La Liga Overall News

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Here you can post any news you find about la liga, rumours or interviews it doesnt matter !

[Magical20]

Valencia have warned Chelsea that negotiations for star striker David Villa would start at £100million. British newspapers have suggested that Spain striker Villa was top of Jose Mourinho's shopping list for the January transfer window.

But Valencia president Juan Soler insisted on Tuesday that his club were committed to keeping the 24-year-old.

"Officially we have not received any interest or an offer from Chelsea for Villa," Soler told PA Sport.

"I met (Valencia sporting director Amedeo) Carboni this morning and he didn't mention anything regarding any possible interest from Chelsea for our striker.

"We have no intention of selling him. But should any club be interested, they could sit down and negotiate his buy-out clause, which is currently worth 150million euros (£100million)."

Villa, who scored 25 La Liga goals last season and has five in 12 league starts this year, is under contract at the Mestalla until summer 2013.

Eurosport - AS - 28/11/2006 15:16

[Magical20]

Milan are interested in signing Barcelona right back Juliano Belletti, says his brother and agent Sandro.

"We are thinking about it," Belletti's representative said of Milan's enquiry in an interview with Radio Barcelona.

"However, first comes Barca and the player wants to stay. Everybody knows this."

He added that there were other offers on the table for the Brazilian, all from Europe, but no Spanish clubs had made an approach.

Belletti, already popular in the Camp Nou because of his attacking style of play, became a hero when he scored the winning goal in the UEFA Champions League final as a substitute against Arsenal last season.

He holds an Italian passport, meaning he can bypass non-EU player restrictions imposed upon many countries in European football.

Eurosport - Jonathan Symcox - 28/11/2006 11:37

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Athletic Bilbao sacked coach Felix Sarriugarte on Monday after a 3-1 home defeat by Sevilla at the weekend saw them drop into the bottom three. Sarriugarte was promoted from the reserve team to replace former Javier Clemente, who was sacked in July after falling out with president Fernando Lamikiz.

But the Basque club, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, have struggled again in this campaign.

Lamikiz quit in September under pressure from fans and was replaced by Ana Urkijo, but the side still have only one victory to their name in the league and are out of the King's Cup.

They lie 18th in the table, three points off bottom club Gimnastic Tarragona who sacked their coach, Luis Angel Cesar, on Sunday.

Spanish media have linked former Alaves boss Jose Manuel Esnal, better known by the nickname Mane, to the vacancy at San Mames.

Reuters - - - 28/11/2006 07:57

[Magical20]

Villarreal are preparing a bid for Newcastle attacker Albert Luque, report local Spanish media.
Club president Fernando Roig, sporting director Jose Manuel Llaneza and coach Manuel Pellegrini will meet soon to iron out transfer targets for January, with a striker top of the agenda.

Luque is the main focus of their interest, given his excellent track record while with Deportivo and apparent unrest in the Premiership.

He arrived at St James' Park in 2005, but soon became injured and has struggled to make an impression since as Newcastle have suffered domestically.

Luque - who can also play on the wing, particularly when his team employ a counter-attacking tactic - has made only four substitute appearances so far this season for the Magpies.

Eurosport - Jonathan Symcox - 27/11/2006 18:45

[Magical20]

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho reportedly wants Valencia striker David Villa to head his attack.
Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, who joined from Milan in the summer, has failed to impress at Stamford Bridge.

He has scored only three goals, including one in the League Cup, and Mourinho is said to be ready to replace him.

Chelsea have apparently watched Villa in action on numerous occasions this season and may bid upwards of £20 million for El Guaje - 'the kid' - as he is known in Spain.

The diminutive former Zaragoza forward has also scored five times this season, as Valencia have struggled to keep pace with league leaders Barcelona, Sevilla and Real Madrid.

In recent weeks Villa has suffered with injury and had a training ground bust-up out of frustration last month.

Eurosport - Jonathan Symcox - 28/11/2006 12:51

[Magical20]

btw..could someone stick this ?!

[Magical20]

Villarreal's Juan Roman Riquelme trained alone on Tuesday after returning from leave of absence in Argentina. The midfielder had spent six days back in South America to be with his wife, who was expecting the couple's third child.

The 28-year-old - who missed Villarreal's 4-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Saturday - is expected to take part in full training on Wednesday.

Josico, Quique Alvarez and Jose Mari also missed training with injuries, with the trio now a doubt for the weekend game against Gimnastic.

Villarreal have lost two of their last three matches after a run of six unbeaten through September and October.

Meanwhile, Boca Juniors coach Ricardo La Volpe has ruled out a move for Riquelme, suggested in Buenos Aries this week.

"If they offered Riquelme to me, I would not be interested. I'd turn him down," he said.

"Everyone has their way of coaching and those players they favour when building a team. I am not interested in having a director in my midfield."

Eurosport - AS - 28/11/2006 19:38

[Magical20]

Newcastle United misfit Albert Luque is keen to join Villarreal, but only on a permanent basis as he feels a loan move would not benefit all parties.

The Spanish striker has emerged as a top target for Yellow Submarines coach Manuel Pellegrini as he copes with a number of injuries to his attackers.

Luque is wanted on loan in January but the unsettled forward has informed them that he needs a full-time switch.

"My idea is far away," he told Cadena Ser. "I do not want a loan.

"I want a permanent exit from Newcastle so I can play with calm at a club.

"Villarreal and Newcastle know my opinion and I wait for news."

Luque is hoping that a solution can be thrashed out between the two clubs.

