Football transfer news

TIDYING UP ALL THE LOOSE STORIES IN FOOTBALL THIS WEEK

FULHAM TO WITHDRAW DEMPSEY DEAL OFFER AS RIFT GROWS
 
Martin Jol made no attempt to disguise his disdain for Clint Dempsey’s pre-season conduct during an incendiary media briefing on Friday.

The west Londoners have fined Dempsey for refusing to play for the club again following Jol’s claim that it would be “impossible” to keep last season’s 23-goal top scorer at Craven Cottage.

As revealed by Goal.com earlier this month, Dempsey has been training on his own after making it clear he does not want to play for the Londoners again while waiting for a move to Liverpool to materialise.

The Sweeper can also reveal that Fulham are ready to withdraw their offer of a new three-year contract with an option for a fourth year.

Dempsey rejected the deal earlier in the summer but the club said it would remain on the table until his future was sorted.

However, the attacking midfielder, whose current deal expires in a year, has infuriated his employers to the extent that they are having second thoughts about extending his spell at the club should he not switch clubs by the end of the window.

Jol claimed it was “embarrassing” that Liverpool had failed to follow up their sustained interest in Dempsey with a concrete bid.

The Sweeper has learned that Dempsey was so confident he would be leaving Craven Cottage that he asked for permission to return to pre-season four days late last month, a request that was reluctantly granted by the club.

Jol’s anger emanates from the 29-year-old telling him at the end of last month that he did not want to go on a week-long pre-season training camp to Switzerland, which led to a heated debate between the player and manager at the training ground.

With Liverpool undecided whether a move for Dempsey is right, even at the £5-6million mark at which Fulham would be comfortable selling, Everton and Aston Villa could be encouraged to follow up their enquiries with a formal offer.

There is also interest in the midfielder from Italy, with Juventus, Napoli and Milan among his admirers, although it is understood that the American would prefer to stay in the Premier League rather than move to Serie A.
 
TOTTENHAM FAN GRANTS VAN PERSIE ACCESS
 
Live filming can be a precarious business, and that was the case on Thursday morning when Robin van Persie arrived at London St Pancras train station en route to Manchester to complete his move from Arsenal.

Sky Sports News had been tipped off about Van Persie’s arrival from Brussels and approached the station authorities to gain permission to use their cameras on the site.

Officials were initially reluctant to allow the TV station to film, claiming footage of a footballer walking through St Pancras was not in the public interest.

But one senior official relented because of his north London allegiance. “I’m a Spurs fan, I hate Arsenal,” he is believed to have said before turning a blind eye to the soon-to-be-ex Gunner’s appearance.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says the club’s supporters must accept Robin van Persie’s move to Manchester United as part of the ‘brutal reality’ of top-level football.

The 29-year-old completed his £24 million move to Old Trafford after refusing to sign a new deal with the Gunners earlier this summer.

Wenger admits he doesn’t like how the situation has unfolded but the Frenchman did praise Van Persie’s professionalism and his commitment to the club during his time at the Emirates Stadium.

“I am not a specialist on time healing but there will be a frustration [among some fans] of course,”  Wenger told the club’s official website.

“He has played for us for eight years, you have to respect what he has done for our club, what he did last year.

“This is a situation that is a completely brutal reality of professional sport. Robin was captain of the team last year and I give him credit until the last minute of the whole season [because] he fought like mad.

“For me that is to be professional. He comes in afterwards and wants to go? I don’t like it. But that is being professional again. But being professional until the last minute of his stay at the club.

“He gave 100 per cent and last year he kept us [up] there – it is a miracle we finished third. A big part of the miracle is down to him and you have to give him credit for that.”

It’s not the first time a key member of the Arsenal team has moved on for a bigger salary and promises of silverware but the 62-year-old is confident the Financial Fair Play regulations will even out the playing field.

“It is a concern,” he admitted. “But you say we live outside of reality? No, we live in the economic reality that other clubs do not. There are some things we cannot afford to do, it is as simple as that.

