HIGUAIN WILL STAY

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has reportedly turned down the opportunity to join Chelsea and Manchester City in the summer according to his father.

The Argentine Gonzalo Higuain has been a huge success at Real Madrid, but he has struggled to get first team opportunities of late due to the form of Karim Benzema.

José Mourinho has often resorted to using the French striker Karim Benzema for the big games. It has apparently made Gonzalo Higuain extremely unhappy, which has led to rumours linking him with Premier league clubs Manchester City and Chelsea.

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has reportedly turned down the opportunity to join Chelsea and Manchester City in the summer according to his father.

The Argentine Gonzalo Higuain has been a huge success at Real Madrid, but he has struggled to get first team opportunities of late due to the form of Karim Benzema.

José Mourinho has often resorted to using the French striker Karim Benzema for the big games. It has apparently made Gonzalo Higuain extremely unhappy, which has led to rumours linking him with Premier league clubs Manchester City and Chelsea.

It is thought that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is personally interested in signing Gonzalo Higuain in the summer. Chelsea could make a bid that will start at around £ 35 million according to Spanish sources.

However, Gonzalo Higuain’s father has said that his son would like to stay with Real Madrid and that there has been no contact with either Chelsea or Manchester City up until now. The 24-year-old striker recently scored his 100th goal in Spain in the match against Osasuna. He has so far scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, despite being used marginally by José Mourinho.

While Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is a personal fan of Gonzalo Higuain, Roberto Mancini is someone who is extremely keen on the player as well. It is thought that in just a City are looking at the replacement of Mario Balotelli with an equally physical player. Gonzalo Higuain seems to have suited them just fine.

“There is nothing in it. He has four years left on his contract and they love him very much,” said Jorge Higuain in response to the transfer speculation surrounding his son. Chelsea are expected to lose Didier Drogba in the summer, and Gonzalo Higuain is being lined up as the potential replacement.

HERNANES WANTS GUNNERS MOVE

Lazio ace Hernanes has said that he wants to join Premier league club Arsenal in the summer.

The 26-year-old has become one of the hot properties in European football after impressing with Lazio in the Italian Serie A this season.

Lazio ace Hernanes has said that he wants to join Premier league club Arsenal in the summer.

The 26-year-old has become one of the hot properties in European football after impressing with Lazio in the Italian Serie A this season.

He has been one of the main reasons for Lazio to be challenging near the top of the table for the Champions League positions. Even after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Juventus during the weekend, the club are in a position to finish in the Champions League positions ahead of the likes of Udinese and Napoli. So far, Hernanes has scored eight goals for Lazio this season and has also created two other goals.

Arsenal are going to strengthen their midfield this season after the departure of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in the summer. Even though they signed the likes of Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is thought to be chasing a player who will be the future of Arsenal.

At 30 years of age, Mikel Arteta is certainly a stopgap solution for Arsenal, even if he is one of the favourites to be the best midfielder at the European Championships according to the euro 2012 betting markets.

Further, the likes of Yossi Benayoun are also not the kind of players Arsenal will sign. Hernanes has expressed his desire to join a club like Arsenal even if Lazio finish in the Champions League spots this season.

It is also thought that Arsenal are not the only club to be interested in Hernanes, as the likes of the Russian megarich club Anzhi are also interested in signing the midfielder.

Lazio secured the services of Hernanes back in the summer of 2010 by paying a fee of £ 9 million. It is highly unlikely that the Italian club will demand a transfer fee lower than £ 20 million, which might rule out Arsenal with their stringent transfer structure.

REJA DELIGHTED WITH LAZIO WIN

Lazio manager Edy Reja has expressed his delight at being able to beat archrivals Roma in the most fierce derby in Italy recently.

Lazio and Roma met each other with Lazio ahead of Roma in the table. This fixture has always caused animosity amongst the fans, which was even more evident than in recent seasons. Thankfully, aside from the few incidents made against Roma players, the match was played in good spirit.

Lazio won the match 2-1 and Edy Reja, who has been under pressure up until now, sprang with joy at being able to speak with confidence about the ideas for the future.

