Luka Modric has breathed life into Chelsea’s pursuit of his signature by claiming he wants to leave Tottenham.

 

Chelsea have had a bid of £22m rejected, with Spurs describing the offer as ridiculous. It was felt at the time that the offer for the Croatian was an opening gambit and it may well have served its purpose as Modric has reacted by revealing he wants to head for a fresh challenge.

“I want to leave Tottenham as friends,” Modric is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail. “I have enjoyed my time there, but now it is right for me to look at another club.”

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has made it clear that he does not want to lose Modric, but the player claims he has an agreement with chairman Daniel Levy that could allow him to move on.

“I have an arrangement with the chairman,” he said. “When I signed my new contract, he said that, if another club came to sign me, they would consider the offer.”

Chelsea can offer Modric Champions League football and he is clearly attracted by that prospect.

He said: “Chelsea are a big club with an ambitious owner. They have great players and they have ambitions to fight for the title and win the Champions League.”

Manchester United are believed to be keeping tabs on the situation, but it would appear Modric is happy in London.

“I want to stay in London,” he said. “I am very happy here and so are my family. I like the city.”

Toon complete signing of Demba Ba

 

 

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has made his second summer transfer breakthrough by finally landing Senegal striker Demba Ba.

The 26-year-old former West Ham frontman’s move to St James’ Park was rubber-stamped this afternoon, the Barclays Premier League club have confirmed.

The arrival of Ba, who scored seven times in 13 appearances for the Hammers during the second half of last season, comes 24 hours after Magpies skipper Kevin Nolan headed for Upton Park in a deal believed to be worth in the region of £4million.

Pardew said: “Demba made a great impression with West Ham last season and is a great signing for this club. He has pace, excellent technical ability, is good in the air and, it goes without saying, has the ability to consistently find the back of the net. Moreover he has a great passion to play for Newcastle United.”

Newcastle beat off competition from a series off other suitors to land the former Hoffenheim player as Pardew looks to increase his options in attack.

The player seemed to be heading for Stoke in January until he failed a medical on a knee problem and was snapped up by the Hammers.

Despite his best efforts to keep the Londoners in the Premier League, they were relegated at the end of last season, but not before he had proved both his fitness and his prowess in front of goal.

Ba arrived on Tyneside on Thursday as the Magpies’ dogged pursuit neared its conclusion, and was able to convince the club’s medics that his knee will not be an issue.

He joins Yohan Cabaye in heading for St James’ this summer, although is not necessarily a direct replacement for Andy Carroll, who left for Liverpool in January, with Pardew running the rule over a series of other targets.

Ba who was born in the Paris suburb of Sevres and is one of eight children began his career with Rouen.

Zapata ‘close to’ Reds switch

 

Zapata is rated as one of Serie A’s best defenders and helped the Zebrette finish fourth in Italy’s top-flight division, qualifying them for a spot in the play-offs of next season’s Champions League.

The Colombia international is currently in South America preparing for the Copa America, but has revealed that he is in talks about leaving his current club for a switch to Anfield.

“I do not know what to say, I can say that I am very close to Liverpool,” he told La FM. “At the end of the Copa America, we will see what happens with my future.”

“I have gained experience, but the time has come for me to make the jump to a big team.”

Zapata, who has been with Udinese for six years since his arrival from Deportivo Cali back in 2005, currently has two years left on his contract at the Stadio Friuli.

The versatile 24-year-old, who can play at centre back or full back, has claimed that Bayern Munich have also made a move for his signature, but a move to Merseyside now appears imminent.

Sporting deny making Bendtner offer

 

The news comes merely a day after Bendtner’s agent, and father, revealed that the Portuguese giants had started negotiating a deal with the Gunners for the Danish forward’s services.

“I know that Sporting Lisbon have been in touch with Arsenal with a concrete bid for Nicklas,” the hitman’s father told Sporten, “but then I do not know whether Arsenal have rejected or accepted the amount.”

“I have not heard more than that Sporting have bid”

However, Sporting general director Carlos Freitas has confirmed there is no truth to such claims, stating at the official presentation of new signing Stijn Schaars: “There is no offer sent to Arsenal.”

The Leoes have already landed Utrecht’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel to head up of their new attacking contingent, and reports in the country suggest that coach Domingos Paciencia is still looking for a partner for the Dutchman.

Bendtner, whose valuation is reportedly set at £12 million, made 28 total appearances last season for Arsenal and found the back of the net nine times in all competitions. According to his father, the Denmark international is also being pursued by German champions Borussia Dortmund.

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Champions start at West Brom

Premier League champions Manchester United will begin the defence of their title away at West Bromwich Albion, while newly-promoted Swansea open the season with a trip to the richest club in the top flight, Manchester City.

 

Sir Alex Ferguson’s United travel to The Hawthorns on August 13, but their next two games at Old Trafford could really set the tone for the season as they face Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. The champions round off the campaign on May 13 with a match at Sunderland.

The Gunners have a tough start to the campaign with a long trip to Newcastle – a contest which finished in a 4-4 draw last season – followed by a home game against Liverpool before the trip to Old Trafford.

Chelsea, last season’s runners-up, travel to Stoke City on the opening day, before taking on West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool start their campaign at home to Sunderland, meaning Reds midfielder Jordan Henderson will get an immediate match against the team he supported and played for, prior to his recent big money move to Anfield.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said: “It’s a massive test early on. It’s nice to have a home game first.

“Hopefully we will have a few new signings in and we can start the season with three points which would give us the confidence to then go and get a good result at Arsenal. That is a difficult place to go and we haven’t won there for a while.

