The Netherlands international team go into this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament as one of the favourites and frontrunners, with quality throughout Bert van Marwijk’s side.

However, unfortunately the Eredivisie has lost its ability to keep the best homegrown players in the country and Ajax’s UEFA Champions League glory of 1995 seems like an eternity ago.

For the national team’s last game, a friendly against Germany, only seven of the 21-man squad ply their club trade in the Dutch homeland, and this was without a number of big-name exports who were rested.

Holland certainly has produced a raft of great players over the last ten years that have graced other European leagues, with the ten best as follows:

Rafael van der Vaart

Rafael VDV for Spurs

Rafael van der Vaart left Ajax in 2005 to join Real Madrid, before moving on to Hamburg; he now plays in England for Tottenham. The playmaker has amassed 93 international caps despite only being 28, and is a key player in Harry Redknapp’s revitalised Spurs team.

Jaap Stam

Stam for Ajax

Netherlands is known for its attacking players who play total football, but Jaap Stam epitomises a fantastic defensive combatant from the nation. A rock of a central defender, Stam left PSV in the late 1990′s and enjoyed playing at the highest level for Manchester United, Lazio and AC Milan. Famed for his no-nonsense approach, Stam won 67 caps for his nation before retiring in 2007.

Arjen Robben

Robben for Bayern Munich

The skilful winger left PSV in 2004 and has since been an important player for Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, as well as the national side. Robben is one of the best dribblers in recent memory, with his trickery, pace and eye for goal an asset for every team he has represented. Robben has won top flight titles in Holland, England, Spain and Germany, but is yet to win the Champions League.

Robin van Persie

RVP for the Gunners

A product of the Feyenoord academy, Van Persie left Netherlands in 2004 to join Arsenal, and he is currently their captain and talisman. The in-form striker is currently the Premier League’s top goalscorer this term, the winner of the PFA Player of the Year award and undoubtedly one of the most dangerous and prolific attackers in the European game.

Edgar Davids

Davids for the Dutch

One of the most iconic footballers of his generation, Davids’ will to win and determination set a precedent for the rest of Europe in the 2000′s. Played at the highest level for AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona and Inter Milan, before stepping out for Tottenham and Crystal Palace in the latter days of his career.

Part of Ajax’s golden generation and the Champions League winning side of 1995. Davids won three Serie A titles but never lifted Europe’s top club trophy again after leaving Amsterdam.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

Ruud for Man Utd

Ten years playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid show Van Nistelrooy’s undoubted quality, with a goal record to envy. The Dutch marksman has also played for Hamburg and Malaga since leaving his homeland, and still continues to be a goal threat in La Liga despite being 35-years-old.

35 international goals and three top flight titles ensure that Van Nistlerooy will be remembered as one of the country’s top centre forwards.

Mark van Bommel

van Bommel for Milan

Former PSV midfielder Mark van Bommel has played at the very highest level since leaving Holland in 2005, having worn the colours of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan. The current Holland captain has one last international tournament in him this summer, and will look to add to his medal collection of four Eredivisie titles, one La Liga title, one Serie A title, two Bundesliga titles and a Champions League victory.

Edwin van der Sar

van der Sar for Man Utd

The now-retired goalkeeper plied his trade in Italy for Juventus, before representing Fulham and Manchester United in England. Four Premier League titles and a Champions League medal are just reward for the 41-year-old, who hung up his boots last summer. Sir Alex Ferguson is yet to fully replace Van der Sar, who himself stepped into the massive shoes of Peter Schmeichel at Old Trafford, and excelled.

Wesley Sneijder

Sneijder for Inter

Arguably one of the best playmakers in the modern game, Sneijder left Ajax in 2007 after five years with the senior side to join Real Madrid. After two seasons the attacking midfielder departed the Santiago Bernabeu to join Inter, and was the subject of a protracted transfer saga over a potential move to Manchester United last summer.

League titles in Italy and Spain have been backed up by Champions League success; Sneijder is truly one of Holland’s best recent exports.

Clarence Seedorf

Seedorf for Milan

One of Holland’s greatest ever players, Clarence Seedorf is still an integral player for Italian champions AC Milan at 35-years-old. The veteran midfielder has an unbelievable trophy haul at club level, with Champions League titles with Ajax, Real Madrid and twice with AC Milan. 87 international caps and over a decade of playing at the highest level, Clarence Seedorf is Netherlands top export.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The last round of the Champions League group stages sees a number of mouthwatering and do-or-die ties. If you’re going to be betting on football, you should be very careful where you put your money.

