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Six of the Best : Man City linked with £40m Midfielder?

Published by Ian John on September 15, 2010

Our weekly review of what the ‘Big Six’ in the English Premier League have been up to over the past seven days.

MANCHESTER UNITED
It hasn’t been the best week for Manchester United. Paul Scholes began it brightly enough being named player of the month for August but that was soon forgotten on Saturday after two injury times goals by Everton saw the Toffee’s snatch an unlikely 3-3 draw at Goodison Park. During the week Sir Alex revealed that he was beaten to the punch by Barcelona for striker David Villa during the summer, Wayne Rooney patched things up with Colleen and was named back in the starting line up for the Champions League game with Rangers, though he failed to inspire a much-changed and uninspiring United as they were held 0-0 at home by Rangers. Rio Ferdinand played the full 90 minutes on his return to the first team, but the game was marred by a horrific injury to Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia, who looks to be out for most, if not all, of the current season with a dislocation and fracture of the ankle.

MANCHESTER CITY
Roberto Mancini’s charges were in the news for the wrong reasons again this week. Firstly, England keeper Joe Hart, fresh from his wobbly performance against Switzerland, gifted Blackburn a goal, and eventually a point, at Eastlands at the weekend, leading to questions as to whether Shay Given would take over in goal for their UEFA Cup clash against Red Bull Salzburg. You can tell it’s been a quiet week at Eastlands as the press reckon Roberto Mancini is willing to splash out £41 million on Palermo’s Argentinean midfielder Javier Pastore (pictured in blue), while the news Carlos Tevez has got a new haircut must have sent every City fan in the country into raptures.

CHELSEA
Chelsea came back from the international week with Frank Lampard and John Terry nearing fitness and the prospect of a London derby against rivals West Ham to whet the appetite. A 3-1 victory ensued, keeping Chelsea atop of the table and the Stamford Bridge faithful will also have enjoyed Manchester United and Manchester City dropping points. Manager Carlo Ancelotti has refuted rumours linking Yuri Zhirkov with a loan move back to Spartak Moscow, insisting that the Russian is a ‘good player’ and will have the chance to play in plenty of games this season. The manager also insisted that he felt this season was the time for Chelsea to “prove themselves” in the Champions League this season, it seems Roman’s dream of lifting European soccer’s biggest trophy is now the primary focus for the Blues this year.

ARSENAL
It’s all been a bit surreal at Arsenal this week. Rapper Jay-Z apparently wants to buy into the club and start making decisions at boardroom level. I cannot wait to see the new pimped up team coach and blinged home kit. Arsenal are apparently targetting Mikel Arteta of Everton as Cesc Fabregas’ eventual replacement. The Gunners were also strongly linked with a move for Crewe Alexandra youngster Nick Powell at the weekend and on Saturday afternoon, the Gunners comprehensively thumped Bolton Wanderers 4-1 at the Emirates stadium with Fabregas once again imperious in central midfield. Arsene Wenger’s men take on Braga tonight in the Champions League in London, in what promises to be a tricky encounter against one of the surprise teams of the tournament thus far, and a team who have already eliminated Celtic and Sevilla from the competition.

TOTTENHAM:
It’s been a busy week for Tottenham fans and in particular their manager Harry Redknapp. After a disappointing 1-1 draw at the weekend with West Bromwich Albion, Spurs travelled to Germany to take on Werder Bremen in the Champions League. A 2-2 draw ensued, but not after Spurs had squandered a 2-0 first half lead. Despite that Harry was happy with the performance and got a little irate at a journalist who felt the he would “learn” from he experience. Harry’s also been touting himself as the next England manager when Fabio retires, stating that it would be ‘impossible’ to turn down the chance of managing the country. And as always, the press reckon Harry’s been making a few phone calls this week, depending on who you want to believe the Spurs boss has targetted one, two or all of Lazio’s Mauro Zarate, Newcastle’s Andy Carroll or Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi in the transfer window. Highlight of the week though is Tottenham’s new Brazilian star Sandro turning up to travel to Germany, only to be reminded by the club that he wasn’t in the 25 man Champions League squad, so he had to go back home.

LIVERPOOL:
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has spent most of this week fire-fighting. First Fernando Torres was in the sights of the soccer critics who lambasted his performance against Birmingham City at the weekend. The 0-0 draw had few positives for Liverpool fans seeking hope that Hodgson can turn the team into a genuine title contender again. Indeed the manager said as much just a few hours later when he conceded that the current Liverpool squad was nowhere near good enough to mount a serious title challenge this season. New signing Raul Meirelles however endeared himself to Liverpool fans by proclaiming them as the best fans he has ever experienced, which oddly enough is what most players say when they join a new club. Kenny Dalglish has admitted he wanted the Liverpool job when Rafa Benitez left the post in the summer and he has also backed Fernando Torres to get back to his best, hopefully against Manchester United at the weekend. That may well be his next opportunity as the Spaniard and England counterpart Steven Gerrard are set to be rested for the Europa Cup game against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.

Image Courtesy of Andy Benitez on Flickr.com

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