Arsenal Transfer News and Rumours, Sunday 23 January
Arsenal Set To Win Race for Oxlade-Chamberlain
Arsenal look set to win the race to sign Southampton teenage prodigy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, according to the Mail On Sunday.
The paper reports that the 17-year-old son of former England winger Mark Chamberlain visited Arsenal’s training ground on Friday to meet Arsene Wenger and will sign for the club on Wednesday after talks with the club’ chief executive, Ivan Gatzidis. The Mail says the deal will be worth £10 million although it admits that no fee has yet been agreed with Southampton. There have been suggestions that the Saints will receive £7 million up front along with a further £3 million in add-ons and bonuses.
Oxlade-Chamberlain burst into the Saints’ first team last season, making his debut as a 16-year-old. He soon cemented his spot in the team and has played in 28 games for Southampton this season scoring seven goals.
Arsenal became interested in him last month and despite Saints’ boss Nigel Adkins stating that the player would only go where and when it suited his club it is believed that they will not stand in his way. Liverpool also made an enquiry but were soon rebuffed and although Fulham made a late attempt to sign the player it is believed he will sign for the Gunners this week.
Arshavin and Woodgate In Summer Moves
Arsenal are also set to let Andrey Arshavin go, but only in the summer., according to media reports today.
The 29-year-old has had a disappointing season and although Arsene Wenger suggested last week that he was going nowhere it is reported by the News Of The World that he is ready to let him leave the Emirates this summer.
Former club Zenit St Petersburg are said to be interested but the NotW suggests that a move to Chelsea is more likely.
The News Of The World also repeats rumours that were rife yesterday, that Arsenal would put in a bid for Spurs defender Jonathan Woodgate but that any move would also take place this summer.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been guarded about a move for Bolton defender Gary Cahill. Speculation earlier today suggested that with Bolton having signed David Wheater from Middlesbrough Cahill may be “offered” to Arsenal. However, speaking at his Friday press conference Wenger denied that a bid was in the offing.
“At the moment, I cannot come out with any name,” he said. “I think Gary Cahill is a very good player but I cannot tell you more.
“We like to keep our transfer negotiations very secret. It puts more pressure on when you go public so you understand we don’t want to speak publicly about that.”
With Sebastian Squillaci and Thomas Vermaelen both injured Arsenal have just two fit centre-backs and while he has recently suggested a foray into the transfer market may be necessary Wenger said today that he has other options at centre-back.
“As long as Squillaci is out, I must say, we are short,” he said. “But we have other resources to play Song in there. If the worst came to the worst, Diaby is coming back so we could put Song back because we’d have Diaby to play in midfield.”
Arsenal Trio Set for Loans
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is one of three Gunners looking to head out on loan. The 20-year-old could be heading for a spell at his former club Cardiff City as Arsene Wenger looks for him to regain match fitness following a long lay-off.
“I don’t want [Ramsey] to go to a Premier League club because I want him to finish the season with us. I just look for competition for him,” said Wenger.
The Arsenal manager added that 20-year-old midfielder Henri Lansbury may go back to Norwich where he had a spell on loan earlier in the season and that forward Carlos Vela may also be loaned out though Wenger said he has a number of options for the Mexican. “At the end of the day I look for a guarantee [that he will play],” said Wenger. “For him, he has as well to agree to join the club who wants him.”
‘Slight Chance’ Almunia May Leave
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits that there is “a slight chance” goalkeeper Manuel Almunia will leave the club this month.
The Spaniard has been the centre of conflicting reports with rumours of a move to Turkish side Galataseray mooted in many quarters while Wenger himself said last week that he thought Almunia would stay at the Emirates.
However, Wenger admitted today there was a possibility he might not see out the month at the club.
“Almunia is on standby, that means he is here,” Wenger said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
However, on the possibility of a departure he added “We keep always that very quiet. There is a slight chance he could go but as I told you it is standby.”
Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips is weighing up his options as the transfer window enters its final two weeks.
