Marek Hamsik

West Ham have become the latest club to enter the frame for Napoli shooting star Marek Hamsik.

Despite the Neapolitan side's best efforts to nip the transfer speculation in the bud by offering the highly talented 20-year-old midfielder a new contract despite the fact that he only just joined them last summer.

West Ham are hoping that their new technical chief Gianluca Nani will give them the edge, however, as he was the one who first signed Hamsik for Brescia in 2004.

Hamsik's agent has refused to be drawn out on any of the rumours, and when confronted about Chelsea's interest he simply said: "I cannot confirm nor refute this information."

"It has been published by Italian media, nothing about it has been in the English media," Juraj Venglos added.

"I don't want to make any further comments on this matter. Chelsea currently have different problems as they need to beat Manchester United to support their championship hopes."
Venglos did, however, confirm that they are currently engaged in talks over a new deal with Napoli.

"Of course, Napoli want to have Marek under the new contract," he added.
"The whole issue is not finished yet but it should be done in near future.
"The new contract will be preferable to Marek's current one. Most lately we have been discussing the length of the contract."

Random news which I haven't been keeping up with cause I'm getting reamed at work

1. Juventus consider Middlesbrough's Bosman prospect Schwarzer



2008 Juventus are eyeing Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer for next season.
The Australia international is off contract in June and will be allowed to leave Boro at the end of the season.


Tuttosport says Schwarzer is being discussed at Juve as a potential understudy for No1 Gigi Buffon. The Bianconeri already boast one Australian keeper, Jess Vanstratten, on their books.

2. West Ham chief Scott Duxbury admits there will be player sales this summer.
"Our squad is too big," said Duxbury in the Echo. "But we only plan to sell players that are not close to getting into the team.
"We have a very young, talented team and experienced star players - like Freddie Ljungberg, Craig Bellamy and Lucas Neill - are very important in helping those talents develop. They are role models."

3. Toulouse midfielder Achilles Emana continues to attract Premiership interest.
Newcastle United and West Ham are the latest English clubs to make recent inquiries about the Cameroon international.
Toulouse are seeking around £5.5 million for Emana.

WHUFC/AUS Rumors (Zarate rumor is pick of the bunch)

1. West Ham United are ready to trump Birmingham City for striker Mauro Zarate.
The Sun says Hammers boss Alan Curbishley is planning an £18million raid for Argie striker Zarate.

Zarate, 21, is on loan at Birmingham from Al-Sadd in Qatar.

2. West Ham boss Alan Curbishley admits he and his players could miss out on some decent bonuses if they fail to finish in the top half of the Premier League.

The Hammers are 10th in the table after suffering their fifth loss in seven games against Portsmouth at Upton Park on Tuesday night.

It has been suggested that the team are coasting towards the end of the season but Curbishley insists that is not the case.

Curbishley said: "Everything this year, especially bonuses, is geared to finishing in the top 10 - and there is nothing for not being in the top 10.

"So for people to believe we have switched off is wrong. We need to be in that top 10 to take anything from the season.

"That's me as well, it's everybody, we are all in it. And that's why it is so disappointing to come up with flat performances like the one against Portsmouth.

"We thought it was a winnable fixture with them just having reached the FA Cup final, but it was a flat night all round which just got flatter.

"We didn't lift the crowd and they didn't lift us. Now in the last five games we've got to win two or three or we won't stay in the top half and the season will just fizzle out."


3. West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley has been told he needs to cut his squad numbers for next season.

The Daily Mail says Curbishley has been told by owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson to trim the players' wage costs at the end of the season but a catalogue of long-term injuries means that it is impossible for the Hammers boss to make any long-term plans with his squad.
Billionaire Gudmundsson, who bought out Eggert Magnusson's five per cent stake in the club earlier this season, is also chairman and major owner of Icelandic bank, Landsbanki which, like most major financial institutions, has been hit by the credit crunch in recent months.

4. Ricki Herbert has organised a 2 week trial for Oly-Whites Keeper Jacob Spoonley at Cardiff. Spoonley was recently released in the hope of finding more game time and it is believed Cardiff are quite keen on him.

5. Auckland City Centre Back Ben Sigmund is the latest to join the Phoenix collection of Centre Backs. The current All White and former Kingz player will link up with the Phoenix as soon as Auckland City's NZFC campaign finishes.

