Manuel Pellegrini is confident the UEFA’s transfer restrictions on City will be lifted this summer and he wants to make a crucial signing – preferably an Englishman.
The spending ban was imposed for breaches in their Financial Fair Play rules, but the club are still set to break even this year.
Pellegrini has already started to compile a list of potential signings and with Frank Lampard due to leave the club in the summer, and one of the main problems City has is a worryingly low number of home grown talent in their squad.
Rules require Premier League club’s to have eight homegrown players in their team, so here’s who we think could be on Pellegrini’s shopping list this summer…
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Raheem Sterling
Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling has been in the papers solidly for the past few weeks as his contract deal continues to be discussed.
After two fantastic seasons at Anfield, the youngster is looking for regular Champions League football. It will take a seriously large sum of money, but Pellegrini needs young players to help with his ageing squad. Sterling ticks all the boxes- young and home-grown – but maybe just a bit out of their price range.
Aaron Cresswell
Aaron Cresswell is one of the unsung signings of the Premier League season. The left-back has been fantastic for West Ham and has started all their Premier League fixtures.
City are on the lookout for a player who can fill that position in the long run and he would make an excellent signing for the Champions.
This is only his first season in the top-flight and he has shown some great potential. Pellegrini would be able to mould him into the player he wants.
Seamus Coleman
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Speculation about Seamus Coleman’s departure from Goodison Park has been going around for some time, with Manchester United and Chelsea interested in signing the defender.
After building his success on the back of a superb loan spell at Blackpool, it looks like he could be about to make a move again. Coleman has proved he is a superb right-back and as Pellegrini looks for stability in the back four, Coleman could be his man.
Nathanial Clyne
If Southampton miss out on a Champions League place they will struggle to keep hold of their star man Nathaniel Clyne. The right-back is another option instead of Coleman and has made 34 appearances for Southampton so far this season.
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He is turning into one of the most wanted players with Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all interested.
Jack Wilshire
Jack Wilshire is the latest player to be linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium. He could join a number of stars to have made the switch from the Emirates but he might not be the right move for Pellegrini.
He is quick and has a superb touch, but he isn’t known at being completely reliable. He probably won’t be a game changer for Man City nor have a great impact on their Champions League campaign.
England can still qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil, according to Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard and his England counterparts were held to a 1-1 draw in Montenegro on Tuesday night. Despite sitting two points off the top of Group H, the Three Lions destiny remains in their own hands.
Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from a Gerrard corner before Dejan Damjanovic equalised late for the hosts, but the influential midfielder remains confident they will still qualify.
He said: “We’re still confident we can finish top of the group. We need to win all our games, we certainly need to improve on that second half performance and play like we did in the first half.
“We certainly need to get three points when we go to Ukraine in September and we need perfect results at home.”
The England captain also conceded that a draw was the right result on the night.
“We stopped playing after the break for 20 or 30 minutes and away from home you can’t afford to do that,” he added. “We stopped passing the ball and that’s when we lost control. I think they deserved the equaliser.
“I think there was a lot of experience out there and I think the first half we showed that. We controlled the game.
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“The problem is at 1-0 you’re always vulnerable. You’ve got to go on and get the second goal to get complete control and we never did that. They took control of the second half up until the last 10 minutes so they deserved the draw.”
Antonio Valencia’s form for Manchester United has been a little hit and miss in recent weeks, but the 32-year-old has still been one of the team’s most consistent players this season.
The full-back has also come up with three Premier League goals, and has worn the armband this season due to the absence of Michael Carrick, who will retire this summer.
Valencia has a number of attributes, but it would be fair to say that one of his strengths is not crossing the ball.
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The Ecuador international was also disappointing defensively at the weekend as United suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to the league’s bottom team West Bromwich Albion.
The fact that Valencia still does not speak English after a long time in the Premier League also seems to be a bit of an issue for the United supporters.
