Football News: Pato linked with everyone and Powell returns to the Manchester United squad

Image from: beautifulgameofsoccer.com

1. Good to see Nick Powell return to the Man Utd squad
It has been a while since Nick Powell made his dream move from Crewe Alexandra to join Manchester United for a big fee. Having helped Crewe to promotion from League Two, the attacker made the huge step up to the Premier League giants and a financially secure future. It all turned sour for him there, injuries hit him, his form deserted him and his desire for the game left him. Now he is finally returning to the game, and hopefully he can finally achieve his potential. The potential that saw the Red Devils pay millions for him and Dario Gradi call him the most talented player he had ever worked with.

2. Butland rules out January move
Following reports linking Stoke City's England goalkeeper Jack Butland with a January move to Liverpool, following a series of high profile errors by Simon Mignolet, but Butland has dismissed the talk of a move just now. One thing he did say was that he does see his future as somewhere other than Stoke in the near future, just that he is not ready to move right now. Looks like it is only a matter of time before he moves to a club competing in the Champions League.

3. Rennes full back Sylvain Armand rants at officials
It is not just Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has a bee in his bonnet about the officials in French football. After St. Etienne were awarded a late penalty against Rennes, which they scored to snatch a draw, Armand was furious and was not shy about letting his feelings be known in the tunnel:

4. How soon is too soon?
Bayern Munich have released a 'best of' compilation video of Douglas Costa already, even though he has only just joined the club. In fact they were so short of clips to choose from, they had to include bits of training footage, even though the montage is only short! Great as he has been, it really is a bit soon to be releasing this:

5. Pato's agent must be good
Alexandre Pato is getting linked with a new team every week, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, and so on, they are all being linked with the Brazilian one time wunderkind. Following an injury hit and unsuccessful spell with AC Milan, he has become more known for his partying and off the pitch performances, than his on pitch work. A return to Brazilian football has shown little to suggest that he has anything to offer a top team, yet Spanish newspapers are now linking him with Barcelona! If any team in Europe does take him, and Corinthians are desperate to get rid of him, it would be a great piece of work by his agent.

6. Pressure is cranking up on van Gaal
It is not just boos ringing round Old Trafford after yet another yawn fest at the weekend, now there is Carlo Ancelotti admitting he would wait for the Manchester United job to come on the market. The ex-Chelsea manager was meaning that he would wait until Louis van Gaal's contract is up and he goes into retirement, the very mention of Ancelotti being interested in the role is going to be enough to excite the fans.

7. Was it really all that violent?
I have seen Bastian Schweinsteiger's clash with Winston Reid over and over again since the game between Manchester United and West Ham United and I still am completely unconvinced it was worthy of the fuss. No question it was a foul, definitely a yellow card offence, but violent conduct? No, not for me. It was not so much an elbow, as a push with the forearm. Petty and silly, but not as bad as is being made out. There are so many worse fouls going on unpunished, it makes this all seem ridiculous.

8. Greece going on strike
Having watched the Greece national side a few times recently, I have to admit it almost looked like they were already out on strike. Apparently not though. From next week they will be officially on strike indefinitely after promises were broken to them over the players that were freed by teams in financial difficulties. Good to see them standing together to help those who were put out of work. Two years of promises have been broken to them, they have every right to protest.

9. If you do not want to be portrayed as an idiot, it is probably best not to act like one
Wolfsburg's former Arsenal striker Niklas Bendtner is complaining about his public image, which portrays him as an idiot. He is blaming journalists for not conveying his words or emotions correctly, which is probably completely missing the reality of the situation. This is after all the lad that, along with Lee Cattermole, went on a drunken car wrecking spree, while on loan to Sunderland. Who could forget this moment in the tunnel at Manchester City:

There was also his fine for drink driving without even having a valid driving license for driving in Denmark. Some of the things he has said have been so cringeworthy and idiotic, it has inspired a whole series of jokes and led to him being given the ironic nickname 'Lord', which, incidentally, he has admitted he does not understand. He is so supremely self-confident that a psychiatric test taken at Arsenal led to him scoring 10 out of 9 according to the man who oversaw it, Jaques Crevoisier: ''On a scale up to 9, Bendtner got 10!" said Crevoisier. "We have never seen that before. Pat Rice was sitting next to me and couldn't stop laughing. When Bendtner misses a chance, he is always genuinely convinced that it wasn't his fault. You might say that's a problem, and to a certain degree it can be. But you can also view it as this guy has a remarkable ability to come back after set-backs." Bendtner once said that he deserves his massive wages because of how much he has sacrificed by becoming a professional football, such as being unable to go on a skiing holiday, poor love, it really is a hard life. Which reminds me, how is that best striker in the world quest going Niklas? "I had three aims this year - to get into the Arsenal team, qualify for the World Cup and to be Player of the Year. I have achieved them all. I want to be top scorer in the Premier League, top scorer at the World Cup and, within five years, I want to be among the best strikers in the world. Trust me, it will happen. I look around at other players, I see my own ability and I can't see anything that tells me it won't happen, I'm sure people will think 'What is he talking about?' But as I have done before, and as I will do again, I will sit at the other end and laugh at those people when it is all done." He said that peach in 2009.


First ever free agents in the MLS
Twnety six MLS players have become eligible for free agency, within the league itself, for the first time in the history of Major League Soccer. To be eligible for free agency, players have to be 28 years of age or older, with 8 years of MLS service and out of contract or have not had their option exercised. Those that fall outside those limitations may be out of contract, and available on free transfers, for clubs outside of the MLS, but their MLS rights would still be tied to their current club. It will be interesting to see what happens, in the MLS's first ever wave of Bosmans within the league.
MLS Free Agents:
Chicago Fire
Jon Busch (Option)
Ty Harden (Out of Contract)
Jeff Larentowicz (Option)
Mike Magee (Out of Contract)
Colorado Rapids
Bobby Burling (Out of Contract)
Michael Harrington (Out of Contract)
Nick LaBrocca (Option)
Drew Moor (Option)
James Riley (Option)
FC Dallas
Stephen Keel (Out of Contract
Houston Dynamo
Ricardo Clark (Out of Contract)
Nathan Sturgis (Option)
LA Galaxy
Edson Buddle (Option)
Alan Gordon (Option)
Montreal Impact
Kenny Cooper (Option)
Justin Mapp (Out of Contract)
New York City
Ned Grabavoy (Option)
NY Red Bulls
Kyle Reynish (Option)
Orlando City
Corey Ashe (Option)
Eric Avila (Option)
Philadelphia Union
Brian Carroll (Option)
Conor Casey (Option)
Portland Timbers
Andrew Weber (Option)
Seattle Sounders
Chad Barrett (Option)
Troy Perkins (Option
Sporting KC
Paulo Nagamura (Out of Contract)

Written by Tris Burke December 08 2015 05:16:59