David Beckham is mulling over multiple contract offers, according to his representatives.
The former Manchester United midfielder has been linked with a return to the Premier League with QPR, since running down his contract with MLS winners Los Angeles Galaxy earlier this month.
As well as the London club, teams from France, Australia and China have been suggested, but Beckham’s management company insist that no decision has been made:
“There are a number of serious proposals on the table, from a host of clubs across the world.” They are quoted by Sky Sports.
“David is no hurry to make a decision and the key is making the right one, as he has always done successfully in his career.
“It’s early days in the process. David is enjoying spending quality time with his family over the holidays.”
Beckham has previously claimed that a return to England is unlikely, which would seemingly leave a number of global options leading the chase.
It’s thought that A-League club Sydney FC are tempted by the 37-year-old’s worldwide image, and could make a an approach in a bid to mirror the impact his presence has had on the MLS.
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However, a number of French media outlets believe that he will choose between Paris Saint-German and Monaco, with the capital city club the more likely option.
Meanwhile, multiple Chinese Super League teams are thought to be monitoring the situation, and could make lucrative offers to tempt the former Real Madrid man to finish his illustrious career in Asia.
Newcastle reflect on the Christmas period mourning what could have been. After gut wrenchingly losing at Old Trafford 4-3 to a Javier Hernandez sucker punch, they again managed to lose scoring 3 at the Emirates a few short days later.
In the end the victory was more comprehensive for Arsenal than maybe it should have been as Theo Walcott took the limelight and certainly put his case for a new contract in the headlines again.
The Magpies know that they are tiring and will be desperate for new faces in January and with Mathieu Debuchy on his way that will be a welcome relief.
Demba Ba reportedly had unsuccessful talks with Chelsea over a move during the transfer window and Alan Pardew has demanded that this saga is put to bed immediately as it begins to affect the team morale. He has continued to score goals, but whether he will start after the last round of speculation is a hot topic of conversation on Tyneside.
Newcastle have been shipping goals and Williamson needs to forge a partnership alongside Coloccini if they are to have any chance on Wednesday night.
Everton on the other hand will be looking to continue their charge towards European qualification and the top four. The return of Marouane Fellaini will be a huge boost and will for sure bring a lot to the side with his aerial and physical ability. He also remains their top goalscorer.
The Toffees though will travel to the North East hoping to see out the result this time after letting Newcastle twice get back in the game in the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
The injury lists remain pretty lengthy for both sides. Newcastle remain without Steven Taylor, Cabaye, Ryan Taylor and Hatem Ben Arfa for the immediate future. Danny Simpson has sustained a toe injury and is expected to be out for the next 3-4 games so Perch is likely to fill in.
Everton will have to make do without Phil Neville, Tony Hibbert, Seamus Coleman and Kevin Mirallas as they are all on the injured list. Gibson came off with a thigh strain against Wigan on Boxing Day, but should be fit and Fellaini returns from a three match suspension.
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Steven Pienaar’s goal for Everton against Chelsea on Sunday was his club’s fastest in the Premier League since 2008 – when Yakubu netted after 47 seconds against Portsmouth, and they will hope to get off to a flyer here too.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Everton
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While clubs scour the globe to find the next goal scoring gem to fire them up the table, their answer could be closer to home than they are looking.
Darren Bent is a man who has been frozen out completely in the Paul Lambert regime at Aston Villa, despite no public confirmation of the two falling out. However common sense would suggest that something is wrong when a manager isn’t playing a striker who has scored more Premier League goals than anyone else over the last four seasons, bar Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
While appreciating the fact Christian Benteke has done well up front for Villa this season, he is still a raw talent and I can’t personally see why Lambert would shun a proven goal scorer such as Bent while his side face a relegation battle.
I understand the 28-year-old is one that will divide opinion for his lack of contribution in games apart from the goals themselves, but regular scorers like him are gold dust as at the end of the day, goals win games.
He is the kind of player who enjoys the responsibility as well, and one who won’t shy away from putting himself in the right positions even when the chips are down.