The 29-year-old has been linked with a number of clubs with Bolton Wanderers the latest side said to be interested. But Bolton can’t afford the transfer fee for Wright-Phillips while neither Fulham nor West Ham are unable to meet his £60,000-a-week wage demands.
SWP’s own choice would be a loan move to Liverpool with a permanent transfer in the summer but he would have to take a pay cut to achieve that while Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is set to meet the club’s owner, John W Henry, this week about potential transfer targets.
Stoke Keen On Ba Loan
Stoke City have approached Bundesliga side Hoffenheim 1899 about taking striker Demba Ba on loan.
The Potters’ £7.1 million bid for the Sengeal international collapsed over the weekend when Ba failed a medical at the club’s training complex. However, Hoffenheim general manager Ernst Tanner told the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper that Stoke have been back in touch about a loan deal but insisted the 25-year-old would not be going anywhere on loan – nor would he play again for his club.
“The failed medical by Demba appears to me just an element of show in the whole transfer saga,” Tanner told the paper.
“Stoke are so keen on Demba that they have now come up with a proposal to sign Demba Ba on loan.”
Stoke boss Tony Pulis stressed that the problem with Ba was in one of his legs.
He said: “If our club doctor has said it’s going to take three, four or five months to settle down, I don’t see any point doing a deal. But if it’s weeks, who knows? It might be right to do it.”
Tanner said he would be keeping in touch with Stoke but would also be meeting officials at Hoffenheim to discuss what to do about the striker who refused to attend the club’s winter training camp in Spain to fly to England to negotiate his transfer.
Meanwhile, Stoke striker Eidur Gudjohnsen is interesting his old club PSV Eindhoven. The Icelandic striker had a two-year spell at the Dutch side while a 17-year-old and has struggled to make his mark since joining Stoke from French side Monaco at the beginning of September. Ajax are also said to be interested.
Miller Demands Pay Rise To Join Birmingham
Rangers striker Kenny Miller has demanded £50,000 a week to play for Birmingham City, the second of the club’s transfer targets to demand a pay-rise after City had had agreed a deal with his club.
Miller is said to have been offered £25,000 a week by Birmingham who are battling against a £30,000-a-week offer by Italian side Fiorentina. Miller is out of contract at the end of the season and claims he could earn that much if he sees out his contract with Rangers.
Birmingham have offered Rangers £650,000 for the 31-year-old while the Italian side are only willing to offer around £500,000.
“Regarding Kenny Miller we are now kind of waiting on an answer,” McLeish said yesterday.
Bothroyd Going Nowhere, Says Jones
Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd will not be moving to Newcastle or anywhere else this month, according to Bluebirds’ boss Dave Jones.
The 28-year-old England international is out of contract at the end of the season and Jones expects him to play a full role in Cardiff’s push towards the Premier League as he gets ready to return from injury.
Jones told the South Wales Echo: “We’ll have Jay back next week against Watford at home and that’s great for the team.
“We will not be selling any of our key players. Jay has been offered a new contract. That’s all we can do.
“It’s his decision whether to accept it, but he is under contract for the rest of this season.”]
Diouf Ready To Exit Blackburn
El-Hadj Diouf’s time at Blackburn seems to be up. New boss Steve Kean is said to have had enough of the striker’s antics particularly in the light of the Jamie Mackie incident last weekend when Diouf taunted the QPR player after breaking his leg in a tackle.
Diouf’s agent, Willie McKay, admitted his client could be on his way out of Ewood Park, saying: “El-Hadji is looking to make a fresh start. He is a good player and there is plenty of interest.”
Blackburn have signed Schalke’s USA international Jermain Jones on loan to the end of the season.
Palace Offer Everton £850k for Vaughan
Crystal Palace have offered Everton £850,000 for striker James Vaughan after he impressed during a recent loan spell at Selhurst Park.
Vaughan, who made a surprise appearances in yesterday’s Merseyside derby, is also wanted by Hull and Cardiff.
