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Victor Wanyama has confirmed that he will not be joining Manchester United in the January transfer window, committing himself to Celtic for the time being.
Wanyama has been one of the SPL outfit's stand-out performers this term, scoring the first goal in the club's memorable 2-1 win over Barcelona in November and impressing with a fine all-round display.
Speculation has linked United with the Kenya international for a
number of months now, and the Premier League leaders have reportedly
been scouting the 21-year-old all season.
But despite talk of a late £12 million bid from Sir Alex Ferguson the Hoops man has ruled out a switch, insisting he wants to remain with the Scottish club through their Champions League adventure.
"I can confirm to you that I will be at Celtic," he told the Daily Record. "We are playing well and our Champions League dream is on right now, so I am looking forward to the big game against Juventus."
Past reports had indicated that the player would be open to a transfer to England and, although he reiterated his desire to remain with Celtic for now, Wanyama hinted that his situation may change at the end of the campaign.
"A lot has been said about my intended move but I have not given it much thought and even my manager feels I should play until the end of the season for Celtic," he added.
"Then, from that point, the doors can be open for a move."
| BET: | RETURNS: | Dundee Utd XI £150.00 | Draw £14.00 | Celtic £36.00 |  |
Wanyama has been one of the SPL outfit's stand-out performers this term, scoring the first goal in the club's memorable 2-1 win over Barcelona in November and impressing with a fine all-round display.
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| 11/1 | Manchester United are 11/1 to beat Fulham 3-0 with William Hill |
But despite talk of a late £12 million bid from Sir Alex Ferguson the Hoops man has ruled out a switch, insisting he wants to remain with the Scottish club through their Champions League adventure.
"I can confirm to you that I will be at Celtic," he told the Daily Record. "We are playing well and our Champions League dream is on right now, so I am looking forward to the big game against Juventus."
Past reports had indicated that the player would be open to a transfer to England and, although he reiterated his desire to remain with Celtic for now, Wanyama hinted that his situation may change at the end of the campaign.
"A lot has been said about my intended move but I have not given it much thought and even my manager feels I should play until the end of the season for Celtic," he added.
"Then, from that point, the doors can be open for a move."
PIGO ARSENAL, KIERAN GIBBS NJE WIKI TATU MAANA YAKE ATAIKOSA MECHI NA BAYERN LIGI YA MABINGWA
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Arsenal full-back Kieran Gibbs will be sidelined for three weeks with a thigh strain, Arsene Wenger has confirmed.
The 23-year-old limped out of the Gunners' 2-2 draw with Liverpool before being replaced by Brazilian Andre Santos.
"Gibbs has a thigh strain and will be out for three weeks. It's a big blow for us," Wenger said in his post-match press conference.
"He was an important player for us going forward and the game we wanted to play. It's a shame he's out for the next three weeks."
Gibbs will certainly miss Saturday's Premier League game with Stoke City, but the young left-back may also miss out in the Champions League against German giants Bayern Munich.
Wenger admitted he may be forced into the transfer market to replace Gibbs, who spent some of last season on the treatment table with a hernia.
| BET: | RETURNS: | Arsenal £14.40 | Draw £42.00 | Stoke City £65.00 | |
The 23-year-old limped out of the Gunners' 2-2 draw with Liverpool before being replaced by Brazilian Andre Santos.
"Gibbs has a thigh strain and will be out for three weeks. It's a big blow for us," Wenger said in his post-match press conference.
"He was an important player for us going forward and the game we wanted to play. It's a shame he's out for the next three weeks."
Gibbs will certainly miss Saturday's Premier League game with Stoke City, but the young left-back may also miss out in the Champions League against German giants Bayern Munich.
Wenger admitted he may be forced into the transfer market to replace Gibbs, who spent some of last season on the treatment table with a hernia.
SUAREZ ASEMA HAONDOKI NG'O LIVERPOOL HATA ISIPOFUZU LIGI YA MABINGWA
Friday's Gossip column
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, 25, has pledged his future to
Liverpool, saying that even if they fail to qualify for the Champions
League he will stay.
Brazilian side Internacional have reportedly told Tottenham they will have to wait until the summer to sign striker Leandro Damiao, 23, after rejecting a £17m deadline-day offer.
West Brom forward Peter Odemwingie, 31, was left stranded on the
steps of Loftus Road after his move to Queen's Park Rangers fell
through.
OTHER GOSSIP
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is furious after defender Phil Jones, 20, was demoted to the England Under-21s.
England manager Roy Hodgson has called on home fans to honour Chelsea
defender Ashley Cole, 32, when he reaches the 100-cap milestone in the
friendly against Brazil at Wembley.
Reading manager Brian McDermott insists striker Adam Le Fondre,
26, is capable of transferring his Royals super-sub exploits on to the
international scene with England.
German striker Lukas Podolski, 27, says Arsenal will have to stop being
such slow starters if they want to be playing Champions League football
again next season.
Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta, 23, admits the Blues are
suffering from a lack of confidence and believes teams no longer fear
playing against them.
French football fans are divided over 37-year-old David Beckham's offer to donate his Paris St-Germain salary to charity.
AND FINALLY
Austrian defender Paul Scharner, 32, is considering dying the
words 'I'M BACK' into his hair when he makes his first-team return for
Wigan.
ADEBAYOR AUPONDA UWANJA AFRIKA KUSINI, ASEMA PITCH MBOVU KAMA WA BUSH
Togo
striker Emmanuel Adebayor has fiercely criticized the sandy field that
will host a semi-final at the Africa Cup of Nations, calling it 'a
disgrace' and embarrassing for the continent.
