Yaya Toure has revealed that he had the opportunity to join Manchester United last year before opting to sign for Manchester City where he will play alongside his brother Kolo.
Toure moved to Eastlands from Barcelona in a £24million deal following Ivory Coast's elimination from the World Cup last month.
He said of his choice:"Last year Manchester United were interested in signing me.
"When I was talking about renewing my contract, United asked if I wanted to sign for them. In football, you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.
"United are a big club, one of the biggest in the world, but I chose City because they have not won anything for a long time. It's a very nice feeling to come in and see everything changing.
"It's an interesting challenge for me and I hope everything goes well. I saw a lot of things written about why I left but, for me, I wanted to play with my brother.
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"That was very important for me. Now I've signed for City I'm very happy. Now my brother and I want to make great things happen at this club and I'm sure we'll do it.
"My motivation is to do great things with City, to finish second or third maybe, to get into the Champions League."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck aimed a thinly veiled attack on the Reds by claiming that the Merseyside club are a “smallish club”. Speaking in the programme notes in Saturday’s 6-0 victory against West Bromwich Albion, Buck claimed that ex-Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole “was joining a smallish club somewhere north of the M25”. Now, as a Chelsea fan, I understand the need for a bit of banter between rivals but in my opinion, Buck’s comments are a bit out of line. For one of our most senior ranking officials at the club to make that kind of jibe in public is not great PR and will do little to improve our reputation among supporters of other clubs in the league.
Ever since Roman Abramovich’s takeover of the club in the summer of 2003, Chelsea have enjoyed a wealth of success on the field, capturing the Premier League on three occasions, along with three FA Cup victories and two League Cup trophies. Add to that Abramovich’s enormous spending power due to his immense wealth and you have a potent recipe for jealousy and envy from opposing fans. Abramovich has spent big to bring in some of the biggest names in the game to play at Stamford Bridge such as Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Michael Essien. As a result of Chelsea’s indiscriminate philosophy towards transfer spending at the beginning of the Abramovich era, the transfer market became inflated due to the knowledge that Chelsea have the resources to pay over the odds for a particular player. The impact of Chelsea’s transfer dealings have seen rival clubs being priced out of signing a potential transfer target due to Chelsea’s spending power. Take Arjen Robben’s signing as an example.
The former PSV winger was attracting attention from Manchester United and Chelsea after an impressive two seasons in Eindhoven. Manchester United put in a bid of €7 million for the Dutch winger which was rebutted by PSV chairman Harry van Raaij. Abramovich almost immediately tabled a bid of €18 million which was accepted by PSV.
For all of our recent successes on the pitch, we still have a long way to go to match Liverpool’s impressive trophy haul which makes them the most successful club in English history. The Reds have won 18 league titles, 5 European Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 7 FA Cups and 7 League Cups in their illustrious history. Granted, recent seasons have seen Liverpool struggle to compete for honours but the fact remains that they are a hugely successful club with a winning tradition.
Buck’s comments come at a time in Chelsea’s history where the club has come under intense scrutiny for its behaviour off the pitch. Most recently, there have been accusations levelled at Chelsea from Brazilian club Santos for apparently “tapping up” their 19 year old starlet Neymar. This latest accusation is the last in a long line of instances of “tapping up” involving Chelsea, including Gael Kakuta, Ashley Cole and former Leeds United academy players Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo. Jose Mourinho’s tenure as Chelsea boss was also marred by controversy as his actions away from the field caused much annoyance from opposition fans. He managed to antagonise Arsenal fans by claiming Arsene Wenger was a “voyeur” obsessed with Chelsea and Everton by insinuating Andy Johnson was “untrustworthy” following accusations of diving from the then Everton striker.
For Carlo Ancelotti and the Chelsea team, Buck’s words could have been a distraction in the build-up to the West Brom game. But unlike their chairman, the team did their talking on the pitch rather than off it.
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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is confident that Paraguay international Cristian Riveros will finally team up with the rest of the Black Cats squad later this week.
The 27-year-old, who started all five of his country's games at the recent World Cup, is still waiting for international clearance before the transfer can be finalised.
Bruce told the Sunderland Echo:"We're still looking for Riveros to come through the door. We don't know where his passport is – somewhere between Paraguay and New York.
"But we expect him to be here on Wednesday or Thursday. It's not a hitch – it's a delay that we probably expected because we had a similar experience when we brought Paulo Da Silva over last summer.
"They need to get their passport stamped and visa changed and with having the World Cup in the middle of it didn't help – especially with them getting to the quarter-final.
"If they'd got knocked out in the early rounds it would have helped!"
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Riveros started his career with his hometown club Colon and also played for San Lorenzo and Tacuary before being transferred to Libertad and then Cruz Arul.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manager Neil Lennon accused his Celtic players of 'shooting themselves in the foot' after they crashed out of the Europa League at the qualifying play-off round.
