Vilanova: Barcelona looking for Puyol successor

The Blaugrana coach also spoke about the recent acquisition of Neymar, Eric Abidal's imminent exit from Camp Nou and defended his decision to stay despite health issues

Tito Vilanova has revealed that Barcelona are looking to sign a centre-back successor to club captain Carles Puyol this summer.

The Spain international, who has been a Blaugrana player his entire professional career, is 35 years old and has been ravaged by injury this season, triggering calls for Vilanova to plug the gap in his side's defence.

The coach has revealed that a centre-back will be one of Barca's targets in the upcoming transfer window but insisted he wants Puyol to recover from his injury and remain at Camp Nou regardless of his age.

"We'll be looking for a player in that position - in the middle of defence," he told reporters on Friday. "We hope Puyol recovers but we'll still be looking for a new player in that position. He's said he wants to play until he's 40 and I hope he does!"

Two players who have been linked with a move away from the club are David Villa and Thiago, but Vilanova has stressed that no decision has been made about the pair.

"We haven't talked about whether Villa's going to leave the club," he added. "As for his performance over the last three years, he's been very good. It's been a pity about the serious injury he had [in December 2011]. He has a good relationship with the fans, he scored a goal in the Champions League final.

"I don't know anything about Thiago wanting to leave. Thiago has a future here at Barcelona. We want him to stay but it depends on him. There's a lot of competition in midfield. It's up to the player if he wants to continue but it's not only us having confidence in him, but him having confidence in himself."

The first player who has been confirmed as leaving is defender Eric Abidal - Vilanova admitted that the club's decision was hard, but hopes he can find success away from the Liga champions.

"I feel bad that Eric Abidal won't stay on, but it's a decision the club has taken," he said. "We won't find another player like Abidal. The decision was very difficult. I hope he finds a good club and proves us wrong."

Barca made their first signing of the summer in the past week by signing up Santos starlet Neymar, beating Real Madrid to his signature, and Vilanova had plenty of praise for his new forward.

"Well I think Neymar's a player who can play in many positions, not only on the left," he said, when asked where he would play the 21-year-old.

"He's a really top player, he combines well with other players. He's good defensively and tactically he's going to help us as well. Every club in Europe wanted to get him but we're convinced that he's a player who can score goals for us."

Vilanova swatted aside rumours that he will quit and brushed off comments from Barca legend Johan Cruyff that he should step down to concentrate on recovering from cancer.

"I can't make it any clearer, I can't say it any louder - I'm staying at Barcelona," he insisted. "People talk about things - Mr Cruyff talked about my health and the club. When he makes these kind of declarations then people listen."

Barca face Malaga on Saturday in what will be their final game of a successful Liga season, though star attacker Lionel Messi - who was called up to Argentina's squad for their matches in June - remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and will not feature according to the coach.

Vilanova said: "No, Messi won't be playing tomorrow. He doesn't have the green light from the doctors.

"If he can play for Argentina then he will get to play, but obviously we don't want to take any risks with him. We don't want him to get injured again."

Robinho holding talks over Santos return

 

The president of the Brazilian club has revealed they are weighing up the financial demands of AC Milan and the former Manchester City man

Santos president Odilio Rodrigues has confirmed the club are holding talks with AC Milan and Robinho over a potential summer swoop.

The attacker has fallen down the pecking order at San Siro and was believed to be close to a move back to Brazil in January, though his wage demands reportedly put suitors off bidding.

However, it looks like Santos are willing to bring the winger, 29, back to the club he played for before joining Real Madrid, but Rodrigues has admitted the financial demands will need to be considered before talks are taken any further.

"We are talking to Milan about Robinho," he admitted to Radio Bandeirantes. "We are evaluating the requests from both Milan and the player. He is always welcome here, but we have to understand whether the operation is possible.

"Aside from the dream and the desire, there is the reality. We cannot go crazy, so have to keep our feet on the ground. We are talking to Milan, but we’re still at the beginning and want to continue."

