Chelsea star Eden Hazard is now worth more on the transfer market than Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the CIES Football Observatory. The research group published the bi-annual list on Monday which listed Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, 28, as football’s more valuable player at €250.7 million. Messi’s Barca teammate Neymar, 23, is second in the ranking at €152.7m, a large increase from his value of €94m back in June’s edition of the study. Hazard, 24, is considered to be worth €130.5m which is more than Ronaldo, who is fourth in the list at €114m — the Portugal international…
Author: David F.
Jose Mourinho’s camp are getting “frustrated” with the lack of movement regarding the Manchester United job, sources have told Theinfostride, and his representatives are beginning to investigate other options. Mourinho has long wanted the Old Trafford job and it had seemed the time was finally right for him to get it, with the Portuguese parting ways with Chelsea just at the time when it seemed that Louis van Gaal was set to suffer the same fate at United after an awful December. Sources say that Mourinho’s representatives got in touch with the Old Trafford hierarchy within 24 hours of his…
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been voted England’s Player of the Year for the fourth time after breaking his country’s scoring record, the Football Association announced on Tuesday. The 30-year-old took his England tally to 51 goals, breaking Bobby Charlton’s longstanding record of 49, and top-scored with seven goals as Roy Hodgson’s side qualified for Euro 2016 with a perfect record of 10 wins. Rooney, England’s captain, received 37 percent of the votes in a poll of England Supporters Club members. He previously won the award in 2008, 2009 and 2014. Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland, who has produced…
Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane promised to put his “heart and soul” into managing the Spanish giants after he was sensationally named as coach following Rafael Benitez’s unceremonious sacking. The three-time world player of the year takes over at the globe’s richest club despite a limited coaching CV which includes his stewardship of Real’s feeder team, Castilla. But Zidane, 43, said he would do his utmost to make sure Real, currently third in La Liga after an unhappy spell under Benitez, land silverware this year. “We have the best club in the world, the best fans and what we have…
Swansea City are aware of how difficult it will be to reinforce their strikeforce in the January transfer window due to a lack of available forwards and increased competition in the market, caretaker manager Alan Curtis has said. The Welsh club have won just two of their last 16 Premier League fixtures, leaving them 17th in the table after 20 matches and just two points above the relegation zone. “I have said before that possibly a striker is needed but finding the right striker, probably at inflated prices, is going to be very difficult,” Curtis told British media. “I think…
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has called on his team mates to respond immediately to Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 Premier League defeat by West Ham United when they travel to take on Stoke City in the League Cup semifinal on Tuesday. The Merseyside club have been struggling to pull together a string of results on their travels, having won just one of their last five away fixtures in all competitions. “We’ve got a new game coming up very early, the semi-final, so hopefully we can put things straight there because it’s very important. Hopefully we can do well against Stoke,” Mignolet told…
Injury-plagued Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been ruled out of Tuesday’s League Cup semifinal first leg at Stoke after suffering a minor setback in his recovery from a hamstring problem. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who has just one fit striker in Christian Benteke, had hoped to get Sturridge back ahead of this week’s cup double-header, with the Reds also set to face fourth-tier Exeter in the FA Cup on Friday. However, Sturridge, who hasn’t played since making a substitute appearance in Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle on December 6, suffered another setback in training which will further delay his return.…
Liverpool’s players must show more desire if they are to get their faltering season back on track, manager Jurgen Klopp has said. With his team having netted just 22 goals in 20 Premier League games this season, Klopp has called for an all-round improvement to set matters right. Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Danny Ings are all injured, leaving the German with Christian Benteke as his only orthodox striking option ahead of Tuesday’s League Cup semifinal first leg against Stoke City. The Belgian, Liverpool’s leading scorer, has six league goals this season. To put that in perspective, the league’s joint…
Nigeria head coach, Sunday Oliseh, is pleased with the team’s preparations for the 2016 African Nations Championship (Chan) in Rwanda which kicks off on January 16. The Super Eagles commenced preparations for the Chan a fortnight ago in Abuja and have since arrived in Pretoria, South Africa for the final leg of their tune-up for the tournament in Rwanda. Oliseh has no issues with the preparations of his charges and believes the Super Eagles “can do well in Rwanda.” “We started our preparations two weeks ago in Abuja and now we have decided to come to Pretoria. “It has almost…
It is more than 20 years since Everton last won a trophy and Roberto Martinez says more silverware is long overdue as his side prepare for Wednesday’s League Cup semifinal first leg against Manchester City. The FA Cup in 1995 was the last addition to the trophy cabinet at Goodison Park, which during the 1980s had also been home to two league titles and a further FA Cup success in 1984. That was also the year Everton lost in the final of the League Cup, going down 1-0 to Liverpool in a replay. Only once before, seven years previously, had…
