Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has waded into the Raheem Sterling contract saga, stating that the Liverpool starlet and all other players have a price.
The 20-year-old England international caused quite a stir earlier this week when he stated in an interview that Arsenal’s reported interest in him was flattering and confessing that he had turned down a new deal at Anfield.
With Sterling’s future unclear, Chelsea have been linked with an audacious bid for the sprightly forward at the end of the season.
When asked on his opinion about Sterling’s situation on Merseyside, Mourinho stated that every player can be sold if the correct price is put forward.
“I don’t like players that don’t want to play for me and my club, clearly,” the Portuguese manager is quoted as saying by The BBC.
“Every player has a price. It doesn’t matter which player. If you ask me now, for example, Eden Hazard, we can speak about him because he’s signed a new contract.
“Do I want him to leave Chelsea? No. If he wants to leave, if he doesn’t want to work with me, if he doesn’t want to play for Chelsea, does Eden Hazard have a price? I think he has a price.
“I also understand the philosophy of managers and clubs who want to keep the players at any price, who want just to say, ‘there is no price to sell – the player stays, whatever’.
“My philosophy is not better than that – it’s just different. Either way, when a player has a contract with a club, the club, the manager and the board have the power to decide what to do.”
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Sterling is set to step out for the Reds today in a crunch clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, with the youngster set for a mixed reception.
His current deal runs until the summer of 2017, with his future set to be determined this summer.
Former Reading manager Brian McDermott is on the list of candidates to take charge of Championship outfit Leeds, according to Sky Sports.
The Yorkshire outfit are on the lookout for a new boss after Neil Warnock stepped down after a 2-1 defeat at home to Derby.
It was no surprise to see Warnock step-down at Elland Road after making it publically clear that he’d leave if he failed to get them into the Premier League, and although it’s not mathematically impossible to reach the play-offs, it is deemed an unrealistic task.
It now looks as though the Leeds board are setting their sights on potential candidates, with McDermott being one of them.
McDermott was harshly sacked from his job at Premier League strugglers earlier in the year, and was swiftly replaced by former Southampton manager Nigel Adkins.
Leeds are said to be looking for somebody who can lead the Elland Road outfit to the Premier League next season. Meaning that McDermott fits the bill exactly, having led Reading to the Championship title last season.
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Brighton and Hove manager Gus Poyet is also linked with the vacant job, however it’d be somewhat of a surprise to see him leave the seaside club when he’s taken Albion to the verge of the play-offs.
Jurgen Klopp was criticised in some quarters for rotating his Liverpool squad for the first Merseyside derby of the season at Anfield in December but that didn’t stop him doing the same for the reverse fixture.
With the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Manchester City looming on Tuesday, the German made five changes for the trip to Goodison Park, leaving key men such as Mo Salah and Andy Robertson out of the matchday 18.
His reward was a 0-0 draw. Liverpool dominated possession against an Everton side who failed to capitalise on the changes made by Klopp as they continued the negative approach unpopular manager Sam Allardyce has preferred in the big games.
Admittedly, Everton could have snatched a late win with as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun had chances in the closing stages but overall, it was a dour display from the hosts.
Toffeess fans blame Allardyce for yet another abject display and we’ve taken a closer look at the best of the online reaction…
After plenty of well-documented managerial turmoil at the start of the current campaign, Neil Redfearn became Leeds United’s third manager of the season on November 1st.
It certainly seems to be a case of third time lucky for the Leeds board, as the former caretaker manager, who now finds himself in full charge of first-team matters, looks to be taking the club back in the right direction.
The Leeds fans, who have had more than their fair share of ups and downs in recent years, will know anything is possible at Elland Road. After relegations and numerous fizzled promotion bids, as well as an array of different managers all trying and failing to get the Yorkshire club back to the promised land, the Whites finally look like they have found the right man who can take the club forward.
Since Massimo Cellino took over at Elland Road, he’s earned a reputation of being extremely trigger happy when it comes to sacking managers; Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday and Darko Milanic have already been shown the door during Cellino’s tenure.
But despite all the off-field upheaval of late, Redfearn has got on with the job on the pitch, and has really started to stamp down his managerial authority. The former Barnsley player may have had an indifferent start managing the club, but after Leeds have secured five wins in their last six Championship games, there hasn’t been this much optimism at Elland Road for a number of years.
