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Leko wants out of Monaco

Croatian midfielder Jerko Leko, unhappy with a lack of first-team football, has expressed his desire to move away from AS Monaco.

Leko, 29, joined Monaco at the start of the 2006-07 Ligue 1 season and became a fixture in the club. Under new manager Guy Lacombe, however, Leko has appeared just twice for Les Rouge et Blanc this season.

Speaking to French sports daily L’Equipe, Leko said: “I cannot be content with only a few appearances. I am no longer 20 years old…and I want to go somewhere else.” He also added that playing in either Germany or England is an option for a future move.

Leko transferred to Monaco from Dynamo Kyiv in 2006 and has appeared 59 times for Croatia since debuting in 2002.

Tags: croatia, desire, dynamo kyiv, England, french sports, future move, Germany, l equipe, Ligue 1, midfielder, Monaco, rouge et blanc, team football

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Premiership clubs chasing me, Chamakh claims

Bordeaux’s in-demand striker Marouane Chamakh claimed on Monday a host of English Premier League sides were queuing up to sign him for next season.

The Morocco international told French sports daily L’Equipe that his “dearest wish” was to play in the Premiership even though he has been offered a contract extension and pay rise by the French champions.

The 25-year-old, scorer of 13 goals last season, said his agent was in touch with a number of clubs, among them reportedly Arsenal, Sunderland, Blackburn, Tottenham and Fulham.

“We have agreements with several English clubs who want to take me on, and it is up to me to make the next move,” he said.

“I want a new challenge and I have a soft spot for the English league. I spent all my playing career at Bordeaux and now my strong desire is to seek a new challenge,” he told the newspaper.

Asked which club he might join the Moroccan said: “I am studying the various offers and looking at which destination would be right for me.”

Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc is taking the squad to Canada on a pre-season tour on Thursday and Chamakh indicated a decision might be reached before then.

Rumours this month of a 14 million euro move for the player by Sunderland have been firmly dismissed by Bordeaux.

Former French champions Lyon said they would welcome the Moroccan playmaker “with open arms” should he change his mind and decide to stay in France.

Club chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, speaking after presenting new signings Michael Bastos and Aly Cissokho, said it would be “regrettable” if Chamakh were to leave the French league.

“Nobody seems to be asking questions about this deplorable tendency by French clubs (…) not to match these really big transfers here in France and it is a pity,” he said.

“We pulled off an amazing coup with Bastos (transferred from Lille for 18 million euros) but I must admit it was very complicated,” added the Lyon chairman.

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: aly, arsenal, Aulas, bastos, Bordeaux, Canada, chamakh, contract extension, deplorable tendency, English, english clubs, English Premier League, France, france club, french clubs, french league, french sports, fulham, Jean-Michel, laurent blanc, Lille, Lyon, moroccan, morocco, new challenge, playmaker, Premier, rumours, soft spot, striker, Sunderland, tottenham, tour

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Czech midfielder Plasil signs with Bordeaux

PRAGUE (AFP) – Czech midfielder Jaroslav Plasil has signed a four-year deal with French champions Bordeaux, the CTK news agency said Thursday, citing Plasil’s agent Pavel Paska.

After two years with Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga, the 26-year-old is returning to France where his career started at Monaco in 1999.

French sports daily L’Equipe said Bordeaux would pay three million euros for the midfielder with a record of eight goals in 66 games for Osasuna, and five goals in 117 games for Monaco.

Plasil has won 47 caps with the Czech national team, netting on three occasions.

Tags: Bordeaux, ctk news, czech, France, french sports, games, Jaroslav Plasil, l equipe, LA Liga, Ligue 1, midfielder, Monaco, news agency, occasions, osasuna, paska, Pavel, Pavel Paska, PRAGUE, signs

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Bayern look to set limits after Ribery rebellion

BERLIN (AFP) – German giants Bayern Munich are considering putting a fine system in place in the wake of midfielder Franck Ribery’s rebellious insistance last week that he will leave to join Real Madrid.

On Wednesday, Ribery, 26, told French sports newspaper L’Equipe: “I have decided: I want to leave. It will be Real or nothing at all” which has annoyed Bayern’s bosses who have repeatedly insisted he is going nowhere.

The French midfield maestro sat out training last week with blisters as new Dutch coach Louis van Gaal took charge on Wednesday with the new Bundesliga season set to begin on August 7.

Now Bayern’s new director of sport Christian Nerlinger wants to bring in a fine system so that a similar situation of transfer poker is not played out in the media again.

“The players need to know the borders, so they don’t exceed them again,” said Nerlinger.

The tougher stance is the brainchild of van Gaal, a notoriously tough disciplinarian, added Nerlinger.

“We unconditionally support him in this,” he said.

And Nerlinger says he does not expect any more public comment from Ribery on the transfer issue.

“We have told Franck clearly that we are building a team around him and a sale is not an issue for debate,” said Nerlinger.

“The topic will soon take care of itself.

“Franck will stay with Bayern Munich.”

And Nerlinger insists Ribery’s lack of training ground time last week has nothing to do with his attitude and everything to do with injury.