Lazio manager Edy Reja has expressed his delight at being able to beat archrivals Roma in the most fierce derby in Italy recently.

Lazio and Roma met each other with Lazio ahead of Roma in the table. This fixture has always caused animosity amongst the fans, which was even more evident than in recent seasons. Thankfully, aside from the few incidents made against Roma players, the match was played in good spirit.

Lazio won the match 2-1 and Edy Reja, who has been under pressure up until now, sprang with joy at being able to speak with confidence about the ideas for the future.

Even though Lazio are some way behind leaders AC Milan and second placed Juventus, Edy Reja has said that anything is possible in football and believes that Lazio can still catch the leaders. Lazio last won the title under the guidance of Sven Goran Eriksson many years ago, and the prospect of doing the same can certainly be seen in the eyes of Edy Reja. The club are three points behind second placed Juventus, while they are six points behind table leaders AC Milan.

Even after the 5-1 defeat at the hands of Palermo a few weeks back, Edy Reja expressed his delight at being able to see Lazio at this position in the table.

“AC Milan are difficult to reach, but Juve are in sight. We must believe, especially if we get back all our players. The future? I agree with the president to continue our relationship through the coming years. We just need harmony with the group and club,” Edy Reja said after the match.

Lazio are currently in contention with fourth placed Udinese, who are just two points behind them.

Napoli are also in the mix for the third position as well, though their thoughts might be forcusing a littel more on Europe where they face Chelsea in the knockout stages (The online Champions League betting makes them slim favourites to qualify for the next round).

CAVANI MAY MOVE ON

Edinson Cavani looks set to join the Premier league in the summer, but it is only subject to the future of Napoli in the Champions League.

Napoli will be taking on Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League in two weeks time.

They come into the match at Stamford Bridge with the 3-1 lead from the first leg. Despite this dominant advantage of Napoli, many are thinking that Chelsea will use their home advantage to maximum use to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.

Edinson Cavani looks set to join the Premier league in the summer, but it is only subject to the future of Napoli in the Champions League.

Napoli will be taking on Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League in two weeks time.

They come into the match at Stamford Bridge with the 3-1 lead from the first leg. Despite this dominant advantage of Napoli, many are thinking that Chelsea will use their home advantage to maximum use to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.

Edinson Cavani has been one of the major influence for Napoli in the European campaign this season, but there have been reports that many top European clubs are targeting the Argentine in the summer.

Chelsea are thought to be one of the clubs interested in signing the 26-year-old. Napoli value him at around £ 27 million, although they will be prepared to listen to offers at around the £ 25 million mark. Still, he is expected to command around £ 8 million in wages alone. Hence, it is not going to be a bargain signing even for Chelsea. The future of Edinson Cavani, though, will depend upon more factors than just money according to his agent.

Edinson Cavani’s agent has said that his client will target a move in the summer to the Premier league or the Spanish league if Napoli fail to get to the next stage of the Champions league. Edinson Cavani was once again on target for Napoli in the match against Fiorentina in the Italian league. He scored the 3-0 win over Fiorentina, which helped Napoli to achieve secure their near-term future in the Italian Serie A. Napoli have been struggling in the domestic league, despite performing exceptionally well in the European campaign so far.

PRANDELLI KEEPS SQUAD OPEN

Italian national football team coach Cesare Prandelli has said that the door always remains open for the duo of Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale.

The future of Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale in the international scene has been subject to a lot of speculation in recent weeks leading up to the Euro 2012, which will be taking place in Poland and Ukraine.

Italian national football team coach Cesare Prandelli has said that the door always remains open for the duo of Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale.

The future of Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale in the international scene has been subject to a lot of speculation in recent weeks leading up to the Euro 2012, which will be taking place in Poland and Ukraine.

Francesco Totti has been marginalised a lot even by his favourite Roma team, which has led to questions about his credibility for being selected in the national team. However, Francesco Totti does have a wealth of experience to his credit, which may come useful to a relatively young Italian team after many decades.

Antonio Cassano and Rossi are the two other players who also in consideration according to manager Cesare Prandelli.

