Jack Rodwell excited by "once-in-a-lifetime" chance with Premier League champions Manchester City
Jack Rodwell has answered concerns that his move to Manchester City could be detrimental to his development, arguing that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to join the Premier League champions.
Tough task: Jack Rodwell must compete for a starting place in Manchester City's midfield
With a £15 million deal concluded on Sunday, Rodwell will be formally presented at the Etihad Stadium on Friday and now faces the considerable challenge of competing for a starting place in a midfield that already includes Yaya Touré, Gareth Barry, James Milner and Nigel de Jong.
Rodwell clearly benefited from regular football at Everton and Roy Hodgson, the England manager, has already questioned whether his first-team opportunities will now be limited. The development of English players such as Milner, Adam Johnson and Wayne Bridge has arguably been restricted at Manchester City by the size of the squad and a lack of football.
Rodwell, though, is backing himself to make a big impact. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “I believe in my ability. No matter what squad I go to, I always feel I can add something to it. It will be an exciting place to go, playing with amazing players.”
The potential to win trophies was another big factor in Rodwell’s decision and he believes that City now have the potential to dominate English football in the same way as Manchester United over the past decade.
“It is a chance to win things,” said Rodwell. “They won the league last year and I’m sure they will look to improve on that, especially in the Champions League as well.”
Rodwell, though, does accept that he will need to improve to force his way into the team regularly but expects to be given time to settle.
“I’m going to have to be patient but I’m still young, I’ve got time on my side and that is the great thing for me,” he said. “I’m going to try and work my way into the set-up and find my feet. I believe in my ability and I’ll go there with that frame of mind.”
Having missed much of last season with a hamstring injury, Rodwell is also adamant that he is physically ready for the demands of the season. “I’ve had a lot of injuries, but I’m fit now and have this great opportunity and I’m just so proud,” he said.
Out-of-favour Johnson threatens to quit Manchester City
Adam Johnson, who has not started a league game since March, will meet Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini before deciding whether to leave.
The 25-year-old England winger, wanted on loan by Everton, said: 'You can't just go into one game after not having played for five and be expected to perform. I'm not sure if I'll get that chance at City.' SportsMail faceless made up reporter
City eye De Rossi
Sky Sports understands Manchester City are stepping up their interest in Daniele De Rossi after the midfielder's agent on Thursday flew to England for talks.
The Italy international has long been linked with a move to Etihad Stadium and his impressive performances at Euro 2012 only underlined his ability and versatility.
De Rossi on Wednesday night delivered another good display in Italy's friendly defeat by England and he could yet become more familiar with British opponents.
The Roma star's representative jetted into the United Kingdom for discussions with City and the development comes just days after the Premier League champions signed Jack Rodwell.
City boss Roberto Mancini has been frustrated by his club's comparatively limited activity in the market ahead of their first game of the new season against Southampton on Sunday.
But if Mancini was able to sign his fellow Italian, De Rossi, he would have little cause to complain about the acquisition of such a top player.
The 29-year-old's future has constantly been a subject of debate but, earlier in August, Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini said: "If a monstrous bid materialised we would evaluate it.
"But we are not looking for buyers for Daniele, because he is a pillar of our team." Sky Sports Understands
MANCHESTER CITY HITMAN EDIN DZEKO RISKS ROBERTO MANCINI FALL OUT
EDIN DZEKO has risked becoming the latest Manchester City star to fall out with Roberto Mancini by ignoring a knee injury to play for Bosnia.
The £27m striker rebelled after being left on the bench for all but the last two minutes of Sunday’s Community Shield win over Chelsea, insisting he played the full 90 minutes for his country.
Last night Bosnia coach Safet Susic confirmed that unsettled Dzeko – who has seen moves fall through that might have taken him to AC Milan or Juventus – had risked his fitness in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Wales.
He said: “There was a problem with his knee and maybe he should not have played. I left it up to him.
“Edin is the top player in our team and as long as he wants to play, he can do.
“We spoke before the game and I said it was entirely his choice.”
Dzeko, 26, started last season with seven goals in City’s first four matches.
But by the end of the campaign he had dropped behind Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli in Mancini’s pecking order.
And he started only two Premier League matches after the end of February.
Will Sir Alex win... and go? United are hurt, Fergie is spending, so expect a season of fireworks
How do you follow the finest season in the 20-year history of the Premier League?