The Hoops let a 2-0 first-leg lead slip as they lost 4-0 away a Utrecht, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel bagging a hat-trick to leave Lennon furious.
Two of his goals came from the penalty spot and at full-time Lennon pulled no punches.
"We had a decent advantage and we only needed to score one goal, but it's the overall performance – we were second best in just about every area really," he fumed.
"The first penalty was soft and for the second we shot ourselves in the foot. We've gone one down and just need to weather it and we get one goal and win the game. But we never gave ourselves a chance.
"Right throughout the middle of the team we were poor. We said, 'look you might have to weather a storm for 15 minutes.' But we keep shooting ourselves in the foot.
"That's three penalties in two away games we have given away and then we are not giving ourselves a chance.
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"At half time we said we were still well in the tie. We just need to score a goal and they have to get two.
"But I was just about to get back in my seat when we were 3-0 down. So it's just a poor performance overall and I take full responsibility for that myself."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Frustrated manager Sam Allardyce claimed Blackburn Rovers wasted a glorious chance to pick up three points by drawing 1-1 with Fulham on Saturday.
Rovers started brightly and Chris Samba broke the deadlock midway through the first half at Ewood Park.
However, draw specialists Fulham claimed another point after Clint Dempsey restored parity with a header five minutes into the second half.
"We started so well and scored a goal, but instead of getting better we went worse," reflected Allardyce.
"We got to half-time and stressed the point to them that we'd sat back for the last ten minutes of the first half.
"We got a goal in front and they were looking shaky at the back, but instead of taking that on and going forward, they've scored off a quick free-kick.
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"We didn't recover from that, we started to panic and I don't know why. We changed to a 4-4-2 formation with two up top, but you've got to get the ball down and play it in the right areas.
"But for whatever reason we haven't done that and in the end we've ended up with a draw rather than important victory."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Arsenal's injury-hit midfield starlet Aaron Ramsey is hoping to be back in action before the end of the year, having been sidelined since February after suffering a broken right leg against Stoke City.
The 20-year-old Wales international is closing in on a return to full training and is happy with the progress being made in his recovery.
He told the club's official website:"I am just going with what the staff are saying here. I trust them and I am just doing the best I can at this moment in time.
"I am just doing my pre-season work now, trying to get a bit of spring back in my right leg, but apart from that all is going well so far.
"I have been doing strengthening exercises and those sorts of things for a long time now and I am starting to feel the benefits.
"I am now outside training with the fitness coach. It feels great to be back outside and kicking the ball around again. I think I am on track, the target is November time.
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"I am a very motivated guy and I have missed it a lot. It has made me realise how much it means to me.
"I just want to get back out there and start doing what I used to do."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
It’s an all-important double game week for fantasy football players, with big points to be won. The big match in round 12 is the Manchester derby, but what do you think of the midweek fixtures? Leave your predictions in the comments section below.
Stoke City vs. Birmingham City (Tuesday, 19:45)
With Man City and Chelsea coming up in their next two games, Birmingham know that tonight will be the prefect time to register their first away win of the season. Tony Pulis will be hoping that Stoke can end a run of five consecutive defeats and that he will be able to talk about his team after the game rather than the performance of the referee. Stoke will be looking to add to their tally of clean sheets which so far reads only one.
Key man: Nikola Zigic
After a slow start to Birmingham’s campaign, Zigic has played 90 minutes in the Blues’ last four games and in that time has weighed in with two goals and two assists. The Serbian striker is 6ft 7in tall and Stoke could struggle to contain him with Ryan Shawcross missing.
Last two league meetings: Birmingham 0-0 Stoke, Stoke 0-1 Birmingham
Prediction: 0-1. History suggests few goals and I don’t see why that should change this time around, Birmingham to nick it.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland (Tuesday, 20:00)
Spurs and Sunderland are teams with contrasting fortunes of late. Spurs went from an all-time high against Inter Milan to a reality check against Bolton, and Sunderland went from an all-time low against Newcastle to salvaging some pride against Stoke. Both teams have injury concerns, Darren Bent will be missing for the Black Cats while Tottenham’s sick list continues to grow by the day.
Key Man: Asamoah Gyan
While Bent’s absence is bad news for Sunderland, Gyan’s two goals at the weekend will provide some hope and he could give Tottenham’s well documented make-shift defence a lot of problems.
Last two league meetings: Tottenham 2-0 Sunderland, Sunderland 3-1 Tottenham
Prediction: 1-1. Tottenham will be desperate to impress, but could struggle to break Sunderland down and if there’s one thing that is certain this season it’s that Spurs will concede.
