LUNCH TYM SPORT. Liverpool have confirmed they have agreed a deal in principle with Bayer Leverkusen to sign 20-year-old midfielder Emre Can. he Reds have been chasing the Germany Under-21 international for some time but the process was held up by complications associated with a buy-back clause Bayern Munich inserted into the deal which took the 20-year-old to Leverkusen for £4.4million 12 months ago. Press Association Sport understands Can will officially join Liverpool on July 1 when all the relevant paperwork can be completed but the player has already signed a contract with the club. Can had a 12 million euro (£9.75million) release clause effective for foreign clubs and it is reported Bayern will receive £1.2million as compensation for waiving their buy-back option. The 20-year-old midfielder follows Southampton striker Rickie Lambert to Anfield as manager Brendan Rodgers summer strengthening continues ahead of a Champions League return next season. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Bayern Munich have appointed Michael Reschke as their new technical director, the Bundesliga champions have announced. The 56-year-old has joined from rivals Bayer Leverkusen, where he had been working in recent years as general manager. Reschke will report to director of sport Matthias Sammer. Reschke had spent a total of 35 years with Leverkusen in various roles and will now provide support to Sammer, who has welcomed his appointment. Im delighted that Michael Reschke will be strengthening us, Sammer said. I have known him and respected him for a very, very long time. It was my expressed desire to create this new position at Bayern Munich and for Michael Reschke to fill it. I know that we are gaining an expert colleague and Im looking forward to working with him. Reschke will assist Sammer in the areas of scouting and transfers, both for the first team and youth selections. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Cesc Fabregas AGREES to £30m Chelsea move – report According to the trustworthy guys at talkSPORT, Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has agreed to move to Chelsea this summer, coming in as a direct replacement for the outgoing Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge. The report, published in the last hour, claims that the player was told that he would be leaving his boyhood club for a second time, having rejoined three years ago from Arsenal, and that Chelsea have beaten Manchester United to his signature. The rumour mill went into overdrive last night concerning Fabregas’ proposed move back to the Premier League, with a number of Spanish publications claiming a deal to take him to West London had been rubber-stamped. sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Wayne Rooney could not care less about the critics who say he should be dropped from the England team. Rooneys place in Roy Hodgsons starting XI has been called into question over the last week due to a lack of fitness and the strikers poor showing against Peru last Friday. The Manchester United forward gave the perfect riposte to his detractors by impressing in the 2-2 draw against Ecuador at Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday night. Despite being played out of position on the left flank, Rooney put in a dynamic display and caused Ecuador problems with his pace - he also scored to cancel out Enner Valencias opener. Paul Scholes and Gary Lineker appeared to harbour doubts about whether Rooney should be a part of Roy Hodgsons first XI in Brazil, but the Manchester United star does not care one bit. I am not really interested, Rooney said when asked about claims he should be dropped. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Italy coach Cesare Prandelli is not about to press the panic button despite seeing his sides winless streak stretch to seven matches with Wednesdays 1-1 draw against minnows Luxembourg. The Italians, who start their World Cup campaign against England in just nine days, finished top of their qualifying group for Brazil without losing a match but they are now without a victory since beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in September That disappointing run would have come to an end on Wednesday only for Maxine Chanot to net an 85th-minute equaliser for Luxembourg that cancelled out Claudio Marchisios early opener for the Azzurri. Prandelli acknowledges his side need to improve but he gained some useful insights from the match and remains in upbeat mood, insisting they can still have a great World Cup. TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT Ryan Giggs believes his experience as Manchester Uniteds short-term interim manager was good preparation for the next time it happens. The 40-year-old Welshman took charge of the clubs final four matches of the season after David Moyes was sacked 10 months after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson. There were calls for Giggs, who made a record 963 appearances for United, to be given the job full-time but the Old Trafford hierarchy opted for the experience of current Holland boss Louis van Gaal. Giggs will be the Dutchmans assistant and intends to get as much out of the