KOMBORA: *Manchester United will have to pay an astonishing £160m to bring Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 29, back to Old Trafford. Alternatively, Ronaldos wages could account for £79m over four years with a fee of about £60m, making the total cost in the region of £140m. Factoring in image rights, loyalty bonuses and other incentives, the true cost could be £200m. *New York City FC will oppose any move from Manchester City to keep midfielder Frank Lampard, 36, at the club beyond January. *Manchester United are preparing to offer midfielder Juan Mata, 26, to Atletico Madrid in exchange for 30-year-old defender Miranda. *Indian club Pune want to sign Red Devils midfielder Anderson, 26, before the start of the Indian Super League in less than three weeks time. *Hull City are close to reaching an agreement with Blackpool over 22-year-old forward Tom Ince, who left the Seasiders after his contract ran out in the summer. Blackpool are entitled to compensation because he is under 23. *Ecuadorian forward Enner Valencia, 24, says he learnt about West Ham by watching Green Street, a film on football hooliganism. *Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, 21, says he wants to emulate sportsmen he admires like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan by performing in every game. *Gonzalo Higuain insists Napoli is “a fantastic city to play football” and he’s not shaken by criticism. There had been reports the Argentine was unhappy and prepared to quit for Liverpool next summer. The pressure is on the squad and Coach Rafa Benitez after picking up one point from the last three Serie A games, but Higuain is unperturbed. *Marco Verratti can’t see beyond Juventus and Roma in the League, but has given out a few tips about Serie A’s season. In talking with the Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview released today, the 21-year-old discussed the Italian top flight as he sees it. Individually, Verratti expects big things from at least a couple of players. Last but not least, and assuming that Juventus and Roma will qualify for next season’s showpiece once again, Verratti shelved out his predictions for the remaining Champions League spot. *Miranda has stated that Atletico Madrid will continue to perfect set-pieces despite criticism over the teams style of play. Spanish champions Atleti earned a hard-fought 1-0 triumph at Almeria on Wednesday, with centre-back Miranda grabbing the only goal of the game when he headed home Kokes expert corner on the hour mark. After the game head coach Diego Simeone defended Atletis methods and the amount of goals the team score from set-plays. Miranda backed the words of Simeone and says the team have no intention of altering a winning formula - especially given the need to keep teams guessing over how they will attack. Atleti remain unbeaten in La Liga this term and have taken 11 points from their opening five matches. *Robin van Persie says he wants to play alongside Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao and believes Manchester United are stronger when all three of them start. Manager Louis van Gaal brought Falcao in on transfer deadline day and, while it gave the Dutchman plenty of options in attack, it also prompted questions about how he will accommodate all of his attacking talent. The trio started in Uniteds 5-3 defeat to Leicester last weekend but Van Persie is adamant they can form a destructive trio - and are in constant discussions on how to improve their understanding. Uniteds variety in attack has given Van Gaal plenty of food for thought; he holds a close relationship with Van Persie after their Netherlands commitments at the World Cup and has cast doubt on Rooneys best position.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:02:57 +0000