Football 3

A round up on all the latest transfer news and gossip

Manchester City are trying to sign Samir Nasri from under the noses of bitter rivals United. Roberto Manchini is planning a £20m raid for the young French star with wages of at least £180,000 a week. But Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will be keen to keep hold of the midfielder especially after it looks certain that Cesc Fabregas will be heading to Barcelona before the summer transfer window ends. It looks like their could be a bidding war between Manchini and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile the news on Fabregas is that the two clubs are locked in talked over a possible £35m move after Arsenal reject Barclona’s offer of £27m

Manchester United have so far spent £50m this summer alone in transfers, their busiest time in the market for a long time. They completed their latest signing, goalkeeper David de Gea for £18.3m yesterday. Fergie is reportedly after at least 2 more players before the window shuts, a midfielder to replace Scholes and a striker as Berbatov may be leaving the club.

New Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is looking to Fabio Coentrao as his first signing for the London club. The wing back who plays for Benfica has caught the eye of many clubs across the globe, including that of Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Villas-Boas has also placed a bid for Javier Pastore, although the bid remains undisclosed at the present time.

Stoke City are after West Ham’s Carlton Cole, they have already had a £3m bid rejected, with new Hammer’s boss Sam Allardyce saying “They will have to increase their offer for Carlton if they want him that bad.“

Alberto Aquilani will be heading back to Liverpool this summer after his loan spell at Juventus has ended. The midfielder had spent the whole of last season on loan to the Italian outfit.

Rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are in a battle to sign winger Juan Mata of Valencia for around £15m

Craig Bellamy could be on his way up to Celtic if manager Neil Lennon has his way. The Man City player was loaned out for 6 months of last season at Swansea. Celtic however face competition from Blackburn Rovers and Fulham who have also shown an interest in the fiery Welshman.

Newcastle have placed a bid for Romaric after he looks set to leave his current Seville after he was left out of the clubs pre season tour in Costa Rica.

Football Training – Agility

What is agility??

In order for a footballer to maintain their best performance,they must be agile. Most movements in any high-speed sport are multi-dimensional, moving in angles, curves, sharp directional changes, and even frequent starts and stops. If the person with the ball quickly changes direction, the defensive player needs to react quickly by applying force in the opposite direction that they are traveling in order to follow the motion of the ball.

The ability to change the direction of your own body quickly and efficiently in an effective manner which will require.

• speed

• strength

• balance

• good co-ordination skills

OK so how do I improve my agility??

One of the best ways I have found is to place cones or some kind of markers on the ground similar to the picture below..

As you can see the player has to twist and turn through out the course, you don’t have to set your up exact to this picture this is just an example. Use your own ideas and keep changing them around, remember football is a multi directional sport. You will find yourself running at all different speeds, going forwards, sideways and even backwards through out the game.

Another way to improve your agility is the agility ladder that most professional football players use now. Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid etc all use this at their training grounds.

Using the ladder you can improve a wide range of different foot movements, try a few simple exercises on it first to get used to using it, you will soon see the effects it has on your game. Check out the following video below on all the different exercises you can do on the ladder..

You can order an agility ladder at a discount price below

15ft Agility Ladder

30ft Agility Ladder

OK so there you have it, take this information over to the pitch and practice at it, remember it wont come over night, but the more you train at it the better you will become!

For more football training guides on this site please click here.

The Latest Transfer News & Gossip

Chelsea are set to make an £80m bid for Gareth Bale and Luka Modric of Spurs. Modric has been on Chelsea’s radar for a while now, and Bale yesterday said that he would leave the club if Spurs was to sell Modric, leaving the door open for new Chelsea manager Villas-Boas to set the ball rolling for the two stars. Tottenham fans face a worrying time ahead, as Bale and Modric are easily their best players, and Harry Redknapp will have a tough task ahead in keeping the Welsh and Croatian Internationals. Modric and Bale were also wanted by Manchester United, but since the signing of Ashley Young, their interest in Bale has faded.

There has also been suggestions that Chelsea will offer Spurs two players from Didier Drogba,Nicolas Anelka,Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel. Blackburn have made an undisclosed bit for out of favour Robbie Keane. The 30 year old Spurs striker spent most of last season on loan at Celtic and is no longer needed by Harry Redknapp.

Manchester United have offered Barcelona a reported £15m for young midfielder Thiago Alcantara. The 20 year old recently scored a stunning 45 yard free kick in the Euro Final last weekend and is an ideal replacement for the retired Paul Scholes. But Fergie faces tough times as Thiago’s agent is Barcelona boss Guardiola’s brother Pere, and the player is thought to have been offered to Arsenal as a package for Cesc Fabregas.

Speaking of Fabregas, reports from Spain suggest that Cesc will refuse to report back to The Gunners for training on July 5th, he is currently on holiday with his pals Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique who play for Barcelona.

Meanwhile Arsene Wenger has made a £18m bid for Juan Mata. The Arsenal coach is keen to bring the Valencia midfielder to his squad.

Manchester City are planning a triple swoop in the summer transfer window. Robert Manchini is after:

Stefan Savic – Partizan Belgrade (defender)

Alessio Cerci – Fiorentina (midfielder)

Sergio Romero – AZ Alkmaar (goalkeeper)

Many fans believe the club are going backwards and are demanding the club buy well know players as they look to compete for winning the Premier League crown next season.

Aston Villa are 48 hours away from signing goalkeeper Ben Foster from relegated Birmingham. And are ready submit an offer to Stoke for Matthew Etherington who will replace Ashley Young who moved over to champions Man Utd last week.

Liverpool look favourites to sign Blackpool’s star player Charlie Adam. He is expected to be announced a Liverpool player in the next 24 hours in a £8m deal. Aston Villa’s Stewart Downing is also thought to be a done deal once he hand his transfer request in.