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A forum about football, for football fans
Southampton Football Club, more affectionately known as the Saints, have long had a record for producing fantastic young players, with an academy to be proud of- perhaps the finest outside the top flight.
In the past, the likes of Gareth Bale, Leon Best, Wayne Bridge, Theo Walcott and Chris Baird have been a product of their system, alongside Arron Davies, Scott McDonald, Tim Sparv and Jake Thomson, all representing their respective countries. To a lesser extent, Dexter Blackstock was another talent who started at Southampton (although he came through the Oxford United youth academy before Saints paid compensation of £275,000 to bring him to St. Mary's).
So it was of no surprise, then, that another starlet would come through at some time, and in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, they have that starlet. At the age of 16 years, 199 days, he made his first-team debut, becoming the 2nd youngest Saints player ever to take to the pitch (behind Theo Walcott, who was just 16 years and 143 days when he made his debut- and only 15 years and 175 days when he made his Reserve Team debut).
Alex made 36 appearances in his first season, scoring 10 goals along the way, and naturally has been courted by several Premier League clubs, most notably, Arsenal and Manchester United.
In fact, he has been linked strongly with a move to the Emirates this summer.
But Southampton manager, Nigel Adkins, has urged the teenage winger to spend another year on the South coast.
"Obviously in the last couple of days there have been a few comments that have come out nationally," Adkins said on Sky Sports News.
"The expectation for a 17-year-old boy and his parents to be linked with big football clubs obviously will play on people's minds, but I think he's handled himself ever so well, and he's loved at Southampton. We believe it's better for him to stay at Southampton and play his football and keep developing. We've got to try to make sure we look after a young boy who's handled himself ever so well but has been placed in a situation with speculation. It's speculation with big football clubs people always dream about."
Oxlade-Chamberlain expressed fears earlier this week that delaying a move to a big club could hamper his future prospects, saying he feels ready to make the step up immediately.
See what Sky Sports think of the youngster on their website: Sky Sports low down on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Former Blackburn Rovers and Rangers midfielder, Barry Ferguson, has completed a move to Bloomfield Road to join Blackpool from fellow Championship side Birmingham, and open another chapter in his career.
The 33-year-old former Scotland international had 12 months left on his Birmingham City contract, and has joined the Seasiders on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Ferguson at St. Andrews
He told Blackpool's official website: "I'm delighted to be here and I'm raring to go.
As soon as I spoke to the manager my mind was made up. I saw a lot of Blackpool last year and played against them as well and I was very impressed."
His statistics are as follows:
Rangers - 1997-2003 - 24 goals in 151 appearances
Blackburn - 2003-2005 - 1 goal in 36 appearances
Rangers - 2005-2009 - 20 goals in 137 appearances
Birmingham City - 2009-2011 - 0 goals in 72 appearances
Cardiff City completed the signing, late on Thursday, of 20-year-old Defensive Midfielder, Filip Kiss.
Kiss kiss..
The Slovakian U-21 captain joins on a season-long loan from Slovan Bratislava, and told Cardiff City Player:
"I watched Wednesday`s game against Celtic and was very impressed. I`m very excited to be here. I will give everything I can as a Cardiff City player and I hope to be successful with the club. I want to grow as a player and although I would consider myself a defensive midfielder, I`m happy to play anywhere in midfield."
The former Petržalka midfielder started his professional career at Inter Bratislava in 2008, before moving to Petržalka in 2009 where he made 23 league appearances. Another year later and another new club, moving to ŠK Slovan Bratislava in 2010. He played 29 games, scoring 6 goals, as Slovan Bratislava won a record 6th Slovak National title.
He could make his Cardiff debut in Saturday's friendly at Bournemouth.
Cardiff, meanwhile, are also thought to be close to signing Scotland striker Kenny Miller from Bursaspor after the Turkish side accepted a bid from the Bluebirds.