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Saturday’s hard-fought 1-0 win at Middlesbrough epitomised the way Leeds have turned their fortunes around under Redfearn. They may have rode their luck at times, but there is a togetherness among the players that has certainly been lacking in recent years. The clean sheet at the Riverside made it three clean sheets in as many league outings, and just four goals conceded in their last eight Championship encounters.
The Whites now sit 11th in the Championship table, 10 points off the relegation zone and 15 off the play-offs. After Leeds’ 2-0 defeat to Derby County in late December, Redfearn’s side sat perilously close to the drop zone, just one point off in 20th place. But United have only dropped seven points from a possible 24 available since, which has seen them move up to mid-table and, most importantly, away from the relegation zone.
Leeds United are still a million miles away from their glory days of yesteryear, and the run of positive results could be just that – a run. But results and good performances breed confidence, and the Whites will be hoping to finish the season extremely strong.
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Cellino will surely know by now that the Yorkshire club are still in transition – but if the controversial owner can give Neil Redfearn the time and backing he needs – then there’s no reason whatsoever why the 49-year-old boss isn’t the right man to take the club to the next level, and give the luckless Leeds fans something to cheer about after far too many years of heartache.
Theo Walcott wants his Arsenal team mates to try and ease the pressure on Arsene Wenger as he believes it is their responsibility to start winning, reports Sky Sports.
Arsenal were knocked out of the FA and Capital One Cup by lower division sides this season and face the possibility of finishing an eighth season without a trophy especially if they fail to turn around the defeat against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League.
Despite being unbeaten in their last five games and moving slightly up the table, it hasn’t silenced Wenger’s critics and the manager is still very much under-fire.
Walcott was interviewed for the Arsenal magazine in March and he spoke passionately about repaying Wenger for having faith in him.
“The boss has always had so much belief in me from a young age, but we haven’t won anything for a long time now, so we want to pay him back by winning something,” Walcott said.
“If we don’t perform he always takes it back on himself, but at times it is not fair because we are the players that go out there and do it.
“He definitely lets us know when we are not performing, though, which is the right way to do it.”
The Gunners have sold some of their best players over the last few years and this has had an detrimental effect on the team. Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy are just some of the Arsenal greats that have left for other teams so they can achieve their ambitions.
Theo Walcott almost became one of those players to leave after he refused to sign a new contract with the North London Club but he appeared to have a change of heart last month and signed a new deal, stating that he now believes with the other English players that make up the core of the team, they can start to win trophies.
“Once the team wins the first trophy, you will start to see us coming back to where we should be,” he added.
“When your team is playing well it makes your job easier and when you are winning games it is fantastic to be a part of it. However, it is when things aren’t going too well that you need to stand out and get your team back involved.
“We have got players in the dressing room who can create something out of nothing, and I want to be part of that backbone.
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“I think we will get to a stage when we win games even when we haven’t dominated.
“We are starting to get there and as soon as we hit that target, I am sure we are going to be flying.”
Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has decided to dismiss Sam Allardyce as manager this summer and has two men on his shortlist, according to The Mirror.
What’s the word?
The experienced coach’s appointment at Goodison Park in November was met with mixed reactions from fans and pundits alike.
There was plenty of promise under Ronald Koeman following his summer spending spree in the transfer market, but it was not to be as he was dismissed after the club dropped towards the relegation zone.
Allardyce has managed to keep the Toffees in the Premier League as they currently have 41 points, with 40 usually being the benchmark for safety.
However, the performances have not been the easiest on the eye, despite having creative players, including Theo Walcott.
The Mirror claims that Moshiri is ready to cut ties with Allardyce and replace him with either Shakhtar Donetsk boss Paulo Fonseca or ex-Watford manager Marco Silva.
Does Everton’s chief have tunnel vision?
The Mirror reports that Moshiri was keen on Silva and Fonseca prior to Allardyce’s arrival, but compensation fees put him off.
If the businessman is willing to pay up £6m to cancel ‘Big Sam’s’ contract then he is clearly determined to bring in one of the Portuguese coaches.
Recruiting a younger manager with fresh ideas is a good call from the hierarchy at Everton, but it also presents a risk, particularly if Fonseca is the man to take over.
