Marin has Fiorentina medical

Did I redeem any of the tiny fragments that I cling on to of my reputation when it comes to predicting results last week?

No, of course I didn’t. Just three right out of ten. Still, that’s one more than I got right the week before! 🙂

Saturday 8th November 2008

Arsenal v Manchester United

The first game of the weekend is the biggest. Arsenal and Manchester United both drew in midweek in the Champions League but the circumstances were slightly different. Arsenal had a fairly poor 0-0 draw at home to a very poor Fenerbahce side and were booed from the field by a minority of their fans. United drew 1-1 in the cauldron of Celtic Park and played some sublime football.

United are on a run of five wins in six league games an…

Jose Mourinho has mocked Frank de Boer as the worst manager in the history of the Premier League after the former Crystal Palace boss questioned his handling of Marcus Rashford.

England forward Rashford scored two wonderfully taken goals as he starred decisively in United s 2-1 Premier League win over bitter rivals Liverpool on Saturday – his first top-flight start since Boxing Day.

De Boer, who was sacked as Palace manager last September after failing to muster a goal or a point over the course of four games in charge, said it was a pity the 20-year-old had Mourinho as a manager, as the Portuguese would deny him the game time he required.

The United boss had an acerbic response to hand when he addressed a news conference ahead of Tuesday s Champions League sho…

Miralem Pjanic insists he did not betray Roma by leaving for Juventus as winning trophies simply was not possible at Stadio Olimpico.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international moved to Turin in a €32million deal in 2016, claiming Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in his first season at the Bianconeri having failed to lift a trophy at Roma.

And Pjanic believes that success underlines why he had to take the opportunity to join Juve, even if he would have loved to triumph in Rome.

Winning [at Roma] would have been a unique emotion, but I could not do it, he told Il Messaggero. I m sorry. I tried to do it.

Many fans were angry that I left, but I did not betray anyone.

There is passion there. From morning until night, you think about football, the t…

Jose Mourinho has selected Thibaut Courtois for Chelsea s Premier League opener against Burnley, leaving Petr Cech on the bench.

The battle between Courtois, 22, and Cech, 32, to become Mourinho s established first choice in goal has dominated many pre-season headlines out of Stamford Bridge.

And the Belgium shot-stopper looks to have usurped Chelsea s Premier League and UEFA Champions League-winning keeper after being named in Monday s XI to take on the newly promoted Lancastrians at Turf Moor.

The decision immediately throws Cech s Chelsea future into doubt, with Mourinho admitting before the weekend that the man not selected would likely look elsewhere for a first-team spot.

And in an interview pre-match, Mourinho stressed the need to look to the futur…

FIFA said on Friday that ticket sales for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were booming but world football s governing body voiced caution about the potential impact of a prolonged economic crisis.

There are at least 28 matches of the 64 that are sold out, the demand is huge, said FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke after a meeting of the executive committee.

Some 800,000 ticket requests had been made since tickets were opened for sale online on February 20, he added. The strongest demand came from the United States and England.

Valcke said the event s major sponsors also gave no sign of reconsidering despite fears about the impact of cost-cutting on sports sponsorship.

FIFA said it had weathered the financial turmoil so far, as it reported an increa…

Rene Vandereycken has been sacked as coach of the Belgian national team after a string of disappointing results, the Belgian Football Federations (URBSFA) announced on Tuesday.

The 55-year-old oversaw Belgium s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and leaves them fourth in their European qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup, eleven points behind group leaders Spain and unlikely to qualify for next year s tournament in South Africa.

Belgium were last week beaten twice in the space of five days (4-2 at home and 2-1 away) by second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Vandereycken s successor has not yet been named.

In recent days, the Belgian media have named Belgium s Under-21 coach Jean-Francois De Sart, Marsille coach Eric Gerets, Vandereycken s former assistant F…

Duncan Ferguson joked he could become Carlo Ancelotti s co-manager after ending his interim spell in charge of Everton with a 0-0 Premier League draw at home to Arsenal.

Ferguson s Toffees have taken five points from matches against the Gunners, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti will take over for December 26 s home game with Burnley after the former Chelsea boss was confirmed as Everton s new manager just over an hour before kick-off.

Ferguson welcomed Ancelotti s appointment and joked he is hoping to be given a key role in the new set-up.

It s brilliant. It s fantastic for the club, a guy of that pedigree coming here. I can t wait to start working with him and I m sure I ll learn a lot, Ferguson said to BT Sport. 

Hopefully we ll…

Aaron Ramsey has not set the world on fire since joining Juventus from Arsenal two years ago.

It has been reported in Italy that the Serie A club are ready to listen to offers.

Ramsey reportedly earns £250,000 per week and Juve are said to be keen to ease that burden.

TOP STORY SPURS SHOCK MOVE FOR RAMSEY

Tottenham are lining up a shock move for former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, claims The Sun.

Juventus may be looking to offload the Wales international, who has made 46 league appearances in two seasons in Turin.

Tottenham s managing director of football Fabio Paratici is keen to bring Ramsey back to London to team up with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Tottenham ‘line up controversial Aaron Ramsey transfer as Juventu…

Juventus have announced they have agreed a deal to sign free agent Adrien Rabiot.

Rabiot left Paris Saint-Germain following the expiration of his contract and is rumoured to have signed terms worth €7million per year in Turin.

Juve did not disclose any details about the France international s deal, but he will be presented to the media on Tuesday.

Rabiot had been linked with a number of high-profile clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Barcelona after being frozen out by PSG in the second half of the 2018-19 campaign as his contract wrangle rumbled on in public.

À bientôt, !

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)

He revealed in June he had opened talks with Juve over a possible move and an agreement has now officially…

West Ham United are turning their attentions to La Liga once again. According to reports from Spain, mostly from AS newspapers, West Ham are targeting Athletic Bilbao s centre-back Unai Nunez as a transfer target ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

AS are claiming that the Hammers are willing to meet the 22-year-old s buy-out clause once the January window opens. Reportedly, the clause stands at 30 million euros. This move could make sense from a couple of angles. First of all, Manuel Pellegrini is known for having done great work in Spain, mostly when he was Malaga head coach and he knows the market, which we have seen with his signature of Pablo Fornals from Villarreal last summer.

Nunez has only featured in six La Liga matches for Bilbao in the first half …