With Chelsea as close as it is possible to be to signing a new player without actually having signed him, Thibaut Courtois, the 19-year old Racing Genk player, has hinted at a loan deal once he officially becomes a Blue.
The young goalkeeper, still to agree personal terms over his move to London, expects to be loaned out to Atletico Madrid once the deal has been agreed.
"It is better for me to go to Atletico, I can learn more in Spain than in Belgium. I'll have to fight for my place, but that is life at the top. The easiest option for me would have been to stay at Genk. I could be loaned out for a second or even third season before becoming part of Chelsea's first-team squad."
He revealed that some of the club's (Chelsea) senior players had already welcomed him to Stamford Bridge, such as Lampard, Terry, soon-to-be-rival, Petr Cech, and Didier Drogba (who told Courtois how he'd seen him celebrating the Belgian title with Genk on the television).
I checked Courtois out on YouTube to see just how good this player is. And I must say, I was mightily impressed. As a non-Chelsea fan (particularly after the signed Petr Cech all those years back and dominated through him for a couple of years, in my opinion) I wanted this player to be overhyped. And for the first few saves I saw, I thought- "he saves with his legs too often..". But as the video continued and the number of great saves clocked up, I thought "wow, this guy is amazing!"
See for yourself by clicking the link below. And remember, he is only 19 years of age. There are far more experienced goalkeepers with a much less impressive catalogue of saves from their entire career!
Thibaut Courtois- Racing Genk goalkeeper
John O'Shea, the 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international, and Manchester United defender, is reportedly in Sunderland undergoing a medical.
This morning, he left for Wearside for his medical, following in the footsteps of United team-mate, Wes Brown, who was in the north east for his medical on Wednesday night.
Should O'Shea and 31-year-old Brown sign for the Black Cats, they will become Steve Bruce's 7th and 8th signings of the pre-season, with hopes of a 9th to be confirmed also- that of Darren Gibson, also from United.
They won't need to change their ties...
A £12million joint bid was made several weeks ago, which was accepted by Bruce's former manager, Alex Ferguson. The deal for Gibson has proven to be the most problematic, despite Gibson indicating his willingness to consider a move to the Stadium of Light early on.
Whether only Brown and O'Shea, or Gibson as well, sign for Sunderland, it will, as well as adding stability and experience to a weak defence, bring United fans everywhere to reluctantly bid farewell. O'Shea particularly is one of those players that has given his all, worn his heart on his sleeve, and any other number of clichés you can think of, for his club, and has adapted to any role given to him.
They will both, or all, be missed by United, and Sunderland will shore up a squad that has been all about change in recent weeks.
Following the long-protracted 'will he, won't he' story of the last year, Carlos Tevez has again announced his desire to leave Manchester City, and England, behind this summer.
This time, I fear there is no persuading him to stay.
"But, Ross, why as a Manchester United fan are you fearing that, this time, he will leave your city rivals? Surely that is to United's benefit?!"
Well let me tell you why.
Carlos Tevez is a one-of-a-kind.
He has played with his heart on his sleeve at all three of the English Premier League clubs he has played for. And I genuinely believe that if West Ham had been relegated on the final day of the season 2006-07 season, had there not been all these ownership problems, that he would have played in the Championship.
He gives his all nearly every game, simply enjoying the fact that he is playing a sport he loves for his career. You cannot question the effort he has put in for all of his clubs, and how many players can say that they have left their former clubs, still with the adoration of every fan?
Ever since Paul Ince was pictured wearing a Manchester United shirt in 1992, despite still being a West Ham United player, a sourness between the Red Devils and the Hammers has existed. Yet, through Tevez, a common bond is shared. And I don't think there are many West Ham fans who have anything but respect and gratitude for what he did for them, despite his leaving for Man United.
And even fewer players have crossed from Old Trafford to the City of Manchester Stadium/ Maine Road and still been adored by the United fans. Probably Denis Law being the other notable player.
So, as much as one of United's title rivals and bitter neighbours will be losing their star player, I think I'll be joined by the majority of United fans when I say that the English game will miss him. I think he'll be more missed in England than Cristiano Ronaldo. Maybe even as much as David Beckham.
