Michael Owen Will Sign For Manchester United Pending A Medical - Report

The crocked striker's career could be back on track if a shock move to Old Trafford goes through...

Michael Owen has been heavily linked with a shock move to Manchester United according to The Guardian.

It is said that the injury prone striker has had his services called upon to provide goals for the Red Devils in the wake of the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez - all pending a medical at Old Trafford.

Reports say that Owen is currently holding talks with the Premier League champions as both parties move to complete one of the most unexpected transfers in English football history.

The 29-year-old's glittering career looked to be all but over as previous transfer speculation had linked him to teams in the lower half of the league, but the former England international's luck seems to have changed.

The transfer is likely to spark much controversy amongst United fans, however, a footballing figurehead such as Sir Alex Ferguson is sure to be unfazed as he looks to rebuild his attacking force.

Stephen Crawford, Goal.com

Messi Maradona Imitation

Messi embarrases Getafe as he mazes through them like Maradona and scores. He really is quite a special player and so young.



In 1987, a year and two days after Argentina's Diego Maradona scored what would later be voted as the best goal in World Cup history, Lionel Messi was born. The Barcelona striker and fellow Argentine has been named by Maradona as his successor, and on Wednesday, two months shy of his 20th birthday, Mr. Messi paid homage. His goal for Barcelona in the semifinals of the Spanish Cup against Getafe was an astonishing bit of mimicry, hewing closely to the lofty standard set by Maradona as he scored the quarterfinal's clincher en route to a World Cup triumph.

"The two players, both left-footed, short, stocky and deceptively quick, traced virtually the same course across two of the world's most emblematic football fields -- Maradona at Mexico City's Aztec Stadium, Messi at Barcelona's Nou Camp," Sid Lowe writes in the Daily Telegraph. After pausing to note that, yes, the Spanish Cup is a far cry from the World Cup, Mr. Lowe adds, "Both men ran for just over 10 seconds, Maradona covering 62 metres, Messi 60, both touched the ball 13 times and beat six rivals, dashing past five of them and shooting home past the sixth."

The Times of London remarks, "Twenty-one years on, the similarity of the scintillating slalom, the replica brilliance and balance, was remarkable."

No wonder all four of Spain's major sports daily newspapers (too bad the U.S. no longer has one of these) headlined the feat, "Messi scores Maradona's goal."

The Daily Telegraph asks fans to comment on which goal was better. Not surprisingly, several commenters on the British newspaper's online forum say neither can top a memorable 1999 goal by Ryan Giggs for Manchester United. Read more...

Top Soccer Players Weekly Salaries

Yes, these are weekly salaries believe it or not. Don't think they're getting paid enough. More to come as the summer transfers continue and new signings take place across Europe. Is there someone we are missing, please send in their salary if you have it.

Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid: $298,548
Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Inter Milan: $275,377
Kaka at Real Madrid: $275,377
John Terry at Chelsea: $273,253
Robinho at Manchester City: $265,424
Lionel Messi at Barcelona: $258,788
Frank Lampard at Chelsea: $231,588
Samuel Etoo at Barcelona: $228,279
Thierry Henry at Barcelona: $228,279
Franck Ribery at Chelsea: $207,362
Ronaldinho at AC Milan: $198,504
Rio Ferdinand at Manchester United: $198,504
Steven Gerrard at Liverpool: $198,504
Michael Ballack at Chelsea: $198,504
Andrei Shevchenko at AC Milan: $198,504
Raul Gonzalez at Real Madrid: $195,195
Ruud van Nistelrooy at Real Madrid: $195,195
Iker Casillas at Real Madrid: $181,962
Frederic Kanoute at Sevilla FC: $181,962
Wayne Rooney at Manchester United: $181,962
Michael Owen at Newcastle United: $181,962
Fabio Cannavaro at Real Madrid: $176,132 (retured to Juventus)
Francesco Totti at AS Roma: $166,256
Luca Toni at Bayern at Munich: $166,256
Arjen Robben at Real Madrid: $166,256
Ashley Cole at Chelsea FC: $166,256
Deco at Chelsea FC: $166,256
Fernando Torres at Liverpool FC: $166,256
Carlos Tevez at Manchester United: $156,379
Adriano at Inter Milan: $152,186 (not longer plays at Inter)
Patrick Vieira at Inter Milan: $152,186
Charles Puyol at Barcelona: $152,186
Andres Iniesta at Barcelona: $152,186
Xavi at Barcelona: $152,186
Sergio Aguero at Atletico Madrid: $152,186
Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus: $152,186
Willy Sagnol at Bayern Munich: $152,186
Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United: $148,149
Andrei Arshavin at Arsenal FC: $148,149
Didier Drogba at Chelsea FC: $148,149
Nicolas Anelka at Chelsea FC: $148,149
Paul Scholes at Manchester United: $148,149
Alessandro Del Piero at Juventus: $144,856
Karim Benzema at Olympique Lyon: $144,856
Frank Ribery at Bayern Munich: $144,856 (now at Chelsea)
Joe Cole at Chelsea FC: $139,918
Ryan Giggs at Manchester United: $139,918
Xabi Alonso at Liverpool FC: $139,918
Jamie Carragher at Liverpool FC: $139,918
David Beckham at AC Milan: $136,626
Juninho at Olympique Lyon: $136,626
David Trezeguet at Juventus: $136,626
Craig Bellamy at West Ham United: $132,168

Real Madrid seal £30m Benzema signing

Written by Russell Wall

During yesterday’s unveiling of Kaka, Real Madrid sporting director, Jorge Valdano, was questioned about the possibility of the Madrid club splurging for another big name this summer, after being linked with Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, amongst others.

“We do not discard the possibility that in the next few hours, something could happen,” Valdano stated to a packed press room. It looks like he wasn’t kidding.

Just a few weeks removed from the announcement of Madrid’s swoop for Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, the La Liga club is once again back in the headlines, splashing the cash and signing up another massive name for next season. That massive name is, of course, Lyon striker Karim Benzema.

Benzema, who wasn’t keen on a summer move until recently, gave his seal of approval to the transfer this afternoon in a move that’s rumoured to be worth £30m (the fee could rise to £35.2m). Lyon were adamant that the striker would only be leaving this summer if a “crazy offer” came their way. It only took Real Madrid a couple of days to come up with the funds for such an offer.

“We needed to make a quick decision and we decided to let Karim go where he wanted,” Lyon coach Claude Puel told reporters.

“It’s an important decision for him with a year to go before the World Cup,” Puel added. “We are losing a high quality player and we know how much Lyon owe him but he needed a new challenge and he is, I believe, strong enough to face it.”

The addition of another offensive threat means Real Madrid are officially the new Galáctico’s. There is still the rumour floating around that Madrid will take Ribery off the market in the coming weeks to end what would be considered the most unbelievable summer haul is football history. You could almost debate it’s the greatest in sports history even without the addition of Ribery.

The move also has implications for other clubs, most notably Manchester United, who were still chasing the striker for his signature this week. Benzema’s move now means Sir Alex Ferguson will have to look elsewhere for a young star to fill the void left by Ronaldo and Tevez.

We’re enemy No 1 for Fergie’s United, says Liverpool boss Rafa

By eplblog

Rafa Benitez has underlined Liverpool’s growing credentials, by claiming his side have eclipsed Chelsea as the main threat to Manchester United’s dominance of English football.

United may be closing in on a hat-trick of Barclays Premier League titles, but Benitez is adamant his arch-rival Sir Alex Ferguson should be casting an anxious glance towards Anfield after Liverpool’s recent emergence.

Benitez insisted that increasing harmony off the pitch and progress on it, makes his side Ferguson’s biggest concern.

Reflecting on the fact that Chelsea are once more having to search for a new manager, Benitez said: ‘There is a stability about us now and the fact that the manager is staying is another positive message. I feel it is fair to say that we are now best equipped to challenge United.

‘We are better placed than the others and I have confidence we can still pip United for the league this season.

