http://gty.im/476389866 Big rumours have arisen early this week that Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to join Arsenal for a fee of around £11m. Zlatan has reportedly had enough in the French capital, and with a year left on his contract, PSG are likely to want to cash in on him rather than letting him go on a free. He is 33, but will no doubt be a big improvement on Arsenal’s forward line. Liverpool and Chelsea have also showed interest in acquiring his services, and there are question marks over Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger going ahead with the deal,…
Author: Tom Burford
http://gty.im/474658994 West Ham fans can expect to find out their new manager within 48 hours according to owner David Sullivan’s son, Jack. He advised all supporters this afternoon that they can expect an appointment to happen imminently via his personal twitter account; “Cheeky update – we expect to announce our new manager within 48 hours or less, keep visiting official WHU website, where it will be announced.” Jack Sullivan has emerged as a major source for such announcements over the last few seasons. Fans regularly take to his twitter account for updates on transfer news as well as the current…
http://gty.im/52867398 On this day 1978, Wigan Athletic held their very first meeting as an associate member of the Football League at their previous ground, Springfield Park. Chariman Arthur Horrocks and manager Ian McNeil met with the clubs directors and board members to discuss their Football League debut. It took Wigan just 29 years to go from the depths of the Fourth Division to the Premier League under Paul Jewell in 2005. This is largely thanks to the investment of ex-chairman and former Blackburn and Crewe player Dave Whelan. But relegation from the Championship last season means they will now return…
http://gty.im/102320467 More sensational news has broken in the wake of the FIFA corruption investigations, with claims the FAI took bribe to stop legal action against the Thierry Henry handball incident. It emerged yesterday that the FAI, Football Association of Ireland, accepted a bribe from FIFA believed to be €5m (£3.6m) to stop them pursuing a legal case against France’s controversial World Cup Qualifying Play-off victory in 2009. The controversy stemmed from a clear handball, committed by striker Thierry Henry in the lead up to France’s winning goal against the Irish. The FAI obviously believed they had a case to either overturn…
http://gty.im/475506340 Paris St Germain have entered the race to sign Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez, who will leave Juventus this summer. It has been widely reported that Tevez is keen on a move away from Juventus, whatever the result in Saturday’s Champions League Final. He has been tipped to return to Boca Juniors nearly all season, but the availability of Edinson Cavani may be exactly what PSG need to get their man. There are some rumours around suggesting PSG are looking to arrange a possible swap deal, using Cavani to tempt Tevez to Paris. Boca remain favourites to bring Tevez back…
http://gty.im/471919958 There are a few notable points for this day in the history of the beautiful game; On this day back in 1950, it was decided at the Football League AGM that the league should increase from 88 to 92 teams. Colchester United and Gillingham were added to the southern section of the league. Shrewsbury Town and Scunthorpe United (then known as Scunthorpe and Lindsey United) were added to the northern section. The clubs that had been added played each other for the first game of the 1950/51 season, both matches ending in a goalless draw. Jacques Sabatini was hired…
http://gty.im/473274210 Veteran Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo has reportedly accepted an offer to join MLS side New York City FC. Rumors were rife this week that Pirlo would complete the move if Juventus were to win Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona, in which he is due to start. Spanish newspaper AS have commented to the contrary however, explaining that a deal has already been agreed in principle between club executive Ferran Soriano and Pirlo. He will follow Frank Lampard to the centre of midfield, striking up a very experienced partnership, with over 1,300 professional appearances between them. If he were…
http://gty.im/473610082 Rumours have come out this morning claiming that joint owners David Sullivan and David Gold have cut their managerial shortlist down to four names. Sullivan spoke out last week on the club’s website, explaining that they are being extremely thorough in their search, dedicating “every waking minute to recruiting the best available manager to drive our club forwards.” And if the following names on their shortlist are achievable, they certainly would have succeeded. We’re going to take a more detailed look at each candidate, and discuss what positive attributes they’ll bring to Upton Park. http://gty.im/473750742 Of the candidates in…
http://gty.im/498438871 On this day in 1970, England began their defence as champions of the world as they played their first group game at the World Cup in Mexico. England won that game against Romania, Geoff Hurst scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win. In those days, you only got 2 points for a win so England qualified for the next round in 2nd place with 4 points after a 1-0 defeat to Brazil and a 1-0 victory over Czechoslovakia. England were knocked out in the quarter final stages by West Germany, who famously came from 2-0 down to win…
http://gty.im/475641150 Sensational news has come out this afternoon with Sepp Blatter resigning his position as president of FIFA days after being re-elected. This stunning turn of events takes place with football’s governing body in the midst of a corruption storm, with many top-ranking officials being indicted to the US as we reported last week. It appears, at this stage, that Blatter has decided to resign of his own free will. But many are predicting this resignation is heavily linked to the findings of the FBI and US Department of Justice into serious wrongdoing at FIFA. An emergency news conference was…