Moratti - We can't do anymore

Massimo Moratti - Inter Milan president- has said that they have done all they can to to sign Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard.

Speaking at a youth team event in Italy, Moratti said "We have made an offer to Chelsea and now it depends on the player. He is a player we like, but we cannot do any more than that".

Jose Mourinho has also shown his admiration for his former player by saying "He is the best proffesional I have ever worked with. He's the player that trains better, has more concentration, focuses more on himself and always want to improve his performance".

Chelsea still remain ademant that Inter will not get their man whatever the situation, as both Chelsea's cheif executive Peter Kenyon - formally of Manchester United- and chairmen Bruce Buck have insisted that Lampard will see out the rest of his remainin contract - which will keep him at the club till next summer- whether he's manages to sign an exstention or not.

Kenyon said "We'd like to hope we can reach an agreement but if we can't we have always worked on the basis that he's sees out the terms of his contract".

Buck reiterated the club's stance by saying "We would like Frank Lampard to stay at Chelsea for the long term".

Chelsea have already refused an £8M - which seemed like they had rather undervalued the services of Frank Lampard, but due to his age maybe this is more of a relistic sum- offer from Inter Milan for their vice captain, who's mum Pat Lampard passed away earlier this year. With Lampard still yet to sign an exstention with Chelsea - as the two sides could not agree a deal which would of seen Lampard earning around £130k a week, which his skipper John Terry is currently earning.

Inter Milan is now becoming a lure for Lampard as well as team mate Didier Drogba, as former blues winning boss Jose Mourinho took over the managers job earlier this summer on a three year deal -after Roberto Mancini was sacked, even though he had led them to their third consecutive Seria A title. Chelsea can comfortbaly compete on wages with Milan, due to the billions owned by wealthy owner Roman Abramovich, but with Lampard now 30 - years of age, having joined Chelsea in the summer of 2001 from London rival West Ham for a fee of around £11M, making 369 appearences for the west Londeners in that time it may just be time for him to find a new challenge after winning everything possible with Chelsea apart from the Champions League.

Adriano - Possible swap for Lampard

After Massimo Moratti - Inter Milan president- stated yesterday that "It is now up to the player", if a possible transfer of Frank Lampard was going to take place- after Inter had an £8M offer turned down last week-, fresh reports today have suggested that Brazillian ace Adriano - who has played for Scolari, when he was in charge of Brazil- maybe involved in a swap deal plus additional cash to tempt Chelsea to sale them their midfield maestro.

Adriano - who is flying back from Rio de Janiero to Milan next week as pre season training starts on Wednesday- future is some what uncertain after talks with new boss Jose Mourinho and his representitve Gilmar Rinaldi did not confirm reports he could swap places with Lampard.

"Mourinho and Adriano have met and talked, but i can't say how this meeting went" Rinaldi told Observer sport.

"I will neither confirm or deny that he will be exchanged for Lampard."

With Chelsea already signing Nicholas Anelka in January from Bolton for a fee of £15M - who has yet to look like he will repay them with his goal tally- will Abramovich be willig to gamble on another striker - who will be after a big contract- who has only played 25 games in the last two seasons for both club and country.

Queiroz takes new post with Portugal

Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz been apointed as the new portugal coach, signing a four year contract which is believed to be worth around £1.5M.

The coaching role with Portugal became vacant after Chelsea appointed Luis Felipe Scolari their new coach, the same evening Portugal were set to play their final group game of Euro 2008 against host Switzerland. The lure provided by the Portugease football federation (FPF) was too hard for the 55-year-old to ignore- "Im very proud and honoured to go back and serve for my country"- in what has been an unsettling summer for Manchester United's portugease contingent, with Ronaldo continually being linked with a move away to Real Madrid.

Queiroz's decision came at just the wrong time for Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who is trying to prepare his team for their pre season tour of South Africa, and the start of their Premier League title defence against Newcastle in around 5 weeks time. Sir Alex still showed his gratitude to what Carlos Queiroz had acheived while he was at the club by commenting on the club's official website "Carlos is one of the best coaches in world football, his attention to detail, ability to innovate and will to win have been a key factor in the team's recent successes. The Manchester United manager could find himself calling on former United stars Mike Phelan and Brian Mclair - who are both currently working at Old Trafford- to take on more responsibility during the short term, while Sir Alex looks for a long term replacement. Eric Cantona has been ruled as a posibility - who has shown his interest in a possible job future job at Old Trafford- while another former United star Laurent Blanc - currently coaching at Bordeaux, Pako Ayesteran - coach of Benifica- and former player Roy Keane who is manager at Sunderland.

13 July 2008

Sir Alex Ferguson has today insisted that he is in no hurry to find a replacement for Carlos Queiroz, even though the start of 2008/09 Premier League campaign is just under five weeks away. And has refused to be drawn over the lastest comments - made by Fifa president Sepp Blatter, which have compared some players to being modern day slaves at their club - on Christiano Ronaldo's future.

After watching his Manchester United team win 2-0 - Carrick oppened the scoring in the first half with a penalty and Rooney scored later in the second half to make the game safe-, in a fairly comfortable manner against his former side Aberdeen, in a testimonial game for the Don's "European cup winners" cup winning side of 83'.

