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Shakhtar Donetsk have managed to profit heavily from the sale of Alex Teixeira, who has joined the Chinese super league in a deal worth around € 50 million.

Backed by rich investors, Jiangsu Suning have been able to make this mega money signing that is expected to fuel more spending from this part of the world in the next few transfer windows.Teixeira has been amongst the transfer rumours for quite a while. Liverpool were seen as his preferred destination, but the Premier League club were not even close to Shakhtar Donetsk’s valuation of the player.

Due to violence in Ukraine, several high profile players have been expressing their desire to leave the country.

Liverpool were in negotiations with the player and his Ukrainian club during much of January. They are understood to have made a € 24 million offer, which was rejected by the club. Shakhtar Donetsk valued the player at around € 70 million. For the club, this represents a massive influx of money that can now be used to sign other players across the field.Teixeira has been at Shakhtar since 2009 and he has been a recognised superstar in this part of the world after helping the club win five league titles.

Jiangsu also signed Ramires from Chelsea for a fee of around € 21.5 million. “Shakhtar Donetsk and Jiangsu Suning FC have agreed on all the necessary formalities for the transfer of Alex Teixeira to the Chinese club. Transfer fee for the Brazilian midfielder is €50m.

Shakhtar thank Alex for the time spent in the team and wish him success at his new club,” read a statement on the official website of the Ukrainian club. Jackson Martinez is the other high profile player to have joined the Chinese league in the January transfer window of 2016.

It seems Al Ain has had enough now with two of the star signings that they had made last year and the club is all set to get rid of them.

Ryan Babel is one of them yes, while, the other one is Emmanuel Emenike.

Both have proved to be complete failures in the top flight in United Arab Emirates.

Babel, in particular, has been on the target of the club fans, not only for his inability to produce the goals, but, also, for being undisciplined on occasions with his conduct.

Emenike, on the other hand, has been slightly better in comparison, but, he has not been able to do justice to his name either.

The Nigeria international had, however, joined Al Ain on loan only and in all probability, he would go back to his original club which is Fenerbahce.

Interestingly, Babel is also expected to follow him there.
Mr. Hamdoun, one of the chiefs at Al Ain, accepted in his recent interview that the duo might be moving to Turkey.

In the words of Hamdoun, “Ryan and Emmanuel are big names, but, it’s not strange in professional Football that big names join a club with big reputation and big expectations and are not able to live up to that. It happens.”

“It’s about the desire to play as well. At times, the big players, when they go to a club, they lose interest in playing for them and that, I think, has been the case with the two of them here at Al Ain.”

“For Emmanuel, there’s been approach from a Chinese club, but, I think both he and Ryan, they are more likely to go to Turkey.”

Al Ain is the topper in the standings in the UAE top division with 40 points right now.

Dimitar Berbatov has claimed that it is a pleasure to work with manager Igor Tudor at PAOK. The striker moved to the club in the summer on a one-year contract.

At three years of age, he is on his last legs in terms of a football career. However, he is confident of making an impact once again at a new club. Berbatov has been in the limelight for the last decade with clubs like Tottenham and Manchester United forming the base of a very successful career. After having last played for Monaco, the striker has decided to take on a new challenge in the form of PAOK.

One of the aspects that convinced the Bulgarian striker to move to Greek football was the presence of manager Tudor, who is known for his spell with Italian club Juventus as a defender. The Croatian has a lot of presence on the international scene and owner Ivan Savvidis also appears to have done his part to persuade Berbatov to join the club. PAOK have suffered in terms of form over the last few weeks and it has seen them go winless in the last four games. As a result, they have dropped outside the Champions League qualification places for the time being.
“He is hungry to work and it shows in his approach to the tasks at hand, in the way he conducts training sessions.

His method feels close to the typical Italian style of coaching. That is only natural when you consider he played for Juventus for a long time,” said the striker about the coach.“Dortmund are the favourites but we can’t be underestimated. We have some good young players. Dortmund are playing some lovely football, scoring a lot of goals and they have great players. But the atmosphere will be incredible, both teams will have 11 players on the pitch, and it remains to be seen who will prevail,” said Berbatov about the upcoming game.

Former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov could not seal a return to the Premier League after Aston Villa could not match his wage demands.

The striker was available on a free transfer after being released by Monaco at the end of last season. He has been without a club throughout the summer, but Berbatov was not prepared to drop his wage demands in order to secure a move to Villa. Moving to the Premier League club would have given him the opportunity to be a first choice regular once again since Villa only recently sold Christian Benteke to Liverpool.