Wigan Athletic Transfer News and Rumours, Wednesday 5 January
Sunderland Linked With £8m N’Zogbia Move
Sunderland are being linked with an £8 million move for Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia.
The 26-year-old has been looking for a move since the end of last season; a fee was agreed with Birmingham in the summer but was scuppered when N’Zogbia made a last-minute demand of an extra £10,000 a week.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce took N’Zobgia to Wigan in 2008 in a £6 million deal and is keen to link up with his former charge once again.
Martinez Denies Boselli Loan Talk
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has denied reports linking Argentine striker Mario Boselli with a loan move to Italy or Spain.
Boselli has yet to score in eight Premier League games since his £5 million from Estudiantes in the summer but Martinez says he is unaware of any loan interest in his player.
“I saw the story. I don’t know what is the thought behind it,” said Martinez.
“Mauro came on and played half an hour on Sunday [against Newcastle] and when you have so many games in front of you, he has a great opportunity to try to settle into the team. We will see how things develop.”
Wigan Look At Westwood
Wigan are looking at Coventry keeper Keiren Westwood as a replacement for on-loan Chris Kirkland, according to TalkSport. Kirkland has been on loan at Leicester in a bid to regain his fitness after a hand injury caused him to lose his place in the side to on-loan Bolton keeper Ali Al-Habsi but doubts remain over his long-term Wigan future.
Manchester City Transfer News and Rumours, Monday 26 December
Mancini Expresses Admiration For Carroll as Wolfsburg Lower Dzeko Fee
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has expressed his admiration for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll.
Speaking after City’s 2-1 win at St James’s Park yesterday Mancini said on more than one occasion that he thought Carroll was a good player, adding “He’s young, he’s strong, he’s very good but I don’t think that Newcastle want to sell.”
Meanwhile, reports from Germany suggest that Wolfsburg have softened their stance on striker Edin Dzeko and could be ready to let him go for 30 million euros (£25 million).
The Bosnian striker is unhappy at the Bundesliga strugglers and manager Steve McLaren could be set to let his top scorer go in an attempt to restore harmony in the camp. Dzeko was given the captain’s armband earlier this season, a move that hasn’t gone down well with the rest of the squad who still regard left-back Marcel Schäfer as skipper.
As we reported yesterday Liverpool are ready to offer Ryan Babel and Daniel Agger in part-exchange for Dzeko, but Italian giants Juventus, who were on Dzeko’s trail during the summer are said to be interested.
Retaliation by Libya against British interests were a factor in the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, cables between the US and the UK published by Wikileaks claim.
The details, published in The Guardian, show that the British government feared “harsh and immediate” action by Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi and allege that Gadaffi made threats to halt trade deals and harass British embassy staff if Mr Al-Megrahi remained in jail.
In a cable sent to Washington in October 2008, the London charge d’affaires, Richard LeBaron, wrote: “The Libyans have told HMG [Her Majesty's Government] flat out that there will be ‘enormous repercussions’ for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship if Megrahi’s early release is not handled properly.”
In a cable to Washington in January 2009 the US ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, said that “dire” reprisals had been threatened against the UK, which was braced to take steps for self-protection. The Libyan government also threatened to take “harsh, immediate and not easily remedied” actions against the UK should Mr Al-Megrahi die in prison.
The US also reports the relief of the British ambassador to Libya, Vincent Fean, when Mr Al-Megrahi was released in the summer of 2009.
However, the cables make no suggestion that challenges the view at the time that the decision to release Mr Al-Megrahi was purely an issue for the Scottish government. Although there are suggestions that the SNP government of Alex Salmond was willing to release Mr Al-Megrahi anyway the UK government was willing to go along with it. However, when the release took place in August 2009, one of the cables suggests: “The Scottish government severely underestimated both US government and UK public reaction to its decision … Alex Salmond has privately indicated that he was ‘shocked’.”