Rossi has been in great form during this season, while Antonio Cassano has always been one of the greatest strikers for Italy when he plays. In terms of the striking options, Cesare Prandelli does seem to have a lot of options in this regard. Hence, there has been suggestions that he would favour picking Antonio Cassano and Rossi in favour of both Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale.

“Giuseppe Rossi is recovering and I hope to have both him and Antonio Cassano for the European Championships. The door is open to all,” the 54-year-old Italian said in a recent interview.

Italy have a tough draw at this year’s European Championships when they will be facing the likes of Spain, Republic of Ireland, and Croatia in the group stages itself, making football bets difficult to choose. Italy should (on paper) progress, but much depends on whether they manage to beat the challenge of the Irish.

Rossi is currently out of first team action due to an injury, while Cassano is expected to arrive soon from the heart operation performed on him in November. Both have played little football this season.

BARCA WILL MISS PIQUE

Gerard Pique has been injured in Barcelona’s recent match against Racing Santander. He left the field just 10 minutes into the game due to a right thigh problem.

The game eventually ended up in a win for Barcelona, but, whilst they were happy with the result, the Barcelona coaching team were concerned for their Spanish defender. As always, Messi was in tremendous form, with his skills and clever runs helping Barca to race into a 2-0 lead, which was enough to bring all three points back home to the Nou Camp.

Gerard Pique has been injured in Barcelona’s recent match against Racing Santander. He left the field just 10 minutes into the game due to a right thigh problem.

The game eventually ended up in a win for Barcelona, but, whilst they were happy with the result, the Barcelona coaching team were concerned for their Spanish defender. As always, Messi was in tremendous form, with his skills and clever runs helping Barca to race into a 2-0 lead, which was enough to bring all three points back home to the Nou Camp.

The match was frustrating for Pique, who had only just returned to first-team action from a calf injury which had kept him out of action for over three weeks. Gerard needs to be more careful!

Having missed the European Super Cup win over FC Porto, Gerard also looks set to miss the Copa Del Rey match against rivals Real Madrid, which could have a massive impact on the game. Barcelona won the match-up in the league, but with Puyol and Iniesta also on the sidelines, they might struggle to keep their defensive shape against a team that boasts Cristiano Ronaod, Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria in attack.

VILLA HOPES FOR EARLY COMEBACK

FC Barcelona manager Josep Pep Guardiola has ruled out replacing crocked striker David Villa during the winter transfer window.

The Spanish international striker broke his leg during the FIFA Club World Cup match against Al Sadd and it was initially believed that the 30 year old striker would miss the rest of the season and could also miss Spain’s defense of their Euro crown in the summer.

But after the surgery, the doctors are of the opinion that Villa might just have a slim hope of returning just before the end of the season, albeit it all depends on the recuperation process.

FC Barcelona manager Josep Pep Guardiola has ruled out replacing crocked striker David Villa during the winter transfer window.

The Spanish international striker broke his leg during the FIFA Club World Cup match against Al Sadd and it was initially believed that the 30 year old striker would miss the rest of the season and could also miss Spain’s defense of their Euro crown in the summer.

But after the surgery, the doctors are of the opinion that Villa might just have a slim hope of returning just before the end of the season, albeit it all depends on the recuperation process.

Guardiola, who was known as a touch tackling midfielder during his playing days, said that it was extremely unfortunate for a striker like David Villa to have suffered an injury like that, just when he was starting to find his form again this season but added that injuries are a part of the game and they will not go into the transfer market looking for a replacement striker.

It was rumored that Barcelona were looking to sell the misfiring striker and look for a replacement in January a couple of months back with Liverpool being interested in taking the striker to Anfield. However, if The Blaugrana did have any plans like that, the injury to Villa might as well have ruined all that leading Guardiola to come out and say that they are not looking for a replacement striker.

However, according to the media reports in Spain, Barcelona are on the lookout for a young striker and are keeping tabs on Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie who is their first choice to replace David Villa. But at the moment, with Guardiola coming out in support of the striker, nothing seems to be on the horizon or on the cards.

FERGIE NOT LOOKING TO SPEND

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager has ruled out making any signings during the January transfer window, saying that he trusts his players enough to not have to make any panic buys in January.

