Tottenham Hotspur misfit Giovani Dos Santos could finally be on his way out of White Hart Lane this winter with Spanish side Real Zaragoza declaring an interest.
The diminutive Mexican midfielder moved to Spurs from Barcelona in 2008 but never lived up to his potential and quickly fell out of favour with fans and managers alike. During his time at Spurs, Dos Santos went on loan to Ipswich where he scored four goals in eight games which was followed by another loan move to Turkish side Galatasaray.
As a result of a successful World Cup campaign with Mexico, Dos Santos experienced a mini renaissance at Spurs by playing in three games in August but he has since fallen out of favour once more at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham are likely to be offloading some fringe players in the coming window with the likes of Robbie Keane, David Bentley and Dos Santos all likely to be moving on.
Real Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre has hinted that he may be interested in a loan move for Dos Santos: “Gio could be a very important part of my plans.”
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Dos Santos has previously been criticised by Harry Redknapp for not concentrating on his football and being easily led astray by London nightlife.
Fulham manager Martin Jol has stated that he is hopeful that star man Clint Dempsey will sign a new contract at the club.
The United States international has been in exemplary goalscoring form this term, and bagged a brace in a 3-0 win over Bolton on Saturday.
Jol has confirmed that Dempsey has been offered a new deal, and that the attacker is appreciated at Craven Cottage.
“I can’t foresee the future. We want to keep him and hopefully he wants to stay. We have offered him a very good contract,” the Dutch coach told Sky Sports.
“He knows he is very appreciated at our club, so hopefully he will stay.
“If we want to be a top side we need players who can score more than 20 goals in all competitions.
“I have always had that – I can remember Luis Suarez scoring 53 goals for me at Ajax.
“He’s not at that level yet but of course it is a different league and for a wide midfield player who can play up front and score that many goals, it is unbelievable,” the trainer concluded.
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Manchester United looks to kickstart their spending this summer with a double deal for Phil Jones and Ashley Young. It is a real signal intent from Sir Alex Ferguson who is looking to build what will arguably be a strong youthful legacy at Old Trafford.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Manchester United blogs that includes why Rooney could hold the transfer cards for Fergie; seven reasons why Young is the right fit at Old Trafford and 3 transfer plan B’s for Ferguson.
We also look at the best Manchester United articles around the web this week.
*
Caption Competition: Carroll and Rooney provide a snap for the album
Get into Barcelona’s team…perhaps only Rooney at present
Wayne Rooney could hold the key to Fergie’s transfer call
Sir Alex’s top TEN transfer faux pas’
3 Spanish Plan B’s for Fergie should transfers fail to materialise
SEVEN reasons why he is the ideal signing for Manchester United
Club v Player – where does the true loyalty with transfers lie?
Henderson vs. Jones – which move makes the most sense?
Lightning set to strike twice on the transfer front for Manchester United?
Real reject Manchester United approach for Özil
*Best of WEB*
Review of the season: the comic – United Rant
Solving The Macheda Conundrum – The Busby Way
The Phil Jones Hype Needs To Stop – Red Flag Flying High
Tom Has Spoken Quite Cleverley About His Future At United – The United Religion
The complete Man United Premier League season review by numbers – The Stretty Rant
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Click on Wayne Bridge’s lady below to unveil our WAG XI of the season
Mark Schwarzer’s performance against Newcastle on Saturday was a show of goalkeeping skill. Schwarzer has been a model professional for Fulham this season, even though his heart clearly is with joining Arsenal. It would have been easy for the Australian to sulk and let his form drop, but he knows he must maintain his standards if he is going to get the move he desires. Mark Schwarzer has proven he is good enough, Fulham will sell, it is now up to Arsene Wenger to pull out the stops in January and sign the goalkeeper.
Mark Schwarzer wants to join Arsenal. It is no disrespect to Fulham, but at this stage of his carrer, the goalkeeper feels he needs one shot at one of the top English clubs. Talking to Sky Sports in early October, Schwarzer insists he is still keen on moving to the Emirates.
”It was probably one of my hardest periods ever,” Schwarzer said. “This is the only time in my career I have ever tried to force an issue.”
”I don’t have time on my side. If you were a 30-year-old you would walk away and say ‘fair enough, I understand’. “But I’m almost 38 and I want to fulfil an ambition. The sheer opportunity that was there ..”
”That was very flattering, but sometimes you’ve just got to grin and bear it and just get on with normal life again as much as possible.”
”You just have to get your head down and work as hard as possible.”
