Tag Archives: demands

Tottenham chasing Julio Cesar

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AVB turns attentions to Cesar after Lyon slap 15m asking price on Lloris

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UPDATED:

10:51 GMT, 11 August 2012

Fantasy football 2012

Andre Villas-Boas's hunt for a new Spurs goalkeeper continues as he turns his attention to Inter Milan and Brazil's stopper Julio Cesar.

Cesar could be available on a free transfer too. Inter are keen to get the sky-high earning goalkeeper off their wage bill, as the Brazil international pockets 85,000 a week after tax.

The newly installed Villas-Boas was interested in acquiring the services of Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but the Ligue 1 club wanted 15million for the France number one.

Game on: Spurs are keen to land a new goalkeeper and have turned their attention to Julio Cesar

Game on: Spurs are keen to land a new goalkeeper and have turned their attention to Julio Cesar

A deal for Lloris, who captained the France nartional team at the European Championships, seems to be slipping through Tottenham's fingers, as the two clubs struggle to compromise on their valuations of the goalkeeper.

Italian giants Inter attempted to offload Cesar on a free transfer to Palmeiras in July.

The deal fell through after the keeper's wage demands proved too much for the Brazilian club to meet.

There was also talk of a potential swap deal for the goalkeeper. Giovani dos Santos has been out of favour for some time at Spurs, and could be used as a makeweight in the deal if Tottenham are unable to land the keeper on a free.

If Cesar were to up sticks to north London, he would be joining Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen at White Hart Lane.

Jermain Defoe meanwhile could be on his way out of the club. That is if Martin O'Neill gets his way, and manages to convince the England international to join him at Sunderland.

Tottenham target Salomon Rondon joins Rubin Kazan

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Blow for AVB as Tottenham target Rondon agrees Rubin Kazan switch

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UPDATED:

06:23 GMT, 6 August 2012

Andre-Villas Boas has suffered a blow in his bid to bolster his attacking options after Malaga target Salomon Rondon joined Rubin Kazan.

Tottenham have been monitoring the 22-year-old, and Villas-Boas was hopeful of luring him to White Hart Lane in a 10million deal.

Moving on: Salomon Rondon has left cash-strapped Malaga

Moving on: Salomon Rondon has left cash-strapped Malaga

But Rondon has penned a four-year
contract with the Russian side, leaving Villas-Boas desperately short of
strikers ahead of his debut campaign at Spurs.

The Portuguese faces starting the season with just one recognised striker in Jermain Defoe.

Emmanuel Adebayor, who had a loan
spell from Manchester City last season, appears to be pricing himself
out of a permanent move with his high wage demands.

Spurs offer lifeline to Jermain Defoe amid doubts over Emmanuel Adebayor deal

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Spurs boss Villas-Boas offers lifeline to Defoe amid doubts over Adebayor deal

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UPDATED:

17:41 GMT, 2 August 2012

Fantasy football 2012

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is
considering how to boost his attacking options after growing frustrated
in his bid to sign Emmanuel Adebayor on a permanent deal.

The Togo striker scored 17 Premier
League goals during a successful loan spell at White Hart Lane last
season and Spurs agreed a deal with Manchester City last month.

Options: Spurs boss Andre Villa-Boas

Options: Spurs boss Andre Villa-Boas

However, Adebayor's financial demands are threatening to derail his return to North London before the transfer window closes.

And Villas-Boas is ready to look at other options such as offering Jermain Defoe the chance to revive his Spurs career.

Defoe returned early from Spurs' pre-season tour of the USA following the death of his cousin and Villas-Boas is waiting for the England international to be available.

'Obviously there was an interest in Ade but we have a need first for Jermain to get back from his personal tragedy for the team to have further options in the striker position,' said Villas-Boas.

'We are still building a team. The team can improve and we are looking to improve it.

'This is obviously not the final product and as we go through August we have to get the right perspective as to where we can improve and where we will arrive.'

Tottenham deal for Emmanuel Adebayor hindered by wage demands

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Money worries leaves Adebayor's switch to Tottenham from City in doubt

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UPDATED:

22:33 GMT, 18 July 2012

Fantasy football 2012

Emmanuel Adebayor's 6million move to Tottenham from Manchester City has stalled because of the striker's wage demands.

