Carlos Tevez set to stay at Manchester City after Juventus
Carlos Tevez has rejected the chance of a lucrative transfer to Juventus - the biggest indication yet that he will stay at Manchester City.
An approach from the Italian club, who were in Manchester for Gary Neville’s testimonial, was made to Tevez’s representatives, who declined the offer. Sportsmail understands the offer was worth a staggering £20million a year to Tevez plus bonuses.
Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta said: ‘We’ve built a solid base, now we’re going to put some big players in the team to return as a great club in Europe. All the players we’ve talked to would be glad to join Juventus. It means the club didn’t lose its appeal.’
It seems, however, that, while Tevez respects the rebuilding programme under way in Turin, he has refused to consider the option of Juventus, who have a history of taking players from England. Liam Brady, David Platt, Ian Rush and John Charles have all played for them.
Tevez now appears likely to stay at City and captain their Champions League challenge next season. That will thrill manager Roberto Mancini, who has flown to Abu Dhabi for talks about a transfer budget with owner Sheik Mansour. The close relationship between Tevez and his adviser Kia Joorabchian with the sheik is the key to keeping him.
Tevez has returned to South America to be with his family and is said to be discussing options with his estranged partner relating to access to his two daughters.
Juventus are flexing their muscles in the transfer market again and have around £100m to spend. Sportsmail understands they were prepared to put half of that into signing Tevez. Their next target is Sergio Aguero, of Atletico Madrid.
Andrea Agnelli, 35, is the new power behind Juventus and has declared his wish to restore them to former glories. Juventus finished seventh in Serie A, 24 points behind winners AC Milan.
Agnelli, who has personally overseen the approach for Tevez, saw the Argentine as the first step in the right direction. Tevez was joint top scorer in the Premier League this season with 20 goals as City finished third.
Maradona praises Man City ace Tevez for succeeding in league of ORANGUTANS!
Argentine legend Diego Maradona has praised Manchester City skipper Carlos Tevez for starring in England's League of "orangutans".
Tevez has been frozen out of the Argentina squad by coach Sergio Batista.
Maradona, speaking in a radio interview Wednesday, said Tevez was still being punished for skipping a friendly against Brazil in November at Qatar .
Maradona called Tevez, who plays for Manchester City, "the people's player'' and said he had managed to be a top scorer in England despite "playing against those orangutans'' in the physical English Premier League.
Toure accepts his punishment
Manchester City defender Kolo Toure is "relieved" at being handed a six-month ban after testing positive for a specified substance earlier this season.
Toure will be available for his club in September as the ban was backdated to March 2. Toure is also to be target-tested for a period of two years from Thursday, May 26, following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing convened at Wembley by the Football Association.
He told his club's official website http://www.mcfc.co.uk: "This has been a difficult period for me. I am sad to have missed the team's triumph of securing Champions League football and also the FA Cup victory at Wembley. But I am relieved I will be able to return to football in September and thank the FA's commission for their understanding about my case in coming to their decision. "
Toure admitted the offence - his first - contrary to Regulation 3 of the FA Doping Regulations 210-11. But the panel took into consideration the circumstances behind his use of water tablets belonging to his wife.
Headed up by Christopher Quinlan QC, the commission were satisfied Toure did not intend to enhance sporting performance or to mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance.
Toure could have been suspended for two years but one member of the panel, in fact, felt he should not have been banned for longer than three months.
Quinlan said: "The criterion in assessing any reduction in what would otherwise be the minimum penalty of two years' suspension is the player's degree of fault. The player accepted he was at fault and with that concession we agree.
"He was at fault in the limited and perfunctory efforts he made in relation to the water tablets; the checks he made in relation to those tablets were inadequate and fell some way below what it would be reasonable to expect of a professional footballer in these circumstances.
"In fixing the appropriate period of suspension we had regard to all the relevant matters we have read and heard during the course of the hearing.
"The period of suspension suggested by Mr Lewis QC was one not in excess of three months. With respect, we disagree. In our judgment, the appropriate period of suspension is one of six months commencing on March 2 2011."
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Chelsea's former director of football Frank Arnesen, now director of sport at Hamburg, has targeted Chelsea teenager Josh McEachran, causing fury at Stamford Bridge. Daily Express
Liverpool are poised to make a bid for Birmingham centre-back Scott Dann, who is a lifelong fan of the Anfield club, after his side's relegation to the Championship. Metro
Sunderland are after Birmingham's other first choice centre-back, Roger Johnson, who could be available for £4m. (Mirror)
The plunder of the relegated Blues might not stop there, with Blackburn wanting to sign midfielder Seb Larsson from St Andrews for £500,000. The Sun
Inter Milan hope to land Arsenal full-back Gael Clichy, who is out of contract next summer. The Sun
Aston Villa are preparing a £3.5m bid for Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Lee Camp. Manager Gerard Houllier sees Camp as a replacement for Brad Friedel, who is leaving the club this summer. (Mirror)
Villa have joined Tottenham and Liverpool in the fight to sign £10-rated West Ham midfielder Scott Parker. The Sun
Arsenal boss Arsenal Wenger will offer £10m for giant Blackburn defender Christopher Samba this summer. Wenger is willing to spend big money before next season and signing a dominant centre-half is one of his top priorities. (Daily Star)
Salomon Kalou will wait to see who takes over as Chelsea manager before deciding whether to stay, with Arsenal ready to make a move if the forward chooses to leave Stamford Bridge. Metro
QPR are planning a double swoop for Bolo Zenden, out of contract at Sunderland, and Lyon's John Mensah - whose loan at the Stadium of Light has ended. Daily Mail
Arsenal will battle it out with Liverpool for the signature of £15m Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing this summer. (Daily Star)
The Gunners are pushing Samir Nasri to make a quick decision on his future after Downing revealed he is open to leaving Aston Villa. Daily Mail
Sir Alex Ferguson has settled on his line-up for Wembley, with Fabio da Silva expected to start at right-back and Michael Carrick holding off a late challenge from Darren Fletcher in midfield. Daily Telegraph
United have been working on two formations for the final. They will start 4-4-2 and go to 3-4-3 if they fall behind, with Antonio Valencia pushing up alongside Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney in attack. Nani has been playing the "Messi role" in training, while Michael Owen has been playing in the style of David Villa. Daily Telegraph
Rio Ferdinand has been studying footage of Lionel Messi on his iPad as he looks to find a way to contain the Barcelona maestro. (Times)
Jack Wilshere has told Manchester United that the key to beating Barcelona is to "get in their faces". Wilshere was instrumental when Arsenal beat Barca in the first leg of their last 16 match. The Sun
Barcelona's players will earn an extra £650,000 each if they win the Champions League final. The Sun
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is sure his old adversary Ferguson has a trick up his sleeve for the final. The Sun
Sam Allardyce is ready to take the West Ham manager's job - if he gets total control of transfers and can bring in his own backroom team. (Mirror)
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is now the bookmakers' favourite to be the next Chelsea manager. The odds on Redknapp tumbled following a spate of big bets on him. The Sun
Rafael and Fabio da Silva's mum forced them to reject Arsenal before they joined Manchester United as she was "adamant" that they should not sign for the London club. Metro
Barcelona pair Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol took a photo of Cesc Fabregas off the wall at Arsenal's training ground - then posted a picture of themselves gawking at it, on Twitter. Metro
