Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes has confirmed that the newly promoted Premier League club are interested in signing David Beckham from LA Galaxy.
The veteran midfielder is out of contract at the MLS outfit in November, making him a free agent, and the Loftus Park side want to bring him back to London.
Fernandes, who recently took over the ownership of the club, confirmed that he would like to see Beckham at Rangers.
“I think having someone like David in the club would be great. Was always in my thoughts. Let’s see,” he stated on his Twitter page.
Fernandes is known to be a shrewd businessman, and his investment has already funded moves for Joey Barton, Anton Ferdinand and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
However, the Air Asia chairman also has links from within entertainment company AEG, who own LA Galaxy, and is using this to start the negotiation process.
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The former Manchester United man has previously stated that he would not return to the Premier League unless it was to Old Trafford, but despite this may be intrigued by one last chance to play in the top flight in England before his career ends.
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Palmeiras moved fourth in Brazil’s Campeonato Paulista after they crushed Ituano 4-1 away from home on Thursday.
Striker Kleber netted a brace in the victory, opening the scoring in the 27th minute, before Welton equalised for the home side on the stroke of half time at the Estadio Barao de Serra Negra.
But it was all Palmeiras after the break, with Dinei putting the visitors ahead eight minutes after the restart before Kleber scored his second on the hour mark.
Tinga added an injury time goal to top off an emphatic victory.
Noroeste twice pegged back Botafogo on the road to force a 2-2 draw at the Estadio Santa Cruz.
Rodrigo Pontes got Botafogo on board in the 11th minute to give the hosts the lead.
But Ricardinho equalised for Noroeste in the 56th minute, before Moacir re-installed Botafogo’s lead 12 minutes later.
Not to be denied, Ze Carlos produced the point-snatching goal for Noroeste in the 74th minute to leave both sides on two points after two games.
Paulista’s trip to Gremio Prudente proved a fruitful one, as they walked away with all three points in a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Municipal Eduardo Jose Farah.
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Hernane got the visitors off the ideal start with a 10th minute goal, but Rai restored parity seven minutes later to level things up at the break.
Rone Dias scored the winner for Paulista on 59 minutes, and the win leaves them in third place on the table, one of four unbeaten teams in the competition after two matches.
Observing illegal global betting markets virtually extinguish the structure of certain sports from the inside, as players are tempted into fixing certain outcomes, certainly does not sit comfortably with sports enthusiasts across the globe. After all, Sport is one of the most engaging, exhilarating pastimes in the world, in no small part down to its unpredictability and honesty. When accusations are surfaced of players accepting bribes to fix certain facets of matches, whilst gaining personal financial reward, goes against what the essence of Sport represents. In recent years, Cricket has been rife with illegal betting scandals, some players actually facing prison sentences for their respective part in the allegations. Match fixing in football on the continent has also been ubiquitous, not least in Italy where in May of this year, numerous Serie A stars were arrested after accusations of receiving money from betting syndicates.
Somewhat incredibly, the Premier League has sidestepped any stories of match fixing, or illegal betting from players, until now. The popularity of this nation’s domestic league has been uncompromising in its increase, with globalisation of the competition now at its peak. However, with such unwavering, Big Brother style media coverage of proceedings at all 20 clubs that are fortunate enough to compete in the Premiership, any hidden agenda was bound to be uncovered, reported and evaluated.
Former Southampton captain Claus Lundekvam revealed yesterday that he was one of many Premier League players who were involved in illegal betting scams. Speaking to press in his native Norway, he remarked that these match fixing scandals lasted for years. This news will come as a huge blow to all governing bodies associated with the Premier League and English Football. Whilst the domestic game on our shores hardly prides itself on a clean cut image, it has continuously been commended for never entertaining such scandals that have disturbed many other European leagues. However, the announcements today suggest that these match fixing scams had been occurring under the nose of the PFA over a decade ago. Who is to know what subsequent scandals have transpired, especially as the prominence of illegal betting syndicates in other sports have only erupted in recent years.
Regulations will now be incredibly severe as the league attempts to distance itself from these accusations. The positive side of the story for the PFA is the period of time that has passed since the supposed betting scandals occurred. If any other stories surface that are of more recent chronology, then questions will have to be answered as to why, with the PFA so stringent on other aspects of football, had they not acquired knowledge of any incidents of this calibre?
