As reported by the Daily Mail, Newcastle United are interested in a January loan move for Arsenal forward Theo Walcott.
What’s the story?
Newcastle have only scored 19 goals in 21 English Premier League matches this season and if they’re to stay safe from relegation back to the Championship then they’ll need to add some attacking firepower to Rafa Benitez’s side in January.
One player they’re reported to be interested in is out of favour Arsenal star Theo Walcott.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, who say the Magpies are one of seven top-flight sides who are interested in a loan move for the England international.
Is he the answer to Newcastle’s attacking woes?
Still got it?
Despite still being rated at £18m by Transfermarkt, Walcott is very much a fringe player at the Emirates these days, despite performing well more often than not when given the opportunity.
He’s failed to start a single Premier League match all season, relegated to Europa League and League Cup duty by Arsene Wenger.
In those competitions he’s done the job for the Gunners, scoring three and assisting five in Europe and helping Arsenal into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.
He still has a cutting edge that would enhance the Newcastle attack with proven creativity and goalscoring skills at the level the Magpies require.
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Bereft of other options and shopping on a budget, a loan move for the Arsenal man could be the perfect January move for Newcastle fans.
Andre Villas-Boas’ frustration is more than understandable. In his view, Fernando Torres got away with it, an altercation with Jan Vertonghen that the Tottenham manager feels should have been retrospectively punished.
But is that the primary source of Villas-Boas’ stinging condemnation over a lack of action? On some level, you have to feel that the frustration is in the FA’s incompetence, or perhaps its insistence to pick and choose when it wants to take action.
It once again boils down to governing bodies wishing to maintain the idea that their officials do have authority, no matter to what degree, over football matches. Or, obviously, the favoured line is that they don’t want to undermine referees and their decisions. In this case, Mike Dean had seen the ‘coming together’ between Torres and Vertonghen and had decided that the scratch, which was clear, had little in it and certainly not worthy of a card.
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But it’s nothing new. The FA’s lack of action isn’t central to the Torres incident. They insist that referees don’t need help – why else would they toe the line that retrospective action can undermine an already ‘good call?’ – and yet they fail to make referees’ jobs any easier. How about video technology for this sort of thing? How about another official behind the line? Another pair of eyes can do little harm when the first two (or three) may be restricted from certain angles.
You have to ask though, in the case of Torres, whether the FA were looking at the bigger picture and choosing not to open up an avenue of stress for themselves. It may be cynical, but in turn there may be some truth to it. Had Torres been playing for another team, say one that didn’t have so much power in the league, would we have seen action? Chelsea are not quite Manchester United under Alex Ferguson, but getting into a lengthy war of words with Jose Mourinho isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
And it stretches beyond domestic football. Only this week, UEFA have decided to extend Jurgen Klopp’s touchline ban by one extra game. The Borussia Dortmund manager has already missed a game, his side’s 3-0 win at home to Marseille, so here’s a question, why wait until now to dish out another ban? And what was it for? Klopp confronted the fourth official over an incident which left his team exposed at the back and allowed Napoli to score in week one.
Ok, intimidation, confrontation, but it’s not really anything we haven’t seen before. Again, Dortmund may be a big team, but they’re not one of the most powerful. Arsenal have been down this road a number of times with UEFA, and you do get a sense that they choose when to fight their battles based on the likelihood of victory. After all they wouldn’t want to undermine themselves by getting caught up in a battle that they had little chance of winning.
Though again this could all be very cynical and a case of wishing to see conspiracies that aren’t actually there.
Villas-Boas, though, could find himself in hot water following what could be interpreted as an attack on the FA and their decision-makers. There is a level of incompetence, but it’s also a failure to properly enforce the rules of the game.
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Will the FA’s lack of action open up more problems?
Florent Malouda will see out the final year of his contract with Chelsea training and playing with the club’s under-21 development squad after failing to secure a move away from the club during the summer transfer window.
The France international revealed he had effectively been excluded from the first-team squad on his Twitter account on Wednesday, attaching a photograph of the entrance to Chelsea’s academy building alongside the message: “This is where I’ll train for my last season with the Blues!!” The move prompts parallels with the treatment of Nicolas Anelka and Alex last season, two senior players who were told to train with the reserves and then sold in mid-season while Andre Villas-Boas was manager.
Chelsea have privately suggested Malouda’s situation is slightly different in as much as he had indicated to the club a desire to leave over the summer, only for his wage demands – he is on £80,000 a week – to prove prohibitive for prospective new employers. The 32-year-old, a £13.5m signing from Lyon in 2007, had been close to rejoining the French club on a free transfer and had held talks with Santos in Brazil only for the finances involved to scupper any potential deal.