You have to admire the goalkeeper’s attitude. His attitude must impress Arsene Wenger. His goalkeepers this season at times have shown why Wenger has placed so much faith in them. Manuel Almunia’s performance against Blackburn was brilliant whilst Lukasz Fabianksi was terrific against Manchester City. They have shown glimpses that they can be the goalkeeper Arsenal need but too many times that have let Arsenal, Wenger and themselves down. If Arsenal are to captatlise on the mistakes of Chelsea and Manchester United this season, they need to bring in a top class goalakeeper. Mark Schwarzer fits the bill perfectly. He is a terrific shot stopper, a big game player as well as a fine communicator. He has everything needed to succeed at Arsenal for the limited time he would be there for.
The question that still lingers is, do Arsenal need a new goalkeeper. What they they need is someone of Schwarzer’s experience and class. Not only on the playing field, but since the departure of Jens Lehmann, Arsenal haven’t had a top goalkeeper to pass on knowledge the youngsters. Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczęsny ( I do not envy Arsenal’s stadium announcer) would benefit so much from him on the training ground. Arsenal may not get substantial years out of the Australian stopper but his influence on the young goalkeepers at the club could be priceless.
Its time for Wenger to buy a stop gap, that is all Schwarzer would be. That is no disrespect to the goalkeeper, just his age will control this. The reported figure Wenger offered Fulham seems a fair one, but Wenger may have to pay a little over what he would want to if he is to get his man. His age does raise a few question marks, but the impact that Schwarzer could have on Arsenal, again could be priceless. His experience will be key, something Arsenal will need if they are to challenge in the later part of the season.
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It is pleasing and somewhat rare that I can say Ipswich deserved their 3-2 win against bottom of the table Doncaster at the Keepmoat.
There were a few team changes made for the last game of the season. The main news was that Tommy Smith was given a chance to show his potential at left back, Ibrahima Sonko played his last game for the club and Lee Martin was playing in a forward position just behind Michael Chopra.
Out of contract midfielder Grant Leadbitter was taken out of the squad along with Lee Bowyer which adds to speculation that Leadbitter won’t be staying at the club. Youngsters Josh Carson, Joe Whight and Byron Lawrence were all included on the bench but only Lawrence got any game time, the 16 year old became Ipswich’s second-youngest player ever when he replaced Jay Emmanuel-Thomas for the last 10 minutes.
Many would be expecting this game to be a fairly dull fixture given both teams only have pride to play for but there was a bright start to the game with both forward lines looking dangerous. After James Coppinger shot wide for Doncaster early on, Lee Martin got a shot into Gary Wood’s right hand side making the Rovers ‘keeper produce a decent save. Ipswich were the better team in these early stages and won 5 corners in the first 10 minutes of the game. Doncaster’s were punished for conceding so many corners with Town’s fifth corner, Lee Martin found Tommy Smith unmarked in the box and the young defender hit home the opener. A sixth Ipswich corner came a few minutes later and Daryl Murphy hit the bar with a header after another cross from Lee Martin.
Doncaster did have a good chance to equalise a few minutes later but James Hayter wasted this by diverting a shot over the bar from six yards. Ryan Stevenson punished Doncaster for not taking their chances again in the 29 minute by hitting a stunning shot off the underside of the bar and into the back of the net. Fabien Robert pulled one back for Doncaster when he found himself unmarked in the Town box and met a cross from Simon Gillett to make it 2-1.
Paul Jewell said he believes his team were “cruising at 2-0” and was angry that the Ipswich team allowed Doncaster to get back into the game, especially in the manner that they conceded the goal.
The second half of the game was more like an end of the season fixture between two sides who didn’t have anything to play for. The remaining two goals in the game came on the 79th minute when Jason Scotland won a penalty and picked himself up to score it. In injury time Doncaster pulled another back when the Town defence failed to clear a freekick, Habib Beye putting it past Arran Lee-Barrett.
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This final result was never going to matter too much to either team and the performances were always going to be the main focus. Without a doubt Ipswich could have won this game 4-0 if they had kept their concentration up and Paul Jewell was angry that the team could not finish Doncaster off in the first half.
It was disappointing to see Ipswich concede two goals to the worst team in the division and once the team had a two goal lead it was really evident that they started to suffer from their over confidence. The game showed that this Ipswich team have a lot to improve on in terms of their mentality if they want to make a break for promotion next season. Jewell has made it clear that he isn’t happy with a lot of the players’ attitudes at the moment and hopefully he won’t stand for any complacency like what we saw against Doncaster.
Liverpool have completed the signing of midfielder Jordan Henderson from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee on Thursday.The 20-year-old England international has joined the English Premier League outfit after undergoing a medical and agreeing to terms on Wednesday.