Speaking after the match Sir Alex said "You take time with these things, I knew when Portugal came for him that it would be very diffilcult for us, but we've got good staff and we'll carry on". He then want on to say "It's always disapointing losing good men and Carlos was a good man. He was honest, very loyal to me and a good coach, who brought alot of initiatives that we now carry on"

When asked about Christiano Ronaldo's future and the things that have come out of the press this week, the Scot seemed bemused by comments that had been made by Sepp Blatter this week on modern day slavery in football, but refused to make any further comments and said "No, were here to talk about football".

Nasri completes move to Arsenal

After a summer of speculation, Marseille midfielder Samir Nasri- who joined Marseille as a nine - year-old and made his ligue 1 debut back in 2004 at the age of 17- has finally put pen to paper and has signed for Arsenal on a "long term" contract. The clubs seemed to have struck a deal near the end of June, as news leaked out on the player's official website that the transfer had been made for a fee of around £12M.

Nasri can play on either wing or through the middle and has been compared with the likes of Zinedine Zidane - the former Real Madrid star. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said today "We are delighted to be signing Samir Nasri. "He is young, quick and technically an outstanding player". Nasri also complimented his new manager by saying "Arsene has a great reputation and he is one of the best managers in the world".

With Arsenal struggling to keep hold of Belurussian Alexander Hleb who has been linked with moves away from the Emirates Stadium, and Flamini already departing to AC Milan on a free transfer at the start of the window, Nasri could be an adequate replacement for either but not both. If Alex Hleb chose to play elsewhere, Wenger would surely have to dulge back into the transfer market if Arsenal are to have the squad depth to substain a title challenge this time round.

Ramos looks to sign Luis Garcia

Tottenham are closing in on the signing of Espanyol striker Luis Garcia some sources suggest, while reports coming from the Spanish media suggests that a deal may have already been struck between the two clubs, beating off competition from Benifica who were also after the 27 - year old hitman.

Negotiations took place on Wednesday evening between the player's agent Juanma Lopez and a Tottenham representitive, and according to the Spanish media, the deal seems to have to been almost finalised.

The news will alert Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez who has not hidden his interest in signing Robbie Keane from Tottenham this summer. And with Tottenham close to signing Garcia they may be willing to part with the Republic of Ireland international. But with Keane scoring 23 goals in 46 appearences last season and 22 goals in 31 appearences the season before, Liverpool can expect to pay at least double of the £7M that Tottenham paid Leeds back in 2002, if they are going to prize Robbie Keane away from White Hart Lane.

Redknapp signs former player - Peter Crouch

Portsmouth have today announced that Liverpool front man Peter Crouch has agreed personal terms with them and will go undergo a medical in the next few days before the transfer is sealed.

The fee is set to be around £10M after joining Liverpool from Harry Redknapp's Southampton for a fee of around £7M back in 2005. In that time Crouch has made 135 appearences and scored 40 goals for the merseysiders while winning the FA Cup and reaching the Champions League final last year against AC Milan.

Crouch will be joining England team mate and former spurs player Jermaine Defoe in a new looked Portsmouth attack, and Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is already looking forward to watching them play next season, "Crouch is a terrific player, top class" he told BBC Radio. Liverpool Manager Rafael Benitez also voiced his appreciation of Crouch's contribution and patience - 9 starts in the premier league and 11 goals in all competitions last season - over the last few seasons, "He is a good professional and we would of wanted him to stay, With Fernando Torres now first choice, playing him regularly was always going to be diffulcult.

Arshavin to have discussions with english clubs

Andrei Arshavin's agent, Dennis Lachter, expects his russian play maker to set talks with the top english clubs about his future and a possible move to the premier league in the next few weeks.

After an impressive Euro 2008 campaign with his national team Russia, Arshavin has put himself on the radar for a host of top clubs now after his signature. The 27 -year old Zenit St Petersburg star who's man of the match performance against Rangers in the Uefa Cup final at the city of Manchester stadium helped his side win their first European cup in their history.

Barcelona have already showed their interest for the Russian by offering a reported 15 million euros (£12M) earlier this week, and with Spain being Arshavin's top choice due to his love affair with the club, Camp Nou seems his most favourable destination. Lachter, the players agent has said that his player would consider a move to England but only if they could offer him champions league football so he could further his career.

Fee's being discussed by the players agent suggests that a move to the premier is going to be some what unrealistic as Zenit St Petersburg are only willing to listen to clubs offering almost double what Barcelona tabled earlier this week. Such a high transfer fee may have discouraged the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool off Arshavin trail but the transfer may still be possible for Phil Scolari's Chelsea who has wealthy owner Roman Ambramovich to call upon if Scolari beleives that the signing will help his squad in their trophy push in the up and coming season.

With Chelsea already splashing out around £24M on portugease stars Jose Bosingwa and Deco, Ambramovich purse strings may have been sealed for the time being anyway.

Arsenal players return to training

The Arsenal team have returned to training today ahead of their busy pre season schedule starting on 19 July at underhill against league two side Barnet. While Aaron Ramsey who moved from Cardiff City to the Emirates for a fee of around £5m earlier this summer got his chance to meet his new colleagues at London Colney, there were also some notable absentities, including Emmanuel Adebayor who has already been linked with a big money move away from Arsenal to Italian giants AC Milan for a reported £30M. Other absenties included Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie as well as all the remaining players who had participated in the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.