March 2015 - Soccer Wiretap

Sergio Ramos Determined To Leave Real Madrid For United

Jul 1, 2015 10:41 AM

Sergio Ramos is determined to leave Real Madrid to join Manchester United this summer.

Ramos has been informed by Real Madrid that they received a formal bid from United valued at £28.5 million (€40 million) and that he has told the club he wants to leave this summer.

Manchester City also has interest in Ramos, but he's informed Real Madrid that he only has interest in United.

United are determined to sign Ramos and made a bid prior to the player meeting the Madrid chief executive, José Ángel Sánchez, last week. 

 

Ramos has two years remaining on his contract but negotiations for a renewal have reached a stalemate.

Sid Lowe/The Guardian

Tags: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium To Host 2017 Champions League Final

Jun 30, 2015 1:57 PM

UEFA has confirmed that Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will host the 2016-17 Champions League final.

The final has never previously been played in Wales.

The 2016-17 Europa League final will be held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, while the National Arena Filip II in Skopje, Macedonia, will hold the 2017 UEFA Super Cup final.

Cardiff’s second-biggest stadium, Cardiff City Stadium, hosted the 2014 Uefa Super Cup, in which Real Madrid defeated Sevilla 2-0.

The 2016 Champions League Final will be played at the San Siro in Milan.

The Guardian

Tags: UEFA Champions League

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United Makes £28.6M Bid To Real Madrid For Sergio Ramos

Jun 30, 2015 2:02 PM

Manchester United has made a £28.6 million offer to Real Madrid for Sergio Ramos.

The Red Devils believe the 29-year-old wants to leave Real after they failed to offer him an extension to his contract, which expires in 2017.

 

United is trying to use the transfer of David De Gea as leverage.

Morgan Schneiderlin has also been linked to United's central defense.

Simon Stone/BBC

Tags: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Arsenal Not Close To Transfer For Arturo Vidal

Jun 29, 2015 4:56 PM

Arturo Vidal is not close to joining Arsenal on a transfer from Juventus.

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope claimed that the move for Chile midfielder Vidal is "close to completion" and that a £21 million fee had been agreed, but the information has not been confirmed.

Arsenal are in the market for a defensive-minded midfielder of Vidal's skill-set.

Kevin Palmer/ESPN

Tags: Arsenal, Juventus, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Arda Turan In Talks With Chelsea, United, Barça, PSG

Jun 29, 2015 12:07 PM

Arda Turan has revealed that his agent is listening to offers for him to leave this summer.

 

Three top English clubs have reportedly made bids for his services.

Reports in the Spanish press have claimed that the Turkey international, who has two years left on his contract with Atletico, is negotiating with Chelsea and Manchester United, while he has been strongly linked with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

PA Sport

Tags: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Schweinsteiger Now Likely To Remain With Bayern

Jun 29, 2015 10:30 AM

Bastian Schweinsteiger has one year remaining on his contract and has said he will hold talks with Bayern this summer to determine whether he will stay or move onto Manchester United.

"I would like to win the Champions League again and play as successfully as we did in the last few years," he told Sport1. "We have been champions for three consecutive years and I believe that no team has won the title four years in a row. That is a motivation."

Schweinsteiger will turn 31 in August but does not think it has put him at a disadvantage, saying: "You gain experience year by year. You learn to judge situations and act on them."

Jens Weber/ESPN

Tags: Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Carlos Bacca Agrees To Contract With AC Milan

Jun 29, 2015 10:29 AM

Carlos Bacca has confirmed he has agreed personal terms for a move to AC Milan from Sevilla.

Bacca, who is also a target for Liverpool, has a buyout clause in his contract that is reported to be set at €30 million.

The 28-year-old's agent, Sergio Barila, told Marca at the weekend that the Colombia striker had agreed to join Milan and Bacca himself has now said a move is in place.

"It needs to be confirmed, but what my person of confidence said is true: we've reached an agreement with Milan, which is the club with 100 percent of the possibility [of signing me]," he told reporters in Colombia.

Milan still need to agree upon a transfer fee with Sevilla.

ESPN

Tags: A.C. Milan, Sevilla, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Phil Neville Joins Valencia As Assistant Coach

Jun 28, 2015 11:24 PM

Phil Neville has joined the coaching staff of Valencia.

Neville, 38, worked at United as a coach under former manager David Moyes but was not kept on after he was fired.

Neville will work for Nuno Espirito Santo.

Valencia finished fourth in the 2014-15 La Liga season, a point behind third-placed Atletico Madrid.

PA Sport

Tags: Valencia

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Andrea Pirlo Will Sign With New York City FC This Week

Jun 30, 2015 1:54 PM

Andrea Pirlo will sign with New York City FC of the MLS next week.

