FRANKFURT DEAL FOR BENDTNER IN DOUBT

Eintracht Frankfurt chairman Heribert Bruchhagen has cast doubt on completing a move for Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner.
The Denmark forward appeared to be on the brink of a switch to the Commerzbank-Arena after Eintracht confirmed Bendtner was in Germany on Tuesday to finalise his transfer.

However, talks appear to have broken down, with the 25-year-old's wage demands a possible stumbling block.
Bruchhagen told kicker.de: "After weighing up all the arguments, Bendtner turned out not to be a realistic prospect.
"Now it's up to us. There are no problems with Arsenal. We have to see if it's financially viable."
Bendtner spent last season on loan at Serie A champions Juventus but they opted not to make the deal permanent after he failed to score a goal.

MANZARRI: LAVEZZI WOULD BE WELCOME TO INTER

Inter team manager Manzarri believes Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ezequiel Lavezzi would be a good signing for the Nerazzurri.

The Giuseppe Meazza side have already showed an interest in signing the 28-year-old back in 2012, but Lavezzi left Napoli for PSG instead.

Inter are now supposedly back in for the attacker, though, and Manzarri would welcome Lavezzi with open arms.

"Lavezzi? I used to enjoy playing against players like that - you had to really be on your toes to mark them," Manzarri told Sky Sport 24.

"He's a great player and he could do well here."

The Colombian then went on to discuss Inter's alleged interest in Napoli's Juan Zuniga.

"Zuniga? Obviously I'm going to say that I'd like to have him here because I rate him and have known him for a long time," he added.

"If he were to join, I think it would be an important step in his career."

Lavezzi has a contract with PSG until 2016, while the 27-year-old's Zuniga's deal with Napoli runs out next year.

MANCHESTER CITY CLOSE IN ON JOVETIC

Manchester City are set to take their summer spending to over €104 million after moving closer to securing both Fiorentina attacker Stevan Jovetic and Sevilla forward Alvaro Negredo.

Sporting director Txiki Begiristain has not travelled with the squad on their pre-season tour of South Africa as he looks to tie up deals for the pair, who emerged as top targets in recent weeks after missing out on Isco to Real Madrid and Edinson Cavani, who is close to joining Paris Saint-Germain.

City officials met with Jovetic's agent, Fali Ramadani, at Mottram Hall in Cheshire on Wednesday, with both parties keen to discuss a deal to bring the 23-year-old to the Etihad Stadium this summer.

The Premier League runners-up no longer have first option on the Montenegro international following the sacking of Roberto Mancini in May, but have maintained their long-standing interest in the attacker, who they see as a viable alternative to Isco.

Goal understands that Jovetic would receive an €92,000-a-week salary package at City, and club officials are confident of tying up a move in the coming days with Fiorentina happy to maintain their close links to City, harboured following Stefan Savic's move to Serie A last summer.

Meanwhile, City have also received the green light to complete a €23m move for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo after the Spanish side confirmed the signing of Carlos Bacca from Club Brugge.

Colombian Bacca has been brought in by Sevilla chief Monchi as a replacement to Negredo, who will see his salary doubled to €87,000-a-week in Manchester.
Sevilla and City have maintained a strong relationship following Jesus Navas' €21m move to the Etihad earlier this summer, and the Premier League outfit have agreed to meet the Spanish outfit's asking price.

Negredo emerged as City's key striker target after the club refused to meet Cavani's €63 million buyout clause at Napoli and baulked at his €290,000-a-week salary demands. The Uruguayan is close to completing a move to the French capital following discussions over his personal terms.

Jovetic and Negredo would be City's third and fourth major signings of the summer re,spectively, with Navas and Fernandinho having already been secured in June prior to Pellegrini's appointment.

GRENIER SUNBS ARSENAL

Clement Grenier has ended all speculation about his future by signing a new contract with Olympique Lyonnais until the summer of 2016 amid strong interest from Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger recently admitted he was attracted by the prospect of bringing the 22-year-old to the Premier League, but Grenier has decided to extend his stay with his current club.

 

"My progress at Lyon is not over yet," Grenier said at a press conference.

"I have had a good last six months but I still have a lot to learn here."

 

Meanwhile, head coach Remi Garde was delighted to tie the France international to a new deal.

"I am very happy to continue working with Clement Grenier. Hopefully we can help him progress further."

 

Club chairman Jean-Michel Aulas then went on to reveal a number of high-profile players are likely to leave the club ahead of the new season.

 

France international trio Bafetimbi Gomis, Jimmy Briand and Yoann Gourcuff have all been linked with departures in the close season and Aulas is welcoming offers for all three.

 

He added: "Bafe and Jimmy Briand are awaiting departure. For Yoann Gourcuff, we are looking for opportunities."

AJAX SIGN DEFENDER

Ajax have completed the signing of defender Mike van der Hoorn on a four-year contract, the Eredivisie club have confirmed.

The 20-year-old joins the club from FC Utrecht for an undisclosed fee on a deal which will keep him at the Amsterdam-based side until June 30, 2017.

MIGNOLET: I EXPECT TO START

Simon Mignolet has warned Pepe Reina that he has not joined Liverpool to sit on the bench, and expects to be played this season.

The 25-year-old moved to Anfield from Sunderland for a reported £9 million fee in June and has signed a long-term deal with Brendan Rodgers’ side after playing every minute of Sunderland’s Premier League campaign last term.