role as he can as he takes his first steps into coaching after calling time on his playing career. TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will have a scan on his knee on Thursday amid fears he has suffered a ligament injury. The 20-year-old limped out of Englands 2-2 World Cup warm-up draw with Ecuador following a tackle from Carlos Gruezo. England open their World Cup campaign against Italy in Manaus on June 14. Manager Roy Hodgson said: It would be an enormous blow to lose him. He did ever so well and looked really, really sharp. Playing for the first time since 20 April because of a groin injury, Arsenals Oxlade-Chamberlain produced an energetic display before being substituted after 63 minutes. He is now a doubt for Englands final warm-up match against Honduras in Miami on Saturday. Dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd Antonio Valencia has apologised to the Ecuador squad and Raheem Sterling for his red card in Wednesdays 2-2 friendly draw against England. The winger was given his marching orders for grabbing Sterling by the neck, twice, in retaliation to a late tackle from the Liverpool man. Both players were sent off for the incident but it was Valencias overzealous reaction that was widely criticised. Valencia said the injury suffered by team-mate Segundo Castillo in a friendly against Mexico on Saturday – which nearly forced him to withdraw from the FIFA World Cup – played a role in his actions. I apologised to the team after the match and the coach (Reinaldo Rueda), Valencia said afterwards. I am sorry for the fight with Sterling. When he tackled me I thought about Segundo Castillo. He nearly missed the World Cup because of injury and I feared I would too but thankfully I am okay. In an entertaining friendly in Miami, Ecuador needed a stunning 70th-minute equaliser from Michael Arroyo to claim a share of the spoils. Dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd Brazil have been boosted ahead of the FIFA World Cup after they rose to third in the governing bodys latest rankings. FIFA announced their updated rankings on Thursday, just one week before Brazil open the 20th edition of the World Cup with a clash against Croatia in Sao Paulo. Luiz Felipe Scolaris side move up one place, at the expense of Portugal, who had to qualify for the World Cup through a two-legged play-off against Sweden. Argentina, another side tipped to challenge for World Cup glory, climb to fifth, while Switzerland are sixth, with Uruguay and Colombia dropping to seventh and eighth England are back inside the top 10 at the expense of Greece, who slip to 12th, and Bosnia-Herzegovina move from 25th to 21st ahead of their first ever World Cup appearance. Ukraine – the highest-ranked team not to feature in Brazil – are up one place to 16th. More movement in the top 30 sees Scotland drop five places to 27th, while Costa Rica are up six spots to 28th. Sierra Leone rise 17 spots to 54th, but Australia, the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup, lose further ground, slipping down three places. Ange Postecoglous men now sit 62nd in the world rankings, which are still headed by world champions Spain, and then Germany. The biggest movers are Palestine, who shoot up 71 spots to 94th after their AFC Challenge Cup triumph in the Maldives. As a result, Palestine qualified for the 2015 Asian Cup – the first major tournament they have reached since being accepted as a member by FIFA in 1998. Ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has apologised to the teams fans after their lacklustre 1-1 friendly draw against Luxembourg. A disappointing draw against the Republic of Ireland was followed by the stalemate against Luxembourg, as Maxime Chanot netted with five minutes left for the minnows. Italy were denied by the woodwork twice but failed to show their best form and are now without a win in seven matches. Chiellini told Sky Sport Italia: I am sorry about the result. I can promise you that we wanted to do well. During the past few years we havent proved to be great at friendlies, but fortunately we seem to be okay when it gets serious. We have to move forward with confidence and make sure were ready for the England game in 10 days time. Midfielder Marco Verratti is confident Italy will be at their best against England when they kick off their World Cup campaign in Manaus on June 14. This was the first game in which we tried a new plan, Verratti told RAI Sport. Its unthinkable that wed be at our best already. Were working hard, but we know that when the World Cup comes around well be ready. The result wasnt what was important today. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa FIFA RANKIGS Last Updated 05 Jun 2014 1 Spain 2 Germany 3 Brazil 4 Portugal 5 Argentina 6 Switzerland 7 Uruguay 8 Colombia 9 Italy 10 England 11 Belgium 12 Greece 13 USA 14 Chile 15 Netherlands 16 Ukraine 17 France 18 Croatia 19 Russia 20 Mexico 21 Bosnia and Herzegovina 22 Algeria 23 Denmark 23 Côte dIvoire 25 Slovenia 26 Ecuador 27 Scotland 28 Costa Rica 29 Romania 30 Serbia ENJOY YOUR LUNCH.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 10:52:47 +0000
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