David Beckham to Remain at LA Galaxy?

Speculation that David Beckham has made a huge u-turn to sign a new deal with LA Galaxy is mounting today, following reports that he has turned down a switch to big spending Paris St. Germain in France. For a number of weeks now, Beckham has been linked with a return to European football with the club that has just appointed former Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti as its new manager. However, fresh reports from France state that the former England captain, 36, has decided not to make the switch to the French capital “for family reasons.”

The family reasons quoted are most likely to surround the fact that his wife and children are very much settled in Los Angeles at the moment. PSG sporting director, Leonardo was understandably disappointed with Beckham's decision: “It's over. It's a shame,” he told L'Equipe.

“But the welfare of his family in LA, the wish not not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily.”

Beckham is now expected to sign a new deal with the MLS champions, who are believed to have offered him a one-year rolling deal, which will automatically be renewed each season if he makes a certain number of appearances for the club.

LA Galaxy have recently been linked with a whole host of European based footballers, having been expecting to replace Beckham. Current and former Premier League stars such as Frank Lampard, Obafemi Martins and Carlos Edwards have been mentioned. But with Beckham now likely to stay, questions will be asked as to whether the Californian club will be prepared to bring in any more big name players, or focus on bringing through talented youngsters.

Meanwhile, Beckham's LA Galaxy team mate, Robbie Keane is being linked with the possibility of a return to the Premier League on loan for two months. The Ireland international is being widely linked with Aston Villa.

What are your thoughts on Beckham remaining in the MLS? Even those who prefer to play poker games than watch football will be interested to see what Beckham does next!

Eric Cantona Becomes New York Cosmos Director Of Soccer

Image from The Sun

Eric Cantona has returned to the world of soccer. The former Manchester United legend announced that he will be New York Cosmos's Director of Soccer. Eric Cantona joins Pele (honorary president) and Cobi Jones (associate sporting director) at the New York Cosmos, and he has big aspirations. Here's what he said about the Cosmos to The Sun in an interview,

"I am very honoured to join the legendary New York Cosmos. It's a big project, a wonderful project. The Cosmos are very strong, beautifully made, with a great past. It's kind of a mix between football and art. I will do everything I can to help us first find our way to regain the No 1 position in the United States, and then for us to become one of the best clubs in the world."

Cantona's role at the New York Cosmos will be to help rebuild the team, starting by attracting professional players to the club. We might see David Beckham helping rebuild the Cosmos with Cantona in the future, because there are heavy ties linking him to the New York club. While the New York Cosmos are building a formidable team of board members and directors, will they build just as strong a team? We'll just have to wait and see.

Transfer Wrap Up: Toni Goes on Loan to Roma and Both Sides of Milan Looking at Liverpools Unhappy Gems

With most of the worlds football in a bit of a quiet moment, the transfer news and rumors are really starting to pick up, players are restless and want to be sure they can get in their national sides for the upcoming world cup.


Toni leaves Bayern on loan to Roma


It is official now, on Bayern Munich's official website it says,

"Luca Toni requested to be loaned to AS Roma until the end of the season for personal reasons"

and now Toni's wish was granted, the Italian striker has moved to Roma until the end of this season, hoping to get regular playing time so that he can enter the World Cup squad for 2010. Toni's personal reasons can probably explained by his minimal playing time with the first team, Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal and Toni often had disputes, and Toni was hoping Van Gaal would be sacked, but instead Toni left for Rome.


Beckham already training with AC Milan


Beckham has been reunited with AC Milan, and now the rossoneri's season might start looking up with the addition of the English midfielder. Beckham has high hopes of entering the England squad for 2010, and Capello has recently hinted to Beckham already being a certainty for South Africa 2010.


Inter Milan looking at Gerrard and AC Milan see Torres as an option

With Liverpool's bad spell of results, many of the top players are unsettled and restless, especially the spanish striker Fernando Torres who said that if Liverpool do not grab a Champions League spot then he will leave in the summer. While Torres shows his unhappiness, it seems that Gerrard is keeping his inside, with the bad results Liverpool has had, he might be looking to go abroad for what could be his last move in his career. Inter Milan are looking at Gerrard closely and have supposedly already sent officials to England to oversee the possible transfer.