A season that ran from August 13 to May 13 but was not settled until the 94th minute of an encounter between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers on that last dramatic day, when Sergio Aguero snatched the title from Manchester United’s grasp with the fifth goal of an astonishing game.
It was a game that aged the people who were there. But it was also a game that sets up this season beautifully.
United were hurt that day and they will still be hurting — and that makes the title race all the more intriguing over the next nine months.
Sir Alex Ferguson has responded to losing out to his noisy neighbours on nothing more than goal difference by bringing in players from whom more goals will come.
Beating his City counterpart Roberto Mancini to the signing of Robin van Persie is a major triumph for United’s manager, while Shinji Kagawa will add further potency to United’s attack.
With Van Persie, Rooney and Danny Welbeck — as well as Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov, if the Bulgarian cannot find a new home — there will be no shortage of goals from United this time.
And with Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverley back from injury, there will be more quality in other areas, too. Certainly, the return of Vidic to the heart of United’s defence means that they should concede fewer goals.
Mancini cut a slightly frustrated figure last week. Prior to the capture of Jack Rodwell, the Italian was irritated by the fact that the only acquisition he had made during the summer had been a smart new bicycle.
Clearly, City’s lack of spending has something to do with UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play rules, but it also points to the owners perhaps arguing that they already have the strongest squad in English football.
Like last season, it looks like a straight fight between the Manchester superpowers, but one that might become complicated by the demands of the Champions League. Last season’s campaign may have been filed away as a learning experience, but this season Mancini will be expected to oversee a more successful challenge for the ultimate prize.
The battle simply to be part of the competition will be every bit as intense as last season, perhaps more so. At the beginning of a season when seven of the 20 Barclays Premier League clubs will start out with a new manager — if we include Roberto Di Matteo now he has made the transition from caretaker first-team coach to contracted Chelsea manager — it is probably more unpredictable than ever.
But never has there been more pressure on the men in charge to fight their way into those precious Champions League places. Never have the men ho hired them appeared more demanding and more intolerant of failure.
Bruised by a Champions League triumph for Chelsea that took that fourth spot in the competition away from Tottenham, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has taken an enormous gamble by sacking someone as successful as Harry Redknapp to bring in Andre Villas-Boas. Levy has tried this sort of thing before, with near-disastrous consequences — not least when he replaced Martin Jol with Juande Ramos.
But Villas-Boas might yet prove he can be as successful in England as he was in Portugal despite that brief and troubled spell at Chelsea last season. That said, even matching Redknapp looks as though it is going to be difficult.
It is hard to know how consistent a season Arsenal will enjoy with Van Persie gone and Jack Wilshere still sidelined by serious injury. Arsene Wenger has finally spent some money and has acquired some talent in Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla.
But there are lingering concerns at Arsenal among some of the more senior players; concerns that the search for that elusive trophy could again prove a frustrating one. Before the transfer window shuts, one or two others might have at least tried to follow Van Persie through the Emirates exit door.
From other clubs, however, the challenge could be stronger this season. Liverpool have to improve under Brendan Rodgers after a dreadful campaign that saw them finish eighth behind Everton last season, a position that cost Kenny Dalglish his job.
But it is from Chelsea that the serious threat comes; from the new champions of Europe and the one team that could yet turn that two-horse race for the title into a three-way encounter. Di Matteo needs to maintain the momentum that saw Chelsea secure their first European Cup — something he now has to do without Didier Drogba.
But Chelsea have made three exciting signings in Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin and, with Drogba gone, we will surely see Fernando Torres rediscover the form that made him one of the finest forwards in Europe when he first joined Liverpool. It is now the Spaniard’s job to score those goals at Chelsea — and that is exactly the kind of responsibility Torres thrives on.
The race for the Champions League places will be complicated, of course, by the fact that other teams will have designs on Europe. Expect Newcastle to have another excellent season under Alan Pardew and expect more from Aston Villa now Paul Lambert is there. This will be Martin O’Neill’s first full season in charge at Sunderland and yet another season when David Moyes is sure to impress at Everton.
Can the three promoted clubs stay up, as they did last season? Under Sam Allardyce, West Ham certainly should do.