For some teams the last 16 and knockout stages await; others will have to make do with the Europa League. Chelsea know their fate is in their hands, whilst Manchester City must hope for a win and a favour at El Madrigal.

Chelsea vs Valencia

Roman Abramovich has held UEFA Champions League triumph as his holy grail since buying Chelsea in June 2003, and the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have seen their stints at Stamford Bride cut short, as despite delivering the Premier League they have failed to win Europe’s top club tournament.

Andre Villas Boas is under increasing pressure to deliver in his first season in England, and a shaky month has seen his side fall 10 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City. In Europe, a disappointing draw in Belgium against Genk and a last minute winner for Bayer Leverkusen against The Blues at the BayArena sees the London club needing to win Tuesday’s game or draw 0-0 with Valencia to progress.

Unai Emery’s team have impressed recently in La Liga and on the continent, and a 7-0 win over Genk in their last European outing shows that the side from the Mestalla will be no pushovers. Seasoned at this level, Valencia house a number of players capable of winning the tie in England, none more-so than Roberto Soldado, who backed up a first half hat-trick against the Belgian champions with the winner against Espanyol at the weekend.

Chelsea will need to be at their best to get the result they need and the inclusion of former Valencia attacker Juan Mata in their side will provide added motivation for the visitors; Betfair have the home side as favourites however at odds of 1.79 to get a victory.

Manchester City vs Bayern Munich

Not many teams have outplayed big spending Manchester City this season, but Bayern Munich deserved their 2-0 win over Roberto Mancini’s side at the Allianz Arena back in September. The current Premier League leaders are unbeaten this season domestically, but a draw at home and defeat away to Napoli threatens the club’s Champions League status.

City need to beat Jupp Heynckes’ men on Wednesday and hope that Villarreal can stop Edinson Cavani and Napoli from getting three points in Spain to make the last 32. Despite naturally having one eye on events at El Madrigal, the hosts must focus on beating what is a rounded and dangerous Bavarian visitor.

Former City defender Jerome Boateng will get a frosty reception at the Etihad Stadium, but has solidified the Germans’ rearguard since is summer move. The likes of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez need no introduction, and despite the fact that Bayern are already assured to top the group, the visitors will want to complete their group stage with a win.

City are favourites with the bookies, but so are Napoli; Betfair have City at odds of 1.64 to beat Bayern, but at 3.45 to qualify.

Ajax vs Real Madrid

The current Eredivisie champions have a fine tradition and history in Europe, but their 1-0 triumph over AC Milan in the Champions League final back in 1995 will feel like a lifetime ago for the Amsterdam Arena faithful.

Despite the fact that Ajax are three points and seven goals better off than third placed Group D team Lyon, Frank de Boer’s men are not yet through to the knockout stages. With the French outfit facing pointless and hapless Dinamo Zagreb, and the Dutch side locking horns the form team in Europe, Ajax must be careful not to let the balance swing.

Jose Mourinho’s men have the first El Clasico match of the season against Barcelona next weekend, and the Portuguese coach will want a positive result in Amsterdam to continue momentum going into the game at the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos are the only side with a perfect group stage record this season, have scored the most goals and conceded the least – Ajax beware.

Ajax should qualify despite the calibre of their Wednesday opponents; Betfair have the Dutch side at odds of 3.1 to beat the Spaniards.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The leaked image from April was spot on as adidas and Ajax launch their 2011/2012 home kit.

The adidas manufactured shirt is white and red with a red collar and red trims on the sleeves. Not a big difference from any of previous shirts, making Ajax’s home shirts one of the most iconic shirts in European football.

The designers have reverted to a folded collar shirts after having a round neck collar for one season.

The club crest on the left side of the chest, the manufacturer logo on the right and the sponsor logo goes in the center of the shirt.

The words “Wij Zijn Ajax” (translated: We Are Ajax) are engraved on the sleeves and four historic logos are added on the back of the shirt right under the collar.

Image 1 of 6
Ajax 2011/12 Home Kit

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was Silvio Berlusconi’s marquee signing last summer in a bid to discontinue Milan’s seven year drought without a Scudetto. Not only has the big Swede taken to Italian football like a duck to water as he did with rivals Internazionale prior to a brief spell in Spain, he has forged a formidable understanding with Robinho and Co that has seen them rise to the summit of Italian football once again.

