Football news round-up 19-25 July

Sunday 25 July 2010

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is expected to miss the start of the new season after undergoing groin surgery. “Didier Drogba successfully underwent minimally invasive surgery on the groin injury that had troubled him for some of last season,” said Chelsea in a statement, adding that last season’s Premier League top scorer is expected to return to training in approximately three weeks.

Manchester City have signed left-back Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio after he was granted a work permit and passed a medical. “I want two top-class players for each position,” said manager Roberto Mancini after signing the 24-year-old. “This is an additional benefit to the team. He has a fantastic international career ahead of him. I am looking forward to working with him.”

Sunderland have signed Argentina full-back Marcos Angeleri from Estudiantes on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Sunderland manager Steve Bruce said: “In recent years he's been one of the best right full-backs in South America.”

Brazil have named Mano Menezes as the new coach of the national team following Dunga’s dismissal after the World Cup. “I have agreed with satisfaction and pride to coach the national team,” said Menezes, who is leaving his role as manager of Crointhians.

On a busy afternoon of pre-season friendly action, Liverpool lost 1-0 to Kaiserslautern in Germany as Milan Jovanovic played his first 45 minutes for the club. Jermaine Beckford scored twice in Everton’s 3-0 victory at Preston North end, Norwich beat Newcastle 2-1 at Carrow Road, while Aston Villa were beaten 2-1 by League of Ireland side Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

Elsewhere, Fraizer Campbell scored four times as Sunderland beat Hull City 4-2 in Portugal, Graham Dorrans scored the only goal as West Bromwich Albion beat Bristol Rovers and Birmingham won 2-0 in China against Liaoning Hongyun.

Bolton drew 1-1 at Rochdale, Stoke City thumped Newcastle Town 6-0 and Wolverhampton Wanderers triumphed 2-1 at Charleroi.

Scunthorpe United striker Gary Hooper is set for a move to Celtic after the clubs agreed a transfer fee for the 22-year-old. “Celtic have courted him, as have several clubs over the course of the summer,” said Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins.

Celtic are also trying to sign England goalkeeper David James, with the 39-year-old due in Glasgow on Monday for talks with the club. “He's hopefully coming up on Monday to have talks and look at the place and we'll take it from there,” revealed Hoops boss Neil Lennon.

League One Notts County have signed defender Liam Chilvers on two-year contract after he left Preston North End on a free transfer. Chilvers said: “The club were persistent and the decision was made a lot easier as the manager made it known he wanted me.”

Defender Damian Batt has signed a two-year contract extension with League Two Oxford United. “I've always said exactly how much I have enjoyed being here,” said Batt.

Fleetwood Town have signed Brazilian-born striker Magno Silva Vieira from Ebbsfleet United as they prepare for the step up to the Conference. Manager Micky Mellon said: “He brings an experienced goal-scoring ability, not just in the Conference but in the Football League.”

Goalkeeper Jamie Langfield will miss around three weeks of Aberdeen’s pre-season preparations after spilling boiling water on his foot. “They were making coffee and he spilled boiling water on himself,” said Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee of the freak accident. “You cannot legislate for it.”

Saturday 24 July 2010

New French manager Laurent Blanc has suspended all 23 members of France's World Cup squad for their next game against Norway in Oslo on 11 August. Blanc acted after France’s acrimonious departure from the World Cup.

Steve Parish's CPFC 2010 consortium are on the verge of taking Crystal Palace out of administration. "This is now the beginning of the end of the rescue of Crystal Palace," said administrator Brendan Guilfoyle.

Sheffield Wednesday have been served a winding up order by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill amounting to £550,000. A club spokesman said: "We have been involved in dialogue with HMRC for a number of weeks. As such, we are disappointed by their decision."

Wigan Athletic central defender Titus Bramble has teamed up with his former manager Steve Bruce after signing a three-year contract to join Sunderland.

Liverpool will face Rabotnicki in the third qualifying round of the Europa League. The first leg tie will be played in Macedonia next Thursday.

Wigan Athletic have signed Hamilton midfielder James McArthur in a £400,000 deal.

Bristol City manager Steve Coppell has handed former Reading player Liam Rosenior a trial. He told the club's website: "We're looking at him as an out-of-contract player and he's looking for a club."

Brighton manager Gus Poyet has confirmed his commitment to the club by agreeing a new four-year contract following speculation he was wanted by Swansea. He said: "I'm sure many people in football thought I was using Brighton as a stepping stone. That has never been the case."

Exeter City have signed Irish forward John O'Flynn on a free transfer after he was released by League Two Barnet.

Former Brentford player Alan Bennett has signed a one-year contract with Wycombe Wanderers.

