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Pavlyuchenko agent: Crouch first to go

Roman Pavlyuchenko’s agent thinks that Peter Crouch will be the striker most likely to leave Tottenham this summer. Pavlyuchenko has been used sparingly by manager Harry Redknapp over the past few seasons and looked set to leave the club this summer to head back to Russia, but agent Oleg Artemov thinks that his client is not at the bottom of the pecking order. Stoke, Sunderland and Everton are all believed to be interested in signing Crouch, while Pavlyuchenko is being made to wait over talks for a new contract as chairman Daniel Levy conducts the club’s transfer business this summer. “I expect to talk nearer to the transfer window’s closing time,” explained Artemov in the Daily Star . “At the moment he Levy is too busy. He needs to sell players and to buy new ones. Two or three teams are interested in Peter Crouch. So he is most likely to be the one of the five Spurs attackers to leave.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Tevez welcome back at City

Manchester City midfielder David Silva says that Carlos Tevez is welcome back in the dressing room, despite his desire to quit the club this summer. Tevez’s move to Corinthians fell through last week and, after an extended break following the Copa America, he is due back for training on Thursday. Asked whether Tevez’s arrival back in Manchester would cause unrest among his team-mates, Silva said: “I don’t think so. We know Carlos well. I haven’t spoken to him because he has been on his holidays. I understand him. “When he’s on holiday you have time to relax. That way, when he comes back, he is refreshed again and can’t wait to start playing again. “If he stays with us, then that is great. There are a lot of competitions this season and he would help. It’s easy to create an understanding with him.” With £38 million man Sergio Aguero set to make his debut for the club against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield, ex-Valencia man Silva is backing the young Argentine to be a big hit in England. “Aguero is a brilliant player,” he added. “He will turn out very well in the Premier League and he can really help us this season with his pace and goals.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

‘Avatar-type’ 3D plans revealed

The Premier League has unveiled ambitious plans to introduce an ‘Avatar-type’ interactive, virtual reality viewing experience to fans around the world. With television making the move from standard definition to high definition in recent years – and 3D products increasingly penetrating the market – the Premier League have engaged Sony and Electronic Arts to look at ways an improved viewing experience can be brought to fans across the world. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes it might not be long before fans around the world are able to watch Premier League games as if they are there in the stands, utilising “immersion technology” to recreate the experience both visually and aurally. The league has also scrapped controversial plans for a 39th league game – to be played abroad – to focus on the new technology. “There’s been a step-change from standard definition to high definition in terms of how people consume football,” said Scudamore. “3D is coming along and there have been all these new devices coming on to the scene. There’ll soon be a technological development that will allow people across the world to have a much richer type of experience in terms of watching and consuming football. “Our efforts and energies are concentrated in that area, rather than they are in the old-fashioned and passé idea of flying around the world playing a 39th game. We’ll find a technological solution.” Indeed, Scudamore believes such technology is only “between two to five years” from being available to the public. “There’s immersion technology being developed right now where you can sit down with headphones and a screen in front of you, and reproduce the feeling of being in a stadium,” he noted. “If you turn your head one way you’re looking at the left-hand goal and the other way you’re looking at the right-hand goal. “You’ll be able to decide where you want to be: you could be on a Saturday at 3pm, English time, in Hong Kong deciding whether you want to be on the Kop end at Anfield or the Holte End at Aston Villa. There’ll be a drop down menu and you’ll be able to choose where you want to be and watch the game. “It’ll be like an Avatar type of thing available in your own home. It might sound pie in the sky, but it’s not.” However, fans in England are unlikely to be able to experience everything the new technology will have to be offer – with Scudamore keen to ensure grounds remain full to preserve the matchday atmosphere come Saturday afternoon. “It’s more a global vision, as we wouldn’t do anything in England to undermine the 3pm window,” said Scudamore. “We want to protect the whole of English football and I’m a great protector of that window. I’d rather people were attending the stadia in England, whether it be at Barnet or Arsenal. “Anything we did to undermine that would be difficult for me personally and professionally. “But this can become a reality, and it can be produced to satisfy a mass market. As most consumer goods are. This is innovative, but I can see it happening. And it’s exciting: the sort of thing we should be doing.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Balotelli left reeling by fishy prank

Manchester City’s controversial star Mario Balotelli has become the victim of a fishy prank by his team-mates while away on the club’s pre-season tour. Balotelli has made waves at Eastlands since splashing down in England from Italy, throwing darts at youth team players, racking up £10,000 worth of parking fines and most recently getting hauled off after showboating against the LA Galaxy. But team-mates have got their own back on the Italian by plaice-ing sorry a bag of kippers in his £150,000 Maserati just before they headed off to the US for a two-week tour. “Mario had his head in his hands,” a source told the Sun . “The smell nearly made him sick. It was revolting. There were flies in the car and the leather seats in the back had rotting fish all over them.” Super Mario may have been caught hook, line and sinker by the latest prank, but won’t give up trying to bait his team-mates in the future. “It won’t put an end to the pranks, though. He’s already formulating plans for revenge,” the fish source added. Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Ronaldo: We don’t need new striker