"Today, a loan is not positive for me because, if I do excellently on loan, it will increase my value for Newcastle and make a sale to another club very difficult," he explained.

"In the other aspect, if things are not positive then my return to Newcastle would be in worse conditions.

"Sincerely, Villarreal are a desirable option for me but now it all depends on the two clubs to have a meeting to study the subject."

Real Betis and Bordeaux have also been monitoring the situation, and Luque has admitted he knows of interest from other sides in La Liga.

Meanwhile, Luque escaped unhurt after a car crash on Wednesday and he will link up with his team-mates for their UEFA Cup clash against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Eurosport - AT - 29/11/2006 13:02

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Paco Flores, the former Espanyol, Zaragoza and Almeria coach, will manage Gimnastic Tarragona in place of Luis Cesar Sampedro, who was fired on Sunday despite taking Nastic to the Primera Liga.

The Catalan will be in charge until at least the end of the season and will be presented take his first training session on Wednesday morning.

The Nastic board opted for Flores due to his experience in La Liga and to allow him to be reunited with former players Luis Enrique Martinez and Abel Resino.

Flores' major triumphs include winning the Copa del Rey with Espanyol in 2000 and masterminding Zaragoza's return to the Primera Liga in 2003, along with numerous successes at beating the drop with unfashionable clubs.

Eurosport - Reda Maher - 29/11/2006 10:32

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Jose Manuel Esnal 'Mane' will manage Athletic Bilbao until the end of the season. He is expected to be presented as boss at a press conference around 17:15 CET on Wednesday.

The coaching team will comprise Angel Garitano 'Ondarru' (assistant coach) Manuel Delgado (fitness coach)and Carlos Melendez (goalkeeping coach).

Mane, 56, steps in for Felix Sarriugarte, fired after the defeat to Sevilla last weekend.

Mane has managed Levante, Alaves, Lleida and, briefly, Mallorca in a 26-year career in coaching. He took Alaves to the Primera Liga and then subsequently the UEFA Cup final (2001).

Eurosport - Reda Maher - 29/11/2006 12:07

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Werder Bremen striker Miroslav Klose is coy on rumours linking him with Champions League opponents Barcelona.

Klose is tipped to leave the Bundesliga side next summer and admits to being flattered by the reported interest from the Spanish and European champions but told Bild newspaper: "At the moment I'd prefer not to speak about that because we have a very important game against them."

Barcelona and Werder have a crucial Group A clash in Catalonia on Tuesday , the final match of the pool stage which Barcelona have to win if they are to progress to the knockout phase.

Barca originally expressed interest in the target man after he impressed at the 2002 World Cup as a Kaiserslauten player.

Polish-born Klose, 27, has scored 33 goals in 67 national team appearances for Germany.

Eurosport - RM - 30/11/2006 10:31

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Valencia's injury problems took another turn for the worse on Thursday when Uruguayan international winger Mario Regueiro tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee during training.

The club said that the 28-year-old will be out of action for between six and seven months after twisting his knee as the team prepared for this weekend's match against Recreativo Huelva.

Valencia have been plagued by injury this season with fellow midfielder Edu suffering the same ligament tear two weeks ago.

Eight other players are on the treatment table including leading strikers David Villa and Fernando Morientes who are doubtful for the Recreativo match.

Valencia have not won a league match in over a month and dropped to eighth in the Primera Liga following last week's 1-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid.

They play AS Roma in their final Champions League group match on Tuesday, although they have already qualified in first place for the last 16.

Reuters - * - 30/11/2006 15:30

[Magical20]

Real Madrid striker Antonio Cassano will not be leaving the Spanish capital according to his agent, despite rumours to the contrary.

The former Roma marksman is thought to have fallen out with coach Fabio Capello, prompting the Spaniards' sporting director Pedrag Mijatovic to suggest in an interview that Real were ready to let the 24-year-old make a move back to Italy.

But the player's agent has hit back, saying his client is going nowhere and will honour the remainder of his contract at the Bernabeu.

"Cassano will leave Real Madrid? Absolutely not," Giuseppe Bozzo said. "I heard Mijatovic's interview, but I don't think it was meant to be controversial.

"He knows that Antonio does not want to move from Madrid and I also confirmed this to him personally. Antonio will remain until the end of his contract in 2011.

"We are at Real Madrid, the strongest side in the world, there is an existing contract in place and a new cycle is starting. Could you ever leave now? No way."

Eurosport - Mike Hytner - 30/11/2006 17:15

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EXCLUSIVE - Valencia have no intention to sell Portugal defender Miguel to Chelsea, Sporting Director Amadeo Carboni told eurosport.com. The comments were made after Miguel's agent Paulo Barbosa claimed the Blues were interested in the attacking full back.

"Today Valencia are not interested in the exit of any player," Carboni told eurosport.com.

"We need players like Miguel and we invest our future in them."

The former Italy international did, however, confirm that he was aware of Chelsea's interest but added "formally Valencia have not received an offer."

The player's agent had said that "we know of the interest but at Miguel's request we have asked the Blues to contact the club directly if they wish to pursue it."

"The kid is happy at Valencia and is not interested in leaving at this moment," Barbosa continued. "But it all depends on the Spanish club."

Real Madrid have also been linked with a move for the former Estrela Amadora and Benfica defender, who has 37 caps, after the serious injury to right back Cicinho.

"It is normal for the big clubs to be interested in Miguel because of the way he played last season in La Liga and also in the World Cup," was all Barbosa was prepared to say on their Primera Liga rivals.

Valencia have valued the player at 30 million euros.

Eurosport - AT & RM - 01/12/2006 12:36