And Tevez is someone the entire England team should look to for inspiration. They could all do with a generous pinch of his attitude.
So why the decision? Well the same as before, really. Family reasons.
The 27-year-old Argentinian, currently playing at the Copa America, stated:
"It is with great regret that I have to inform Manchester City of my wish to leave the club. I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner, Sheikh Mansoor, who has been nothing other than respectful to me.
I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family.
Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them."
Whilst saying that his ideal move would be to go home to Buenos Aires, he admitted that such a move would be unlikely at this stage of his career, and instead, following former United team-mate, Cristiano Ronaldo across to Spain would be the most likely option.
"I hope that most of the City fans will understand that I have given them my all on the pitch and that my dedication to the city cause has been 100 per cent on the pitch. I hope I have done my bit to help City continue their progress towards their ambition to be champions of England and to advance in the Champions League. I have no doubt that the players and management of City will achieve great success in the future."
Tevez' record in England is impressive: 7 goals in 26 appearances for West Ham; 19 goals in 63 for Manchester United and a HUGELY impressive 43 league goals in 65 matches for Manchester City
Tevez scored 43 league goals in 65 matches for City and is expected to fetch upwards of £40 million.
A couple of new signings to report tonight:
Firstly, and the most high profiled, is the £7million transfer of French defender, Gael Clichy from Arsenal to Manchester City.
Having completed his medical earlier today, most of the rest of the day was spent meeting the club officials, before signing to become Roberto Mancini's first summer deal. He will join former Arsenal-team mates, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure (though Adebayor is currently on loan at Real Madrid).
At the end of the season and about to enter his final contract year, Arsene Wenger was keen to tie Clichy down for an extension. Therefore the 'hands were tied' and they had little option but to cash in.
Clichy said: "I am really happy to be joining such a great club," Clichy told the club's website. I hope I can add to the quality we already have here because we have a fantastic squad who I believe will continue to get better. I can't wait to get started and I think anything is possible with this team."
Meanwhile, across Manchester, Wigan Athletic completed a deal for £3m less than City's as they signed Bolton Wanderers', and Oman international, goalkeeper Al Habsi for £4m. Having spent last season on loan at the DW Stadium, he was keen to return, but dispute over a fee held the deal up.
The Latics ended up meeting the valuation of the Trotters, and Al Habsi made his move permanent.
As Wigan's player of the season last year, manager Roberto Martinez was obviously pleased: "We are delighted to announce the best possible news for Wigan Athletic in securing Ali permanently. During his loan at our football club last season, Ali brought a great degree of professionalism in his daily work and put in many outstanding performances in the Premier League."
Al Habsi said: "I am very happy. I want to thank everyone at Bolton for helping me get established in this country but I need to be playing first-team football, and hopefully, if I can stay fit and keep doing my best, I will get the chance again at Wigan."
In what will surely be the most unexpected of transfers should it be completed, Tranmere Rovers of the 3rd tier of English football, have accepted an offer from Bayern Munich, Germany's most successful (and arguably famous) side, for their young striker, Dale Jennings.
The 18-year-old only made his debut for Rovers at the start of last season, scoring 6 goals in an impressive 32 appearances.
Having given him permission to speak to the German giants, manager Les Parry said:
"Bayern have made us a very good offer for Dale and we don't want to stand in his way of making this incredible move. When a club with the size and history of Bayern come in for you it's the opportunity of a lifetime and I wish Dale all the best should the transfer happen. It also says a lot about the club's youth system that one of the giants of European football is interested in signing one of our players."
This, surely, is a 'Fairytale for Dale'.
A big apology for the lack of recent update.
There are a couple of reasons for this...
Firstly, I have been working quite a few hours these last days. A complete schedule of 7 days, which will continue on until Thursday- a run of 11 days straight. A 10-hour shift on Friday, 8 hours Saturday and the same today, and I've had barely a minute to myself...