But it is the opposite end of the table that is likely to be the most dramatic — especially if one more title for United convinces the finest British manager in history to leave it at that. SportsMail faceless-Sucks-off-Bacon-at-all-costs-made-up-article reporter
United don't need to win the league to be 'far ahead' of City, claims chief Gill
Manchester United chief executive David Gill says the club’s off the pitch fortunes do not hinge on winning the league.
While Manchester City won the Premier League title last season, Gill claims United are ‘far ahead’ of their rivals when it comes to off-the-pitch matters.
The Old Trafford boss said the club lead the way globally in striking megabucks sponsorship deals and winning fans in new parts of the world.
However, Gill acknowledged City were challengers both on and off the pitch.
Speaking to Greater Manchester Business Week, Gill said: 'In terms of commercial revenue, there is lots to go for and the world is a big place.
'Other clubs will follow us and look at us but what we have done since our owners have taken over is put a lot of money into this area.
'It sounds easy but we have invested heavily in sales people, in marketing the club, expanding our fan base and the research we have done around all of that.
'There are lots of top clubs out there but, in terms of what we have done, we are far ahead of them.
Title winners: Vincent Kompany lifts the Premier League trophy, but David Gill says United are ahead of their rivals off the pitch
'They will try and emulate us and some will succeed, others won’t, but it isn’t easy to do what we have done. It looks easy but it isn’t.'
United became the first Premier League club to achieve commercial income of more than £100m last year and have been boosted further by a seven-year shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet, worth more than £350m.
Gill was speaking after the club’s flotation on the New York Stock Exchange, which raised around £150m – half of which goes directly to owners the Glazers.
Financial pundits have claimed shares in United are set to ‘do a Facebook’ and plummet in value in the coming months.
United floated 16.7m – the same as a 10 per cent stake – at $14, or £9, each but some analysts say they could drop as low as $5 within months.
Gill said he was confident investors would remain interested in United in the medium-to-long term.
He added their work off the pitch meant it did not necessarily need success on it to retain their title as the world’s richest club.
Gill said: 'I don’t think the results on a weekend will affect the share price on a Monday but we understand as a club, and have done ever since I have been involved and before that, that what happens on the pitch is key to our aspirations off the pitch.
'We need to be successful and challenging for titles every year, not necessarily winning them, but challenging and playing attractive football in the normal United way.'SportsMail faceless made up reporter
Manchester City Defender Dedryck Boyata Linked with FC Twente
http://www.insidefutbol.com/2012/08/17/ ... nte/67242/
Mario Balotelli Harrassing Ex-Girlfriend Rafaella Fico With Late-Night Phone Calls
Italian striker Mario Balotelli has been stalking his former girlfriend with abusive phone calls in the middle of the night, according to published reports.
Raffaella Fico, 24, dated the 22-year-old Balotelli for a year, but they split up in April after an argument that ended with police arriving on the scene.
Fico had confronted Balotelli over his numerous affairs -- including a tryst with former escort Jennifer Thompson, who was famously bedded by Wayne Rooney.
Last month, the former underwear model and television star revealed she was pregnant by Balotelli, but he demanded a DNA test to prove he was indeed the father.
That started a war of words that has culminated wtih her telling the Italian glossy weekly Diva e Donna that Balotelli has been stalking her and causing her stress.
"I just want to ask Mario Balotelli to stop calling me in the middle of the night," Fico told the weekly. "I want this to be a calm, tranquil pregnancy. I thought he was calling me to find out how I was but he shouted and called me names. He was trying to stress me psychologically. He wants to stalk me. All I ask of him is respect, at least for the sake of our baby."
"Mario must have called me over 30 times," Fico added. "I thought he was calling to find out how I was, but he shouted and called me names."
The former model, who counts Cristiano Ronaldo as another former boyfriend, said, "I never thought that the happiest moment of my life would turn out to be the most difficult. I just want my mother Antonietta and my brother Francesco with me when I give birth."
Fico had to cancel a cruise recently because she didn't want to jeopardize the baby's health.
"Everything is ok apart from these telephone calls in the middle of the night from Mario Balotelli," she said. "He knows the baby is his and he will be left with a lot of egg on his face. Asking me to take a DNA test was such a humiliating insult. I can't wait to do it once the baby is born -– now would be too risky.
"I'm disappointed in him and I'd never get back together with him. We'll meet for the good of the baby and that's all. If he had told me, 'Don't say the baby's mine,' I'd have done it. I'd have kept the baby though because I don't agree with abortion. I would never have expected Balotelli to abandon his child. He always told me he was abandoned when he was very young: so he knows what it means."