Aston Villa vs. Blackpool (Wednesday, 19:45)
Villa were denied a morale boosting win after Fulham’s equaliser at the death on Saturday. Villa fans are generally behind Houllier, but their league position of 14th isn’t doing him any favours. Blackpool’s season continues to astound and entertain and there’s little reason to suggest that this game shouldn’t be the same. The Tangerines keep finding goals from all over the pitch and Matt Phillips looks like he could become a good player at this level
Key Man: Ashley Young
Young’s recent form has been some way off his best, but he could provide Villa with a huge boost if he finds a good performance on Wednesday.
Last two league meetings: Aston Villa 1-0 Blackpool, Blackpool 0-3 Aston Villa
Prediction: 3-2. Blackpool have won three times away from home this season so this will be a stern test for Villa, but I fancy the Midlanders to just have too much.
Continue to PAGE TWO for more Premier League predictions…
Chelsea vs. Fulham (Wednesday, 19:45)
Chelsea will need to bounce back from conceding two goals in a league game for the first time this season, while Fulham will be buoyed by their last minute heroics against Villa. Fulham always give a Chelsea a good run for their money, but they haven’t beaten them in the league since 2006, and they haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1979. Carlo Ancelotti made an error by leaving Didier Drogba on the bench for Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool, and I don’t imagine that he’d make the same mistake again.
Key Man: Didier Drogba
If there’s one thing Didier Drogba isn’t used to it’s starting a game on the bench, so expect him to be keen to show why he deserves a starting role every week. His early season form seems to have escaped him of late, so Drogba is a player with a point to prove.
Last two league meetings: Fulham 0-2 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-1 Fulham
Prediction: 3-1. Chelsea will recover from their setback, but Fulham will make them sweat for it.
Newcastle United vs. Blackburn Rovers (Wednesday, 19:45)
After two fantastic wins, Newcastle have rocketed up to 5th in the league. Both teams have been through a lot since 1995 when Blackburn won the league and Newcastle finished 6th. Blackburn have been involved in three consecutive games which have finished 2-1 and have scored one goal in a game seven times this season.
Key Man: Kevin Nolan
Nolan has been a key performer so far this season for the Magpies, but has often been over-shadowed by the goals of Andy Carroll. His last three games have returned four goals and two assists and Blackburn’s defence has struggled to keep clean sheets so far this season.
Last two league meetings: Newcastle 1-2 Blackburn, Blackburn 3-0 Newcastle
Prediction: 2-0. Newcastle’s climb up the league continues at the expense of a Blackburn side who will be starting to look nervously over their shoulders.
West Ham United vs. West Bromwich Albion (Wednesday, 19:45)
Wednesday’s battle of the ‘Wild West’ sees both teams needing the points for different reasons. After West Brom went down to Manchester City on Sunday they will want to prove that their impressive start to the season was more than just a flash in the pan. West Ham went 0-2 up against Birmingham on Saturday and showed a lot of promise, before reverting back to their old ways. The Hammers need three points to take advantage of Wolves’ tough run of games and to climb out of the bottom three.
Key Man: Frederic Piquionne
A man in form for West Ham. Piquionne has been racking up the stats over the last month and you get the feeling that if West Ham are going to get anything from this one then Piquionne will need to provide the goals.
Last two league meetings: West Brom 3-2 West Ham, West Ham 0-0 West Brom
Prediction: 1-1. A result that neither will want, but a game that both will be desperate not to lose.
Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool (Wednesday, 19:45)
After three consecutive wins, Liverpool’s season of disaster has suddenly begun to show signs of recovery, after all not many teams can put two past Chelsea. The Reds are a different team when Torres is on form, and his goals on Sunday were top class. Wigan continue to hover just about the bottom and are capable of picking up points in some unlikely places, but after picking up five points in three games they have lost their last two.
Key Man: Fernando Torres
A no-brainer really. If Torres plays well Liverpool will be too good for Wigan, if he doesn’t they could find it tough
Last two league meetings: Liverpool 2-1 Wigan, Wigan 1-0 Liverpool
Prediction: 0-2. Wigan will give a good show, but they will fail to deliver when they need a real touch of class.
Continue to PAGE THREE for more Premier League predictions…
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Arsenal (Wednesday, 19:45)
Both teams will be immensely disappointed with their results from the weekend. Wolves were left heart broken at Old Trafford after a goal deep in injury time denied them for the second time in just over a week. Arsenal were frustrated against Newcastle, and on another day they could have won convincingly. Mick McCarthy will be relieved that this match will be the final game of Wolves’ run against the top four.
Key Man: Cesc Fabregas
Arsene Wenger believes his star-man has been ‘restricted mentally’ by his recent injury problems, however his natural ability could provide the touch of class that separates the two sides.
