Steven Pienaar is adamant that team-mate Marouane Fellaini will not leave Everton in the upcoming January transfer window.
The 25-year-old joined the Toffees from Standard Liege in 2008 for a club record fee of 15 million pounds and has since established himself as a fan favourite at Goodison Park.
Felliani has scored eight goals in 15 games this season and been linked with a big-money move away from Merseyside.
However, Pienaar believes his Belgian team-mate will stay beyond the upcoming window.
He s enjoying his game at the moment so I don t think he ll want to disturb that progress, Pienaar said.
He s clever enough not to go.
I don t think he will go in January. I’m sure the manager will keep hold of him.
There’s a lo…
Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Pinto will extend his stay at Camp Nou in the coming weeks, the club have announced.
The 37-year-old, who joined the Catalans in 2008, has agreed to a new deal that ties him to the La Liga giants until 2014.
A statement on Barcelona s official website read: FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto to extend his contract until June 30, 2014. The player s contract will be signed in the coming weeks.
Pinto has made 52 appearances for Barcelona since joining from Celta Vigo.
He has represented the side in both La Liga and the Champions League, but the majority of his performances have come in the Copa Del Rey, in which he has started 34 times.
…
Bastian Schweinsteiger says he was close to leaving Bayern Munich for another top European club in 2008.
The Germany international has previously said playing outside the Bundesliga once his contract expires in 2016 could be a tempting prospect.
And the 28-year-old, who has been a mainstay of the Bayern midfielder since making his debut in 2002, he has once more said he would be open to leaving Germany.
I was close to a transfer in the summer of 2008. I could have joined an international top club, Schweinsteiger told Playboy.
I have an ongoing contract with Bayern and intend to fulfil it. However, a move abroad remains tempting, and you never know what happens.
…
UEFA is extremely disappointed by the FIFA ruling to suspend its president Michel Platini from all football-related activities for eight years and will support his right to due process.
FIFA s Ethics Committee announced on Monday that Platini and FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter have been hit with eight-year suspensions in relation to a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.3million) made by world football s governing body, and authorised by Blatter, to Platini in February 2011.
Blatter and FIFA vice-president Platini claimed this related to work carried out by the former France captain for FIFA between 1999 and 2002, citing a gentleman s agreement , but the Ethics Committee rejected their assertions.
UEFA responded with a statement of its own later on Monday…
Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy for the FIFA presidency in order to clear his name over allegations of corruption.
Platini is currently serving an eight-year ban from all football-related activity, a sanction handed down by the FIFA Ethics Committee, over an alleged disloyal payment made by Sepp Blatter to the Frenchman in 2011.
In an interview with French sports newspaper L Equipe, an extract of which was published on Thursday, he said: I no longer put myself forward to be president of FIFA, I have withdrawn my candidacy.
I cannot do it, I do not have the time to see voters, meet people, to fight with the others.
By removing myself, I have made the choice to dedicate myself to my defence against a dossier in which there is no mention of co…
Victor Lindelof s agent has confirmed the rumoured Barcelona target is attracting interest from one of Europe s top clubs.
LaLiga champions Barca are believed to be in the market for a new centre-back after missing out on Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, who appears set to join Juventus.
Manchester United defender Lindelof has reportedly emerged as an option to rival starters Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet amid reports the club are prepared to part with Samuel Umtiti.
United are said to be among Umtiti s suitors but it remains to be seen whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be willing to lose Sweden international Lindelof.
Lindelof is on the radar of a great European club, but leaving United depends on the English club, Hasan Cetinkaya, the 24-year-old s a…
Neymar says he fell in love with Andres Iniesta s football ability after joining the Spanish football icon at Barcelona.
Iniesta confirmed on Friday that this will be his last season at Barca, with the captain set to lead the Catalan giants to another domestic double.
The Chinese Super League has been mooted as the most likely destination for Iniesta and his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar was among those to pay tribute to the midfield genius.
Maestro, an honour to be part of his career in Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar wrote on Instagram.
I already admired you from afar and after I came to be closer I fell in love with his football and more for the person that you are out of the field.
I will always tell my friends, childr…
Whatever side he selects, Pochettino has no doubt the talented teenagers will have what it takes to make the step up.
“We are thinking to start with 11 players that can perform in the way that we want,” Pochettino told a press conference.
“(We want to be) right in our assessment, in our risk because you have many injuries and the squad is not big at the moment.
“We are going to use four or five young guys from the academy – 17 years old, 16 years old – but Chelsea has always produced good talent, young kids and now is a good opportunity.
“It is not because it is our philosophy at the moment, it is because we need to bring young guys to the first team because we have some players that cannot play tomorrow.
An injury update ahead of to…
Market: Tranmere Rovers win
Odds: 11/8 @
In a showdown between two sides battling it out at opposite ends of the League Two table, Tranmere will make the trip to a struggling Colchester on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Colchester might have managed to pick up a much-needed 2-1 win against Carlisle when opening March, it appears that was just a minor bounce for the Essex strugglers. With some in their camp still looking over their shoulder at the drop zone and only continuing on what has been a hugely worrying run of form, The U s were last seen over the weekend when getting hit with a 1-0 defeat against Port Vale. Collecting just a pair of points from their last five League Two matchups and with just a single win to their name since way back on D…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp loves his reinvented midfield and believes the club have done good business this summer.
The £35million signing of Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, with the deal expected to be finalised before the deadline after the 21-year-old flew to Merseyside for his medical on Thursday, will complete a total rejuvenation of the Reds’ engine room.
Klopp was always planning to revamp his midfield this summer but even he did not expect to change the whole unit, only for the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia to force him into a radical overhaul.
Argentina’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai were early arrivals as part of the planned revamp, but the addition of Wataru Endo an…