“Franck has problems with his Achilles’ tendon, that is not an invention.”

Meanwhile in Spain, Real Madrid’s negotiator Pedro Jimenez says he is ready to present Bayern with an offer for Bayern Munich which they will “not be able to ignore.”

Tags: achilles, august 7, Bayern, berlin, blisters, brainchild, Bundesliga, Christian Nerlinger, disciplinarian, franck ribery, french sports, louis van gaal, MADRID, maestro, midfield, midfielder, Munich, negotiator, pedro jimenez, real madrid, rebellion

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Real Madrid defend spending spree

MADRID (AFP) – Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano has defended his side’s spending spree on new players like Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, saying the cash-rich club can afford it.

“Real Madrid is the richest club in the world. It generates a lot of money and this is why it recruits first rate players,” he said after unveiling new defender Raul Albiol, who joined Real from Valencia for a reported fee of 15 million euros late Thursday.

Valdano made the comment when asked by reporters about the criticism by UEFA president Michel Platini over the more then 200 million euros which Real has shelled out for new talent.

Real paid 93 million euros to recruit Ronaldo, the 2008 FIFA World Footballer of the Year, from Manchester United and 65 million euros to secure Kaka, the FIFA World Footballer of the Year, from AC Milan.

In an interview published Thursday in French sports daily L’Equipe, Platini said the huge sums of money spent by clubs like Real in the transfer market was “not normal”.

Last month he said UEFA was planning action to put an end to football’s excesses.

“These transfers are a serious challenge to the idea of fairplay and the concept of financial balance in our competitions,” he said, adding the new set of rules being developed was UEFA’s “top priority today”.

Real is the world’s largest revenue-generating club in the world, ahead of Manchester United and Barcelona, according to an annual ranking compiled by business advisory firm Deloitte.

The club boosted revenues from t-shirts and other souvenirs after it began signing top players like France’s Zinedine Zidane and England’s David Beckham in 2000.

Real Madrid’s capture of Brazilian star Kaka could be worth 100 million dollars a season in additional revenues to the Spanish club, according to sports business consultancy Weber Shandwick Sport.

Tags: ac milan, advisory firm, Barcelona, business consultancy, cristiano ronaldo, David Beckham, FIFA, fifa world footballer of the year, financial balance, footballer of the year, France, french sports, Jorge Valdano, l equipe, LA Liga, MADRID, Manchester, manchester united, michel platini, Milan, president, raul albiol, real madrid, ronaldo, spanish club, spending spree, United, Valencia, weber shandwick, world footballer of the year, zinedine zidane

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Platini criticizes high transfer fees

UEFA President Michel Platini has once again criticized the ‘excessive transfer fees’ that currently seem to dominate football.

In an interview with French sports paper l’Equipe, Platini commented on the series of high-profile transfers to Spanish giants Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo was signed for 94 million Euros, Kaka for 65 million and Benzema is said to cost 35 million. Raul Albion in addition, was purchased for 15 million Euros.

“I think something is not right. I don’t like it. What I don’t like either is that nowadays, contracts only seem to be signed to be broken. On the other hand, if clubs have the money, what can I do about it?

“Personally I can’t understand that you spend 90 million Euros for just one player. But I also remember the transfer of Diego Maradona, who joined Napoli from Barcelona for 6.5 million Euros in 1984. The money for Ronaldo will be the equivalent, more or less, of what was paid at the time. Back then, people thought it was excessive too.

By: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: 5 million, Albion, Barcelona, contracts, cristiano ronaldo, diego maradona, french sports, giants, kaka, l equipe, LA Liga, MADRID, michel platini, money, President Michel Platini, Raul Albion, real madrid, ronaldo, sports paper, uefa

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PSG, Marseille closed-door bans remain

PARIS (AFP) – Paris St Germain and Marseille will play one of their next matches in an empty stadium, the French Football Federation said on Friday.

The measure, previously imposed on a suspended basis, is being enforced to penalise the two French first division teams for the repeated use of flares and smoke bombs by fans, FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes said.

“The offence has been committed again, so the suspension is liable to be set aside,” he said, while conceding that other legal procedures still need to be heard.

The Paris club became the subject of the original order, upgraded from a fine, by a FFF tribunal following St Etienne’s visit to the Parc des Princes in the French capital on February 14.

Marseille were also ordered to play a match behind closed doors, subject to conditions, following various smoke bomb incidents, in particular during a fixture against Lorient on November 15 last year.

In a separate decision, Marseille and PSG were additionally sanctioned by the FFF for various disciplinary incidents during the course of the season.

After appealing to the the French Sports and Olympic Council to help conciliate in the matter, the two clubs may now have recourse to a civil court the make a judgement in the case.

Tags: civil court, closed doors, fff, flares, French, french capital, french football federation, french sports, Germain, jean pierre, Ligue 1, Lorient, Marseille, offence, olympic council, parc des princes, PARIS, paris club, paris st germain, play one, psg, recourse, smoke bomb, smoke bombs, st etienne

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