The club’s hierarchy have now argued that the player’s clear desire to leave makes it inappropriate for him to be in and around the senior set-up, though Malouda has been granted a place in Chelsea’s 25-man Premier League squad place, if only because the likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar do not have to be registered as they are included on the under-21 list.
Malouda, who has made 229 appearances for Chelsea scoring 45 goals, will not play any part in the defence of the Champions League at the group stage having been excluded from Roberto Di Matteo’s 22-man senior party.
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Leeds fans are once again bashing owner Andrea Radrizzani, after the Italian defended the club’s post-season trip to Myanmar.
There have been some pretty odd decisions at Elland Road this season.
Signing an injured youngster (Tyler Roberts) to solve the side’s goalscoring woes in January was pretty bizarre, while the signing of Yosuke Ideguchi seems strange even by Leeds’ transfer standards.
If the total collapse in the second half of the season and the arrival of the uninspiring Paul Heckingbottom wasn’t enough to infuriate fans, the club announced recently they would travel to Myanmar on a post-season trip.
The decision was met with plenty of criticism, as the country is currently the subject of social and political unrest, and the club were bashed for promoting a government accused of ethnic cleansing.
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Andrea Radrizzani had originally defended the trip by claiming the club would receive no money but were just there to spread joy to the people of Myanmar, and his latest quotes are drawing plenty of criticism too.
Radrizzani told the BBC: “We’re just coming here to play football with our friends from the local football federation.
“We are not against any government, we are not discriminating (against) anyone, we are against violence and we’re just playing football and bringing joy to the people. We are not making any money out of this game.”
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The Leeds owner also said they are working with the Myanmar FA to create project “on the football pitch as well as the media”, and fans are bashing the businessman for his comments.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
One of the main transfer sagas this summer has been Liverpool’s public pursuit of Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, with no-one currently truly sure of whom the Belgian will be lining up for next season.
Tim Sherwood’s Villa are holding out for the £32.5m release fee in the player’s contract to be met, but the Reds are determined to get their main target on a much cheaper deal.
Benteke has been the main man at Villa for several seasons now, his goals and overall physical presence are the sole reason they have survived relegation battle after relegation battle. Since his £7m move from Genk in 2012, the striker has scored an impressive 42 league goals in 82 games – a decent record for a player who spent most of his time working under the most defensive manager in football, Paul Lambert.
Should Benteke leave there will be a massive hole that needs filling and Villa face a very difficult task finding someone who can contribute to the side the way he has, but is also interested in joining a club who will most likely be involved in another relegation battle.
However there is one man who is standing out as the perfect replacement… Step forward Blackburn Rovers striker, Rudy Gestede.
Although the player has not actually been targeted by the Villains as of yet, he is being heavily linked to a Premier League move with the likes of Swansea, Norwich and Watford all interested in Benin international.
And Tim Sherwood would be mad not to get involved in the chase.
The 26-year-old has impressed at Blackburn, scoring 34 goals in 65 appearances for the club, and would certainly be interested in a move to the top flight.
The player would be suited to top flight football. When his side faced Liverpool in the FA Cup, Gestede was a complete nightmare all game for his opposing defenders and was one of the best players on the pitch.
He would reportedly be available for around £6m this summer, offering a cheap alternative to the likes of Charlie Austin – whom QPR are demanding a vast fee for.
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The cheap sum would prove very beneficial, allowing extra funds to spent on other areas of the team, including the centre of midfield and defence.
The striker possesses similar characteristics to Benteke with his aerial ability and keen eye for goal the real strong points of his game. He would fit right into the tactics Villa currently use, allowing the side to continue to play direct football up to Gestede for him to bring other players into the game or carve out chances for himself.
Whoever steps into the void, the club will have a difficult task ahead of them. But Rudy Gestede certainly has all the necessary skills and, at a fraction of Benteke’s price, certainly offers a value option.
It has been another week to forget for us city fans with the administrator finally coming to a decision over the future of Coventry City Ltd.
The decision as with everything else related to the Skyblues was put back a week to make us fans suffer just that little bit more. This delay allowed ACL the time to attempt to give themselves some good publicity. Initially their announcement which suggested that the Skyblues could play at the Ricoh for free was met with appreciation from many fans but it very quickly became apparent that this was an empty statement which actually had no meaning behind it whatsoever.
Within the statement was an admission that this offer was only on the table for as long as the club was in administration. Administration was never going to last until the start of the season so in actual fact there was never any chance of this offered deal ever actually coming to fruition.
