Chelsea target Neymar has ended transfer speculation for the time being by signing a new contract at current club Santos.
The Brazil international has shot to worldwide fame over the last 12 months after impressive performances for club and country, and has been heavily linked with a move to Europe.
With Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid all seemingly ready to pay the striker’s €45 million buy-out clause, the Copa Libertadores holders have moved to keep their star man in South America.
It has been revealed that the attacker has received a substantial increase in wages to stay at Vila Belmiro, and his buy out clause has now also been increased.
“Neymar is happy to be able to remain with Santos until at least 2014, after that he will decide where to go,” the starlet’s agent Wagner Ribiero confirmed to Lance.
Santos president Luiz Alfaro Ribeiro de Oliveira admitted that the forward’s buy-out clause had been increased but would not reveal what to.
The Brazilian executive also stated that the length of Neymar’s new deal matched his previous contract, which expires in June 2015.
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Last week Tottenham agreed to a sponsorship deal with American sports brand Under Armour. The deal will see them replace Puma as the shirt manufacturer for the 2012/13 season. It might seem like it a boring subject, but there are some interesting points to discuss.
As an American brand, and a relatively unknown one in Europe, Under Armour was keen to secure the sponsorship of Tottenham to raise their brand awareness. For this reason, they are apparently paying £10m a year, for the rights to make Tottenham’s training kit and replica shirts. This is twice the figure that Deloitte reported Puma to be paying for the same rights.
However, being a big American company on a mission of expansion, Under Armour will want to make a big impression. Here are three ways they might try to be different, and the reasons that Under Armour could split the opinion of the fans.
Firstly, Under Armour currently makes the kit for football clubs Hannover 96 and Estudiantes Tecos (Mexico). One thing to note about these kits is that they are both tight fitting around the chest. Tottenham fans might, here, think back to the Kappa kit of the 2005/06 season. While this looks great on a professional athlete, it doesn’t on the average football fan.
Secondly, the kits are innovative and not classic, with big blocks of colour contrasting each other. The colours that have been used so far for Hannover are new and futuristic opposed to classic shades. Estudiantes’ deal with Under Armour coincided with a rebranding of their club. This saw them change their club kit colours from White and Red to ‘Wine and Yellow’ with Under Armour. (Their new kit is pictured above). I hope Tottenham do not follow that path. I was never a massive fan of the yellow trim on the kit and I think a Tottenham kit should be a simple Lilywhite and Blue.
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Thirdly, Under Armour produces American Football kits which feature the ‘E39’ technology. Basically, the shirts are fitted with a micro chip that is able to record heart-rate, body temperature and other vital statistics. Furthermore, it allows a coach to see exactly how fast a player is moving, how quickly they change direction and how many yards they cover during a game.
This helps managers in their analysis of players and also helps them in deciding substitutions. In football this information would allow viewers to know just how high Rooney’s heart rate is when he screams at a referee, or just how cool Berbatov is in front of goal.
Personally, I think that is ridiculous. It is invasive and unnecessary. It is an example of the extent of corporate influence in sport in America. I hope Tottenham don’t use it and I hope it doesn’t catch on in the Premiership. It would just be a distraction to the beautiful game.
I just hope Under Armour don’t try too hard to promote their brand before that of Tottenham. Most importantly, I hope Under Armour stick to the basics of making a football kit. Sadly, they have not done that so far and are unlikely to do it now.
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But all in all, I don’t have a massive problem with the new sponsors as it is a good way for Tottenham to increase their revenue. If Under Armour are willing to pay £10m a year, that is a good thing. This will give the club more money to spend and shows that Tottenham, as a club, is becoming a bigger brand.
What do Tottenham fans make of the new deal with Under Armour? You can let me know at www.twitter.com/joeaustin8
Fulham have vowed to appoint a new manager "in the soonest timeframe possible" after being knocked back by Martin Jol.
Jol rejected the chance to replace Roy Hodgson in the Craven Cottage hot-seat on Thursday in order to stay in charge of Ajax.
The former Tottenham boss had agreed personal terms with the Cottagers but has decided to remain in his native Netherlands.
Fulham have been without a manager since Hodgson left to take over at Liverpool at the beginning of July and Jol had been the number one choice for the job.
However, chief executive Alistair Mackintosh must go back back to the drawing board and the club has issued a statement stressing their insistence in making the right appointment.
"When Fulham commenced negotiations with Martin Jol, the club was informed that an exit clause existed in his contract with Ajax," it read.
"Subsequent negotiations revealed that the clause was no longer valid and Ajax remained steadfast in their desire to keep their manager, therefore dialogue between the two clubs has now ended.
