Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is valued at £200 million by club according to the temperamental forward’s agent.
The talented but troubled forward featured for Italy at Euro 2012, and although he scored a brace against Germany to send the Azzurri through to the final, was a bit-part figure in a 4-0 defeat to Spain on Sunday
After a number of acts of ill-discipline and bust-ups with Roberto Mancini and other Manchester City players Balotelli has been linked with a move back to his homeland this summer.
However, agent Mino Raiola has stated that City are desperate to keep the striker and should he move the fee demanded would be a new world record.
“Mario Balotelli is worth £200m,” the representative is quoted as saying in The Sun.
“He plays for a club side, Manchester City, that does not need money.
“Right now, I think he is priceless. I have always said Mario has the potential to be one of the best players in the world and right now he’s among the best in Europe.
“If I had to pick a price-tag, I’d say Balotelli is worth £200m. Think I’m crazy? Just ask the Manchester City owners,” he concluded.
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Both The Guardian and The Daily Mirror are reporting that Liverpool’s Joe Cole is a loan target for QPR.
Cole’s has endured a miserable time on Merseyside since his arrival last year, when he was deemed transfer coup of the summer, arriving for free. However his continued loss of form and injury woes hampered his Anfield career, leading him to make only nine Premier League starts in the whole season, featuring far less post-Christmas under new manager Kenny Dalglish.
QPR manager Neil Warnock is a known admirer of the 29-year old former England international and, having already signed Jay Bothroyd and KieronDyer on free transfers this summer, capturing Cole in a loan deal would represent very good business for the London club.
A major stumbling block on any loan deal will be Cole’s wages, with the former Chelsea man thought to be collecting around £90,000 a-week – something which Liverpool are keen to remove off their wage bill. If QPR are to take Cole on loan, Liverpool would be reluctant to continue paying the majority of his huge wage, so a compromise would have to be found. But QPR, as Premier League new boys, may be unable to meet such demands.
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Cole’s former club West Ham United are also said to be interested in bringing him back to where he made his name, however the prospect of remaining in the top flight may sway him in favour of QPR, whilst Tottenham also wait in the wings.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has warned his players that they will fall out of the title race unless they start picking up vital away points.
Tottenham are just eight points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United and are on course to finish in the top four for a second consecutive season.
But much of their good work has been done at White Hart Lane, where they have not lost since August.
And with six of his side’s next seven games coming away from north London, Redknapp knows the importance of taking that home form onto the road.
“We have to hang in there now with these away games,” Redknapp said ahead of his side’s trip to Newcastle on Saturday.
“We need to pick up points away from home or we will find ourselves dropping off the pack. If we can get through the away games we’ve got a good chance.”
“There are no easy games though. Wherever you go whether it’s Newcastle or Blackburn they’re all tough. You have to go away from home and make sure you play well and pick up a positive result.”
“Newcastle are doing well, Alan Pardew has picked them up again. Chris Hughton did a good job and Alan has got them going.”
“They’ve got some competitors there – a few players who know how to win.”
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New signing Stephen Pienaar will go straight into the squad for the match, having signed from Everton during the week.
And with left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto struggling with a knee injury, the South African midfielder could start on the left of midfield, with Gareth Bale dropping into defence.
Central midfielder Wilson Palacios is also doubtful after picking up a knee injury in training.
Manchester City’s Samir Nasri has been criticised following his bust-up with a French journalist on Saturday night.
After France’s elimination from Euro 2012 at the hands of Spain, the attacking midfielder was involved in a spat with a journalist who criticised his performance.
The playmaker’s international future now hangs in the balance, and Laurent Blanc has questioned Nasri’s behaviour.
“I did talk to Nasri about his conduct with the press, but evidently the message didn’t get through. It is not very good for Nasri’s image and neither is it for the team’s,” Blanc admitted according to The Telegraph.
“There is, above all, a problem between Nasri and the French media. It is regrettable, but the real problem is with the press.
“The reality is in the words expressed – they are very violent statements. There is a lack of respect there with a journalist, but the journalist doesn’t show a lot of respect either,” he revealed.
French Football Federation president Noel le Graet also slated Nasri for the incident, and has vowed to try and mend the strained relationship between Les Bleus and the press in the nation.
“I will ask the journalist to meet with me, but this is intolerable.
“I understand that there are negative reactions. Samir is on the edge, he wants to do well, but he cannot control his impulses.”
