Everton forward Louis Saha is enjoying a resurgence in form at present, though the deadly striker is not about to be swept off his feet by a recall to the France squad, despite admitting that it gives him pleasure to be back in amongst les Bleus.
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SAHA WANTS EVERTON STAY
Louis Saha says he does not want to leave Everton despite interest from Turkish side Besiktas.
The 30-year-old France striker has endured another injury-hit campaign and Besiktas revealed this week that they were hoping to tempt the player away from Goodison Park.
However, Saha feels that he owes David Moyes a debt after he brought him to the club from Manchester United last summer and he says has no intention of moving on.
‘I haven’t been contacted by anyone,’ he told the French media.
‘I want to repay Everton and David Moyes for giving me my chance.
LAZIO NEED A WIN
Lazio manager Edoardo Reja says that he wants a win over Catania when the two sides meet each other on Sunday. Reja was brought into the club in order to improve their failing hopes of finishing in the European places.
After doing exceedingly well in the first half of the season, Lazio have been slowly slipping down the table since the winter break. They are currently eight on the table, but their fortunes are slowly improving with a run of decent results. The match against Catania provides a great opportunity to get to the win, as their opponents are struggling down near the bottom of the table.
SAHA BACKS MATA
Louis Saha reckons that it would be very hard for Manchester United to make it to the UEFA Champions League this time around.
The Red Devils are still quite a bit away from the top 4 zone in the Premier league table and with not too many games remaining in the league, Saha might be right.
However, United has made a big signing recently in the form of Juan Mata who is a very highly rated midfielder in Europe and his arrival should strengthen the Premier League defending champions, but, it’s hard to imagine that one player would turn things around completely at Old Trafford.
According to Saha, Mata’s signing would help United, but, he alone can’t get them into the top 4.
Saha himself was a Manchester United player at one point of time. He had been in the Red Devils camp for a period of 5 years in which he made 86 league appearances.
The 35 years old Frenchman decided to hang his boots in August last year. He spent the last few months of his career in France playing for Lazio.
Saha was being interviewed by a website yesterday. When asked about United’s chances of earning a Champions League place, he said, “It doesn’t seem likely to be honest. Yes, they would be making changes in their line up. There would be some freshness coming in with Mata, but, still, it’s hard to back them to finish in top 4.”
“Off course, Mata is a great signing and he can make a big difference in longer run.”
United has paid more than 37 million Pounds as transfer fee for securing the services of Mata who was not playing regularly at his former club Chelsea. He made a grand debut for the Red Devils against Cardiff City the other day by assisting a goal.
MOYES BACKED
Former Manchester United player Louis Saha is confident that David Moyes would not allow Sir. Alex Ferguson to interfere in his duty in Manchester United.
Some weeks ago the former captain of Manchester United Roy Keane said that even though Sir. Alex Ferguson took a step down from being the coach of the Premier League club; the Scottish tactician still wants to have control of the club.
And now Louis Saha who played under the leadership of both managers (Moyes and Ferguson) believes that Ferguson would not intentionally put that kind of pressure and problems on David Moyes.
Saha said: “Roy Keane has huge respect for Manchester United, but he always has had the quality of speaking his mind.I don’t think if something has been done by Sir Alex Ferguson it’s to disrupt anything, it’s to give help and advice. Controlling everything, I don’t think David Moyes would accept that’’.
“He likes to do things his own way, and that’s for sure that he will listen to advice but I don’t think he will let anyone else control what happens at the club.”
The Frenchman is confident that both of them can even form an alliance that can benefit Manchester United as a whole and despite the disastrous start of the season that Moyes has been having in charge of the Premier League club, Saha believes Moyes can do it and all he needs it time.
“One has freshness and the other has massive experience. Manchester United has a big, big image for English football.
“But I really think those two can work well together. David Moyes was at a club before with a very tough, defensive image. Now he needs to go forward and score more goals; that’s something you have to put into your tactics in a way, but I think he can do it.”
Louis Saha signs for IPL-style football league
Former Manchester United and French international striker Louis Saha has become the first big name signing of the new Indian Premier League style football tournament to be organized in India by IMG-Reliance next season.
Saha has won 20 caps for the French national team which he represented between 2004 and 2008 and also won two Premier League titles along with the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League with Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson and is being seen as the first marquee signing of the new professional football tournament to be organized in September next year.
According to a source from IMG-Reliance, Louis Saha had confirmed his availability for the tournament through his agent and seeing their opportunity, IMG-Reliance wasted no time in signing the player, who they hope, will turn out to be the first of many big name signings to play in the tournament.
The source also stated that negotiations are ongoing with other options of marquee player signings but as of now, they can only reveal the name of Saha. According to reports, however, the group has targeted the likes of Thierry Henry, David Beckham and several other big name players who have recently retired or are at the twilight of their careers for the league.
Louis Saha himself retired at the end of last season after failing to find a club and he will, no doubt, be a great addition to the player roster as his immense experience of playing in the Premier League will help the young players who will play alongside him and can also hope for some kind of mentorship from him over time.
Former Manchester United teammates Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand hold the player in very high regard and consider him to be one of the best strikers they have played with too.
New England Revolution keen on Louis Saha
Major League Soccer side the New England Revolution faces a race against time to sign new players and tie down their own players to new contracts with the transfer window slamming shut on Thursday as they look to consolidate their position in the league.