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that Real Madrid do not need to buy another striker, despite Jose Mourinho’s insistence that they still need one more signing. Mourinho is keen to bolster his strikeforce with Gonzalo Higuain out injured and Karim Benzema misfiring last season, and has been linked with a return move for on-loan Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor. Adebayor has said he would love to return to the Bernabeu this year after being told he can leave Manchester City, but Ronaldo is happy with the squad as it stands. Speaking in Beijing on the club’s pre-season tour, Ronaldo said: ”I don’t think that we need to sign another forward. We are happy with the line-up as it already is.” Both Higuain and Benzema are now fully fit and back in form, and with the arrival of Jose Maria Callejon this summer, a deal for Adebayor looks increasingly unlikely. Ronaldo then turned his attention to Barcelona and claimed that a Spanish Super Cup win later this month would give them an early advantage over their title rivals. ”It’s an important match because it’s the beginning of the season so we want to start well – it could give us vital impetus going into the campaign,” he added. Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Sir Alex plays down Sneijder talk

Sir Alex Ferguson has again hosed down talk of a deal for Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder, insisting he knows nothing about the mooted move. Sneijder has been linked to Manchester United throughout the current transfer window, but Ferguson was coy when asked directly about the Netherlands international agreeing to move to Old Trafford. “I don’t know anything because it is all newspapers. Newspapers talk this way, but we have not said anything,” he told Direct 8 . The Scot, however, did confirm that Dimitar Berbatov may depart the Premier League club, bound for newly-rich Paris St Germain. When asked whether the Bulgarian striker would join the Ligue 1 side, Ferguson replied: “Yes, he might. That’s possible.” Meanwhile, the United boss said he was pleased with certain aspects of his side’s performance as a makeshift Manchester United XI went down 8-2 in a charity match in Marseille. “Marseille in the second half were very good; they played well, some good goals. In the first half, we played well,” he added. “Marseille were much more experienced, and more of a team. But I’m happy.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

De Gea backed to fill VDV void

Ben Foster is backing goalkeeper David de Gea to fill the “huge shoes” at Manchester United left by Edwin van der Sar’s retirement. Foster, who has just moved from Birmingham to West Brom on loan, was back-up keeper at Old Trafford behind Van der Sar. He rates De Gea, but admits it may take “a few years” for 20-year-old Gea to fully settle into the role. “I looked at a few Youtube videos of De Gea when there was talk of United signing him and he looked unbelievable,” Foster said. “He does look as if he has got absolutely everything. He is so quick and agile. “It has been well documented that he needs to get on the weights a bit but the football attributes are all there to be a huge success. It is a difficult one, replacing Edwin. It isn’t so much about making world-class saves every single game. You go some games without even touching the ball. “I don’t think there is anyone who could have done the job Edwin did at United the last four or five years any better. He was kind of indispensable at United but David has got everything to be a success there. “Obviously he will have a lot of the spotlight on him. He is stepping into huge shoes and he needs to fill those shoes of Edwin’s, which is hard to do. It make take him a few years to fully settle into the role but he will be one who is there for a long time. He looks like he has got everything.” Foster is still not making himself available for England at this juncture of his career after deciding to take a temporary break from international duty when at Birmingham last season. He said: “I haven’t had a re-think at all. I found last season when I was just concentrating on playing for Birmingham that I seem to get my best form. I haven’t re-thought things at all and am concentrating on playing club football.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Scan good news for Wilshere

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has confirmed he is suffering from nothing more than an inflammation of his ankle and should be fit again “in a few days”. Wilshere picked up the knock in the Gunners’ pre-season friendly against New York Red Bulls on Sunday and underwent a scan. It was hoped this would shed some light on whether he would miss England’s friendly with Netherlands next week, although his participation remains in the balance with no definitive timescale in place for his return. Wilshere confirmed on his Twitter account: “Ankle scan just showed some inflammation. Hopefully will settle down in a few days.” The scan confirms the initial prognosis of the Arsenal medical staff, who informed manager Arsene Wenger that he could expect to be without the 19-year-old for a week. The injury could still put Wilshere out of the Gunners’ final pre-season friendly at Benfica on Saturday. Wenger said after Sunday’s game that Wilshere would most likely be unavailable for England’s August 10 friendly should he fail to recover in time to play in Portugal. Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

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