Gillingham midfielder Danny Spiller has been offered a five-month contract following a successful trial.

Serbia defender Nemanja Vidic has agreed a new contract to stay at Manchester United, Chief executive David Gill said: “I am very pleased to confirm that we agreed terms with Nemanja three or four weeks ago on a new long-term deal with the club.”

Friday 23 July

Chelsea defender Alex will miss the start of the new season. Carlo Ancelotti, already missing goalkeeper Petr Cech for the big kick-off, will be without the Brazilian as he has a thigh injury.

Eduardo’s move from Arsenal to Shakhtar Donetsk has been confirmed. The striker will move to Russia for £6m and he said: “I will always have Arsenal in my heart, but I am excited about the challenge ahead.”

Martin O’Neill says he will only sell James Milner to Manchester City if they offer him an acceptable price. The England midfielder has already been the subject of a failed bid and O’Neill said: “It is pretty straightforward - if a fee can be agreed, the player will leave.”

Martin Jol has rejected the chance to become the new Fulham manager. The Ajax manager was due to succeed Roy Hodgson but he said: “I liked Fulham and England but I had to say no as Ajax didn’t want to let me go. I got offered a good job but I am under contract at Ajax.”

Wigan defender Titus Bramble has flown to the Algarve to discuss terms on his proposed move to Sunderland, while Paraguayan defender Antolin Alcaraz has agreed to join the Latics.

Newcastle United have signed free agent Dan Gosling on a four-year deal. The midfielder left Everton earlier this month following an administrative error over a proposed new contract.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has made England youth internationals Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck available for loan this season.

Liverpool will face Rabotnicki in the Third Qualifying Round for the Europa League after the Macedonian side completed a 1-0 aggregate win over Mika.

Aleksandar Kolarov’s move to Manchester City will go through shortly, according to the left-back’s club Lazio. Sporting director Igli Tare expects the Serbian international’s switch to happen without any problems. He said: “Both parties are willing to do the deal, there are no issues.”

Thursday 22 July

England’s Joe Cole believes he has joined the biggest club in the country after signing for Liverpool. Cole was also linked with Tottenham, West Ham and Arsenal while Chelsea always insisted they wanted him to stay at Stamford Bridge. But Cole said: "I know I've made the right decision and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

"I have played in London all my life. I could have stayed at Chelsea because the fans loved me and I won things, but I wanted to challenge myself and when I knew Liverpool were interested it was a no-brainer because they are the biggest club in the country." Cole stayed on the bench as Liverpool drew 0-0 in a friendly at Swiss club Grasshoppers on Wednesday night.

Arsenal have completed the sale of striker Eduardo to Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee reported to be in the region of £6m.

Chelsea have confirmed that goalkeeper Petr Cech will miss the start of the season and could be out for up to a month after tearing a calf muscle in training.

Celtic are holding talks with England goalkeeper David James with a view to a permanent transfer but say no deal has been agreed so far. Manager Neil Lennon said: “We are still a long way off and it's early days in terms of negotiation.” 

Liverpool winger Albert Riera is close to joining Greek club Olympiakos according to reports.

Wigan defender Titus Bramble is set to undergo a medical at Sunderland after the clubs agreed a transfer fee.

Liverpool defender Philipp Degen has been told he is free to look for a new club after the Reds signed Danny Wilson from Rangers on a three-year deal.

Blackpool striker Billy Clarke has suffered a knee injury and could be out for three months.

Arsenal have tied midfielder Francis Coquelin to a new long-term deal before sending him on loan to French club Lorient for the season.

Meanwhile, Samir Nasri scored two superb goals as Arsenal beat Austrian side Sturm Graz 3-0 in a friendly fixture. Henri Lansbury made it 3-0.

Gary O’Connor scored the winner for Birmingham as they won 1-0 in Beijing.

Wednesday 21 July

Rangers have agreed a deal in principle to sell defender Danny Wilson to Liverpool. Rangers chief executive Martin Bain said: "Liverpool's offer will see the club receive £2million up front with add-ons linked to games played, taking the total value of the deal to £5million."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed he wants to stay at Anfield following positive talks with new manager Roy Hodgson. Gerrard said: "I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately. I'm very impressed with his plans for the team. I only returned to training on Monday at Melwood with some of the other World Cup players but I can't wait for the new season to start."

Portsmouth will discover if they can exit administration before the start of the new season after a court agreed to speed up HM’s Revenue and Customs’ appeal process.

Joachim Loew has finally ended speculation surrounding his future by signing a two-year deal to remain as Germany coach until after the European Championship in 2012.