Going back to his record over the last four seasons, while Rooney has an impressive 72 to his name, followed by Van Persie on 68, it is Bent who comes in third with 62 in 117 games worth of Premier League football, impressive by any standards.
By pointing out those stats, I am not for one second suggesting that he is a striker that clubs with title aspirations should be looking to bring in, but if you’re asking me if I think he would have scored more goals than the likes of Giroud and Podolski have for Arsenal? I would be inclined to say yes, although I am aware that more was expected from the pair and that Arsenal’s ambitions are beyond players such as Bent.
I am making a point that you don’t always have to bring in players from abroad. Although it is understandable that a lot of the time managers do this to avoid the inflated transfer fees often given to Premier League players. I am targeting this piece at clubs who could afford to sign Bent.
When you look at the likes of Steven Fletcher, who moved from relegated Wolves to Sunderland, and Demba Ba who earned himself a switch to the European Champions from Newcastle, it shows the success that can be gained from looking closer to home when it comes to transfer dealings.
For a club fighting for survival, it is even more of a risk signing a player from another country in January and pinning the hopes of survival on them, without any time for him to bed into his new surroundings. It is also a lot easier to settle into a club that is doing well, as Papiss Cisse’s January move to St James’ Park showed last season.
Alan Pardew’s Newcastle have to consider themselves in a relegation battle now. After losing Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse looking a shadow of his former self, and Shola Ameobi never being the most prolific, the Magpies boss is on the search for a new source of goals as it is very difficult to stay up with a lack of fire power in the team.
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I wouldn’t put it past QPR boss Harry Redknapp coming in with an audacious bid for Bent either, after already snatching Loic Remy from under the noses of Newcastle in a bid for survival. While he had his own altercations with Bent during his time in charge of Tottenham, famously commenting on a chance the striker had missed during a game as one his “missus could have scored”, he will be aware of his qualities.
The England international has just returned from an injury lay off and of course Lambert may rule out any move for him this winter, with his side in a very delicate position in their fight to stay in the Premier League. However if he was to become available, even if it was in the summer, then I believe clubs should take a look at him.
At 28-years-old, he still has plenty to offer and if Villa do let him go, then I feel it could be a suicidal move and the difference between them staying up and going down.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes that Cristiano Ronaldo return to Old Trafford would be great for British football and not just the Red Devils, according to talkSPORT.
The Real Madrid winger has been linked with a return to Manchester in the summer as the harmony around the Madrid squad was at an all-time low earlier this season after falling so far behind Barcelona in the league table.
Atletico Madrid are also heading their neighbours in La Liga and Jose Mourinho’s future at the club may be defined by how far the Galacticos go in the Champions League.
Ronaldo scored in both legs against his former club as Madrid progressed at United’s expense in controversial circumstances.
It is possible that both Ronaldo and Mourinho will leave Madrid in the summer and both of the Portuguese stars could be on their way to Manchester.
Neville believes that Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford would not just benefit United, but the whole of British football.
“The rumours are growing around Manchester from the fans because he left in [exceptional] circumstances.
“Not many players would leave United and say they wanted to leave United and still get such a great reception, but they always recognised it was his dream to play at Real Madrid.
“There is no secret to the fact that he misses the security, the stability and the friendships that he had in Manchester and the reception he got the other night was special for him.
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“Forget Manchester United, I think, from a British football point of view, having Ronaldo back in the Premier League would be a great result for everybody because to watch him week in, week out, would be a pleasure.”
Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper is set to end his time on Tyneside in the summer after the North East club refused to offer him a new contract.
Harper has given 20 years of service to his boyhood club but has made just 155 league appearances for the Magpies as the 38 year old continues to play second fiddle at St James’ Park.
Shay Given dominated between the stick for the majority of Harper’s time at the club and now Dutch hotshot Tim Krul and impressive stopper Rob Elliot have the one and two spots between them.
Whether you feel Harper has shown great loyalty to the club or a distinct lack of ambition, it is extremely rare to see a player stick to a single club for 20 years and that is something to praise.
Harper is continuing to pick up his coaching badges but is yet to make a decision on his long term future after the summer.
