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Football News: Wolfsburg Sign FIFA 16 Player, Evans Threatens To Quit Leeds And More

Wolfsburg Sign FIFA 16 Player, Evans Threatens To Quit Leeds And More
Image from: dailyrecord.co.uk

1. Poch dismisses talk of Spurs aiming to beat Gooners
The long held belief that Tottenham Hotspur approach each season with the aim of finishing above Arsenal has been dismissed by Mauricio Pochettino. Despite Spurs having failed to finish above the Gunners since the 1994/95 season, Pochettino has said that the team's aims are not finishing above Arsenal, though they are currently in front of their North London rivals on goal difference. "It's not my principle motivation, I can feel now that this is very important for our supporters and all people that love Tottenham," he said. "The reality is they are our sworn enemy and you can feel that. But for me its very important to complete our goals and our objectives and don't think to much about our opponent. It is not important what Arsenal, Manchester City or Leicester do."

2. Muniesa makes changes to avoid injury
With Stoke City suffering an injury crisis to their central defenders, the normally injury prone Marc Muniesa is the only currently fit first team centre back. Muniesa, in order to try and cure his recent injury problems, has made changes to his lifestyle, training and is trying to make changes to the footwear he uses. "I'm playing and training with different inner-soles in my boots, I've changed my diet and I've brought some machines to use at home," Muniesa has told the club's match programme this weekend. "It was important that I made those changes to my approach because I don't want to encounter these problems again. Now I work from day-to-day. I don't think too far ahead because I want to be right every day. Every training session for me is like a big day because I don't want to have any problems."

 

3. Evans will quit Leeds if they are not competing for promotion
Steve Evans has claimed he will quit his job as Leeds United boss if they fail to compete for promotion next season. Currently the Whites sit in 15th place, with little genuine hope of a play off challenge this season, but Evans expects better next season from his charges. "I want a proper promotion challenge next season", he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "I'm certain that I'll get the support I want in the summer so if I can't get a proper promotion challenge going I won't be here. Mr Cellino won't have to sack me because I'll walk away with no money. I'll have failed.
If my signings aren't good enough, if the results aren't right then I can't blame anyone else. But I'm saying this because I think we'll be good enough to compete properly next season. I'm 100 per cent confident we will. I think we have to do that. I'll have had more than half of this season so I can't go into next season saying 'we're going for mid-table or top 10'. That won't cut it."

4. Squad changes for the Europa League
Anderlecht
In: Stéphane Badji, Alexander Büttner, Filip Djuričić
Out: Guillaume Gillet
Athletic Bilbao
In: Jonás Ramalho
Out: Kike Sola
Augsburg
In: Jan Morávek, Daniel Opare, Shawn Parker
Out: Jan Callsen-Bracker, Tim Matavž
Basel
In: Alexander Fransson, Andraž Šporar, Renato Steffen
Out: Mohamed Elneny, Ivan Ivanov, Yōichirō Kakitani, Zdravko Kuzmanović
Braga
In: Marafona, Josué, Nikola Stoiljković
Out: Joan Roman, Crislan, Stanislav Kritsuk, Luís Silva
Borussia Dortmund
In: Christian Pulisic, Jon Gorenc Stanković
Out: Jonas Hofmann, Adnan Januzaj, Pascal Stenzel
Fenerbahçe
In: none
Out: Hakan Çinemre, Mehdi Akgül
Fiorentina
In: Yohan Benalouane, Tino Costa, Mauro Zárate
Out: Gilberto, Mario Suárez, Ante Rebić, Giuseppe Rossi, Joan Verdú
Galatasaray
In: Ryan Donk, İsmail Çipe
Out: Jem Paul Karacan
Ruban Krasnodar
In: Nikolai Markov, Andrei Sinitsin
Out: Artur Jędrzejczyk, Anton Kochenkov
Lazio
In: Milan Biševac
Out: Stefan de Vrij
Bayer Leverkusen
In: Charles Aránguiz, Robbie Kruse
Out: Giulio Donati, Seung-Woo Ryu
Liverpool
In: Steven Caulker, João Carlos Teixeira, Danny Ward
Out: Ádám Bogdán, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings
Lokomotiv Moscow
In: Anton Kochenkov
Out: Baye Oumar Niasse
Manchester United
In: William Keane, Regan Poole
Out: Nick Powell
Olympique Marseille
In: Steven Fletcher, Florian Thauvin
Out: Lucas Ocampos, Lucas Silva
Midtjylland
In: Nikolay Bodurov, Rilwan Hassan, Václav Kadlec
Out: David Akintola, Francis Dickoh, Eyjólfur Hédinsson, Marco Larsen, Jesper Lauridsen, Rasmus Lauritsen, Morten Rasmussen, Erik Sviatchenko
Molde
In: Fredrik Aursnes, Pape Paté Diouf, Petter Strand
Out: Tommy Høiland, Etzaz Hussain, Ola Kamara, Martin Linnes, Fredrik Semb Berge, Magne Simonsen, Harmeet Singh
Napoli
In: none
Out: none
Olympiacos
In: Jimmy Durmaz, Saša Zdjelar
Out: Alfred Finnbogason, Giannis Maniatis
Porto
In: José Ángel Valdés, Moussa Marega, Hyun Jun Suk
Out: Aly Cissokho, Cristian Tello, Giannelli Imbula, Pablo Osvaldo
Rapid Vienna
In: Lukas Heinicker, Dino Kovacec, Thomas Murg
Out: Peter Hlinka, Philipp Huspek, Michael Schimpelsberger
Schalke 04
In: Younès Belhanda, Alessandro Schöpf
Out: Joy-Lance Mickels, Felipe Santana
Sevilla
In: Federico Fazio, Diogo Figueiras, Nicolás Pareja
Out: Marco Andreolli, Ciro Immobile, Gaël Kakuta, Luismi
Shakhtar Donetsk
In: Giorgi Arabidze
Out: Serhiy Gryn
Sion
In: Lukáš Čmelík, Fanis Gekas, Anton Mitryushkin
Out: none
Sparta Prague
In: Adam Janos, Ondřej Mazuch, Ondřej Zahustel
Out: Michal Breznaník, Josef Hušbauer, Francis Litsingi, Marco Paixão
Sporting CP
In: Hernan Barcos, Sebastián Coates, Bruno César
Out: Marcelo, Fredy Montero, Jonathan Silva, Junya Tanaka
St-Étienne
In: Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel, Franck Tabanou, Oussama Tannane
Out: Robert Berić, François Clerc, Ismaël Diomandé, Erin Pinheiro
Tottenham Hotspur
In: Thomas Glover
Out: Federico Fazio, Alex Pritchard, Andros Townsend
Valencia
In: Denis Cheryshev, Diego Alves, Wilfried Zahibo
Out: Rodrigo De Paul, Lucas Orbán
Villarreal
In: Alfonso Pedraza
Out: Bojan Jokić

