New deals for United duo
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Manchester United are set to offer new contracts to Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
The veteran duo have become part of the furniture at Old Trafford over the years, having spent their entire careers to date with the Red Devils.
They are now set to be offered the opportunity to prolong their association with the club even further by penning fresh terms.
Giggs, the reigning PFA Player of the Year and latest member of the Premier League 100-goals club, will be rewarded for a number of performances which belie his years.
Scholes, who is also entering the twilight of his distinguished career, will also be awarded a new deal despite passing his 35th birthday.
Ferguson is convinced that the pair can still do a job at the highest level and is determined to tie them down for a further 12 months.
“Ryan will be offered a new contract for next season, which is an indication of what we think of him coming up to 37 next season, and Paul knows he will be offered one as well,” Ferguson said.
Both Giggs and Scholes have seen their first-team opportunities limited of late in an effort to save their ageing legs for the games that matter most.
Ferguson, though, continues to be amazed by the level of performance they put in and believes they are capable of going on for some time yet.
Humility
“Ryan is an example to young people,” said Ferguson.
“He has humility and he has never changed and I think he is having his best years now.
“He has retained that amazing quality in his game and also an enthusiasm to play.”
He added: “I spoke to Paul and he said he didn’t actually say he was thinking of his future.
“When you get to that age every player starts to think about what the future holds for him.
“But when you see Paul’s performances at West Ham and in Wolfsburg last week there is no reason to think he can’t do it again next year again.
“Maybe he thinks he should be playing every game. That’s fine, but I know that’s not fair.
“We want the quality. We want to see Scholes perform like he did on Tuesday and the best way of doing that is to gauge the games we know he is going to dominate.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: 12 Months, 35th Birthday, Alex Ferguson, Contracts, Humility, Legs, Manchester United, New Contract, New Deal, Old Trafford, Paul Scholes, Pfa Player Of The Year, Premier League, Red Devils, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson, Team Opportunities, Twilight, Veteran, West Ham
Shawcross flattered by interest
Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross admits he was flattered by speculation linking him with other clubs.
Shawcross recently pledged his long-term future to Stoke by signing a new deal at the Britannia Stadium after attracting interest from the likes of Liverpool and former club Manchester United.
The England Under 21 international admits he was happy to extend his stay at Stoke and paid tribute to Tony Pulis for improving him as a player.
“It is always good when you get linked with clubs as it means you are doing something well, but I have signed a new deal here,” Shawcross told Sky Sports News.
“I am very happy, my family is very happy so I will just continue to hopefully perform well for Stoke.”
Shawcross admits the chance to play regular first-team football was a big factor in his decision to stay put and that by playing on a consistent basis has made him a better defender.
“It’s a massive factor that I am performing the way I am,” added Shawcross.
“I am playing week in, week out. If I would have been at a team where I was not playing I may not have improved how I have done.
“The manager has got to take a lot of credit. He brought me in as a reserve player and he has turned me into a Premier League player week in, week out so a lot of thanks has got to go to him.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Britannia Stadium, Club Manchester United, Consistent Basis, England, Liverpool, New Deal, Premier League, Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, Speculation, Team Football, Tony Pulis, Tribute To Tony, Wigan
Hodgson on the verge of a new deal at Fulham
• Manager happy to remain in charge at Craven Cottage
• ‘It wasn’t a difficult discussion,’ he says
Roy Hodgson is on the verge of signing a contract extension with Fulham after agreeing terms. The manager, who has been a huge success at Craven Cottage since arriving to mastermind their ultimately successful fight against relegation in 2007, said that an agreement had been reached.
The 62-year-old former Blackburn and Internazionale manager’s current deal expires at the end of this season and the club have been eager to secure his future.
“It wasn’t a difficult discussion,” Hodgson said. “We are basically in agreement and I’ve got to say it was very easy to come to that agreement.
“It seems that everyone is keen for me to stay and I’ve always made it perfectly clear that I’m happy to stay. I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I’m happy at Fulham and I’m enjoying the job here.
“It is just a matter now of putting the contract discussions that we have already had on to paper.”