Last week’s 0-0 draw in Rome clinched the Rossoneri their 18th Scudetto with celebrations reaching a wonderful climax last night with a 4-1 victory over Cagliari, prior to the handing over of the trophy to captain Massimo Ambrosini.

Big Ibra was presented the question of whether or not he believed Milan would end up winning the league? To which he replied “from the first day”. He had every right to be confident as his latest league triumph is his eighth on the bounce.

We take a look back at the eight championships he has won, that have spanned across three countries with five different clubs. An astonishing feat by Milan’s new darling.

Ajax: 2003/2004

Ibrahimovic had won an Eredivisie two years prior when Ronald Koeman began imbedding him into the Amsterdammers setup.

In his final season at the club his 13 goals in 22 appearances played a huge part as they pipped PSV Eindhoven to the post.

Juventus: 2004/2005

His transfer to Serie A was rather abrupt. He had played three games for Ajax at the beginning of the season netting three goals in the process, before an altercation with fellow teammate Rafael van der Vaart during an international match led to his sudden move to Turin.

The Old Lady shelled out €16million on their man and got a return of 16 goals in 35 league appearances.

Juventus: 2005/2006

The following campaign would culminate into the darkest period of Juve’s history.  They clinched the Scudetto with a monumental haul of 91 points, just three ahead of closest rivals Milan. By Ibra’s standards, his goal return was poor and only netted seven goals. In his defence his role was altered by Coach Fabio Capello who made him more of a team player than a target man.

However, the Calciopoli scandal had occurred and hit Italian football like a sledgehammer. Juventus’ role resulted in them being relegated to Serie B and stripped of their last two Scudettos. That also meant all of the Juventus players who had participated in those championship winning campaigns, were stripped of theirs.

Internazionale: 2006/2007

Juve’s relegation resulted in an exodus of their star players – including Zlatan who moved to the Nerazzurri for €24.8million. Ironically Inter were awarded the Scudetto that Juve had been stripped of the season before.

Inter coasted to their first outright title in 17 years with Ibra netting 15 goals in the process – thus becoming the club’s top scorer.

Internazionale: 2007/2008

He outdone himself the following year with 17 goals as Inter clinched their third straight league title in a tightly contested battle with Roma.

His brace on the final day against Parma ensured another season of the black and blue adorning the Scudetto patch.

Internazionale: 2008/2009

Roberto Mancini departed as coach and in his place arrived Jose Mourinho who got the very best out of his star centre-forward. Zlatan consolidated his best league tally to date with 25 goals in 35 appearances and securing the Capocannoniere (Serie A top goal-scorer).

In what was his best ever season in Italy turned out to be his last, as a big money move to La Liga loomed.

2009/2010: Barcelona

He made an eye watering transfer in a deal worth €66million to Catalan giants Barcelona in the summer of 2009. In what would be his one and only season in Spain, resulted in 16 La Liga goals. The Swede was harshly criticised as many felt he failed to adapt to his new surroundings, but that did not stop him finding the goals and end up with an impressive return – along with a Spanish league title.

2010/2011: Milan

A return to Italy occurred the following year with Milan in a €24million deal. This season he has been in instrumental form, being a huge key in the club’s rise to the top of Italian football. In his inaugural campaign he has netted 14 Serie A goals, as well as incorporating himself into a valuable team player.

With Silvio Berlusconi flirting with the idea of another potential superstar arriving in the summer, the future is looking exceedingly bright for Ibra and the Milanese giants.

Follow Ross on Twitter: @RossMackiewicz

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Adidas show how to do a kit launch with style – here’s a video of the new Ajax away kit, sponsored by Aegon and manufactured by adidas.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

After Wayne Rooney reminded us all that he used to be a fairly decent professional footballer with his derby day belter against Manchester City last Saturday, the received (Sky Sports-infused) wisdom seems to be that the decidedly off-colour striker’s effort was, without need for second thought, the greatest overhead kick ever scored by anyone, anywhere, ever.

However, that’s not quite the case – as the following, ten-strong video essay will hopefully attest to.

Oh, and apologies for the slightly tongue-in-cheek strapline. I hope we can still be friends.

Let’s press on, shall we?