6. Following several disputes with Con Constantine over club management which has ultimately led to an exodus of players from the Newcastle club, GVE has decided that he may well follow the same fate. There aren't too many coaching jobs opening up in this off season, but GVE has reportadly decided to "quit while he is ahead" and wait for a new job to come along

7. Ball playing Soccerro defender/midfielder and Melbourne reject Ljubo Milicevic is about to join Ruben Zadkovich in signing for Newcastle Jets.

8. A reliable inside source from the Central Coast Mariners has told me that in a unpredicted move Andrew Clark will join Adelaide United for a one year deal. It is unknown if the contract has a 2nd year option, but it is worth slightly less than the mariners were paying him.

9. Perth glory are trying to use their connections with Man City by tieing up a deal for striker Paul Dickov

10. After a dissappoining season in the Dutch 2nd division Ivan will join the Phoenix as Ross Aloisi's replacement. He can also play as a centre back. Ivan's wife has been spot looking at Real Estate in Wellington.

South Melbourne Hellas for A-League

South Melbourne's A-League Bid

One-time NSL giant South Melbourne believe they can be reinvented as an A-League club in three years and will meet with the FFA shortly to discuss their vision.The plan includes recommending to South's existing members the VPL club be privatised and seeking new investment in such an A-League operation.

The centrepiece of this plan is that the A-League operation will piggyback on top of the club's existing structures including their “football factory” of youth development, infrastructure, stadium, brand name and fan support. The club favours keeping South Melbourne as a name but au.fourfourtwo.com understands alternative names have been registered and could be used for the A-League bid.

South Melbourne also say their club's A-League derbies with Melbourne Victory could potentially pull “85,000” to the MCG thus making it the biggest Aussie derby of all. They also would like to play their regular home games at the newly built Olympic Park stadium and will enter into negotiations to play there if and when they get the green light to join Australia's booming A-League. However, South would like to use their current home at Bob Jane Stadium as their “home”, where they'll maintain their current administrative base, social club as well as using it as a training base for their A-League side and home ground for a youth team.

Speaking exclusively with gse-fleshlight.blogspot.com, the club's powerbrokers discussed their vision for their “foundation” club to be the second A-League outfit in the Victorian capital by 2011. “We've done a lot of background work in terms of what the FFA is thinking about,” said club president Leo Athanasakis. "Obviously we're a traditionally based team, we've come from the NSL and their current model is to exclude clubs like South Melbourne. “So we've looked at how clubs like us can evolve as an organisation and try to meet the parameters. We're happy to do that."

He added: “The first thing we want to do is put to the members that we want to privatise the club's football operations, spinning off our football operations with a whole new management and a whole new group of funds as the 'new' South Melbourne.“One of the key criteria of the FFA is that the franchise is privatised and not members-based, we're clear on that. So we'll sit down with our members to explain this to them, which will mean that the current organisation may have a small stake in such a franchise.

“We've met with prospective investors. That's probably the least of our concern. As an organisation we'd be very keen to come in as South Melbourne, as we believe the brand is very strong. However, if the FFA gave us a good business-case model to change our name....”

South Melbourne cites examples of AFL clubs which have come into the league as new franchises teamed with older, more traditional clubs as a model for Melbourne. Adelaide Crows and Port Power in South Australia and West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers in Western Australia are two examples of this, say the club.

“We believe a new, off the shelf team in Melbourne will struggle because Victory has taken the cream. And we believe a foundation team – which won't be drawing on Melbourne Victory support – would probably be in Victory's interest.”

The FFA has stated that the A-League will expand by up to four clubs in the next few years. Gold Coast, Townsville, Illawarra and Western Sydney are all at various stages of development. “We've looked at the Queensland Roar model,” said Athanasakis. “They have the Hollandia club in Brisbane which owns a percentage of the franchise and that's how we'll sell it to our members. “South Melbourne is simply a suburb of Melbourne and synonymous with success.

Unfortunately, it's been tainted with the brush of the old NSL. “A Melbourne Victory versus South Melbourne will pull 85,000 at the MCG. No doubt. The FFA have kicked that many good goals with their marketing, now, all it needs is not to go with a Kellogs box team which all it's going to do is rip the guts out of Victory.”