The
Tottenham forward said the sandy and bumpy pitch at Mbombela Stadium in
Nelspruit badly undermined African football and will lead people in
Europe to think the teams are playing 'in the bush.'
Togo
held Tunisia to 1-1 at Mbombela on Wednesday to reach the
quarter-finals for the first time, after which Adebayor said 'it's a
disgrace for our continent to be playing on this pitch when it's on the
TV around the world.'
Disgrace: Emmanuel Adebayor is unhappy with the sandy nature of the Nelspruit pitch
He
added: 'Once again we are in Africa, the Africa Cup of Nations is a big
tournament for Africa - the whole world is watching this,' he said.
'You can't play on a pitch like this. Those people that watch the game
in Europe, they will be sending SMS to me ... asking me, "Are you
playing in the bush or what?" It's a disgrace to our continent, we can
do better.'
Adebayor's
criticism came as tournament organizer the Confederation of African
Football was to hold its mid-tournament review on Friday. While South
Africa was expected to be praised for better attendances at this cup,
the poor Mbombela field has undoubtedly been an eyesore and had already
been criticized by the Zambia and Nigeria teams.
Television
audiences will have seen sand constantly kicked up by players and the
ball often bouncing unevenly at Mbombela for the group games there. The
field will also host Togo's quarter-final against Burkina Faso on Sunday
and one of the semi-finals.
Beach: Television audiences will have seen alarming amounts of sand constantly flicked up
'CAF
have to sort things out to solve the problem,' Adebayor said. 'At the
end of the day we are all African and we have to be honest with
ourselves. It's a beautiful stadium but the pitch is not happening.'
The
problems with the Mbombela field reportedly arose after days of heavy
rain in the northern city of Nelspruit just before the tournament,
leading officials to lay sand on the surface to prevent it becoming
waterlogged.
Zambia
coach Herve Renard said the poor surface was a major reason why his
defending champion sdie was eliminated in the group stage, having
struggled to play on it.
Zebra: Mbombela Stadium hosted World Cup matches in 2010 and will host an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final
The
cup has generally been well organized, with only the Mbombela field, a
few instances of poor refereeing and the misbehavior of Ethiopian fans
in their team's opening game against Zambia the standout problems.
CAF
was expected to provide an update of ticket sales on Friday, with the
tournament already expected to be a vast improvement on the last one in
2012.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football
BALOTELLI AANZA MAPEMAA KUIPIGIA MABAO AC MILAN
Mario Balotelli completed a whirlwind 24 hours by scoring on his AC Milan debut.
The Italian striker, who joined the
Rossoneri from Manchester City in a £20m move on Wednesday, was on
target in a friendly against Serie D side Darfo Boario.
Off and running: Mario Balotelli scored in his first appearance in a Milan shirt
Balotelli dummied the goalkeeper before
rolling the ball into an empty net. He also set up two others - one more
than he managed in his entire Man City career - in the 10-0 victory.
Fellow first-team squad players Bojan Krkic, Robinho and Mbaye Niangat also played in the game at the Milanello training ground on Thursday.
But the 22-year-old will face a much stiffer test if he makes his first league start against Udinese on Sunday.
New boy: Balotelli was in action just 24 hours after signing from Man City
The goal capped a memorable couple of
days for a player known for his explosive temperament, who saw actual
fireworks on his first evening as an AC Milan player.
The striker, just off the plane to
complete a £20m move from Manchester City, had hoped for a quiet meal
with club vice-president Adriano Galliani to help him settle in.
But Milan's fans had other ideas.
Hundreds of Ultras set off fireworks and flares outside Milan's Giannino
Restaurant where he had been set to dine with the club's hierarchy.
And video footage showed Balotelli, wearing an orange cap, jumping up and down right in the thick of it.
The celebrations ended in a fight
between fans and police when tear gas was fired to disperse the noisy
crowd. Bottles were thrown and a policeman was taken to hospital after
being struck on the head.
The Italian sports journalist Tancredi
Palmeri tweeted about the clashes. 'Police charging several hundreds of
Milan fans outside restaurant where Balotelli was, need to use teargas,'
he wrote.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2271488/VIDEO-Mario-Balotelli-scores-AC-Milan-debut.html#ixzz2JaVXLfdF
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ARSENAL YASAJILI KITASA CHA MALAGA
Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Nacho Monreal from Malaga.
The
left-back is in London putting the final touches on his move which will
mark Arsene Wenger's first signing of the transfer window, and will set
the Gunners back £8.5million.
The
transfer was forced through following the thigh injury sustained by
Kieran Gibbs in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Done deal: Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Nacho Monreal
Monreal, 26, is a former Malaga team-mate of Arsenal star Santi Cazorla and has been capped by Spain on nine occasions.
He
could be thrust into Arsenal's starting XI for the visit of Stoke on
Saturday with Wenger having little faith in the error-prone Andre
Santos.
Earlier, Arsenal were dealt a blow with the news that top target David Villa won't be joining the north London club this month.
Wenger had made the 31-year-old striker his top priority, but he was seen shopping in Barcelona this afternoon.
On the move: The defender is in London putting the final touches on his £8.5m transfer to the Emirates
It
was reported earlier that Arsenal were keen to sign Athletic Bilbao's
Fernando Amorebieta, but the defender has told the Gunners he wants to
stay in La Liga until at least the summer.
Monreal,
who is cup-tied for the Champions League, arrives at Arsenal in good
form after scoring his first goal for Malaga in their 3-2 win over Real
Mallorca on Sunday.
The
Spain defender signed for Malaga in a £6million deal in the summer of
2011 after coming through the ranks at Osasuna where he made over 100
appearances.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football
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