David Beckham is finally an AC Milan player, albeit for a short period of time. He arrived in the Italian city on Saturday morning after which Beckham went for the medical.

Beckham is joining the Italian powerhouse on a short term contract as the MLS season is now over and the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player wants to maintain his fitness and also wants to sustain his place in the England national squad.

Beckham had this to say at the Milan sporting complex:

“This adventure gives me a great deal of motivation. Milan is truly an incredible club, better than the rest. After playing in the best English and Spanish teams, I am at the best Italian team. My objective is to train hard and give my contribution to the squad.”

Wherever David Beckham goes, the media follows. And so does the money. The hype. The fashion. The passion. The emotions.

So can Beckham impress himself upon Italian football? Would his presence in the Italian Serie A allow the league to get more coverage worldwide? How would Beckham’s stay in Italy pan out? Is he going to be a huge hit for Milan as they try and salvage their scudetto challenge?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

According to the British tabloid The Daily Mail, Premier League cash-bag Manchester City are looking forward to signing the out-of-form Welsh striker Craig Bellamy from West Ham United for £7 million.

Which is certainly a huge surprise, isn’t it? After all, Bellamy hasn’t been in great form and is not even wanted, if certain reports are to be trusted, by even his club West Ham! Bellamy has scored only two goals in the Premier League so far and has not at all been impressive.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is supposedly not very keen to hang onto the player and shall be willing to let him go for £7 million. At the moment, like all other players, Bellamy too has been linked with a move to Manchester City.

But understandably this report is to be dashed into the bin. After all, why would Man City go for an out of form striker? True, Mark Hughes and Bellamy have worked together earlier but that is the only link that can established in this report. And it is a very weak link!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Blackburn Rovers are struggling in the Premier League at the moment and it appears that they are set to struggle more, especially as top players have started voicing their disinclination to carry on playing for the club anymore.

Star striker Roque Santa Cruz has released a come-and-get me plea as he seems quite eager to move to a better and bigger club. He was previously at German giants Bayern Munich and understandably Blackburn is not proving the same sort of pool for him, especially now that they are struggling for survival in top flight English football.

The Paraguayan international striker has been quoted by Sky Sports as saying:

“Everybody knows my opinion (regarding a possible transfer), I am happy at Blackburn but also I want to keep improving my football and remain ambitious. My contract with Blackburn is clear and for that I need to continue with the club. But I am looking to again play in a big side that is in Europe and trying to win their league.

“I have to say the people here at Blackburn are fantastic, I am very happy with the fans. But, I don’t want to miss the chance of playing with a big side. If a bigger club came in for me then I would like to take that opportunity.”

Manchester City, are you listening? You have a really good striker up for grabs here! That is, of course, if you can prove that you’re a bigger side. Money talks just as well though.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The future of England international striker Michael Owen is getting increasingly convoluted as Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear seems to be confident that Owen shall sign a new contract with the club whereas reports suggest otherwise.

It was earlier reported by the British tabloid The Sun that Newcastle have offered a 80,000 pound per week contract to Owen, whose current contract with the Geordies expires at the end of the season. His new contact terms imply that Owen shall be taking a 25,000 pounds per week paycut.

It is being widely said that Michael Owen shall reject the new offer snd shall move in January. A number of clubs, including Owen’s former side Liverpool, Manhester City and Wigan Athletic, have been linked with the player but Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear has declared that Owen has sent out a positive note

He explained the whole situation to The Sun:

“I’m not going to say Michael will sign, but I think he will. When I said ‘when are you going to make a decision?’ he said ‘in the next couple of days’. I’m much more optimistic about keeping him.

“There isn’t a deadline, but when I asked Michael when would he make a decision, he said it would be within the next couple of days.”

Seems like in the next couple of days we shall know whether Michael Owen is jumping ship or not. Let’s hope he makes the right decision for himself and for Newcastle.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chelsea skipper John Terry has given the fans a very heartening boost by declaring that he intends to play for the London club for the rest of his life.

The 28-year old England international rose through the youth ranks at Chelsea and has come of age to become the captain of one of the European football’s heavyweights (in recent years at least!). He is now considered an icon at Stamford Bridge and his declaration that he shall continue to play for the Blues until the end of his playing career must certainly come as a great news both to the club as well as to the fans.

Terry has been quoted as saying by Chelsea’s official website:

“Hopefully I’ve got another 10 years in me – certainly for Chelsea. I’m going to give everything for the club. I’ve felt a lot of disappointment before, but I owe the Chelsea fans for what they have given me – for making me feel welcome as a youngster even though I wasn’t ready. I owe my career to the Chelsea fans so I want to thank every one of them personally. I’ve got my testimonial in a few years and hopefully that will be a big game and a good day for the supporters as well.”