Secondly, there has been hardly a thing to note in the footballing world.. well nothing that I feel of such importance. There have been a few matches in the Women's Football World Cup; a story about Equatorial Guinea nearly causing an upset against heavily favoured Norway- 80-1 odds didn't stop them holding the Norwegians to 0-0 until 8 minutes from time; Brazil and Venezuela drawing 0-0 tonight and some other minor stories.
So, that's that.. I can certainly say, I'm looking forward to all the footballers coming home from their family holidays. I'll even be happy when the Far-Eastern or American friendly tours have finished. It's when the home friendlies take place that I start to feel the excitement coursing through me. When United play Shrewsbury, Arsenal play Barnet, Tottenham play Bishop's Stortford and so on, that's when the interest really comes. The paper's re-fill with rumour, but this time the rumours start to have more founding, and a percentage of them actually come true. The new football kits are revealed, season tickets are pretty much sold out; teams parade their new signings in their new shirt and gradually, the Australian pools start to eke away, replaced by pontins... Fantastic times lay ahead!
While we're here, I'd welcome any thoughts on the following question:
If rumoured transfers come true, who will be the most effective signing of the season?
I look forward to your thoughts.
Sunderland continue to add to their squad today, with the signings of two new players. Having signed Connor Wickham from Ipswich on Wednesday, Bruce has secured the signatures of Craig Gardner, Birmingham's 24-yr old midfielder, and Ji Dong-won, the K-League's 20-yr old Chunman Dragons' striker.
Having scored 10 for Birmingham last season, including winning the Carling Cup as a Blue, Gardner makes the switch for an undisclosed-fee. Despite his efforts, Birmingham failed to avoid the drop and Sunderland were only too happy to swoop.
Ji himself has a habit of scoring, hitting 6 in 11 international appearances for his native South Korea. He is the second Korean that Bruce has signed as manager, having signed Chon Won-hee for his former club, Wigan Athletic, in 2009.
Bruce told the Sunderland website:
"The boy has been in fantastic form for both club and country and he was one of South Korea's stand-out performers at the Asian Cup so we are delighted to bring him to Sunderland.
The Barclays Premier League is very different to the K-League so there is hard work ahead but you just have to look at players like Park Ji-sung and Lee Chung-yong to see how well Korean players are adapting to its pace and physicality.
I believe Ji can be an excellent acquisition and he has certainly impressed us over the long period we have been watching him."
In addition to Wickham, Ji and Gardner, Sunderland have signed Sebastian Larsson from Birmingham, and goalkeeper Kieren Westwood from Coventry City.
Following my last report about Wickham, and the fact that a matched bid from Liverpool could have scuppered the Black Cats, well... one never came.
And today as a consequence, the 6'3", 18-year-old striker made the switch to the Stadium of Light for an initial fee of £8 million, possibly rising to as much as £12m over the course of his four-year contract.
Steve Bruce, Sunderland manager, said:
"A number of top sides have been chasing Connor for some time now, so naturally we are absolutely delighted he has chosen to come to Sunderland. He's still very young, but at 6'3" he's a physical presence. With his height and style of play, he will offer us a threat in front of goal and complement our existing strikers.
We have been watching him for a while now and he is improving and developing all the time. He's a great prospect and I'm sure our supporters will love watching him play."
As much as Liverpool were reported to have had Wickham in their sights for some time, Wickham is believed to have preferred a move to the north-east due to the increased likelihood of playing regularly. Given Darren Bent's switch to Aston Villa in January and Danny Welbeck returing to Old Trafford after the completion of his loan period, Asamoah Gyan is the only recognised first-team striker, increasing further the chances for Wickham of a place in the starting line-up.
David De Gea, the Spanish U21 Atletico Madrid goalkeeper has agreed a 5-year contract with Manchester United, signing for a reported £17million.
