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Arteta to leave Everton for sunny Spain - surely not?!

Following hot on the heels of their bombshell that Thierry Henry could be jetting off to sign for the new MLS franchise in Seattle The Sun are unfurling a shocking transfer tidbit - apparently Everton’s star midfielder Mikel Arteta has an agent who is a fully paid up member of the ‘my client needs a move so show me the money’ brigade.
Little Micky’s agent Inaki Ibanez opened his mouth and the following oozed out:

“Mikel deserves better. If he was at one of the best four clubs in England or Spain he would be an international.”

Isn’t that just agentspeak for - “get my boy out of here pronto!”?

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El Mac Reveals Spanish Ambition

Whispy haired, umbrella caresser Steve McClaren appears to be, shockingly, lacking any clubs interested in his services. After successfully ruining the England squad you can only accompany his disbelief.

Such is his desperation to get back into management, Stevey Mac has been learning Spanish, in an attempt to make himself more appealing to teams abroad.

I have recently been doing Spanish lessons and getting private tuition and I thought about doing it when I was a club manager.

One of the things that I’ve never had the opportunity to do whilst managing was just to look abroad.

I went to Spain recently and spent a couple of days with Espanyol. Then I spent a day with Barcelona to watch them train and chat with Frank Rijkaard and that was very interesting to see the Spanish way.

Then I went to Holland a couple of weeks ago to watch PSV v Ajax and spent the next day with PSV manager Sef Vergoossen and his coaching staff getting an insight into Dutch football and furthering my own coaching education as well.

I plan on visiting as many of Europe’s major football leagues as possible.

Considering the only thing he’d be known for on the conitnent is getting spanked 4-0 in the UEFA Cup Final and being completely inept at International football, will anyone be willing to let him in their hot seat?

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Real Madrid offer Liverpool the perfect player in Xabi swap deal.

It looks like Spanish superstars Real Madrid are having a hearty sniff around Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso and are offering a player in exchange that couldn’t be more perfect for the Merseysiders if his name was Ian McShankly-Kop. Yep, everybodies favourite player guzzling Castilian monarchs, Real Madrid, are set to wart £8million under the flared nostrils of Liverpool and in a surefire deal clincher are going to throw in midfielder Ruben de la Red as well.
This is a player plus cash deal that is sure to get Rafa’s juices going, as he tried to pry de la Red away from Madrid last summer, but the Spaniards instead opted to flog him to Getafe for £2million with the whopping caveat that they could nab him back this summer for £3.5million. Such are the mendacious and tangled webs that Real weave that they will grab de la Red back from Getafe and then proceed to use him as bait in the Alonso deal.
The Sun, desperate to get the word on the street, interviewed an ‘insider’, and this is what he said:

“It is a case of the club deciding whether to keep De La Red or to try and get Alonso. The Liverpool player is the one they have wanted to sign for a long time.”

De la Red may be a great young midfielder and all that jazz, but all we care about is the prospect of someone playing in a Liverpool shirt with the name “Red” on the back - glorious!

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Agent reveals Real Madrid snub of Kaka

Now this revelation must come back to haunt Real Madrid. Goal.com quotes super agent Wagner Ribeiro saying that the Spanish giants could have signed the best player of the world for just £4 million six years ago.

Ribiero says that Real had the chance to sign Kaka from Sao Paulo in 2002 when the Brazilian ace impressed in his 20 minute spell for a World XI against Real Madrid. But the then Real Madrid president Florentino Perez turned down the offer.

Ribeiro says:

Kaka played 20 minutes for the world selection against Real Madrid and scored a goal. We spoke with Florentino Perez, who said that he wanted Kaka. Two months later, I spoke with Jorge Valdano, who was the manager then and he said that he also would like to sign Kaka, but at that moment they had [Zinedine] Zidane and [Luis] Figo and Kaka would not play. Back then he would have cost £4 million.

Now Kaka’s price is over £4o million. Not that Real cannot afford it, but AC Milan wouldn’t let the player go at any price at all.

Oh, you must know that Real Madrid weren’t the only one to reject Kaka early in his career. A certain Arsene Wenger too failed to notice the player when he paid a visit to Brazil in 1999. At that stage, Kaka would have cost next to nothing!

Barca board back coach Rijkaard

FC Barcelona know one thing very well and that is not to wash their dirty linens in public. Goal.com reports that the club’s Board of directors has ended its meeting this week in a vote of confidence or the club’s coach Frank Rijkaard.

Rijkaard is in his first season at Camp Nou but this season he has had to face severe criticism from section of the media. The Catalan giants are already 9 points off the pace and there is no likelihood that Real Madrid are going to drop 9 points in La Liga in the remainder of the season.

But the Board has decided to stick with the Dutchman until the end of the season at least. Although this must be a relief for the under-speculation Rijkaard, he just cannot afford to rest too much. He has to think about UEFA Champions League football from next month and also has to discover some tactic to march on a winning stride in the league.

