Anzhi confirm interest in Gaitan

Russian Premier League side Anzhi have confirmed they are interested in signing Benfica forward Nicolas Gaitan.

The Argentine winger is one of the most sought-after footballers in Europe and is widely tipped to leave Estadio da Luz in the near future.

Portuguese newspaper O Jogo recently reported that free-spending Anzhi were showing interest in the 24-year-old, with club’s sporting director Roberto Carlos admitting the Russians are keen on Gaitan.

“There was a conversation in the summer, but then came a lot of agents, not the player, and we decided to pull out,” Roberto Carlos .

“Now, the interest remains and there may be something in January.”

Nicolas Gaitan joined Benfica from Boca Juniors in …

Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has decided to move to Espanyol from Celtic after talks over a transfer to his former club Yokohama Marinos collapsed, according to Jiji Press.

Officials of the J-League club confirmed the decision after holding talks with Nakamura s agent on Monday, Jiji Press reported.

Club officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nakamura, 31, had initially expressed his readiness to re-sign with the Marinos when his contract with the former Scottish champions expires at the end of this month.

But the talks with Yokohama stalled, with Nakamura s side reportedly citing the club s insincerity over financial matters and requests for his appearances in club events before he signed a contract.

Yokohama had offere…

Pep Guardiola labelled Erling Haaland a special talent after the striker scored a perfect first-half hat-trick in Manchester City s 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

Haaland, who is averaging a goal every 43 minutes since arriving in the Premier League, has now made the most prolific start to a career in the competition on record.

His third goal against Forest, scored with a close-range header after 38 minutes, was his ninth in five Premier League outings, bettering the eight-goal hauls managed by Sergio Aguero and Micky Quinn through their first five appearances in the competition.

Haaland needed just 16 touches to score his treble, and Guardiola is delighted to see the striker sending records tumbling so early in his Premier League career.

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England captain John Terry believes his team must become more streetwise if they want to end the country s long wait for World Cup glory.

After a fortnight in which diving has been top of the British football agenda due to controversial incidents involving Eduardo, Wayne Rooney and Aiden McGeady, Terry hinted that England s stars have often been too honest for their own good.

While Arsenal striker Eduardo was handed a two-match European ban for his theatrical fall against Celtic and Celtic midfielder McGeady was sent off for diving against Hibernian, Terry knows from first-hand experience that many cheats have got away with their acts of deception.

The Chelsea defender has no intention of condoning the kind of clear dive that landed Eduardo in hot water, but he …

Werder Bremen have completed the signing of United States international Aron Johannsson from AZ.

Johannsson moved to the Eredivisie in January 2013 and has scored 29 goals in 60 league appearances for the club.

The 24-year-old striker, who has scored four goals in 17 appearances for USA, will now continue his career in the Bundesliga after signing a four-year deal with Bremen.

This is the right step to move forward in my development, Johannsson told Bremen s official website.

Werder Bremen is a great club where I will do my utmost to develop myself and to make my contribution to the team s success.

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New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long hopes the United Kingdom s strange work permit system will not deny him the chance to join West Ham.

Manuel Pellegrini is reportedly keen on signing the 26-year-old to bolster his options at centre-back.

Long started five times for the United States at the recent Gold Cup but has not yet satisfied the Football Association s requirements for endorsement of a work permit.

Premier League clubs must submit their applications before the transfer window closes on Thursday.

As our biggest ally, it seems strange that a football player from the US can t automatically get a work visa to play in England, Long told Sky Sports.

Every kid in the USA dreams of playing in the English Premier League.

Not many playe…

Japan s Yasuhito Endo was voted Asian player of the year, while South Korean club Pohang Steelers and the country s national team both picked up prizes at a colourful ceremony here on Tuesday.

The Asian stars were honoured at the annual Asian Football Confederation awards amidst a glittering showpiece of traditional dance and acrobatic performances.

South Korea dominated the award ceremony, winning national team of the year, coach of the year for the country s Huh Jung Moo and club of the year for the Ponhang Steelers.

The country s Ki Sung Yueng bagged the men s young player of the year award while Japan s Mana Iwabuchi was named women s young player.

Japan won the fair play award while Syria s General Farouk Bouzo was given the lifetime achievement aw…

Landon Donovan has issued the Los Angeles Galaxy an ultimatum compel English superstar David Beckham to clean up his act or risk alienating Donovan, the club s all-time top active scorer.

Let s say he does stay here for three more years, Donovan said in passages from a upcoming book on Sports Illustrated s website. I m not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way. This is (expletive) miserable. I don t want to have soccer be this way.

US national team captain Donovan blasted Beckham in the book, The Beckham Experiment , questioning the former England captain s work ethic, leadership and teammate skills on the Major League Soccer squad.

Maybe he s not a leader. Maybe he s not a captain, author Grant Wahl quotes Donovan as saying in the …

Zlatko Dalic said he could coach Brazil or Barcelona but Croatia will always remain his favourite job after the country s run to the World Cup final.    

Croatia made history under head coach Dalic following their first World Cup final appearance in Russia, where they lost 4-2 to France in the decider.    

Dalic and Croatia earned admirers for their football throughout the tournament, while the Balkan nation were greeted by an estimated half-a-million fans on the streets of Zagreb having returned home to a remarkable reception despite defeat.   

Reflecting on Croatia s World Cup exploits, Dalic said in an emotional speech:  I can be coach of Brazil or Barcelona but this will always be the favorite job, to lead Croatian national team.  …

Beleaguered, bedraggled and very possibly bankrupt by the end of next week: things could hardly get worse for Portsmouth at the moment.

This weekend however brings the chance of relief in the form of an FA Cup last-16 meeting with arch rivals Southampton that is arguably the pick of the fifth round ties.

Nothing cheers a Pompey fan up more than beating the Scummers and, despite being rock bottom of the Premier League, the Fratton Park faithful will make the 17-mile trip along England s south coast in confident mood ahead of Saturday s lunchtime tie.

Southampton, themselves a top flight club as recently as 2005, are currently to be found residing in the middle of League One, the third tier of English football, although they would be close to the promotion play-of…