Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand wants to spend the rest of his playing career at Old Trafford.

Ferdinand:

“I have two more years on my contract, I’d like to finish my career at United. The club have made an approach to my agent but there’s so many games it’s difficult to get around the table. By the end of the season, if not sooner, it should be done and dusted.”

Sounds about right. What’s important here is that both player and club are focused on negotiating a deal for the long run, and as long as both parties are pulling in the right direction the only thing you need on your end is for the agent to go along as well.

Other notable contract issues involving Manchester United include Patrice Evra, who recently said that he’d like to extend his contract at the club as well (reports suggest that, as always, it’s a money and agent issue) and one Wes Brown, out of contract this season and Manchester United through and through but still no sign of being signed on for future seasons because of money issues.

Some fans suggest that the club should break their wage structure to accommodate good players, but if you start doing that with everyone, very soon the wages spin out of control. Manchester United have indulged one or two players but even Roy Keane once went on record as saying that the board were very hard negotiaters (his exact words were less flattering), so it’s not always going to be an easy ride.

Hopefully Ferguson can sign all 3 defenders to new contracts at the end of this season.

Oh - and John Terry? Here’s how to answer a question when asking about whether you should be captain or not.

Rio Ferdinand:

“Being given the duty the other day was a real honour for me, I’d love to be the captain of England, who wouldn’t?

It’s not going to be the be all and end all, it won’t make or break my career or make me lose sleep at night.

I’m still going to have the same thoughts and apply myself the same way regardless of who is being picked as captain.

I want to win things and we need eleven captains out there not just the one.“

I didn’t listen when people criticised Rio and I’m not going to gush when he talks about loyalty to United - what’s far more important is that a) the player is class - and Rio is class and b) United show their intention to keep him by performing well on all fronts - and that’s what they’re doing.

A refreshingly candid interview with Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez - Guillem Ballague asks all the right questions.

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Rumours suggest that Arsenal will be handing Cesc Fabregas a contract extension this summer as a recognition of his growing maturity and increased importance to the London club.

This begs two questions:

With several years already left on his Arsenal contract, why not leave this for next season and use that money to find reinforcements for the Arsenal squad?

Doesn’t this imply that if it weren’t for the money, Fab’s agent would have whisked him off to Spain (the same’s true for any top young talent, unfortunately)?

For what it’s worth, I think Arsenal should pay Fab whatever he wants, as long as he improves season on season and grows into the leader fans expect him to be. He’s done well so far but a) there’s a long way to go for him to fulfill his potential and b) Arsenal need to provide support in the form of experienced, quality players.

Otherwise that 100k / week isn’t going to win them the title.

Resident MLS expert Dan Leo takes - believe it or not - an optimistic look at the future of the MLS.

Saturday, March 29th marked the opening kick-off of the 13th MLS season (see Liviu’s review here), the United States’s and Canada’s top professional soccer (football) league.

As I had pointed in my previous pieces, the league isn’t considered a true “major” sports league in the US, if one only judges it from paid attendance and gross financial revenues (aka turnover).

Moreover, MLS has struggled mightily to attract a hard core soccer fan over its existence. If one were to make comparisons to the top world leagues, the overall quality of soccer just wasn’t there for the duration of its run. That in turn greatly affected the economic aspect of the sport.

Of course, it wouldn’t be American to give up on a dream. However few soccer fans may be in the US, those fans are loyal and vociferous. More importantly, they are growing bit by bit every year. Some are new converts, who have sampled what the league had to offer and stayed. Some are lurkers, who still prefer a Premiership or a Bundesliga but will watch MLS too because it is still soccer. Others still are brought in because of selected stars or because of having played soccer at an earlier age or because there was nothing else on TV.

And growth is good.

But how has MLS gone from there to here?

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After weeks of inconsistency Real Madrid found their form again to defeat Sevilla this weekend and take a big step towards their 31st La Liga title. Barcelona, however, threw away a two-goal lead at Betis which sees them slip back to seven points behind Madrid and allowed Villarreal to move above them into second place after a fine 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.

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Kevin Keegan, in the heady aftermath of Newcastle’s 4-1 win away to Tottenham, has said that if Newcastle keep up their momentum they have a chance to finish in the top 10. Newcastle are 4 points behind Tottenham and 9 behind West Ham, and with 6 games to go (and with Newcastle still to play West Ham, albeit at Upton Park).

Keegan:

“We’re starting to look up now. There is a chance we can catch Spurs and one or two others who get stuck in that middle area where there is not a lot to play for other than pride.”

In some ways this is a smart move by Keegan - he knows his players have failed this season and he knows that they are better than the points table suggests - and if he can get them to play for pride and build up momentum, there’s a chance that they might just overtake Tottenham, if not West Ham.

On the other hand, it’s optimistic and Keegan is bound to get some flak for it.

