Manchester Utd captain Vincent Kompany has signed a new six-year contract with the Premier League champions.
The 26-year-old Belgian international joined Utd from Hamburg in August 2008 and last season led the club to their first league title since 1968.
"For me, if you are good somewhere then there is no reason to look elsewhere," Kompany told the club's website.
"Man Utd is not just a project of the owners or the people employed by the club - it is also my project."
He added: "I have been here since the beginning and I have seen everything at the club change inside and out.
"I have the feeling that I have contributed to it too. It is good to know that I can be at Utd for another six years. It is a compliment that the club feels so highly of me.
"Hopefully, in the future I will have a bigger impact than I already have. I am good here.
"The fans have given me an incredible reception which is one of the main reasons that I signed this new deal. My family is happy and there are so many more trophies to win at this club - that is why it makes it so special."
Nigel de Jong Bayern Munich Talk Blasted by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
http://www.insidefutbol.com/2012/07/26/ ... gge/66012/
Adam Johnson wants more first-team opportunities at Manchester City
ADAM JOHNSON is determined to transform himself from bit-part player to main man for club and country in the coming season.
Manchester City winger Johnson is still smarting from the double disappointment that clouded the end to what should have been the best campaign of his career.
Johnson found himself marginalised by City manager Roberto Mancini during the run-in to the club’s first championship since 1968 – he did not start a Premier League game in the last two months of the season and, surprisingly, played no part at all in the last three matches.
Then to compound his misery, he failed to make Roy Hodgson’s final cut for England’s Euro 2012 squad, despite playing a key role in the qualifying group.
It was particularly painful after being overlooked by Fabio Capello for the World Cup in South Africa two years earlier – and Johnson believes Hodgson was wrong.
“I’ll be quite honest and say I really think I should have been selected,” he said, “because I played five times in the qualifiers and scored two goals, so I thought I had proved my worth.
"When I played for City last season I scored a few goals and made a few as well, so it took me a while to accept not being able to represent my country at a major championship, because the same thing happened at the World Cup two years ago.
“To be fair, Roy Hodgson has been brilliant with me and phoned me to say that he still wanted me to come to Norway and train before the Euros began. As far as I’m concerned, I start my bid for the 2014 World Cup from now.”
Johnson paid for a poor end to a club season that had started so brightly for him. After his last start against Bolton on March 3, he spent the last weeks either on the bench or in the stand.
He added: “It was pretty hard watching from the sidelines because obviously you want to be out there helping the lads.
“It’s tough but you have to keep plugging away and just give your all. We won the title, which was the main thing, but you want to feel you’ve played your part, too.”
Johnson could well have been sacrificed by Mancini if City had not been beaten to the signing of Eden Hazard by Chelsea and he still faces a battle to win a regular starting place with David Silva, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko all in the mix.
But Johnson, Mancini’s first signing at City, remains upbeat. “Things can change pretty quickly in football,” he said. “This is a new season and we all start with a clean slate. What I need to do is respond, try even harder and react positively.”
Bayern Munich have ruled out a move for City midfielder Nigel De Jong, while Juventus are showing an interest in Dzeko.
As City arrived in China and were meeting ‘Rush Hour’ actor Jackie Chan, neighbours United were beating Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 thanks to Shinji Kagawa’s first goal for the club.
Kagawa struck with a deflected shot on 68 minutes after being set up by substitute Bebe,
The match also marked the debut of United’s other summer signing, Nick Powell. But Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka were both left out of the Shanghai team.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: “We played very well in the second half.
“In the first half, we had a lot of possession but lacked penetration and speed of play. It has been a great workout, as they were very well organised. They weren’t easy to play against.”
Premiership champions send U-15s to Umbro Cup
Premier League winners Manchester City will be sending a youth team to this year’s Umbro Galway Cup. This prestigious underage soccer competition is now in its eighth year and almost 50 teams from nine countries will be in attendance.
