Author: admin

The Turkish side Galatasaray is having discussions with a number of clubs in the Premier League including: Newcastle United, Manchester United and Chelsea as there are a few players which might be transferring from different clubs in the summer transfer window.

Unal Aysal is the President of Galatasaray and he announced that the club has rejected an offer from Manchester United concerning Wesley Sneijder. The Dutch midfielder is a target of Manchester United but they will need to make an offer in the region of €15 million if they want to land him.

Many people reckon that the Ivory Coast national football team hasn’t got enough experience to be able to make it to the latter stages of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014, but, Sabri Lamouchi, the man in charge of the Elephants squad, has different opinion. He has got a lot of faith in the group that he has got and he believes that his boys will prove those people wrong who doubt their ability.

Ivory Coast’s world cup campaign will start on 14th of June when they will take on Japan. Their next couple of matches will be against Colombia and Greece on 19th and 24th of the same month.

Iker Casillas spot in Real Madrid’s goalkeeping position still remains to be up for grabs as he is still being switched out with Diego Lopez and even though it was initially believed that Casillas would get more playing time after the departure of Mourinho from the club, things have not changed very much.

Ahead of the Champions league match with the Spanish Giants, Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini has stated that the addition of Gareth Bale and the recruitment of Carlo Ancelotti has made Madrid one of the best teams in the world.

Real Madrid are the favourites to get the victory and progress to the knockout stages as the group winners.

Wesley Sneijder has been advised by The Netherlands national team boss Louis Van Gaal to quit Galatasaray and join English giants Chelsea if he wants to have a long future with the Dutch national team.

Van Gaal has also told his star player to snub the advances of Manchester United, who has been trying to lure him to Old Trafford since his breathtaking displays for Holland in the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and rekindle his partnership with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

According to the latest reports, the Dutch midfielder was the subject of a big late in the summer transfer window by Manchester United but it was rejected by the Turkish giants as the price they were offered didn’t meet their valuation of the player.

Sneijder was also the subject of interest from Chelsea who remains keen to take the Galatasaray midfielder to England with Jose Mourinho preferring him thanks to their brilliant partnership which won Inter Milan the treble in 2010. And Van Gaal thinks this is a step that his star player should take because it was under the Portuguese tactician at Inter Milan that he enjoyed his most productive spell.

But the question remains with Chelsea being overloaded with so many midfield players, where will Sneijder fit in? On the other hand, he will be a straight choice in a Manchester United side that is crying out for a creative midfielder at the centre of the park and it remains to be seen what the Dutchman does in January.

It is expected both Chelsea and United will return to Galatasaray with an offer for the midfielder. However, a lot will depend on whether the Turkish champions manage to qualify for the next round of the UEFA Champions League as well which will put off any transfer till the summer.

Arsenal sold Ivory Coast international Emmanuel Eboue a few years ago to Turkish club Galatasaray. It appears that the defender is open to the possibility of returning to Arsenal after he has admitted that he is still in touch with the club.

He was an Arsenal player for six years after arriving at the club in 2005. Initially, he impressed everyone with his versatility and efforts on the pitch. However, the club sold him only a few years ago to Galatasaray after a few seasons of mediocre performances from the player.

After winning the Turkish league championship last season, Eboue is once again on a high. Arsenal fans showed a lot of negativity towards Eboue, but the defender has revealed that he still loves the club very much. Players like Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna are in touch with him regularly, while Eboue also revealed that he speaks with manager Arsene Wenger occasionally. Eboue was speaking on the occasion of Galatasaray possibly taking on Arsenal in the Emirates cup. They will be playing at the Emirates stadium as part of the pre-season preparations.

Eboue will be returning to his former stamping ground and he is very much looking forward to the occasion. He hopes that the fans give him a good reception.

“I still speak to several of the guys regularly – Bacary Sagna and Abou Diaby for example – and sometimes Arsène Wenger too. I always want to hear news from the club because I am a big supporter of them. I’m a Galatasaray player now, but I am still in love with Arsenal and I always watch their games. The club only did good things for me, and I never had any trouble from anybody. My only bad day was that game against Wigan, but that was something you must be ready for as football player,” said Eboue.

