SPORTS UPDATE WITH EMMAH ATAI: Former England striker, Bryan Robson believes Wayne Rooney is ready to replace Steven Gerrard as captain. Gerrard announced his retirement from England duty yesterday after a 14-year international career, having led the team 38 times. Bryan Robson is also confident that Louis van Gaal will make Robin van Persie his captain at Old Trafford this season. Several senior figures from United have left with previous club captain Nemanja Vidic joining Inter and Rio Ferdinand signing for QPR, while Patrice Evra has moved to Juventus. Some suggested that Wayne Rooneys new bumper five-year deal at Old Trafford in February included a clause which ensured he would inherit the captaincy once Vidic departed. At the Emirates , Wojciech Szczesny believes the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy will be key to Arsenal sustaining a title challenge next season. The Gunners have added the two players already, with Arsene Wenger admitting he wants to bring in another goalkeeper and a central defender - but no more attackers and wenger has also reportedly ruled out the possibility of signing a centre-forward as he remains willing to rely on Olivier Giroud. He told the club’s official website: “Obviously you want to add more strength to your team and adding that little bit more quality to what we had last year is only going to make us stronger. Hopefully that will bring better results this season. Ronald Koeman has warned Liverpool they will have to match Southamptons valuation for Dejan Lovren if they want to sign the centre-back. Reports have suggested that Liverpool are closing in on a £20 million deal for Lovren, with sources confirming significant progress has been made in talks between the two clubs. Southampton have already turned down a bid of £20m but Koeman has hinted that Liverpool would have to pay more for the 25-year-old or structure the deal more to his clubs liking. Tiago Mendes return to Chelsea is off after the Portuguese midfielder re-signed with Spanish champions Atletico Madrid for another two years. The 33-year-old, who played for Chelsea under compatriot Jose Mourinho in the 2004-05 season, became a free agent in June and was reportedly prepared to move back to Stamford Bridge despite listening to other offers from around the world. However, Tiago has committed to staying at Atletico, signing a new deal and flying out to their pre-season training camp in Segovia, north of Madrid. Reports in Spain claim that Man United are close to agreeing a deal with Borussia Dortmund for central defender Mats Hummels. The deal could go through as early as this week as Barcelona have pulled out of the running. Borussia have already signed 19 year old Matthias Ginter, from Freiburg as a potential replacement. United are keen to sign a world-class central defender following the departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand at the end of last season. Liverpool striker Iago Aspas has passed a medical to complete a season-long loan move to Sevilla. The Spanish club can exercise the right to buy the 26-year-old at the end of the campaign, with a three-year deal already agreed. Aspas joined Liverpool from Celta Vigo at the beginning of last season for a fee of £7m. The Spaniard made only 15 appearances for the Reds - nine of them as a substitute - and scored just one goal. OTHER NEWS; Dereck Chisora has pulled out of Saturdays heavyweight bout with Tyson Fury after fracturing his hand in training. Chisora hurt his right hand during his final sparring session last week with an MRI scan yesterday confirming the injury. The pair were set to clash at Manchesters Phones 4u Arena for the right to face world champion Wladimir Klitschko but the fight has now been postponed with a new date to be announced soon. Harambee Stars Coach, Adel Amrouche has been banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for one year. This follows an incident in which the ex-Burundi tactician spit at a match official as Kenya battled Comoros in the previous round of the 2015 Afcon qualifiers. He had earlier been slapped with a two match suspension pending the submission of the matter to the CAF disciplinary board.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 10:33:54 +0000
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