Aston Villa have accepted a £20million offer from Liverpool for England winger Stewart Downing.

The Reds have been chasing the Villain for some time now, having previous bids of £12.5million and £15million rejected. The former Middlesbrough man was also a target for Arsenal‘s Arsene Wenger, but Downing indicated that he would prefer a move to Anfield.

Liverpool released a statement on their official website: “Liverpool FC tonight announced they had agreed a fee with Aston Villa for the transfer of Stewart Downing.

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You can take the Skouser out of Merseyside, but . . . well you get the idea.

Newcastle are set to embark on a pre-season tour in the US, playing against Sporting Kansas, Orlando City and Columbus Crew, but will do so without the help of Joey Barton.

Barton will now link up with the Toon reserve squad in the Netherlands for his pre-season warm-up.

As a football fan, there’s a part of me that feels a level of sympathy for unlucky Joey. There was, should I rather say, till I had a look at some of his less honorable antics.

July 2004: A mass punch-’em-up erupted in a friendly at Doncaster Rovers which saw Kevin Keegan criticizing Barton for causing it.

December 2004: During the clubs Christmas party, Barton used the eye of young teammate Jamie Tandy as an ashtray, stubbing his lit cigar into it. Barton was forced to pay a fine by Manchester City of four weeks wages (roughly £60 000) and was later sued by Tandy for £65 000 in wages. (Quite a pricey cuban it would seem)!

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Despite a stress fracture in his back, David Beckham still had in it in him to win a Major League game for LA Galaxy by catching the goalkeeper off his line from a corner kick.

Beckham delivered a low-flying bending shot that bounced once before ending up in the Chicago Fire goal. The 2 – 1 win on Saturday extended Galaxy’s unbeaten run to 12 games.

“I saw the goalie cheating a little out of goal and saw a gap,” Beckham said. “I knew if I put it in area, it was going to  get a touch off somebody or go straight in. Luckily, it went straight in.”

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena almost couldn’t believe it.   “I don’t know how that went in,” he said. “That’s what we pay him the big money for.”

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After 6 months of much boardroom wrestling, Liverpool have finally settled on an agreement with Blackpool over the transfer of their talisman Charlie Adam, for an undisclosed fee (mixed reports believing it to be somewhere between £7 million and £9 million) Adam has now passed the Anfield medical and only needs to agree personal terms with the Reds before making the long awaited switch to Merseyside.

Liverpool made a last gasp attempt to acquire the services of the 25 year old midfielder during the Premier League‘s January transfer window, but an inflated price tag and little time remaining for Ian Holloway to find an adequate replacement led the Reds to a failed pursuit. Being a boyhood Liverpool fan and having his heart set on a move to Anfield being widely reported, it has been expected that Adam would eventually do so.

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As if the Paraguayan soccer team needed more motivation or their supporters weren’t already wishing their team to victory at the Copa America currently underway, model Larissa Riquelme made sure they will after she promised to pose in the nude if Paraguay should win the tournament.

The busty model have been given the name of ’Novia del Mundial’ (World Cup girlfriend) in her home country because of her undying support and the fact that she made the same promise in the 2010 World Cup.

Paraguay will be up against tough competition though as they are in Group B with Brazil, Ecuador (who they will face on Sunday) and Venezuela.

“If Paraguay win the Copa America then I shall pose nude on the pitch,” she told AFP. ”I think we’ll do well at the Copa,” she further forecast. She will naturally be following every game live that her country competes in.

There will be no doubt a few men around the World hoping she is right.

Pics: worldshowbiz.info; beyondhollywood.com

Argentina’s most successful club took a very heartbreaking bow out of the Primera División for the first time in their 110year existence on Sunday, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by National B side Belgrano in the second leg of the Relegation/Promotion play-off.

For those fairly new to international club football, the fall of the boys from Buenos Aires is the equivalent to Manchester United being escorted out of the Premier League.

River Plate was already facing an uphill battle after losing 2-0 in the first leg in Cordoba last Wednesday evening. (more…)

Every English Premier League season that passes sees three unfortunate clubs take a walk down ‘Relegation Avenue’, but simultaneously, three new clubs enter the big time with dreams and aspirations of being more than just seasonal visitors. Three new sets of faces that will have to work excessively hard to contend with established clubs in what is expected to be a very unpredictable season. So, in the event that you don’t or hadn’t been following the Championship last season, I think an introduction is in order.

SWANSEA CITY

Welsh club, Swansea City is not entirely new to top-flight football. They were promoted to the First Division (now the Premier League) in 1981 and placed 5th their first season in, but were relegated in 1983 and due to much misfortune on the pitch and financially they eventually found themselves back in the Fourth Division. Almost 3 decades later, with much hopping between the lower English leagues, the Jacks were finally promoted back into the top flight after placing 3rd by winning the Football League Championship play-off in an entertaining 4-2 battle against Reading at the end of last season. This now makes them the first Welsh club in history to play in the Premier League. They will be the least experienced club in the Premier League this season and have been tipped by bookies to start and finish the season at the bottom of the table.

Pub Facts:

Swansea City (also known as the ‘Jacks’) was established in 1912 and for much of their existence was settled at Vetch Field. In 2005 they moved to the Liberty Stadium, which have been their home ground ever since.

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