Football News: Man Attacks Eagle, Pele Sues Samsung And Much More

1. Tevez says his only option was Manchester City
Former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has claimed that Manchester United never made him any offer to stay, which is why he left for Manchester City. Argentine superstar Tevez had initially moved to English football with West Ham United, in the hopes of a move to a major European side, along with Javier Mascherano. Tevez achieved that dream quickly, with a move to Man Utd on loan from Media Sports Investment, the third-party owner that led to the Premier League banning third-party ownership. In 2009 Tevez left Man Utd to move across the city of Manchester to sign for Manchester City, a move which called furore at the time. Now Tevez has claimed that he was let down by United: "With Ferguson nothing happened, it was a normal relationship," he told Marca. "I spent two years on loan at United [from third-party owner Media Sports Investment] and Ferguson in the last year tells me they will buy the rights for me to stay. We reached the Champions League final in Rome and I had no contract on the table, although I had heard about it for a year. Then I went to City and they complained, but I had no choice to sign for Manchester [United] and I was free."

2. Pele sues Samsung
South Korean electronics giant Samsung are facing a lawsuit from Brazilian football's legendary striker Pele. The retired player has filed suit against Samsung in a US federal court in Chicago, claiming that Samsung used a lookalike image in an advertisement. Pele's attorney, Frederick J. Sperling, has confirmed that they will be seeking 'fair compensation' for the unauthorised use of Pele's identity. While no mention of Pele's name was used in the advert, for televisions in The New York Times in October 2015, they claim that the image was intended to represent him, as it was next to a TV which showed a football match on it.

 

3. Garde leaves Villa
In the least surprising bit of news this year, Remi Garde has left Aston Villa by 'mutual consent'. The Frenchman has had a disastrous spell in charge of the Midlanders, seeing his side slip to almost certain doom with little more than a whimper and even less sign of effort. With the players saving their fight for arguing with their own side's fans, at pitch side or on social media, on the pitch they have consistently rolled over for every team they have faced. Garde has now taken the fall for that lack of effort, as he continued to pick the same underperforming players each week. Eric Black will now take charge of the Villans until a new manager is appointed.

4. Man attacks Palace eagle
Crystal Palace are famous for having a bald eagle, called Kayla, as a mascot, and having it fly around the pitch during the build up to matches. Daniel Boylett, 35, of Eltham, has appeared in court to defend himself against charges of trying to attack Kayla during the League Cup tie with fierce rivals Charlton Athletic at Selhurst Park on September 23 2015. Boylett appeared in court charged with attempted criminal damage to the value of £20,000, the estimated worth of the American bald eagle. He is also standing trial on charges of violent disorder alongside Colin Kitto, 48, and Andy McConville, 47. The match was marred by violent clashes outside of the stadium.

 

5. Messi becomes the second player to score 50 for Argentina
At the age of just 28, Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has become just the second player in history to net 50 international goals for Argentina. The previous player to manage the feat was Gabriel Batistuta, who managed 54 goals in 78 matches. Messi is also fourth on the all-time caps list with 107 appearances, overtaking Diego Simeone. Messi is just one goal short of reaching a landmark of 500 career goals, with 449 scored for Barca, to add to his 50 for his country. Messi will have a chance to reach the 500 goals landmark on Saturday, when Barca host bitter rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico in the Primera Liga.

6. Toure's agent in talks with European clubs
Yaya Toure's agent, Dimitry Seluk, has revealed that he has begun talks with European clubs as the Ivory Coast international looks to leave Manchester City in the summer. Seluk claims that Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are interested in taking the 32 year old. Seluk had previously said that Toure wished to remain in the Premier League, but there is no hope of anyone matching his obscene wage demands and cake habit in English football. China has also been mentionaed as a possible destination for Toure.

 

7. Payet shows how it is done
Not content with notching some beauties for West Ham United this season, Dmitri Payet has added this stunner for France during the international break:

Payet just won the international break 🔥 pic.twitter.com/suNNeQkwuS

— Football Fights (@footbalIfights) 29 March 2016

8. Taylor claims Rodgers would be welcome back at the Swans
Swansea City defender Neil Taylor has said that former manager Brendan Rodgers would be welcome back at the South Wales club. Rodgers left Swansea in 2012 to take on the job at Liverpool, after leading the Swans into the Premier League for the first time. "He did great things for this football club, so there is no reason why we wouldn't want him back," said Swansea defender Taylor. "We know he is a fantastic manager but we have to do a job. We can think about that at the end of the season."

 

9. Turan claims he would have settled for Arsenal
Barcelona's Turkish international Arda Turan has claimed he would have joined Arsenal if he had not been good enough for Barca. Turan joined the Catalans in the summer from Atletico Madrid, though he was unable to make his debut until January due to Barcelona's signing ban. Turan told Diari Ara: "I felt that I would sign for Barca. Honestly, I thought: 'If I play very well I'll end up signing for Barca, because my style fits this team. If I play well, finish at Arsenal.' For my style, with ball, playing easy, short, aggressive when needed, but especially good, I knew I could get here in Barcelona."

10. Kante refuses to commit his future to the Foxes
With Leicester City flying high atop the English Premier League, it is only to be expected that their players are being linked with moves to other clubs. N'Golo Kante, their summer signing from French lower league side Caen, has been linked with clubs such as Juventus, Chelsea and Arsenal, following his success this season. Following Kante's starring role for France as they gave Russia a 4-2 beating, he has refused to confirm an intention to stay with Leicester next season. "I will fight for Leicester this season and next season we never know and we will see," Kante said. "At this moment I am focused on Leicester. We have to finish well this season but I don't mind about [being linked with] the other clubs."

Written by Tris Burke March 30 2016 10:08:44