Football News: Bony Hits Out At Decision To Drop Him For Aguero And More News Of The Day
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1. Papiss Cisse opens his house to the fans
Newcastle United's Senegal international striker opened his doors to young Toon fans to hold a Christmas party, handing out gifts and snowman cakes to his guests, while wearing a black and white Santa costume. Cisse was happy to chat with the fans and played pool with a group of them. This is not the first time the big hearted star has done similar events for fans, he hosted a Christmas party last year and a summer barbecue in the summer of 2013.
2. Forlan open to MLS move
Uruguay's Diego Forlan has finally returned home since moving abroad in 1994, guiding Penarol to the Apertura title in his first season back, but already the much travelled forward is considering moving abroad again. Following a big money move from Independiente to Manchester United, he has been in Spain with Villareal and Atletico Madrid, then across to Italy with Inter Milan, before Brazil with Internacional and then to Japan with Cerezo Osaka. Now he is beset with wanderlust again, as he discusses his desire to take part in the MLS.
3. Garde confirms Inler interest
Remi Garde has confirmed that Aston Villa are interested in signing Leicester City midfielder Gokhan Inler in the January transfer window. The 31 year old midfielder only joined the Foxes in the summer, in what was seen as a coup, from Napoli. With Inler making just two starts so far this season, his agent has admitted that the Swiss player will consider a move to safeguard his place in the Switzerland team in the forthcoming European Nations championships.
4. Evans confirms Bridcutt desire
Recently appointed Leeds United manager Steve Evans has admitted that he would like to keep on loan midfielder Liam Bridcutt. Bridcutt's loan deal is currently set to expire on 2nd January, and Evans is now hoping that Sam Allardyce will allow him to stay until the end of the season. With Sunderland in a difficult position in the league, Evans fears they may want to bring Bridcutt back.
5. Shevchenko calls on Milan to give Mihajlovic time
With Sinisa Mihajlovic's AC Milan showing patchy form so far in Serie A, Milan's legendary former Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko has called on his former team to give Mihajlovic more time to turn things around. Shevchenko believes that he has seen good signs of progress in the few months of Mihajlovic's reign. Shevchenko does warn that Mario Balotelli needs to do more, as this is his last chance to make the grade at a big club.
6. Clement backs Hiddink to be a success
Derby County manager Paul Clement is backing Guus Hiddink to succeed in lifting the atmosphere in the Chelsea dressing room. Clement previously coached at Chelsea for four years under both Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink, in their first spells at the Blues. "He is someone of great experience," Clement told Sky Sports about Hiddink. "In the period I worked with him at Chelsea I saw someone who has got great charisma, excellent language skills, is able to coach on the field, and a great tactician. He has got a real aura about him as well, he has a lot of presence and he is going to be great for that dressing room." Clement also added that he felt Jose Mourinho was unfortunate to be let go.
7. Mendes denies Jose deal
Jorge Mendes, the agent of Jose Mourinho, has rubbished reports that his client has agreed a deal to become the next manager of Manchester United. Since Mourinho left Chelsea last week, there have been persistent reports that the former Real Madrid and Porto boss was set to replace beleagured Red Devils head coach Louis van Gaal. Mendes has spoken out about the reports, saying that there has been no 'official proposal' from Man Utd.
8. Ozil happy in London
This season Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has been arguably the best player in the Premier League, with his form being one of the main reasons for the Gooners place right up at the top of the table. With a contract at Arsenal set to run until 2018, Ozil has spoken to Kicker about the future. "There is no rush to sign a new contract," Ozil told Kicker. "My current deal runs until 2018. That is still two-and-a-half years. There are no talks at the moment. I can only say that I am very happy in London. My decision to leave Real Madrid for Arsenal was the right one. There has not been a single day, apart from whenever I was injured, that I did not feel great here."
9. Wilfried Bony questions decision to leave him out against Arsenal
Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony had scored three goals in four games leading up to the match against Arsenal, but it was not enough to keep his place in the team once Sergio Aguero had recovered from a heel injury. The Ivory Coast striker was asked if he deserved to be playing and said: "I think so. He (Aguero) is coming back from injury. He hasn't played for a couple of weeks. I'm disappointed today that I didn't start but I'm not the coach. The coach does what he thinks is best for the team. I'm sure everyone on the bench wants to play. He just has to choose 11 players. So when I come on I just try to do my best to try to score or to give an assist to the other players to score to help the team to win." The former Swansea City striker has struggled to establish himself with Man City, so it is little wonder he was disappointed to be dropped, just as he finally hit some form in a blue shirt.
10. Ronaldinho backs Guardiola to succeed
Brazilian legend and former Barcelona favourite Ronaldinho has been talking up Pep Guardiola's ability as a coach. Guardiola announced his intention to leave Bayern Munich for pastures new at the end of the season, and now speculation is rife about his next destination. Following three league titles, two Copa del Rey crowns and two Champions Leagues with Barcelona, he took a year out of football, only to step into the Bayern Munich role and collect back to back Bundesliga trophies. Ronaldinho has now backed Pep to succeed no matter where he ends up next season. "Pep is a great coach who could manage any team in the world," Ronaldinho told Omnisport. "He is a good friend and he could coach any team in the world."
Written by Tris Burke December 23 2015 13:43:13