Zinedine Zidane is the right man for the job of Real Madrid coach, former team mate David Beckham said on Monday after the Spanish club sacked Rafa Benitez and replaced him with the French World Cup winner. “Does it get any better than this??,” the former England captain, who played with Zidane at Real after joining from Manchester United in 2003, declared on Instagram. “A man that has been the best at a game we all love, taking over of a club that myself and many more people love… Someone with drive, passion and also doesn’t accept failure on any…
Real Madrid sacked coach Rafael Benitez after just seven months in charge on Monday with club legend Zinedine Zidane replacing the Spaniard. “We have taken the difficult decision to rescind the contract of Rafael Benitez as coach,” said Madrid president Florentino Perez. “The Real Madrid board has decided to name Zinedine Zidane as coach of the first team.” However, the club didn’t announce the length of Zidane’s contract. Benitez’s unhappy reign came to an end after a 2-2 draw away to Valencia on Sunday left Madrid four points adrift of local rivals Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga.…
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has praised former President, Goodluck Jonathan saying that the latter “left giant footprints in eternity’s sands of time.” Murray-Bruce also said that Jonathan achieved great things for Nigeria, one of which was the construction of Almajiri schools. The Senator made the comments via Twitter on Tuesday, November 3, 2015. Murray-Bruce had earlier urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop blaming Jonathan for the sad state of the nation. Buhari took over from Jonathan on May 29 and has repeatedly lamented the looting which the Nigeria’s treasury has been subjected to.
Ex-aviation minister and former spokesman of Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani Kayode, has swiped the Buhari led government over the proposed 2016 budget. He described the budget as “fuelled by insincerity” and unrealistic. In a statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Fani Kayode commented the Buhari’s administration was spending the country’s scarce resources like a drunken sailor. He also denounced the government for borrowing too much money for white elephant projects. The ex-aviation minister opined the government was directionless and moving to jeopardize the future of Nigerians. He claimed that Nigerians were better-off in Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.…
President Muhammadu Buhari has responded to critics who say his government is too slow, stating that the steady pace is pertinent to avoid disaster. Speaking on Friday in Abuja in an audience with Women In Politics Forum (WIPF), the President said his administration is busy cleaning up the mess done by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governments in the last 16 years. “People say we are slow. We are trying to change structures put in place by our predecessors in office for 16 years. If we hurry it, we will make mistakes. That will be a disaster”, Buhari said. He…
The comment by President Buhari about the alleged plan by the National Assembly to buy cars worth N47.5b is still causing a stir. During the Presidential media chat, Buhari said “N47.5bn for vehicles for the National Assembly members? I think I will explore the possibility of that power. If I can turn down N400m for vehicles in the Presidency, I think we don’t need new cars; we can manage the old ones because of the economy.” Adding that the Senators had earlier collected N100b as car allowance. According to recent reports, the House Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, said the…
The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said the presidential media chat showed that Mr. President was real and honest. Shehu said Buhari did not pretend, adding that he was not trying to impress anyone. Reports have it that the President’s media aide said “He was unpretentious throughout. This alone had the effect of reinforcing his reputation for candour. But he also showed a softer side of himself. He joked, he laughed and showed flashes of frustration and he was characteristically himself: calm, self-confident, composed and not for a moment did he try to…
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) comment about President Buhari being afraid of Sambo Dasuki’s 2019 presidential ambition, as childish. Oyegun also said the PDP should have known that the law will catch up with them for mis-managing Nigeria. Speaking through the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Edegbe Odemwingie, APC’s helmsman said “Clearly, the PDP has chosen to blame everyone but itself for the sorry state it finds itself. The PDP should have known that it will pay for its years of impunity, recklessness and shocking mis-management of…
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has said that he is ready to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court concerning the cancellation of his victory in the April 11, 2015 elections by the state election petitions tribunal. Wike also urged politicians to stop condemning the judiciary over court judgments that don’t favour them. The governor is said to have made the comments at the State’s 2016 New Year banquet, according to PM News. Wike also advised candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to be confident as they would still emerge victorious on all fronts due to…
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari inherited a bad economy from the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Onu also said that Buhari had been working hard to repair the damaged economy through diversification, Leadership reports. The minister reportedly made the statement on Sunday, January 3, 2016, while addressing stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State. Onu also spoke on the illegal use of his photos on social media. He said: “In the first place, I do not operate any Facebook account. I wonder why people should use my name in Facebook…