Fabregas: Mourinho put my transfer before his family

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas revealed how Jose Mourinho puting the Spaniard's transfer ahead of his son's match convinced him to join.The former Arsenal captain wasn't convinced about joining London rivals Chelsea when Barcelona agreed to sell him.

But any doubts over the move were gone when Mourinho visisted Catalonia, even though he had family commitments back in England.Fabregas spoke about the deal saying: "When I knew Chelsea wanted to buy me, I studied the situation well and talked things over with my family.

"But then I spoke to the boss, on the day Jose came to see me."I remember it was a Sunday afternoon, and he flew out, missing his son's final game of the season."For him to do that was to make a great effort, to tell me how much he wanted me to sign for Chelsea. That gave me a real lift."

Chelse announced the £27m move at the start of the World Cup, and along with fellow new signings Diego Costa and Filipe Luis, have now met up with the rest of the squad for pre-season traning in Austria.

Fabregas is aware he will receive backlash from the Arsenal faithful even though Arsene Wenger passed up the first opportunity to re-sign the Barca man and he added: "When Jose came to see me, he made me believe that he wanted me in a very good way.
"When we spoke together, I became sure it was the best option for me.
"Now I want to win absolutely everything.
"I know Jose's teams are always very difficult to bear and to play against. Tactically they are very well-composed and they have discipline. He gets the best out of his players."(soccerheatbase)

Manchester United set to make monstrous offer for Arturo Vidal

Manchester United are poised to make a colossal bid for Chile International Arturo Vidal as they look to finally sign the Juventus midfielder. Vidal has been seen as a crucial assett that Van Gaal must bring to Old Trafford this summer, but Juventus have warned the veteran manager against making anymore bids. However, according to several reports, United are set to make a £42.5 million bid for the Chilean in the coming days.

Juventus will do everything in their power to keep one of their most vital figures at the club this summer, but accorsing to reports in Italy Juventus may be forced to sell the player if Vidal puts pressure on the Turin club to sell. United are also willing to put Luis Nani and Javier Hernandez in part of the deal if push comes to shove.

Van Gaal has been promised a large amount of transfer funds to bring in the midfielder to Old Trafford, despite the club already spending a significant amount of money on Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw who have already signed for the Premier League club. (soccerheatbase)

Chelsea put price-tag on Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea have put a £31million price-tag on the head of striker Romelu Lukaku, which has all-but ended Juventus' interest in the Belgium international.The Serie A champions were keen on signing the 21-year-old from the Premier League side after they look set to sell him permanently this Summer after sending him out on loan in the two previous campaigns.

However, Jose Mourinho has now asked for at least £31m for the striker, and that price-tag has put off Juve, who are in the market to sign a new striker, despite having Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez.Juventus have also recently signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, but the Spaniard suffered a knee injury in his first training session with his new club.

Due to the high price-tag, the Italian outfit may now look into signing Liverpool's Fabio Borini, who is a £14m target of Sunderland, who had him on loan last season.
Borini is not keen on a permanent move to Sunderland, but would be interested in a return to his homeland if an offer comes in.(soccerheatbase)

What Brendan Rodgers really thinks about Suarez exit

Suarez secured a £75million move to Barcelona this summer, despite being banned for his THIRD biting offence.But Rodgers has lamented losing Suarez, praising the Uruguayan striker despite his problems off the field.

"No, not at all," Rodgers said when asked if he felt Suarez had let him down."Luis, in my two years at the club, has been sensational in his game."Of course there's been issues which is well documented but it's in the past. He was a brilliant player for us, for me I'll always see him as a good man and a good friend.

"He gave everything to Liverpool and he left Liverpool after his time as a world-class talent. It's obviously a shame he is not here but Liverpool is a club that is bigger than any individual."He's a fantastic player but we will move forward and there's real excitement going into this season.

"We've qualified for the Champions League, we went close in the title. I'm really excited by the player's we've brought in - young players with great profile who play how we want to play and that will allow us to go on and hopefully continue to progress."(soccerheatbase)

Liverpool target eyes Juventus move

Bayern Munich winger Xherden Shaqiri has dealt Premier League side Liverpool a huge transfer blow by revealing interest in a move to Juventus.The Switzerland international has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena all Summer, and Liverpool have been widely speculated as his likely destination, but after an impressive World Cup in Brazil, more clubs have shown interest in the winger, in particular, Serie A champions Juventus.

A move to Anfield in a £15million deal was on the cards, but after talks broke down between Brendan Rodgers and Shaqiri's representatives, Juve sparked interest in the 22-year-old, and in a recent interview, the Swiss winger admitted it would be tough to say no to them."Juventus would definitely be a nice option," Shaqiri told Tuttosport.