John Terry would almost certainly go down in Chelsea’s history as a club legend. And given that he has declared that he shall remain loyal to the club, it appears that he shall remain as one of the few one-club men in world football.

Salute you John Terry!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is on Mission Recruitment next month (more of the same at White Hart Lane, it seems) and has been lining up a number of decent and top quality players. And among his wish-list is Steve Finnan.

British tabloid The Daily Mail has reported that Spurs are eying Steve Finnan for a move back to England. The former Liverpool right back is currently with Spanish club Espnayol and is down and seemingly out with injury and poor form in Catalunya.

Finnan has been unable to settle in La Liga and is not even guaranteed a place in relegation-threatened Espanyol’s starting XI. He joined the Barcelona based club at the end of last season and has featured only four times for the Spanish club so far this season.

But Redknapp apparently fosters the belief that Steve Finnan could revitalize himself back in England. Honestly, Finnan didn’t make a very wise decision to move from the Premier League to la Liga at the end of last season. Moreover, he had moved to Espanyol, a club that had so spectacularly gone on a slide down the hill from the middle of last season.

Should Finnan indeed return to England next month and play for Spurs, then there is a very good chance that we shall see the old Steve Finnan once again and also show Rafa that he can still play at the top level.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has effectively shown Gilberto the exit door after publicly declaring that the Brazilian international has no future at White Hart Lane.

This follows a disastrous performance against Spartak Mowcow in the UEFA Cup on Thursday in what was his first appearance for Spurs under Harry Redknapp but it already seems to be his last match for the north London club.

Speaking to The Sun, Harry Redknapp said quite bluntly:

“I don’t really think he has a future here. The boy doesn’t want to play here, he doesn’t feel confident playing here. I think he was happy to come off at half-time.”

Gilberto was signed in January on a free transfer in spite of failing a medical. So far he has managed to feature in only six Premier League matches and has been nothing short of a flop in the Premier League.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Portsmouth are bracing for a mass exodus in January with half of their squad expected to leave Fratton Park. And one of those who shall almost certainly be heading for the exit door is the England international striker Jermain Defoe.

Defoe was signed by Portsmouth from Tottenham Hotsour in January earlier this year when Harry Redknapp was in charge of the club but now that Redknapp is managing north London club Tottenham, it has been reported that Redknapp is now eager to take the player back to White Hart Lane.

Defoe’s Portsmouth teammate Lauren has accepted the validity of this report and has also admitted that Pompey are going through a stage in which they shall lose a number of key players next month. He himself has declared that he shall not play at Fratton Park beyond January.

The Cameronian is quoted as saying:

“The team is dismantling itself and big sides are coming. Diarra is not the only one, Defoe as well is returning to Tottenham, and Glen Johnson is leaving. The economic situation is very bad and we are aware of it.

“I’m leaving in January as well, going to Turkey or Greece.”

So a player exodus is on the way. Anyway want a share in that?

Maybe Manchester City do. After all, they seem to like all the players in the world and maybe they can sign a few of their own standards instead of dreaming of the Casillases and Buffons and Ronaldos!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Premier League side Arsenal are struggling at the moment and club manager Arsene Wenger is seemingly willing to sign some established players in January. The Gunners have been linked with a number of players in the past few days and now the name of Giorgio Chiellini has been thrown into the hat.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Wenger is keen to sign the Italian international defender from Juventus in January in order to shore up his defence and more importantly replace the almost certain to depart William Gallas.

As mouth watering as it may seem, the problem is that Chiellini is very much happy at Juventus, who are certainly in a better position than Arsenal are at the moment. Juventus have reached the last 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League as group winners and are also in the race for the scudetto in the Italian Serie A.

Moreover, Chiellini signed a contract extension in the summer and it is unlikely that he shall move anywhere in the near future.

So Arsenal may better look elsewhere for defenders. Maybe Wenger’s favourite ‘hunting ground’ France?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Well, if reports published on elconfidencial.com are to be trusted, then Spanish champions and European powerhouse Real Madrid have signed Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid.

Or at least, they have reached an agreement. It has emerged that Real and Atletico have agreed on a deal with Real to pay their crosstown rivals a massive 60 million euros, the buy-out clause of the 20-year old Argentine international striker, and that the player shall make the switch in the summer.

Earlier Real were reported to have made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Manchester United for the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and now they seem to have signed the heir apparent of Diego Armando Maradona. And while we’re at it, a few days ago Barcelona were linked in a similar agreement with Atletico Madrid’s star forward.

Toss the whole lot of them in the bin. Neither player’s going anywhere in January. Well done Real though, for stirring up the most imaginative of rumours completely forgetting that both players have stated repeatedly in recent months that they want to stay at Manchester United and Atletico Madrid respectively for longer than an year at least.

Madrid – please stop these dirty tactics and for once be honest and maintain the honour of the biggest and most successful club in the world.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News