Spurs had hoped to have the former Arsenal man ready and training with them this week and were happy to make him the best paid player in the club’s history – earning in the region of 115,000-per-week, inclusive of bonuses and add-ons.

The Togo international spent last season on loan at White Hart Lane under Harry Redknapp, but Andre Villas-Boas is happy to sanction a permanent switch.

Hot for Spurs Emmanuel Adebayor's wage demands are putting a permanent switch from Manchester City to Tottenham in serious doubt

Hot for Spurs Emmanuel Adebayor's wage demands are putting a permanent switch from Manchester City to Tottenham in serious doubt

Tottenham are currently short of strikers, with Jermain Defoe the only recognised centre-forward in the squad.

Adebayor had three and a half years with Arsenal before joining City for 25m in 2009.

Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson are so far the onoy recruits at White Hart Lane this summer.

Raul Garcia Liverpool target

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Liverpool interested in out-of-favour Atletico midfielder Garcia

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UPDATED:

11:22 GMT, 15 June 2012

Liverpool have been linked with a 6.5million move for Atletico Madrid midfielder Raul Garcia.

The 25-year-old cost almost 9million when Atletico signed him from Osasuna five years ago, but he will be allowed to leave after falling out of boss Diego Simeone’s plans.

Out-of-favour: Raul Garcia could move to Anfield

Out-of-favour: Raul Garcia could move to Anfield

Athletic Bilbao are keen to sign him, but after-tax wage demands of more than 30,000 a week are hindering negotiations.

Atletico sources claim two Barclays Premier League have also shown interest, with one said to be Liverpool.

Garcia impressed on loan at his former club Osasuna last season, scoring 11 goals in 32 games, and helping them to an impressive seventh-place finish in La Liga.

Brendan Rodgers saved Liverpool money – Charles Sale

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Rodgers kicks off Anfield career with a great save

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UPDATED:

22:25 GMT, 6 June 2012

Brendan Rodgers has saved Liverpool a six-figure agent’s fee on his Anfield contract by using the League Managers’ Association to negotiate his deal.

Rodgers was represented by LMA chief executive Richard Bevan and their retained employment expert Paul Gilroy QC — thus saving the club the hundreds of thousands of pounds they would have had to pay on his behalf had a middle man dealt with the three-year package.

The union, who intervene in almost all managerial disputes after a sacking, now want to increase their influence by being the preferred choice when managers sign for a club as well, although that will cause a lot of tension with agents.

Good work: Brendan Rodgers saved Liverpool money

Good work: Brendan Rodgers saved Liverpool money

But despite the LMA’s deal-making experience and legal set-up, Harry Redknapp currently has two high-profile agents working on his behalf.

The Tottenham manager, who like Roy Hodgson would have used the LMA had he been offered the England job, has signed a two-year contract with Wayne Rooney’s advisor Paul Stretford for his Triple S agency to be his sole representatives. Redknapp still has First Artists looking after his existing commercial agreements, which included a De Vere golf event this week.

Richards is back for more

More from Charles Sale…

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VIEW FULL ARCHIVE

Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards, whose conflict of interests when he was also at the helm of Club England was well documented, is back in a lead role in the England party at Euro 2012. Richards has remained chairman of the FA’s international committee and is one of four representatives from that group who will be in Krakow as long as the team are in the tournament. Richards’ presence in Poland will make for an interesting dynamic as FA chairman David Bernstein, who took his place as boss of Club England, will also be there. The pair have their differences on the conflict issue.

Humphrey changes tack

Jake Humphrey, one of the BBC presenters involved in the Corporation’s castigated coverage of the Diamond Jubilee, has switched agents to Peter Powell’s light entertainment specialist James Grant management. Humphrey, who has made his reputation as an accomplished F1 host, wants to do more TV work outside sport. However, BBC athletics commentator Paul Dickenson, who made such a mess of the royal pageant commentary, should certainly stick to track and field.

