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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has declared his determination to keep hold of Cesc Fabregas despite huge interest from Barcelona.

Last week the Gunners rejected an initial bid, believed to be in the region of £25million, from the Spanish giants for their captain.

Fabregas is believed to have told Wenger of his desire to leave Emirates Stadium after seven years in north London to return to his boyhood club.

However, a defiant Wenger is determined to fight to keep hold of the 23-year-old midfielder, who is currently away on World Cup duty with Spain.

"What is important is that Cesc has a great World Cup and that he comes back to Arsenal with a great desire to do well for the club," he declared.

"We want to keep our best players – that's my huge determination. I built this team for years from 16 and 17 years of age with most of the players.

"We want to continue to work with them because we feel we are very close and strengthen the team in a very strong way."

Meanwhile, Wenger has revealed that Theo Walcott was "destroyed" after missing out on England's World Cup squad for South Africa.

The 21-year-old was one of seven players cut from a provisional 30-man squad by head coach Fabio Capello last week.

Wenger added:"It was a massive surprise to me. It was a very sad surprise and he was destroyed.

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"What do you expect him to be? He was certainly expecting to go to the World Cup.

"I expected him to go, but it is part of the game. I was personally very sad.

"But he will bounce back. He is very young. He will come back stronger."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

This summer is an exciting time to be a West Ham United fan. With a new set of owners and a new manager at the helm, the East London side can hopefully look forward to staving off relegation worries next season. Having finished perilously close to the drop zone last season, new manager Avram Grant will be looking to bring in fresh talent in order to avoid a repeat scenario next term, and it’s likely he’ll be focussing his attention on improving his side’s attacking options. Although the Hammers were the 10th highest scorers in the Premier League last season, the patchy form of current forwards Carlton Cole, Alessandro Diamanti and Benni McCarthy may suggest that a proven, quality striker is needed to boost the club’s chances of avoiding a relegation battle next season.

With funds readily available, the media have unsurprisingly linked the Upton Park outfit with a host of forwards over the last month. One such player heavily touted for a move to London this summer is Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan. The 24-year-old, who plies his trade for French side Rennes, has hugely impressed in South Africa, finding the net on three occasions during Ghana’s run to the quarter-finals. Gyan is thought to be receptive to a move to England, having stated of the Premier League, “It is simply the best league in the world and every player wants to be part of it.” Would the Ghanaian be a good signing for West Ham?

During his four 2010 World Cup appearances for Ghana thus far, Gyan has shown that he is a gifted player, blessed with pace, strength and the ability to finish. At times, Gyan has led the line on his own, suggesting that he may be versatile enough to partner Carlton Cole and play up front as a lone-striker. The former Udinese man has racked up 22 goals in 43 appearances for his country, averaging a strike-rate of better than one in two.

However, despite his fantastic recent form for Ghana, Gyan’s club record is decidedly less impressive. The 24-year-old managed 13 goals in 29 appearances for Rennes last season, a tally similar to that of West Ham’s leading scorer during 2009/10 (Carlton Cole racked up 10 goals in 32 appearances). Indeed last season’s record represents Gyan’s most prolific season – previous tallies with former club Udinese failed to exceed more than eight goals in one season. Whilst injury and selection issues can account for such profligacy to some extent, the jury is still out on whether or not Gyan is a proven forward at top-level football.

Signing a player on the basis of a good World Cup is unbelievably risky; Liverpool’s purchase of El-Hadji Diouf in 2002 is illustrative of this. The Premier League stabilisation of last season’s newly-promoted sides would indicate that the battle to avoid relegation is likely to be even tougher next season, and West Ham United cannot afford to make the wrong moves in the transfer market. Whilst I am certain that the club need a new striker, I am unsure whether Asamoah Gyan is the right man to lead them forward next season.

Would you like to see Asamoah Gyan at Upton Park next season?

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Follow all things Claret and Blue at www.twitter.com/WestHam_News

Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul

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Click on image below to see the Argentinean babes at the World Cup

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Cesc Fabregas has predicted more success for Spain at the next European Championship following their first-ever World Cup victory.

Fabregas helped Spain follow up their success at Euro 2008 with another tournament win in South Africa following Sunday's 1-0 final victory over the Netherlands.

The Arsenal captain was a second-half substitute at Soccer City and set up Andres Iniesta's extra-time winner as the Iberian nation made history.

Next up for Spain is Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine and Fabregas believes his team-mates are ready to dominate international football for a long time to come.

"This is an historic moment for Spain and it may never be repeated – and I dedicate this to my whole family," he said.

"I was a bit down because I had not played as much as I had wanted but in the end it has all been worth it.