Let’s look at the fixtures and see what’s possible:

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This was a week of surprises for the MLS. Opening weekend, officially known as MLS First Kick 2008, was riddled with surprise results and courageous showings by supposedly inferior sides.

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Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that he would “like to see Chelsea play in Malaysia”, and that he may have the rules temporarily bent to allow Chelsea’s Israeli contingent - manager Avram Grant and defender Tal Ben Haim - to travel to Malaysia as part of Chelsea’s 2008 pre-season tour of the Far East.

Najib Razak:

“I am not sure what the decision would be yet. But it would be a pity that politics should get in the way of sports. There is a travel ban. I will have to study the situation first but I would like to see Chelsea although it is not my (favourite) team, I would like to see them playing here.”

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An interesting debate has sprung up over at the AVFC Blog on whether the real Randy Lerner is what the PR has led us to believe (a genuine fan who will spend millions to turn Aston Villa into a top four side) or whether he’s another businessman who saw the riches the Premier League could offer and picked Aston Villa as a good piece of real state.

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All Premier League highlights for Sunday 30 March 2008:

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Here’s an interesting threesome - or something like that.

Carson wants his future settled, and he’s said several times already this season that he’d rather be playing at Aston Villa than sitting on the bench at Liverpool. Liverpool have so far been reluctant to let Carson go, and it’s rumoured that if Benitez cannot convince Carson to stay at Anfield, he would then ask for around 10m (recent rumours put it at 9m).

So far, this matter seemed to be something to be decided in the summer - but the latest transfer rumours suggest that Aston Villa will not match Liverpool’s valuation and if Carson was to return from Aston Villa to Liverpool, a host of other clubs (Arsenal?) would be interested, with Tottenham being the obvious choice given their much-talked about goalkeeping troubles.

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Yes, I know what they say about repeating baseless rumours, especially transfer rumours.

But this one is interesting for a number of reasons.

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People said this season that the Premier League had a ‘Big 3′, not a Big 4′, what with Liverpool’s inconsistent performances in the domestic league. Much of that was banter, but if there was any genuine doubt it should have been cleared today with Liverpool’s win over Everton.

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Newcastle came back from a goal down to beat Tottenham at White Hart Lane four goals to one. Both team started with 3 strikers up front but it was Newcastle who made it count in the end, taking their chances and surging to a comfortable win.

The result leaves Newcastle only 4 points behind Tottenham in 12th place and a comfortable 9 points ahead of the relegation zone. If Newcastle can keep up this little run, they’ll have some cause for optimism although any such optimism needs to be tempered with the hard reality of the mountain of work needed to turn things around at St James Park.

Tottenham? Well, they’ve qualified for Europe through the League Cup and they seem to have given up in the league this season, and like that Birmingham City game, they’ve lost another game that they should have won, at least on paper. Ramos will not be happy with these inexplicable spineless performances - it’s days like these that cost Tottenham a Champions League spot two years straight and Jol his job.

But what a game

Juventus’s Serie A clash at home to Parma today has been called off following the death of a visiting Parma fan who was run over and killed by a bus at a highway rest stop. According to the ANSA news agency, the bus was empty at the time of the incident but was being used to transport Juventus fans to the game in Turin.

The incident occurred at a service area outside Turin on the A21 highway. The fan has been identified 28-year-old Matteo Bagnaresi. The incident reportedly followed scuffles or shouting between fans, and the bus driver was moving the vehicle around when the incident occurred.

The bus driver was not aware he had run someone over, he told the highway police after being pulled over a few kilometers (miles) from the scene of the incident. Police in Asti, near the highway rest stop, said they were still verifying the details of the incident.

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The Merseyside derby in recent years has been little more than a match between two local rivals. But this year there is more at stake as Liverpool and Everton are fighting each other for the fourth and final Champions League spot. What more can you ask for, to spice up the local rivalry?

Both teams go into Sunday’s game on the back of bad news. Everton have confirmed that their inspirational midfielder, Tim Cahill, is out for the rest of the season with a broken metat meturta metertars, toe.

Liverpool on the other hand are still having behind the scenes problems as George Gillett has declared his relationship with Tom Hicks as totally broken down. What a mess those two have made of things.

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Today’s video roundup for English Premier League matches:-

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Cristiano Ronaldo will continue his quest to beat Denis Law’s Manchester United scoring record with a minimum of 8 games and a maximum of 12 (assuming that Manchester United reach the Champions League final) left to go after the Aston Villa game later today.

Ronaldo’s current stats make for fearsome reading - 34 goals so far in the season, including 25 goals in 25 league starts.

A goal a game could take him past 40 but it would take something extraordinarily special for him to get to even 40, let alone beat Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 44 goals or Denis Law’s record of 46 goals in a single season.

What do you think? Can Ronaldo rewrite Manchester United’s history and score 47 goals this season?

The Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid will host the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, with UEFA awarding the same season’s UEFA Cup final to the Arena Hamburg.