10. Dean Ashton – Man Utd vs WEST HAM, 2008:

Fergie was quick to peg Rooney’s flying shinner against bitter rivals City as the greatest goal that had ever graced Old Trafford, though former West Ham striker Ashton has grounds to take issue with that particular assessment…

9. Joseph Desire Job – MIDDLESBROUGH vs Sporting, 2005:

After joining on the back of a wave of promise, Job never really ‘clicked’ during his time at the Riverside. However, for one fleeting moment during Boro’s UEFA Cup second round defeat to Sporting Lisbon back in March 2005, the watching world witnesses just what the Cameroonian striker was capable of…

8. Manuel Negrete – UNAC vs Puebla, 1985:

Four wondrous touches; the initial chest control, the ‘sombrero’ (or the ‘chapeau’ for those of you with Gallic pretensions), a deft flick of the forehead and then BOOM!…

7. Trevor Sinclair – QPR vs Barnsley, 1997:

Sadly, it never got any better than this for our Trev, who quite rightly came away with Match of the Day’s goal of the season award in 1997 for this blistering bicycle kick against the Tykes in the FA Cup…

6. Eliran Atar – Maccabi Netania vs BNEI YAHUDA, 2009:

Israeli forward Atar made the 2009 Puskas Award shortlist (i.e. an award doled out to the scorer of the most ‘beautiful’ goal of the year) for this acrobatic strike, though somehow only managed to finish fourth in the final vote behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Grafite.

That said, the look of sheer, discombobulated amazement on the collective faces of everybody present (including Atar’s) serves to tell you more about this freakishly pure connection than I ever could…

5. Unknown – 5-a-side tournament, 2007:

This clip has become somewhat of a viral sensation since it was first posted on Youtube a few years ago, and it’s perfectly understandable as to why.

A goal of truly scintillating beauty, regardless of what level of the game it was scored at…

4. Rivaldo – BARCELONA vs Valencia, 2001:

Brazilian artisan Rivaldo (who, incidentally, has a few overhead corkers under his belt to pick from) finished the 2000/’01 campaign as La Liga’s second top goal-scorer (one goal behind Real Madrid striker Raul), thanks chiefly to the hat-trick he scored against Valencia on the last day of the season.

A momentous hat-trick which first and foremost secured Barca a spot in the following season’s Champions League and, secondly, just so happened to culminate in this little beauty…

3. Youri Djorkaeff – INTER MILAN vs Roma, 1997:

French playmaker Djorkaeff notched his fair share of cultured strikes during his 22-year career, but I’d wager that none come close to the angled, airborne Exocet that he unleashed against Roma during his maiden season with the Nerazzurri…

2. Mauro Bressan – Barcelona vs FIORENTINA, 1999:

In stark contrast to the scrappy build-up, La Viola midfielder Bressan pulls a career-defining, 25-yard pearler out of his ‘you know where’ to open the scoring in a pulsating Champions League game that eventually finished 3-3.

Several years later, ITV voted the Italian’s effort as the second greatest Champions League goal ever scored, nestled sweetly behind Zinedine Zidane’s iconic volley in the 2002 final…

1. Marco van Basten – AJAX vs Den Bosch, 1986:

The Dutch legend, seen here doing what he did better than almost anybody else to have ever played the game, i.e. score goals that seem to tamper with the laws of physics…

So there we go. Missed any blindingly obvious candidates? Please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments box below…

More from the Soccerlens Archives:

10 Outrageous Disallowed Goals
10 Famous Debatable Goals

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

For the first time in a long time, the transfer deadline day actually lived up to it’s monstrous, gossip-driven hype.

Over the course of 24 hours of prime pantomme, we witnessed both the fourth and the eighth most expensive transfers of all time take place, with Chelsea bagging themselves a new number nine and Liverpool taking 35 million steps to fill the void left thereafter.

Here’s your round-up of all of yesterday’s prime ‘movers and shakers’.

Torres joins Chelsea…

Striker Fernando Torres beat the 23:00BST cut-off by a matter of minutes to eventually complete his £50 million move to Chelsea from Liverpool.

After signing a colossal five-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge, Torres told his new club’s official website:

“I am very happy with my transfer to Chelsea and I am looking forward very much to helping my new team-mates this season and for many years to come.

Having played against Chelsea many times since coming to England, and in some very big games I will never forget, I know there are many great players here and I will work hard to win a place in the team.