Robinho has a contract with the Rossoneri until June 2014 having joined from Manchester City for €15 million in 2010.

Prior to that, the Brazil international - who has not made an appearance for the Selecao since 2011 - had a short spell at the club where he made his name before leaving for the Santiago Bernabeu in 2005.

Santos recently sold Neymar to Barcelona for a fee believed to be around €28m.

Sturridge out of Brazil friendly, confirms England boss Hodgson

 

The striker was stretchered from the field early on his first international start and faces several weeks of rehabilitation

England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Daniel Sturridge will not face Brazil on Sunday, and fears he could face "a few weeks" out after possibly damaging his ankle ligaments.

The striker, making his first start for the Three Lions, was withdrawn after 33 minutes against Republic of Ireland after appearing to roll over on his ankle before being stretchered from the field.

"He's not going to [play] Brazil, unfortunately," Hodgson told ITV.

"It's ligament damage, we think. We are not 100 per cent sure. I fear it will keep him out for a few weeks. The surgeon is with him now and he will be contacting Liverpool [shortly]."

Sturridge went into the game in fine form for Liverpool, scoring six goals in his previous five outings, and Hodgson lamented the injury hampering the striker's impressive start at Wembley.

"He had a brilliant start to the game and we were really sad to lose him," Hodgson continued. "I think we missed him as Jermain Defoe hasn't played for a while and is also suffering from a slight injury problem.

Jermain Defoe replaced the Liverpool man on the night, but will face competition from Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck for a starting berth to face the five-time world champions.

Liverpool target Luis Muriel as Suarez replacement

the signing of Celta Vigo star Iago Aspas, with Anfield officials keen to bolster their attacking options this summer

EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart

Liverpool are considering a move for Udinese striker Luis Muriel as a replacement for Luis Suarez if their star man leaves Anfield this summer.

VIEW FROM ITALY

Renato Maisani | Goal Italy Luis Muriel had a difficult start to the season: arriving in Udine overweight, after just two matches he injured his thigh and was out for more than two months. However, after scoring his first goal in December, he went on to bag 10 more in the new year, proving decisive - alongside Antonio Di Natale - to a magnificent end to the season for Udinese. He looks like a player ready for the next step in his career.

Suarez has encouraged a €47 million transfer to Real Madrid by admitting he would find it hard to turn down the Spanish giants as he seeks Champions League football next season.

The Uruguayan has also privately refused to commit himself to Liverpool despite two meetings with the club in recent weeks and the Reds are believed to be ready to sell the 26-year-old to an overseas club.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers would be allowed to re-invest the transfer fee in full - on top of his €23m summer budget - and is lining up potential replacements for a player who scored 30 goals in all competitions last term.

Liverpool are closing in on a €7 deal for Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas but their move for the 25-year-old is unrelated to Suarez’s future as Rodgers looks to bolster his attacking options.

Aspas, who has bagged 12 goals for the relegation-threatened Liga outfit, had also attracted interest from Valencia and Swansea ahead of the summer transfer window.

However, Reds officials moved for the Spaniard after being alerted to Celta’s reduced asking price for the striker, with around €2.3m being knocked off their original valuation of €9.3m as a result of the club’s precarious league position.

Meanwhile Muriel has been identified as a potential target to replace Suarez following his impressive displays for Udinese, where he scored 11 league goals in 22 Serie A appearances during a season disrupted by injury.

The Colombian, 22, would cost in excess of €17.5m but Liverpool believe he has the potential to increase in value, while his style of play and eye for goal are similar to Suarez.

Muriel would be interested in a move to Anfield despite saying last week that he does not feel ready for a big-money move away for Udinese.

"I want to grow and improve as a player,” Muriel told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I want to stay in Udine for another couple of years. I have learnt so much here from boss Francesco Guidolin who helped me during my moments of difficulty."

