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TUESDAY 12 |
McAteer hangs up his boots
Jason McAteer has decided to call time on his professional
career, according to his former club Liverpool.
McAteer was released by Tranmere Rovers at the end of the
season and has now decided the time is right to hang up his
boots.
The 35-year-old enjoyed a 15-year career in English
football, joining Bolton in 1992 before moving onto
Liverpool, Blackburn, Sunderland and then Tranmere.
After reaching a League Cup final with The Trotters in 1995,
McAteer then made the switch to Anfield where he became
known as a member of the 'Spice Boys' under Roy Evans.
Along with team-mates such as Jamie Redknapp, Stan Collymore
and Steve McManaman, the versatile performer arrived at
Wembley again in 1996 draped in a cream suit, before
Manchester United famously secured a 1-0 win in the FA Cup
final.
McAteer also won 52 caps for Republic of Ireland, with his
most famous moment on the international scene coming in
September 2001 when he scored the only goal of the game
against Holland at Lansdowne Road to send his country on the
road to
the World Cup finals.
(Sky Sports)
Reds Hungary for young talents
Skysports.com can reveal that Liverpool have agreed a mutual
co-operation with Hungarian club MTK Hungaria.
The Reds recently signed youngsters Andras Simon and
Krisztian Nemeth (pictured) from the Budapest-based side,
and a more formal association between the two clubs has now
been announced.
As part of the agreement Liverpool will financially support
MTK's Karoly Sandor academy, which produced both Simon and
Nemeth, as well as assisting in the education of its young
scholars.
Liverpool will be able to cherry-pick the best talents from
MTK's academy, whilst The Reds may also send their own youth
players and reserves to play in Hungary if they fail to make
the grade at Anfield.
Revealing the co-operation in Agard on Tuesday, MTK general
director Laszlo Domonyai hailed the link-up with Liverpool
as a historic moment for Hungarian football.
"This is a milestone not only for MTK but for the whole of
Hungarian football because Hungarian talents will get such
an opportunity from this agreement that they could only
dream about before in an academy like Agard's," Domonyai
told skysports.com.
MTk also revealed that many European clubs were keen on
linking up with the Hungarian side, but the vision of Reds
boss Rafa Benitiez helped to sway the deal in Liverpool's
favour.
(Sky Sports)
Gillett: No rift with Rafa
Liverpool co-owner George Gillett has rubbished talk of a
rift between Reds boss Rafa Benitez and himself.
After Benitez dropped his transfer sights from Samuel Eto’o
to Diego Forlan to fit his budget limitations, reports
circulated of growing tension between the Reds boss and the
club’s new American owners.
But Gillett said: “I read that Rafa is throwing hand
grenades at us and making demands... that there’s a tension
or disagreement between him and the Gillett and Hicks
families. Nothing could be farther from the truth."
(Liverpool Echo)
Burley keen on Guthrie deal
Southampton manager George Burley wants to bring on-loan
Liverpool midfielder Danny Guthrie back to St Mary's next
season.
The 20-year-old joined Saints in March and made an
impressive contribution in his 10 appearances as Burley's
side reached the Championship play-offs.
"It's something we'll be looking at in the summer," Burley
told the Southern Echo.
"Danny did very well. I like Danny and it's something we'll
consider - naturally finance will come into play.
"He's only 20 and has got potential. He came in and did well
for us and we'll look at it in the summer. At the moment
he's not in the Liverpool first-team squad so there might be
an opportunity there."
Saints are remaining tight-lipped over their other loanee,
striker Marek Saganowski, who is expected to tie up a
permanent move from French club Troyes later this week.
(TEAMtalk)
Atletico ready to sell hitman Torres
Atletico Madrid will spark a transfer scramble next week by
confirming that star striker Fernando Torres will be in the
summer sales.
Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all
been linked with moves for Torres in the past and would be
forced to offer at least £15million for his services.
(TEAMtalk) |
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MONDAY 11 |
Bellamy urged to make Irons move
West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon has told his Wales
team-mate Craig Bellamy he should jump at the chance of a
move to Upton Park.
Bellamy, recently named Wales captain in the wake of Ryan
Giggs' retirement from international football, is believed
to be a summer target for the Hammers with a £9m
fee mooted.
With Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez needing to sell players
to bolster his transfer kitty, Bellamy and Harry Kewell
could well be sacrificed.
Gabbidon said: "He would love it at West Ham. He would be an
instant fans' favourite. Craig is a quality player but what
West Ham fans would love is that he never stops running,
even if the team are 3-0 down.
"He is a defender's nightmare, like a terrier snapping at
your heels. I have never known him give less than 100 per
cent."
He added: "Craig would be a great signing for us and would
definitely improve the squad.
"The manager has a lot of money to spend and Craig is the
kind of player the club are trying to attract to improve the
team so we do not have any relegation troubles
next season."
(TEAMtalk)
Voronin: I'm no bench-warmer
Liverpool newboy Andriy Voronin has spoken of his
determination to force his way into Rafa Benitez's first
team.
The Ukrainian striker will arrive at Melwood for pre-season
following his free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.
"I haven't made this decision to just sit on the bench,"
said the 27-year-old. "I will be coming to get into the team
and form a partnership with someone."
(LFC Official Website)
Ex-Red to join Wigan
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy is set to join
Wigan Athletic.
Murphy is out of favour at Spurs and that has alerted Wigan
boss Chris Hutchings who wants to bring the ex-Red back to
the North-West.
(LFC Online)
Forlan Reds talk played down
Diego Forlan's agent has played down talk linking the player
with a possible move
to Liverpool.
Reports over the weekend suggested Liverpool boss Rafa
Benitez was considering bringing the former Manchester
United man back to England.
Forlan's agent Daniel Bolotnicoff says he has not had any
offers from Liverpool and that Forlan's future depends on
Villarreal.
"There has not been any offer from Liverpool and it's very
difficult to talk about what might happen when there isn't
an offer there, but things can change every day,"
Bolotnicoff told The Times.
"If he received a very good offer then he will think about
it, but it will also depend on whether Villarreal are
happy."
(Sky Sports) |
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SUNDAY 10 |
Gerrard in need of a rest
Midfielder Steven Gerrard admits that he is completely worn
out after a long season for both club and country.
The 27-year-old is looking forward to a month's rest after
helping get England's European Championship qualifying
campaign back on track in Estonia on Wednesday.
"I desperately need a rest - it's as simple as that. I'm
worn out," he said.
Player burn-out has been a hot topic in recent days
following David Bentley's controversial withdrawal from the
England squad for the UEFA Under-21 Championship, citing
"fatigue".
Liverpool captain Gerrard played 62 games for club and
country last season, which included going all the way to the
final of the Champions League.
He added: "Two-and-a-half weeks off after the World Cup
wasn't enough to prepare for a hectic season, which included
going all the way in the Champions League final and playing
for England.
"It's been a difficult season for me but I'm getting married
next week and I've got four weeks to put my feet up.
"Demands on players at the highest level can be excessive.
It's a no-win situation because the more success you have,
the more games you have to play."
(ITV Football)
Thor Zakariassen
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