“It has been a privilege to be a professional at such a fantastic football club,” Harper told the Evening Chronicle.
“If you had said to me as a raw kid from Seaham I’d be at the club for 20 years as a professional, I would have said you were mad.
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“People describe the club as an emotional roller-coaster and it certainly has been. I’ve had some fantastic times here. There have been some difficult times as well, but I have enjoyed it all.”
Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez has called for a change in the international calender to reduce the number of games in a season.
The Spaniard is preparing his Blues squad for their 59th game of the season on Sunday against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.
That figure is larger for those players who are full internationals, with England alone having played nine games already this season.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has already called for international friendlies to be abolished, labelling them a “hindrance”.
Meanwhile, England coach Roy Hodgson has spoken of his frustration at trying to assemble a squad during international breaks, with many club bosses seeing it as a chance to rest players rather than allowing them to join up with their countries.
Now Benitez has called for internationals to be reduced, with one solution being the introduction of a two-tier system in qualifying.
That would stop fixtures such as last month’s San Marino v England game, which saw the Three Lions romp home to a comfortable 8-0 victory against a side who have only ever won one game in their history.
“We play too many games in a season,” said the Spaniard. “I wouldn’t say just international games but they [the players] are playing too many games.
“We maybe have to check at the competitions and maybe reduce some of them.
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“To see a game where you can win 8-0 at international level is not an amazing experience for anyone, so you have to have a Group A for top sides in Europe.
“You then have a Group B and if they do well they can go to Group A, so you have less games.”
Dwight Tiendalli is set to hold talks with Swansea this week over a possible new deal to stay at the Liberty Stadium.
Tiendalli was a free agent when he was drafted in at the start of the season after a horror injury ruled Neil Taylor out for the entire campaign and he hopes to have done enough to earn a new deal.
The form of Ben Davies means Tiendalli did not play as much as he would have liked and with Taylor now back to full fitness it remains to be seen if there will be room in Michael Laudrup’s squad for him.
That will become a lot clearer when talks take place this week and Tiendalli has admitted he would like to stay with the Swans.
“Me and the club are going to talk about the future and we will see where it ends,” he revealed. “We’re going to talk this week. It’s not just about the last couple of weeks, it’s about all the games.
“I have a feeling I did my job well and we will see what happens. Of course I want to stay. I like Swansea.”
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Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk is being linked with a move to Spurs after his agent admitted a switch to England could be on, according to the Metro.
The frontman has been linked with a move to Spurs in the past because of his connection with Andre Villas-Boas, who was his manager at Porto, and the speculation has resurfaced once more.
Big-spending Monaco have recently been linked with a mega money bid for the Brazilian but the players agent, Teodoro Fonseca, has denied this and admitted a move to England was currently more likely for the 26-year-old Zenit St Petersburg striker.
“There are two great teams of the Premier League to have made their interest known,” Fonseca told OJogo.
“It is normal that such news would arise because it was with Andre Villas-Boas and Porto where Hulk had his best time.
“The future of Hulk is with Zenit, but I have never made such statements [about Monaco], I have not spoken to anyone from France.”
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Darren Bent has spilled the beans on the best gamers from his old team mates, and called out his new Fulham team mates on FIFA in his exclusive column with AskMen.com, published just moments ago. Bent says:
“At Sunderland, the boys used to give David Meyler a lot of banter that he used to play Xbox so much that he thought he was actually playing in the game in training. To be fair, he was pretty good at FIFA… It’ll be very interesting to see which of my new team-mates at Fulham can offer me a challenge…”
In an interview that’s bound to get gaming fans everywhere feeling nostalgic, new Fulham signing Darren Bent has also named Streets of Rage his favourite ever video game. Bent says:
“I’ve been into video games since I was really small. I had a Sega Master System, but it was when the Mega Drive launched that I became really hooked. That was just unbelievable. Streets of Rage was my favourite game and remains my all-time favourite. Even when all my mates transferred over to the Nintendo 64, I was still true to the Mega Drive and Streets of Rage. Those massive telephone boxes, beating up the baddies with the lamp posts and baseball bats; it was just the best by a mile. I honestly played that for about ten hours straight one day. My Mum had to take my Mega Drive away from me as I couldn’t stop playing it!”