Sponsor Power

It says something about the power of sponsors that the England party stopped off en route to Luton airport for their flight to Krakow at the nearby HQ of team backers Vauxhall, where the whole squad had a photo with 200 of the company staff. Unfortunately for Vauxhall, the players arrived in Krakow in a bus emblazoned with Kia Motors, who are UEFA sponsors.

Message: Vauxhall made sure their brand was spotted with the England squad...

Message: Vauxhall made sure their brand was spotted with the England squad…

... but the coach was emblazoned with Kia Motors

… but the coach was emblazoned with Kia Motors

From bad to verse…

UK Athletics went into meltdown when Sportsmail’s Olympics Correspondent Jonathan McEvoy challenged Michigan-born GB captain Tiffany Porter to prove her British credentials before the World Indoor Championships by reciting the opening lines of God Save The Queen.

Purely as a result of that furore, UKA head coach Charles van Commenee will now ensure that all athletes who have switched allegiance know the words of the National Anthem.

Fat issue: The ludicrous debate was turned on its head by the retraction of the initial supposed accusation

Fat issue: The ludicrous debate was turned on its head by the retraction of the initial supposed accusation

To add to the confusion at UKA, Jessica Ennis’s coach Toni Minichiello, who started a witch-hunt by claiming a leading UKA official had ludicrously asserted that the heptathlete is fat, has retracted the accusation following a chat with Van Commenee. It is understood Minichiello told the coach nobody from UKA had used the F-word.

Parry exit… again

Controversial broadcaster Mike Parry, who left talkSport after the arrival of Richard Keys and Andy Gray, has now parted company with Sports Tonight Live, the online TV talk station that has just received Sky and Freeview platforms. Outspoken Parry had a major falling-out with his bosses following the sending of late-night text messages described as ‘abusive’. Parry said: ‘We had issues about the company.’

London 2012 Olympics: Jessica Ennis to be named in 100m hurdle team

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Ennis to be given hurdle spot… just in case anything goes wrong in the heptathlon

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UPDATED:

21:51 GMT, 5 June 2012

Jessica Ennis, Britain’s golden prospect for the heptathlon at the Olympic Games in London, will also be named in the 100 metres hurdles when Britain’s team is formally announced next month.

Ennis has no intention of running the specialist event in which she ranks as Britain’s No 2 but the selectors have agreed to her request to give her a place.

‘My name will be down in case anything happens (in the heptathlon),’ said the 26-year-old.'

Back up plan: Jessica Ennis will be included in the 100m hurdle team

Back up plan: Jessica Ennis will be included in the 100m hurdle team

Ennis would not be taking another athlete’s place.

Three are available and only one athlete, British record holder Tiffany Porter, has achieved the qualifying time. No others are even close to it.

The move by Ennis is a belt-and-braces exercise to give herself a second option if anything goes amiss in the heptathlon, such as a fall in the hurdles or a failure to clear a height in the high jump, the events that open the competition on the first day.

Ennis confirmed her earlier decision not to contest both events except in those extreme circumstances.

‘I would love to do the hurdles but I just feel it is too close and I want to keep really focused on the heptathlon.

Flying the flag: Ennis is expected to be one of the stars of the Olympic in the Heptathlon

Flying the flag: Ennis is expected to be one of the stars of the Olympic in the Heptathlon

‘If there was an opportunity to do it I would but I just think it’s too close this year,’ she said.

The heptathlon finishes on August 4. The hurdles heats are two days later.
If Ennis were to win the heptathlon, there would be no rest between the events because of media demands on her time.

Ennis is the best of the British-born sprinter hurdlers.

Only US-born Porter, who competes for Britain because of dual nationality, has ever run faster among the British-qualified than Ennis’s 12.79sec.

The two meet for the first time this year in the Diamond League meeting in Oslo tomorrow.

World champion and world No 1, Australian Sally Pearson, is also running and five more of Ennis’s rivals in Oslo have run faster than her this year. ‘I am going to Oslo in the hope of bringing my time down,’ said Ennis.

Baggies in for England"s Green as Hammers contract nears its end

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Baggies in for England's Green as Hammers contract nears its end

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UPDATED:

21:44 GMT, 2 June 2012

England's Rob Green could be unsettled
as West Brom try to sign him.