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"Since Roy Hodgson indicated that he wanted to leave Fulham, a short list of potential managers was identified, and the club is committed to ensuring that the right candidate is brought on board to continue the club's progress, in the soonest timeframe possible."
Caretaker manager Ray Lewington will remain in charge of first-team affairs but a host of candidates, led by Cardiff City boss Dave Jones and former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, are now back in the frame.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
After being the first choice striker at Madrid and favoured by Mourinho, Gonazalo Higuain got a sharp shock on his return from a lengthy lay off last season, as Karim Benzema had played him out of the team. During Higuain’s absence, Benzema took his chance, and this season especially his form has been scintillating. How ironic then that the same situation that caused Higuain to lose his place in the first team has almost repeated itself again this season, but with Benzema as the injured player, and Higuain keeping his place in the side purely on merit. It would be pretty hard to bench a player who has just scored his third hat trick in four games, and Higuain has done just that, being unlucky not to get a fourth goal against Betis before being taken off.
Obviously the age old cliché of it being a fantastic dilemma for any manager to have is true here, and Mourinho must now be thanking his special stars that both Higuain and Benzema have come through for him and now look like truly world class strikers. It is unfortunate for both that the trademark 4-3-3 that is so favoured by Mourinho only allows for one central striker, and for the vast majority of the time, one of them must be content with warming the bench.
When looking at what each player can offer the team, it is certainly true to say that the biggest galactico of them all Ronaldo prefers to play with Benzema in terms of his goal return and the role he plays in the team, with a slightly more selfish approach being the one taken by Ronaldo. When Higuain plays however, the role of Ronaldo becomes much less focused on himself and more on the team, with the amount of assists outweighing the goals he scores. Evidently either approach works for both Ronaldo and Madrid, with the star winger being capable of doing pretty much anything and playing with pretty much any player.
Another major positive for Real is the continued form of Kaka, with the Brazilian now cementing the suggestions he is finally back to his best with a brilliant goal and again all round solid performance. The combination of Ozil and Kaka is one that seems to be working for Madrid, and although it leaves Di Maria on the bench, it cannot be denied that in recent weeks Madrid have been slowly improving after a questionable period that resulted in defeat at the3 Ciudad de Valencia and a goalless draw away to Racing Santander.
After clear the air talks between Mourinho and the squad, and a team BBQ, Real now look to be a major force to be reckoned with all over the field, evidently more in tune with both their manager and each other. The creativity and extra spark that has been provided by Kaka has been more than a little bit responsible for their resurgence in form recently and when Di Maria came off the bench in the second half he provided the two assists for the final two goals showing that Real have class in abundance. With Sahin on his way to returning to the first team, there is certainly a wealth of talent in the Real Madrid side, and perhaps more so than at any other time during Mourinho’s tenure there.
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Real now face a tough tie in the Champions League against Lyon before an away trip to Andalucía where they face money boys Malaga who lost again on the weekend to surprise package and joint league leaders Levante last time out. Mourinho’s men will be looking to continue their excellent form, and really give Barcelona something to worry about before the Classico meeting in December. With Barcelona having lost Pique to yet another injury and Real looking stronger than ever, that is not such a distant possibility anymore.
Arsenal brought Leyton Orient back to reality at the Emirates on Wednesday, while Manchester City advanced at the expense of Aston Villa.The Gunners, who fell victim to a last-gasp equaliser in their trip to Orient in the FA Cup fifth round, ensured there would be no such surprises in the replay with an emphatic 5-0 thumping of the League One outfit.Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner endeared himself to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger with a hat-trick, accompanied by goals to Maroune Chamakh and Gael Clichy, to set up a tantalising visit to fellow Premier League title contenders Manchester United in the quarter-finals.Wenger, whose hopes of an ambitious quadruple of trophies were dashed when Arsenal lost to Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final on Sunday, retained only Tomas Rosicky from that side and handed debut starts to 19-year-old midfielder Conor Henderson and 18-year-old defender Ignasi Miquel.If the Gunners were not showing respect to Orient in their make-up it certainly did not affect their attitude on the pitch, and after bursting out of the blocks they deservedly took the lead in the seventh minute through Chamakh.The Moroccan striker, struggling for regular first-team appearances behind the likes of Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Andrei Arshavin, tapped home from close range after being picked out on Rosicky’s surging run down the right.Bendtner, whose last goal came in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat of Ipswich Town in the Carling Cup semi-finals, nodded a superb header past Orient custodian Jamie Jones on the half hour and made it 3-0 with a quality individual move 13 minutes later.Bendter completed his hat-trick – Arsenal’s first in the FA Cup for 18 years – from the penalty spot shortly after the hour, and French defender Clichy put his own exclamation mark on the proceedings in the 75th minute, meeting Emmanuel Eboue’s cross at the far post with his left boot.Manchester City set up a quarter-final meet with Reading after defeating a weakened Villa line-up 3-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium.Villa boss Gerard Houllier made eight changes to his first-team line-up, opting to leave the likes of Marc Albrighton, Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Nigel Reo-Coker and Robert Pires warming the bench.The sweeping changes turned the fifth-round clash into a lopsided affair as Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli and David Villa all found the net.Toure opened City’s account in the fifth minute after Patrick Vieira’s corner kick fell fortuitously into his path and Balotelli nabbed his 10th goal in City colours 20 minutes later, collecting Toure’s pass and volleying from 15 yards out.Silva, returning from an ankle injury, fired off a third goal in the 70th minute after being played in by Pablo Zabaleta’s cross from the right.
