Football transfer news

The 34-year-old believes that the Liverpool forward can help fill the void left at the Gunners by Thierry Henry’s departure and urges Arsene Wenger to keep pursuing his signature

Uruguay striker Diego Forlan has urged Arsenal to sign Luis Suarez if they want to become serious title contenders once again.

As exclusively revealed by Goal, the forward is preparing to submit a transfer request to force a move to the Emirates Stadium.

Depsite Liverpool having so far rejected two bids for from the Gunners, Forlan believes that his compatriot would be the ideal recruit for Arsene Wenger.

“If they manage to sign Luis, then I think, with the players they already have, they would be serious title contenders again,” the Internacional striker told reporters.

“Only Luis knows what his plans are but he would be a great signing for Arsenal.”

Forlan believes that the Gunners’ inability to challenge for trophies in recent years has stemmed from a failure to replace legendary striker Thierry Henry.

“Of course, Arsenal are a very strong team but, for the last years, they have not been able to compete with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea for the title,” the 34-year-old continued.

“They have had very good players but have maybe lacked that one special player who you need to win a league as strong as the Premier League.

“United have had Wayne Rooney and City have had Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez but Arsenal have struggled since Thierry Henry left.”

After a poor season ending in relegation from the Premier League, the full-back agrees a departure from Loftus Road and is now set to join Turkish outfit Trabzonspor

Portuguese defender Jose Bosingwa has left QPR by mutual consent.

The 30-year-old signed a three-year deal at Loftus Road last summer but found himself largely out of favour after falling out with manager Harry Redknapp.

After refusing to take his place among the substitutes for a fixture against Fulham in December, Redknapp hinted at the time that he would be sold in January.

Directly addressing Bosingwa after a defeat at Newcastle, Redknapp said: “He didn’t travel. He felt he was too good to be on the substitutes’ bench.

“I’ve fined him two weeks’ wages, which is £130,000, which isn’t bad for two weeks’ work, is it? How do I handle a player like that? Maybe he’ll find out in January.”

His wages of £65,000 per week made him a likely candidate to leave QPR following their relegation to the Championship.

Reported high earners such as Djibril Cisse and Chris Samba have also left the club as they look to cut their cloth accordingly for the second tier.

Bosingwa, who scored once in 23 games for QPR, is now expected to complete a move to Trabzonspor after being pictured arriving in Turkey for a medical with the Black Sea club.

The Argentina striker was mobbed by fans when he arrived in Naples to complete his move from Real Madrid and thousands have secured tickets for his official unveiling on Monday

Gonzalo Higuain’s move from Real Madrid to Napoli has sparked widespread excitement amongst the club’s fans, with 50,000 supporters set to greet the striker at his unveiling.

The deal, reported to have cost the Azzurri €40 million, was confirmed by the club on Saturday with president Aurelio De Laurentiis tweeting a picture of himself and the striker as the contract was signed.

“Higuain and [Pepe] Reina have passed their medicals and will soon join the rest of the group,” the 64-year-old confirmed on Twitter.

“On Monday there will be a big party at the San Paolo. You will be able to get to know the new players and the new shirts.”

The news of the event at the club’s stadium on Monday has prompted a frenzy amongst Partonopei followers. Fifty thousand tickets have already been sold for the unveiling, which also includes entry to the friendly with Galatasaray.

The passionate welcome has drawn comparisons with the arrival of Higuain’s illustrious compatriot, Diego Maradona, who signed for Napoli in 1984.

The 25-year-old forward arrives after scoring 122 goals in six seasons in Madrid, while goalkeeper Reina joins on a season-long loan from Liverpool.

The Blues boss is adamant that there would be no need to offload players to balance the budget should he sign the Manchester United star, despite having bought already this summer

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says that the club would not have to offload any current players in order to sign Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.
The Londoners are expected to make a renewed bid for the England striker after the Red Devils turned down their opening offer, despite the disgruntled forward being “hell bent” to leave Old Trafford, as exclusively revealed by Goal.