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"The fans have fantastic – the rock on which we base everything – and I hope in two years' time we will have more joy at the Euros."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

As the new football season draws closer large numbers of us will know where we will be on a Saturday night. We will be parked in front of the television and welcomed once again by Lineker alongside Messrs Hansen and Shearer to review all the day’s action from the Premier League. It is a cosy, familiar setting in which we will undoubtedly be treated to bad puns and the same nuggets of wisdom as the previous year. Namely, that you can’t win anything with kids, the crucial importance of winning ugly and having strength in depth. But the BBC is arguably at risk of losing viewers if it does not consider re-vamping a format which has remained unchanged for years. In an era of new digital technology, web content and the red button it is surely time to give the viewer greater freedom over the matches they want to see.

The Saturday night MOTD has become something of a footballing institution. Players and managers alike will share a joke in their post-match interview about their team featuring last on the programme again. For devoted football geeks out there said MOTD line-up is still available on Teletext a few hours before kick-off. But does this not feel slightly arcane as we approach the 2010/11 season? Don’t terrestrial viewers of football deserve something different?

Previous critiques of MOTD have centred upon its stilted and reactionary punditry. When Ian Wright quit his role as a BBC football pundit in 2008 he questioned how long a young audience in particular would keep watching the ‘same old jacket, shirt and tie format’ and suggested that viewers wanted something different. Maybe he was on to something as MOTD2 under the chummy stewardship of Adrian Chiles achieved much popularity by inviting current players and managers on as guests and taking a sideways view of the weekend’s action. This however, is not the biggest problem facing the programme as all highlights packages have similarities and the extent to which clothing and appearance is central to viewers’ observations of these shows is questionable.

The main issue facing MOTD is the inherent injustice for the viewer supporting a team outside of the top four/five. During the final third of last season when the title race was wide open, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal consistently topped the schedules. However good punditry will almost certainly involve telling the viewer something new or offer opinions that will spark some debate. This is immeasurably harder when reflecting on a bore draw instead of another thrilling twist in the title race.

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Devoted football fans though would surely want in-depth coverage of their team’s game even if it ended goalless. It is surely not beyond the means of the BBC to provide the viewer with more options through use of the red button and its website. By using such media the viewer could be treated to longer highlights of their chosen game accompanied by more comprehensive post-match interviews and analysis from the commentary team who actually sat through the entire game. The BBC is clearly not averse to technological change when it comes to sporting output. The Football League Show is available online and its coverage of the World Cup showed innovation by making highlights available on all platforms, giving viewers more ownership over what they wanted to watch and when. With any such changes come issues concerning rights and contractual agreements with the Premier League but if left unaltered this most famous football show will risk losing a significant portion of its audience to innumerable websites which now offer highlights of any match on demand.

Stoke City Mamady Sidibe could miss the remainder of the season after suffering a suspected snapped Achilles tendon in the 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

The 30-year-old Mali international missed a large part of last season due to a serious knee problem and now faces another lengthy absence if a snapped Achilles is confirmed.

Boss Tony Pulis told the club's official website:"It's a cruel blow for Mama because it appears he has snapped his Achilles.

"The medical staff have told me that it doesn't look good for him, although we will have to wait for confirmation from the scan that he will have on the injury.

"If that is the damage though, he will be lucky to play again this season, and that's a big setback for us."

Meanwhile, Pulis felt that his side had been unlucky to suffer a second successive defeat, adding:"I thought we stood off Spurs in the first half, we didn't get close enough to them and they punished us for not doing that.

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"But we pushed on after the break and we looked like the only team who were going to score for much of the half."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Captain Steven Gerrard believes England's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland provide the ideal opportunity for new players to break into the national side.

England take on Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and Switzerland in Basel next Tuesday without a number of established stars.

Several high-profile players are injured and not part of the squad, while head coach Fabio Capello has cut others loose following the Three Lions' dismal performance at the World Cup.

First choice central defenders John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, midfielder Frank Lampard and striker Peter Crouch are all absent through injury.

Meanwhile, World Cup trio David James, Ledley King and the retired Jamie Carragher are all now out of the international picture,

"After the team underperformed in South Africa there have been changes made," explained Gerrard.

"And with injuries to big players as well it's a fantastic opportunity for players to perform well and give the manager something to think about when we get together again."

Gerrard also accepts that the England players and management have a point to prove to supporters following the abject World Cup performance.

The fan reaction was mixed at last month's international friendly against Hungary as England returned to action for the first time since the 4-1 humbling at the hands of Germany in the round of 16 in South Africa earlier in the summer.

