Juventus will step up efforts to sign Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez if they fail to price Arsenal and Chelsea target Stevan Jovetic away from Fiorentina.
Tevez has one year left on contract and City, as with Javi Garcia, Edin Dzeko and Joleon Lescott, are prepared to listen to offers as they look to continue recruiting with Real Madrid's Pepe and Malaga's Isco still on their wishlist.
Jovetic, 23, is valued at £30m and Juventus fear they will struggle to beat Chelsea, particularly, in the bidding.
West Ham are poised to offer Andy Carroll a six-year contract worth £100,000 a week. Manager Sam Allardyce expects an answer from Carroll this week before the striker returns from holiday. The salary is understood to be supplemented by a pay off from Liverpool as part of the £15.5million transfer fee.
West Ham are poised to offer Andy Carroll a six-year contract worth £100,000 a week. Manager Sam Allardyce expects an answer from Carroll this week before the striker returns from holiday. The salary is understood to be supplemented by a pay off from Liverpool as part of the £15.5million transfer fee.
Allardyce, who completed the signing of goalkeeper Adrian on a three-year contract from Real Betis, is keen for a quick answer so that he can find alternatives in case Carroll rejects the offer.
Brazil midfielder Fernandinho has arrived in the North West for a medical after Shakhtar Donetsk accepted an offer of £22million from Manchester City.
The 28-year-old, who wanted a move to the Barclays Premier League to boost his hopes of making Brazil’s 2014 World Cup squad, was pictured at Manchester's Bridgewater Hospital.
Fernandinho had feared his Premier League dream was being threatened by Shakhtar’s attempt to squeeze as much out of the super-rich English club.
The 28-year-old, who wanted a move to the Barclays Premier League to boost his hopes of making Brazil’s 2014 World Cup squad, was pictured at Manchester's Bridgewater Hospital.
Fernandinho had feared his Premier League dream was being threatened by Shakhtar’s attempt to squeeze as much out of the super-rich English club.
The Brazilian had made public his desire to leave the Ukrainian side, but feared Shakhtar would hold out for an offer close to his whopping £42.5m release clause.
‘The day I signed, the club’s director guaranteed me that was normal with his players,’ he said. ‘And that in a transfer, we could negotiate and reach an agreement on the price.’
‘I trusted them, and I didn’t think about the consequences it would bring me in the future.
‘My dream is being threatened because of the high valuation.’
Shakhtar manager Mircea Lucescu had vowed to hold on to his prize asset but Fernandinho, who netted against Chelsea in the Champions League group stages earlier this season, said last month that even his international team-mates wanted him to move to City.
‘They all wish me to move on,' he said.
'They know that the Premier League is a great championship and that Manchester City is a great club, therefore they all wish me to play there, and to participate in the division.
‘I believe my chances of making the World Cup squad will improve if I join City. My exposure would be better, because Brazil is biased against the Ukrainian league. What we do here is not recognised in my country.
‘Therefore, playing in a division, at a club that is considered among the best in the world, and if I keep performing well, that would help me to be to be taken back to the Brazilian national team.’
Arsene Wenger has been given a fresh boost in his bid to sign unsettled Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, after he spoke of his desire to play as a centre forward.
The striking berth at Manchester United has been filled by ex-Arsenal star and Premier League top scorer Robin van Persie this season, with Rooney lending support from a deeper position.
While the England forward - who scored a brilliant solo effort in the 2-2 draw against Brazil on Sunday night - would be happy to fill that position in the future, he is keen to have more chances to play up front beforehand.
'In the years to come, that might be somewhere I could play, but, right now, I'm definitely a centre forward. I'm after more goals.' Rooney told FourFourTwo magazine.
'I've played up front on my own a few times for Manchester United and it's a role I'm very comfortable with and have no problems playing.
'When you play as a target man, you have to stay up front and help the team out by holding the ball up and waiting for support. That all comes with experience.
'It's a good role for me to play, and hopefully I can continue doing well there.'
Arsenal have confirmed Andrey Arshavin, Denilson and Sebastien Squillaci will leave the club on the expiry of their contracts at the end of this month.
All three were expected to depart the Emirates this summer after dropping out of the first-team picture under manager Arsene Wenger.
'Andrey Arshavin, Denilson and Sebastien Squillachi will leave the club when they come to the end of their contracts on June 30, and Arsenal would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contribution and wish them well for the future,' a club statement read.
Aston Villa have released five first team players as Paul Lambert looks to shore up his squad after a season of transition.
'When you play as a target man, you have to stay up front and help the team out by holding the ball up and waiting for support. That all comes with experience.