Santos claim they have rejected an offer from Chelsea to sign teenage superstar Neymar. The Brazilian club issued a statement, which read: "Santos FC declare they have received an official proposal from Chelsea FC of England for the economic rights of forward Neymar." But the statement "reiterates that Santos FC have no interest in opening negotiations.”

Welsh Premier League side The New Saints have set up a lucrative Champions League third round qualifying clash with Anderlecht following their 4-0 win over Irish champions Bohemians.

Stoke midfielder Matthew Etherington has agreed a new four-year contract with the club. Etherington, who was outstanding for the club last season, said: “It's been a fantastic couple of years for me here, so I was more than happy to sign a new contract. I am confident that we can go on to bigger and better things and I want to play my part by improving upon what I achieved last season.”

Preston have turned down a third bid from West Brom for keeper Andrew Lonergan. Preston manager Darren Ferguson said: “We got the latest bid but I value him at £20million - I don't want to sell him! I'm not being funny but West Brom are not going to get him for what they are bidding, no chance."

Tuesday 20 July

Joe Cole has completed a free transfer to Liverpool. The England midfielder was a free agent after leaving Chelsea, and was a target for Arsenal and Tottenham but has decided to sign a four-year deal at Anfield. He flew to join up with Liverpool at their Swiss training camp for a medical to finalise the move on Monday night.

Borja Valero has returned to his native Spain after leaving West Brom to join Villareal on loan for the season. The 25-year-old midfielder had been on loan last season at Real Mallorca, from whom West Brom signed him for a club record £4.7m in 2008.

Arsenal are bringing the famous North Bank and Clock End stands back as part of the 'Arsenalisation' of Emirates Stadium. The Northern section of the stadium will be renamed  the North Bank, while at the opposite end, fans will able to see a new clock in place for the opening league game against Blackpool on August 21.

West Ham look to have failed with a £12m bid for Brazilian teenager Neymar. The Santos striker is one of the most promising players in South America, but his father, who is also his agent, said: “He has a contract until 2015. We did have an offer from West Ham but it was not interesting."

Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard is set to make another loan move to French club Nice, having been at the club last season. Digard, 24, has fallen down the pecking order since Gordan Strachan took charge of the club and enjoyed an impressive spell with Nice when he made a loan move back in January.

Carlo Ancelotti is looking to fast-track Josh McEachran and other teenagers into the Chelsea first-team squad this season. McEachran, 17, has been compared to Joe Cole and the Chelsea manager said: "Josh is not as quick but he is a very skilful player. He has a bright future at the club. There are three or four players in the reserves and academy that could make the step up."

Celtic striker Georgios Samaras is wanted by Spanish side Hercules, according to manager Neil Lennon. The Greek striker has a year left on his contract and Celtic may be tempted to cash in on the Spanish club’s interest.

Monday 19 July

England Under 19s began Euro 2010 with a 3-2 win over Austria. Frank Nouble scored twice and Thomas Cruise netted for the young Lions.

Cesc Fabregas' Spain team-mate Carles Puyol believes the Arsenal captain will leave the Emirates for Barcelona. "Cesc is a really nice guy and desperate to become a Barcelona player," Puyol said.

Fulham are reportedly close to naming Ajax manager Martin Jol as Roy Hodgson's successor at Craven Cottage.

Newcastle defender Steven Taylor is a doubt for the start of the new season after sustaining a shoulder injury in the Toon's 3-0 friendly win over Carlisle on Saturday. Newcastle manager Chris Hughton said: "It's always a worry to have an injury of this sort, especially at the start of the season, but we will just have to wait and see."

Newcastle's north east rivals have injury concerns of their own - Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole may need to visit a specialist after aggravating a groin injury against Darlington on Saturday.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson says he is unlikely to risk any of his World Cup players for their Europa League qualifier against either Rabotnicki or Mika. "Possibly none of our World Cup players will play in the early Europa Cup games if we listen to the advice of the sports science people," he said.

Meanwhile, Emiliano Insua looks to be on the way out of Anfield, with Fiorentina his likely destination.

Manchester United defender Wes Brown would welcome the introduction of goalline technology in the game. FIFA have promised to investigate the issue and Brown said: "It would only take a few seconds to check whether the ball had gone over. It works well in tennis and I think it would be a great addition to our game."

Nice president Gilberto Stallardo says the transfer of Loic Remy to West Ham will only be complete once the sides have agreed on the payment method. The 23-year-old striker is wanted by Hammers manager Avram Grant but Stallardo said: "West Ham want to buy Loic because they think he could rapidly be worth 10million Euros more if he plays in England. They don't want us to pay the full sum all at once."