"The players and the manager realise that we are under pressure at the moment, which is normal after under-performing at the World Cup," he continued.

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"It'll really help if we put in a good performance tomorrow and get the maximum points. Then we can obviously take the confidence from that into the Switzerland game on Tuesday.

"It's very important that we make a statement and show that we want to win the group and qualify comfortably.

"We qualified for the World Cup playing good, attacking football. If we can perform at that level I'm sure we'll get out of this group in similar fashion."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

The name Kieron Dyer has become a byword for a football career blighted by injuries, a case made especially sad when one considers the talent he had at his disposal. Many players have suffered from careers dogged by injury, who knows how far Ledley King could have gone without his chronic knee problems, and Dyer has been one of the most notable of these in the modern game in England. Dyer has at least had the fortune of not having to have retired from the game altogether, but through no fault of his own he is now is a pale shadow of the player that exploded onto the scene at Ipswich and Newcastle. If he had remained fit, there is no telling how far he could have gone.

Kieron Dyer announced himself as a special talent at boyhood club Ipswich, where he came to be regarded as one of the top young talents outside the Premier League. Dyer broke into the first team as an 18 year old, and in the following season he became a key player for the side that reached the play-offs. Recognising Dyer’s talents, Ruud Gullit brought the 20 year old to Newcastle for a not insubstantial £6m.

At Newcastle Kieron Dyer established himself as one of the most exciting players in the league, and was a regular for the club as soon as he had signed. Dyer’s electrifying pace constantly tormented Premiership defences, with his direct and dynamic running always giving the opposition something to think about. It was not long before he received his first international call up, and Dyer would go on to feature regularly in the England side, he would later be taken to both the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

In his later years at Newcastle however, when Dyer should have been in the prime of his career, he began suffering the repeated injuries that would so damage his career. First team appearances became infrequent and Dyer, who was once a jewel in the crown at Newcastle, was sold to West Ham in 2007. Dyer’s time at Upton Park has been full of woe, since signing for the club he has played only 26 games, suffering a broken leg and multiple hamstring injuries.

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Dyer’s injury problems are a dreadful shame, and have held him back from fulfilling a career that had promised so much. Kieron Dyer was lightning quick, a mazy dribbler and a terrifying prospect for defences when he was running at them, he was also more than capable of scoring goals. I have no doubt that had Dyer not suffered so many injuries, he could have become one of the best attacking midfielders in the country, and surely moved to one of the top clubs in the land. Dyer has 33 caps for England, but this would certainly have been added to, and David Beckham might well have got a lot less caps had Dyer been consistently available to play.

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Kieron Dyer’s story is a sad one not just for him as an individual, but for football in general. After such a promising start to his career the sky was the limit for him, but the curse of injuries just never went away. On one positive note, Dyer has made a few appearances for West Ham so far this season, and hopefully he will be able to string some games together. Now at 31, Dyer can still have a few more seasons if fortune favours him a little more kindly.

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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed that injuries and fitness concerns surrounding his strikers have forced him to play Carlos Tevez every game. The Argentinean striker has featured 9 times so far this season and Mancini has concerns about overworking his club captain.

Roberto Mancini has seen his striking options diminished through injury. Summer signing Mario Balotelli picked up a knee injury during his City debut against FC Timisoara and won’t be fully fit until November.

Emmanuel Adebayor has struggled for both form and fitness this season and was unimpressive on his first start since recovering from a knee problem against Juventus last night.

Brazilian striker Jo has also been struggling for match fitness and only made the substitute’s bench for last night’s game.

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Despite Mancini’s problems upfront, Tevez has been in an excellent run of form. He is the club’s leading scorer with 4 goals in all competitions and will look to carry on his goalscoring exploits in City’s next game against Newcastle United on Sunday.

On Sunday, the news finally came that Sven-Goran Eriksson had been appointed as manager of Leicester City. It was not a shock, the papers and media had been circulating the story soon after the unfortunate Paulo Sousa lost his job, but you certainly would not have predicted the former England manager would be taking over the Foxes at the beginning of the season. Since leaving the England job, Eriksson has not experienced a great deal of success as a manager, so is it a good appointment by the Leicester City board, and is having Sven back in English football a good thing?

Sven-Goran Eriksson has an enviable CV. After winning a host of trophies across Europe, Eriksson became manager of Rome giants Lazio in 1997, and this was where he established himself as one of top managers in the European game. Eriksson’s greatest glory came in 2000, where he ended Lazio’s 26 year wait for a Serie A title, and it had made the FA’s ears prick up. In January 2001, Eriksson became the first foreign manager of the English national team, and although by the end of his reign at England he was widely derided, the subsequent woes of other England managers have made Sven’s achievement of three consecutive quarter-finals look pretty good.