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The 45-year-old has caught the eye in Ukraine, but he has no experience of English football, while Silva has had stints at Hull City and Watford.
The latter is currently out of work, which would mean that Everton would avoid having to pay any compensation for his signature.
On Tuesday 5th July 2005, Steven Gerrard handed in a transfer request to leave Anfield for Chelsea Football Club; just weeks after leading his boyhood club to the much-celebrated Champions League victory against AC Milan in Istanbul.
The transfer request came at a time when Chelsea were at the start of something huge. They had just been crowned league champions and Roman Abromovich was an owner with plenty of ambition and stacks of money to go with it as well. The Blues also had one of the most talented managers in the world in Jose Mourinho, who led Portuguese side Porto to Champions League glory the year before.
In light of Gerrard’s recent announcement, is there still a slight part of Gerrard that wonders what might have been? 2005 was as good as it got for Gerrard in terms of winning trophies for Liverpool. Chelsea, on the other hand, have grown from strength to strength since then, becoming one of Europe’s powerhouses. The one title that alludes Steven Gerrard is probably the most important, the Premier League. If he led Liverpool to glory last season, he may have considered that job done. However, when you are a player possessing Gerrard’s ability, the absence of a league title to your name is almost farcical.
Joining Chelsea would have undoubtedly been a risk, but one that could have paid off. A Chelsea team with Steven Gerrard included would have been sublime, and having a player of that ability in the side could have resulted in more trophies arriving at Stamford Bridge over the years. Although the offer to move to West London would have been a hard one to turn down, Gerrard eventually opted for a heart-over-head decision to stay put with Liverpool.
Some may say that it was the wrong decision. However, Gerrard has become one of the greatest Liverpool players of all time and his commitment to the club will never be forgotten.
His association with Liverpool is similar to the impact Alan Shearer had at Newcastle United. Shearer was offered the chance to sign for Manchester United from Blackburn Rovers in 1996 before deciding to join his beloved Newcastle United. He then went on to become the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer with 260 goals. Shearer will always be remembered for just how good a player he was, not for the amount of trophies he may have lost out on by joining Newcastle.
The same applies to Steven Gerrard, if he is remembered for not winning a Premier League title in 30 years time and not for being one of the finest footballers of his generation, something has seriously gone wrong with the world.
He has enjoyed a glorious career where he has shone at his hometown club, leading them to levels that would have been unachievable in his absence – think of Cardiff in 2006. He became a great England captain and has continued to perform brilliantly on a consistent basis both domestically and internationally.
The only regret that may be in his mind at the moment is the possibility that he is leaving Liverpool football club too early. Realistically, he is still Liverpool’s best player. As he has got older, he adapted his game slightly to suit his tiring legs, yet he is still the club’s top goalscorer this season.
Although Liverpool may feel like it’s the right time to let their captain leave, Frank Lampard has proved at Manchester City that he is still one of the league’s best at what he does. The same applies to Steven Gerrard, there is an overriding sense that he is joining the MLS prematurely and fans of the Premier League are missing out on another couple of seasons of Gerrard at the highest level.
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Overall, Gerrard may look back on what happened in 2005 and wonder if he made the right decision. However, since then he has cemented himself into Anfield folklore and is easily one of the best central midfielders the Premier League, and the world, has ever seen.
He may not have a Premier League title to his name but Gerrard remains one of the greatest talents this country has produced and his achievements in the game will be fondly remembered for a long time to come.
Chelsea and Arsenal are set to go head-to-head in the race for Marouane Fellaini, according to reports from The Metro.
The Belgian has a reported £22m escape clause in his contract with Everton, which is available to teams competing in European competition.
It’s believed that this was written into his deal when it was extended in 2011, with the player keen to perform on the biggest stage in club football.
Chelsea are said to be highly interested in the 25-year-old and see him as the ideal long-term replacement for Frank Lampard, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season.
Arsenal are also thought to be in the race, after being impressed by Fellaini’s recent performances.
The ex-Standard Liege man has been in fine form this term, with manager David Moyes utilising him in a position just behind the striker.
He has weighed in with nine goals in 18 league games, attracting the attention of many top clubs.
Fellaini arrived at Goodison Park in 2008 from his homeland in a £15m deal.