'Colombian Ronaldo' on Liverpool radar

 

Udinese striker Luis Muriel has been targeted by Liverpool as a possible replacement for Luis Suarez, who is attracting interest from Real Madrid

PROFILE
By Mark Doyle
Blistering pace, wonderful dribbling skills, lethal finishing, injury issues and weight problems  - it’s easy to understand why Liverpool target Luis Muriel is known as “the Colombian Ronaldo”.

The Udinese attacker has been burdened with the tag ever since he first came to prominence in his homeland with Deportivo Cali four years ago. Muriel’s natural talent was obvious from the moment he made his professional debut as an 18-year-old and, after just 11 appearances for the Verdiblancos (during which he scored nine goals), he was on his way to Udinese in the summer of 2010.

The Zebrette immediately loaned Muriel to Granada, but he failed to make an impression during his short stint in the Segunda Division. However, the youngster would prove his worth the following year during a tremendously productive loan spell at Lecce, at the end of which he was named Serie A Young Player of the season alongside Stephan El Shaarawy, Muriel’s achievement made all the more noteworthy by the fact that he had been plying his trade in a side that dropped into the relegation zone in week five never to re-emerge.

In that context, seven goals in 29 league appearances was a highly respectable tally for a forward with no previous Serie A experience, as underlined by the reported interest of Juventus, Inter, AC Milan and Roma in signing the striker. Muriel enjoyed the attention of Italy’s elite, publicly expressing his admiration of Milan, the club he had supported as a boy, before then claiming that both the Rossoneri and Inter had made “official offers” for his services.

LUIS MURIEL'S CAREER STATS
	TEAM	YEAR	APPS	GLS
	Deportivo Cali	2009-10	11	9
	Granada	2010-11	7	0
	Lecce	2011-12	29	7
	Udinese	2012-13	22	11

However, Udinese were not about to offload Muriel before he had played a single game at the Friuli and dismissed all offers for the Colombian. Whether that was why the player turned up for pre-season horribly out of shape is open to debate. What remained clear was that Francesco Guidolin was not impressed by the condition he found Muriel in last July.

"If he wants to talk with me, he should lose five pounds," the enraged Zebrette boss told Gazzetta dello Sport. "He not speak with me until he has a physique of an athlete; he must work hard."

Thankfully, Muriel heeded his coach’s warning and was in peak condition in time for the start of the new season. However, then injury intervened, and the striker missed three-and-a-half months with a hairline fracture of his left femur.

Muriel returned seemingly fitter and stronger than ever, though, scoring three goals in his first three starts following his return to action in December and would go on to play a key role in Udinese clinching a Europa League place. Muriel’s strike in the Zebrette’s 5-2 final-day demolition of Inter was his 11th goal in 22 appearances – the best numbers of his career to date.

It is worth noting, though, that only 15 of those appearances were starts, with a number of niggling injuries having hampered Muriel during the second half of the season. Still, his talent and potential are both beyond dispute and, encouragingly, he seems to have matured as a person over the course of the past 12 months.

When his future at the Friuli began to be discussed again in the media towards the tail end of last season, Muriel was at pains to point out just how indebted he feels both Guidolin and strike partner Antonio Di Natale for their guidance and support - on and off the field.
“I have learnt so much here from the boss, who helped me during my moments of difficulty," he told Gazzetta. “The partnership [with Di Natale] has gone so well, too, and 'Toto' has taught me a lot."

And there’s the rub: Muriel still has much to learn. Admittedly, the comparisons with Ronaldo are strikingly obvious. It is not just the bulky build and powerful upper-body strength, Muriel has the same incredible turn of pace and shifts the ball onto his heavily favoured right foot in an eerily similar manner to ‘Il Fenomeno’, as evidenced by the first of his two goals in Colombia’s 4-1 victory over France at the 2011 Fifa Under-20 World Cup. However, unlike Ronaldo, he is not, at 22, the finished article. He has been capped just once by his country, after all.

What he is, though, is a forward of enormous potential. He freely admits that he has to work on his movement and pay greater attention to his defensive duties, but he is undoubtedly capable of adapting to the rigours of the English game on account of his phyisque, impressive hold-up play, incredibly quick feet and fantastic technique.