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Nasri celebrated his goal against England by put his finger over his mouth in a silence symbol, targeting journalist that had criticised him and the team ahead of the tournament.
It’s been a busy summer at Newcastle so far and there’s sure to be plenty more activity still to come. The likes of Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux and Demba Ba have all been signed, while it looks like Wayne Routledge, Jose Enrique and a couple of others may be on their way out. So when Alan Pardew’s men returned for pre-season last week, there were a few unfamiliar faces and some that might not be seen in Newcastle for too much longer.
Here are Shola Ameobi and co. enjoying (if that’s the right word) an ice bath after a pre-season training session, but which players are out in the cold at St James’ Park and can you come up with a funny caption for this picture?
Leave your suggestions below…
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For the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here
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Check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.
Last week’s winner: Kybosh – click here to see all entries
Upon completing his somewhat surprise move to Man City last January from Middlesbrough, I wrote an article on the site expressing my concerns about the move, as I felt it had the potential to stifle one of the country’s finest young talents, in terms of his development and ability to secure guaranteed first-team football.
Now let me explain myself here, Adam Johnson has caught the eye with some barnstorming performances for City over the past 18 months, but it’s hard to say that he’s nailed down a spot yet. I contested that I thought a move to a club of City’s stature was always on the cards for Johnson in the future, but that he may have missed out a crucial step in his career and may have run a rung or two up the ladder a bit too quickly.
Johnson has been involved in 20 of City’s 22 league games this season, not a bad return for a budding 23 year old, but he has started just 7 of these, come off in 3 of them, and made 13 appearances from the bench. This relative lack of action could be to the detriment of Johnson’s career, for he is at a crucial stage in his development and were he at a smaller club he’d be playing week in week out such is his mercurial talent.
There have been questions raised in the media over his attitude and work ethic in training and that Mancini expected him to be further along in his development by now, which was why I argued that Johnson’s career would have been best served at a smaller Premiership outfit first before a big move to a club like City.
He may also have fallen foul to two other aspects – competition for places and Mancini’s selection policy.
Competition for places for a club as rich as City looking to challenge in a short space of time is quite understandably rife. Johnson has to contend for a spot in the starting eleven with the likes of David Silva, James Milner and Mario Balotelli and to a lesser extent Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong.
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This all brings me to my next point – Mancini’s selection policy. Mancini has a penchant for playing with 3 recognised defensive midfielders no matter the opposition. The side is very narrow and although Yaya Toure has been pushed further forward into a more unfamiliar attacking midfield role during his time at City thus far, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong are mainstays in the side behind him.
That leaves space for only 3 other players further forward, and with their main man Carlos Tevez taking up one, David Silva the other, Johnson seems to be in a straight fight for a starting place with both Mario Balotelli and James Milner for the one remaining spot, a fight Johnson doesn’t look like winning anytime soon. The arrival of Edin Dzeko is sure to complicate things even further for Johnson.
To force his way through, Johnson could do no more in an attacking aspect than he already has done, but it’s in his work off the ball where he can look to improve. Joe Cole, while at Chelsea under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho was once a peripheral figure until he realised that he had to do as much without the ball as with it to earn a regular place in the starting line-up.
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Cole has since sadly regressed back into the fancy flick player incapable of keeping possession for long spells during the end of his time at Chelsea and his unsuccessful spell at Liverpool so far, but for a couple of seasons at Chelsea he became a winger of genuine class, combining guile with work rate and he reaped the benefits by becoming one of the first names on the team sheet for both club and country. Johnson should look to follow Cole’s model at Chelsea, for a manager of Mancini’s ilk is inherently cautious and defensive by nature, and if Johnson can start contributing in other areas of the pitch, his inclusion in the starting eleven will feel less of a risk and more of a bonus to the Italian.
He too has the role model at the club in the form of James Milner, a player who has carved out a career for himself not based on speed of thought or movement but by endeavour and commitment. I’d argue that had Johnson had to ply his trade at one of the Premiership’s lesser lights first, before a move to City came about, he’d have learned these valuable lessons a lot sooner, and until he learns that team shape and your defensive duties are just as important in the modern game as a fancy flick or a dangerous cross, then he’ll only hold himself back and that I’m afraid gives Mancini little choice to do other than that he is currently doing with respect to Johnson.
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West Ham are set to make a summer move for former player Joe Cole, according to The Daily Mail.
