poets day news 3rd may includes west ham

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Jose Mourinho has agreed a return to Chelsea on a £10million-a-year package - but the move will not be officially announced until July 1.
Real Madrid will demand Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez in any cash-plus-player deal for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Arsenal are tracking Lyon's £10million-rated French defensive midfielder Max Gonalons.
Winger Scott Sinclair, 24, can quit Manchester City if the right offer comes in after starting just three games this season.
Stoke are planning a move for Crystal Palace's 28-year-old £2.5million-rated Australian midfielder Mile Jedinak.
Everton are battling Stoke for Lazio's 22-year-old Belgian defender Luis Pedro Cavanda who could be allowed to leave for £2million.





Manchester United want Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson when the 71-year-old manager decides to leave Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, United are planning a summer move for Atletico Madrid's 18-year-old English defender Elliot Kebbie in a move that could see striker Javier Hernandez move in the opposite direction.
Arsenal are chasing Lyon's £15million-rated captain Maxime Gonalons, 24, as a solution to his midfield problems.
Manchester City are tracking Real Sociedad's highly-rated 21-year-old defender Inigo Martinez.
Paul Dickov could replace Brian Flynn as manager of Doncaster - despite Flynn getting Rovers promoted to the Championship.





Rafael Benitez will sign off his stint as Chelsea interim manager with the Europa Cup final against Benfica.
Gareth Bale has given Spurs a huge boost after insisting he will stay at White Hart Lane even if they fail to make the Champions League.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will be handed a bumper £60million war chest to spend on new players this summer.





Jose Mourinho will try to tempt Borussia Dortmund's 24-year-old striker Robert Lewandowski to join him at Chelsea if he returns to Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal have been alerted after Real Madrid confirmed they will sell 25-year-old Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain.
Liverpool are watching Rennes' Ghana international utility player John Boye, 26, who can play centre-back, right-back and midfield.
Arsenal will again send scouts to watch Lyon's £10million-rated French defensive midfielder Max Gonalons.
Stoke City are keen on Norwich City's 24-year-old winger Anthony Pilkington.
West Ham are in talks with Beerschot over a deal for Belgium U21 right-back Alpaslan Ozturk, 19, and are also keen on Wigan's Maynor Figueroa







Andre Villas-Boas admits he will be powerless to prevent Daniel Levy from selling Gareth Bale over his head if the price is too tempting this summer.
Manchester United are trying to sign Borussia Dortmund's £17-million rated midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 22, this summer.
Turkish side Galatasaray are preparing a £12million offer for Arsenal forwards Lukas Podolski or Gervinho.
Manager Michael Laudrup has opened the door for winger Scott Sinclair to rejoin Swansea from Manchester City.





Manchester United will face competition from Real Madrid to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski.
Aston Villa are set to offer rising stars Matthew Lowton and Ashley Westwood new contracts.
Stoke City are lining up a £3million bid for Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie





Rafael Benitez will have a chance to mark his stormy tenure at Chelsea with a trophy after beating Basel 3-1 to reach the Europa League final last night.
Barcelona are set to sign Brazil superstar Neymar from Santos for £50million.

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AILY MAIL

David Luiz booked himself a Europa League final date against former club Benfica last night as his wonder goal capped a nine-minute Chelsea blitz

Gareth Bale will still be a Tottenham player next season, even if Spurs fail to qualify for the Champions League
THE SUN

Jose Mourinho has agreed a sensational return to Chelsea.

Alan Pardew last night hit back at Gary Neville by blasting: What club have you managed?
DAILY STAR

Rampant Chelsea booked a place in the Europa League final last night.

Gareth Bale has told Tottenham: I'm staying even if we fail to make the Champions League.
DAILY EXPRESS

Fernando Torres last night set Rafa Benitez on his way to Amsterdam as Stamford Bridge declared emphatically that 'Jose's coming home'.

Andre Villas-Boas admits he will be powerless to prevent Daniel Levy from selling Gareth Bale over his head if the price is too tempting this summer.
DAILY MIRROR

Manchester United have put Jurgen Klopp in pole position to be Alex Ferguson's successor.

David Luiz added a wonder-goal to his collection to send Chelsea into the Europa League final.
THE INDEPENDENT

A brilliant left-footed strike from David Luiz capped Chelsea's successful passage into the Europa League final last night.
THE TIMES

Rafael Benitez will have a chance to mark his stormy tenure at Chelsea with a trophy after beating Basle 3-1 to reach the Europa League final last night.
THE GUARDIAN

By the end, it was a throwback to happier times for Chelsea. Their place in the Europa League final had been confirmed and, however much a downgrade it is compared with last season's glories, they will cherish the opportunity to bring another trophy back to Stamford Bridge at the end of a difficult, sometimes chaotic season.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

So now the scramble begins for tickets for the Europa League final of May 15. Tickets on the black market for the Amsterdam ArenA were hurtling above the £250 mark within seconds of full-time and will rise even higher because of the meagre allocation offered by Uefa to Chelsea and Benfica. Chelsea say they will receive around 9,800 tickets, ranging from £39 to £117, for a stadium that holds 53,000. The touts will have a field day.