Fergie has never been too keen to bring in players during the winter transfer window and has rarely broken that trend, buying Louis Saha from Fulham, Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow and Patrice Evra from AS Monaco being the rare few occasions when he has brought in players during this time.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager has ruled out making any signings during the January transfer window, saying that he trusts his players enough to not have to make any panic buys in January.

Fergie has never been too keen to bring in players during the winter transfer window and has rarely broken that trend, buying Louis Saha from Fulham, Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow and Patrice Evra from AS Monaco being the rare few occasions when he has brought in players during this time.

The primary reason for Sir Alex not buying players during this time of the season is that he believes that there is no value in the market and the clubs demand astronomical prices for the players.

However, the tabloids believe that the main reason why Sir Alex Manchester United will not be active during the transfer window is because there is not too much cash left in the reserves to splash out and make a marquee signing that the team is in dire need of.

Ever since the retirement of the talismanic Paul Scholes and for a certain period before that, United have been linked to several midfielders but none of the rumors have turned out to be true.

With The Red Devils currently struggling with injuries to several key players, almost everyone is of the opinion that the Scotsman must buy during the transfer window but how much money the Glazers, the owners of the club have left in the bank remain a key question.

Sir Alex spent over £ 55 million in the summer and brought in three players but none of them are midfield operators, a position that has been asking several questions of the Manchester United manager over the last few years, but with Fergie insisting that he will not buy this term, it is hard to see him make any investment.

All of which leaves fans wondering about the clubs chances of winning a trophy, with their odds on the FA Cup betting online markets lengthening because fans aren’t sure that United have the strength in depth to win it.

AC WORRY OVER CASSANO

AC Milan are worried about their striker Antonio cassano, after the player is believed to have had a mini-stroke on the flight back to Milan from Rome.

AC ended up as 3-1 winners in a hard-fought battle in the Stadio Olympico, and were returning home on Sunday night when Cassano seemingly had a fit. He lost control of his speech and muscles, causing the club doctors and staff to be very concerned for him.

As soon as the flight touched down he was whisked away to a private hospital, where thankfully his condition has improved, and he is set to make a full recovery.

AC Milan are worried about their striker Antonio cassano, after the player is believed to have had a mini-stroke on the flight back to Milan from Rome.

AC ended up as 3-1 winners in a hard-fought battle in the Stadio Olympico, and were returning home on Sunday night when Cassano seemingly had a fit. He lost control of his speech and muscles, causing the club doctors and staff to be very concerned for him.

As soon as the flight touched down he was whisked away to a private hospital, where thankfully his condition has improved, and he is set to make a full recovery.

His team-mates will now have to face BATE in the Champions League without him, though he is not far from their thoughts.

Boss Allegri told the press “We’ll be playing for Antonio. Quite apart from the sporting element, what counts most is the human aspect and we’re all feeling sad.

“Antonio was doing well and he was in good shape and I hope he’ll be back as soon as possible. The doctors are working on it, let’s hope it all goes well.

“I can’t diagnose him but he sounds fine. It was completely unexpected and has nothing to do with football. Let’s leave it to the doctors and I think everything will be fine.”

PUYOL RULED OUT

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender Carles Puyol is almost certain to miss Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Arsenal due to injury.

Puyol has not appeared for Barca since a 3-0 win over Racing Santander on January 22 as he has been struggling with a knee injury.

Though he has taken part in light training, the defender is some way short of match fitness and Guardiola told a press conference on Friday that Puyol’s chances of featuring at Emirates Stadium are “really complicated”.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender Carles Puyol is almost certain to miss Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Arsenal due to injury.

Puyol has not appeared for Barca since a 3-0 win over Racing Santander on January 22 as he has been struggling with a knee injury.

Though he has taken part in light training, the defender is some way short of match fitness and Guardiola told a press conference on Friday that Puyol’s chances of featuring at Emirates Stadium are “really complicated”.

“That’s the feeling I have [that Puyol will miss the game],” Guardiola said. “But things could change and he could also go. It’s going well but when we ask for a little more, it becomes a problem.”