Everton starlet Jack Rodwell snubs Manchester United interest and signs new five-year deal

The news is a huge blow to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who regards 19-year-old Rodwell as the next big thing in English football and a future international star. But it will delight Goodison boss David Moyes, who lost Wayne Rooney to United in a £27million deal after he starred at Euro 2004 as an 18-year-old. United had been prepared to pay around £15m for Rodwell, whose wages increase to more than £20,000 a week. Rodwell is primarily a midfielder although he is also comfortable in the centre of defence. He scored his first goal for Everton at 17 and scored his side's third goal in a 3-1 win over United earlier this season. He has now played more than 50 times for the Goodison Park club.

Moyes has said the player could develop into the next Rio Ferdinand, stating: 'He's so comfortable on the ball. He is best in central midfield at the moment but by the time he's 23 or 24, he may be a top centre-half. 'Rio started in central midfield and eventually moved back. Jack has similar qualities. He's so laid-back, he is horizontal.'Rodwell only signed a five-year contract in February last year but due to his progress and interest from other clubs Everton have rewarded him with an improved deal. Only last week Moyes warned his players that leaving Everton was not always the route to success.

'Some of the players who have left Everton might say it was the right place for them after all,' said the Scot. 'At the end of their careers, they might look back and say Everton was the best time - they enjoy it here.

'Even Thomas Gravesen, who went to Real Madrid, would say the same thing. There are lots of players who are going to look back at Everton and say they had a really good time, without winning anything obviously.'

Rodwell said he had never taken any notice of speculation about his future and had always been committed to Everton.

'I'm perfectly happy at the club and I'm very happy to be signing a new deal,' he said.

'I have enjoyed every minute of being at this club and I try not to look at speculation that much, I just try to play my best on the pitch.'

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Pienaar alerts Manchester United and Tottenham by rejecting Everton deal

The 28-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and unless he signs a contract extension for David Moyes' side, the South African international will soon be available for free. Should Everton choose to cash in, Tottenham and Manchester United are said to be leading the chase.

Moyes is keen to keep his side together and tie down players like Pienaar to Goodison Park. However, the Daily Mail reports that Pienaar rejected an offer from Everton two weeks ago and has not heard from the club since.

Talking to the South Afircan media, he said, "Yes, I'd say the spirit of discussions was very good, but we have differing valuations, so my future isn't clear. I don't know. Everton may keep me for the last year of my deal. But they could sell me too. If they decide to sell, and the move is correct for my career, then I'll consider it. Hopefully this hasn't been my last season at Goodison. But in football, who knows?"

According to media reports earlier this month, Tottenham officials have already contacted Everton officials regarding Pienaar, while Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be an admirer of the midfielder. Either side would have to part with an estimated £18 million for Pienaar's signature, according to the Daily Mail.

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Dimitar Berbatov Will Not Be Sold by Manchester United

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that mis-firing striker Dimitar Berbatov will not be sold during this summer’s transfer window.

The Bulgarian has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford, since his 2008 transfer from Tottenham Hotspur but, despite this, Ferguson remains a keen admirer of Berbatov’s, and insisted that he has a role to play at Old Trafford. When asked if the striker would be sold during the summer, the Scot replied:

"No, no, definitely not, "That's a problem with a club like United - there's expectation and the media attention is always there.

"There's speculation every year - some summers I'm signing 100 players. You've got to live with that sort of media hype about the club. There's been a bit about Berbatov in terms of his future but we know he's a good player.

"He's a fantastic footballer and he'll be with us next year."The news has prompted SkyBet to slash the striker’s odds of remaining at Manchester United next season down to 1/6.

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Foster expected to complete £6m Birmingham switch

Ben Foster is expected to complete a £6 million move from Manchester United to Birmingham on Wednesday. A fee was agreed between the two clubs last week and Foster is expected in the Midlands on Tuesday for a medical that will seal his Old Trafford exit.

Although he began last term with high hopes of ousting Edwin van der Sar from his status as United's first-choice keeper, Foster's chance disappeared with high-profile mistakes against Manchester City and Sunderland during a two-month period at the start of the campaign when the veteran Dutchman was missing through injury.