Fico reiterated that when she told Balotelli she was pregnant on the eve of the Euro 2012 semifinal between Italy and Germany, she said he told her, "You have made me the happiest man in the world."
"He said that if it was a boy he would chose the name and if it was a girl I could," she added. "He said that as soon as he was back in Italy we would go together to the doctor's for a scan. Then he just disappeared until he made his absurd (DNA) statement. I don't think they were his words. In essence he has abandoned me. It's one thing leaving someone but it's another to leave the mother of your child on her own."
Despite all that, Fico has invited the striker to play an active role in the child's upbringing, saying, "He can see his child whenever he wants. My house will always be open even though he has shown a lack of respect. After the baby is born I will be happy to take the test and to publicize the result -– the DNA result won't be wrong: either the baby will be black or white. In fact I want to tell Mario to come with me so we can do it together but I wonder if he will show up. He is going to be so embarrassed –- he knows the child is his. I just hope that then, as he said in his statement, he will accept his full responsibilities as a father. I don't expect him to abandon his child."
CRAIG'S PRE MATRIMONIAL WAG OF THE DAY
[spoiler]Needless to say ... it's Kate Upton
[/spoiler]OTHER BOLLOX
Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker drift onto Liverpool transfer radar
Liverpool want to take either Steven Caulker or fellow Tottenham centre-half Michael Dawson from White Hart Lane if Daniel Agger moves to Manchester City.
Agger recently reiterated his desire to stay at Liverpool, but suggested that the club could choose to cash in on the interest from Manchester City.
The Anfield club are said to have turned down an offer of around £20million from the Premier League champions, but talks on a new deal for Agger at his current club have stalled.
That has led manager Brendan Rodgers to start looking for replacements - and he is believed to be considering the Spurs pair.
Tottenham signed Jan Vertonghen from Ajax this summer and he is expected to form the first-choice centre-back pairing this season alongside France international Younes Kaboul.
That would leave Dawson, who missed most of last season through injury, and Caulker, who was on loan at Swansea throughout 2011/12, to warm the bench alongside veteran William Gallas.
If he is allowed to leave, Caulker will probably only be available on loan, having taken his strong form from last season into the Olympics where he played in all four Team GB matches.
Dawson, 28, is perhaps a more realistic option although he is being considered by Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas to take over the club captaincy following Ledley King’s retirement.metro
Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, 23, has been urged to stall on a move to Liverpool by Arsenal, who hope the lure of Champions League football will persuade the ex-Dortmund star to snub the Anfield club. the Sun
Tottenham are ready to make a move for Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles, 29, as a replacement for Real Madrid-bound Luka Modric. Daily Mirror
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has reiterated his desire to leave the club, saying he will not be happy until he has done so. The 24-year-old spent last season on loan at Sunderland but has so far failed to seal a move away. talkShit
Fulham have revived their interest in Blackburn midfielder Steven N'Zonzi, 23, who is not part of Steve Kean's plans after refusing to play for the club last season.
Zenit St Petersburg are the latest club interested in Berbatov 'SportsMail faceless made up reporter
Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg are interested in signing Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov. The 31-year-old Bulgarian international has been told he can leave Old Trafford. Metro
Wolves have rejected an improved bid of £9.5m from West Ham for winger Matt Jarvis. Daily Express
Everton target Kevin Mirallas has admitted he favours a move to Goodison over Arsenal because he wants first-team football Liverpool Echo
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher admits a top-four finish, rather than winning a trophy, is the main target for Liverpool this season. talkShit
Steven Gerrard has denied his best days are behind him, and says he will continue to play in an attacking midfield role for Liverpool under new manager Brendan Rodgers.the Sun
Rangers will break the world attendance record for a fourth-tier league match when they host East Stirling at Ibrox on Saturday. Their expected crowd of more than 40,000 will surpass the 37,774 who watched Crystal Palace play Millwall in 1961. Daily Record
West Brom new-boy Romelu Lukaku has revealed he "lost his hunger for football" after starting just one Premier League game for Chelsea last season. Birmingham Mail
Robin van Persie's transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United has been the subject of several internet jokes, including pranksters parking a removal van outside Emirates Stadium and loading a dummy dressed as the Dutchman on board.Metro