"Juventus are a big club, who wouldn't want to play for them... I don't think Juventus would be a step back in my career."But I am on holiday at the moment. My brother is occupying himself with my future."I don't know whether Juventus have been in touch with Bayern. I have not heard anything about it from Juventus or Bayern."(soccerheatbase)

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho wants the Club to dominate the EPL for the next Decade

The Chelsea Boss splashed out around £80million to bring the player he needed to Stamford Bridge from La Liga, where Fabregas had been deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona and Filipe Luis and Diego Costa had just led Atletico Madrid to the league title.

‘A team which has been a winning team for ten seasons is changing step by step, we've bought new players and we are trying to build for the next decade,’ said Mourinho, in a press conference at Chelsea’s hotel in Velden, Austria, on Tuesday.

‘Last year we reached the semi-finals and it was a transitional season,’ he added. ‘We had a very young team at the time but, even so, we reached the semi-finals and were playing to win the competition.

‘This season we think we are going to be stronger, the younger players are more experienced, they are stable and better adapted to fighting for titles.’
Despite acknowledging the competitiveness of the English top flight, the 51-year-old said he would not be at Stamford Bridge if he did not think Chelsea could win the Premier League next season.
‘If I didn't think that way I would go home and let somebody else take charge of the team(soccerheatbase)

Liverpool hope to hijack Vidal's move to Manchester United

The Chile international looked set for a move to Manchester United recently, with Van Gaal launching a huge bid to prize him from Turin.

However, Liverpool are prepared to enter the frey, and bid for the highly rated midfielder, who enjoyed a superb World Cup with Chile. Chile national newspaper El Mercurio claim that Real Madrid are also keen, however the Spanish La Liga giants do not currently have the funds after signing James Rodriguez from Monaco for 85 million euro.

This leaves both United and Liverpool to battle out, with Liverpool able to offer him Champions League football of course. (soccerheatbase)

Cavani unlikely to secure Premier League move

Uruguay forward Edison Cavani expects to stay in France next season, despite hopes of securing a move to the Premier League this summer.

The player has been unhappy with his playing role at PSG, after being used mostly on the right hand side to allow Ibrahimovic to lead the line for the Ligue 1 winners last season. The tactics worked - PSG won the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de la Ligue - but now Blanc is set to change his approach.

Cavani has publically said that he is after a move to England, with Manchester United and Chelsea being favoured by the striker.However there have been no progression between his agent and another club, so it seems likely that the hitman will stay at PSG next season.

Cavani said: "There was a discussion with Laurent Blanc before the end of the season and I think there will be a new tactical scheme this season.”PSG paid £50m to sign Cavani from Napoli last summer.(soccerheatbase)

Van Gaal tips Giggs for the top

New Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal has voiced his praise and admiration for the way his assistant coach Ryan Giggs is handling his role at the club.

Giggs took caretaker charge of United for four games of last season after manager David Moyes was sacked.There was speculation Giggs could be in the running for the big job on a full time basis but the club's hierarchy opted for the vast experience and disciplinarian style of Van Gaal. 

But, Giggs seems to be comfortable with his new role and has exceeded Van Gaal's expectations already, and has compared the former-player to Jose Mourinho.Van Gaal said: "First of all, we have my assistant manager Ryan Giggs and I'm very pleased with him.

"I talked with him before I signed. Your first impression is always important and that was very good, and now the impression is still improving because I know him better.
"Also, he's working very hard, as are all my assistants. It's important that they don't have a job that's 9-5."You have to work very hard when you're my assistant - it's not always a pleasant job. But he's doing very well and I'm happy he's on my staff." (soccerheatbase)

Shaw: Why I picked United over Chelsea

Luke Shaw became the most expensive teenager in the history of football when he moved from Southampton to Manchester United for £27m.The 19 year-old also attracted interest from Chelsea, whom he supported as a boy.
Most of Shaw's family are Blues fans too, but the left back, who only made his first Premier League appearance in November 2012, is certain that choosing United was the right option.

The defender said: "Manchester United is the biggest club and it will push me to do my best.
"I signed a contract here because I know what the club is capable of. And I know I will improve at the club."Just three weeks after his arrival at Old Trafford, United sold veteran defender Patrice Evra to Juventus event hough he had been the club's first choice left-back for 8 years.

Shaw added: "I don't feel any pressure to come in for Evra."He has been great for the club for the last 10 years and I hope I can carry that on."I will just try to focus on my own game, what I do on the pitch."I'm looking forward to trying to impress the new gaffer."(soccerheatbase)