La Liga

Monday, July 12, 2010

PL 'must invest' to develop youth

Jose Luis Astiazaran, the head of La Liga in Spain, has accused the English Premier League of relying too much on foreign talent.

In the wake of England's woeful campaign at the World Cup, accusations have been levelled from all corners about their failure to blood young home-grown players through the Academies from grass-roots level.

Instead, many clubs are now bringing in youngsters from abroad, as well as a host of overseas players now making up the majority of starting line-ups in the English top flight.

The Premier League has only a figure of around just 40 per cent of English representation in the division, a number that is almost half of what the Spanish equivalent contains.

With the Spaniards now in the World Cup final, and with Barcelona and Real Madrid accounting for 10 of the 11 players who started in their 1-0 semi-final win over Germany on Wednesday, Astiarazan made it clear that the English system needs an overhaul.

"In La Liga there are 77.1% Spanish players, 16.7% European and 6.7% non-European," Astiazaran told the Guardian.

"Our strategy is to work very hard with young home-grown players and to try to have a mix between them and experienced players.

"Why is it not a high number of foreign players in La Liga? Because we invest more and more in young Spanish players than in young foreign players.

"England has many times taken young players from outside who are 14, 16 years old. These kind of players are not English. This is one of the most important differences between Spain and England. We invest in young Spanish players.

"In Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United there are a lot of young Spanish, French and Italian players - maybe this is why at the moment you are not creating young English players."

Jennings criticism

The current system for developing talent has also been criticised by former boss of youth development Huw Jennings, who is now Academy director at Fulham.

Jennings claimed that there needed to be a sole, independent regulator of player growth, with the Premier League, the Football League and the Football Association all currently in control of affairs.

"In football regulation, three is a crowd," Jennings told the Daily Telegraph.

"We need to take youth development away from the three organisations. Of course the FA and the Premier League should be represented, but if you appoint separate governance you have a better chance of making progress.

"At the moment we haven't got the concerted campaign and joined up thinking to make the radical change that is needed.

"Let's get rid of the difficulties, differences and politics and have one single body for the governance of youth development with the power to license and reward."

Hammers lead Barrera chase

West Ham have emerged as favourites to land Mexico winger Pablo Barrera, with Everton also in for the Pumas ace.

Spanish side Espanyol had been leading the chase for Barrera, who impressed at this summer's World Cup finals, and opened talks with his club UNAM Pumas last month.

But there is now strong interest emanating from Britain with West Ham, Everton and Celtic all reported to be keen, along with Italian side Lazio.

Pumas have now confirmed that they are considering three offers - from West Ham, Everton and Espanyol - with one bid standing out.

Reports in Mexico claim that the best offer is from the Upton Park club and they are now in pole position to claim his signature.

"We don't want to be making announcements when it's not the correct moment. When everything is OK we will make an announcement," said Pumas director of sport Mario Trejo.

Announcement

"It's very possible that between Thursday and Friday we will have something more serious to say.

"If there is an important announcement to be made, the president will be in charge of letting everyone know.

"I must admit that after analysing the offers of Espanyol, West Ham and Everton, there is one that has convinced us more than the rest.

"We can't talk too much about it because then everything gets complicated and as we are very near to reaching an agreement we don't want to spoil the negotiations."

West Ham have also been linked with Barrera's team-mate Efrain Juarez, but Trejo says they are yet to receive a bid for him.

"Juarez? Nothing, nothing official or written, not yet," he added.

Di Maria clinches Real deal

Angel Di Maria has finalised his move to Real Madrid on a six-year deal after coming through a medical with the Spanish giants.

Madrid reached a 25million euros agreement with Benfica to sign the Argentina international at the end of June but could not complete the transfer until after the World Cup.

Following the South American side's exit at the quarter-final stage at the hands of Germany, the 22-year-old has now put pen to paper at Santiago Bernabeu.

"The player is in perfect condition to make himself available to Jose Mourinho," said Madrid medical chief Carlos Diez. "He is a very lean and complete player.

"We proceeded, as always, to carry out the medical according to protocol. We performed all kinds of studies including X-rays, a bone density exam, a cardiorespiratory exam and a complete blood analysis.

Great sign

"The results show that he is in perfect health and readily available for the coach. Every exam came back normal, which is a great sign.

"He now needs some time to rest having played in the World Cup and at a later date he will join the team for pre-season training."

Di Maria joined Benfica from Argentinian side Rosario Central in 2007 and helped the Lisbon-based side to a Portuguese league and cup double last season.

