Arsene Wenger fears football transfers will never have a limit and believes the days of £200million transfers are not far away. Arsenal's Premier League rivals Manchester United broke the world transfer record earlier in the week when they paid £89million to Juventus to take Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford. That deal continues a trend which has seen the record extended by nearly £75million in 20 years, with the likes of Alan Shearer , Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale previously holding the tag of the world's most expensive player. Wenger's own record signing came when Arsenal paid in excess of £40million to sign Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid and he has previously criticised the amount of money that has been spent recently. And the Frenchman, whose … [Read more...]
Mertesacker named new Arsenal captain despite being sidelined with injury
Arsene Wenger believes it is "absolutely natural" for Arsenal to appoint injury victim Per Mertesacker as their captain for the new season. Arsenal have named Per Mertesacker as their new club captain despite the former Germany centre-back being in the midst of a lengthy knee injury lay-off. Mertesacker, who sustained his injury during a pre-season friendly against Lens, takes on the role following Mikel Arteta's departure to take up a coaching role at Manchester City after the end of last season. Manager Arsene Wenger believes his senior core of players are capable of sharing the armband until the 31-year-old makes his return. "Per is a very respected figure in the dressing room, is loved as well and is also a very demanding figure. I think it is … [Read more...]
Moyes confirms loan deal for Man Utd winger Januzaj
New Sunderland manager David Moyes has confirmed that Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj has joined on loan for the rest of the season. Moyes gave Januzaj his chance in the United first-team during his brief reign at Old Trafford, with the Belgian scoring twice on his first-ever start, at Sunderland, in October 2013. JANUZAJ CONFIRMED: #SAFC manager David Moyes announces that Adnan Januzaj has arrived on a season-long loan from @ManUtd. - Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) August 12, 2016 Januzaj, 21, becomes Moyes' third signing as Sunderland boss after United duo Paddy McNair and Donald Love. "Adnan needs to come and do the business," said Moyes. "He will give us a different variation because he can play in two or three different roles, but I … [Read more...]
Sturridge and Milner injury doubts for Liverpool opener against Arsenal
Liverpool could be without both Daniel Sturridge and James Milner when they kick off their new Premier League campaign at Arsenal on Sunday. Striker Sturridge missed the Reds' final two pre-season fixtures last weekend with a hip injury which flared up again at training on Thursday while former England colleague Milner, who recently retired from international football , sustained a bruised heel during Saturday's 4-0 win over Barcelona. On Sturridge, boss Jurgen Klopp told liverpoolfc.com: "On Wednesday he could train; on Thursday, he felt (it) a little bit so we will have to see. "Of course, he had a few days where he couldn't train and that's not too good for the Arsenal game, but we have other players who are available and that's good for … [Read more...]
Mourinho: Rivals are afraid to say they want to win title
Jose Mourinho has accused rival Premier League managers of being too “afraid” to publicly target the title. Mourinho was happy to describe the Red Devils as challengers for the crown in his first season at Old Trafford but believes others who share his aim are being coy about their ambitions. The Portuguese, who takes charge for the first time at Bournemouth on Sunday, did not name his targets but it can safely be assumed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Claudio Ranieri, who has already compared the chances of a Leicester title defence with an alien invasion , feature in his thoughts. “We feel that we are candidates to win the title,” he said. “We want to fight for the title, we cannot speak differently. We know that not one or two or three but … [Read more...]
Zlatan: I’m not a bad boy, I’m a family man
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has insisted he is not arrogant and instead projected himself as a “family man” ahead of his Premier League bow for Manchester United this weekend. The 34-year-old Swede, who joined on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last month, scored the winning goal as United defeated champions Leicester City in the Community Shield last weekend and is likely to start for the trip to Bournemouth. Ibrahimovic has won major honours at Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris before linking-up with Jose Mourinho in Manchester this summer but he rubbished the fanfare surrounding his “bad boy” image. Speaking to Sky Sports on the eve of the new Premier League season, Ibrahimovic said: “I'm a normal person. People have the … [Read more...]
Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny ruled out of Liverpool clash
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has ruled out the possibility of rushing Laurent Koscielny back for Sunday's Premier League opener against Liverpool, leaving him with only a trio of young centre-backs to choose from for the game. Arsenal have lost Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista to injuries in preseason, leading to some speculation that he could be forced to bring Koscielny into the team even though the France defender only returned to training this week after his post-Euro 2016 break. But Wenger said his only options against Liverpool at the Emirates will be 21-year-old Calum Chambers, 20-year-old Rob Holding and 18-year-old Krystian Bielik. "We lost basically three centre-backs because we have Mertesacker, Gabriel and Koscielny, who is not ready, who … [Read more...]