The UEFA Executive Committee confirmed the selection of the two stadiums after its meeting in Liechtenstein on Friday but postponed a decision on the venues for the 2011 finals to allow members more time to consider the bids. The home stadiums of Real Madrid CF and Hamburger SV were chosen on the basis of capacity, facilities, accommodation and security among other considerations.

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Euro 2008 kicks off on Saturday 7 June 2008 and Soccerlens will be covering it every step of the way, from the on-pitch action to team news to the wonderful fans that will be traveling to Austria / Switzerland.

Here’s the full list of Euro 2008 fixtures, bookmark and share away. Once the tournament starts, we’ll use this page to list results as well.

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Update: Jose Mourinho has denied any meeting with Inter. In an official statement:

“I say categorically that it is not true that I went to Milan, that I met with Massimo Moratti (the Inter president), who I do not have the pleasure of knowing personally.

It is false to say that I am on the point of signing a contract with Inter Milan.”

So much for that…

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To put it delicately, the situation at Liverpool with respect to the current owners is something you wouldn’t wish on your enemies. It is a nightmare come true, except that it is perhaps worse than what you’d imagine a nightmare to be.

However, manager Rafael Benitez has done the right thing by publicly insisting he will not be distracted by the boardroom turmoil engulfing the club as he prepares for a run of four matches that could make or break his season (although they’ve been saying that all season now).

Sunday’s Merseyside derby with Everton is to be followed by the two legs of a Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal either side of a league meeting with the Londoners.

But all the talk at Anfield yesterday was about American co-owner George Gillett’s revelation that his relationship with partner Tom Hicks had broken down beyond repair against a backdrop of alleged death threats from disgruntled fans.

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Chelsea have reacted angrily to having a potentially crucial Premier League match at Everton in mid-April brought forward by two days to suit television, claiming the move could hand Manchester United or Arsenal the title.

Chelsea, who play Wigan on Monday April 14, will now travel to Goodison Park on the Thursday of that week rather than on the Saturday as first planned.

In a statement, the west London club claimed the move gave rival clubs an unfair advantage. It stated:

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Chelsea are to play their first ever match in China in Guangzhou in July, the English Premier League club announced on Friday.

Chief Executive Peter Kenyon confirmed that the city in the south of China would host the opening match of the club’s pre-season Asian tour, with Chinese Super League team Guangzhou Pharmaceutical the opposition. The match will be played in the Olympic Stadium, the venue for the 2010 Asian Games, and is currently scheduled for July 23.

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Arsene Wenger takes his Arsenal squad to Bolton on Saturday insisting that they can emerge from their worst run in nine seasons to reclaim the Premier League title. Four draws and a defeat in their last five matches have seen the Gunners slip from the top of the table to third spot, six points adrift of leaders Manchester United.

But with United still to play both Chelsea and Arsenal, Wenger insists his players must keep believing they can overhaul their rivals.

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Benfica are so serious about prising Carlos Queiroz away from Old Trafford to become their next permanent coach that they are reportedly willing to make him their highest paid boss with the most control of the club ever.

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In the midst of all that is serious in football; in between arguing who your team should sign and who is the biggest threat to England’s qualification for the World Cup, we should all take a little time and enjoy ourselves. For this purpose I came up with a little game to take your mind to a place with tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

The goal of the game is quite easy: identify the managers or, if you cannot, pick one to manage your hypothetical team. In this batch of six there are four average managers, one idiot and one genius. My goal is to deceive you and make you pick the either idiot or an average guy if you cannot identify them so I will use every tool possible except lies. Everything here is true but a lot of information is withheld:

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Can I begin with an apology? This is my first post on Soccerlens about La Liga and its turned in to a bit of a rant. Sorry.

You know that feeling of mild surprise you get when you look up from your newspaper and suddenly realise that the train you had been waiting for has arrived on time? Well, that’s kind of how it feels in Spain when the football authorities actually get something right.

Unfortunately, there have been no pleasant surprises in Spain ahead of this weekend’s match between Real Betis and FC Barcelona: a match that, in the time it has taken me to write this, has just been moved from Madrid to Seville.

When I started writing this an hour ago at three o’clock on Friday I had no idea where this Saturday’s game was going to be played.

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Gerry McDonnell returns with his weekly betting column on the English Premier League.

Marriage is like a chicken vindaloo, it’s something you have to try at least once, even though you know you’ll later regret it.

I experienced my seven-year itch quite early, it was on the honeymoon. Fortunately, my wandering eye didn’t lead to an act of betrayal, although I put that down to the fact that the barmaid was almost certainly a button-flicker.

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Five of last season’s champions in Europe’s six major leagues look like defending their titles successfully this season. The exception is Germany where last season’s champions VfB Stuttgart are currently sixth. If the other five win their domestic titles, it will equal the record set in 2005/2006.

Two years ago, it appeared that all six of these countries had repeat champions, but Juventus have since been stripped of both their 2005/2006 title and their title from the season before.

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