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A lot of United fans are frustrated with life at the moment, and a number have taken it out on Valencia, with the full-back coming in for some pretty harsh words on Tuesday.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
He’s been one of Europe’s top performers so far this season and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette will undoubtedly attract a lot of interest when the transfer window reopens. One of those suitors could be Arsenal, if reports from Sky Sports are to be believed.
Current Gunners striker Olivier Giroud has impressed for the club once again this season, showing that Arsenal are far from a crisis when it comes to the striking department. In 15 Premier League appearances, he has scored eight goals and provided two assists – a solid return considering the fact that he missed the earlier stages of the season due to injury.
The Frenchman is an excellent option up front due to his physical presence in the attacking third, as well as the fact that he possesses good finishing skills. Although Giroud is a good attacking option for Arsenal, they are still lacking real pace up front. Danny Welbeck can provide that pace but he is being used in more of a wider attacking berth now that Giroud has returned to the side. The England international does work hard for the team but he lacks that prolific instinct that Arsenal need more of up front.
This is where Alexandre Lacazette represents an excellent option for the Gunners. The Lyon striker has 21 goals in 23 Ligue 1 appearances this term and looks like he has the potential to become a world-class forward. Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored more goals in 2014/15 and this is something that is bound to attract the attention of big clubs across Europe. Lacazette possesses something that the Gunners haven’t had since Henry left – electric pace combined with excellent movement and finishing.
It is no secret that Arsenal boast a wealth of talent in the middle of park, but they are lacking the same quality up front. Giroud and Welbeck are good Premier League players but they do not carry the same potential that Lacazette has shown over the course of this season.
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Theo Walcott is sometimes implemented in a centre-forward role to provide Arsenal with some more pace through the middle and this works to good effect. However, Walcott is not a natural goalscorer and often plays wide rather than in a centre forward’s role.
Therefore, Wenger will be looking to add more quality to his attacking options. Lacazette has been compared to Henry during his time in France due to his impressive dribbling skills and the fact that he knows where the back of the net is.
The Express reports that Lyon are looking for a fee of around £23million, which would be an excellent price for one of Europe’s hottest prospects. Arsene Wenger has not been afraid to spend big in the summer transfer window in recent times and Lacazette would certainly represent an improvement in terms of Arsenal’s attacking prospects.
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Arsenal fans have been crying out for another quality striker to provide more attacking options up front, and Lacazette could be the most affordable option for the Gunners, as well as providing undeniable quality in the final third.
It’s been a long time since Thierry Henry left the club and signing a player that boasts similar abilities to the Arsenal legend should be a no-brainer. Although nothing is set in stone, Arsene Wenger should do all he can to move for Lacazette in the summer if he becomes available.
If your assistant manager is going to get to make the back pages of the papers following a gritty cup win, they might aswell do it in style. Steffen Freund’s 90th minute cascade of fist pumping during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 over Lyon last night may have gone down like a lead balloon with the French team’s backroom staff, but for supporters, it simply put the gloss on a hard-earned win.
But while Lyon’s fitness coach Robert Duverne may have been understandably miffed by Freund’s slightly excessive celebrations, he shouldn’t take anything to heart. Because for Spurs’ eccentric assistant manager, showings like last night are simply par for the course.
The former-German international was always something of a cult figure at White Hart Lane during his spell with the club as a player, but since he rejoined the club as Andre Villas-Boas’ assistant during the summer, his rapport with supporters seems to have taken on a life of its own.
To the outsider however, the sight of the ex-Borussia Dortmund man celebrating every goal scored and tackle won like a man possessed, might seem like a cheap attempt at winning affection and a needlessly display of over exuberance. Yet not only is that statement way off the mark and far from the truth, Freund’s presence in this set-up has been one of the most undervalued cogs in the Villas-Boas story so far.
On the face of it, the combination of Freund and Villas-Boas has more than a touch of the chalk-and-cheeses about it. In Villas-Boas, Spurs have one of the more refined and astute characters within the game.