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Read the full interview at: http://uk.askmen.com/entertainment/guy_gear/footballers-and-video-games.html
Crystal Palace became the eighth league team to have a manager depart this season, after it was announced on Wednesday that Ian Holloway had vacated his position by mutual consent.
The Bristolian exited Selhurst Park having been in charge for just under a year, with the club 19th in the Premier League table, five points adrift of safety.
In spite of the Eagles’ poor start to the season, culminating in Monday’s humiliating 4-1 home defeat to fellow-strugglers Fulham, Palace chairman Steve Parish had maintained his conviction that Holloway was the right man to take the side forward. This opinion, though, had begun to erode the patience of a number of supporters.
But only two days later club and manager parted company, with speculation now rife over who could be the man to save the Londoners’ ailing season.
The hot favourite appears to be former Stoke boss Tony Pulis, who Skybet price as 1/3 to get the nod, an offer no doubt contributed to by Steve Parish’s apparent openness to hold talks with the Welshman. Speaking to talkSPORT the Palace chief said “I’m sure we’ll try and contact him [Pulis] and if he’s interested we’ll have a chat with him and see where we go.”
One of the main attractions in landing Pulis would be his track record, which boasts consistent overachievement at Stoke and a history of never having been relegated.
To appoint him, however, could represent a U-turn of epic proportions on behalf of the club’s owners, away from the passing attacking style that Holloway tried to implement.
There can be no doubt that Palace’s improbable promotion under their now former boss resulted in the development of a long term plan of investment, a measure taken to ensure the club’s long-term safety and stability after being on the brink of liquidation just three years ago.
This included improvements to infrastructure and stadium as well as a clearly defined direction for the footballing side of things, expected to be implemented under the stewardship of the now departed Holloway.
Indeed, should the club have been relegated come the end of the season, it seems the plan was to stick with the manager as he attempted to win promotion straight back to the Premier League next year.
The problem now faced by Parish and his co-owners, is to what extent they will look to pursue those footballing principles under a new manager.
It is clear that the club has budgeted for the strong chance of relegation, having failed in four previous attempts to remain in the top tier for more than a season. As such, players who could put an unnecessary strain on a prospective and probable Championship wage budget, have been confined to short-term contracts, whilst younger players like Jose Campana and Dwight Gayle, were tied in to longer term deals.
And any new manager will now be forced to get the best out of the group of players assembled by Holloway, which both he and chairman Parish have accepted include some naïve signings.
It seemed Palace had been caught napping for long periods of the summer, embodied by the decision to sign six players in the final two days of the transfer window, a move which in hindsight would appear to have eroded the play-off winners’ morale.
These are the issues that Palace must acknowledge in their search for a new man, and ones that may indeed put off prospective applicants.
It has to be said that the current position of the club, with seven losses in eight league games, makes for grim reading. However, in Parish and co. Palace fans have owners of whom they can be proud, with common sense and proven track record of good business acumen. Though a little out of their depth at present, the club has a solid grounding upon which to build for the future, be that in the Premiership, or more likely, Championship, at least for the time being.
Current personnel though, may impede the ability of a Pulis-type character to play the way they would like, with the present squad having been geared around pace and wing-play as opposed to long-ball physicality.
Other names linked with the post have included former boss Neil Warnock and Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy, though Palace fans would almost certainly prefer to secure someone with a more successful Premier League pedigree.
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One potential suitor in that mould could be Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, a legend at the Selhurst outfit and someone who might be keen to work alongside the men at the top of the club. Indeed, with rumours over his future following the appointment of Joe Kinnear as the Magpies director of football, the former midfielder could welcome the chance of a fresh start with his former side.
Regardless of who takes the job, though, Palace fans know only too well that no managerial appointment is forever and would probably accept staying up by any means necessary.
But should relegation occur all will not necessarily be lost for the Eagles, with the opportunity to rebuild and regroup, perhaps facilitating the construction of a stronger side for years to come.