'It's a good role for me to play, and hopefully I can continue doing well there.'
Arsenal have confirmed Andrey Arshavin, Denilson and Sebastien Squillaci will leave the club on the expiry of their contracts at the end of this month.
All three were expected to depart the Emirates this summer after dropping out of the first-team picture under manager Arsene Wenger.
'Andrey Arshavin, Denilson and Sebastien Squillachi will leave the club when they come to the end of their contracts on June 30, and Arsenal would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contribution and wish them well for the future,' a club statement read.
Aston Villa have released five first team players as Paul Lambert looks to shore up his squad after a season of transition.
The club have confirmed that Richard Dunne, Eric Lichaj, Andy Marshall, Jean Makoun and Simon Dawkins have departed, with Villa taking a big load off what was an enormous wage bill.
Dawkins, who has been on loan at Villa Park since January from Tottenham, will return to his parent club.
Harry Redknapp has warned Queens Park Rangers’ owners to back him in the transfer market or risk him quitting the club.
Redknapp wants to be active in the transfer market this summer but has so far been frustrated in his attempts to lure his top targets. The QPR manager, 66, wants to sign Wayne Bridge from Manchester City on a free, but the move has so far proved elusive.
Redknapp, who joined in November but failed to keep QPR in the Premier League, also said that if he doesn't get his choice of suitable players through the door, the club 'won't have a chance'.
Redknapp told Sky Sports News: ‘I’m happy there. The owners, the board are nice people to work for.
'If they let me manage the club and choose the players I want and don’t interfere then they’ll have a chance, if they don’t then it’ll be difficult.
‘If we don’t change it and I don’t get the players in I want then we won’t have a chance. You can’t let other people have any say at all.
'I’m a football person, I’ve got the staff around me who are football people, we have to make the decisions.
'If we make the right ones well have a chance. If others want to make decisions we’ve got no chance.
‘If I don’t get that I wouldn’t stick around. I’ve got to speak to Tony Fernandes and they’ve got to back me with who I want.'
'I’m not after loads of money I’m looking at a couple of free transfers. Trying to get Wayne Bridge in,' added the former Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham boss.
'Thought he did fantastic at Brighton last year, he’d be a good left back for us, to come in, great experience, looks in great shape. He’s a player I really want to bring in on a free. So I’m hoping that’s the first deal I can do.
'Tony’ s away but I’ll try speak to him today and see if we can push on and get the deal done.’
Roberto Martinez was unveiled as the new Everton coach yesterday and the Spaniard has insisted he is serious about gatecrashing the top four and making Everton a force in Europe.
Introducing Martinez as David Moyes’s successor, chairman Bill Kenwright revealed that the Spaniard’s opening gambit when they first met had been a vow to take Everton into the Champions League.
And the former Wigan boss explained why he set his sights so high and claimed he had a pedigree for delivering the unexpected.
‘They are big shoes to fill here, because what David Moyes has done for Everton is incredible,’ said Martinez, who has signed a four-year deal. ‘There are six clubs at the top of the Premier League who work at a different financial level, and Everton had no right to break into that.
‘It will be very difficult to get anywhere near to what he achieved, but I am excited by the challenge and I can build on what he has done.
‘The Champions League is the challenge that comes with the title of being Everton manager. I feel you need to have that dream. At Swansea, I said the aim should be to get the club into the Premier League. It sounded impossible, considering we were in League One, but it happened.
'Then I went to Wigan and said we needed to get into Europe, and that will be the case next season. You have to have that dream. I have no right to see Everton in the Champions League, but with time, you can achieve anything.
‘Only 14 managers have had the privilege to be at this club. That brings responsibility but also shows you are going to get time to work, and for me that is important.’
Martinez’s recruitment was made with the endorsement of new Manchester United boss Moyes.
Kenwright said: ‘David and I talk all the time. When he spoke to me from New York last night, he said, “Tell Roberto I am here for him”. He remembered what it was like coming from Preston, and it is not dissimilar with Roberto.
‘Only 14 managers have had the privilege to be at this club. That brings responsibility but also shows you are going to get time to work, and for me that is important.’
Martinez’s recruitment was made with the endorsement of new Manchester United boss Moyes.
Kenwright said: ‘David and I talk all the time. When he spoke to me from New York last night, he said, “Tell Roberto I am here for him”. He remembered what it was like coming from Preston, and it is not dissimilar with Roberto.
‘I have met some of the finest individuals in football since David left, and the finest of the lot is now manager of this club. But I still said, when we met, that I didn’t want the standards David has achieved here to slip.
‘Equally, I’m not going to ask for the Champions League or top of the league without giving him the backing he needs.’
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