He has gradually improved season-by-season, but has really evolved during the start of the current campaign.
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Despite his level of ability there are concerns regarding his temperament after he received a three-match ban for head-butting Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross.
The Chelsea fans in the Transfer Tavern have been reacting to their club’s loan watch on Twitter. Chelsea’s officialÂTwitter account tweeted a link to the Chelsea website, where they detail how all of the players who are currently out on loan are getting on at their temporary clubs. A number of fans have been reacting to the tweet, calling for the club to recall a number of their on-loan stars.
Chelsea have developed a reputation over the years for loaning an obsceneÂnumber of young players and thenÂfailing to promote them to the senior squad upon their return. This season a number of players have left Stamford Bridge on a temporary basis. Players such as Michy Batshuayi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Marco Van Ginkel, Charly Musonda and Kenedy are just a handful of those who have been overlooked by the hierarchy at Chelsea as they look to eventually break into Antonio Conte’s first-team.
Some youth players have even opted to leave Chelsea on a permanentÂbasis to secure first-team opportunities over the last couple of seasons. Dominic Solanke, Nathaniel Chalobah and Nathan Ake all moved on from Stamford Bridge last summer after the Blues failed to give them a chance in the first team. Now the fans have been calling for the London club to give some of the current loan stars a chance upon theirÂreturn as they fear that they could be set to lose more young talent.
You can read our resident Chelsea fans’ verdict here:
Many football fans would have been scratching their heads when Neil Lennon took the manager’s job at Bolton Wanderers in October.
The Scot was very impressive at Celtic, guiding his team to a famous Champions League victory over Barcelona as well as performing consistently well in the Scottish Premier League. Many had tipped him to work in English football after he left Celtic, with his name being linked to vacancies at clubs like Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion.
Lennon eventually returned to the game with Bolton Wanderers, a surprise move to a club that was rooted in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship. Dougie Freedman, Bolton’s former manager, could only register one league win in the opening 11 games of the Championship season. In Lennon’s first game in charge, he guided Bolton to an important 0-1 away victory against fellow strugglers Birmingham. Since then, Bolton have hit good form and are slowly working their way up the Championship table after a dismal start.
Lennon’s managerial style is plain and simple, he doesn’t muck about. In his first week in charge, he banned Bolton’s players from wearing beanie hats in training. It seemed like Lennon was determined to let the players know who was in charge and this bullish attitude has paid off. Since Lennon took over at Bolton, he has led them to five victories out of a possible nine, only losing twice against Norwich and Charlton. They are currently on a five-match unbeaten streak and have moved up to 17th in the league, four points clear of the relegation zone. It looks as if Lennon has brought stability to a club that had started the season really poorly.
As well as stability, Lennon has encouraged more of an intricate style of football, developing Bolton into a team that pass the ball well, making it easier to keep hold of possession. Bolton had managed to score in every league game since Lennon’s arrival until the 0-0 draw with Reading. However, what is important is that that they pick up points and gradually move up the table. Lennon stated that Bolton could make the play off places if everything went to plan. Whether this is an accurate estimate remains to be seen but what is clear is that Lennon’s fresh impetus and approach to management has transformed things at Bolton.
The signing of Eidur Gudjohnsen will only help the squad by adding experience and quality. Although the former Icelandic international is coming to the end of his career, he will act as a good example for the younger players to follow and his previous associations with the club will mean that he can settle in very quickly. As well as Gudjohnsen, Bolton fans could be seeing former England international and ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey featuring for them in the Championship this season.
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The 36-year-old clearly has a wealth of experience to his name and offers excellent physicality up front. Lennon has taken Heskey on a two-week trial to see whether the big striker still has what it takes to perform at this sort of level. Whether he signs or not, Lennon is clearly determined to improve the team and do everything he can in order to give Bolton more of a boost in terms of aiming for the play-off spots.
Credit must also be given to Phil Gartside, the Bolton chairman, who acted quickly and effectively when the club were struggling no end at the lower depths of the Championship. The sacking culture in the Championship is monumental compared to the Premier League at the moment but Gartside’s actions have proved that he made the right decision for the club. The appointment has got the club out of trouble and looking forward, something that didn’t look particularly achievable just a couple of months ago.