ACL weren’t finished there though as they threw their hats into the ring with a late bid for Coventry City Ltd stating the fans had of Coventry City had suffered enough. Again though it became apparent this was never a serious bid and once again was an attempt to get fans on their side. These stunts were not necessary as every city fan alive now has nothing but a feeling of contempt for SISU and nothing will now ever change this.
ACL have made moves which make me worry about them not just as a business but as a potential partner to the football club. It is obvious the council have heavy influence especially since they bailed ACL out and this to me is a huge concern. Recent publicity stunts have politicians written all over them and for me politics has no place in football.
ACL being a partner to the football club though is the least of our worries after what can only be described as a decision which could well be catastrophic to the clubs future.
The Administrator named Otium a SISU related company as preferred bidders for CCFC Ltd effectively handing complete control back to SISU who I now feel actually never lost control not even for a second.
From the start when ACL threatened Administration it seems like SISU had a plan. Their decision to appoint their own administrator is where this fight was won for them. From this moment they had a man who they had chosen making all of the important decisions on the future of the club.
The question is whether or not to believe that Paul Appleton acted completely independently or whether he had influence from powers above i.e. SISU. Obviously the latter accusation is a serious one but if you look closely at the situation it is a feasible accusation.
Obviously as already mentioned SISU appointed the administrator which with SISU’s prior reputation already makes you ask questions. Secondly because of the clubs structure the administrator was able to stay very much out of the limelight and at times almost hid behind this with us fans having to wait weeks before we heard from him.
We did however hear from holdings and fisher on numerous occasions and we were all asking the questions of why they were still making statements on behalf of the club. We convinced ourselves that the administrator had no control over this and maybe he didn’t but to me SISU seemed too confident throughout of keeping hold of the club as a whole.
Finally and possibly the most convincing argument is that of the justification behind the administrators decision. He justifies the decision by suggesting that Otium’s (SISU’s) bid “was the bid which gave the greatest return to the unsecured, non-connected creditors of CCFC Limited by a considerable margin”. This is all well and good and is one of the main purposes of an administrator but Ii is not the sole purpose. An administrator’s job is to leave the company in a better more sustainable state than which he receives it in.
With Coventry City this is clearly not the case. When weighing up all of the mitigating factors including the club moving out of Coventry, ground sharing for 3 years, building a new stadium, the costs involved, fans threatening to boycott, sponsors pulling out, lack of any income, fair play rules limiting the playing squad, potential for relegation and this list only touches the surface as it could truly go on and on.
How when the administrator looked at these facts he came to the decision that SISU were the best thing for this club and this business in both the long and the short term is beyond me. Administration genuinely has to be immediately on the cards once we exit it in the next couple of weeks which is baffling to say the least.
I am yet to mention the football league and if I’m being honest I don’t know why I am bothering because they seem to bring nothing to this whole situation other than that we have found out that they don’t care about the football fans in this country which keep them in business.
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Our feelings and opinions have been ignored for long enough and it is time for Coventry fans to show our strength in numbers. What is happening to our club right now should not be allowed to happen and I fear we are heading now towards the Wimbledon situation of a few years ago. Wimbledon fans took the extreme option to make sure they had a club which was theirs and that they could be proud of. I commend them for this and honestly right now I would not be against that happening to us.
There does though remain the smallest glimmer of hope for the club as we know it with Preston Haskell being confirmed that he is yet to give up the fight for both the Ricoh and the club. Our club could yet be saved but I believe there is more chance of the club going under and I like many others have almost reached the point of giving up.
Manchester United’s Premier League defensive record is almost identical to that of champions and local rivals Manchester City – the red half have conceded just one more goal (27) than the blue half – so the back four might not be the obvious place to look when examining where Jose Mourinho needs to improve in order to catch Pep Guardiola’s men next season.
However, it is clear to see that the United backline isn’t fit for purpose; it still contains too many players who were at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson and the Reds have to play too conservatively to protect it.
That means that attention has turned to who can be brought in and one name that has been banded around is that of Toby Alderweireld.
The man valued at £36m by Transfermarkt is clearly not in Mauricio Pochettino’s good books and that’s why we asked you whether United should take advantage of that and swoop.
The response was overwhelming, as 83 per cent of you said that Mourinho should make a bid. Take a look at the full results below…
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This evening’s UEFA Champions League final is shaping up to be one for the ages. La Liga giants Barcelona will go up against Italian underdogs Juventus, who shockingly ousted Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
The two teams last met in the 2002-03 Champions League quarter-final, where Juventus won 3-2 on aggregate against a Barca side captained by current manager Luis Enrique.
Gianluigi Buffon was also playing in goal for The Old Lady that day, so needless to say Enrique will be looking for his side to carry out some vengeance against the Italian keeper.