Valencia winger hits out at Koeman

Poor old Ronald Koeman, The man whom they affectionately call Tintin in Spain is now trudging on like an out of sorts Captain Haddock. His Valencia side are just above the relegation zone in 11th place in La Liga and if the pressure from the fans and the media alike wasn’t enough, the players too have commenced hinting at their disapproval of the Dutchman.

Goal.com quotes the Valencia winger Joaquin as saying that things have got worse since the arrival of Koeman in early November. He told Marca:

Since the coach joined, the situation has been deteriorating. Sometimes we’ve shown improvement in individual matches, but not so often - that decreases our confidence even more. The squad is working hard, despite the doubts. It’s hard to get out of this situation, but we’re the only one who’ll fix it.” Everything hits us - the dismissal of Quique as well as the controversy that followed. The squad has been affected, and it’s evident that things aren’t going well. It’s a hard situation because they were important players for so long. It was hard, for although we didn’t want to rock the boat and make comments, they were strong squad members and the team didn’t take it too well. I don’t know what I’d have done in that situation… there may have been problems. It’s all very difficult.

Now that players too have started chipping in, apparently targeting their coach, maybe Koeman should now realize that he can no longer control the situation. It would be for the best interest of the club that Koeman resigns. Maybe President Juan Soler should now try and seek the address of Quique Sanchez Flores who was given the sack at 4.23am in late late October. Bring Quique back!

Zidane back to Real Madrid?

Everyone knows about Zinedine Zidane’s contribution to the game of football as a player. Now Zizou wants to return to the game in a different role. But what role would he play now? The great Frenchman himself isn’t sure about his next role in football.

But he is sure that he will play some role in the sport before long. Goal.com reports that Zidane is eager to take up a coaching role at his former club Real Madrid. At the moment, he wouldn’t be drafted at the higher level of the footballing pyramid of course but talks are that Ziane will be asked to coach the kids and young players at the Spanish club.

Zidane told AS:

I want to return to football to help in any way I can be useful and Madrid still feels like my home.

Talks are already underway between Zidane’s agent and Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon and hopefully Zizou will be back in Madrid teaching the kids. Maybe after a few years the French maestro might just move into senior side management.

Mourinho to be the new Valencia coach?

Goal.com reports that Jose Mourinho could be on his way to Valencia. The current coach of the beleaguered Spanish club, Ronald Koeman, is under tremendous pressure after sinking the ship since he took over way back in November and there is a massive chance that club ppresident Juan Soler could sack the Dutchman and appoint the Portuguese in his place.

The former Chelsea manager was already approached prior to Soler appointing Koeman as the coach of Valencia but the Special One refused since at the time he was expecting a better and more high profile job, speculated to be the AC Milan job. Since then Valencia have gone downhill and are currently closer to the relegation zone than to UEFA Champions League places.

But now speculation has once again flared up pertaining to the Jose Mourinho-Valencia affair. It has been reported that should Mourinho accept the Valencia offer, then by the end of the week Koeman would be on the streets looking for another job.

Toure believes Barcelona can still catch Real Madrid

Real Madrid are a massive 9 point clear at the top of the table in La Liga and almost every football pundit has written off FC Barcelona. Although the Barca players are unwilling to let go of the situation, deep inside they must be praying day and night for a miracle. Yet amidst all this pessimism, Barca midfielder Yaya Toure is one player who is optimistic that the Catalan giants can catch up with their bitter rivals.

Goal.com quotes the younger brother of the Arsenal defender KoloToure as saying that although it would be difficult for Barca to trim the gap at the top of the table, it wouldn’t be impossible for them. Toure says:

Barcelona has a great team and we will have to see what we can do in the league. Making up the nine points will be difficult, but it is ont beyond us. We have to always win because Madrid are very strong and have a real desire.

You do see where Toure is coming from but frankly speaking, the title is out of Barca’s hands now and all that they can do is hope (against hope) of a dramatic Real Madrid crumble, which, again to be frank, doesn’t appear to be too likely.

Ronaldinho set to return to action this week

Goal.com reports that FC Barcelona ace is expected back into action this week. Ronaldinho hasn’t played in any of Barca’s matches this year and is supposed to be recovering from a knee injury that no one is quite sure how and where he picked up.

Ronaldinho is anticipated to join the Barca first team in practice session this Wednesday and although he will almost certainly not play in the Copa Del Rey tie against Villarreal, he should play at least as sub against Osasuna at the weekend in La Liga.

Ronaldinho’s injury is a mysterious one since no one is certain that he even carries a knock. But all are certain that Ronnie is no longer wanted at the Cam Nou cathedral.

Real custodian not letting title expectations into his head

Real Madrid’s thrilling victory over Villarreal at the Bernabeu on Sunday coupled with FC Barcelona’s disappointing 1-1 away draw with struggling Athletic de Bilbao implies that los Merengues are now 9 points ahead of their bitter Catalan rivals and most of the football pundits are already writing Barca off. After all, Real are playing very much pragmatic football and are in a great form.