Joe Cole’s future remains uncertain as Manchester United balked at the England midfielder’s high wage demands and it is believed that only Arsenal and Tottenham remain in the race to sign the Chelsea man on a free when his current deal expires.
Is Cole’s greed costing him?
It appears as though the Red Devils have distanced themselves for a move with Cole as he is demanding wages in the excess of £100k-a-week and the England man may have blown his chance to play at Old Trafford.
I’m a fan of Cole and it is with heavy heart that I am criticising him, but I am at a loss to think why thinks he warrants such a lucrative deal. It seems as though his own greed had already cost him his career at Stamford Bridge and to be honest after the past two seasons he has disappointed more than he has performed well and it would have been ridiculous to pay him more than players like Michael Essien. The offer Cole did receive from the club was more than generous at £90k-a-week and was rightly withdrawn in my opinion as he dragged his feet for far too long.
Cole has had his injury woes over the past few years too, so it may be a slight risk for a club to take a gamble on him and his wage demands.
There was an argument which suggested that Cole was unhappy to be on the sidelines for Chelsea and as he did not think he would feature in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for next season. Cole struggled to get into the team ahead of Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou, so may want to leave the club in order to play first team football.
However, if reports are true and Cole is failing to agree terms with other clubs because he is sticking to his guns over the wages then it would suggest that it is his greed that is hurting his chances to find a new club.
On the other hand, Cole has a young family and may be unwilling to uproot from London where he is settled to move up north unless he receives the terms that he is after.
The midfielder is now 28-years-old and may feel that at his age he may feel as though he has at least one more big contract in him. Also, whoever decides to sign him will be getting a top quality player without having to pay out any transfer fee and could probably afford to improve his terms.
Cole’s focus for the meantime will be on the Three Lions’ World Cup campaign which is understandably delaying his decision over his future and like many other England fans I would like to see him get his chance in the England XI…perhaps he could earn that new deal with an impressive performance against a young Germany side which may even contain his replacement at Chelsea in Mesut Ozil.
What do the fans think about Joe Cole and his wage demands? Is he being greedy, or is he worth the money?
Follow me on Twitter: ajwilliams1987
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Click image below to see a gallery of the German babes at the World Cup:
Once being an established Premier League club, Southampton have just returned to the top flight after a lengthy spell in the lower divisions and their fans will be keen to ensure such a thing does not happen again. Such a tough league to navigate, the club did well to gain promotion from the Championship at all, but now life is really going to get tough in the Premier League.
England’s top division will be harder than ever, with huge amounts of money and top quality teams all scrapping for every point. Southampton will have to win their home games and try to get whatever they can on the road if they even want a chance of staying up this season.
Signing of the Summer –
Left back Nathaniel Clyne takes this coveted title, being the best buy for the club this summer. With pace and more than a little bit of ability this under 21 international will be worth every penny of the £2.15 million he cost the club. A flying start is what Southampton are in dire need of, and this highly rated boy will go a huge way to providing it.
One To Watch –
Much coveted attacking midfielder Adam Lallana is the one to watch this season, with a keen eye for goal and a drive forward that will quite possibly be the difference between the club winning and drawing a game. After being named in the Championship team of the season, Lallana will be looking to carry on his excellent start to life as a footballer and really make waves in the Premier League.
Breakthrough of the Season –
Despite looking like missing the early part of the season with injury, former Chelsea man Jack Cork is certainly at a cross roads in his career in terms of breaking through to become an established Premier League player, not to mention England International. The midfielder was part of the 18 man Olympic squad and will be looking to build on that in terms of his England future, and attempt to break into the first team squad. With Hodgson simply having to look to the future now, Cork has a good a chance of anyone of him being part of just that – providing he shines with his club of course.