Having already signed Phil Jones and Ashley Young, De Gea becomes United's 3rd major signing of the summer transfer perio, and pushed the expenditure through the £50m barrier,
De Gea stated: "I feel very proud and I can’t wait to start playing here. When a club the size of Manchester United comes in for you it obviously makes you very, very happy. I saw their interest as an extra motivation to work even harder to show off my ability. It’s a great privilege to be part of a club like United and I'm keen to do my best and show what I can do."
He will now set about the challenge of replacing Dutch legend, and retired United stopper, Edwin van der Sar, who, at 40 years of age, is double the age of the Spaniard.
Having made his La Liga debut for Atletico in 2009, and having just secured the U21 Euro Championship trophy with Spain, he will be thrown in to competition with Anders Lindegaard, the 27-year-old Danish keeper who joined last November, and Tomasz Kuszscak, the Polish keeper who has, in recent times, failed to impress.
After a huge void was left when Peter Schmeichel moved to Sporting Lisbon in 1999, a string of keepers tried to fill the gap. While some started well, such as Mark Bosnich and Fabian Barthez, they eventually left on bad terms after a catalogue of bad goalkeeping errors. Some, such as Massimo Taibi, is not even worth the screen you're reading this on.
But the arrival of Edwin from Fulham in 2005 gave United the goalkeeper to rival Schmeichel's pedigree. And having won a Champions League (2008), and four Premier League titles (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11), he felt it time to hang his gloves up, and the hunt for a new keeper could finally commence.
According to reports, a respectful £13million bid made by Sunderland for England U21 striker Connor Wickham has been accepted by Ipswich Town.
Steve Bruce and Niall Quinn will now team up in an attempt to persuade the 18-year-old forward to make the switch from Portman Road to the Stadium of Light.
Since making his debut as a fresh-faced 16-year-old towards the end of the 2008-09 season, he has scored 15 goals for the Tractor Boys, first finding the target in August 2009.
However, Liverpool are the preferred destination for Wickham, with them already having signed his England U21 colleague, Jordan Henderson, from Sunderland themselves for £20m. A matched bid from the Reds would therefore be a double blow for the Rokerites (although Sunderland are no longer called that!).
Until Liverpool do match Sunderland's bid, however, discussions with Sunderland are allowed to happen.
Following victory in the U21 European Championships with Spain, 20-year-old Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea has been spotted arriving in Manchester to go through his medical ahead of an £18m transfer.Though staff tried to hide him behind a blanket (you couldn't write this!), his 6'4" frame was too much to be covered, and photographs were inevitably taken.
Prior to heading to Denmark, it was reported that Manchester United and Atletico Madird had agreed a fee for the young keeper. However, De Gea remained mute on the transfer, besides to refute claims the deal was a 'done deal' back when Fergus was reported to have announced his imminent arrival.
De Gea started every La Liga game last season, after coming to prominence in the 2009-10 season. Along the way, he kept 11 clean sheets, and rose to 3rd place goalkeeper in the Spain national side.
Were he to sign, De Gea would be the 3rd United transfer of the pre-season period, joining Phil Jones and Ashley Young, and it doesn't look as if the champions will stop there. With the gap between United and Barcelona so vast in the Champions League Final, and with Scholes, Neville and Van der Sar retiring at the end of the season, new blood will be required to keep ahead of the likes of Chelsea and derby rivals, City.
Leeds United midfielder Neil Kilkenny has joined Bristol City on a three-year deal. After Kilkenny's contract expired at the end of last season, a new offer was turned down following report of interest from other Championship clubs.
Keith Millen, Bristol City manager, sold the club to Kilkenny, he told BBC Radio Bristol- "The way he spoke about the club, about the game and about me - he made my mind up. He described where the club wants to go and it fitted with my ambition, so that was the reason I joined."
The Australia international, 25, left Birmingham City for Leeds in January 2008 for £150,000
Millen said: "There aren't many creative midfielders available so the search has been difficult. The top players cost a lot of money but we've been fortunate in getting him in on a free transfer."
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