27/10/2010 – Wednesday’s Paper Round-Up

Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz intends to leave the club in January – and suggests fellow City forward Carlos Tevez could follow him through the exit door.

Fulham manager Mark Hughes will try to bring Santa Cruz to Craven Cottage during the January transfer window. Hughes signed the Paraguay frontman while in charge of Manchester City and Blackburn.

Manchester City may make a move for Lazio’s Romanian defender Stefan Radu, who is eager to leave the Italian club in the January transfer window.

The Eastlands outfit are also interested in Sporting Lisbon defender Daniel Carrico. Juventus and Atletico Madrid are among those eyeing the Portugal Under-21 star.

Manchester United target Steven Defour says he is willing to move to Old Trafford. The 22-year-old Standard Liege star is regarded as one of the best midfielders in Belgium and has been tracked by the Red Devils for more than a year.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=darijo+srna&iid=7268873″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/7268873/darijo-srna-croatia-2009/darijo-srna-croatia-2009.jpg?size=500&imageId=7268873″ width=”234″ height=”275″ /] Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is considering a cut-price move for Shakhtar Donetsk’s Croatian full-back Darijo Srna (left) in January.

Queens Park Rangers are hoping to boost their defence by acquiring Sean Morrison of Swindon but face a battle with Newcastle and Sunderland for the highly rated 19-year-old.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has spoken out for the first time over the fury surrounding his contract wrangle, insisting: “I was never going to leave Man United”.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stepped up his plan to get the club’s key players to commit to the Old Trafford outfit by offering John O’Shea a new £16.5m contract.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson will not target any marquee signings in the January transfer window as New England Sports Ventures, the club’s new owner, looks to put a stop to the profligate spending the company believes has hampered the club’s progress in recent years.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce and chairman John Williams are likely to keep their jobs when the expected £46m takeover by Indian group Venky’s goes through in November.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he is under pressure to bring the club’s five-year wait for a trophy to an end this season.

Gunners winger Theo Walcott has played down his side’s title chances, despite the 3-0 win at Manchester City on Sunday. Walcott is urging fans not to get carried away by his team’s impressive start to the season.

Walcott’s team-mate Andrey Arshavin is set to begin talks with Arsenal over a new £80,000-a-week deal. The forward’s current contract expires in 19 months’ time.

Everton manager David Moyes insists Jermaine Beckford will adapt to the Premier League, despite the striker’s poor start to the season. Moyes signed the 26-year-old from Leeds on a free transfer in the summer.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has denied whipping up the frenzy that led referee Willie Collum to receive death threats following Sunday’s Old Firm defeat by Rangers.

Fans of Paul the psychic octopus who are in mourning after his death can take comfort from the news that his spirit will live on – in clothing lines and mobile phone applications. The creature, who correctly predicted the outcome of all Germany’s matches – as well as the final – at the 2010 World Cup, also features in a documentary.

Manchester United fans flocked to the club’s Old Trafford megastore on Tuesday. However, it was not striker Wayne Rooney’s name they wanted on the back of their replica jerseys – it was that of Mexican forward Javier Hernandez, the new United hero who has his nickname Chicharito emblazoned across his number 14 shirt.

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has warned his players there is no place for nightclubs and alcohol in a modern footballer’s life.

For full stories, head over to the BBC website.

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11/10/2010 – Monday’s Paper Round-Up

AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato has told Manchester City and Chelsea they have no chance of signing him – as he would only quit the Italian club for Barcelona.

Wolves midfielder David Jones, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is being tracked by Bolton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=michel+bastos&iid=9531579″ src=”http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9531579/soccer-2010-lyon-monaco/soccer-2010-lyon-monaco.jpg?size=500&imageId=9531579″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /] Manchester United are believed to be considering a move for Lyon’s Brazilian winger Michel Bastos (left) in the January transfer window.

Liverpool have their eye on Swiss left-back Reto Ziegler, who has turned down a new contract with Sampdoria.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has hit out at the “chaos” surrounding the club’s future.

New England Sports Ventures (NESV) has positioned itself to renegotiate its proposed £300m purchase of Liverpool and has threatened to walk away if the club are docked nine points as a result of administration.

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has an as yet undisclosed “Plan B” to ensure that the club’s sale to NESV goes through without the club going into administration.

The Football Association is still struggling to sell tickets for Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier between England and Montenegro at Wembley.

Scotland assistant manager Peter Houston says the team would gladly stick with their controversial 6-4-0 formation in Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Spain at Hampden if they thought it would bring success.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has dropped a bombshell by admitting he is thinking of walking away from football.

Manchester City are now serious title contenders, according to Manchester United defender Gary Neville.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has hit back in the row over aggressive tackling in the Premier League.

Ex-Arsenal star Kenny Sansom believes rising Gunners star Kieran Gibbs is two or three years away from taking Chelsea star Ashley Cole’s position as England left-back.

Arsenal and France right-back Bacary Sagna expects to be on the sidelines for another three weeks as he continues his recovery from a left thigh injury.

Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri has called on manager Arsene Wenger to play him in a more central position, rather than out wide.

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan claims his time at the Selhurst Park helm cost him £47m.

