Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has asked the club chiefs to be sold in the summer, .
The Gunners captain has been playing second fiddle to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny of late, and it appears he is slowly losing patience.
Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure has learned that Vermalen has told Arsene Wenger that he wants out at the end of the season.
“He told Wenger that he wanted to leave Arsenal next summer. Manchester United inquired in January,” the player s agent was quoted as saying by journalist David De Myttenaere.
The 28-year-old has a contract until June 2015 at the Emirates, but everything suggests he will be sold in the summer transfer window.
Vermaelen joined Arsenal from Ajax in the summer of 2009 and has since amassed…
Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi thanked his stalwarts for embracing the slew of new recruits at San Siro as the Nerazzurri blaze a trail at the top of Serie A.
There was some concern that the formula which saw Inter go all the way to an unexpected Champions League final and claim a creditable third place in the league might be addled by the transfer overhaul that took place over the summer.
Although European stars including Benjamin Pavard and Marcus Thuram were thrown into the mix, many clubs have found it is not always easy to create a winning team in the short term based solely on the quality of talent recruited.
Inzaghi told a press conference: “Our squad has undergone a lot of changes, but the players who were already here have been important. They�…
Manchester United great Denis Law has revealed that he has been diagnosed with dementia.
The former United forward, who scored 237 goals in 404 games for the Red Devils and is their third-highest all-time top scorer, released a statement on Thursday to announce a diagnosis of mixed dementia – in his case, a combination of Alzheimer s and Vascular dementia.
After former team-mate Bobby Charlton s diagnosis in 2020, the ex-Scotland international becomes the latest former footballer associated with the illness.
Law, who won the Ballon d Or in 1964, wrote: I am at the point where I feel I want to be open about my condition. I have been diagnosed with mixed dementia .
It is an incredibly challenging and problematic disease and I have witnessed many frien…
Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi feels regular club football can help him achieve his FIFA World Cup dream with Nigeria.
The 32-year-old forward has recently returned to Newcastle s starting line-up and netted in Saturday s 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City.
The goal – Ameobi s first in the Premier League since December 2012 – has re-ignited his World Cup bid.
And the forward, who represented England at Under-21 level before switching allegiance to Nigeria in 2009, wants to play all of Newcastle s remaining games in his efforts to reach Brazil.
Ameobi told The Northern Echo: I just want to do everything I can for Newcastle, but from a World Cup point of view, then obviously the more I play, the better chance I have going.
My focus is on playing for N…
Roberto Mancini has been handed a baptism of fire on his return to Inter starting with a crucial Serie A derby against Milan on Sunday.
Mancini who replaced Walter Mazzarri at the helm of the Italian giants last week is not afforded time to settle into the top job.
Instead, a meeting with their city rivals and a clash with Roma are up first domestically for Mancini, who led the club to three successive titles and two Coppa Italia successes in a four-year tenure that ended in 2008.
The 49-year-old has since managed Manchester City and Galatasaray and takes over an Inter side languishing in ninth 12 points adrift of leaders Juventus after just 11 matches.
Inter have won just four Serie A games this term and trail the seventh-placed Milan by a point.
James Rodriguez admits he was surprised to see Zinedine Zidane step down from his role as head coach of Real Madrid.
Zidane made the shock announcement at a news conference on Thursday, just five days on from winning his third successive Champions League title, having taken charge of the first team in January 2016.
James, who joined Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal last year after struggling for regular football under Zidane, says the timing of the former France star s departure was a little bit strange .
Asked if he was surprised by the news, he told reporters: A little bit, yes, because he s had three years there where he has practically won everything.
It s a little bit strange, no? But it was his decision. I think he did good things in all three…
Jose Mourinho described his Manchester United players as masters in complication after their 1-0 home defeat to West Brom handed the Premier League title to Manchester City.
United knew avoiding defeat against the league s bottom side would have delayed their city rivals coronation again, having battled from two goals down to win at the Etihad last weekend, but they turned in an insipid performance which was duly punished by Jay Rodriguez s 73rd-minute header.
Mourinho s side twice came close through Romelu Lukaku but they scarcely threatened the Baggies over the course of a turgid 90 minutes.
The Portuguese was unimpressed with his players efforts and attacked their lack of fluidity and desire to take too much touches.
I think we were deservedly punish…
Unai Emery says he is ready to put the lessons learned from Paris Saint-Germain s Champions League embarrassment against Barcelona into practice thanks to the backing of club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
A Neymar-inspired Barca side thrashed PSG 6-1 at Camp Nou on Wednesday to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit and reach the quarter-finals.
Emery s continental pedigree having led Sevilla to three Europa League crowns in a row was key to his appointment in Paris, but four consecutive quarter-final exits with this damaging departure leaves PSG without a statement in Europe since their billionaire Qatari owners took over in 2011.
Nevertheless, Al-Khelaifi offered Emery his full backing on Saturday, with attentions now turning to chasing down Monaco and Nice in the ra…
James Milner believes Liverpool should have won more trophies in recent years and is desperate to ditch the Reds reputation of being nearly men.
The England international lifted two Premier Leagues, an FA Cup and an EFL Cup during his five seasons at Manchester City but has failed to add to his medal collection since joining the Reds in June 2015.
Now in his fourth season with Liverpool, Milner has been on the losing side of three cup finals and his best Premier League finish in a Reds jersey is fourth.
Jurgen Klopp s side sit second, one point behind Milner s former club City, and will almost certainly improve on recent league campaigns – but that is not enough for Milner.
You know, it s been so long since we won a league title, Milner told UK newsp…
According to the Luciano Spalletti himself, Inter Milan striker will not be leaving the club in the summer transfer window. The 25-year-old has been at the San Siro since 2013 after his big move from Sampdoria, and in that time, he s grown into one of the most well-rounded strikers in Serie A. Because of that he s attracted the attention of several big clubs around Europe, with the pick of the bunch being reigning Italian champions .
The Old Lady have been sniffing around Icardi for what feels like forever now, and while it seems as if they aren t going to acquire his services, their persistence has paid off in the past. Spalletti has dubbed Icardi an important player as Inter look ahead to their Champions League return, with the Argentine preparing for yet another season of s…