However, he has now secured a move to Greek outfit PAOK. At just 34 years of age, he still has the ability to play at the top level for a couple of years. His experience of the Premier league would have been especially useful for Villa in their fights against relegation. The club has been involved in a relegation fight over the last few seasons, but manager Tim Sherwood is determined to avoid a repeat of the same in the coming campaign. They have made a decent start to the season with wins against Bournemouthin the opening game of the campaign. Yet, the season promises to be a tough one nonetheless.

Despite signing the experienced striker,PAOK have made a poor start to the season. They remain winless after the two opening games. As a result, the club are just a few places above the relegation zone. Manager Igor Tudor will be hoping that the presence of Berbatov will motivate the club to better results in the coming future. The 34-year-old is yet to make his debut for the club but it is likely to come after the international break. The Bulgarian striker once cost United a club record of £ 30 million.

Former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov has admitted that he would consider the probability of returning to the Premier league after having left Monaco following a short spell.

The Bulgarian joined Monaco at a time when they were seemingly on their way towards the top of French football. The scenario, though, has entirely shifted in the last few months, as Monaco have been cutting their budgets to great lengths. It was already a reason behind Radamel Falcao leaving the club on a short-term loan spell to Manchester United. More players are expected to part company with the club in the next few months.

Berbatov has been one of them and he has already become a Bosman after letting his contract expire. Best known for his time at Tottenham and Manchester United, it is clear that Berbatov does not have the legs anymore to play the full 90 minutes. However, he showed in the Champions League matches against Arsenal that he can still do the job when required. Berbatov of the major reason in helping Monaco knockout Arsenal and reach the latter stages of the Champions League at a time when they were given little hope. This should serve as a good reminder for Berbatov’s qualities on the pitch.

“It’d be a pleasure [to return to England].I spent a long time in England and I keep very good memories. Everyone is watching the English championship… the Premier League, and I’ll be delighted to return.I feel good and I think I still have a lot to give to football,” said Berbatov. The fact that he has mentioned the Championship as a possibility is likely to start a queue of clubs outside his door for his signature. Last season, Berbatov scored nine goals in 37 appearances for the French team, who finished third.

Monaco last made a huge impact in the Champions League 10 years ago when they reached the final of the competition before eventually being beaten by FC Porto.

They are in a position to repeat those achievements as they are very close to reaching the semifinals this time around. Monaco will be up against Juventus in the quarter-finals. This is comparatively a much easier tie for the French club, as they have avoided the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona. Due to this respect, striker Dimitar Berbatov reckons that the club can start thinking about a semifinal spot this season.

Berbatov was initially signed as a backup for Radamel Falcao, who joined Manchester United in the summer on a loan deal. As a result, the former Tottenham and United striker has been starting regularly up front. Even though manager Leonardo Jardim has primarily made this team successful by building a strong defence, the goals from Berbatov have been very useful. The 34-year-old has not won the Champions League in his career, but he does have nine goals in 32 appearances this season. Only one of them has come in the European competition.

“The Champions League semifinal is within our reach.We can do it against Juventus. We’re a good team, we’ve already shown that both against Arsenal and a week ago in Turin. We absolutely did not deserve to lose. In the first half we should have had a penalty, if the referee had given it, it would have been a different game. Then in the second half we had a non-existent penalty given against us, but that’s football. We look forward with confidence and optimism, we’re preparing well for the comeback,” said Berbatov. The first leg will be away from home in Turin followed by the home leg on the return.

As.Monaco outclassed Arsenal earlier in the month of February as the French side ran right past Arsene Wenger’s men with a scoreboard of 3-1. DimitarBerbatov played a big role in this triumph as he scored a goal.

This match played a big importance for both teams as it was their Champions League last 16 first leg match. The 2nd match is scheduled to take place on March 17 but Arsenal has a big disadvantage as they have fallen behind in the scoreboard by 2 goals.

Berbatov is now being rumored on having an interest in making a return to the Premier League as the result that his team secured when playing against Arsenal has sparked a string of rumors linking the Bulgarian forward with a return to the league where he used to perform in a few years ago.

According to DimitarBerbatov, one of the main reasons on why Arsenal sustained their 3-1 defeat was due to the Premier League club being just way too predictable on the pitch which made things much easier for As.Monaco.

