MAN CITY TO OFFER STAR DUO NEW DEAL

 

Manchester City have made a move to extend their star duo a new contract. The Citizens declared the desire to tie star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and mercurial winger Raheem Sterling to a new long term deal. The club intends to use the new deal to make a statement amid their UEFA ban.


Manchester City were banned from participating in any UEFA club competitions for two year. The ban was as a result of a breach of financial regulation according to UEFA. The club have stated their innocence and they have submitted their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The clubs legal battle with UEFA will have an impact on the way they will do their transfer business in the summer.
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Avoid Mistakes like Agbonlahor, Fashanu to Tammy

John Fashanu is well known as the former striker for Wimbledon FC. He has warned current sensation of Chelsea, Tammy Abraham, that he must not get lured by Three Lions. They are the senior-most national football team of England. He told youngster Tammy to learn from the mistakes that some of the Nigerian players have done before who had the opportunity to play for England for a few matches because of hard competition.


Among the Nigerians whose names Fashanu mentioned were Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jordon Ibe, and Nedum Onuoha. He has told the young player to think more than twice before making the decision to play for England. John Fashanu also chose to play for England over Nigeria once. He said when he played for the national English football team; he had the ability to play for 100 games for the Super Eagles. But he ended up playing just two games for England in the year 1989. So if Tammy takes the decision to play for them, then he must be prepared to play for only 4 to 5 matches for the national football of England and the main reason for that will be stiff competition.
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ASTON VILLA MIDFIELDER ON UNITED’S RADAR

Manchester United are currently on a summer spree after spending close to £100 million on new players. The Red Devils are set to move for their next targets according to news from England.

According to English tabloid the Sun, Manchester United are closing in on the transfer of Aston Villa midfielder Josh McGinn. It is understood that the newly promoted club have been approached by the Red Devils over a potential deal.  The report also claims that Manchester United have been monitoring the player this season and are preparing an official transfer bid.
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WHY ENGLAND CAN WIN THE UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

England National team has a new buzz around them after a fruitful 12 months under Gareth Southgate. When he took over the national team not many expected the former Middlesbrough player to quickly turn around the fortunes of the national team.

The latest 5-0 defeat of the Czech Republic at Wembley shows the level of progress that the players have undergone under the coach. Gone are the days of players flattering to deceive in the national team like Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andros Townsend.
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Agbonlahor does not want to retire

Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor said that he does not want to retire at the moment and that he wants to continue to play. Aged currently 32, he believes that he is fit enough to play at the highest level and wants to continue his career for as long as he can.

He has revealed that he has had a couple of offers from second-tier England clubs as well as teams in Scotland but so far he had not made any decision.
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Steve Bruce dismisses possible exit for Mile Jedinak among others

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has stressed that the club are no longer yearning to offload their key players to balance their financial books. Australian midfielder Mile Jedinak had recently been tipped to leave the Villains being the highest earner with them but Bruce has now indicated that the club are in a better financial position following the change of ownership.

Discussing the rumours surrounding Jedinak, Bruce said: “The one thing that the new owners have said is that nobody is for sale. That’s music to my ears. We don’t want to lose our best players. We all know in football that unfortunately these things do happen. But we will now be doing our utmost to make sure these things do not happen and not let them go anywhere.”
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Gabriel Agbonlahor Failed To End Career On A High?

Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is set to end his stay at the club at the end of the season. The 31-year old forward is expected to see off his contract this summer and the club has decided not to renew it, bringing to an end a 17-year partnership.

Agbonlahor might not be leaving on a high but he remains a legend and high on the fans of the club. He has made 340 starts for the club and a further 51 from the bench, scoring as much as 87 goals during his stay at the club. The English star made the headlines from 2005 until 2010. He went on loan to Watford and Sheffield Wednesday but then returned to the club to contribute his quota. He combined well with Juan Pablo Angel and Luke Moore.

He was also a key part of triumvirate attack that included now Man United fullback Ashley Young and John Carew. He steadily increased his goals’ tally from 10 in 2006 to his career best of 16 a season at the end of the 2009/10. His strong form helped him make the senior team of England in late 2008, with top sides seeking his signature.

Agbonlahor scored some important goals for Villa. He was on target when Villa defeated Man United for the first time in December 2009. He was also the lead attacker as they crushed the other club in Manchester about a year earlier. He produced great performances against Arsenal and Chelsea around that time as well.

However, after the exit of Martin O’Neill, under whose management he really flourished, Gabby’s performances started to fluctuate when Gerard Houllier started calling the shots in 2010. From there on, even with new managers his performances became more of average. Then there were the issues with Remi Garde and then his fitness issues. He had to resign his captaincy and his descent from then on is well-documented.

Obviously he failed to end his career on a high that is if it has really ended, amid talks of the Major League Soccer. Many would insist that he remains a legend at Villa for his loyalty at least. Some others would quickly point to his complacency in the last few years.

AGBONLAHOR FREE TO SPEAK TO OTHER CLUBS

Aston Villa legend Gabriel Agbonlahor has not featured for the club since the beginning of September in the game against Brentford. The striker has only just returned to full training recently after three months on the sidelines due to calf injury.

Coach Steve Bruce hopes the star returns to action this festive season to help out. The club is without Jonathan Kodija, who has been sidelined for the rest of the season due to ankle issues. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Scott Hogan are also sidelined due to knee and stomach issues respectively.
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