Reports suggest the deal is worth up to 20 million pounds, while Henderson’s contract has been described as a ‘long-term deal’.
“Liverpool Football Club have completed the signing of Jordan Henderson after the 20-year-old passed a medical and agreed personal terms,” a statement on the club’s website said.
“Henderson travelled to Merseyside on Wednesday after a fee was agreed with Sunderland. He then underwent a medical examination in Liverpool before signing a long-term deal.”
“The midfield has now joined the England Under-21 squad in Denmark as they prepare for the European Championships.”
“Henderson’s first game after completing his transfer is likely to be against Spain Under-21s on Sunday.”
Reds striker David N’Gog was rumoured to be part of the deal, but he remains at Anfield for the time being.
Henderson is the first player to join Kenny Dalglish’s ranks in the off-season but adds to the acquisitions of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in January.
He made his way through the Sunderland youth academy and made 79 appearances at the Stadium of Light before leaving, although the club’s chairman Niall Quinn wished him well.
“Jordan is a credit to himself, his family and Sunderland’s Academy and everyone here wishes him the very best for the future,” Quinn said.
“I’m pleased that we got the deal to a level that we felt was right for our club.”
“We know the areas that we need strengthening and the type of player we need in order to progress and the job of bringing those players to the club is continuing at pace.”
Liverpool are also believed to be interested in Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam as Dalglish looks to strengthen his squad.
Unlucky Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs is set for another spell on the sidelines after picking up a medial knee ligament injury in the early stages of Wednesday's Carling Cup victory at Newcastle United.
The left-back had to be substituted after only 18 minutes of the 4-0 win at St James' Park.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger confirmed:"We lost Kieran Gibbs last night. That is the bad news. It is a medial knee ligament strain. It needs to be checked on the scan tomorrow but it will be a few weeks.
"We have nobody else back from Manchester City. (Robin) van Persie and (Thomas) Vermaelen are still out. (Aaron) Ramsey and (Manuel) Almunia are not ready. So it should be a similar squad to the one that played at Man City.
"But van Persie and Ramsey are very close to coming back to full training now. They should be back in the group at the end of next week.
"Of course we should not set the same (recovery) time to Ramsey as Van Persie. Aaron will need a longer period to be completely match-fit for the first team. But van Persie is not far away now.
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"Manuel Almunia is maybe one to two weeks away. With Vermaelen, it is difficult to set a fixed time because his Achilles improves slowly."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Russia striker Artem Dzyuba scored a penalty for Russia during normal time of their last 16 win against Spain at the 2018 World Cup on Sunday, and he looks to be the man that Southampton need to sign this summer.
The Zenit Saint Petersburg centre-forward, rated at £6.3, by Transfermarkt, started the tournament on the substitutes’ bench, but an impressive cameo from there in the 5-0 win against Saudi Arabia means that he has become something of a regular in the XI since then, and he has cause plenty of problems with his physical 6ft 5in frame.
Meanwhile, Saints boss Mark Hughes, who some fans believe is about to offload a £10.8m man, looks likely to be in the market for a new striker this summer in order to help a side that netted just 37 times in their 38 Premier League matches last term, and he may well be a replacement for club-record buy Guido Carrillo.
The south coast outfit only brought the Argentine to St Mary’s in January, but he failed to make most of the matchday squads under Hughes during the 2017/18 run-in, and he has been left out of their pre-season tour to China.
The Welsh manager may well have been impressed with Dzyuba’s latest performance, where he scored once from two shots at goal, won a remarkable 13 aerial duels and also showed his defensive work by completing one tackle.
Southampton have certainly suffered without a physical striker since Graziano Pelle left for China in 2016, and replacing him with the Zenit star two years later would prove to be an inspired decision.
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[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257647″ player=”12034″ title=”Three reasons we love to hate… Brazil and Argentina”]
As reported by The Mirror, Manchester United are set to cash in on Daley Blind this summer despite recently extending his contract by another year.
What’s the story?
Blind has struggled to find regular first team football at United this season, either because he wasn’t in Jose Mourinho’s plans or more recently because of an ankle injury.
The Red Devils though chose to take up the option of a year’s extension on his current contract.
The Mirror report however that the extension was only so they could recoup some of the £14m fee spent on him when he joined in 2014 and will listen to offers for him when the transfer window opens this summer.
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Will they miss him?
It’s clear that Mourinho doesn’t need Blind to achieve his aims at United and while he’s proven to be a useful squad player this season, he’s only made five Premier League appearances.
Unlikely then that they’ll miss him too much but at 27 years of age, he has plenty to offer other Premier League sides or even top continental clubs.