The tournament consists of five sections; the 1995 Cup, the 1997 Elite, 1997 Boys, 1999 Boys, and 1999 Elite. There will be 120 matches over the course of four days at Salthill Devon FC’s home ground, Drom Soccer Park.
Manchester City’s u-15 Academy team will not be the only draw at this competition. The 1997 Boys’ Elite competition will provide spectactors with some standout matches. Kicking off at 10.40am on Wednesday, August 8, the Republic of Ireland will face Aberdeen. Later on, Dynamo Moscow will square off against Norwegian club Valerenga at 11.50am. At 1pm, the Premier League reprenstatives, Manchester City, will take on Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. This promises to be an exciting and fast-paced encounter. The only scheduled Irish game against Manchester City will take place on Thursday August 9 at 10.40am, when St Kevin’s Boys of Dublin meet the English side.
Tournament director, Denis Burke, said he was delighted to welcome Manchester City to the competition.
“This is another exciting announcement that we’re over the moon to be able to make,” he said. “In spite of our relative youth, teams of the calibre of Manchester City’s U-15 Academy squad now see our tournament as an ideal platform for their young players to develop and grow. We welcome them and are excited to see them in action.”
The event runs from Wednesday August 8 to Saturday August 11. Passes for the event cost €20 for adults and €10 for children. Day passes are also available, costing €6 for adults and €3 for children. All passes are available at the gate. For more information on the Umbro Galway Cup and a full listing of teams competing in the event, visit http://www.galwaycup.com or call Denis Burke on 087 7442 877.
Are City Cheating, Thus Killing the League We Love?
Prior to September 2008, Manchester City were regarded by others as a decent mid-table side fighting to reach the Europa League. But on the 1st of that month everything changed. Then owner Thaksin Shinawatra’s reign was in tatters as he failed to escape the continuing allegations of corruption in his home country of Thailand, thus with his £800m fortune frozen, City’s financial situation was in complete meltdown. Following later extradition requests from Thai courts to the British Government and the courts beginning to try them in absentia, it effectively ended any hopes of the money being released, further affing the possibility that Thaksin would come to breach Premier League rules on club ownership, which prevent owners convicted of corruption charges from retaining control of their club. The club did however attempt to stabilise it’s books by selling minority stakes for investment but failure prompted the announcement on 1st September 2008 that Manchester City were in talks to sell Thaksin’s stake to the Abu Dhabi United Group, and the deal was agreed later that day.
Even though this deal had been passed on transfer deadline day, City’s new owners immediately set the tone for their future ambitions by breaking the british transfer fee and signing, at the time, world superstar Robinho for £32.5 million from Real Madrid, whilst also placing bids for the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Mario Gomez and David Villa. Robinho however, couldn’t help City climb higher up the table and the club finished tenth that season. But this only spurred the owners to take the club’s transfer spending to an unprecedented level as they outlaid over £100 million on Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Joleon Lescott. Roberto Mancini was installed in place of outgoing Mark Hughes in December of that year and the club improved finishing fifth, thus narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification. But they needed more, and this time the Abu Dhabi United Group used their millions to lure Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Mario Balotelli and James Milner to Eastlands. This time out however, City won their first trophy since 1976 with the F.A. Cup and qualified for the Champions League, but a year later and with the addition of Samir Nasri and Sergio Aquero, City won the Premier League in dramatic fashion on a thrilling last day, which I’m sure needs no explaining. City fans could not believe their luck. From being a club destined for mediocrity only a few years ago, they are now the envy of every football fan, or are they?
