The Nation Newspaper

Tag: liverpool

  • Suarez returns to Liverpool with a gift for Gerrard

    Suarez returns to Liverpool with a gift for Gerrard

    Luis Suarez made a surprise appearance at Liverpool’s Melwood training complex on Deadline Day – but he was only there to bid farewell to his former team-mates.

    The Uruguay striker, who made a £75m move to Barcelona earlier this summer, is understood to have returned to Liverpool’s training ground to collect some belongings.

    But he also brought a gift with him for his friend and former team-mate, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

    A photo on Gerrard’s Instagram account shows him and the striker smiling and holding up a signed ‘Suarez 9’ Barcelona shirt.

    The image was accompanied by a message reading: “He is back bearing gifts. Emotional saying goodbye to the main man this morning. Best wishes to a phenomenal player.”

    Another image later appeared on Suarez’s Twitter account, showing him in a group pose with Gerrard and Liverpool defenders Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan.

    The accompanying words read: “Today I could say goodbye to some friends, it was exciting to remember the good moments that we lived together.

    “Thank you for all the joy you gave me!!!!! Great picture with @glen—johnson, @jon—flan93 and Steven Gerrard!!!!”

     

  • Manchester City in tricky Euro group

    Manchester City in tricky Euro group

    … Meet Bayern Munich, Roma, CSKA Moscow

    .… Liverpool to play holders in Group B

    English champions Manchester City landed in a tough looking group in the 2014/2015 European Champions League draw conducted Thursday at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, France.

    The Manuel Pellegrini tutored team will have to navigate past Bayern Munich, Roma and CSKA Moscow to reach the knockout stage, Goal reports.

    Last season semi finalists Chelsea will face Schalke, Sporting Lisbon and Maribor.

    Arsenal overcame Besiktas in a nervy play-off clash thanks to Alexis Sanchez’s first goal for the club to reach the Champions League proper for the 17th consecutive season and will square up against Dortmund, Galatasaray and Anderlecht in Group D.

    Liverpool mark its return to the competition for the first time since 2009 with clashes against Real Madrid, Basel and Ludogorets in Group B.

    The Anfield outfit has never lost to the Spanish giants in three previous meetings.

    The pairings:

    Group A: Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Olympiacos, Malmo

    Group B:  Real Madrid, FC Basel, Liverpool, Ludogorets Razgrard

    Group C: Benfica, Zenit St Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco

    Group D: Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasary, Anderlecht

    Group E: Bayern Munich, Manchester City, CSKA Moscow, Roma

    Group F: Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Ajax, Apoel

    Group G: Chelsea, Schalke, Sporting Lisbon, Maribor

    Group H: Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Athletic Bilbao, BATE Borisov

     

  • Milan: no Liverpool offer for Balotelli

    Milan: no Liverpool offer for Balotelli

    Milan have received no offers from Liverpool for Mario Balotelli, although chief executive Adriano Galliani refused to rule out a move.

    There has been widespread speculation in recent weeks over a possible return to the Premier League for the 24-year-old.

    Liverpool, who lost star man Luis Suarez to Barcelona last month, have been heavily linked with a move for the forward.

    Galliani stated on Wednesday that no bid has been made, but stopped short of dismissing any talk of a potential switch in the near future.

    “At the moment there has been no offer from Liverpool from Balotelli, so there are no negotiations,” he told ANSA.

    “But the transfer market finishes on September 1, so we’ll see.”

    Balotelli won one league crown and an FA Cup during two-and-a-half seasons at Manchester City, setting up the dramatic last-gasp winner for Sergio Aguero in an enthralling finish to the Premier League title race in 2011-12.

    The Italy international returned to his homeland in January 2013 to join Milan, scoring 12 league goals in 13 appearances, before netting a further 14 in a side that struggled for large parts of last season.

  • Klopp: ‘It was the wrong day to face Liverpool’

    Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has said it was the “wrong day” for his team to face Liverpool, following their heavy defeat at Anfield.

    The German outfit were beaten 4-0 by the Reds in their pre-season friendly, and Klopp has admitted that he was disappointed by the defensive performance from his team.