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is trying to persuade Bernabeu legend Zinedine Zidane to help him as a coach rather than concentrate on his role as adviser to president Florentino Perez.

Injured Fulham and England striker Bobby Zamora, who broke his leg in September, has been going to the gym daily as part of his rehabilitation and aims to outmuscle Chelsea’s Didier Drogba on his Premier League return and “bully” defenders even more.

Artur Boruc has revealed playing in the SPL with Celtic made him Lazy. The Polish goalkeeper, who has lost three stones since ending his five-year spell at Celtic by joining Fiorentina last summer, said: “In Glasgow I became lazy because they loved me no matter how I played”.

For full stories, head over to the BBC website.

08/10/2010 – Friday’s Paper Round-Up

Tottenham have made Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema a January transfer target.

Barcelona have lined up a sensational swoop for Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez, who the Nou Camp management see as the ideal foil for star attacker Lionel Messi.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=carlos+tevez&iid=9851370″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9851370/carlos-tevez-manchester/carlos-tevez-manchester.jpg?size=500&imageId=9851370″ width=”234″ height=”281″ /] But Tevez (left) has said that he would return to his native Argentina if his daughters ever wanted him to.

Chelsea and Arsenal could be interested in Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is thought to be unsettled at the club.

Edwin van der Sar’s hint that he may quit playing at the end of the season has led Manchester United to step up their search for a new goalkeeper. Norwegian club Aalesunds number one Anders Lindegaard and CSKA Moscow’s Igor Akinfeev are two potential targets.

And Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has left the door open to a move to Manchester United after describing reports that he had already agreed a move to Bayern Munich as “humbug”.

However, the agent of Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon has rubbished reports that his client will move to Old Trafford.

United have been linked again with a move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport also claiming Juventus are keen on the Frenchman.

Liverpool’s prospective new owner New England Sports Ventures will seek face-to-face talks with midfielder Steven Gerrard, striker Fernando Torres and goalkeeper Pepe Reina as soon as it complete its purchase.

New Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier is weighing up an £8m bid for Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjcar in the upcoming January transfer window, though Monaco could rival the Frenchman for the player’s signature.

Turkish side Galatasaray have made the first move to sign Aston Villa’s Nigel Reo-Coker on a free transfer. The midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season.

Aston Villa striker John Carew has indicated that he may leave the club when his contract expires next summer.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson could be in competition with former club Fulham as he considers a bid for Bayer Leverkusen forward Stefan Kiessling.

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda wants to end his playing days in Brazil. The France international wants to end his European club career at Stamford Bridge, but would like to finish his playing days at Vasco da Gama or Flamengo.

Blackpool striker Jason Euell is being tracked by Hull and two other Championship sides.

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=daniele+bonera&iid=9479898″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9479898/sports-news-august-2010/sports-news-august-2010.jpg?size=500&imageId=9479898″ width=”234″ height=”324″ /] Tottenham have been linked with a move for £5m-rated defender Daniele Bonera (right) from AC Milan as manager Harry Redknapp looks to ease his defensive injury crisis.

England defender Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he is unsure if he will regain his place in Fabio Capello’s side, never mind the team captaincy.

The Football Association has so far failed to get in touch with highly rated youngster Eric Dier. The 16-year-old centre-back, who is already playing for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon’s under-19 side, is qualified to represent England but could apply for dual nationality when he turns 18.

Wales caretaker manager Brian Flynn says that the prospect of managing the side against England is motivating him to succeed former boss John Toshack. Wales host England in a Euro 2012 qualifier in March next year before a return leg at Wembley in September.

Montenegro coach Zlatko Kranjcar believes that England’s superiority means they have already won Euro 2012 qualifying Group G and that the other sides are merely playing for second place.

Paul Dalglish believes that father Kenny, who offered to return to Liverpool’s managerial hot-seat before the appointment of Roy Hodgson, could still do a job at Anfield.

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp says that Liverpool’s players cannot use the ongoing boardroom unrest at the club as an excuse for failure on the pitch.

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton says that the club’s prospective new owners will not follow the same path as their equivalents at big spending Manchester City and will instead adopt a “rational” approach to achieving success at Anfield.

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn fears that West Ham could put his club out of business if they move in to the Olympic Stadium after 2012. The venue is close to Orient’s Brisbane Road ground and Hearn is concerned they could attract supporters away from the League One club.

Birmingham midfielder Alexander Hleb says that moving to St Andrew’s from Barcelona this summer was a backwards step and has criticised the team’s long-ball style.

Manchester United striker Federico Macheda has moved to clarify comments he made about team-mate Wayne Rooney. The Italian referred to Rooney as a ‘coatto’, which has been translated by some English newspapers as ‘chav’, but in Friday’s Gazzetta dello Sport he said: “I like him and I have maximum respect for him. What I wanted to say is that for me he is a free spirit and genuine.”

Macheda’s United team-mate Michael Owen, who has represented England at World Cups and has played for Liverpool, Newcastle and Real Madrid, has revealed he suffered from nerves before a recent Carling Cup tie with Scunthorpe. However, he scored twice in a 5-2 win at Glanford Park.

For full stories, head over to the BBC website.