“It’s important to hit the ground running if you want to compete for the title. You can’t afford any slip-ups early on. It’s a tough first two games but I’m really looking forward to them and I think we can get two positive results.”

Swansea may begin the season with a baptism of fire at Eastland’s but chairman Huw Jenkins is also looking relishing the prospect of life in the Premier League.

Jenkins said: “We are looking forward to it…the main thing is to be competitive. Everyone talks about a good start but it’s a long season and you’ve got to be consistent. The aim is to keep the club moving forward and luckily we’ve got an opportunity to do that.”

Wigan provide the first home opposition for Swansea, meaning a return for former boss Roberto Martinez – who left south Wales for the Latics a little more than two years ago. The Swans have an appealing final day fixture, with Liverpool visiting The Liberty Stadium on May 13.

Of the other Premier League newcomers, QPR open with a home match against Bolton, while Norwich travel to Wigan. Hoops boss Neil Warnock assessed his team’s fixtures and said: “It’s just fabulous to be involved. When you see the fixtures it’s so exciting. It doesn’t matter who you play, the Premier League is where we all want to be. It’s just fabulous to be involved.”

Elsewhere on the opening day, Tottenham and Everton meet at White Hart Lane, Fulham and Aston Villa face each other at Craven Cottage, while Blackburn host Wolves.

Age is more than a figure

Age is not just a number. To some, it’s a death sentence, a sign of their footballing mortality, a statistic that can override objective assessments of their capabilities. For others, it is something to be advertised, lending a promise of exponential improvement and a brighter future. For the ageing footballer, it is a curse; for the emerging one, a blessing.

Age figures prominently in the game’s narrative and analysis alike. Mundane descriptions (“the 23-year-old shot wide”) and more pertinent predictions (“at 32, his best days are behind him”) are allied in the sport’s vocabulary. Yet a number should be a guide, not a fact. There is a sense that a footballing age can differ from real age; this is not just a matter of months and days.

It is not merely because goalkeepers tend to display greater longevity than their outfield counterparts, or even a reference to the rumours about the actual dates of birth of various African players. It is because it is not just as simple as arguing, as some have done, that footballers peak between 28 and 31. Injuries and lifestyle can dictate otherwise; so, too, a style of play that can go into or out of fashion.

An extreme example is supplied by Michael Owen. A striker with 40 international goals by the time he was 27 has none since. It is a career trajectory that makes more sense when it is factored in that Owen peaked between the ages of 18 and 22 and has been in decline since. Something similar, though for very different reasons, may be said of a former Manchester United No. 7, George Best.

A contrast is supplied by a forward Fabio Capello did pick this season; Kevin Davies made his England debut when nearer his 34th birthday than his 33rd. Highly rated at 21, seemingly on the scrapheap at 26 and rehabilitated in his thirties, the Bolton captain is proof that players can reach a personal pinnacle both before and after their supposed prime.

The late developers can confound orthodox logic about players’ best years. Improbably, Tony Book made his Football League bow at 29 and first appeared in the top flight two years later. Nevertheless, at 34, the Manchester City captain shared the Footballer of the Year award. It is a faster game now, but others still take the long road to join the elite. Burnley’s Graham Alexander made his Premier League debut just short of his 38th birthday, at a time when the majority of his contemporaries had retired, but acquitted himself well.

His was a slow-burner of a career. Others went unnoticed in their formative years, but rose faster. A non-league upbringing is cited as a reason for the durability of Stuart Pearce, who turned professional at 21 and played his final game at 40, and Ian Wright, almost 22 when signed by Crystal Palace and nearly 37 when he retired.

A taste of the real world may provide greater motivation, but the equation is more complicated. Owen was approaching 250 career games for club and country at the stage when Wright started; wear and tear is a factor, too. A footballer who breaks through at 17 may reach the midway mark in his career at 25; one who first appears at 22 might arrive at the equivalent point when 30.

There is a trend which, though he is a more complete player, bodes badly for Wayne Rooney, one of Merseyside’s striking icons peaking early. Robbie Fowler was at his most prolific between 19 and 22; Chelsea must hope Fernando Torres is not another with a long decline. But like Owen, the Spaniard’s speed prompted his rise. Fowler’s rise was more a case of quick thoughts and instincts than any resemblance to Usain Bolt but pace accounts for the early exploits of some, a lack of it for the late blooming of others.

For Teddy Sheringham, a rarity among forwards with his prowess in his pensionable years, the first yard was famously in his head. While there are other attacking exceptions, like Dean Windass, the experience that lends greater positional sense and understanding of the game tends to benefit midfielders and defenders more. Hence the age-defying feats of men such as Alexander and David Weir and the excellence in their autumn years of intelligent footballers like Claude Makelele, Gary McAllister, Gary Speed and Gordon Strachan.

The same applies, too, to physiological freaks like Ryan Giggs and Paolo Maldini, though theirs is a triumph of body as well as of mind. Giggs should remain a role model, if only to wingers and forwards who are reliant on speed. The Welshman has lasted because he has developed other elements of his game. He is 37 in fact, but, as a footballer, looks 33; in contrast, Owen, at 31, is in the position of many a 35-year-old.

An expertise in assessing players’ effective age is profitable. Arsene Wenger has long displayed an expertise in selling before decline becomes apparent, a judgment made not merely with a glance at the birth certificate. Freddie Ljungberg left when officially 30, though he soon looked much older. By extending the careers of George Graham’s back four and then arranging the lucrative sales of Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry before others were aware their powers were waning, Wenger has proved an expert in determining footballers’ unofficial ages and thus, their lifespans. In a sport where opinions are often presented as facts, even the most basic detail is open to ever greater interpretation. Age is far more than a figure.