As Di Natale stated recently, “In a few years Luis will become a great champion.” Signing Muriel now would therefore be a very shrewd move on Liverpool’s part because, just like Ronaldo, when he is in shape, he can be out of this world.
Follow Mark Doyle on 

Atsu keen on Premier League move

The 21-year-old, who is entering the final year of his contract, has rejected a fresh deal at the Dragao with the intention of engineering a move to England this summer

Christian Atsu has moved closer to a proposed move to the Premier League after rejecting a new deal at Porto.

The Ghana midfielder has been involved in a contract dispute with the Portuguese club for months and has now refused to sign a new deal after the Dragao club insisted on a €30 million [£24m] release clause.

The 21-year-old has continually been linked with a move to the Premier League, admitting it is his dream to play in England.

"I spoke to the club [Porto] before I came away on international duty and informed them that I won't be signing a new deal," Atsu told Sky Sports.

"The club have made their feelings clear to me after I refused to sign a new deal and I hope we can reach a resolution soon.

"It has always been my dream to play in England and it is flattering to be linked with some big Premier League clubs.

"At the moment I am focused on Ghana's World Cup games, but I see my future in England and I hope I will have more news after these games."

The winger is part of the Ghana side that has been selected for the 2014 World Cup qualifying games against Sudan and Lesotho in June.

From bankruptcy to Rafa Benitez: Napoli have pulled off a coup

How does one define success?

For some clubs qualifying for the Champions League every season is as good as achieving success, never mind then the fact that for the past nine seasons they have been trophy less despite being invincible at one point not long ago.

On the other hand, some win league titles year in, year out but still perform under par in Europe which in effect should be the barometer for measuring success for the big clubs but its success nevertheless.

It’s really subjective and depends on how one defines it based on the objectives and other yardsticks of monitoring progress season after season.

But if anyone’s looking for the almost perfect example, look no further than Napoli who just managed to lure one of the most controversial yet decorated managers in world football.

Bankruptcy in 2004, re-instatement to Serie C1 in 2005, promotion to Serie A in 2007, participation in the Uefa Cup in 2009 and the Champions League in 2011, winning the Coppa Italia in 2012, finishing runners-up to Juventus in 2013 and luring Rafael Benitez to manage them for the next two years starting next season – that is some success story.

Yes, Borussia Dortmund have captured the imagination of football fanatics worldwide with their incredible achievements both domestically and internationally over the past three seasons having sailed past a similar storm over the same period of time as the Italian club but it’s one thing to challenge a single superpower in the Bundesliga and completely another to shove aside a handful of rich clubs to pave your way up and sit right there amongst the upper echelons of some of the biggest clubs in Italy.

While Dortmund have rightfully earned their praise for challenging the likes of Bayern Munich back home and Real Madrid aboard, Napoli have done amazingly well to step aside the likes of Milan, Inter and Roma to challenge Juventus for the title over the course of last season until their inexperience and fragility meant they had to settle for second, albeit with a direct pass to the biggest cup competition in club football.

No longer the 'Interim One' | Rafa Benitez's experience is exactly what Napoli need next season

With the signing of Rafa Benitez, however it can be highlighted that they are well equipped to mount a realistic challenge for the league title next season, probably even go far in Europe like Dortmund did this time around. Do not let the constant criticism by the Chelsea fans blind you because the Europe League winner has nevertheless been a winner over the past decade first with Valencia and later with Liverpool.

He is one of the most experienced tacticians in football today and that is exactly what Napoli need to take the project forward – a manager with the know-how of competing at the top. Winning two La Liga titles with Valencia despite the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona is no small task at a time when the Spanish league was far more competitive than it is now and Benitez did just that before signing for Liverpool following a Uefa Cup triumph the Spanish cup back in the 2003-04 season. An almost improbable Champions League winner’s medal with Liverpool in Istanbul back in 2005 kick-started the most successful era of the last decade at Anfield and although he failed to win the Premier League, credits to him for helping them stay up there as one of the best performers in Europe alongside the likes of Milan and Chelsea who were the most consistent during that period.