But Real’s long serving custidan, Iker Casillas, isn’t the one to jump into conclusions, not yet. Goal.com quotes the Spanish international goalkeeper as saying that the Real Madrid players need to sustain their focus for the remainder of the season since they haven’t won anything yet.

Casillas says:

We have to keep playing like this as we are winning. We’re in good form and we cannot think that we’re already champions. Now, we have to keep battling away in every match because we cannot let our rivals catch up to us with such a substantial lead.

Didn’t Real Madrid President Ramón Calderon say pretty much the same thing after Real’s victory over their cross-city rivals Atletico last weekend? Seems like great minds think alike.

Tiago to Atletico Madrid not Tottenham?

Tiago might not have to stagnate himself at Juventus for the rest of the season after all. After talks with the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur fell through a couple of day ago, the 27-year old Portuguese midfielder is now being strongly linked with Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

Goal.com quotes Atletico’s manager Javier Aguirre telling the Madrid based sports daily Marca as talks between the two clubs have indeed taken place but has denied that any conclusion has been reached yet. Aguirre said:

They have told me that they have spoken to four or five players; Suso (sport director Jesús García Pitarch) passed me a list yesterday and asked my opinion on the players. The team lacks enough players, because every Sunday we have an injury, a problem or a suspension. We have just 23, including three goalkeepers for three competitions. I like the good football players and [Tiago] is a good football player. I have always liked players that know how to pass the ball and are also good for the team. I like good people and good football players. That would be the ideal. Good people for the shirt, who work and put themselves on the line; good football players. The club made a big investment at the start of the league and I have already said to Pitarch, Cerezo and Gil Marín that I would understand if they don’t want to make another outlay, because they have already made a huge investment and it is a great team and club in general.

Atletic are going strong in La Liga and after many, many seasons it appears the Atleti will ultimately grab a UEFA Champions league spot.

Real Madrid on course to find the new Messi

What FC Barcelona can do, Real Madrid can do better. That’s the theme in this Goal.com report that focuses on Real Madrid’s search of the globe for the new Lionel Messi.

Julen Lopetegui is the chief international talent scout for los Merengues and he is a buoyant and optimistic mood when speaking about the chance of discovering another Messi. Although Lopetegui acknowledges that talent and potential in Spain’s youngsters, he says that they have to look afar to unearth Messi-like players.

Lopetegui remarks:

Our youth teams are very good and have various stars coming up. There will be some surprises in four years time. Brazil exports around 500 professional footballers every year. You can find some marvelous surprises that nobody has heard of. They are different, not better. Their style is wilder and has to be polished. They are very technical and they can perfect the rest, like in Africa. Our job is to find the unpolished ones. We study the players that we have been told about first and we watched them. We do not just go to a country blind and have a look about. Our aim is to familiarise ourselves before they become known and the price goes up.

Actually Real Madrid do not have a boast a great history of young players of late but yes, they have produces some fascinating players in the recent past, such as Iker Casillas, Raul and Guti. But the director of Real Madrid’s director of the international scouting system is right in one thing: that for a club as big as Real Madrid, they have the ability to seduce foreign young players to the academy. After all, which promising young footballer wouldn’t like to feature for the biggest and most successful club in the world?

Sevilla target Marcelino as their new manager

Sevilla are out of the running for a Champions League position in La Liga this season and manager Manolo Jimenez is coming under fire. Goal.com reports that a managerial change is just round the bend with Jimenez highly likely to be shifted out of his job at the end of the campaign.

Goal.com reports that the former Recreativo de Huelva coach Marcelino is the best bet to take over the reins of the Andalucian club in the summer. Marcelino guided modest Recre to promotion to the Spanish first division and then kept them well clear of relegation last season. This season Marcelino is in charge of Racing Santander and is weaving wonders there, too. Racing are sixth in the table with a distinct possibility of finishing in a Champions League spot at the end of the season.

That Jimenez was to be only a stop-gap for Sevilla when Juando Ramos left the Pizjuan in October was no secret and with the team struggling to come anywhere near their achievements of last season, the force has been stepped up to oust the former Sevilla youth team coach and import a more experienced and tactically sound coach.

Real Madrid president pleads for caution

Real Madrid are a club who have always been portrayed as ruthlessly arrogant with tall talks and big dreams from presidents. Although Ramon Calderon is not much different from his predecessors in these terms, he has a touch of caution in his constitution.

Goal.com reports that Calderon made an unscheduled visit to Real’s Valdebebas training complex on Wednesday to personally congratulate the players for the Madrid derby victory over Atletico at the weekend. Although the mood was one of buoyancy and confidence, Senor Calderon didn’t want to let complacency creep into his players’ psyche.

Goal.com quotes Calderon as saying this to his players:

”Congratulations, but we still have not won anything yet, eh?”

A very sensible thing to do. Real Madrid are a massive seven points clear at the top of the table in Spain and already seem to have one hand on the league trophy. But Calderon is certainly clever enough to note that in football there is no guarantee.

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