Manchester City looking for big names to sign over the summer


With Roberto Mancini at the helm of Manchester's blue side, many more players are considering Manchester City a possible option for their career. Mancini has already targeted many Serie A players like Juventus' Buffon and Chiellini, Inter Milan's Cordoba, Napoli's Hamsik, and Palermo's Kjaer. But much bigger names could be on the way like Ribery, Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Gerrard, Mascherano, and Torres. If Manchester City can get Champions League football for next year, many of these players could consider City as a possible option.


Vidic could leave United for Real Madrid, to be replaced by Porto's Bruno Alves


Manchester United have put a 30 million price tag on Nemanja Vidic, and it is possible that the Serbian could leave for Madrid, as Real are having a lot of defensive troubles. If this move were to take place, United are looking at Bruno Alves as the possible replacement, the Porto defender has Champions League experience and could be looking for a big move. Another name for the future would be Palermo's Kjaer, the young Danish defender is tracked by many big clubs.

Champions League Knockout Stage Draw Brings Back Memories for Mourinho and Beckham

The draw for the Champions League knockout stages was held and some fantastic matches will be played, some interesting Europa League draws are also included at the bottom.

Stuttgart - Barcelona
Olympiacos - Bordeaux
Inter Milan - Chelsea
Bayern Munich - Fiorentina
CSKA Moskva - Sevilla
Olympique Lyon - Real Madrid
FC Porto - Arsenal
AC Milan - Manchester United



AC Milan and Manchester United have played each other often throughout the years, and the Italian giants have often come out on top. And not only will the draw be difficult for both, but Beckham will be returning to his beloved Manchester and a free kick in the 90th minute could be deadly for United. Lyon and Real Madrid is another historical draw in which Lyon has often dominated, but the return of Karim Benzema could kill Lyon off. Fiorentina could be deemed unlucky with their draw, a tough Bayern team who just took out Juventus will be licking their lips for some more Italian blood. Barcelona, Arsenal, Sevilla, and Bordeaux all seem to have simple draws but upsets could be imminent. And probably the biggest draw is Inter Milan against Chelsea, with Mourinho returning to London, he can finally kill off all his past by getting past the blues.

Some Europa League draws are:

Villareal - Wolfsburg
Panathinaikos - Roma
Atletico Madrid - Galatasaray
Ajax - Juventus
Fulham - Shakhtar Donetsk
Liverpool - Unirea Urziceni
Everton - Sporting Lisbon

Major European Leagues Wrap Up: *MLS Special* Real Salt Lake Beat LA Galaxy to Claim MLS Cup

This week was full of action, in which the MLS Cup was conquered by Real Salt Lake.


*MLS SPECIAL*

The MLS Cup between LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake ended in an epic penalty shootout, both teams put heart into the game, but in the end, Real Salt Lake prevailed in the shootout, claiming the 14th MLS Cup. In the first half Magee scored for the LA Galaxy, but Findley is able to get one back for Real Salt Lake. 90 minutes passed, and 30 minutes of extra time, still can't separate these two sides, in the penalty shootout Donovan misses, allowing Real Salt Lake to claim the MLS Cup. Even though Beckham has to return to Milan, he'll return in tears, having missed an important trophy to win over american fans.

In England, an amazing week with wonderful score lines and great upsets for the Premiership, an epic 9-1 for Tottenham Hotspur against Wigan, a super Defoe which bagged five goals almost completing the double hat trick. Wigan has said that they will refund the traveling fans using the players salaries, this wonderful win allows Tottenham to move to fourth, three points clear of Aston Villa. Portsmouth lost 1-0 to Stoke City, leaving Portsmouth manager Paul Hart to be sacked, and probably replaced by Avram Grant. Sunderland overcome a Van Persie-less Arsenal 1-0, and Hull City drew a fantastic game 3-3 against West Ham United. Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers finishes 4-0 for the blues, but more importantly, three youngsters had their debut for Chelsea, one of them being Gael Kakuta who showed a lot of promise.