Turkish giants Galatasaray have completed a new sponsorship deal with Indian technological giants HCL for their ME branded tablet which will see the Indian conglomerate adorn the famous red and gold strips of the Turkish League champions.

The club is the biggest name in Turkish domestic football and in terms of success, no other club comes even close to it in the country and it has also been the country’s main flag bearer in European competitions over the years and also supplies the majority of stars for the national team. The club boasts of the largest fan base in the country and the club even claims it has fans spread all over the world in countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, in several parts of Asia as well as Africa.

Their fans have been votes as one of the most passionate fans in the world and the Indian technological giants see this is an opportunity to break into the huge fan base that Galatasaray boasts of and promote their brand by breaking new grounds.

The agreement with HCL follows from the end of the club’s sponsorship agreement with Japanese camera manufacturers Nikon and will see the HCL ME logo adorn the shorts of the club for the entire duration of the 2013/14 season, both at home and in Europe. As per the agreements of the deal, HCL will also be designing a special limited edition club branded version of the ME tablet that will be sold in the club shops all over the country.

Various sources have estimated the value of the deal to be around $ 1.5 million and not only the football team, the HCL ME logo will also adorn the logo of the volleyball team of Galatasaray, which will wear the company branded arm bands.

Galatasaray became the champions of Turkish Super League by winning a home match against Sivasspor on Sunday. Galatasaray won the match by 4-2.

Burak Yilmaz and Selcuk Inan were the stand out players for Galatasaray in that match. Both of them found the back of the net twice and secured the title victory of their team.

This is the 19th time that Galatasaray has won this title. No other team has won this competition so many times. At no. 2, it’s Fenerbahce which has won the league 18 times.

The two African players (Emmanuel Eboue and Didier Drogba) who played a major role in Galatasaray’s success this season talked to the reporters after the match against Sivasspor.

When Eboue was asked how he is feeling, he said, “I would first like to thank the almighty. He has been really kind to us. It feels really good. We have done this for the second successive time. It’s a huge moment.”

“I would like to thank the fans of the club as well. They have been superb. They have given us incredible support throughout the season and we are really thankful for that.”

When asked about the manager of the club Fatih Terim, Eboue said, “He is a very nice person and a brilliant manager. He can be strict at times, but, all he does is for the good of the team.”

Drogba who had signed for Galatasaray during the mid season transfer window was also looking pretty happy in the press conference. The Ivorian International said, “This is my first season for the club and we have won the title. I can’t express in words how happy I am right now. I couldn’t have had a better debut season than this.”
Drogba has featured for Galatasaray in 11 matches this season and has found the net 5 times. He has also assisted 6 goals.

The Galatasaray president Unal Aysal has categorically denied rumours that former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue, who is one of the star players of the team, is set for being sold in the January transfer window.

The Ivory Coast international moved to Turkish football only a few seasons ago and he has been one of the first-team regulars at the club. However, there have been reports that the 29-year-old could be sold after the manager has apparently held talks with the player. This has been dismissed by the President Unal Aysal, who has said that Eboue is one of the important members of the team because of his quality and experience.

The 29-year-old had six seasons at Arsenal before moving to Galatasaray. Even though he was not highly successful in terms of trophies with the Premier league club, he had a reputation for being one of the versatile defenders around. Eboue was consistently deployed as a right midfielder and holding midfielder by the manager Arsene Wenger when he was playing for the English club. The Galatasaray coach Terim has recently held talks with the player according to the president. The player has so far been part of the team in 16 matches. Galatasaray are top of the table after the recent win over rivals Fenerbahce.

“There is definitely no such thing to be spoken about, even if it already has been. I do not want anyone to go, Eboue is a very experienced name and a major contribution to the team. Fatih has started the talks on the phone and the things that we do. We (will) mutually decide (what to do) before we play our cards,” said the president of the club in a recent interview. Galatasaray recently managed a 2-1 win over arch rivals Fenerbahce, a match in which Raul Meireles was sent off.