The attacking midfielder spent the season on loan at Ligue 1 side Lille after finding opportunities at Liverpool limited, and as yet there has been no inclination over where Cole will play his football next term.
The French side are keen to keep the playmaker but cannot afford his £90,000-per-week wages, whilst the former England international will have to wait and talk to the Reds’ new boss before finding out whether he has a chance of playing at Anfield.
West Ham are ready to launch an ambitious transfer bid for Cole, with the main stumbling block being the player’s wages.
The Hammers are also thought to be keen on Nigel Reo-Coker and Kieran Richardson, as they look to strengthen their squad after gaining promotion to the Premier League through the Championship playoffs on Saturday.
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Former France international Patrick Vieira has announced his retirement to take up a development role with Manchester City.The 35-year-old, who was listed for a free transfer after City opted against renewing his contract last month, has been named the club’s new football development executive.
“This role is a fantastic new challenge for me and I am very grateful to Manchester City for offering me this opportunity,” Vieira said.
“I have a lot to learn about the non-playing areas of the business but there are many very experienced people here for me to learn from and I am confident that I can make a significant contribution to the club’s ongoing success.”
“I am particularly pleased to be given the opportunity to work with the club’s community scheme.”
“Everyone at Manchester City – the fans, the staff and the players – have made me and my family feel very welcome here over the past two years.”
“I am very happy to have been given the chance to stay and develop my career away from the pitch.”
Viera retires after more than 400 appearances at club level for the likes of Cannes, Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester City, winning three English Premier League titles and four FA Cups with the Gunners.
He was capped 107 times for France and was part of Les Bleus’ 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 winning campaigns.
“Whilst it is sad to see Patrick’s playing career come to an end, we are delighted that he has chosen to extend his time with Manchester City in this new capacity,” said City’s chief operations officer Brian Marwood.
“Wherever he goes he commands the respect of his audience and we believe he will make an invaluable contribution to our club as we build on our recent successes.”
Arsenal's captain Cesc Fabregas is targeting a return to action in next week's top-of-the-table clash against Manchester United.
The game at Old Trafford takes place on Monday week and Fabregas is hoping to play some part in the crucial match. The midfielder has been sidelined for two weeks after sustaining a hamstring injury in the Gunners' Champions League defeat at Braga.
Arsenal took full advantage of the postponement of United's game at Blackpool on Saturday by beating Fulham 2-1 to send themselves to the top of the league. They will be hoping to stay there but Arsene Wegner's outfit have not enjoyed huge success in Manchester in recent times, having lost four of their last five clashes at the Theatre of Dreams.
Wenger will see the return of Fabregas as being crucial in Arsenal's bid to end this barren spell and the Spaniard has admitted he is targeting a return in this game.
Speaking in The People, he said:"I'm happy to say everything is going according to plan with my rehabilitation.
"We've tried some new treatments and hopefully they can make a difference.
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"My hamstrings are feeling good, and my body feels good and rested.
"The Manchester United game is the target, so hopefully we can make it happen."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Helenio Herrera, the former Inter, Roma and Barcelona manager, said in 1960: “You in England…are playing in the style we continentals used so many years ago with much physical strength, but no method, no technique.” The situation in England may have progressed slightly from the days of ‘kick-and-rush’ that were inspired waterlogged pitches and an inherent macho culture but the sentiment remains largely the same.
Yes, we now possess a number of technically gifted, cultured footballers yet few would deny that there is essentially a large technical gap between ourselves and our continental rivals. So how do we address such a problem?
In 2007 the FA created a course, funded by Tesco, that intended to address this predicament at its source – grassroots youth football. The FA Tesco Skills programme, the brainchild of FA Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking, intends to redesign the way that football is coached at the earliest level. The programme, which now provides coaching for over 3.3 million children nationwide and provides training for both boys and girls between the ages of five and eleven, aims to increase the talent pool available for English football in a number of ways.
“It [the programme] was designed to tap in to that enthusiasm of players under the age of eleven. That was the time in my life when I wanted the opportunity to practice and play football as much as possible and to really try and improve myself,” said Brooking, who had taken time out to talk to FootballFanCast.
“We’re trying to improve young footballers whilst making it enjoyable at the same time. The idea is that the better they get at an earlier age the longer they’ll stay in the game.”
So how exactly does the programme work? The primary focus is on technical development within youth but Brooking also stated that he felt it was imperative that eleven-a-side games were postponed until the age of thirteen.