I hope I can score some important goals for the supporters to enjoy this season.”

Rather predictably, upon hearing the news mobs of livid ‘Pool fans took to the streets to burn ‘Torres’ replica shirts.

Classy…and not at all ‘hideously reactionary’ and/or ‘ridiculously unmerited’.

Anyway, you can read Soccerlens‘ full report (which includes photos of Nando posing with his new blue jersey) by following this ‘ere link.

Oh Carroll…

Having broken their transfer record once already by doling out £22.8 million for Ajax forward Luis Suarez around tea time, Liverpool saw fit to put the boot through their record once again just a couple of hours later – when they snapped up target man Andy Carroll from Newcastle and payed £35 million for the privilege.

Both the Torres and Carroll transfer sagas ran parallel for the majority of the day, each deal’s fate intertwined with the other, and as soon as Chelsea returned to Liverpool with a £50 million bid for the former, Liverpool were able to stump up the £5 million extra needed to successfully trump their opening £30 million gambit (which was rejected) for the Toon striker.

There were reports that Alan Pardew had also rejected Liverpool’s second offer, though it later emerged that Carroll handed in a transfer request over the course of the afternoon – thus making it clear that the boy who’s only dream it was to ape Alan Shearer in the annals of Newcastle folklore had decided that his future lay elsewhere.

One thought: Under the terms of his bail agreement, will Carroll now have to live with Steven Gerrard?

Second fiddle…

It’s worth noting that Chelsea spent £75 million on new faces yesterday as, along with furore caused by a certain Spaniard’s defection, the Blues also dished out £25 million on Benfica centre-back David Luiz – just a day after the Portuguese club issued a statement to say that the deal was ‘dead in the water’.

Speaking via the club’s official website, the 23-year-old defender issued a brief statement of intent:

“I am delighted to be joining a big English club, and I know very well the quality that Chelsea has.

It is a major challenge for me but I am determined and confident in my ability to adapt to this excellent league, and I look forward to meeting my new team-mates.”

As the deadline loomed, Luiz put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Nearly Adam…

Despite a rolling boil of underlying rumour and conjecture, Charlie Adam has woken up today as a Blackpool player – rather than at Liverpool, Manchester United or even at Tottenham.

Throughout the course of yesterday, several thousand ‘leaks’ made their way onto the live blogs of several national newspapers/corporations, telling of various ‘Adam sightings’, i.e. at Liverpool’s Melwood training complex, in a cab on the way to Carrington, eating a BLT at Spurs Lodge…etc…etc…

According to those diligent bods over at Sky Sports News, Tottenham indeed had two late bids turned down for Adam though, as with most of the hyperbole flung at you by Murdoch’s over-excited minions on deadline day, their reports remain unsubstantiated.

The best of the rest…

• Kyle Bartley (Arsenal to Rangers, loan)

• Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach to Aston Villa, loan)

• Stephen Ireland (Aston Villa to Newcastle, loan)

• Isaiah Osbourne (Aston Villa to Sheffield Wednesday, loan)

• Obafemi Martins (Rubin Kazan to Birmingham, loan)

• Ruben Rochina (Barcelona to Blackburn, undisc.)

• Mauro Formica (Newell’s Old Boys to Blackburn, undisc.)

• El-Hadji-Diouf (Blackburn to Rangers, loan)

• Andy Reid (Sunderland to Blackpool, loan).

• James Beattie (Rangers to Blackpool, loan),

• Jason Puncheon (Southampton to Blackpool, loan),

• Sergei Kornilenko (Zenit St Petersburg to Blackpool, loan)

• Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea to Bolton, loan)

• Jacob Mellis (Chelsea to Barnsley, loan)

• Apostolos Vellios (Iraklis Thessaloniki to Everton, nominal).

• Paul Konchesky (Liverpool to Nottingham Forest, loan)

• Conor Thomas (Coventry to Liverpool, loan)

• Cameron Stewart (Manchester United to Hull, undisc.)

• Eidur Gudjohnsen (Stoke to Fulham, loan)

• Tuncay Sanli (Stoke to Wolfsburg, £4.5 million)

• Paulo da Silva (Sunderland to Real Zaragoza, undisc.)

• Gio dos Santos (Tottenham to Racing Santander, loan)

• Frank Nouble (West Ham to Barnsley, loan)

• Paul McCallum (Dulwich Hamley to West Ham, undisc.)

