Wilson delighted with Stoke move
- Marc Wilson
New Stoke City signing Marc Wilson has revealed he was desperate for a return to the Barclays Premier League.
Having been relegated with Portsmouth last season the 23-year-old utility player was forced to consider his future and when the Potters expressed an interest he leapt at the chance.
“I was impressed with what Tony (Pulis) had to say from the start,” said Wilson.
“He was very positive and it didn’t take me long to make my mind up.
“I’d heard West Ham were interested, but I didn’t speak to anyone there.
“This is a great club and I couldn’t wait to come back to the Premier League because it is every player’s ambition to be in the top flight.
“I had a taste of the Premier League last season and I wanted to get back there as soon as possible.
“Leaving Portsmouth was difficult because I’ve been there for so long, but I wish them well and my aim now is to do my best for Stoke.”
Welcome To London: The Van der Vaarts
The Van der Vaart
Tottenham Hotspur signed Rafael van der Vaart at the close of the EPL transfer window on Tuesday, thus bringing he and his gorgeous, perfect, (alright, we’ve run out of adjectives) wife Sylvie and their adorable little son Damian to London, England.
Last month when we expressed our feelings, most of you thought that the VDVs would end up in the Northwest or just stay in Madrid. Not in our wildest dreams involving Joe Hart did we think they would come to Londontown.
Remind us to send Harry Redknapp a muffin basket.
We would assume that Sylvie will still have her telly presenting duties with German broadcaster RTL to take care of. And we already know that she’s adept at jetsetting, so just imagine all of the photos we’ll get of Sylvie coming in and out of Heathrow looking like she just walked off a runway.
And if that isn’t sufficient to sate you, we can’t wait to see Sylvie really embrace her new home by wearing some of the amazing British designers based in London. Surely she’ll need a Burberry coat for the chilly London winters. Perhaps a Matthew Williamson dress for all of the fabu London events she’ll be attending. And no London girl should be without a classic Stella McCartney blazer.
We’re all aflutter with the possibilities… Tell us, where do you think the van der Vaarts should hang out in London? Will Sylvie prefer Harrods to Harvey Nicks? Will they stock their shelves with Waitrose or M&S?
We need answers!
Cesc Fabregas Joins Twitter
Our F5 love Cesc Fabregas is on twitter. He’s followed the likes of other Spanish ‘ballers like Xabi Alonso (who tweets about Dexter), Sergio Ramos (who tweets photos like this) and Alvaro Arbeloa (who confirmed Cesc officially today) on the twitterverse.
- Cesc Fabregas
FYI, if Cesc ever mentions his love of donuts on twitter, we’ll be shutting down as all our hopes and dreams will have been met and gratified.
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Rio Ferdinand ready for Man Utd first team – Solskjaer
Rio Ferdinand is ready to play for the Manchester United first team, according to reserves boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
- Ferdinand missed the World Cup with a knee injury
Ferdinand has been sidelined since suffering a major knee ligament injury the day after the England World Cup squad arrived in South Africa in June.
The 31-year-old made his comeback by playing 45 minutes against Oldham’s second string on Wednesday.
“Today was about distances and getting tighter to the ball. He is available for selection again,” said Solskjaer.
In addition to missing out on the chance to captain his country at the 2010 World Cup, Ferdinand has been on the sidelines for United’s opening three Premier League matches.
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Everton’s Joseph Yobo joins Fenerbahce on loan
- Joseph Yobo – Playing for Everton and Nigeria
Everton defender Joseph Yobo has joined Turkish side Fenerbahce on loan.
The 29-year-old, who has made more than 250 appearances for Everton since joining in 2002, passed a medical and agreed personal terms on Wednesday.
Fenerbahce will have the option of signing the player on a permanent basis at the end of the campaign.
Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin are Everton‘s first choice centre-backs, while John Heitinga and Jack Rodwell are also able to play in that position.
Yobo, who captained Nigeria at the World Cup this summer, has not featured for the Toffees this season.
The 29-year-old played down reports that he was forced out of Goodison Park, saying that his desire for regular football was the reason for the move.
“I’m a fighter, I hate to sit on the bench and get paid,” Yobo told BBC Sport.