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Rated at £18m by Transfermarkt, he would be a bargain in today’s inflated market. With 139 appearances for United and 143 more for Ajax, he has extensive experience of both domestic and European football.
His hard working displays have won plaudits from supporters and his ability to carry the ball from defence into midfield and deliver dangerous crosses would benefit many clubs, as would his versatility to play a number of positions.
After being heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford all summer, Angel di Maria is finally a Manchester United player.
United fans are already boasting that they’ve signed one of the world’s best players, and they aren’t wrong.
Di Maria had 17 assists in La Liga last season, more than any other player in Europe’s top leagues. He can score, create, and dribble past opponents with ease… but at £59.7million, is he worth it?
Will Di Maria be similar to Mesut Ozil for Arsenal? The Gunners paid £42million for the German’s services and although acknowledged as a great player, has he really lived up to the hype?
With that in mind, here are SIX REASONS Angel di Maria is a waste of money.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON THE ARGENTINE TO SEE THE FULL LIST!
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He doesn’t fit Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 system
All the talk during Manchester United’s pre-season was the Dutch manager’s intent on playing the successful 3-5-2 system that resulted in the Netherlands making it to the World Cup semi-finals.
And although United’s first two league games didn’t go as planned, it is very likely Van Gaal will stick with the formation for the time being.
This brings into question how the coaching staff will utilize Angel di Maria, who (as a winger) is too attack minded of a player to play wing-back. At Real Madrid he was deployed as a central midfielder to great effect, but Real had the composure and tenacity of Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric behind him.
If he does play in the middle with two other central midfielders supporting him, then there will be a problem for…
Juan Mata may be forced out to accommodate Di Maria
Juan Mata was United’s record signing just seven months ago, but may now be facing competition from one of the world’s best attacking players in Di Maria.
If Van Gaal is looking to stick with two strikers, then it would be impossible to accommodate Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Juan Mata, and Angel di Maria in the same front line. Unless Di Maria plays wing-back (decreasing his effectiveness), the player most likely to be dropped is the £37.1million Spaniard.
And rationally speaking if Mata is the one cut, then the Red Devils may not be wasting Di Maria’s £59.7million fee, but the former Chelsea star’s £37.1million instead.
If Mata isn’t dropped, then someone else will be
It has been reported recently that Louis van Gaal could change his formation to accommodate his new signing.
The best other option is to go with a 4-2-3-1, with Di Maria on one of the flanks and Mata sitting ‘in the hole’ behind a striker. But who will that striker be?
With Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, Van Gaal has at his disposal two world class strikers that are too talented to be on the bench.
One of them will have to make way to full make use of Di Maria’s abilities, or the United boss can revert to a solution both David Moyes and Alex Ferguson used in the past without much success…
To use all four stars, Rooney must play midfield… again
Wayne Rooney is undoubtedly one of the most gifted and passionate footballers on the planet.
He is willing to play anywhere for his team, but his performances and statistics show that the England captain is most effective when deployed as a striker.
Not only does he produce more, but it is quite easily recognizable when Rooney is unsatisfied playing further down the pitch.
The team-sheet would be one of the scariest on paper, but without a strong spine to support this attacking line-up it will just end in further disappointment for United fans.
Di Maria is not the player United need
What is going on in the Manchester United boardroom is bewildering.
They’ve known since February that club captain and defensive stalwart Nemanja Vidic was heading to Inter Milan, and that they would not be renewing long-serving veteran Rio Ferdinand.
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They also realized that Marouane Fellaini wasn’t the answer to their struggling midfield, as well as having a whole season to see that Tom Cleverley and Anderson were way below par for United’s standards.
While they did fill the vacancy left by Patrice Evra with Luke Shaw and partly fixed their midfield deficiency with Ander Herrera, they have not managed to purchase a world class defender and an all action defensive midfielder.
Basically there are so many options better than signing a winger/attacking midfielder, which happen to be cheaper on the market.
There were cheaper/better options than Di Maria
Angel di Maria for £59.7million tore the British transfer record, held by (you’ve guessed it) Fernando Torres for £50million.
Manchester United have quite frankly overspent on players all summer. Luke Shaw was a £30million buy from Southampton… £30million! Chelsea paid only £2million more for Diego Costa, who has already scored two goals in two games… while Luke Shaw is struggling with fitness at his new club.
Even with less than £30million, Bayern Munich bought one of the best defenders in the world in Mehdi Benatia (also targeted by Man United) from Roma… for £24million.
Players that would be perfect for United are moving all over Europe at lower costs, but instead they spend a massive sum on a player they do not need.
Di Maria would definitely make them a better team, but unless Van Gaal can integrate him effectively, it won’t be enough to even challenge for fourth.