    “It was the wrong day and the wrong opponent for us in Liverpool,” he told Ruhr Nachrichten. “The first two goals we conceded, we didn’t defend well. If you make mistakes like those we made, then you will lose against an opponent like Liverpool.

    “Our preparation has thus far been relatively unproblematic. From now on we will rest for the DFL-Supercup. The rhythm will come, then the freshness will return too.”

    Dortmund will face Bayer Leverkusen in their first Bundesliga match of the season on August 23.

     

  • Lukaku can get the goals to nail Liverpool—Osman

    leon Osman believes Romelu Lukaku can fire Everton above Liverpool this season.

    Everton splashed out £28million on the striker who was on loan at Goodison Park last season and Osman believes the signing can boost the Toffees this season.

    Roberto Martinez’s side just missed out on a Champions League spot last season finishing fifth.

    But Osman – who celebrates over a decade at Goodison Park with a testimonial against Porto on Sunday – says Everton have shown real ambition this summer.

    Speaking in the Daily Star Sunday, Osman said: ‘Signing Romelu is absolutely great news and, yes, we can ?nish higher than Liverpool. It’s going to be dif?cult though.

    ‘Liverpool have strengthened but so have Everton. We both have extra commitments with Europe this year but we aim to ?nish above them every season.

    ‘It’s great that the club have shown their ambitions going forward.

    ‘Seamus and Ross have signed deals as well and our young and up-and-coming players, are committing to the club.

    ‘We’ve got to repeat what we managed to do last season.’

  • Liverpool´s loss is our gain, says Redknapp on Remy

    Liverpool´s loss is our gain, says Redknapp on Remy

    A flabbergasted Harry Redknapp hopes QPR can reap the benefits of Loic Remy’s collapsed transfer to Liverpool.

    France international Remy was widely expected to complete an £8.5million move to Anfield this week as the Merseyside club continue the process of trying to replace Luis Suarez.

    However, Liverpool pulled the plug on the deal on Sunday, with manager Brendan Rodgers remaining vague as to the reasons behind that decision after his side’s friendly win over Olympiacos.

    It is widely believed that Liverpool detected a problem during Remy’s medical, with Rodgers saying only that the issue has “happened before”.

    But QPR boss Redknapp refuses to believe the switch fell through due to any physical issues, and has challenged the 27-year-old striker – who spent last season on loan at Newcastle – to fire his team to top-flight safety following their promotion from the Championship.

    “He’ll come back here,” Redknapp confirmed at a media conference to introduce QPR’s new signing Rio Ferdinand.

    “I just can’t believe it. I only know what I’ve seen and heard – I don’t see how he failed a medical, he had a stringent medical here, one at Marseille, one at Newcastle, one at France.

    “It’s not possible, you couldn’t find a fitter lad than he is, there must be another reason. They must have changed their mind or gone in a different direction.

    “It’s disappointing for him, (but) from the club’s point of view we’ve got a great striker. He’s a good lad, good player [and a] good professional.

    “Their loss is our gain. He’s a striker capable of 20 goals in the Premier League, [and] that’s we need now – for him to get 20 goals for QPR in the league.”

    Remy scored 14 goals in 26 Premier League appearances for Newcastle last term – form that earned him a place in France’s World Cup squad.

  • No Man City, Liverpool offers for Ahmed Musa

    No Man City, Liverpool offers for Ahmed Musa

    Nigeria’s top scorer at the World Cup, Ahmed Musa, has no concrete offers from clubs interested in his services, the CEO of CSKA Moscow, Roman Babaev, has stated.

    After the World Cup, reports in the English media had linked the pacy striker with a move to Liverpool, but the English Premier League runners-up have not launched an official bid to acquire him outright from the Russian champions.

    ”For Musa, so far no proposals have been received, but the priority is to keep him in the squad.

    ”We do not aim at any cost to sell the player, who had a great World Cup,” Roman Babaev said to sport-express.ru.

    Apart from Liverpool, Manchester City are also said to be interested in the signature of Ahmed Musa, however, the champions of England have not made any official contact with CSKA Moscow.