“As a professional footballer I want to be on the pitch as long as I am fit to play.
“I spoke with the coach [David Moyes] and he understood my position.
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Dave Whelan vows to quit in support of Roberto Martinez
- Dave Whelan
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has warned the club’s fans that they could risk his departure if they were to call for the sacking of boss Roberto Martinez.
Manager Martinez was under pressure after Wigan’s first two Premier League games of the season in which they lost twice and also conceded 10 goals.
But following victory at Tottenham, that pressure has eased slightly.
“I rate Roberto highly and said to the fans, if you want his head, you’ll get mine as well,” Whelan told BBC.
The Latics opened their season with a 4-0 loss to Blackpool at the DW Stadium and followed that up with a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea. before winning 1-0 at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Following those two defeats, some bookmakers made Martinez, who joined the club as manager at the start of last season, the favourite to become the first Premier League manager to be sacked this term.
But Whelan, who appointed Martinez on a three-year deal in June 2009, has given the 37-year-old Spaniard his unconditional support.
Levante sign Felipe Caicedo on year-long loan
Manchester City striker Felipe Caicedo has joined newly-promoted Spanish side Levante on a season-long loan deal.
- Felipe Caicedo
The 21-year-old Ecuador international joined City in 2008 from Swiss side FC Basel and has made 27 appearances, scoring four goals.
Last season Caicedo went on loan to Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon as well as Spanish side Malaga.
Earlier on Tuesday City striker Robinho moved to AC Milan after signing a four-year deal at the Serie A club.
Levante were beaten 4-1 by Sevilla in their opening match of the new Spanish league season.
Tottenham clinch £8m Rafael van der Vaart deal
Tottenham have secured the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart for £8m.
Spurs moved to sign the 27-year-old Netherlands international two hours before the transfer window closed at 1800 BST on Tuesday.
But the club’s urgency to file the necessary paperwork before the deadline was hampered by a technical problem.
- Rafael Van Der Vaart
However, the Premier League sanctioned the signing after investigating Tottenham’s claims on Wednesday.
Spurs faced an anxious wait as the Premier League assessed their claims with the 1700 BST cut-off point on Wednesday fast approaching for clubs to submit their 25-man senior squads for the first half of the season.
Van der Vaart becomes Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp’s second deadline-day signing following the capture of Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Russian club Spartak Moscow.
Real had disputed Redknapp’s claims that Bayern Munich had earlier made an offer of more than double their bid for Van der Vaart.
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David Beckham & Fabio Capello
- David Beckham
What is it with Fabio Capello and David Beckham?
Having changed Capello’s mind after being dropped from the Real Madrid squad back in 2007, we weren’t hugely surprised to learn that Beckham has managed to convince Fabs to back away from his statement that the player was ‘too old’ to be turning out for England any more.
Capello has apparently re-opened the door once again (after ending Beckham’s career via the media without actually mentioning it to the player himself), stating at the weekend that he and Beck’s ‘will have a chat’ once the Achilles injury is resolved.
As ‘are they/aren’t they’ love affairs go, this one is decidedly more interesting than some others we could mention. But in case anyone is unclear, it should be noted that we love David (beard and all) and hereby undertake never to close any doors on him. Promise.
A full list of the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland is here.
Scott Carson in England squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers
Scott Carson has been recalled to the England squad after a two-year absence.
- Scott Carson
The West
Brom goalkeeper is joined by Manchester City‘s Joleon Lescott for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.
England squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers v Bulgaria (3 September) and Switzerland (7 September):
Goalkeepers: Scott Carson (West Brom), Ben Foster (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Manchester City).
Defenders: Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), James Milner (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).
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Five other players are recalled by boss Fabio Capello for the games on Friday and Tuesday after they were omitted for the 2-1 friendly win over Hungary.
Matthew Upson, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe all return.
However, there is still no place for Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole who was also not selected for the Hungary victory on 11 August.
Chelsea’s John Terry and Frank Lampard, Fulham striker Bobby Zamora and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand are all out injured.
Lampard and Terry were ruled out of Capello’s plans following their club’s 2-0 over Stoke on Saturday.
Midfielder Lampard will undergo a hernia operation next week, while central defender and former England captain Terry has injured his right hamstring.
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