Eriksson’s career since his departure from the England job has not gone the way he would have wanted. I felt he was harshly treated at Manchester City, he enjoyed a sensational start to the season and inflicted two defeats on arch-rivals Manchester United, but the club faded in the second half of the season and this seemed to condemn him to losing his job. An unsuccessful spell as manager of Mexico followed, after which we saw a bizarre move to Notts County where he was installed as director of football. In the World Cup he managed Ivory Coast, and whilst they were in a tough group, it was a disappointing result that they were not able to make it beyond the group stage.

The last few years of Eriksson’s career may not have been his most glorious, but he has also not been given very much time in any of his last three managerial roles, and it would be harsh to judge him too negatively. I actually think Eriksson is a good manager, he may not wear his heart on his sleave but he is tactically astute, a calming presence and a good operator in the transfer market. I thought Paulo Sousa’s sacking was ridiculously premature but I also think Eriksson will prove to be a good appointment by Leicester’s board, so long as they give him enough time.

One huge positive for Leicester City is that Eriksson will be able to attract some very good players to the club. His reputation and name is such that footballers will want to play under him, and in the transfer market he will increase the attractiveness of joining Leicester massively. He is also simply a good manager, and whilst automatic promotion may now be too much to ask, the play-offs are still a distinct possibility, and how often have we seen the sides making a late run into the top six be the team that triumphs and gets promoted.

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Eriksson obviously believes Leicester City have the ambition and the capability to make it to the Premier League, and the board have made a big statement of their intent by signing up the Swede. Sven’s return to English football is in my opinion a good thing, and the main beneficiaries will be those involved at Leicester City.

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Arsene Wenger has sparked the latest row in the club versus country debate over the decision by Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk to go against his wishes by selecting Robin van Persie in the Dutch squad the upcoming friendly against Turkey. As he will only be returning to full training at the end of the week after recovering from an ankle injury incurred against Blackburn which has kept him out since August. Clearly he will therefore not be back to full fitness and ready to undertake a full 90 minutes on the 17th November when the friendly is scheduled. But if he is returning to match fitness and this was an Arsenal game it is safe to say that this could be targeted as a return date. So why is it so frowned upon when the Dutch national team makes the same decision? Couldn’t it even be beneficial to Arsenal to have van Persie eased back into action with say a half in an international friendly? In order to get some match time under his belt, rather than being thrown straight into the hectic pace of the Premiership where Arsenal are obviously required to be consistently picking up points?

It is commonly perceived that club managers do not care much for the international game, seeing it as a hindrance to their club to be negotiated, an inconvenience to their preparations.

The season is set out in a way that when international breaks occur players are allowed to be called up to the national teams. So then during periods when a player is at the disposal of the national team, surely any decision regarding their injury and/or fitness should be taken by the national coaching team. Just as the national coaching team would have no input if a player were to play for their club, so it should work the other way.

The arguments from clubs appear to come from a general distrust of how the national team will handle a prized asset. Although there are obvious risks of injury when on international duty these are no greater than when playing domestically. You could even argue they are less so, as the Premiership prides itself on having the most fast paced football in the world, compared to the slower pace of the European and International game which offers players greater protection from the referees. Also it is in the interest of the international team to look after a player as much as the club. A player who is fit and playing well for his club can carry this into his national side. Where as a player who remains injured say due to the national side being too eager to rush him into the team, could take time to regain form and fitness, which would obviously be to the detriment of the national team in the long run.

There is a sense of hypocrisy in this argument as if towards the end of the season a player is injured playing for his club and say therefore misses the World Cup the following summer. There are never any arguments that the national side has been hard done by the club. Another argument offered by clubs and supporters is that the clubs should take precedence as they pay the players’ wages. In my min this places too much focus on money over football matters and forgets that national sides also pay their players for turning out for the country. Added to this it assumes a precedence of club football over international football, which I believe just isn’t there as the World Cup is still the biggest and most important competition any player can win.

Generally an atmosphere of mistrust has developed between the clubs and national teams with regard to injuries. With so many players recalled from international duty these days by their club it is hardly surprising national coaches do not trust these diagnosis and wish to have their own people look over the players before deciding whether to play them or not. However this obviously adds to the tension which is not helpful for either camp and involves endless trips back and forth to different physiotherapists and doctors for the player. These in turn are not beneficial to the player and exacerbate the whole situation. Yet with no clear solution only one thing is sure this latest chapter indicates the club versus country row will not die down any time soon.

Fancy playing your mates every week in a Premium Fantasy Football game?

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