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
Real Madrid have admitted defeat in their battle to persuade Kaka to join them from AC Milan and will begin to look for other transfer targets.
The Spanish giants have been linked with the Brazilian superstar since president Ramon Calderon promised to sign him in his election manifesto in 2006.
While the stories have raged in the press, Milan refused to budge and Kaka seemingly in no hurry to leave the Rossoneri to move to the Bernabeu.
Now Madrid's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, has revealed that the club are no longer pursuing any lines of enquiry regarding the player.
"We cannot allow ourselves to waste too much time on something that is extremely difficult to obtain," he said.
"We have spoken a lot about this player over the past year and a half. Everybody likes him, but we know his situation and where he is playing, we'll move on to something else."
Los Merengues may have held out hopes of Kaka asking for a transfer, but Milan supremo Silvio Berlusconi was adamant that the player would be going nowhere.
"There has never been any possibility of it happening," he stated recently.
"He has never wanted to leave and I believe that he will never do so. Kaka is the symbol of Milan."
26 October 2007
Miguel Angel Lotina is furious that Deportivo La Coruna's game with Real Madrid was changed so late in the week and said that the move had hurt his team.
The Galician club's boss admitted that he would have had no problem switching the encounter, but believes it should have been done earlier on.
Madrid asked for their home game against Depor to be moved from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon to avoid becoming embroiled in the live television dispute and Lotina is not happy.
"If they want to have a day more to prepare for the game then that is logical because they are defending their interests, but they could have decided on Monday instead of on Thursday," he said.
"They may benefit, but it has hurt us and that is what I am complaining about. You cannot do these things without thinking about your opponents."
Lotina revealed that he did not think the request would be taken seriously when Depor supremo Augusto Lendoiro told him that the petition had been made by Madrid.
"When we went back to the changing rooms the president said that there was a chance that the game could be move," the coach continued.
"Obvisouly, I did not think it was a serious suggestion as it was already Thursday and because they were asking to change the day, not just the hour and I did not think it could happen. It is not normal. I am not going say who favours or who it does not, but I do not think it is right to change a game on a Thursday. It is very late and they should have done it on Monday. I told the sporting director that it was not good for us, not so much for the game against madrid, but certainly for the game against Mallorca in midweek. We had planned to rest on Sunday."
25 October 2007
Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster singled out Robinho after his two goals sealed a 4-2 win over Olympiakos.
The Brazil ace missed the Primera Liga defeat at Villarreal at the weekend as he had returned late from international duty, but he was back in the starting line-up on Wednesday night and was instrumental as Real came from behind to take control of Group C.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Olympiakos were close to a famous win at the Bernabeu as they led 2-1 with just over 20 minutes left.
However, Robinho showed his class with two goals and an assist, while he also won a late penalty that Ruud van Nistelrooy blasted into the stands.
Schuster was full of praise for the diminutive play-maker, saying: "He's a player who knows how to win games."
23 October 2007
Fabio Cannavaro and Mahamadou Diarra will not be ready in time to play for Real Madrid against Olympiacos and have been left out of Bernd Schuster's squad.
Both players have been suffering from knee injuries and have not trained in the build-up to the Champions League encounter in Athens on Wednesday night.
While Diarra is still battling back from his problem, Cannavaro has been left out after being advised by doctor's that playing could see the injury worsen as he was hoping to risk playing.
Following the withdrawals, Sergio Ramos is set to move into the middle alongside Christoph Metzelder with Michel Salgado taking over on the right side of the back four.
According to reports, Fernando Gago is Schuster's preferred option to start in Diarra's place in midfield.
Madrid were already without Gabriel Heinze, Arjen Robben and Pepe, who all have muscle injuries.
Real Madrid have opened disciplinary proceedings against Robinho and Julio Baptista following their late return from international duty with Brazil last week.
"The board of directors are determined to speed up the enquiry and make their decision on the case as soon as possible," the club said in a statement on their Web site (www.realmadrid.com).
Spanish media reported that the players would be handed a heavy fine as stipulated in the club's code of conduct.
The two players failed to warn the club that they would miss training last Friday ahead of the team's league match against Espanyol after their flight from Brazil was delayed.
They were both left out of the squad for Saturday's match, which Real lost 2-1.
Robinho was one of the Brazil players reported to have been partying into the early hours of Thursday morning following their team's 5-0 victory over Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier in Rio de Janeiro.
22 October 2007
AC Milan are interested in solving their attacking crisis with a summer move with Nicolas Anelka, claim reports in the Daily Star.
The Trotters are facing a difficult task in retaining the services of in-shape striker Nicolas Anelka, who was linked with a move abroad for much of the summer.
Even though the France forward decided to stay in England, poor run in the Premiership might change his mind after recent reports suggest AC Milan joined the chase for former Arsenal and Real Madrid star.
Milan are ready to pay £12.5million to lure the hitman to the San Siro.
22 October 2007
Real Madrid chairman Ramon Calderon has warned the coach Bernd Schuster to improve his behaviour following his recent outburst at the press conference.
Bernd Schuster has complained about the media pressure and attention ever since he landed at Santiago Bernabeu and asked the media to allow him to work in peace.
One would know the pledges like this one are virtually impossible in Spain and Schuster finally lost his temper at post-match press conference after Real Madrid's first season defeat at Espanyol.
When asked about his rotation policy at the club, German angrily responded by telling the journalist: "I suggest you send me a fax with the proposed line-up."
22 October 2007
Italy are dominating the Golden Ball list of 50 candidates with eight players, while Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona each contributed seven names on the list.
- Golden Ball 2007 nominees:
Éric Abidal (Olympique Lyon, FC Barcelona)
Daniel Alves (FC Sevilla)
David Beckham (Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turin)
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Deco (FC Barcelona)
Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid)
Diego (Werder Bremen)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Gennaro Gattuso (Milan)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal, FC Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)
Filippo Inzaghi (Milan)
Kaka (Milan)
Frederic Kanoute (FC Sevilla)
Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Bayern Munchen)
Younis Mahmoud (Algharafa)
Paolo Maldini (Milan)
Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon, Chelsea)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic Glasgow)
Guillermo Ochoa (America Mexico)
Andrea Pirlo (Milan),
Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto),
Raul (Real Madrid)
Franck Ribery (Olympique Marseille, Bayern Munchen),
Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors, Villarreal)
Robinho (Real Madrid)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
Clarence Seedorf (Milan)
Carlos Tevez (West Ham, Manchester United)
Luca Toni (Fiorentina, Bayern Munchen)
Kolo Toure (Arsenal)
Jose Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid, Liverpool)
Francesco Totti (AS Roma)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)
Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
David Villa (Valencia)
21 October 2007
Liverpool have emerged as front runners to sign Simon Kjaer, one of the most highly-rated teenage talents in Europe.
The 18-year-old defender has been courting interest from Europe's top clubs with some fine performances for Danish club FC Midtyjlland.
Real Madrid are among the clubs tracking the defender's progress, but it is believed Liverpool have jumped to the head of the queue after sending scouts to watch the player.
Agent Mikkel Beck told The Sunday Sun: "You realise how special this kid is when Liverpool watch him and tell you he's good enough to play in their first team. Messi, Rooney, Dos Santos - he is special like them. Lille and Monaco were the first to show an interest, then Real made a much better offer and it was turned down. He is worth a lot more."