He won the World Under-20 Championship with Argentina in 2007 and the following year scored the extra-time winner against Holland in the final of the Olympic Games.

Di Maria will add to the wealth of attacking talent at Madrid, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Argentina team-mate Gonzalo Higuain as the Spanish giants look to reclaim the title from Barcelona and make an impact in the UEFA Champions League.

Barca pipped their rivals to the Primera Division crown by three points last season, while Madrid were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Lyon.

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Friday, July 9, 2010

McCarthy coy on Pennant

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy insists he has not been offered Jermaine Pennant, but has refused to rule out a deal for the former Liverpool man.

Reports have suggested Real Zaragoza are keen to offload Pennant and have been offering the 27-year-old to several Premier League clubs.

Pennant has struggled to establish himself at Zaragoza and he has been linked with moves to Wolves, Stoke and Wigan.

McCarthy revealed he had not spoken to anyone regards Pennant, but he refused to confirm if he was interested in the former Arsenal and Birmingham wide man.

"It's an interesting one, but I haven't been offered him or spoken to anyone about him," McCarthy told the Express & Star .

"That doesn't mean to say I'm not interested in him."

McCarthy did reject speculation linking the Molineux outfit with a move for Chateauroux midfielder Kevin Constant.

"I haven't been in touch with anyone about him," added McCarthy.

Cottagers eye Miguel

Fulham are thought to be in negotiations to sign Portuguese defender Miguel from Valencia.

Financial problems which have seen the exit of David Villa and David Silva from the Spanish outfit means the wing-back is also available.

The Londoners are believed to want to sign the 30-year-old on a four-year deal for a fee in the region of 2million euros (Ј1.66m).

While Miguel has received offers from Russia and Ukraine, it is thought Fulham is the preferred choice for the defender, who has previously stated that his style of play would suit the English top-fight.

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Barca won't pay £50m for Cesc

New Barcelona president Sandro Rosell says the club will not be held to ransom to buy Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.

The Catalan club have made no secret of their desire to buy the Gunners captain and have already had a €35million (Ј30m) bid turned down by manager Arsene Wenger.

But the Spaniards have maintained their interest in the midfielder and are keen to recruit the 23-year-old as their second signing of the summer.

Barca have brought in David Villa from Valencia and are looking to bring Fabregas back to Camp Nou following his departure as a 16-year-old to the Londoners.

Over the odds

However, Rosell said he would not submit to an inflated demand for the player's services.

"We will never pay €50 or 60 million (around Ј50m) for Cesc," Rosell told radio station RAC1 . "The whole world knows he wants to come and that we want to sign him."

Barca's long-held desire to buy Fabregas has been well-documented and Wenger is no rush to allow his prize asset to head out of the Emirates Stadium exit.

The La Liga champions are said to be willing to offer €40million for Fabregas and Rosell admitted the high-profile pursuit has added to the price slapped on his head.

He added: "It's a topic that has become so public and that's the worst thing you can do with a transfer, because it makes the selling club raise their expectations and you end up paying over the odds."

Negotiations came to a pause following Arsenal's rejection of the first bid and no further talks have been possible as Wenger is commentating on the World Cup finals in South Africa for French television.

Assurance

And Rosell said: "I can assure you I will try and talk with him in South Africa."

While manager Pepe Guardiola could see Fabregas come into play central midfield for his team one player who has vacated the berth is Yaya Toure.

The Ivory Coast man has joined Manchester City to link up with defender and brother Kolo at Eastlands and Rosell revealed he would have liked the ball-winner to have remained with his side.

"We don't know if it was his agent or his brother (Kolo) who pressure him to leave for City, but we tried (to get him to stay)," said Rosell.

"(But) when a player is not 150% sure he wants to be at a club, it is better for everyone if they move on."

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Thursday, July 8, 2010

Real confirm Jo interest

Real Sociedad have confirmed their interest in taking Jo on loan from Manchester City.

The Basque club have been linked with a move for the striker, who City are seemingly keen to offload having loaned him out for the last two seasons to Everton and Galatasaray respectively.

He has reportedly already been offered to Valencia this summer as well as Sociedad, who are keen to take him.

Their president Jokin Aperribay wants to land the tall forward but concedes it is not a straightforward deal.

"It is very, very difficult," Aperribay said.

"He is a great player, but he belongs to Manchester City and we have talked by fax.

"In other words, it is much less than what has been said in the press."

Reports have also suggested that as part of a possible deal, City have asked for first option on Sociedad's highly-rated French youth international winger Antoine Griezmann.