The Portuguese isn’t afraid to show his love for the game, but he tends to do it with a babble of techo-speak and a jolt of continental charm. While Villas-Boas looks ready to head to a dinner-party win, loose or draw, Freund gives off the impression he’s ready to finish off what he started in the Bricklayers post game.
But in appointing the German as assistant coach, Daniel Levy wasn’t simply offering a novelty choice to fans in a doff of a cap the nostalgia merchants amongst us.
Villas-Boas may now have won over the vast majority of Tottenham Hotspur supporters, although even amongst the more positive contingent of fans, his appointment wasn’t without a certain degree of doubt. In Freund, Levy was bringing perhaps not legitimacy, but a degree of relatability to the new set-up.
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The German proved to be the intermediary between fans and club throughout the earlier stages of the season and although it may seem easy to dispel that notion now, without Freund, things could have been a lot more difficult for Villas-Boas when the going got tough.
As the frustration seemed to be accumulating within the bowels of White Hart Lane following the hugely disappointing 1-0 home loss to Wigan last year, Villas-Boas had little in the way of allies at the club.
As is the norm at the club, Levy and the hierarchy offered nothing in terms of public backing and as well as having a home crowd that remained unconvinced, Villas-Boas had to put up with cries of discontent from club legends, too. Several weeks earlier, former FA Cup winning defender Graham Roberts claimed that the club would go nowhere under the Portuguese “unless he gets a personality.” Hardly a vote of confidence, was it?
But where as Villas-Boas may have been lacking support in and around the club, in Freund, he didn’t just have his assistant manager backing him up, but a fans favourite whose opinion was valued. And you can’t put a price on that.
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When the German talks about the club, there is a genuine feeling of passion and understanding; it all sounds terribly cheesy, although Freund knows what it’s like to win a trophy with the club as well as he knows what it feels like to sit in the stands with supporters. Not everyone may have heeded his call for calm, but when Freund spoke, people listened. Had he not been around earlier this season, some of the malaise that existed towards Villas-Boas might not have been quite so isolated.
Of course, while it was joint decision from all involved to bring Freund to the club, Villas-Boas wanted him by his side, providing what he described as ‘club knowledge.’ He’s done that in abundance, but his role at the club stretches far further than simply as a cheerleader.
Freund came to Spurs with a burgeoning reputation as a coach through his time with the German international youth sides and it’s been said that he doesn’t hold back in offering Villas-Boas his take of events when things aren’t necessarily going the side’s way. Indeed, in the acquisition of Lewis Holtby, Spurs’ assistant manager certainly played his part in convincing the rest of the club’s transfer committee that the 22-year-old was an imperative purchase.
Such is the passionate demeanor that Freund tends to exude on a matchday, it can be all too easy to see him as little more than a pantomime side-show to the studious management of Andre Villas-Boas. But to do so serves only to undermine the important role the German has played in crafting Tottenham’s newly found steely mentality in recent months.
Liverpool are expected to be without Emre Can for next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Manchester City due to injury, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The Germany international has not played since mid-March due to a back problem, and it is believed that the injury will keep him out of next Tuesday’s crucial fixture.
BBC Sport claims, though, that it may not be the end of Can’s season as the club are hopeful that he will return to fitness before the campaign comes to a close in May.
Some Liverpool fans have not been too happy with the former Bayer Leverkusen star due to the uncertainty over his future at Anfield.
The midfielder’s current contract expires this summer, and at the moment, there are no indications that the 24-year-old is going to pen fresh terms.
This latest injury update has led some supporters to question whether there is a hidden meaning to his absence, while others are concerned about how it will impact team selection next week.
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Many were hoping that Can would fill in for Jordan Henderson, who will miss the fixture due to suspension.
Light and dark. Fast and Slow. Tea and coffee. Sat in a north London pub, I delved into another pair of opposites that has arguably become as famous across the last few years with the emergence of fan channels – Claude and Ty from Arsenal fan TV.
Cult figures primarily through an apparent innate to disagree about pretty much anything regarding the Gunners, we got to know the pair at the Ladbrokes #ForTheFans Transfer Deadline Day party.
