Rwanda Partners Morocco for CHAN Preparations
Arsene Wenger does not deserve to be criticised for his transfer policy at Arsenal, according to former Gunners star and current scout Gilles Grimandi. After years of austerity, Wenger has loosened the purse strings to bring Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to the Emirates Stadium in each of the last two summers in a bid to re-establish Arsenal as title contenders.
Arsenal's efforts this season have been undermined by persistent injuries and Wenger's decision to start the season with just six senior defenders to cover four positions in the wake of Thomas Vermaelen's departure.
But Grimandi, who made over 100 appearances in five seasons with the Gunners and is now the club's chief scout in France, believes Wenger deserves credit rather than criticism for his approach.
“Recruitment is judged in the long term,” he told L'Equipe. “Nobody gets it 100 per cent right. But when you compare the money spent and our performance, I don’t think we do too badly.
“We have suffered in several positions through injuries but we are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 17th time and we have already overcome some very complicated moments.
“That is thanks to stability. Now we have to be very ambitious. And for that reason the knockout tie against Monaco is very important for us.”
Grimandi also voiced his opposition to the growing importance of statistics in football, arguing that greater scrutiny of numbers is changing the behaviour of players on the pitch.
“Stats take a greater and greater role,” he insisted. “You really have to put your case forward to argue against the numbers. In a club, stats give the possibility to exist to people who have a very limited knowledge.
“These numbers give security to people who don’t make brave decisions. That really annoys me. The other thing is that players are conscious of this change.
“Sometimes I wonder how much they are playing for the numbers: how many tackles they have won, how many kilometres they have run. It is not necessarily positive. I can win 100 per cent of my tackles if I don’t go in for ones I risk losing.
“I see more and more players run away from tackles and I think that is something that will carry on until stats start counting pulling out of tackles.
“Some young players who are very talented don’t have tackling in their armoury.”
Rijeka's sporting director, Ivan Mance, has confirmed the club have received a bid from Chelsea for striker Andrej Kramaric.
Goal revealed on Monday that the Croatia international was close to agreeing a move to Stamford Bridge, with the Premier League leaders willing to pay up to £8 million (€10m) to secure his services.
Mance has now confirmed that the Blues have made an opening offer for the 23-year-old Kramaric, who has scored 21 goals in 19 league appearances this season.
"I can confirm that our office has received a formal bid from Chelsea,” the Rijeka official told Sportske.
Leicester City have previously shown an interest in Kramaric, and Goal understands he could be loaned to the Foxes for the remainder of the campaign if his proposed move to Chelsea goes through.
The Blues sent a delegation to Croatia last Saturday to meet with the player's father and agent, Joza, as well as representatives from Rijeka.
It has been claimed that the San Siro side had spoken with the French champions about a possible deal but the Nerazzurri boss insists that no contact has been made.
Inter boss Roberto Mancini has denied reports that the Italian club have approached Paris Saint-Germain about signing winger Ezequiel Lavezzi.
The two sides met in a friendly on Tuesday, with the champions prevailing 1-0 thanks to a second-half strike from France midfielder Yohan Cabaye.
Mancini was asked after the game in Marrakech if he had availed of the opportunity to speak with PSG about Lavezzi, with the coach said to be keen on strengthening Inter's attack during the upcoming January transfer window.
However, the former Manchester City boss insisted that neither he nor any Nerazzurri officials have enquired about the availability of the Argentina international.
"Lavezzi is a great player, but he's a PSG player," Mancini told reporters. "But there has been no contact and it's not for me to make any contact."
Lavezzi joined PSG from Serie A side Napoli in 2012 for a reported €26.5 million but has been repeatedly linked with a return to Italy.
Stephan El Shaarawy insists he has no desire to leave AC Milan and is eager to bring success to the club in the New Year.
The 22-year-old has been blighted by injury problems over the past 12 months but offered proof he is approaching top form again with a brilliant double in Tuesday's 4-2 friendly win over Real Madrid.
With the January transfer window approaching, El Shaarawy has poured cold water on speculation he could leave San Siro and is determined to enjoy a strong 2015.
"I've already said: I'm staying at Milan and I want to do well," he told reporters in Dubai. "In terms of the game, we did well. It was a great day for me.
"A game like this gives me a lot of confidence. Goals are important mentally for a striker, so I'm happy to have got two against Real Madrid.
"It was also very satisfying for the team - we've underlined that we're doing well after the Roma and Napoli games.
"Now we have to continue like this. We want to start the league well in 2015."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says talk of Lukas Podolski joining Inter Milan in a loan deal next month 'is a joke'.
And Wenger is confident the World Cup winner will stay at the Emirates beyond the January transfer window, despite being unhappy at his limited game time.
Inter boss Roberto Mancini informed an Italian news channel that the 29-yearold is "part of a list of players we are following" and is said to be weighing up a loan move.
