Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis believes other Premier League clubs should use the Gunners as the perfect model as they prepare for financial regulation.
As of next season, UEFA want clubs to start balancing their books in an attempt to minimise deficits by 2018 and Gazidis believes Arsenal is the perfect club for others to take inspiration from.
He told Sky Sports: “Arsenal
were operating this way a long time before football looked at it and decided it would be a good path for football to move into.
“I think people believe money can be spent without consequence and if we learnt anything from the financial crisis the world has had over the last few years it has to be unsustainable spending and unsustainable environments don’t last forever.
“I think football is in a fantastic position to address this because we are in a position where I am very optimistic for the future of football. The revenues the game generates, particularly the Premier League’s position, is fantastic.
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“The Premier League owners are coming together: I think there is a developing consensus around the fact we need some form of tighter financial regulations to make sure as we look forward that the interest of the Premier League, its clubs and the fans are well protected.”
The Gunners recently announced a healthy pre-tax profit and have a reputation of making large profits from player transfers.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas will attempt to complete a £6m deal for Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor this week.
After a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle at the weekend, Villas-Boas admitted he is a striker short in his attacking options. A fee has been agreed for the 28-year-old Togo striker, who scored 18 goals whilst on loan at White Hart Lane last season, and the former Arsenal forward is on the verge of accepting a wage cut after accepting that his Manchester City career is over.
Meanwhile, Villas-Boas has assured Jermain Defoe that he has a future at Spurs, despite interest from Sunderland and Aston Villa and the impending arrival of Adebayor at White Hart Lane. The 29-year-old England international scored 17 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions last season, with these statistics taking a blow due to Adebayor being picked ahead of Defoe in a lone-striker role. Villas-Boas was full of praise for Defoe, after scoring for Tottenham in pre-season, against Italy in an International friendly for England, and again against Newcastle to cancel out Demba Ba’s opener.
The Portuguese manager told The Mail Online “It is a different situation for him now. I have nothing to do with anything that happened in the past. He is our striker, is playing extremely well, is full of confidence and has been deadly in front of goal.”
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Tottenham are Liverpool are set to go head to head in January to sign up Spanish starlet Isco in a cut price deal, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Malaga ace is highly sought after and both Premier League clubs sent scouts to watch the 20-year old who scored a brace against Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League.
Isco still has four years remaining on his current deal; however with the Spanish side reported financial problems it is believed that should a club meet the player’s £16m buyout clause that Malaga may well be tempted to cash in.
Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini is under no illusions that it will be difficult to keep hold of Isco; a player who has been described as having limitless potential:
“He is a player who has a great future. Nobody knows what his limit is.”
Both Tottenham and Liverpool are desperate for a new striker in January, given that both clubs only have two recognised strikers within their respective squads.
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Paris Saint-Germain director of football Leonardo has dismissed speculation the club are looking to sign England striker Wayne Rooney.
The Manchester United forward has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford this term, with a deal abroad being tipped for the Three Lions star.
PSG, who have been able to bring the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham to the Parc des Princes, have been strongly linked with the 27-year-old.
However, Leonardo is adamant his club have made no move for Rooney ahead of the summer transfer window and the Brazilian has also played down speculation concerning a deal involving Napoli star Edinson Cavani and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “On Ronaldo, there has never been an offer. I’ve never heard anything about Rooney or Cavani either.
“I do not rule out big signings, but only if there is a suitable opportunity.” (Metro)
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Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben’s goals ensured Bayern Munich a 2-1 Champions League final victory against Borussia Dortmund.
In a closely-fought affair at Wembley Stadium the first all-German final had to wait until the hour mark for its opening goal with Mandzukic converting.
Ilkay Gundogan levelled up from the penalty spot before Robben won the match late on to give Bayern their first Champions League win since 2001 and made up for their 2010 defeat to Inter Milan and last year’s penalty shoot-out heartbreak against Chelsea.
Dortmund pressed Bayern from the off and their prolific marksman Robert Lewandowski had the first attempt in the 14th minute with his rising strike from outside the area tipped over by Manuel Neuer.
A minute later Jakub Blaszczykowski met a ball in from the right with a first-time effort which Neuer did well to turn round his near post.
On 19 minutes Marco Reus was sent clear by Kevin Grosskreutz and his effort from outside the area was pushed out for a corner by Neuer.
Sven Bender was picked out in the box by Grosskreutz three minutes later but his effort lacked any real power to beat Neuer.