Ladbrokes invited Ian Wright, Chris Kamara, Peter Reid, Jason McAteer and 50 fans to a north London pub to take part in the Ladbrokes #ForTheFans Transfer Deadline Day party, fans were treated to free bets, the latest reaction to transfer moves and news by our panel of legends, a singing Kammy and a free bar to keep the night flowing.
The consequences make for YouTube gold, meaning that whilst everyone around us was desperately seeking late deadline day transfer, we were busy dissecting the Gunners’ season over a pint…
So I start with the obvious question, what did you make of the January transfer window for Arsenal?
Ty: It’s a non-event for us really, we’ve signed Gabriel Paulista and we’ve done our job but I think it’s disappointing because all we seemed to be getting from the press and media is ‘who is he?’ We’re getting criticised for signing a defender when we needed one. We didn’t sign a defender, midfielder or striker. We signed a defender but were still getting stick, obviously we’d like to sign more but it is what it is. A lot of our players are getting back to full fitness.
Claude: I think ideally we need two or at least one big central defensive midfield player because although Coquelin is playing well at the moment I’m not sure he can do the whole season. I still think he’s got a lot to learn – though he has been playing brilliantly we still need that world class central defensive-midfielder. Maybe Wenger is right but we will see at the end of the season.
Ty: Yes there should have been (a central-midfielder signed) but we have Francis Coquelin who has been a revelation since he has come back on loan spell at Charlton. We do have Mikel Arteta and Matthieu Flamini (said with an emphasis on both that suggests a feeling they are underestimated).
Claude: I think Wenger has been lucky because I don’t think we be in this situation if Arteta was fit but luckily Coquelin has come back from Charlton and done a brilliant job. However I just think that’s fortune because I don’t think Wenger had even thought of bringing him back. I don’t think Arteta can get around the park like he used too.
Ty: We don’t know what’s happened with Abou Diaby because he’s been destroyed by injury. We have a few players in that position though obviously that would be nice, but if we’re going to sign someone big it should be at the end of season, because it’s not the managers remit to sign big players now.
Claude: I think there was possibilities of Carvalho and Schneiderlin didn’t quite get over the line, but I think we need that experienced world class midfielder. I don’t think Arteta has been a great player but he’s now coming to the end. Sometimes you’ve got to be a bit ruthless and not offer them a new contract.
Ty: I think it’s going to be at the end of the season, hopefully we’ve got enough to equal or emulate what we did last season- if we do that I’m sure everyone will be happy.
FFC to Ty, as Claude is busy re-charging his glass: What have you made of Arsenal recently having less of the ball in various fixtures, such as Manchester City and Aston Villa?
Ty: It’s nothing something he’d really do but he’s looked at us playing all the football and not getting the results. If we play less football and get the results then were happy. The funny thing is it’s the players that apparently suggested we should change our style but the thing is Claude said Wenger can’t take credit for that. But, they always say a good leader is someone who is prepared to listen, it showed he is not too arrogant and too big headed to not listen to what players say to him. That shows humblesness, co-operation and an ability to listen that only endears me to him more.
(At that moment both Ty and I inevitably turn towards Claude and laughter erupts) Naturally leading FFC to ask him: Do you think it’s fair that you are often known as ‘the negative one’ as such?
Claude: If you call negative wanting to win the league, challenging for the league that’s up for people to decide that but I want my club to do better. I think this club is big enough to be challenging for the title not settling for 4th each season.
Ty: Look at who were competing with Chelsea, Man City and Man Unitd who have all spent more money than us and he (Wenger) has still kept us competitive in the top four.
Claude: The mentality is coming, and of course players make the difference. I think the future looks good if we can just add those one or two special players it looks too late for this season but in the summer we’ve got to look at that again.
FFC: Turning to you as the ‘optimist’ Ty, recent months have seen speculation surrounding Wenger largely quell, things seem to be going well?