The club have yet to make any statement.
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Amp, Blackburn, Contract Extension, Craven Cottage, Current, Fulham, Guardian News, Internazionale, Job, Limited, Mastermind, New Deal, Premier League, Relegation, Roy Hodgson, Success, Verge
Premier League seals £82m Barclays deal
• Three-year title sponsorship deal with £82.25m
• Deal to run from 2010-11 season until end of 2012-13
The Premier League and Barclays today agreed a new three-year title sponsorship deal worth £82.25m to top-flight clubs. The new deal was finalised after league chiefs initially rejected a lower offer from the bank.
Barclays have sponsored the Premier League since 2004 and their current three-year contract, which expires next year, was worth £65.8m. The increase in the value of the deal reflects the continuing strength of the Premier League in a sponsorship market that has been badly affected by the economic downturn in other areas of sport.
The deal will run from the 2010-11 season to the end of the 2012-13 season.
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: 25m, 8m, Amp, Barclays, Barclays Uk, Chiefs, Economic Downturn, Guardian Co Uk, Guardian News, Guardian Uk, New Deal, Premier League, Seals, Sponsorship Deal, Sponsorship Market, Sport, Title Sponsorship, Top Flight
Saudi tycoon’s takeover ‘has to happen,’ says Storrie
• Chief executive believes new deal is only way to save Pompey
• Takeover talks with Saudi billionaire to be held this week
Peter Storrie believes that the proposed sale of Portsmouth to Ali al-Faraj, the billionaire Saudi businessman, is the only way for the south-coast club to survive and, as the fixer in the deal, the chief executive said that he hoped to get the relevant parties around the table in London this week to conclude it.
“The deal has to happen, it’s the only way forward for the club,” Storrie said in relation to the story, as revealed in the Observer. “I am optimistic. My understanding is that there is an agreement in principle between [the current owner Sulaiman] al-Fahim and Faraj. It’s with the lawyers now and it’s just whether the deal can be done. It’s not a simple process, it’s quite complicated.”
Storrie said that Fahim, who has undergone an operation for kidney stones in Dubai, was scheduled to fly to London tonight and he added that he expected Faraj to arrive in London for talks later in the week. The sale has been driven because of concerns over Fahim’s ability to refinance the club, following his takeover from Sacha Gaydamak in August.
Storrie told Sky Sports today that Fahim had agreed to sell 90% of the club, retaining 10% with the likelihood that he would stay on as non-executive chairman.
Storrie admitted last Friday that at least “30% of the £50m” promised by Fahim needed to arrive by the middle of this month and there have been increasing doubts over whether that would happen. The players were not paid their monthly wages last Wednesday and although Faraj put up a bridging loan of £5m to solve that problem, the money was not released due to a legal impasse between both sides. The players expect to be paid tomorrow [Monday].
The issue of why it has seemingly gone so wrong for Fahim is moot. “It’s just been the timings,” said Storrie. “It will take longer than expected [for Fahim to realise the capital required] and the club cannot wait any longer, so this [Faraj's interest] is the right thing.”
Storrie had in the summer lined up the alternative of Faraj as Fahim ran into problems but, to Storrie’s horror, Gaydamak went through with his sale to Fahim. Under the terms of Gaydamak’s sale, he has to approve any subsequent sale if it were to occur before Fahim has refinanced the club. Gaydamak continues to guarantee some of Portsmouth’s loans.
“The deal can’t happen unless Sacha agrees,” said Storrie, who insisted that Faraj was not part of any takeover consortium. Faraj, 50, who has a holding in the petroleum company Sabic, passed the Premier League’s fit and proper person’s test when he was on the brink of taking over in August. Fahim, who appears amenable to Faraj’s investment, hopes to keep a minority share-holding for himself at the club.
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: 50m, Al Fahim, Billionaire, Bridging Loan, Capit, Executive Chairman, Gaydamak, Impasse, Kidney Stones, Last Friday, Likelihood, London Tonight, New Deal, Pompey, Relevant Parties, Saudi Businessman, Sky Sports, South Coast Club, Sulaiman, Takeover Talks