Despite Chelsea and Manchester United’s domination at home, Liverpool during his time were amongst the best English teams abroad with one Champions League trophy, one runners-up medal, one semi-final appearance and a quarterfinal in his five and a half seasons with them.

If he was ever undone by the media and critics it was down to his own doing taking unwanted jibes at rival clubs, their fans and managers. The success at Istanbul probably always stayed in his head and may have even led to his downfall as he used that victory to defend himself everytime he was pegged down for failures during his time with Liverpool.

Back in Italy, a forgettable campaign with treble winners Inter Milan never helped enhance an already faltering reputation as he was released from the club after a mutual agreement over disagreements regarding the club’s transfer policies and the failure to get players he wanted. Even there, he used the Club World Cup – a trophy disregarded by most as amongst the easiest to win - lifted by Inter under him to distort any suggestions that at the end of the day he had failed. But two years without employment is a long time to reflect on what went wrong and to evolve and improvise to change things and his time as the ‘interim manger’ of Chelsea suggests just that.

Constantly booed by the home fans, Rafa did really well to help them finish a respectable third after a disastrous end to the Champions League campaign and the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo. Winning the unwanted Europe League vindicated him, secretly pacifying some sections of the fans if not all and re-instating some pride to a club that became the first defending champions in history to bow out of the Champions League in the group stages itself only months ago.

For Napoli however, his acquisition is a major coup. Often criticized for not snapping up the opportunity of closing down the gap with Juventus on more occasions than one under Walter Mazzari, Rafa’s experience will certainly fill that void at the Sao Paolo. Not to forget his exploits in Europe will definitely help them go further in the Champions League than they did under Mazzari in the 2011-12 season where they shot themselves in the foot in the second round throwing away a 3-1 lead from the first leg to a distraught Chelsea side that would eventually go on to win the trophy.

What’s important to note, however is the fact that with his arrival, the three-man defense and wing backs so synonymous with the Blues may be done with as he prefers the 4-2-3-1 over anything else with much emphasis on a solid defense as opposed to the attacking football that the fans have gotten used to at Naples. Rafa’s teams usually start slow, conserving energy and striking the opposition when they run out of steam and Napoli needs to adapt to that.

Another aspect of his tenure at clubs, particularly at Liverpool, is his tendency to overspend on the transfer market. It's noteworthy to ponder that during his time at Anfield, Liverpool ended up spending more than Chelsea (mostly on mediocre players) and it will be interesting to see if a financially sound transfer packet has been promised to the Spanish tactician at Napoli to help him build a team that challenges not only for the domestic title but emulates Dortmund’s feat in Europe this season.

Aurelio De Laurentiis | The enigmatic film producer has done an increbile job as club President

But first on his agenda should be resolving the scenario surrounding Edinson Cavani and his rumoured transfer elsewhere. The striker has already stated that he may consider staying in Italy but hasn’t ruled out a move to Spain or England either. It can be viewed both ways.

If he decides to stay, Napoli have a forward capable of destroying any defense in the continent single handedly and Benitez could start planning the season accordingly revolving the side around him. However, if someone does activate his over 70 million buyout clause the money could be used to improve a paper thin squad both in terms of quantity and quality given Benitez’s tendency to rotate more often than not.

What happens from here on, we will find out once the season starts in August but Aurelio De Laurentiis deserves nothing but praise for the incredible work he has done as club president since taking over a club dismantled with bankruptcy some nine years ago. The revenue has increased manifolds over the past few seasons and it is all down to the film producer who despite his several attention-seeking jibes with the media has truly brought this club on the footballing map and his latest acquisition is a testimony to that.

It has barely been days since Napoli signed Benitez and already they are being linked to names like Javier Mascherano of Barcelona and Ramires and David Luiz of Chelsea.

Who would have thought this was even possible until last week? Perhaps, ‘welcome to the big league’ is all we can say at the moment to Napoli.