It was with the help of Kevin Prince-Boateng that AC Milan breezed past PSV Eindhoven and into the Champions League group stages on Wednesday night, easing the growing pressure on Massimiliano Allegri in the process. Having lost the Serie A season opener to newly-promoted Hellas Verona, under-21 coach Devis Mangia was primed to succeed Allegri
Vlad Chiriches, aka “Vlad the Impaler”, is a 23-year old Romanian defender. He is a versatile player; while his main position is centre-back, he can be used on either side of the pitch, and can also be utilised as a DM. His style of play has been likened to that of both David Luiz and
It was with deep regret that Erik Lamela finally competed his long-awaited move from Roma to Tottenham Hotspur, the Argentine winger making way as the Italian club needed to cash in on the £25 million deal to balance the books. The move has been met by widespread disappointment around the capital as Roma have lost
Just after the hour mark of Real Madrid’s narrow 0-1 victory in Grenada on Monday night, Carlo Ancelotti substituted Mesut Ozil for Casimero, a decision that the German showed his clear objection to by angrily storming off down the tunnel. Ancelotti has begun his reign with 2 wins out of 2 but the sluggish, fragmented
As Chelsea prepare to take on Manchester United tonight in a mouthwatering early season clash in the English Premier League, confusion surrounds the future of their Spanish playmaker Juan Mata. Returning Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insists Mata is not for sale, despite continued speculation that he could be involved in a swap deal with Wayne
As we all know, Arsenal have been inactive thus far in the transfer market. Only young striker Yaya Sanogo has been signed up. After Ivan Gazidis confirming they have money to spend, no big names have yet to arrive. The likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez, Luiz Gustavo, Bernard and many other big names have
After managing to scrape 4th last season, hopes were once again elevated at the Emirates ahead of the new season, well, after Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis during a Q and A session with the fans gloated about the club’s financial position to sign big players to challenge for titles ahead of the new season. In
So, it’s finally over then. European media have broken out in consensus that Tottenham and Real Madrid have agreed a deal to take Gareth Bale to the Spanish capital, ending one of the summer’s longest-running transfer sagas. With various figures between £80 million and £115 million mooted over the course of the past two months
Real Madrid and Barcelona sit either side of Manchester United as first and third on the most recent Forbes list of richest clubs. The rest of Spain meanwhile is burdened by a collective debt of £3.523 million, making La Liga an attractive place for Premier League clubs to shop. Swansea brought in £2.5 million Jordi
After being rebuffed in the transfer market this summer by both Diego Costa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Brendan Rodgers’s desire to land a major signing at Liverpool shows no sign of relenting. Next on the list is Willian Borges da Silva of Anzhi Makhachkala, with reports contact has been made with the Russian club over a
This transfer window has seen Tottenham fans rubbing their hands together with glee so far. Always bi-polar and notoriously fickle, they all know it’s the hope that kills you. This window has seen a distinct change in attitudes, though. Tottenham’s transfer record has been broken not just once, but twice. First, the Brazilian midfielder Paulinho
It was poised to be a pivotal summer for Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa project, having narrowly escaped relegation in his first season in charge, the spotlight was on him to deliver the signings required to push his young team on, and to ensure the stand-out players from last year’s struggling side remained. With the countdown
“Deadwood” as Arsenal fans call him, the winger completed a rather not surprising move to Italian out-fit Roma. To some of the Arsenal faithful, citing me as an example; I had mixed emotions- firstly, tagging Gervinho ‘’Deadwood’’ is quite appealing especially when you remember he at least contributed fairly to the team last season, more
As Josep Guardiola settles on his Bayern Munich squad to begin life after the imperious success of Jupp Heynckes, it appears that will be little room for one of the integral members of the last regime. The new Guardiola-driven Bayern machine descends on the new German season with the Spaniard’s midfield taking shape, and Heynckes’s
Six summers have passed since Manchester United entered into the transfer market to splash £35 million on two players who were regarded, at the time, as a pair of the most coveted talents in Portuguese football. Nani was 20 years old when he arrived at Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon whilst Anderson was just 18
It is Spurs’ new striker Roberto Soldado who once said this of Real Madrid, “Madrid? They develop good players but then put their faith in foreign signings”. It was at Madrid where it all began for Soldado, though he was mostly restricted to the Castilla, the B team, making just four appearances for the senior
This summer at Liverpool has been largely overshadowed by the transfer saga involving Luis Suarez, the striker who seems intent on leaving Anfield despite the club’s resilient desire to keep him. In a parallel plot-line to the war of attrition with Suarez however, is the work done by Brendan Rodgers in quietly assembling a promising
Being one of the best Russian football players of all time and a hero for your hometown club for the best part of your career still isn’t good enough to earn you a warm and welcoming homecoming, as 32 year old Andrey Arshavin found out just a few weeks ago. After a season spent not
This summer’s European transfer market has been littered with moves that have involved nauseating sums of money, further illustrating the gap between the haves and the have nots as UEFA tries in vain with their Financial Fair Play regulations to bind the richest clubs, failing to prevent the inflation of the transfer market from spiralling
Wilfried Bony has long been linked with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and even Everton. But finally, after too many transfer stories, the Ivorian striker moved to Laudrup’s Swansea, for a reported fee of 12M euros, that could rise to 15M euros in bonuses. A lot of people have questioned this move. Was he
After having battled their way to a second place finish last year, changes seemed almost inevitable at Napoli. The sale of Cavani was a blow, but the money has been invested wisely, meaning Napoli have a deep squad with a very real chance of winning Serie A. Cavani was Mr. Napoli for all three of
On the face of it, the decision to finally sell Stefan Jovetic to Manchester City was a risky and potentially backward step for Fiorentina. However, with some very shrewd and wise investments, the sale could springboard the Florence based club back into European football’s elite club category. At this same time last year, Fiorentina were
AC Milan have undergone something of a regression since their last league title back in 2011, falling fifteen points behind champions Juventus last season as the Rossoneri finished third. This is perhaps owing to the recent financial structural problems in Italian football and the emergence of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations causing a sea of
Another Brazilian midfielder is heading east to ply his trade in the Premier League, and the tactical implications of Paulinho’s North London arrival could be indicative of a stark change in Andre Villas Boas’ Tottenham Hotspur tactics. Villas Boas’ time in England has seen him predominately switch between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3, the former
If there was surprise at the dubious timing of Bayern Munich’s announcement that Mario Gotze, still representing their Champions League final opponents Borussia Dortmund, was to join them at the end of the season, the blame should be put at the door of Manchester City. That is according to Bayern’s Chief Executive Karl Heinz Rummenigge