 

5. Deila refuses to quit
Celtic's lead at the top of the SPFL has been cut to three points following a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen, following a League Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County. With the fans turning on the manager, calls for him to resign are growing, but Deila has said he will not walk away. "I will never quit of course. This is a fantastic job and I see big opportunities here. The dream is to get into the Champions League. This is a Champions League club and we have to win the league and we are three points ahead. Everything is in our hands and there is a lot to play for. We will stick to what we believe in, which we have done well a lot of times, and fight to win the league." Deila added: "We are in this together, everybody is one group. I talk to the players, the board and Peter (Lawwell, chief executive) and we are in this together and we are going to turn this around. The most important thing is that everyone, the fans, everybody stands together and we are one team. Of course I want to be loved as well, as everybody else, but I understand that people are irritated and want better results. I know the fans will stick with us as well because they are Celtic fans and that is going to be so important."

6. Palace hit by double injury blow
With Crystal Palace in the midst of a slump in form, the last thing they needed was to lose key players to injury, but that is just what has happened. Jason Puncheon has suffered a hamstring injury, which will keep him out for a month, while midfield driving force James McArthur has suffered an ankle injury, which will see him out for a lengthy period too. Pardew said: "I have some disappointing news - McArthur and Puncheon are out for a long period. They have both been having fabulous seasons for us, so that's a significant blow. Yohan Cabaye should be back for Saturday [away at Swansea] and Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie for Spurs [FA Cup tie on February 20]." The Eagles are in 12th place, and suffered their 5th defeat in a row against Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

 

7. Young midfielder signs new Chelsea deal
Kasey Palmer, an England U18 international, who was brought in to Chelsea's academy at the age of 15 from Charlton Athletic's academy, has signed a new contract. Palmer is a mainstay of the Blues' U21 side, but has yet to make his first team debut, though Hiddink has hinted that it will come soon this season. "We can [now] give the youngsters a chance as well to show themselves," Hiddink said. "[Loftus-Cheek] did very well in training the other day and the youngsters will have opportunities. That made it easier towards the future to let Ramires go."



8. Alli to undergo tests on dizziness
Tottenham Hotspur had to withdraw key midfielder Dele Alli at halftime during the midweek win at Norwich City due to a dizzy spell. The youngster will now undergo tests to find out the issue, though they have confirmed he has trained since and feels fine. "I do not know why he was dizzy because I am not a doctor. We need to do some tests next week but we have very good medical staff and we are not worried," Pochettino said. "Today Dele was good in the training session but we need to assess tomorrow, after the last training session, and know why, but I do not think it is a big problem. I still think he is available [for Saturday] but we need to have some control. He feels good now but after tomorrow [Friday] we need to assess him and if he's all normal he will be available. We have one more training session tomorrow and we will decide after whether or not Ryan Mason will be back. Jan [Vertonghen] and Clinton [Njie] are still out with injury."

 

9. Kane and Vardy as good as Aguero says Poch
Mauricio Pochettino has backed Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy and claimed they are at the same level as Manchester City's Argentine forward Sergio Kun Aguero. Vardy tops the Premier League scoring charts, while Kane is second, with three goals less than the Foxes' star, ahead of Aguero, who has suffered with injuries again this season. "Today Vardy and Kane show big quality and the same quality as Aguero," Pochettino said. "They are all different and come from different circumstances but if today we speak about Aguero, Vardy or Kane they are some of the best goalscorers in the world. We can't hide that. Today Vardy and Kane are at the same level as Aguero."

10. Wolfsburg sign a FIFA 16 player
This may seem like a joke, but VfL Wolfsburg have really signed a FIFA 16 player. Englishman David Bytheway will represent the Bundesliga club in FIFA tournaments and events. "It's absolutely massive for me the fact that a team like Wolfsburg have got involved with gaming," Bytheway said in an interview with the BBC. "It was just something I was doing at home to start with, just playing my friends and wanting to be the best out of them, and all of a sudden I'm a part of a football club." Bytheway previously represented England at the FIFA Interactive World Cup.

Written by Tris Burke February 04 2016 20:13:23