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Last two league meetings: Wolves 1-4 Arsenal, Arsenal 1-0 Wolves
Prediction: 0-2. For all the good that Wolves have done lately I fear that they’ll be on the wrong end of an Arsenal backlash tomorrow night.
Everton vs. Bolton Wanderers (Wednesday, 20:00)
Bolton will be riding the crest of a wave after their demolition of high-flying Tottenham on Saturday. Kevin Davies ran the show and his two goals were just reward. Owen Coyle has transformed Bolton and they are becoming increasingly difficult to beat. Everton could only muster a draw at Blackpool, but they won’t be the last team to find things tough at Bloomfield Road.
Key Man: Seamus Coleman
Coleman had a fine game against Blackpool and looked dangerous going forward. His goal may have been a little lucky, but on Wednesday he could be the catalyst for Everton to continue their good league form.
Last two league meetings: Bolton 3-2 Everton, Everton 2-0 Bolton
Prediction: 2-1. Everton’s poor start to the season is firmly behind them and they will scrape past a plucky Bolton side.
Manchester City vs. Manchester United (Wednesday, 20:00)
The match everyone looks out for. Manchester United are unbeaten and Manchester City’s performances has been patchy, but since when has form been a deciding factor in big derby games?
Key Man: David Silva
City fans have been raving about this guy recently. Since Silva’s well publicized slow start he has firmly got to grips with the Premier League and is really showing his class. He has weighed in with his fair share of stats and runs the show from midfield.
Last two league meetings: Man Utd 4-3 Man City, Man City 0-1 Man Utd
Prediction: 3-1. United’s unbeaten run will be ended emphatically by a City side determined not to let their season deteriorate into nothing.
Click on image below to see a gallery of Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest lady
Liverpool owner John W Henry believes the squad must be strengthened if the Reds are to climb towards the top end of the Premier League table.
After the club endured a difficult start to the campaign, back-to-back victories over Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers have aided their cause significantly.
The American's New England Sports Ventures group purchased the Merseyside giants from Tom Hicks and George Gillett last month and Henry now wants to take the club forward.
With Damien Comolli havng been appointed as the new director of football, Henry believes the decision to bring the Frenchman to Anfield will be received by team manager Roy Hodgson with open arms.
"We're not deep enough. We don't have enough youth," he said."If you look at Manchester United and Arsenal they have depth.
"They have relatively young teams and that's something that he (Comolli) can help us with.
"When I first met with Roy it was really clear that he wanted someone in that position, so I really didn't talk that much with Roy over the week or so before we made the decision to bring Damien in.
"So I think he may have been surprised when I brought it up, but he's fully supportive. He knows Damien. I think the model really requires people of certain personalities for it to work and Roy and Damien are two personalities that will mesh well together.
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"It will be a group decision. You build consensus. I think it's a very good model, but though each will be in charge of their own areas.
"We're still building a team. We're in the middle of building that. We may make some mistakes early on, but we're going to try and avoid that and we're studying every day."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
You should never underestimate the influence that a captain can have on a team. In the Premier League at the moment, the roles of Cesc Fabregas, John Terry and Steven Gerrard at Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool respectively cannot be overestimated. However, in Japan there’s a captain with a difference.
In an effort to promote the sport in 1981, the Japanese Football Association helped animator Yoichi Takahashi develop a seemingly “small” project that would cater to a younger audience. They logically reasoned that creating a popular cartoon would popularise it with a younger audience. Little did they know it would become a media goldmine, turning Captain Tsubasa into a cultural icon and help usher in a new era with Japan as a regional power in soccer. In several countries, “Captain Tsubasa” translated into “Oliver and Benji,” and a comic book and television cartoon that was born from Japan quickly became an international success—no matter where on the globe you grew up, you knew these characters. We went to Tokyo and met with the cartoonists and creative minds that built this empire.
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For an insight into the We Are Eleven series check out our interview with producer Santiago Stelley.
Having made the Ballon D’Or list for best player of the year perhaps it is no surprise that Real Madrid are after Sunderland hit man Asamoah Gyan.
It would appear recent hat-trick scorer Benzema is not suitable to step in as a replacement for the injured Gonzalo Higuan, so Jose Mourinho is being forced to look elsewhere. And his eye has fallen on the Ghanaian World Cup hero to boost his attacking options in the upcoming January transfer window.
As Gyan became a hero for not just Ghana but the whole of Africa over the summer, by helping the West African team to within a Luis Suarez hand of the World Cup semi finals. Madrid may therefore be willing to cash in on the marketing potential of a player so highly regarded over a whole continent. Certainly hey may feel it could not hurt to add an African face to their current European and South American squad.
Will Gyan stay at Sunderland? Make a FREE £20 Bet!
The story was broken by Cadena COPE, a Spanish radio station.
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Will Gyan move to Real Madrid – RATE THE RUMOUR
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