“To be honest, we were not surprised. Arsenal has very quick players and when they go forward they leave a lot of space at the back. We knew that and we had prepared well and took advantage of it. We knew their weaknesses and we exploited them and I think everyone can agree that we deserved our win. Our team is very young but very talented. It is not only about age but about class. If you prepare well and do what your coach says, you can see the result. We believed we could do something. This is for everybody.”As.Monaco’sDimitarBerbatov said.

The former Manchester United player is 34 years old but even at his fairly elevated age, he still manages to score goals as the Bulgarian attacker has proved that age is just a number and it’s not affected by class which is permanent. Even at his age, Berbatov would still receive offers from clubs in the Premier League but it depends on whether or not he decides on making a return to the top tier English league.

Berbatov might not be the same player he was a few years ago, but he still has a few more seasons left in him before taking up the option of hanging up his boots.

After having made over 50 appearances as a player of Fulham, Berbatov opted to make a move to As.Monaco. It was a huge change not only in club but also in country and league as Berbatov went from playing in the Premier League to joining the French League.

Dimitar Berbatov did not have any experience playing in the French League prior to joining As.Monaco but it not stop him from making a move to what was a new playing style for the Bulgarian attacker.

The veteran forward and former player of Manchester United has now revealed that it actually wasn’t difficult on making a move to such a different league as he was eager and in search of something new.

“I was looking for something new. When Monaco contacted me, I spoke about it with Patrice Evra, one of my very good friends, and he said good things about the team. I know Ricardo Carvalho . I played against him in England so I don’t feel like a new player. In fact, it was easy for me to choose. It is a great team. It is a new adventure.”’’ Berbatov stated.

Berbatov was originally viewed as a short term replacement for Radamel Falcao as the Colombian forward signed for Manchester United and even prior to joining the Premier League club, Falcao was suffering from injuries and this is why Berbatov was brought as a way to fill in the boots of the Colombian attacker.

On May 16 of the current year Berbatov signed a one year contract extension at the club and it remains unsure if he will be turning into a more consistent and regular player for the French team taking into consideration that Radamel Falcao is on the wish-list of Louis van Gaal and the Dutch manager of Manchester United could sign Falcao on a permanent deal instead of having him only on a loan contract.

Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim says that the fight for the Champions League last 16 qualification will go to the last group match.

Monaco qualified for the Champions League after spending vast sums of money on players like James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao. Even though most of the high-profile signings have departed the club in the summer after budget cuts, they continue to remain in the Champions League group stages. They were given a fair chance of reaching the last 16 due to the group not having many top contenders like the Bayern Munich or Barcelona.

Even though Monaco have had just one win in the four matches up until now, they sit second in the table and it will be enough to see them through to the knockout stages. Bayern Leverkusen remain the overwhelming favourites to win the group, as they hold a four-point advantage over Monaco. The fight for the final qualification spot will go to the last match according toJardim. There have been a lot of rumours thatJardim could be sacked before Christmas after four run of form has left the club several points away from qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica are the other teams in Monaco’s Champions League group.

“It was a very even match, just as it was two weeks ago. Both teams had chances and Benfica were more clinical. They scored and we didn’t manage that.At this moment Leverkusen have an advantage given the points they have but it’s a very tight group. All four teams will be fighting to qualify until the end.Benfica are back on track. As I said, if they didn’t win they would be out; as they won, the fight will be until the finish,” said Jardim, whose team next take on table leaders Leverkusen.

Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim has said that the club are targeting a good start to the French league season in order to stand chance of winning the title. The club finished second last season under the management of Claudio Ranieri. However, there were several points behind eventual winners Paris St Germain.
Even though they were promoted only in the previous summer, Ranieri paid for this disappointing result with his job. Jardim has been appointed in his place. Even though Monaco have not been spending a lot of money like in the last few transfers window, their squad is thought to be one of the strongest in the French league.

Paris St Germain remain the overwhelming favourites to win the league title once again, but Jardim says that they can upset the odds by starting the campaign in a positive fashion. Monaco has had pre-season during which they have beaten the likes of Arsenal in friendly matches. Further, the return of Radamel Falcao, who has been injured for the last six months, will only help matters. Dimitar Berbatov is also present at the club should Falcao decide to leave for Real Madrid in the last moment. Ahead of the season opener against Lorient, Jardim says that the club wants to have a positive start to the campaign.

“We have worked hard for six weeks to be ready. We want to start with a good game on Sunday. I know who will play. Falcao is not 100 per cent yet but is ready to be included in the group. The team is confident after the six friendlies. We do everything to have a good quality of football. My style of play is to have the ball go through the sides playing very compact. I also like that my press team the opponent very high,” said Jardim.