In Italy, Inter Milan have no trouble with Bologna, a simple 3-1 win, but Maicon receives a red for badmouthing an official which will make him miss the next two Serie A matches, and with Santon out this could heavily affect the neroazzurri against Juventus. Parma continue their great run by beating Fiorentina 3-2, a wonderful display of both teams, and if Parma continue like this, they might be in for a Europa League spot. Totti returns to Roma with a hat trick, one penalty, and two fantastic goals lead Roma to a 3-1 victory over Bari. AC Milan show strength and determination beating a super Cagliari 4-3, the seven goal thriller had spectacular play by both sides, and Cagliari will be disappointed to come out of this match without a point.

In Spain, Real Madrid take first place in La Liga thanks to a 1-0 win over Racing Santander, a goal by Higuain sets them up well for what should be a fantastic "El Classico" against Barcelona next weekend. Barcelona instead give up two points against Athletic Bilbao, a 1-1 draw could be dangerous, especially with "El Classico" coming up. Valencia beat Osasuna and Villareal beat Real Valladolid, while Atletico Madrid are unable to find their form. An early goal by Sergio Aguero in the game against Real Deportivo La Coruna should have let Atletico win, but a Deportivo came back to win 2-1.

What do you think of this week's action? Comment below!

Beckham Goes Back to AC Milan, and more Transfer Rumors

Beckham returns to AC Milan

AC Milan have confirmed that David Beckham, currently playing for LA Galaxy in the MLS, will go back to the Rossoneri in January. David said this about his return to AC Milan.

"I had to give myself the best chance to play in the World Cup, playing on loan with Milan will help me do that. I enjoyed my last experience at Milan a lot and I can't wait to meet the team and the staff again. I thank Tim Leiweke and Bruce Arena for having given me this opportunity. I remain close to Los Angeles Galaxy and MLS and I care about football's development in America. Now I am completely concentrated on finishing this season in the best way with my club by winning the MLS Cup."

- David Beckham 




Quaresma back to Portugal?


It seems possible that Inter Milan's Portuguese winger, Ricardo Quaresma could return to Portugal on loan in January. It seems that Sporting Lisbona are interested in the winger, even though some wage fees are still a bit too high for Sporting. Quaresma has been out of the Portuguese NT for quite some time, and this move could bring back good form, and the 2010 WC to Quaresma.

Mancini in line for Red's job


It seems that if Rafael Benitez looses the upcoming games against Lyon, and then Birmingham City, the spaniard will be forced to leave. The replacement? it seems that Roberto Mancini could be the man for the job, already having dominated in Italy winning three Scudetto's in a row with Inter Milan, Mancini could bring back the powerful Liverpool side that we all know exists.




Chelsea preparing to buy Villa


Even though Chelsea have been banned, and are unable to buy players until January 2011, it seems that the blues are preparing a 33 million pound bid for Spanish striker David Villa. Currently at Valencia, the spanish club has been in heavy debt because of bad management, it seemed that many of their key players would leave last summer, but Valencia was able to keep them from the interests of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Now, Villa could leave for England, and if he leaves, David Silva could be next.




United plan Suarez signing


Manchester United have been eyeing Ajax's Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez. It seems that the red devils are preparing a 40 million Euro bid to buy Ajax's wonder-boy, Suarez is only 22, and he could be the player that makes everyone forget about the Ronaldo era.

Transfer Wrap Up

From Vieri to Beckham here is a Transfer Wrap Up

Vieri is retiring,
Beckham can return to Milan,
Juventus want Rossi,
Kaka comments on Milan,
Bayern regret selling Lucio,
Roma looking at Van Nilsterooy,

To read more click on read more at the bottom.