Pirlo, 36, will sign an 18-month contract with NYCFC, taking him through the 2016 season, with an additional option for 2017, according to the source. 

Pirlo will begin training with NYCFC on July 21st and will be eligible to make his debut on July 26th.

Pirlo has one year left on his contract at Juventus but is very close to Bianconeri president Andrea Agnelli, who would not stand in Pirlo's way if he wanted to join MLS this summer.

ESPN

Tags: Juventus, New York City FC, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Ronaldo Denies Reports Of Being Unhappy At Real Madrid

Jun 28, 2015 10:52 AM

Cristiano Ronaldo has denied reports he has fallen out of favor with Florentino Perez and could be seeking a move from Real Madrid.

Ronaldo has barely made any public statements since a Champions League defeat in March to Schalke. 

Ronaldo went out of his way to show support for Carlo Ancelotti before he was fired as manager.

“I would sincerely like the false reports to stop and to be left a little in peace,” Ronaldo was quoted as saying by the Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola.

“Reports that I have sought to create conflicts between myself and Real Madrid are absolutely false. I am very happy at the best club in the world and very focused and confident of a new season full of successes.”

Reuters

Tags: Real Madrid, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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Martin Montoya Loaned By Barcelona To Inter On Two-Year Deal
Martin Montoya has been forced to play second fiddle to Dani Alves in recent years.

Fabrizio Romano/Goal.com

LA Galaxy Tried To Sign Lampard Before Gerrard
The LA Galaxy tried to sign Frank Lampard before eventually signing Steven Gerrard.

Kyle Bonn/Pro Soccer Talk

West Ham Signs Dimitri Payet Of Marseille For £10.7M
Dimitri Payet can play in a number of attacking positions, adding depth and variation to a frontline that was exposed by injuries and loss of form in the second half of last season.

Nick Ames/The Guardian

Real Madrid Rejecting United's Offers For Sergio Ramos
United are reported to have had a £35 million bid for Sergio Ramos rejected, but are said to be prepared to table an improved offer.

ESPN

Liverpool Buys Nathaniel Clyne From Saints For £12.5M
Nathaniel Clyne will follow three former Saints to Anfield – Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert moved there from St Mary’s last summer.

David Hytner/The Guardian

Hrgota: Zlatan Not Brash Privately
Branimir Hrgota claims his Swedish teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a different personality in private.

Christoph Kockeis/Goal.com

Everton Buys Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona
Gerard Deulofeu impressed on loan at Goodison Park in the 2013-14 campaign but returned to his parent club and was subsequently loaned out again to Sevilla.

Press Association

Napoli Places £67M Price Tag On Gonzalo Higuain
Napoli won't be in the Champions League next season, which increased speculation of a potential sale of Gonzalo Higuain.

The Guardian

Bayern Close To €35M Transfer With Shakhtar For Douglas Costa
Douglas Costa has also been linked with Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, AC Milan and Monaco at various times, is set to sign a four-year-contract.

Jens Weber/ESPN

Pellegrini: I Changed Spanish Football Using Loose Midfielders
Manuel Pellegrini had a significant influence upon Spanish soccer during his time at Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga, which influenced La Liga and Spain's national team.

Marca (via Football Espana)

Sergio Ramos Asks To Leave Real Madrid
Relations between Sergio Ramos and Florentino Perez are described as broken.

AS.com

Arda Turan Wants To Leave Atletico For Premier League
Arda Turan joined Atleti in 2011 from Galatasaray for €12 million

Press Association

Angel Di Maria Wants To Stay At United, Also Wants Regular Appearances
Angel di Maria would like to remain at Manchester United, but he also admitted feeling frustrated by his lack of regular playing time last season.

The Guardian

Liverpool Agree To Buy Firmino From Hoffenheim
Firmino is a 23-year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder who had seven goals and 10 assists in the Bundesliga last season.

Ben Smith/BBC

Jackson Martinez Signs With Atletico Madrid
Jackson Martinez's deal will contain a buy-out clause of €35 million.

Calciomercato

Arsenal Agrees Upon £10.9M Transfer With Chelsea For Petr Cech
Petr Cech lost his spot as Chelsea's regular keeper last season to Thibaut Courtois.

Sky Sports

City Targeting Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema
City would like to add a world-class striker in addition to Raheem Sterling to improve their attack with Sergio Aguero.

Peter O'Rourke/ESPN

Agent: AC Milan Can't Afford Edinson Cavani
Edinson Cavani would like to remain with Paris Saint-Germain.

Sky Sports

City Prepared To Approve £50M Offer To Liverpool For Raheem Sterling
City have already seen two bids rejected for Raheem Sterling by Liverpool.

Peter O'Rourke/ESPN

Rafael Benitez: Improving Real Madrid's Roster Will Be Difficult
Rafael Benitez has spoken with all of the existing players.

Miles Chambers/Goal.com