“We looked at it and thought that once it becomes 11 vs. 11 if you haven’t got the technical skills of first touch and getting the ball under control then it’s really difficult to play the game and the style of football that most people will be watching which is similar to that of Germany, Spain, Barcelona where they pass it neatly, quickly and focus on keeping possession.”
“So, we have to try and make sure that our youngsters develop the skill base to play the sort of football that they’ll be watching otherwise they’ll lose interest if they can’t play anything like the style that is so popular.”
“The other part of it is the rest of the ‘four corner model’ which is physical – the basic movements that perhaps might not be coached in schools, psychological – preparing youngsters for the pressures that football brings and, lastly, social – so skills like team work, selflessness and temperament.”
It’s clear to see the influences of foreign coaching systems on the FA Tesco Skills programme but in Wallsend Boys Club and Senrab FC (who produced the likes of Alan Shearer and John Terry respectively) England already have a model for the successful coaching of young footballers. So, did the FA look at these models when devising a way to augment youth coaching?
“Yes, we did look at them. We started with 5-a-side, then 7-a-side and now we’re trying to focus on 9-a-side. We have a meeting next week, which will hopefully establish that under 12 and 13 year olds play 9-a-side and children progress to 11 vs. 11 when they pass thirteen.”
“Also one of the big challenges with people living all over the country is that there’s no point in playing matches with smaller teams if the pitches aren’t the right size, the goals too. There’s no point us trying to teach youngsters passing football if the pitch sizes are all wrong, what we’ll end up with then is physicality being a major factor because if you play on bigger pitches then bigger children will be better so then everything we’ve been working for will go out the window.”
“The same applies with goalkeepers – the best goalkeepers would just end up being the biggest if the goals were too big and that too is nonsense. So, yes, Senrab in particular is a club we looked closely at when designing the technical side of the programme.”
Despite the clear advantages of this FA initiative (all of the coaches in the programme have, at the very least, their level two coaching badges, the programme is almost entirely subsidised by Tesco, advancement in technical ability of young players) the course is not without its drawbacks.
Firstly, we have to consider whether it is overly simplistic to say that the technical gap between us and the other successful European nations is solely a product of our coaching setup. There is no point in changing the style of our players if we cannot change the mindset of coaches and managers in England. To have technically astute players means little if a manager instructs his team to play in the same direct manner that English teams have employed throughout history. So, that too is something that needs to be addressed.
Another problem is that, whilst the programme aims to reach 4.7 million children by 2014, ideally the system needs to be adopted by schools nationwide and whilst this is a possibility there are doubts as to where the money would come from to provide the necessary equipment such as smaller goals.
Nonetheless, the FA Tesco Skills programme is, undeniably, a step in the right direction. A change in our coaching systems is needed and the only logical way to implement that is from the bottom upwards. The national side may not see the direct benefits for the best part of a decade yet unless we wish to continue to be a team that perpetually falls at the final hurdle schemes like this are the future of English football.
Sir Trevor Brooking also went on to comment on the current English national side. Despite Roy Hodgson winning his first game in charge many fans are still disappointed that Harry Redknapp was not appointed. So, what was it about Hodgson that Brooking, who played a key role in hiring the former West Brom manager, found particularly appealing?
“We thought Roy was really experienced at international level but he also knew the game well over here. Everyone in football will tell you that he’s a really good coach. He spends a lot of time on details, certainly in the first ten days that I’ve seen him. He also has a lot of contact with the players. We’ve had a few overseas coaches recently and I think it will be a different way of working from some of the coaches we’ve had over the last decade. I’m sure he’s going to be a good appointment.”
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With so little time to prepare for the European Championships few know just what this, arguably poor, English side are capable of and Brooking insists that progression to the latter stages of the tournament is not the only way to judge a successful campaign.
“Well, firstly, we all want to see the squad play better and leave the fans feeling better about our actual performances. I think Roy said at the opening press conference that it’s a tough group but he would like to think that we can get out of the group. After that, who knows? We will play the likes of Italy Spain, Croatia or Ireland in the quarters and that will be tough, whoever we end up facing. But, if we come out of that group then we could get a bit of momentum going. I think the good thing is that the expectations are lower. Spain, Germany and Holland are higher up than us so let’s go into this tournament hoping that we can play well and spring a surprise.”
The FA Tesco Skills programme, a revolutionary approach to youth coaching that has provided high quality football skills courses for children aged 5-11, since 2007. www.tescoskills.thefa.com