With UEFA acting so heatedly after Jack Wilshere jokingly posted tweets stating that he had put ‘a cheeky tenner’ on an Arsenal player to score last season, one would expect an almighty upheaval by the Premier League bigwigs to delve to the epicentre of this scandal.
While all fans of the Premier League will be saddened to hear news such as this, one couldn’t state that ‘surprised’ is a applicable word to define opinions on the scandal. With such a societally high standing a sport as Cricket becoming so defined by similar allegations in recent years, the negative coverage that Football receives at times was bound to uncover stories such as Lundekvam’s tale of match fixing; stories that are far less financially involved than other illegal betting scandals that have rocked the sporting world. Expect dire repercussions but don’t expect prison sentences.
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The fact that Darren Bent has not even come close to signing for one of the league’s top teams is a mystery to me. This is no flash in the pan or one hit wonder we are talking about. Here is a player that has constantly reached double figures in the league season after season. So why exactly are the top managers not willing to snap up a proven goal scorer?
Arsenal would have been a perfect fit for Bent as they are a team that creates numerous chances during each game. However yet again Arsene Wenger takes another gamble on an unproven foreign import in the £10 million signing of Gervinho. Of course Van Persie will be a mainstay at the emirates for years to come but he is prone to injury and is unlikely to last a whole season.
So who is there to take the goal scoring burden? Bendtner? Chamakh? Even new boy Gervinho is not considered as an out and out striker. Arsenal are in need of someone to stick the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis and I see Darren Bent as an ideal solution.
However in the modern game we know it seems in vogue to have strikers that have more to their game than knowing where the goal is. Managers prefer a player that can build up play, by dropping back into midfield and adopt more of a playmaker role i.e. Wayne Rooney . Or even the workhorse type player, hell-bent on chasing every stray ball into the corner. Bent will give you neither of these attributes. But this is not to say the role of a simple goal poacher is any less important to a team and I think is actually a rare commodity to find in a player nowadays.
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An interesting aspect to bring up regarding a player’s goal scoring exploits is looking at the quality of the opposition the goals were scored against. When looking at Peter Crouch ’s impressive England goal ratio, the thing that stand out most is the majority were scored against so called smaller nations i.e. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago etc. but this argument does not wash with Bent’s career goals, having scored against some of the best defences in the League of many occasions. Most recently scoring a brace against Arsenal at the end of last season.
Having finally secured his place in the England starting 11, I see Bent being vital to any hopes the nation has of being successful at Euro 2012. In my opinion he is the natural replacement for Michael Owen and the potential partnership with Rooney looks promising.
On a personal note and as an Aston Villa Fan it’s a great feeling to have a player in the team who is easily capable of scoring 20 goals a season. A feeling that I and many villa fans have not has since a young Dwight Yorke graced Villa Park. (And to a lesser extent Juan Pablo Angel) Unfortunately the cynic in me thinks that being English works against Darren. Fans want to see exciting flair players with exotic names on the team sheet. Maybe El Darren Bentino would be more of an exciting prospect.
By the way if Mr Wenger does happen to come across this article, please ignore these deluded ramblings of a mad man and keep your hands of our Darren!
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Adelaide United set a new A-League record after thrashing a hapless North Queensland Fury 8-1 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
Marcos Flores and Sergio van Dijk both netted hat-tricks in the rout, which saw the Reds become the first team in A-League history to score more than six goals in a match.
Flores opened the scoring on four minutes when van Dijk received the ball out wide from Iain Ramsay and whipped in a cross for the Argentine who outjumped his marker to head past Justin Pasfield.
After the opening goal the Fury outplayed the Reds and should have equalised through David Williams who missed when it seemed easier to score.
Just before the half hour Flores was involved again when, after a series of one-twos, he continued running and released Dodd with a delightful through ball.
The Reds skipper ran onto the pass from the top of the box curled his shot into the side net leaving Pasfield no chance to make it 2-0.
In the 37th minute the pair combined again for Flores’ second after some brilliant skill from Dodd.
Dodd baulked his defender before looking up and firing across a cut back for Flores to run on to and slam into the back of the net.
The Argentine’s superb vision and passing created United’s fourth five minutes later, again releasing Dodd down the right.
He muscled his way in front of his opponent and raced towards goal and cracked low and hard only for the Fury keeper to get down low and parry the shot.
Pasfield could only push the ball into the path of Ramsay who stormed in to smash the rebound into the net.