“The club are working hard to keep the numbers in balance but we can still invest in a player who costs £20 million, £25m, £30m and not break the balance,” Mourinho told the press. “We don’t need to sell to do that.”

Asked if he could spend £50m on a striker, he added: “The striker I want doesn’t cost £50m.”

The Blues boss declared on Thursday that he was “calm” about his pursuit of the United forward, with a sizeable stable of strikers at his disposal should the move not materialise.

Red Devils legend Paul Scholes, however, argues that it would be best for Rooney to stay put.

Mourinho has already added the likes of Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel to his Chelsea squad this summer, with the England international his only remaining target.

The wantaway Liverpool striker has confided in the former Everton man over housing and schools in the capital after telling the Anfield outfit of his intention to leave

SUAREZ IN LONDON HOUSE-HUNT WITH A VIEW TO ARSENAL MOVELuis Suarez told Liverpool earlier this week that he wants to leave the club and join Arsenal this summer.

The Sweeper can reveal that the Uruguayan has now begun looking for houses and schools in London.

It is understood that the father-of-one has spoken on the phone to Arsenal vice-captain and fellow Spanish speaker Mikel Arteta about both where his family would live were they to relocate to the capital and possible schools for his young daughter, Delfina.
 
Arteta is highly regarded at Arsenal for his leadership skills and vocal dressing-room presence and is expected to lead the team in the opening two months of the new season in the absence of the injured Thomas Vermaelen.

His conversations with Suarez demonstrate the Uruguayan’s growing desire to leave Anfield and become Arsenal’s club-record signing.

As revealed by Goal, the Gunners lodged a second formal bid for the striker on Monday, believed to be worth £42 million including add-ons.

Liverpool insist that Suarez is not for sale and have let it be known to the player’s camp that he would have to lodge an official transfer request in writing in order to leave Merseyside. Sources have said that the forward is ready do so as he steps up his plans to remove one of the obstacles to his exit.

Arsenal believe that they have been given enough encouragement from the Uruguayan’s representatives that he is keen to move to the Emirates Stadium and are increasingly confident that they can capture the 26-year-old, with no other club yet to make a bid for him.

However, any prospective deal has been muddied by the contents of a £40m clause in Suarez’s contract, which his advisers believe entitles him to ask for permission to speak to any club that matches the price.

But Liverpool claim they only have to inform Suarez and the clause does not oblige them to sell. There is the prospect that the player may take legal action to force through a move.

– Wayne Veysey

MANCHESTER UNITED TO USE MCILROY MEGA-DEAL IN NIKE NEGOTIATIONS

Manchester United will use golfer Rory Mcllroy’s recent £220m sponsorship tie-up with sportswear giants Nike to leverage against their next kit deal.

The Red Devils are desperate to open talks about a new long-term association, with the present deal set to expire in 2015, after 13 years as the club’s official supplier.

But sources have indicated that Nike are currently dragging their heels, with profits not as big as expected during the association.

United currently pocket around £25m a season and are looking for at least double that this time around.

The Old Trafford money-men were stunned by the huge amount McIlroy, a big United fan, was handed back in January, as part of a 10-year agreement. They will argue that Manchester United are a much bigger brand in terms of what they are worth.

– Paul Clennam

JULIO CESAR EYES LATEST ITALIAN JOB

Julio Cesar remains on QPR’s books after failing to land a move this summer, with Napoli, Arsenal and Roma all making concerted attempts to sign him.

But the Brazil No.1 is not expecting to play his football in the Championship next season and Fiorentina are the latest club to show an interest in buying him.

Rangers need to offload Cesar from their wage bill – he is believed to earn around £80,000-a-week – as they prepare for life in the second tier.

The west Londoners would settle for a loan deal but would prefer a permanent sale at their £1.5m valuation.

– Wayne Veysey