Ty: Absolutely because he’s doing his job and getting all the players fit. I don’t think since the invincibles that he has ever had his best 11 players fit so can you really judge him? I think you can only really judge him when he has had his whole first 11 fit for the season because if he did we would win the league. Obviously injuries happen and he has his faults which is far enough but you’ve got to look at the whole job the man has done.
Claude: At the moment he’s slightly turning me around but let’s wait to the end of season and we will see.
FFC: What would it take this season for you be convinced that Wenger is still the right man?
Claude: 3rd/2nd in the League and a really good run in CL, I mean at least the semi-finals. We’re capable but it’s early days yet.
Ty: All those things would be good obviously but, to me, even if we didn’t achieve any of those things, I would give Arsene another year, because of everything he has done for the club. It has been nothing short of incredible, to create an invincible team, it’s like a dream, if anything had told us we would go a whole season unbeaten we’d have never ever in our wildest dreams have believed them.
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FFC to Ty: So what would it take for you to say Wenger out?
Ty: I would never say that even if we got relegated, god forbid, out of Europe, and go down to the championship, because of what he has done for the club I cannot turn against him. What he has done for the club has been incredible, he is the reason why we are here because of the football we have played and seen – its been incredible, its been a dream, nothing could really turn me against him.
FFC: Finally, who has been your player of the season?
Claude: Alexis Sanchez, no doubt about it, he has been brilliant, absolutely outstanding.
Ty: Alexis Sanchez.
FFC: Nice to see I finally managed to find something you two agree on, thanks for your time guys.
It’s amazing what happens with Arsenal fans when you propose to give them exactly what they want. Young, inexperienced players are not good enough; those who will take an age to come good and then speak out of their desire to move on to the silver halls of rivals, both domestic and abroad. It’s not good enough when the player is an unknown that may or may not be totally fabricated. Fans want excitement, a player they know they can put faith into and whose status is well-known around European football.
The reaction, then, to Arsenal’s reported interest in David Villa has been staggering. It was unbelievable when people dismissed Fernando Llorente earlier in this season because he apparently couldn’t get a game in Marcelo Bielsa’s side, but this is something else.
David Villa is injury prone and over the hill, according to some. He’s not the same player he once was and why would Barcelona be willing to let him go if he was that good? Well that’s not the whole story or the whole truth. Barcelona don’t want to let him go because they know exactly what his worth is and how much he can contribute. The player, on the other hand, wants to play every week like he once did and is more than keen on the idea of a move away.
Injury prone? Hardly. Arsenal fans should know exactly what injury prone is. It’s the Abou Diaby three-week injury which lasts half a season. It’s the Robin van Persie ankle injury picked up every time Holland make the call. It’s most definitely not one bad injury in a near spotless career.
Thomas Vermaelen and Jack Wilshere have picked up lengthy injuries in the recent past, does that equate to them being dispensable? David Villas is exactly what everyone has been crying out for over the past six years, and now, with the possibility of signing him, the reservations and questioning of the manager’s decision come to the fore.
David Villa still plays like one of the best strikers in world football. His worth to Barcelona was evident last season when he was out from December onwards. Would they have retained their La Liga title had he been fit? Possibly. Does he still have the same movement, lethal finishing, calm under pressure? Of course. He grabbed the crucial winner in an epic encounter with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan; a fight back that seemed hugely unlikely until Cesc Fabregas got the important equaliser with less than a minute left of the 90. But there was David Villa, back from injury to bring home the winner in injury time.
Isn’t he exactly what’s needed to guide a young pretender like Theo Walcott? There was nothing wrong with Thierry Henry going back to Arsenal last season, nor was there anything wrong with Didier Drogba winning the Champions League for Chelsea with his kick in the penalty shootout. Both of those players are older than Villa, and yet there’s an idea that players’ careers come to an end once they hit 30.
Van Persie is around 18 months younger than Villa, but if it were the case, no fan would oppose the idea of giving him a four year contract extension. Everyone wanted experience and now the club are looking to add more. They’re not only doing that but bringing in a big name, one of the biggest in fact, to drive the team on to fourth.