• Connor Sammon (Kilmarnock to Wigan, undisc.)

• Andy Keogh (Wolves to Bristol City, loan)

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Torres wants out…

Liverpool have confirmed that striker Fernando Torres made an official transfer request yesterday afternoon amidst interest from Chelsea, and that the club have also turned it down – telling the Spaniard that they expect him to honour his long-term contract at Anfield:

“Fernando Torres tonight submitted a written transfer request, which has been rejected by Liverpool.

“Fernando is under long-term contract and the club expect him to honour the commitment he made to Liverpool FC and its supporters when he signed the agreement.”

The Sun and the Independent are already suggesting that Chelsea are going to get their man before the transfer window closes, and will do so by offering Liverpool a tidy bid of £42.5 million-plus-Daniel Sturridge for his services.

The news filtered through just hours after the club announced that they had agreed a £22.8 million fee for Ajax forward Luis Suarez.

Carroll singing…

The Currant Bun is also reporting this morning that Tottenham have made a colossal bid of £25 million for colossal Newcastle striker Andy Carroll.

Word is that ‘Spurs chairman Daniel Levy submitted the meaty offer for Carroll directly to owner Mike Ashley yesterday – a package that would see Newcastle recoup £22 million straight off the bat, with a further fee £3 million to follow in future increments.

Strangely, this fairly significant piece of transfer ‘news’ hasn’t been picked up by any other major news outlet.

Stek-ing point…

The man who replaced Edwin van der Sar in the Dutch national team is now set to take up his mantle at Old Trafford, if Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen is to be believed – who blabbed to Voetbal International that Ajax stopper Maarten Stekelenberg is now sitting pretty at the top of the club’s shortlist of replacements for the outbound veteran:

“Stekelenburg is indeed the goalkeeper who is at the top of our wanted list. We have naturally been talking a lot among ourselves about who should replace Van der Sar.

“Alex Ferguson has spoken about Stekelenburg with Edwin and that does not seem strange to me at all.”

So there you go.

The best of the rest…

• Tottenham have prepared an £8 million-plus-Robbie Keane offer for West Ham lynchpin Scott Parker…

• Speaking of Spurs, manager Harry Redknapp has told the club that they must do their utmost to hold on to Gareth Bale in the summer and should ‘break the bank’ if necessary…

• Manchester City ‘keeper Shay Given is so desperate for first-team football that he is willing to drop down to savage wilderness of the Championship to find it…

• Chelsea are mulling over an offer for Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill after failing to reach an agreement with Benfica for Brazilian David Luiz…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Mourinho pining for the Prem?…

A batch of interesting quotes have emanated from the Real Madrid camp, in which coach Jose Mourinho, just days after refusing to commit to Los Blancos past the summer, tells of his hankering for a return to the last bastion of the fair and the just – the English Premier League.

Of course, the quotes should be treated with a certain amount of trepidation (mis-quoting/translating), but here’s what Mou apparently told a press conference yesterday:

“I’ve decided to return to England. I have nothing prepared about my future – I just want to be happy in my work.

I have no preferences about Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea. I just want to rediscover the joy.

I’m not saying the Premier League is the most spectacular in the world but it is the best organised, with fair play and enormous respect for your opponent.”

Crikey.

Ajax issue deadline…

Ajax have given Liverpool until Saturday to come up with the goods vis-a-vis Luis Suarez before they pull the plug on the whole charade.

So far, Liverpool have had a maiden bid of £12.8 million turned down for the Uruguayan forward, though the Amsterdam club are refusing to budge on their £21 million valuation of the 24-year-old.

Ajax coach Frank de Boer told a press conference:

“We don’t want to lose him, Liverpool know what they have to pay and we are sticking to our guns. We want to know by January 29t. After that, nothing more will happen.”

There are now suggestions that the deal may be ‘put on ice’ until the summer.

Kon man…

Whilst we’re on the subject of Liverpool, it looks like the club are ready to jettison Paul Konchesky back from whence he came – with a loan move back to former club Fulham thought to be in the offing.

A couple of the nationals seem to reckon that Konchesky has already opened talks with the Cottagers (who, incidentally, are the only other club he’d be legible to play for having appeared for two teams already this season), with the Guardian adding that Liverpool may make an approach for Aston Villa left-back Steven Warnock as a direct replacement.