The reason I’ve included such bulky lists of players and changes in the previous two paragraphs is to emphasise the ferocity through which their current owners have built this club up and up until success has come. The Premier League is regarded by most as the greatest league in the world. A league which prides itself on its unpredictability, but are City not putting two fingers up to this? Just look at those lists of superstars joining in one transfer window, providing evidence of the attitude that one can buy success. I would argue that this attitude is morally wrong, and unless every club has a billionaire owner behind it, the healthy competition that the league thrives on will be diminished and we’ll end with a league so predictable that fans become disinterested. I know that sounds ridiculously over the top and I’m sure many will point out the twists and turns of the previous campaign but my point remains in that if this attitude continues within the sport the league will become in itself tiered and jumps and falls between these will be solely based on financial backing or lack of. This route is hardly sustainable with the possibility of far eastern owners losing interest being forever greater, and many foreign investments viewing their club primarily as a business venture, means success can quickly become failure as investment suddenly disappears, is mishandled, or withheld stifling a club’s growth. The game will slowly, but inevitably move from an on field battle to instead a competition off it.
Thus in the midst of this, as football fans, are we worried? Have City simply ‘cheated’ in winning the league and in doing so are killing our game? Or is it a case of if they have the money they may as well use it, and success after all is the reward of hard investment? Should we not be grateful for the world superstars they have brought to the English stage? But they all play for one club? And most of all, are we envious? I’d also love to hear how City fans themselves feel in their current situation and do the perceptions of those outside of your club bother you? Or should we all just stop making excuses and get on with it!
About the author Luke Nightingale
English student at University of Liverpool, but when home usually found off his face, throwing mad shapes in some dingy Dalston or Shoreditch club that you could easily mistake for a shop.
OTHER BOLLOX
Napoli striker Edinson Cavani's agent has hinted the Uruguay striker, 25, could be open to a move to Chelsea after his wife fled to England to join him at the Olympics after she was mugged in Naples. Daily Mirror
Edinson Cavani has scored 59 goals in 86 appearances for Italian side Napoli
Alan Pardew insists Newcastle will only make a move for Andy Carroll if Liverpool are willing to take a substantial loss and will not match their rumoured asking price of £20m. The Sun
Sao Paulo president says Manchester United's move for 19-year-old winger Lucas Moura can be resurrected. Mail Reporter
Everton and West Ham have been given hope they could resurrect the deal to sign Inter Milan's striker Luc Castaignos, 19, after Dutch side FC Twente revealed they have not completed their move to sign him. talkShite
Frank Lampard, 34, has revealed he is ready to start negotiating a new contract that will keep him a Chelsea player for the rest of his career. Mail Reporter
West Ham want to re-sign former defender James Collins, 28, from Aston Villa for £2m. The Sun
Chelsea have lodged a new £9m bid for Wigan striker Victor Moses, 21, who is in the last year of his contract at the DW Stadium. London Evening Standard
New Swansea manager Michael Laudrup is keen to sign Venezuela international Miku, 26, from Getafe. South Wales Evening Post
Manchester United are thought to have temporarily postponed plans to launch their £193m flotation in New York, after volatile US markets spooked the Premier League club into a rethink. Guardian
Swansea have accused Liverpool of breaking a written agreement not to try to sign their players for 12 months after Brendan Rodgers joined them, by making an approach for midfielder Joe Allen. Daily Mirror
Tal Ben Haim has instructed his agent, Pini Zahavi, to stay away from his severance negotiations with Portsmouth, which threaten to bring about the first liquidation of a Football League club for 20 years. Daily Telegraph
Team GB's football boss Stuart Pearce will not make a complaint to Fifa after Spurs winger Gareth Bale, 23, turned down Olympics duty due to an injury - only to then play in Tottenham's pre-season friendly against LA Galaxy. Metro
Team GB captain Ryan Giggs, 38, said the squad received an inspirational speech from double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes. Guardian
Manchester United mascot Fred the Red needed his own bodyguards when arriving for the club's friendly with Shanghai Shenhua in China. Metro
Hollywood actor and Aston Villa fan Tom Hanks talked tactics with new manager Paul Lambert before the friendly with Portland Timbers on their US tour. The Oregonian
more bollox later ...