A minute after half-time van Dijk got on the score sheet after another wonderful build up out of defence.
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In the 67th minute, the league’s leading scorer got his 15th of the season after another sublime pass from Flores.
United replaced Francisco Usucar and Nigel Boogaard with Paul Reid and Robert Cornthwaite and the substitutions appeared to upset the tide with North Queensland grabbing a consolation through Panagiotis Nikas.
It mattered little when van Dijk completed the A-League record for most goals in a game by one team with his second-half hat-trick in the 83rd minute.
Flores’ third and United’s eighth equalled the league record for the most number of goals in a game (9).
New Swansea coach Michael Laudrup is ready to make a move for out-of-contract striker Markus Rosenberg according to The Daily Mail.
The Danish coach has been instilled as the Liberty Stadium club’s coach after Brendan Rodgers opted to leave to join Liverpool, and it is believed that the new man has been given £15 million to spend on bringing in players to make the squad his own.
Rosenberg has been released by Werder Bremen, and as such is available on a free transfer, with newly-promoted sides Southampton and Reading also monitoring the forward’s situation.
However, the Swans are thought to be leading the race for Rosenberg, with Laudrup’s Scandinavian links a reason to convince the player to move to Wales.
Meanwhile, Swansea look to have lost out on Gylfi Sigurdssson, as the Icelandic midfielder is thought to be talking to other Premier League clubs.
The talented playmaker was close to a permanent move to the Liberty Stadium, but Rodgers’ departure has scuppered a deal and he is now expected to join his former boss at Anfield, despite interest from other English teams.
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The transfer of English teenager Dale Jennings from Tranmere to Bayern Munich has been by far the most surprising deal of the summer. Jennings’ jump from League One to the former European Champions is a fantastic move for the striker but have the Premier League big boys missed a trick in letting Jennings move abroad?
By moving to Bayern Munich Jennings has seemingly missed a step of a usual aspiring footballer’s development. Jennings impressed with Tranmere last season in only his first senior campaign. Such form would normally earn the player a move to the Premier League or a top Championship side where they can continue their development before hopefully forging a successful international career and possibly a move to a top European club. But have Bayern simply jumped the gun or have the Premier League missed out on one of England’s best up-and-coming talents?
The 18-year-old played 32 times for Tranmere last season, scoring six goals. It is not a fantastic goal record for a striker in the lower leagues but impressive after you consider it was Jennings first year as a first-team regular. Apart from Bayern, the only other team reported to be strongly interested was West Ham. But if the German side have seen enough in Jennings to sign the relatively inexperienced striker, why haven’t Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United been sniffing around?
Jennings left Liverpool’s academy age 15 and then failed to get into the youth set-ups at Everton and Derby. These rejections meant he ended up at Tranmere where the first team opportunities last season gave him a chance to mature and develop his talent week on week. Although the fee is officially undisclosed it is thought to be around £1.7million, a bargain if Jenning’s potential is matched in the years to come. Teams across the Premier League have been focusing on developing young English talents yet they have let one slip away without a fight.
But maybe a move abroad to a well respected club like Bayern is just what the young striker and England need. There is very little chance Jennings will figure at all for the first team next season, he is more likely to end up in their youth ranks. But Bayern have a history of building world class talents through such routes (previous graduates include current German internationals Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller). Jennings can also take heart from Owen Hargreaves. Whilst the former Manchester United midfielder is now without a club, he emerged through Bayern’s youth ranks and enjoyed a successful spell with Bayern which included Bundesliga and Champions League success.
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But maybe Bayern have taken too much of a risk with Jennings? His goal record in his first season isn’t prolific and he is yet to represent England at any level.
However Jennings does at Bayern, I wouldn’t expect to hear his name in the English press for a while whilst he tries to forge a career at Bayern. But if he does repay the faith the Germans have shown in bringing him to the Allianz Arena, then the Premier League big boys may end up kicking themselves for missing out on a potential England star of the future.
If you want to read more of my bite size, 160 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
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There is no doubt that Scottish football is in decline and has been for a long time. The League boasts two of Britain’s biggest clubs in Celtic and Rangers, yet struggles to conjure up any kind of respectability from the rest of Europe.
Plans for Celtic and Rangers to join the Premier League have constantly been shunned for one reason or another in the past. This is most likely because 16 of the 20 teams in the league would see them as a threat. However, before I get side tracked too much, is now the time for Celtic and Rangers to concentrate on improving and bettering the status and credibility of their own league?