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Villa’s most recent birthday hasn’t forced him to forget how to move in the final third, how to spring the offside trap and how bag 20 goals in a season. With so much excess cash reported to be laying around the Emirates, is £16 million too big a fee to part with for one of the world’s best who has won everything there is to win in the game?
It would have been great if he were arriving as a 26-year-old, like when he was linked with the club in 2008 but Arsene Wenger went on to say he wasn’t interested. But football doesn’t always work how you want it to. Would the excitement be any less if he were to arrive now? Certainly not, and it really shouldn’t be. How often do Arsenal have the chance to prize an experienced player of that calibre away from Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich?
Tottenham Hotspur face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow in a match that could go a long way towards determining who finishes in the top four of the English Premier League this season.
With UEFA Champions League qualification so important to both clubs and the Blues in fifth place, five points behind Spurs, it’s a huge fixture.
One of the talking points going into the match is the fitness of star Spurs striker Harry Kane, with Mauricio Pochettino revealing this week he has a ‘small possibility’ of featuring against the reigning champions.
He suffered an ankle injury against Bournemouth on 11th March, a problem which was thought to be more serious than allowing a return just two matches later.
Fans would of course love to see him back in action, but they’re wary of rushing him back to action too quickly, fearing he could suffer a setback and be out for their crucial FA Cup semi-final.
They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his potential return tomorrow…
Loan deals: they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they can be valuable in giving a player the chance to gain first-team football elsewhere.
The parent club are not forced into an immediate decision over the player’s future, whilst the player involved can experience another option that may develop into something more permanent.
The Premier League is filled with players who could benefit from a loan elsewhere.
So, without further ado, here are FOUR stars who should consider leaving on loan before the Monday night’s 11pm transfer window deadline…
Stevan Jovetic
Jovetic is undoubtedly talented, having arrived at the Citizens from Fiorentina after scoring 40 goals in 134 appearances across all competitions. However, City have a track record of leaving many promising players to warm the bench, and this £22million recruit appears to be the unfortunate latest casualty of their strength in depth.
This season Jovetic has already made nearly as many Premier League appearances as he did in the entirety of the previous campaign (15 with only two starts). The striker has finally had a chance to represent City in the Champions League too, though these opportunities have only come through Alvaro Negredo being loaned to Valencia.
Similarly, new January signing Wilfred Bony will probably be accommodated at the expense of Jovetic, for whom a loan move could be a great chance to get the regular football his talent merits.
Definitely worth a look for top European clubs as there is every chance of the move becoming permanent.
Roberto Soldado
They say insanity is trying the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a different result, and this certainly appears to apply to Roberto Soldado.
The forward arrived having scored 24 in 35 for Valencia in 2012/2013, leading to a hefty £26million price tag that Soldado has not yet lived up to.
At Tottenham he has mustered an average of just one league goal in every six games, though Mauricio Pochettino still vehemently supports the striker.
This does not necessarily mean a loan move will not happen, and particularly familiar pastures in La Liga may give Soldado an ideal opportunity to rediscover his form and obvious capabilities.
Adnan Januzaj
How the mighty have fallen. Just six months ago Januzaj had enjoyed an outstanding first Premier League campaign with Manchester United. The 19-year-old appeared a rare positive to emerge from a dire season as the Red Devils struggled under David Moyes.
However, Louis Van Gaal evidently does not fancy the winger, who has still not made over two full games worth of Premier League appearances concerning minutes this season.
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The winger is evidently capable, and was one of the few players to not disgrace themselves when the Red Devils could only draw at League Two Cambridge United in the FA Cup.
Januzaj is surely too precocious a talent for United to sell, so a loan move could be ideal in showing Van Gaal what he is missing out on.
Petr Cech
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This needs little explaining – Cech is a world-class goalkeeper who deserves regular football, though Mourinho may be reluctant to lose him permanently.
The Chelsea stopper would be a number one at most, if not every, top European club. The only thing preventing a loan deal to one of them will be the willingness of the Blues to let him go, even temporarily.