Luiz-ing the will to live…

Now, admittedly, the David Luiz-to-Chelsea saga is getting a little tedious as it runs into it’s third week, but it looks like the whole shebang may be about to reach it’s ‘thrilling’ conclusion – with the Sun reporting this morning that the entire ordeal is on the verge of fizzling out.

The red-top are carrying quotes from a fortuitously placed ‘Chelsea insider’, who reckons:

“The club made an improved offer and included Nemanja Matic in the hope they could finally clinch a deal, but Benfica said again that they weren’t interested, wanted much more, so it looks pretty bleak.”

Elsewhere, Benfica’s coach Jorge Jesus has told the waking world that several other clubs are also tailing Luiz, so make of that what you will.

The best of the rest…

• According to reports in Germany, Bundesliga side Wolfsburg have lodged a bid for Liverpool forward Milan Jovanovic, though the Serb has vowed to muscle his way back into the first-string at Anfield…

• Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has batted away rumours that he has put such a high valuation on midfielder Charlie Adam because a clause in his contract entitles him to a percentage of the final transfer fee…

• Two transfers went through yesterday. Firstly, Chelsea starlet Gael Kakuta joined Fulham on loan and, secondly, Swiss international Valon Behrami finally completed a permanent move from West Ham to Fiorentina…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Chelsea quash ‘Atleti double swoop’ rumours…

Reports in the Spanish press yesterday were carrying quotes supposedly attributed to Miguel Angel Gil, in which Atletico Madrid’s majority shareholder claimed that Chelsea had made a €60 million double bid for striker Sergio Aguero and centre-back Diego Godin.

Sadly, as with the vast majority of articles that emanate from the Spanish press circles, it seems as though either Gil was fibbing or that the newspapers responsible were peddling their usual line in horse-cock and poppy-feathers – with a Chelsea spokesman later confirming that the club were unwilling to even acknowledge such ‘wild transfer speculation’.

So…that’s a ‘no’ then, is it?

Liverpool’s Suarez deal lurches on…

The Daily Telegraph seem fairly certain that Luis Suarez is set to hold talks with the Ajax board in an effort to persuade the Dutch club to ease up on their £30 million valuation of him – a meaty price tag that is undoubtedly impeding his vaunted move to Liverpool.

The Premier League club would apparently prefer not to breach the £20 million mark for the Uruguayan, though their opening bid of just £12.7 million was deemed laughably inadequate by the Ajax hierarchy.

In further Liverpool news, Blackpool have slapped a whacking great £12 million price tag on Charlie Adam‘s head, and with King Kenny and his associates not willing to go any higher than £5 million for the Scottish midfielder, it looks as though the staunchly recalcitrant Ian Holloway may be about to get his way after all.

Adebayor seals Bernabeu switch…

Emmanuel Adebayor‘s patchy Manchester City career was brought to a temporary end last night, when the Togolese target man finally completed his on/off loan switch to Real Madrid.

So said the Spanish giants:

“Real Madrid and Manchester City have reached a deal that will see Emmanuel Adebayor play on loan for the former club.

The player will remain at Real Madrid until the end of the current season, at which point the club hold a unilateral option to purchase the player.”

Adebayor is now due in Madrid today for a routine medical.

Babel-ing on…

Speaking of wayward forwards, Liverpool wastrel Ryan Babel has officially completed his move to Hoffenheim after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract, according to a statement posted yesterday evening on behalf of the German club.

The Reds accepted a £6 million bid for the Dutchman last week, but the deal appeared to be wavering until late on Monday when the player flew out to finalise contract details.

Just before ‘close of play’ yesterday, Hoffenheim’s posted the following update on their official website, www.achtzehn99.de:

“[Babel] signed on Tuesday a contract for two-and-a-half years until June 30th, 2013 (plus an option for another year).”

Bye bye Babs, you won’t be missed.

The best of the rest…

• Arsenal are hoping PSG centre-half Mamadou Sakho will be the man to solve their defensive woes, and are willing to go as high as £12 million to land the French international…

• Manchester United hope to open contract talks with Patrice Evra earlier than initially planned after learning that Real Madrid are keeping a keen eye on developments at Old Trafford…

• Sunderland are hoping to bring in Frederic Piquionne, Sulley Muntari and Stephane Sessegnon before the transfer window closes…

• Aston Villa are on the verge of flogging hopeless misfit Stephen Ireland to Newcastle and have sounded out Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas as his direct replacement…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News