“Honestly, I think it is a short-term problem – the world cannot go on like this. You cannot imagine that the world will go on just splashing money out without any return because people will get tired of that as you’ll only have a few clubs competing with each other.

“[Financial Fair Play] will make a big difference, how quickly I cannot answer because I am not responsible for putting it in place.”

EXCLUSIVE
By James McManus

Former Newcastle United boss and Liverpool player Kevin Keegan believes that Brendan Rodgers would be best served keeping hold of Andy Carroll this season.

The 23-year-old has struggled for the most part with both form and fitness during his 18-month spell on Merseyside so far, but Keegan is just as worried about the potential knock-on effect it could have on Newcastle if the player were to rejoin the club.

“If you sign Andy Carroll for Newcastle, then what happens to Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba?” Keegan told Goal.com.

“For Liverpool, replacing Andy Carroll, what other forwards have they got? [Luis] Suarez is not really a centre-forward and I think they’ve got to be careful there.”

Carroll isn’t the only big-name player to have been linked with a move away from Merseyside this summer, and centre-back Daniel Agger has been the subject of strong interest from league champions Manchester City.

Keegan, however, has stressed the importance of holding on to your best players and believes the club should keep hold of the Danish international.

“I do, not only because he’s a very good player and his partnership with [Martin] Skrtel is very good, but if you sold him, who do you replace him?” Keegan explained

“Who else are you going to find that knows the league as well as Agger and who consistently performs like Agger does?

“The answer is that it’s not going to be easy. You don’t want to sell your best players, you want to try and improve by keeping your best players and selling on the ones that you don’t want.

“Well, when you look at the players that they’ve got there, they need to improve by playing together more.

“They’ve got [Pepe] Reina, although he had a poor season last year, is a world-class goalkeeper and you’ve got Agger and Skrtel, then you’ve got [Steven] Gerrard and Suarez – there’s five players that you can build a team around.”

Kevin Keegan writes exclusively for ESPNFC.com, the new football website. ESPN has live coverage of the Barclays Premier League this season. For details visit: www.espn.co.uk/tv

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Universidad de Chile striker Angelo Henriquez is set to join Manchester United, the Chilean club have confirmed.

The 20-year-old will complete the move before the end of August, after reportedly completing a medical earlier this week, to become the first Chilean ever to play for the club.

Henriquez is one of the most sought-after players in South American football having notched up an impressive 10 goals in 15 games league games, while he has also been prolific for Chile at Under-20 level.

ANGELO HENRIQUEZ: EXPERT VIEW

Rupert Fryer Henriquez is mature well beyond his years, and whilst I think it would perhaps have been more beneficial for all concerned to leave him with La U for another year, I understand why Sir Alex wants him to begin the adaptation process as early as possible. Despite standing just below 6ft, he offers a serious aerial threat and keeps a cool head in front of goal. What is most impressive, however, has been his positioning and overall reading of the game. The teenager has taken the step-up to first team football impressively in his stride since the departure of Eduardo Vargas one year ago, fitting seamlessly into what is a very ‘Bielsan’ La U style.

“Angelo Henriquez will join Manchester United this month,” Universidad de Chile said in a statement.

“The player is physically and mentally prepared to take this determining step in his career.

President Jose Yuraszcek added: “Manchester United’s representatives told us that it was fundamental for them to take him now.”

Henriquez, who made his debut for the club earlier in the year, confirmed the move earlier in the week, describing the imminent move as “a dream”.

“I am coming to stay at Manchester United and I’m going to play to obtain that objective,” Henriquez told La Tercera.

“They are giving me this opportunity and I can’t let it go, it is something that I have searched for my whole life. It’s a dream I have always had and I can’t afford to not want to be here.

“Everything is spectacular here in Manchester. For me it is all a dream. Imagine it, just to be able to play and share a dressing room with people like Wayne Rooney. It’s a dream.”

Henriquez is believed to have rejected an approach from Manchester City to sign for United.