Bayern finally woke up and almost scored on 26 minutes when Franck Ribery’s great left-wing cross found the head of Mandzukic who forced a good save from Roman Weidenfeller.
Robben then went clear down the right of the Dortmund area but Weidenfeller raced out to narrow the angle and blocked his effort.
Dortmund had another opportunity on 35 minutes as Lewandowski turned Jerome Boateng in the area but his low strike was saved by Neuer’s feet.
Robben had the final chance of the half when the ball fell to him just inside the Dortmund area but Weiudenfeller thwarted his attempted chip with his face.
Bayern took the lead on 60 minutes when Ribery played in Robben down the left side of the area and he teed up Mandzukic for a simple tap-in.
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The lead only lasted eight minutes as Dante’s clumsy tackle on Reus in the area saw Dortmund handed a penalty which Gundogan converted as he sent Neuer the wrong way.
Neven Subotic did brilliantly well to slide in and cleared Thomas Muller’s angled effort off the line on 72 minutes with Robben also looking to get in and force the ball home at the back post.
Lewandowski fired in a brilliant dipping volley from outside the area for Dortmund but the referee had blew up for a free kick, while at the other end Weidenfeller did well to parry away a David Alaba strike. Bastian Schweinsteiger then forced a good save from the Dortmund custodian with just three minutes left on the clock.
But in the final minute of normal time Ribery’s back-heel played in Robben who went past a couple of defenders before flicking the ball into the net past Weidenfeller to claim Bayern’s fifth European crown.
The teams involved in this fixture both have pressing needs to grab all three points in this fixture at opposite ends of the table.
Reading will be desperate to try and find a 3 points from anywhere so they don’t lose touch with the chasing pack as they try and stave off relegation.
Manchester City will be under slightly more pressure you suspect though with the fans expectant of a win and a goal glut against an indifferent Reading side.
Roberto Mancini’s men still lie six points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester United and will be looking to close that gap wherever possible.
They surrendered their long unbeaten record at the Etihad Stadium to United a few weekends ago but firmly got themselves back on track at St. James’s Park last time out.
An impressive display and a 3-1 fixture ensured that they regained the momentum they had before their derby day loss.
The Royals sit rock bottom at the foot of the Premier League and haven’t won in six matches and a trip to Manchester would not have been on their Christmas wish list. McDermott as a consequence remains the favourite with the bookies to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.
Vincent Kompany the club captain for City is expected to massively lift the side return from injury. Mario Balotelli may have taken the headlines midweek over his wage docking but misses out on this one with a virus. Samir Nasri (hamstring) has been ruled out and full-back Aleksandar Kolarov (knee) is unavailable too.
Reading look set to be without striker Jason Roberts for the trip to the Etihad stadium. Jem Karacan (knee), Jimmy Kebe (groin) and Danny Guthrie (thigh) all come back at a crucial time as options for the Royals. Sean Morrison and Alex McCarthy remain out for a significant period of time.
Reading have faced more shots than any other side in the top five European leagues this season and can expect more of the same in this fixture.
Prediction: Man City 3-0 Reading
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Zenit Saint Petersburg are set to rival Liverpool in their pursuit of Genoa star Andreas Granqvist, according to reports from talkSPORT.
The Premier League side were linked with the Swedish international over the summer, with Brendan Rodgers rumoured to be keen on strengthening his defensive options.
However, reports have emerged that the big spending Russians are now keen on the centre-back and could make a swoop during the January transfer window.
The Italians are believed to value their man at around £6.5m, which would be small change for Zenit who splashed a combined £70m to bring former Chelsea target Hulk and Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel to the club earlier this year.
The 27-year-old is rumoured to be keen on a switch to Anfield, but the Saint Petersburg-based outfit are likely to offer him a very lucrative deal to swap Serie A life for the Russian Premier League.
Granqvist spent the 2008/09 season with Wigan, moving to the DW Stadium from Helsingborgs in his homeland.
He failed to hold down a starting berth with the Latics, making just over ten appearances before moving to Eredivisie outfit Groningen.
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Since his forgettable spell in the Premier League the Swede has forged a reputation as tough-tackling, reliable defender and made almost 30 appearances for his national team.
The transfer window may be done and dusted now the August deadline has been and gone and teams are unable to spend money until January, but that doesn’t mean they can’t bring in any reinforcements if necessary. Those individuals still available on a free transfer, whose contracts have expired and are yet to find a club, are free to keep talking to clubs until they sort out a new deal.