The club’s star players have been linked with moves away from the club and if these moves do go ahead, then the club is looking to add suitable replacements to the side by the time the transfer window in the United States of America slams shut.
The club’s star players Kalifa Cisse and Saer Sene have attracted interest from clubs in France and England but the player making most noise in the continental transfer window in Juan Agudelo who has been linked with Stoke City in the Premier League.
And the club has already earmarked a replacement in the form of former Manchester United and France international striker Louis Saha, who is currently a free agent.
The former Fulham striker spent a part of last season at Italian giants SS Lazio after being allowed to move from Sunderland but Lazio has released the player and Louis Saha is free to sign for any club in the world on the bosman ruling.
And the New England Revolution is eyeing the player as a replacement for Agudelo, who, according to reports, has held meetings with officials of Stoke City in the United States and is believed to be closing in on a move to England and the Britannia Stadium where fellow American internationals Break Shea, Maurice Edu and Geoff Cameron play.
But the one thing that is holding up the deal for Louis Saha is the player’s high wage demands and with the clubs in the Major League Soccer operating within a fixed budget stipulated by the commission.
MORE PLAYERS IN
The manager of Lazio, Vladimir Petkovic, has said that he is looking to expand his squad this summer.
Petkovic has already bought the Colombian striker Brayan Perea from Deportivo Cali after paying a transfer fee of 2.5 million Euros and he is quite keen to secure the services of the Santos midfielder Filipe Anderson as well.
When asked about his plans for this summer, Petkovic said, “There will be a few signings for sure. I am looking to make the squad big so that I can easily rotate the players and give them rest.”
When asked about his first signing of the summer Perea, Petkovic said, “He is an exciting, young striker. I saw him playing for Deportivo Cali a couple of times in the last season and I was very impressed with his strength and speed. He can play as a winger as well.”
There had been a few reports that Lazio is interested in Juventus striker Alessandro Matri as well. But, Petkovic has denied those reports.
When asked about Matri, the Lazio manager said, “He is a fantastic player and has had a lot of success with Juventus in the last couple of years. But, he is too expensive for us. We can’t spend that much money.”
Meanwhile, Petkovic himself has also signed a new 1-year deal with Lazio. He had joined Lazio at the start of the last season after leaving the Turkish club Samsunspor.
Petkovic was quite impressive in his first season as Lazio manager. He guided the team to Coppa Italia title. Lazio defeated Roma in the final of Coppa Italia.
Lazio’s performance in Serie A wasn’t too bad either. The Aquile finished the season at no. 7 in the points table with 61 points in 38 matches.
PRESSURE BUILDS
After suffering the third defeat in five matches, the pressure is certainly on the Lazio manager Vladimir Petkovic. He has said that his team certainly did not deserve to get beaten by Torino during the weekend.
Lazio were coming into the match on the back of a highly inconsistent run that has seen them win just two out of the last four matches, while suffering defeats in the other two. This has made them slip out of the top three in the table, while they are in danger of losing out on the Europa league as well.
Lazio had to endure the double whammy of losing Michael Ciani after he was sent off for two yellow cards. After the match, Petkovic has said that he would have wanted to end the game with his full complement of players. He has praised his team’s hunger and desire, which makes the defeat extremely hard to take. Lazio are in danger of being overtaken by the likes of Roma and Catania. They will face Catania at home in the next league match, which will be extremely crucial for them to sustain the top six positions. Petkovic, though, has said that he still remains confident of qualifying for the Champions League.
“I would love just once to end a game with eleven men on the field and talk about incidents like this going our way. I compliment my players for the hunger and energy they put onto the pitch. It certainly was not a deserved defeat. We still believe we can qualify for the Champions League and must continue to believe. I hope next time to be more fortunate,” said the 49-year-old. Lazio have been drawn against the Turkish team Fenerbahce in the next round of the Europa league. In the league, they will be facing the likes of Catania, Roma, and Juventus in the next few matches.
SAHA FUTURE UNSURE
Louis Saha has been clearly told by the Sunderland management that he is not in the future plans of the club and if he wants, he can join any other club during the mid season transfer window.
The 34 years old French striker had joined Sunderland in August last year after being released by Tottenham Hotspur. He hasn’t been given many playing opportunities in the ongoing season. He hasn’t been given even a single starting opportunity in the Premier League matches so far.
In the limited playing chances that Saha has got, he has failed to impress. He has featured for Sunderland in 11 matches, but, he hasn’t managed to score even once.
There have also been a few reports that Saha is unhappy about being made to sit on the bench in most of the matches and he also wants to leave Sunderland.
Talking to the reporters after Sunderland’s defeat against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday, the manager of Sunderland, Martin O’Neill said, “We have made it quite clear to Louis that if he wants, he can talk to other clubs and can leave during the mid season transfer window.”
“Louis is a great player and he has done wonders for a lot of big clubs over the years. You look at his numbers and you will find what kind of player he has been. We expected him to do well for us as well, but, unfortunately, he is a bit out of form in this season and had to sit out in most of the matches.”
“I have heard that a South African club is interested in signing Louis. Louis might also be interested in joining that club. I don’t have any idea about that. I just want to give him my best wishes for his future.”