Real Madrid, Barcelona in race for Fabregas: report

November 17, 2009

Real Madrid and European champions Barcelona will battle to sign Arsenal’s Spanish captain Cesc Fabregas at the end of the season, sports daily AS reported on Tuesday.

“Cesc Fabregas has become one of the main targets of Madrid and Barcelona to reinforce their squads next season,” it said.

Real recently joined the list of clubs interested in signing the 22-year-old international midfielder, who rose through the ranks of Barcelona before leaving to join Arsenal in 2004, the newspaper said without naming its source.

Spanish media reported elsewhere that Sandro Rosell, a former Nike executive, wants to use the recruitment of Fabregas to boost his bid to be elected president of Barcelona at the club’s next elections in 2010.

“I’m comfortable at Arsenal. We have started strongly in the league and Champions League. We will see how it goes and hopefully injuries will be kind to us,” British paper Daily Mail quoted Fabregas as saying on Tuesday.

“My future? I’m focused on the short term and don’t look beyond that. I have a great responsibility to my club and now is not the time to think beyond that,” he added.

Fabregas is set to play for Spain in a friendly against Austria on Wednesday in Vienna, the scene of their Euro 2008 triumph.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: AFP, arsenal, cesc fabregas, champions league, daily mail, elections, euro 2008, european champions, nike, real madrid barcelona, recruitment, sandro rosell, season sports, spanish media, targets, triumph, Vienna

City’s spending spree makes sense in battle for fourth place

August 6, 2009

There’s been a fair bit of speculation, here and elsewhere, about whether Manchester City could actually win the Premier League title but a more realistic goal is a top four finish. That being the case, the summer spending spree seen by some as being brash and uncoordinated is actually very shrewd.

Look carefully, and what City have managed to do, with the recruitment of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, is to weaken two of their rivals for fourth place.

Last season Villa and Arsenal fought tooth and nail for that position and with his transfer policy Mark Hughes has struck an early couple of blows in this season’s fight.

Note that City also have their sights on defender Joleon Lescott from Everton, another team with Champions League aspirations.

Add to that the hugely satisfying signing of former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez and there would seem to be a pattern to their spending spree — even if results are not yet going their way.

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Tags: arsenal, aspirations, aston villa, Carlos, carlos tevez, champions league, CITY, emmanuel adebayor, Gareth Barry, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, Mark Hughes, Mark Hughes, premier league, realistic goal, recruitment, speculation, spending spree, tooth and nail, Toure

PSG won’t break the bank to sign Vieira

July 2, 2009

PSG manager Antoine Kombouare, who has confirmed Paris Saint-Germain’s interest in Patrick Vieira, has warned he will not pay too much for the Birmingham target.

The future of the 33-year-old midfielder remains shrouded in doubt as he no longer commands a regular first-team place for Inter Milan.

Some reports suggest Nerazzurri coach Jose Mourinho is ready to offload Vieira this summer and, if that is the case, the former Arsenal man could return home to France or move back to the Premier League, with Birmingham said to be interested.

PSG claim to have held talks with the France captain, who is keen to impress ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa but Kombouare has reiterated that money could be a stumbling block.

When asked by Le Parisien if he would like to sign Vieira, the PSG boss replied: “Of course, but not at any price. I have already made a heavy investment for the club with (Mevlut) Erding and (Gregory) Coupet.”

“The president (Sebastien Bazin) said there would be no more than the budget for recruitment. We will have to sell to finance more.”

Written by: Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: Antoine Kombouare, arsenal, bazin, Birmingham, boss, budget, France, Germain, Gregory, gregory coupet, inter milan, jose mourinho, Ligue 1, midfielder, Milan, PARIS, paris saint germain, parisien, patrick vieira, premier league, psg, recruitment, sebastien, Sebastien Bazin, Serie A, South Africa, stumbling block, target, world cup finals

Robben key to Real revival

January 7, 2009

Real Madrid have suffered a flurry of criticism in recent times for some disappointing, and expensive, forays into the transfer market (Fernando Gago and Rafael van der Vaart to name two).

But the recruitment of Arjen Robben from Chelsea for a reported 36 million euros in August 2007 seems finally to be paying off, with the Dutch winger in the form of his life.

He scored another superb goal against Villarreal at the Bernabeu on Sunday, securing a 1-0 victory for the champions, and said it was the best he had scored since his move to the Spanish capital.

”I am feeling happy right now,” he told Tuesday’s As newspaper. “Finally I can show how I play.”

The problem for Real is that when Robben is absent, which is not a rare occurrence due to an unfortunate habit of getting injured or suspended, the team lacks momentum going forward.

They seem, in fact, a bit like the current Chelsea side and the Londoners may be regretting their decision to let Robben leave.

“When he is injured you notice it quite a lot,” Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas told reporters on Monday when asked about Robben’s recent form.

“He is a very important player for us, electric, fast and throws the opposition off balance. We have to look after him a lot and we hope he doesn’t injure himself because I am sure he will do great things and help the team a lot.”

With the Dutchman in the side, Real can look and play like champions. Without him they can look pretty ordinary.

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Arjen Robben celebrates his goal during their La Liga match against Villarreal at the Bernabeu, Jan. 4, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

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