‘Even if we just fall short, the experience of going so close is going to be fantastic for the players and staff. Next season they will be going into games determined not to drop a single point.

‘It will be a different mentality, a titlewinning one, and it will keep us up at the top. United can be sure this season was no one-off.’

England Under 21’s Should Be Proud Win Or Lose Tonight

by Paul Bestall on June 29, 2009 ·

Fresh from giving England fans palpitations after Fridays semi-final win against host nation Sweden, England’s young lions have a chance to win some silverware for the junior lions for the first time since 1993. England Under 18’s triumphed that year, riding a week long wave of growing optimism and support to beat Turkey 1-0 in front of 25,000 fans in Nottingham. Tonight’s Under-21 final pits England against its greatest rivals of the modern era, Germany, in a repeat of the final Group A game.

England of course, will be missing three players. Joe Hart has failed in an appeal to get his second booking recinded after shadow boxing one of the Swedish players in the penalty shoot out. Agbonlahor also picked up a second booking and Campbell was sent off in extra time after receiving two bookings. Normally, that would be a big blow for any side, but with Theo Walcott desperate to finally get his tournament going, and a straight choice between Scott Loach or the very highly rated Joe Lewis, Pearce has the talent to fill the gaps.

It also seems to put a bit of a mockery on the claims that English youth football is suffering due to the influx of foriegn players. Pearce has led this side to the semi finals of the last two tournaments, with players such as Mark Noble, Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Theo Walcott at his disposal. These are not just players desperately thrown in to fill gaps, these are quality players, with plenty of Premiership experience between them.

Can they win tonight? Of course they can, the reserve team drew with the German side a week ago, so they will have not given anything away to their opponents. I’ve also seen that the Germans have changed their kit to red tonight to give them a psychological advantage which oddly means they’ve completely forgotten about Englands 5-1 destruction of Germany in Munich in September 2001. That night, the Senior side tried the same trick to stop England wearing red, but ultimately it blew up in their faces.

Of course the crucial thing here is not to put too much pressure on the side and the players if they can win tonight. England Under 21’s had a golden period in the early 1980’s, winning the competition twice in a row, 1982 and 1984. Those players perhaps didn’t move onwards as much apart from Trevor Steven and Mark Hateley perhaps but Howard Gayle, Paul Walsh and Mel Sterland never really made the step up.

There’s no doubt that the England Under 21’s side have shown that their are some positives for the future of English football, despite the doomongers and pessimists that worry constantly about the lack of English players at the Big 4. Of course we’d like to see more English talent given a chance, but Manchester United have always championed English talent, Liverpool have 2 or 3 outstanding prospects coming through also.

Pearce will be looking to bring the trophy home tonight from Malmo and improve his fast rising reputation in the England set up. His passion and pride for his country can never be questioned and before the team leave the dressing rooms tonight, Pearce will instill them just what winning this tournament will mean for these players.

The Latest EPL Transfer News

With the opening of the new EPL season just around the corner here is a look at some of the latest transfer news in England.

Chelsea still trying to land Robinho
Nothing has been completed as of yet but Chelsea is still hopeful of landing the Real Madrid attacker. Supposedly, the only thing standing in the way of this move is the ability of Real Madrid to secure a replacement ofr Robinho.

Robbie Keane to Liverpool
A very controversial transfer as Tottenham accused Liverpool of doing business under the table. The deal has been done though and the Liverpool-Tottenham matches this season should be real crackers. Expect Keane to be paired with Torres up top in a frightening duo for opposing defenses.

Peter Crouch to Portsmouth
Portsmouth landed the tall Liverpool striker who was looking for more playing time. He'll get that at Portsmouth and expect a breakout year with the newfound confidence.

David Bentley to Tottenham from Blackburn
Expect this move to really bolster Tottenhams midfield, but a stronger midfield will be needed following the departure of Robbie Keane.

Adebayor to stay at Arsenal
After all the offseason speculation, it seems Emmanuel Adebayor will remain at Arsenal and sign a new deal. Both Barcelona and AC Milan were long-rumoured targets of the striker this summer.