‘Other players deliberately try to provoke me,’ claims Fellaini

MANCHESTER: Marouane Fellaini,

believes he has been unfairly cast as the villain and “a murderer” in English football as he ponders his next career move.

Manchester United’s Belgium midfielder will be out of contract at the end of the season and is waiting for an improved offer from the club. He will be free to open talks with foreign clubs on Monday with Besiktas showing interest.

Fellaini’s awkward playing style has split opinion among United fans since he joined from Everton for £27.5million in 2013.

His combative approach has also brought criticism away from United, though he has been sent off only three times – latterly for butting Sergio Aguero in April’s Manchester derby.

Fellaini, 30, also collected a retrospective three-match ban last year for elbowing Robert Huth after the Leicester defender pulled his hair.

Fellaini said this reputation is undeserved in an interview with Belgian magazine

“They have labelled me an aggressive player, a murderer,” he said. “Look, I’m fanatical. The team that wants it the hardest wins but there have been times when I came out as the villain.

“What should I do if they pull me by the hair? It sounds like a joke, but it really hurts. I was suspended for a headbutt against Aguero. He stepped towards me and then dropped dead. But, no, I get the red.

“Players try to provoke me but do you know how many yellow cards I collected last season? Four, in 45 matches.”

Jose Mourinho’s gripe about Manchester City’s spending power met little sympathy in north London with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saying he had learned to deal with his club’s inability to compete with the financial elite for more than two decades.

Manchester United manager Mourinho said this week he needed additional funds – more than the £300 million the club has spent since he took over – to be able to challenge runaway Premier League leaders City.

“I have been in that position for 21 years so I will not start to complain now. There is always one team, sometimes four, who were richer than I was, so I learnt to cope with that,” Wenger said.

“What is most important is you deal with your own situation as well as you can and, yes, City are richer than us, Chelsea are richer than us and United are richer than us, but I believe we have to find a way to be successful.”

Arsenal broke their transfer record in the close season when they signed French striker Alexandre Lacazette for a reported fee of £46.5 million.

The French manager also brought in striker Alexis Sanchez for £35 million in 2014 and midfielder Mesut Ozil for £42 million in 2013.

Despite those signings, Wenger has faced criticism from fans for his transfer policy but he stressed the need for managers to get the most out of their resources.

“Your job is to take the best out of your team, the potential of your team, and nobody can really measure that. You have to analyse that, and to do as well as you can.” – Reuters and Daily Mail LIVERPOOL boss Juergen Klopp,

has welcomed midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s self-criticism after Tuesday’s thrashing of Swansea as he believes it illustrates the midfielder’s desire for improvement.

Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the final goal in a 5-0 rout of Swansea at Anfield on Tuesday but the England international said after the game that he had been disappointed with his performance.

The 24-year-old joined Liverpool from Arsenal on deadline day last August hoping to play a more central role on Merseyside after being used mostly on the flanks by Arsene Wenger.

“Ox is a smart player. He knew it was not even close to his best possible performance, but it’s no problem, that’s football,” Klopp said.

“Ox needs to adapt to the position still, that’s no problem. He has a lot of space for improvement. But it’s nice to see that he is really hard-working on it.

“He is a really hard-working boy and wants to improve. It’s good that he knows he can do better – now we have to work together on it so he can do better.”

Klopp also hailed defender Ragnar Klavan as a role model for his team mates after the Estonian re-established himself in Liverpool’s starting line-up and helped the club record three clean sheets in his last five league starts.

Klavan is likely to be fourth choice at centre half when Virgil van Dijk joins Liverpool from Southampton in the New Year but Klopp said it was important to have depth in such key positions.

“He is a perfect role model for pretty much all signings. He loves being here,” Klopp added.

“He needs to be confident. He could be much more confident with his skills... But we are working on that as well.

“He is in good shape at the moment. It’s very, very important for us that he is.

“We had Joel (Matip) and Dejan (Lovren) with one or two little (injuries) so it was very important that he could step in.”

Klopp has also urged supporters to “forget about the price tag” for the club’s record signing Van Dijk and focus on the qualities of the Dutch international.

Van Dijk will arrive at Anfield from Southampton at the start of next month after the clubs agreed a reported £75 million (R1.25bn) fee that would make him the world’s most expensive defender.

The signing of the 26-year-old centre back is expected to offer stability to a Liverpool defensive line that has come in for heavy criticism this season.

“Quality ... That’s why we got him, that’s why we were interested in him,” Klopp told Sky Sports.

“I can imagine people think ‘wow’ what a number it is.

“But for me it is not really interesting. We don’t make the prices, the market is making the prices.

“The first thing all Liverpool supporters should forget is the price tag.

“We only talk about the player and what he can bring in; the quality, the mentality, the character.”

Liverpool play two Premier League fixtures in the space of 48 hours when they host Leicester City tomorrow and then travel to Burnley on New Year’s Day.

They featured in a similar quickfire double-header during the festive period last season, when they beat Manchester City but could only manage a draw against Sunderland.

“You cannot learn from it, you only learn to accept it,” Klopp said, referring to the fixture congestion. “Now the focus is on Leicester. “We are prepared for that game, for sure, and then we will see.”

Liverpool are currently fourth in the league, while Leicester are in eighthplace, and Burnley seventh. – Reuters