This weekend’s final will match up one of Europe’s best offensive sides with one of the top defenses. Both Enrique and Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri are seeking the title in their first seasons with their respective clubs. The match is an opportunity for Barcelona to seal their reputation as the most formidable attackers in football, but also for Juventus to rock the Spanish boat with a strong defensive showing.
With so much to prove for both sides, here’s five things to watch for in the Champions League Final…
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A guaranteed treble
Both Barcelona and Juventus would complete the rare treble with a win on Saturday, having each won their respective League and Cup titles.
It would be the first treble for the Italians, and second for the Spanish club. No other team in history has ever achieved the treble twice.
No matter the result, history is in the making this year; it just depends who will put the icing on the cake.
More records for Messi?
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has gone his whole career being compared to Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The two are currently tied for the most Champions League goals in history with 77 apiece.
A goal Saturday would push Messi to the top spot as well as make him the only player to have scored in three Champions League finals.
A missing piece for Juventus
You might hear a strange noise during the match: the growling of Luis Suarez’s stomach.
Juve star defender Giorgio Chiellini, whom Suarez famously bit during the 2014 World Cup, will sit out with a calf injury.
Andrea Barzagli will line up in place of Chiellini, but it will be his first return to competition since May 23 after being sidelined for muscular problems.
Sharing is caring for Barcelona
Messi isn’t the only problem The Old Lady has to worry about. Barca have developed a deadly three-pronged attack this season through the combination of Messi, Suarez and Neymar.
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The trio have accounted for 25 of Barcelona’s 28 Champions League goals. They don’t do it all on their own, however.
Eleven players on Enrique’s squad have contributed at least one assist this year, a nod to the team’s incredible work distribution.
Pogba on the prowl
Football – Singapore Selection v Juventus – National Stadium, Singapore Sports Hub, Singapore – 14/15 – 16/8/14Paul Pogba – JuventusMandatory Credit: Action Images / Jeremy LeeEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Though often talked about as a defence-oriented team, Juventus have plenty offensive weapons of their own.
Among talents like Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez, midfielder Paul Pogba has emerged as the side’s key attacker.
The French youngster has already notched one goal and three assists in Juventus’ Champions League run, but his main strengths lie in the dribbling and long-range shooting which see him have an impact from pretty much anywhere on the pitch.
Richard Dunne could stay at Aston Villa despite him missing the entire season because of a groin injury, according to Paul Lambert.
The Villa chief was expected to free up some space on the Villa Park wage bill this summer when the 33-year-old Republic of Ireland international central defender’s current deal expires at the end of June.
However, despite being unable to call upon Dunne’s services all season because of the injury he picked up last summer, Lambert insisted that ‘the door is not closed’ on the player staying at the club.
On the prospect of Dunne, who is training with the academy youngsters and is unlikely to be fit for Ireland’s summer internationals, being offered a new deal, Lambert told the Birmingham Mail: “I haven’t spoken to him at all about that.
“I need to see how his fitness is. He’s doing really fine at the moment, training with the kids.
“He’s not played for nearly a year so to ask the lad to go and play for his country this summer is too much. He’s got to be comfortable with himself with the injury. The most important thing for me is that he can keep playing.
“He’s a top international player, who has just been unfortunate this injury has been an absolute nightmare for us.
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“Once I know he’ll be all right we can look at it. The door is not closed, not at all.”
Newcastle fans have been reacting to a report that claims Mohamed Salah nearly signed for the Magpies in 2011.Tuesday night at Anfield was remarkable for a number of reasons. The atmosphere was deafening, Liverpool placed themselves firmly back amongst Europe’s elite, and the Reds’ rampant attack ran riot once again.Above all else though, Mohamed Salah showed for the one hundredth time this season that he is quite simply unplayable.The former Chelsea man added two more wonderful goals to his tally, now 43 for the season, but what could have been if the electric Egyptian had moved to Tyneside?According to a report in the Chronicle, Salah was all set to join Alan Pardew’s Newcastle when he was just 18.[ad_pod ]The 18 year-old Salah was still playing for Egyptian side El Mokawloon, but had been noticed by Newcastle’s scouts and even described the move himself as a dream move.“Newcastle will soon make an official offer to sign me for one season. I don’t think Contractors will refuse to let me play in the English Premier League,†said young Salah.“It’s a dream for any player to play in one of the strongest league competitions in the world.â€The deal was a loan with a view to buy, and is thought to have collapsed due to Newcastle’s refusal to pay a loan fee of about £500,000.The speedy winger eventually joined Swiss side Basel instead, and the rest is history.Newcastle fans are a pessimistic bunch when it comes to transfers, especially when it’s related to Alan Pardew, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…