Victory and South Melbourne played a friendly at Bob Jane stadium last season. Despite minimal pre-publicity, the midweek game pulled around 9,000 fans (GSE was there). The club say, as a second team, they can make Victorian football an even stronger proposition in the national competition. “The advantage we have over a number of other A-League clubs,” added South's managing director John Patitsas, “is that we have a football factory of 1000 juniors and an existing infrastructure around that. “We'll soon have a middle level with a V-League team, and moving forward, a national youth league and an A-League team. This football factory approach will underpin our A-League team.

“We're very happy to see football and the way it's moved here in Australia. But the next part is very important. We're entering difficult economic times in the next few years and a lot of models for future A-League franchises are built on some sort of economic assumptions,” said Patitsas. “Something we have that is so advantageous is that we already have an infrastructure. We have a core group of supporters who are broad-based. We have the juniors too who we can grow and through them get in touch with the local communities,” added Patitsas. “The history of this club is to develop Socceroos and downstream we can give the kids a vision. “If you don't capture that junior and youth, then all you are is a franchise.”

South Melbourne celebrate their 50th year in 2009.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/73354,south-melbournes-aleague-bid.aspx

West Ham. Getting linked to every Italian Player

1. West Ham United midfielder Nobby Solano could be putting himself in the shop window for July's MLS Allstars clash.

Solano has attracted interest from Toronto FC already this year and told whufc.com: "We know how big the Premier League is around the world. Everyone will be looking forward to it - especially where it is, everyone loves North America, and it will be fantastic. It will be a good pre-season experience for us. It is always exciting to play in international games."

2. West Ham United are eyeing Udinese attacker Antonio di Natale.

The Italy international's agent admitted yesterday that "English interest" had moved ahead of contact from Serie A clubs, including Fiorentina.

West Ham have been following Di Natale this season and new technical chief Gianluca Nani rates the versatile striker highly.

3. Matthew Upson looks set to miss the rest of West Ham's season after failing to recover from a calf injury.

The England defender, one of 15 first-team players now sidelined, sustained the injury during last month's 4-0 defeat against Liverpool.

Upson was expected to be missing for just a week, but scans have revealed a recurrence of the problem, reports The Mirror.

Aus Rumors

News about everyone's favourite Vieri

1. Former socceroo and younger brother of christian vieri, Max Vieri has signed a 2 year deal with a former combatant of Sydney FC, Persik kediri. Persik are believed to have beated at least two a-league clubs for his signature to boost their misfiring front line

2. Several A-League clubs are courting Nigerian international defender Celestine Babayaro. Without a club after recently falling out with LA Galaxy management, it is believed Wellington, Brisbane and Perth are all looking to sign the 29 year old left sided ex-Chelsea star.

3. Jade North is set to trial with Roda JC. His coach Gary Van Egmond played briefly with the Dutch outfit in the early 90's and has used contacts there to line up a trial for his captain in the near future.

4. Young Costa Rican international Windell Gabriel is set to follow his international teammate Carlos Hernandez to the Melbourne Victory for a trail where he will get the opportunity to play in the game against Adelaide United.Gary Cole yesterday announced that a 'mystery Costa Rican' would trial with the A-league outfit and reports out of Costa Rica suggest that Windell is the man. The tall, powerful striker has also been known to play as an attacking midfielder plays for Hernandez's old club LD Alajuenese.

5. The Newcastle United Jets will next week unveil the signings of two new strikers.These are Rapid Bucuresti's Ryan Griffiths, a former Newcastle player and brother of Jets Winger/Striker Joel and Defender Adam.The other signing is Kilmarnock's Danny Invincible. He has played for the Australian Under 20s on numerous occasions and is looking forward to returning to Australia.These strikers will fill the holes left by Brazillian Mario Jardel and Mark Bridge who both departed EnergyAustralia Stadium at the end of last season.

Valon Behrami to West Ham

West Ham News: Finally a transfer rumor that I like!

1. (This is a great rumor: young player, huge potential, experienced as both a defender and midfielder in one of the toughest leagues in Europe. No doubt this is one of Nani’s recommendations, because Curbs was actually thinking of spending the same amount of dosh on Seth Johnson) Lazio face a battle to hang onto star midfielder Valon Behrami.

Corriere dello Sport says Lazio president Claudio Lotito is anxious to secure the Switzerland international to a new contract with Liverpool, West Ham United and Tottenham all circling. (Now the only challenge is to beat the Scousers and the Spuds to him)