His West Ham deal expires next month and
contract talks have stalled over his wage demands, allowing Albion to
step in.

Green, 32, has 12 senior caps for England and is in the squad for Euro 2012.

On the move: West Ham's Robert Green celebrating the play-off final victory

On the move: West Ham's Robert Green celebrating the play-off final victory

Blackburn set to lose Yakubu and Gael Givet to China

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Blackburn set to lose Yakubu and Givet to megabucks Chinese offers

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UPDATED:

22:12 GMT, 31 May 2012

Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu is ready to quit England for China and a 5million-a-year contract – and he could be followed by Gael Givet.

Chinese Super League clubs Guan Beijing and Shanghai Shenhua are both interested in the Nigerian.

He has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave for 1million and that will not be a problem for the wealthy Chinese, who have also offered him 100,000 a week.

Wants out: Yakubu

Summer exit: Gael Givet

Rover and out: Yakubu (left) and Gael Givet (right) are set to leave Blackburn

The 29-year-old, who scored 18 goals last season, said: ‘I played in the Championship before. It was good but I don’t want to play there again.’

Shanghai, who also want defender Givet, 30, have been beset by problems and it is understood Nicolas Anelka is already considering a return to Europe this summer.

His former Chelsea team-mate, Didier Drogba, has a contract offer to join them but has also held talks with Real Madrid.

But the Spanish champions are struggling to meet the 34-year-old’s wage demands of around 150,000 a week.

West Ham want to sign Jonas Olsson and Sunderland players

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Hammers add Olsson and Sunderland trio to summer transfer wish list

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UPDATED:

08:03 GMT, 22 May 2012

Sam Allardyce has ramped up his summer spending plans by targeting West Brom defender Jonas Olsson along with a trio of Sunderland players.

The West Ham boss, fresh from leading his side back to the Premier League at the first attempt, is determined to strengthen his squad this summer.

And he has set his sights on Kieran Richardson, Craig Gordon and George McCartney, who spent last season on loan at Upton Park.

End of the road: Jonas Olsson (left) looks set to leave West Brom this summer

End of the road: Jonas Olsson (left) looks set to leave West Brom this summer

Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill is desperate to cut his squad and has already allowed nine players to leave, including Scotland keeper Craig Gordon.

Richardson, who came through the Hammers academy before moving to Manchester United as a 16-year-old, has 12 months left on his current deal at the Stadium of Light and his future remains unclear.

West Ham are set to lose Robert Green after the England international’s wage demands proved a stumbling block to him agreeing a new deal.

Demanding: Robert Green has yet to agree a new deal at West Ham

Demanding: Robert Green has yet to agree a new deal at West Ham

Ironically, Sunderland are interested in signing Green but face competition from Mark Hughes’ Queens Park Rangers.

Baggies centre back Olsson meanwhile has rejected a new deal at the Hawthorns and will reluctantly be sold as he has just one year remaining on his contract.

The Swede signed from Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in August 2008 for around 800,000 and has established himself at the heart of the defence.

Wanted: Kieran Richardson

Wanted: Kieran Richardson

West Ham will have to battle it out with Everton and Aston Villa for his signature.

Allardyce has reportedly drawn up a long list of targets including former Hammer Joe Cole but the Liverpool midfielder is determined to resurrect his Anfield career upon returning from his loan spell at Lille.

Newcastle’s Fraser Forster is on his radar although Celtic have a 1.7million first option on the 24-year-old following his two-season loan spell while Nigel Reo-Coker, who spent four years at Upton Park from 2004, is available on a free transfer from Bolton.

Allardyce is a fan and tried to sign the midfielder when Bolton manager.
But the Hammers hierarchy fear Reo-Coker’s 40,000-per-week wages could make a deal difficult.

Wigan’s Victor Moses, who is refusing to sign a new contract, is another option with the Latics looking to cash in on the Nigeria international this summer.

Wolves defender Roger Johnson and Crystal Palace full back Nathaniel Clyne also feature on the club’s transfer wish list.