Football fans all over Europe and the world know of Celtic and Rangers, can the same be said for St Johnstone and Hamilton Academicals? Should the Glasgow giants get what they want and make the potential move down south then it would most definitely spell the end of Scottish football as we know it.
Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson even claims that the Scottish Premier League would be in danger of folding if Celtic and Rangers decided to leave. Thompson then went on to say accuse the Old Firm of ‘undermining’ Scottish football after the chief executives of both Celtic and Rangers reiterated their desire to leave the SPL.
Here we see in black and white that the need for Celtic and Rangers is a great one. From a monetary point of view if Celtic and Rangers were to leave the Scottish league it would most certainly mark the end of the SPL. Thompson adds “it’s very unsettling for the SPL, We’re trying to strengthen deals with commercial customers, TV deals, etc. If you’re talking about the Old Firm leaving, where does it leave us with regards to contracts?”
I assume if Celtic and Rangers went somewhere else, that contract would be null and void. This would have serious consequences on the game in Scotland and seemingly point out, loud and clear that Scottish football needs Celtic and Rangers!
If you like what I’ve written why not follow me on Twitter
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So here we are – the final gameweek of the season. Please though, put your violin down, wipe away those tears and be strong (after all the Euros are just round the corner). There are only three teams (Chelsea, Blackburn and Wolves) whose positions have been decided ahead of this weekend’s fixtures. For the other seventeen teams, there’s still much to play for with an added focus on the fight for the title, the race for the Champions League and the battle to beat the drop.
Who do you need to be considering for selection ahead of this weekend?
The Captaincy Debate
It’s simple for Bolton Wanderers on Sunday – fail to win and they’ll be relegated. However, should they claim victory, they’ll almost certainly secure their place in the Premier League. To do this, Owen Coyle’s going to need another strong performance from a player who’s been in good form of late – Martin Petrov. The Bulgarian winger has two goals and two assists in his last four games as the Wanderers have tried to climb away from the relegation zone. Petrov visits the Britannia Stadium on Sunday where he’ll face a Stoke side who have been misfiring of late but such is his recent form, Petrov is definitely worth consideration.
Then again, one man who cannot be counted out is the PFA Player of the Year Robin van Persie. The powerful Dutch forward has had his best season in England notching 30 goals and 12 assists. You probably won’t be too surprised to learn this makes him the top goal scorer in the Premier League. He’ll be looking to better his record at the Hawthorns at the weekend as Roy Hodgson sees out his final game at West Brom. Arsenal need to win to be assured of Champions League football and for that reason, van Persie looks a good prospect for the weekend, even if the Gunners did stumble against Norwich.
However, there’s always Fernando Torres – now there’s a name that for the majority of the season shouldn’t have been anywhere near your team. It’s amazing what a little bit of confidence can do. He’s still not near the levels which he hit at Liverpool. That said relegated Blackburn Rovers visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday with both sides already assured of their positions in the table. This offers another chance for Torres to net although it’s unclear at this time whether he might be rested ahead of the Champions League final. Still, the Spaniard looks a decent option.
With Manchester City facing QPR though, it is nigh on impossible to ignore Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian hasn’t scored in his last two games for City but he’s been a key reason as to why they’re back in pole position with a game left. He has 22 goals in the Premier League this season and this weekend’s opponents have been abysmal away from home of late. In their last outing, QPR conceded six goals against Chelsea and Rangers have also lost their last six on the road. With Aguero set to be one of City’s main goal threats as they look to secure the title, the forward simply has to be in your team.
The Captain: Sergio Aguero – If the Argentinian doesn’t score on Sunday, it will be a big surprise. For that reason, play it safe and have him as your skipper.
The Vice-Captain: Robin van Persie – Again, a likely goal scorer but not quite on the same level as Aguero this weekend. Have RVP in reserve.
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For more Premier League musings, follow @archiert1 on Twitter
Here is my list of the ten worst rules in football. This week, we are looking to the future at Footballfancast.com. Amidst all the opinion of which players are going to be the next big thing, I thought about how the game might be different over the next ten years because of the rules. In 2015 new FIFA fair play rules will come into play. These will look to curb overzealous club spending and try and stop clubs running at a loss.
The effects will surely be large scale. Here I look at ten other rules that I would like to see changed in the not too distant future.
Click on Gianfranco Zola to look at the top ten rulings that need to change
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