could be a stumbling block, but he voiced his optimism that one would be granted second time round.
"But there may be a snag with the issue of a work permit," he added.
"However, if it is refused first time we will get it second time if the club appeals."
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, Internazionale and Milan are also reportedly keen to snap up the youngster, but it appears that City have won the race to secure Chrisantus' services.
Meanwhile, Eriksson has called on striker Georgios Samaras to utilise his strengths, which he believes are his ability to be a powerful target man.
"Georgios has to decide what type of players he wants to be. He shouldn't be doing lots of tricks; he should be using his physical power. For me he is a central striker - and a good one," Eriksson told the News of the World.
"There is a big difference between the Samaras that I see now and the one I saw when I arrived in July. He could have gone in the summer but said he wanted to fight for his place and I'm happy that he did."
28 October 2007
New Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos hopes to bring Sevilla duo Daniel Alves and Fredi Kanoute to White Hart Lane.
The 53-year-old left Sevilla on Friday and was installed as Martin Jol's successor by Spurs 24 hours later.
Kanoute left Spurs and signed for the Spanish side just over two years ago and the 30-year-old has played a key role in the club's recent success - finishing third in La Liga last term and winning the UEFA Cup in each of the last two seasons.
Alves was linked with a big-money move to Chelsea in the summer but may prefer to be reunited with Ramos in north London.
Ramos was quoted in the News of the World as saying: "I'd like to sign Alves and Kanoute. These two players would be sensational for any club in the world but I'm not sure if Sevilla will accept it."
Ramos may also raid his former club for goalkeeper Andres Palop and defender Julien Escude.
27 October 2007
Emmanuel Adebayor may well be enjoying his best season since moving to Arsenal, but he has told Gunners fans he intends to be a world-beater.
Adebayor has scored six league goals already this season, leaving him needing just another three to surpass his previous best tally of eight in an Arsenal jersey.
The Togo international could be heard singing the praises of Theo Walcott earlier in the week, predicting the teenager can surpass Thierry Henry, and Adebayor intends to achieve similar superstar status himself.
"In the game I'm very good," he told The Mail.
"I'm strong, I'm fast, I can jump high, my passing is good, my holding of the ball is per ... at the moment is very good. I nearly said perfect. But nothing is perfect, and I still need to work more on my finishing. I'm not saying I'm going to be the best player in the world, but I am going to be among them. When you talk to young players they all want to be Kaka, Ronaldinho, Henry. Their ambition is to be big and my ambition is to be big.'
A facet of Adebayor's game is his pace, which he reveals is only inferior to Armand Traore in the current Arsenal squad.
The powerful striker's performances have earned him comparisons to Chelsea's Didier Drogba, comparisons Adebayor is pleased to hear.
"A lot of people are saying that and it's a good thing, because Didier is one of the best," he added.
27 October 2007
Chelsea boss Avram Grant has told Shaun Wright-Phillips he will have to fight for a starting spot in The Blues' first XI.
The England international was omitted from the squad to face Schalke in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, and is now struggling to force his way back into contention for the weekend visit of former club Manchester City.
"We have 25 players in the squad, most are international players, and we are allowed only to play 11 and five from the bench," said Grant.
"Every game we play there are five or six international players, good players, who are not in the squad. It's not personal against anyone. I'm thinking about the team. Shaun is a professional. He wants to play of course, he wants to be in the squad. He's ready for the next games. I want players to be happy at the end of the year. They will look back and say I gave my contribution to my team. Sometimes during the season they will not be happy if they are not playing. But they need to be ready for each game we need them in the future."
27 October 2007
Who has the loudest fans in the Premier League?
Decibel meter readings taken across home matches for all Premier League teams during August and September, showed that the loudest home crowd was Sunderland.
Average peak volume of the Sunderland crowd at home reaching 129.2 decibels & 150; louder than a rock concert (115 decibels) and almost as loud as an air raid siren/military jet (130 decibels).
As a volume of 110-115 decibels can cause hearing damage after just 15 minutes, football fans are being advised to wear ear protection if they want to hear the referees whistle clearly across their supporting career.
The findings are especially embarrassing for Arsenal and Manchester United, whose grounds dwarf the 49,000-seater Sunderland home ground by 11,000 and 21,000 seats respectively.
Quietest home fans were Fulham who could only muster an average maximum volume of 115.4 decibels at home.
And although not the loudest, Everton fans proved that they have the stamina to keep it up all match. Their chants were the most frequent (one every three minutes on average) and longest (52 seconds each on average) of all teams studied.
The ear-bending research was commissioned by 118118 who are searching for the best and loudest football chants in the country.
NOISE LEAGUE TABLE:
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City
Aston Villa
Everton
Chelsea
Middlesbrough
Derby County
Newcastle United
West Ham
Birmingham City
Arsenal
Portsmouth
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Liverpool
Manchester United
Wigan Athletic
Reading
Fulham
26 October 2007
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks says Rafa Benitez must challenge for the Premier League title to justify his transfer spending.
Speaking after Liverpool's loss to Besiktas in the Champions League, Hicks said that the league is the club's priority after Benitez based his pre-season spending on creating a squad capable of challenging Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Hicks and partner George Gillet sanctioned the purchase of Fernando Torres for £26.5million and Ryan Babel for £11.5million - among others - and are expecting a quick return on their investment.
Hicks told The Guardian: "One of the reasons we made the signings we did in the summer was to create the depth we now have. Rafa explained to George and me that is how you win the Prem, because you have to play every team twice. We totally support Rafa, nobody wants to win more than Rafa. But I know when we committed the resources for signings in the summer the whole idea was to have a team that could compete for the Premier League. We've not had the depth previously to do that. This squad is good enough to win things. It should be winning things. If it doesn't we'll have to look at the circumstances and have a meeting at the end of the year to understand what happened. I don't want to predict failure, I want to predict success."
Liverpool face unbeaten league leaders Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday.
26 October 2007
Sven Goran Eriksson admits he would personally 'open the gates' for Shaun Wright-Phillips should he ever wish to return to Manchester City.
The Swedish tactician has been told he is free to spend in the January transfer window, after convincing City owner Thaksin Shinawatra of his buying credentials by virtue of the club's fine start to the season.
Eriksson has vowed to be prudent in the market and only invest in quality, with Wright-Phillips certainly of the calibre he covets.
The England star, who never figured regularly under Eriksson's regime with the national side, has never truly established himself at Chelsea and will be one of those hugely disappointed by Jose Mourinho's departure, as it had looked as though he had finally convinced the Portuguese of his ability.
And if he were ever to seek a Stamford Bridge exit, Eriksson would be more than willing to take the player back to Eastlands.
"I'd personally open the gates for him tomorrow if he wishes to return here," he told a newspaper.
"I won't pay his salary personally but I'll certainly open the gate. Shaun has pace, good technique and is very direct. He's a good player, one I admire."
26 October 2007
John Terry is hoping to be back in action within a month following knee surgery.
The Chelsea captain saw the injury flare up whilst on international duty with England and it forced him out of their crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.
Now Terry has gone under the knife and he is hopeful that he will be back in action sooner, rather than later.
"I'm back in the treatment room but it is not all doom and gloom," stated the England skipper.
"I'm out for around four weeks. It's a new injury. I got a bit of floating bone trapped under the knee joint and the only way to remove it was surgery. I'm already working my socks off to get fit and get back."