RBS have overturned an injunction in a Texas court granted to Liverpool Football Club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The judge has given the American duo until 4pm tomorrow to comply with the order. In other words, Hicks and Gillett must withdraw the Texas injunction by 4pm tomorrow or be in contempt of court. A court case is set to take place in Dallas commencing 7pm Thursday BST.
At the High Court in London today Mr Justice Floyd ruled that an anti-suit injunction wanted by Royal Bank Of Scotland and other parties (the club’s board) against the owners’ action in Texas is granted. “This case has nothing to do with Texas,” said Mr Justice Floyd.
It is believed that the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures will now go through although Hicks and Gillett have claimed £1 billion in damages from the club.
The club were forced back to the High Court today after owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett went to court in Dallas last night to obtain an injunction preventing the sale of the club to American sports group New England Sports Ventures. There were also reports this morning that US hedge fund Mill Financial were set to buy the shares of Hicks and Gillett although this was yet to be confirmed.
This afternoon Singapore billionaire Peter Lim withdrew his £320 million offer claiming that the board was intent on selling the club to NESV “regardless of the merits” of other bids.
Liverpool FC Board To Discuss NESV and Peter Lim Bids
Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has held open the possibility of a takeover of the club by Singapore businessman Peter Lim.
Mr Broughton has announced that a meeting of the re-constituted Liverpool FC board will take place this evening to discuss the various offers on the table. American group New England Sports Ventures were thought to be a shoo-in after the High Court found in favour of RBS following their victory over current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, however, Mr Broughton has said the meeting will discuss all the offers on the table. This includes a bid from Mr Lim’s Meriton of £320 million.
There were also rumours yesterday of a bid from Mill Financial, who it was believed now controlled George Gillett’s stake in the club after he defaulted on their loan to him.
Mr Justice Floyd found in favour of Royal Bank Of Scotland at a High Court hearing today. The bank claimed that Tom Hicks and George Gillett claimed to have sacked two members of the club’s board ahead of a crucial meeting on the club’s future held last week. Hicks and Gillett were refused a right of appeal by the judge.
The judge in the court case brought by the Royal Bank Of Scotland against Liverpool FC owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett has said that he will deliver his verdict tomorrow morning.
After a hearing lasting almost five hours Mr Justice Floyd said that the court would reconvene at 10.30 tomorrow morning to hear his verdict.
During today’s hearing Mr Floyd heard arguments from lawyers representing Hicks and Gillett that they felt excluded during the sale process by a ‘sub-committee’ formed by the club’s three English directors and although they admitted they breached the sales agreement it was claimed that the that board refused to take into account stronger alternatives to the £300 million bid from US group New England Sports Ventures. As a result Hicks and Gillett dispute the injunction claim.
Lawyers representing the RBS said the owners contradicted the rules of the sale agreement by trying to oust two members of the board. The bank argues that there should be a mandatory injunction imposed by the court to make sure the board is reinstated.
The Board says that rather than being excluded from the sales agreement the owners simply refused to take part. It also insists the NESV bid was the strongest on the table after a thorough vetting process.
There are fears that if Hicks and Gillett win the case the club could go into administration later this week.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake has hit the south island of New Zealand. The earthquake hit at 4.35am local time on Saturday. The US Geological Survey said that the epicentre was 55km (35 miles) north-west of Christchurch, at a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles).
Police say there has been widespread damage to buildings and roads as well as power cuts. Many people fled Christchurch and the nearby city of Canterbury amidst fears that the area might be hit by a tsunami.
Much of the damage done by the earthquake was in the country’s second-largest city, Christchurch. Many old buildings have collapsed and a state of emergency has been declared in the city which has a population of 386,000.
Despite the magnitude of the ‘quake the only reports of injuries were of two men seriously injured by falling masonry and glass.
The country lies at the southern end of the Pacific Ring of Fire but despite there being around 14,000 earthquakes a year only 20 or so have a magnitude of 5.0 or above.
Three people were killed in a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 1968.