Mignolet will now compete for the No.1 shirt with Spaniard Reina, who has missed just 20 league games for Liverpool in eight seasons with the club and affirmed his determination to become first choice.

"I'm not here to be sitting and resting. I'm here to come and progress, and play," he said.

"The only thing I can do is train hard, show the manager that I'm ready for it and in the games when I get my chance I have to be there and be ready.

"Competition is something I have had at every single club.

"It's a challenge that can make you better and stronger and I will just try and do my best."

Mignolet has 13 Belgium caps to his name and impressed last season, despite Sunderland’s battle against relegation, keeping 11 clean sheets in 38 appearances.

MOURINHO: SCHURRLE AND VAN GINKEL ARE READY FOR FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes new signings Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel are ready to make an impact in the Blues first team, despite their tender ages.

The Portuguese, who is beginning his second stint at Stamford Bridge, is pleased with his early summer business as he sees Schurrle, 22, and van Ginkel, 20, as players for the present as well as the future.

"Andre Schurrle is still so young but he already has great history because he plays in his national team, he has played Champions League and he played three complete seasons for Bayer Leverkusen," Mourinho told the club’s official website.

"He is a player who is absolutely ready and he gives us more than one position in attack and adds quality. He will be important for us.

"Marco van Ginkel is one of the best prospects. He is not yet like Schurrle - close to being a finished product - but he is a player with great potential. Of course he needs to play and he will, because he is a player with great potential and physically he is more than ready. He is a natural athlete.

“By the technical and the tactical point of view of course he is a kid, he has to learn, but I think he is very open-minded and we analysed him for quite a long time. The Chelsea scouting department did it for quite a long time and I did it in the last five or six months, and we made a collective decision to bring the kid here."

Mourinho also highlighted Chelsea's other young starlets, including the returning trio of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Tomas Kalas, who he expects all have a role to play after developing well during their respective loan spells last season.

He added: "They are good players with a very good value in the market and we have these players this season for free, after an investment that the club did before. After the development of the players on loan it is the right moment for them to be back.

"They are very young with space to develop, they will be better year after year and I can imagine in five years they are much better than today, but what they have today is more than enough to belong to this squad.

"We have a team to develop, we have a team to work. Of course we know there are expectations already and we want to create expectations for ourselves, we don't need other people to create them.

"So we are a very young squad. We have an average age of 26.3 and the reality is the best period of this team has yet to arrive. In five, six, seven years’ time, this team will be in the best moment of their careers."

OGBONNA UNDERGOING MEDICAL AT JUVENTUS

Juventus are close to securing the signature of Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna as he is currently undergoing a medical at the club.

The Italy international had long been linked with a move to the Old Lady and a transfer now only appears to be a matter of time following Juve's latest announcement.

"Ogbonna conducts Juventus medical. The 25-year-old defender visits Turin’s Fornaca clinic and Medicina dello Sport center ahead of a proposed move to the Bianconeri," a Juve statement reads.

Juventus have reached an agreement with Torino over an initial transfer fee believed to be close to €13 million, potentially rising to €15m depending on the fulfillment of a number of clauses.

Ogbonna is a product of the Torino youth academy and had developed into a key player at the Granata since making his official first team debut in February 2007.

He has also caught the attention of Napoli and Manchester United, but now seems set to continue his career at Juventus.

SANTOS GIVE UP ON ROBINHO

Santos have abandoned their plans to sign Brazilian striker Robinho from AC Milan.

The club, the player and Milan tried to agree on the conditions that would make the transfer possible but, despite effort from all sides, it was not possible to meet the numbers.
The sum of the transaction, including the payment to the Italian club and the athlete's salary remains far from the reality of Brazilian football.

– Official Santos club statement

TOURE: SUAREZ WON'T WIN TROPHIES AT ARSENAL

Liverpool new-boy Kolo Toure believes wantaway striker Luis Suarez has more chance of success at Anfield than at his old club Arsenal.

The Cote d'Ivoire nternational left the Gunners four years ago to join Manchester City in search of silverware, winning the FA Cup and Premier League.


"Of course, if he stays he can have more chances to win trophies," Toure told reporters at his unveiling at Liverpool’s Melwood HQ. "This club is definitely prepared - the organisation, the mentality of the players and the staff. It's amazing.

"It's a top professional club. Luis is a great player, a fantastic player. He is a massive player for Liverpool, but it's up to the club to decide what is best for this football club."

The 32-year-old spoke of his delight at being the one chosen to replace the recently retired club legend Jamie Carragher and to play for an "unbelievable" club like Liverpool.

He added: "It's an honour to play for Liverpool. This club is unbelievable. I have been here for two weeks and I have seen a lot of good things.

"I know Jamie Carragher was a really important player for this football club. He's retired now. Liverpool have looked for somebody to replace him and I'm the one!

"It's a massive honour, firstly, to be chosen. To replace Jamie Carragher is unbelievable because he was such a fantastic player for this football club and a great leader.

"It will not be easy for me, but I will do my best."

Toure also revealed he had offers from numerous clubs but was delighted when Brendan Rodgers reached out to him as he could not turn down the team's winning tradition.

He continued: "I had different offers, but when I got the phone call from Liverpool, I was like, 'Wow!"

"I made my decision straight away. Liverpool are not in the top four, but they have the history and the quality. They have the players and the winning mentality as well.

"This club is a winning club. I want to be part of the story here and that's why I came."