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When legendary Manchester United manager Matt Busby hung up his trilby in 1969, names put forward by the press as his successor included Jock Stein, Don Revie and Bill Shankly. Hard to believe these days, of course, but those were the rumours of the time. Not quite so hard to believe nowadays is that, with United quietly making discreet plans for life after Sir Alex Ferguson, the modern press pack have yet to link the post to Neil Lennon, Brian McDermott or Brendan Rodgers. How times change, eh. Instead, seems the man in the frame is Jürgen Klopp of Borussia Dortmund, providing he can retain his soup-of-the-day temperature for the next 17 years until Fergie finally decides to do one.

Klopp's task will be even harder than it sounds, for Dortmund are doomed to lose all of their players this summer to the big boys, egads, the sorry state of modern football. Mario Götze is already halfway out of the door, while Robert Lewandowski is now a target for Chelsea, for it seems the incoming José Mourinho has been personally wooing the Pole using the quaint old-fashioned SMS text message protocol. Unless we've been misreading all that, "I want to manage where I am loved," guff, in which case Lewandowski's off to either Porto or Inter.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are having a wee clearout now José's leaving the building. They've already opened all the windows, and are considering hoicking Gonzalo Higuaín out of one. Representatives of Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal are all down at street level, holding out a sheet.

They're also thinking about getting shot of Cristiano Ronaldo, in what could be a highly amusing summer of hot-faced panic at the Bernabéu. Ronaldo will head back to Manchester United, with either Nani or Javier Hernández heading the other way, along with £65m. Marouane Fellaini will also be making the same trip to Madrid, so that's another Everton revival nipped in the bud.

But if United don't sell Hernández to Real, they might bundle him off to Madrid neighbours Atlético, as a sweetener in a deal for young English right back Elliot Kebbie and striker Radamel Falcao, who "could be as good as Alan Shearer", according to his fellow Colombian Faustino Asprilla, the contents of his skull seemingly yet to settle after all those somersaults.

So, then, a lot of exciting names featured in today's Mill. Shivers must be going up and down the spines of fans of Manchester United and Real Madrid! Meanwhile Arsenal are preparing a £10m bid for Lyon's Max Gonalons, a defensive midfielder who, it's said, is quite consistent.

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Tony Cottee Column: West Ham fans should give Pardew a good
reception




Hammers legend Tony Cotte is expecting some applause for former West Ham boss Alan Pardew when he brings his Newcastle team to Upton Park on Saturday

Alan Pardew comes back to Upton Park for the first time since he was manager here and I expect him to get a good reception from most of the Hammers fans.

When you think about his achievements in his time here then it does stand up to scrutiny.

Granted, some of the football that his team played in the Championship was awful, but he got the team back into the Premier League, albeit by the play-offs and then took them to ninth in his first season – a record similar to that achieved by Sam Allardyce so far.

Don’t forget, during his time we were at the Millennium Stadium three years on the trot, made the FA Cup Final and also qualified for Europe, so I think most fans would see that as a success.

He comes back with his Newcastle side under real pressure in the battle for survival. They were awful on Saturday against Liverpool and against Sunderland and this is not a good time to be losing your form.

The Villa result on Monday night put further pressure on them as well and though I think Wigan are the team that will go down, I think Newcastle still have a lot of improving to make.

I can’t really see them doing it on Saturday though. I think West Ham will win 2-0.

Last Saturday at Man City was a solid performance, despite the defeat and it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

Neither team had much to play for, but despite that I thought West Ham did okay in a game where it would have been easy to roll over and get thumped by a quality team.

Bale was a worthy winner

I was at the PFA Awards dinner on Sunday and I have to say that Gareth Bale was a worthy winner.

He has been consistent all season and without him Spurs would not have won many of their matches, including that last-minute strike against West Ham.

I can’t say that I am a big fan of the same player winning both the player of the year and the young player of the year awards.

Having it as an under-23 award diminishes it a little for me and I would make it for under-21s.

I was also not a fan of the comedian that was there to entertain us on the night. Having someone say the ‘n’ word in front of a group of footballers after all that the game has been through in the last couple of years, was a ridiculous and embarrasing mistake.

One thing that wasn’t a mistake was the 10-game ban for Luis Suarez. It was a totally unprovoked attack and he has to learn his lesson.

But it is about time the FA sorted itself out in terms of disciplinary panels, so they can sort out racism and bad tackles properly.

It is absolutely ridiculous that we haven’t got an independent committee after all this time.

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nice one CH