What Will They End Up With?
Carling Cup –Much like the other promoted clubs, and indeed a host of other bottom end Premier League ones, all that will matter to Southampton is amassing enough points to stay in the Premier League. Crashing out in the last 32 to lower league opposition is what the Carling Cup has in store for them.
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FA Cup – Again, in an ideal world, a run in the FA cup would be amazing but in reality it is survival that will be the focus here, so an early exit after fielding a team of fringe players could well be on the cards, and no one would blame the club for that. The last 32 again for the club.
Premier League – It is one of the hardest things in football to manage to get out of the Championship, yet if possible even harder to stay in the Premier League. Each season there is a surprise package, and said package usually do much better than people expected them to. Whilst most expect Southampton to crash and burn, I am predicting a decent start to the season before falling into the bottom half of the table and relegation fight towards the end of the season, and an escape coupled with a 16th place finish.
Went asleep on Saturday night and slept like a baby all the way through to Monday morning, heard we had a game but I must have missed it.
All nonsense aside that was a crushing defeat, the red card killed us in the water and whilst the score was high, in a perverse way I commend the fact that when we got a goal back we went looking for more even if the end result was we conceded 3 more.
Whilst the red card was a game changer, the game cruelly exposed the weakness of our midfield, made even worse by the bright performance of City’s David Silva. His performance is the kind of thing we have needed but forget fantasy football and the potential players that could have made the difference.
The score remains 6-1 and once the embarrassment subsides it will remain 3 points and just 3 points that were lost at Old Trafford.
Looking past that we have a game against Aldershot in the Carling Cup and that could be the perfect match to restore a bit of cheer.
I haven’t gone mad, beating Aldershot in the Carling Cup in no way makes up for the City result but the manner in which we do so could raise spirits.
Recently Sir Alex has used the competition to bleed burgeoning talent into the team. Danny Welbeck who started in the derby on Sunday made his competitive debut for United in the Carling Cup in 2008 and even last round against Leeds the likes of Paul Pogba, Zeki Fryers and Larnell Cole made their debuts.
United’s commitment to youth is just one of the things that has made our club world famous and even this season two academy graduates in Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley have broken into the team and are stealing headlines from more senior players.
United fans too love seeing young players break through the ranks, last season’s FAYC run saw the academy team well supported in games both home and away and you only have to look at Twitter on the day of a reserve or academy game to see the interest that our future stars generate.
Tomorrow night Paul Pogba, Will Keane, Reece Brown, Michael Keane, Tom Thorpe, Zeki Fryers and Larnell Cole have all been included in the team to face the League Two side tomorrow.
Zeki Fryers was roundly praised for his performance against Leeds in the last round and tomorrow is the opportunity for him or another youngster to perhaps make his mark.
The game also allows Vidic to get minutes and the sooner he gets fit the better as he provides a defensive stability so that provides even more to be upbeat about.
I take nothing for granted, many of us thought we would steam roll Crawley last season and look how that turned out but with United you know Sir Alex will not allow for us to not react and it just happens to be a youth player or two may get to be a part of that.
So who knows, 3 years down the line one of these players may have made it into the first team the way Welbeck has too.
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Article courtesy of Chudi from The Busby Way
Remember to join us at Football FanCast for tonight’s LIVE BLOG for United’s trip to Aldershot by clicking below
As part of the feature on FootballFanCast.com this week looking at the bright future of the beautiful game we have highlighted some talented players who have the world at their feet, however things don’t always go to plan and of those tipped for stardom some will inevitably fail to fulfil their promise.
Before the start of the season I wrote a piece about the young Premier League starlets to watch out for. Amongst these much heralded and discussed youngsters were the likes of Marc Albrighton, Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell and Phil Jones.
Whilst these players undoubtedly have promising futures, football is full of talented players tipped by managers, team-mates and fans who did not make the grade. Below are ten of those who were lavished with praise but failed to match expectations.
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Click on the Neil Mellor on the bench below to see the Top TEN
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Gareth Barry gave England manager Fabio Capello a massive boost on Friday when he was able to take part in training on the Royal Bafokeng training pitches in South Africa.
There has been fears that the Manchester City star would not be fit enough to be included in Capello's 23-man squad for this summer's tournament but Barry was named by the Italian on Tuesday.
The former Aston Villa star suffered ankle ligament damage during City's defeat to Tottenham at Eastlands on May 5, a result that ended their hopes of playing in next season's Champions League.
However, the 29-year-old has made a quicker than anticipated recovery from the injury although he is still a major doubt for next week's Group C opener against the United States in Rustenburg.
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Ledley King was also able to take part in the session despite his ongoing knee problems.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email