    The 21-year-old, who only returned for pre-season training on Tuesday, was on parade for 45 minutes as the Army Men thrashed Dynamo Barnaul 7-1 in a test game played last Thursday.

    Ahmed Musa is tied to CSKA Moscow until December  31, 2016.

  • Suso eager for Liverpool stay

    Suso is determined to fight for his place at Liverpool following a season on loan at Almeria.

    The 20-year-old Spaniard spent last term in his homeland with Almeria, making 33 appearances as Francisco’s side avoided relegation from La Liga.

    Suso has now returned to Merseyside, and believes he is ready to make his mark at Anfield following a full campaign of first-team football.

    “After the season in Spain, I think I have become a better player – I learned a lot,” the playmaker told Liverpool’s official website.

    “Obviously Liverpool are going to sign a lot of players because we are in the Champions League this season, and we have to have a good squad because there are a lot of competitions.

    “But if I fight for my place, I do my best every day in training and when I have the chance to come on or start a game, if I do well, I could have chances to play a lot of minutes in the first team.”

    Suso made his breakthrough at Liverpool as a teenager in 2012-13, as he made 14 top-flight appearances in Brendan Rodgers’ first season in charge.

    And the Spain Under-21 international revealed that he has held positive talks with Rodgers about his prospects with the Premier League runners-up.

    “I came here in December at Christmas when I had my week of holidays….I came here for two or three days to have a meeting with the manager,” Suso added.

    “He talked to me, said he was happy with what I was doing and said that this season he wants me to stay here.

    “I want to stay here and sign a new deal – for me, there is no bigger club than Liverpoo.

  • It’s Liverpool or Man City for Onazi

    It’s Liverpool or Man City for Onazi

    Nigeria World Cup star Ogenyi Onazi’s future would be in the English Premier League as his representatives have opened talks with both Liverpool and Manchester City.

    Sources close to the Nigeria midfield star exclusively told AfricanFootball.com that  Onazi will not extend his contract with Serie A side Lazio when it runs out next summer.

    The sources disclosed that Onazi is on a youth contract at the Italian club and now wants out with his representatives already in talks with both Liverpool and Manchester City.

    “Onazi’s future is in the EPL with either Liverpool or Manchester City. His agents are working on this,” one of the sources informed.

    “He will most certainly not extend his time with Lazio particularly as he has been on a youth contract with the club ever since.

    “He now wants to cash in on his performance with a big-money move to England.”

    Onazi has established himself in the Super Eagles since he took his chance in the first team as Nigeria went on to win a third Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa last year.

    He also featured at the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup as well as the 2014 World Cup, where his second-half exit in a round of 16 match against France due to injury clearly exposed the shortcomings in the Eagles midfield.

    He is presently on holidays in Abuja.

  • Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea race for unsettled Balotelli

    Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea race for unsettled Balotelli

    LIVERPOOL, Arsenal and Chelsea are monitoring Mario Balotelli’s situation at AC Milan after the striker indicated he could be ready for a move back to England.

    Reports suggest that Balotelli has grown tired of the racist treatment he receives in his homeland and is now open to a return to the Premier League.

    Additionally, the combustible Balotelli has tested Milan’s patience this season with occasional petulant outbursts that have grated with the club’s hierarchy.

    But while all three clubs are interested in signing Balotelli if he becomes available, none of them see him as their first choice.

    It is thought that Arsenal consider Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema their priority and are already in talks with the Spanish club over a move.

    However, with Real on a high after claiming their tenth Champions League title over the weekend, the Gunners are wary that they may not be able to prise Benzema away.

    In that event it is believed that Arsene Wenger would pursue talks with Balotelli’s representatives.

    Similarly, Liverpool see Balotelli as the ideal man to replace Luis Suarez should he be tempted away after the World Cup.

    The Anfield club are confident it won’t come to that after Suarez’s recent positive comments about staying in England, but are preparing for the worst-case scenario in any event.

    Chelsea could similarly enter the race if they miss out on their top striking targets this summer, with Jose Mourinho familiar with the enigmatic player from his time in charge at Inter Milan.