For example, Michael Owen finally bagged himself a new Premier League club, joining Stoke City this week having been released by Manchester United earlier in the summer. A move never materialised for Owen on deadline day itself, but he stayed calm and secured a deal after the window had shut. Liverpool are so short in the striking department, they may have to turn to the free transfer market and see who’s available, so we’ve compiled our own list of the ten players still out there without a club.
Click on Harry Kewell to unveil the 10 freebies
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Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes is confident he will be given a chance to turn things around at Loftus Road after a miserable start to the season.
Just two points in six games leaves Rangers rock bottom of the Premier League, despite the London club being the most active, in the summer transfer window.
Hughes is confident he’ll be given time to get things right and has the backing of his owners he said to SkySports: “I would think so. We have had a big investment and we’re looking to improve this year and will.
“It is very, very early days, but until we get positive results on the board ten obviously everything is up for debate and a focus begins to come as a whole.
“We just need to start winning football matches. If we do that, it goes away.”
Hughes was brought in as manager when Neil Warnock was dismissed by the club in January. The Welshman conjured up a last day escape from relegation, despite his side bowing down famously to Premier League champions Manchester City that day. Following a host of summer arrivals Rangers ambition’s this term were expected to be more than just surviving.
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Marouane Fellaini’s deadline day move to Manchester United was the champion’s standout bit of transfer business during the summer window. It was a summer plagued by near misses and undue disappointment for the Premier League club whose capture of the Belgian midfielder came as something of a relief in the end.
As of now it has been a season to forget for United, lacklustre displays have dogged the new era at the club and David Moyes will be as keen as anyone to ensure that Fellaini along with his teammates can galvanise the United revival.
It is easy to forget though how much of a saga the Fellaini deal actually was, at a point United were able to purchase the midfielder for around £5m less than they eventually did owing to a release clause in his contract. United were never that decisive, a characteristic that shaped their summer as a whole, so when Fellaini did eventually move it was to the undoubted disappointment of a number of other top clubs.
Indeed Fellaini himself has spoken of a particular interest from Arsenal, a club always notoriously keen to bolster their midfield options. The Belgian has had the following to say after the dust has begun to settle on his summer move:
“I don’t want to tell you everything what happened during the transfer,” he said to beIN Sport. “This was done at the last minute.”
“In a transfer window, there is always a list of players, you never know if it’s true or not. But for me, I knew [Moyes] was interested in me.”
“Chelsea? No comment. Arsenal? It’s true, they were interested, but Manchester United convinced me to sign for them.”
It seems a reunion with David Moyes was not something to be passed up, but did the Belgian really make the right decision?
Arsenal are flying high in the league, and whilst it may be a little lazy and short-sighted to say he made the wrong move based on league standing, there is a clear gulf emerging between the two sides. Arsenal are playing some mesmerising football, even by their own high standards, whereas United are a side grappling for any semblance of the form that made them such a footballing power.
We all know players are often driven by trophies and considering the histories of both clubs it is difficult at this stage to say whether he has made the right choice on these lines. Arsenal’s trophy drought is well documented, and regardless of how they play there is always that nagging question as to whether culture of success is really there? Contrast this to a United side who know how to win things even when they may not be playing at their very best. The jury for me is out on this one until May.
For his pure footballing development though I think Fellaini made exactly the right move. In David Moyes he has a manager he knows and trusts, at a club where there is a genuine desire to build the midfield around him. Arsenal may well be readymade for him in terms of style and form but personally perseverance with the Moyes’ project may well pay dividends.
This collapse in form won’t last forever, and if United can revive their fortunes I can see someone like Fellaini being the one to lead the charge. At his age with his international aspirations he needs to be at a big club playing week in week out. Both the clubs mentioned are juggernauts, but can you honestly say Fellaini would get into that Arsenal midfield regularly.
Flamini is looking every bit the midfield enforcer that they needed, and the revival in form of Ramsey amongst other leaves the competition for midfield places incredibly fierce.
This isn’t to say Fellaini made the right move though lack of ambition, more so with a degree of prudence and forward thinking. I don’t think you ever move to a club with the stature of a Manchester United by resting on your laurels.
Hindsight may be a wonderful thing, but in my view the jury is still out on the immediate successes of both United and Arsenal. Regardless of this, Fellaini if he has the degree of patience necessary may well be onto a winner at United. The focal point of their midfield, at one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, the future is a lot brighter for the Belgian than a lot may think.
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