"That is a joke. Inter Milan is not serious. It is nothing serious. They talk, there is only talk."
But an irate Wenger said: "That is a joke. Inter Milan is not serious. It is nothing serious. They talk, there is only talk."
Wenger is keen for Podolski to remain part of his squad with Olivier Giroud hit by a three-game suspension and Danny Welbeck struggling with a thigh problem picked up in the win against West Ham.
"Podolski is a player of Arsenal Football Club and I want him to stay,” Wenger said. “Apart from that, what it is to be professional is that as long as you are somewhere, you give your best to justify your wages and your love for the club."
And Wenger rejected the notion that Podolski would benefit from a loan spell anywhere, as he believes only younger players gain anything from such an experience.
"I don't really doubt in some positions where players need experience, but that is not the case for Podolski," he said.
"For players who need practice because they are at a very young age, like Yaya Sanogo it is not impossible."
The Frenchman also confirmed he intends to bring in some cover during the window, given the number of injuries suffered by key men, notably in midfield.
Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Mezut Ozil are all sidelined and Wenger said: "There is a need there, but the right opportunity has to come up. To buy is not what we want to do, but if the right opportunity comes up, we will do it."
Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has entered into agreement with their Moroccan counterparts to facilitate them in preparation for the 2016 African Nations Championship that will be hosted in Rwanda.
Morocco, which was scheduled to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, overturned the decision following the Ebola outbreak that has ravaged a number of African nations claiming thousands of lives.
Speaking to supersport.com, the FERWAFA president Vincent Degaule Nzamwita said, “The Morocco FA had gone so far in the organization of the 2015 AFCON and we can learn so much from them as we prepare to host Chan in 2016.”
“By the time they withdrew from hosting the tournament, they had everything ready for the tournament next month. So we have agreed that they will send someone to Rwanda to share with us details about media accreditation and generally the organization of a continental tournament of this calibre.”
Morocco hosted Rwanda in a friendly match last month that culminated in a goalless draw, a result that has pushed Rwanda to a historic 68th position on the Fifa rankings and 19th in Africa.
Rwanda has hosted two youth continental football tournaments including the 2009 African Youth Championship for U-20 players and the 2011 Africa U-17 Championship.
The Chan tournament has been organized exclusively for players who feature in the domestic leagues in their countries and the 2016 edition will be the fourth edition.
Ivory Coast hosted the inaugural edition in 2009 before Sudan and South Africa hosted the 2011 and 2014 competitions respectively.
City have pleaded with the Senegal FA to allow them keep striker Mame Biram Diouf until January 11 when they play Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League.
Diouf has been named in the Senegalese squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and the football federation of the West African expects the striker to arrive their camp on January 5 - 13 days before the Afcon begins.
Manager of Stoke City, Mark Hughes, is hoping that the Senegalese will give The Potters a favourable response to their rquest.
"He's just scored two and this is the time you'd hope he would go on a little run. We are going to make representations to hopefully try and get a little bit more time with him before he actually goes.
"Hopefully, that's something that will be positive for us, but Fifa regulations say they can call players up two weeks before it starts. At the moment we are looking to lose him around about the fifth of January," said Hughes.
But should Senegal insist on having Diouf join their national team setup for the Afcon, he would miss the Arsenal and Leicester City matches which take place about the period the Teranga Lions will play their group matches against Ghana, South Africa and Algeria between January 19 and 27.
However, the Stoke boss said "from our selfish point of view," the English club will be glad to see Senegal knocked out at the group stage of the Afcon in a bid to have Diouf back in time for the league matches against QPR and Manchester City as well as a possible FA Cup match in February.
"I don't want to be disrespectful, but from our selfish point of view we want them to go out as soon as possible. If he's back early, we will be upset for Senegal, but delighted for ourselves," remarked Hughes.
Diouf has scored five league goals and helped with two assists in 18 matches for The Potters this season. The maiden edition of the Football for Hope organised by the office of the Special Assistant to the Governor on football matters will hold today.
The event is a pet project designed to help the less privileged in the society with specific emphasis on Motherless Babes homes, physically challenged personalities and ex-footballers, who can no longer cater for themselves.
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and his friends will square up against Nigerian Pros (Foreign and local players) at the Campos mini Stadium, Lagos, in the second match of the day.
While the Managers FC will take on Lagos SWAN in the first match expected to kick-off by 3:00PM.
Speaking at the media conference held at the Lagos State Football Association, LSFA Boardroom at Onikan Stadium, Lagos, on Thursday; the Special Assistant to the governor, Adeyinka Adebayo expressed his optimism about the programme
"We are happy to organise the Football for Hope event and hopefully we will continue to promote this project using football as a platform to reach out to the less privileged in our society.
Taribo West, Obafemi Matins, Babatunde Micheal, JJ Okocha, Teslim Fatusi, Asista Oshoala and Fatai Amoo are some of football stars expected to play in the match.