Despite these blunders, Foster was handed successive England starts, against Belarus and Brazil, leading to an expectation he would claim a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.

Instead, Ferguson kept him on the sidelines for almost the entire remainder of the season, meaning the 27-year-old was not one of the men in Capello's provisional squad when he named it last week.

After five years at United, two of which were spent on loan at Watford, Foster had accepted there was no future for him at the club, especially as Sir Alex Ferguson persuaded Van der Sar to sign another year's contract extension.As Birmingham needed a keeper once Joe Hart returned to Manchester City following his season-long loan, Blues boss Alex McLeish wasted no time in stepping in to make Foster his first signing of the summer.

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Manchester United Striker Wayne Rooney: Injury Is Frustrating, But I'll Be Fresher For The World Cup With England

Being unavailable to help Manchester United in the final stretch of their Premier League push might be frustrating, but Wayne Rooney is trying to focus on the positives primarily that he'll be fit and fresh to help England in this summer's World Cup.

The recently-crowned PFA Player of the Year has struggled for fitness since falling in a crumpled heap in the first leg of United's ultimately disappointing Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich last month, and now hopes to be back for his side's final game of the season.

The 24-year-old admits it has been a disappointing conclusion to a great season, where he has notched 34 goals in all competitions."I'm pleased to have done well in a World Cup year but it's been a difficult last couple of months injury-wise," Rooney told reporters. "I'm disappointed to have missed a couple of games over the last few weeks.

"No one likes watching football if you're a player, it's difficult knowing you can't influence the game. It's frustrating "But if there's any consolation I'll probably be fresher for the World Cup, which will be good for me." Rooney believes Fabio Capello has a good squad available to him, and hopes with the Italian's expert guidance the Three Lions can overcome the pressure and expectations in South Africa. "We have a lot of world-class players in the team and a great manager," he said. "If I get injured then so be it, there are other players there to do the job. There's a lot of hype but that's something you must live with.

"Success in South Africa would be to win the trophy. We've definitely got a good enough squad to do that. "In the qualifying games we played extremely well and were disappointed to not win all the games. "We'll prepare well for the finals and hopefully we can bring the trophy back home."

For now, the United No.10 is focusing on his side's title challenge. Chelsea lie one point ahead in the table with two games remaining, and Rooney urged United's arch-rivals Liverpool to do them a favour when they play Carlo Ancelotti's side next weekend. "I'm enjoying the title race. We need Chelsea to slip up now so hopefully Liverpool or Wigan can do us a favour," he said.

"Liverpool are a proud club with a lot of history and I'm sure they'll want to win that game as they're fighting for the Europa League. "We just have to try and win our last two games. If Liverpool or Wigan can help us out we'll be happy."

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Chelsea needs one win for title

The Premier League title will be decided on the final day after Chelsea won 2-0 at Liverpool and Manchester United defeated Sunderland 1-0 on Sunday to keep the gap between the top two to a point.

Chelsea struck first as an awful Steven Gerrard blunder set them on their way to an ultimately comfortable Anfield win that took them to 83 points and also ended Liverpool’s outside hopes of finishing fourth.

United responded as Nani’s first-half goal proved enough to get past Sunderland and take them to 82. In next Sunday’s final round of fixtures Chelsea host Wigan Athletic, who beat them last September, while United are at home to Stoke City. Chelsea’s superior goal difference of nine means that for United to retain their title they must win and hope the Londoners lose or draw.

Although Chelsea will look back on Sunday’s game as an unexpectedly easy victory, Liverpool were on top for the first half hour as Alberto Aquilani went close twice. Chelsea had shown almost nothing in attack but were then gifted a goal by Gerrard.

The England midfielder, who was on the brink of moving to Chelsea five years ago delivered a totally unnecessary long-distance back-pass that was easily intercepted by Didier Drogba. He rounded Pepe Reina with ease and rolled the ball into the empty net after 33 minutes.

The goal changed the whole atmosphere of the match and within nine minutes of the restart it was 2-0 as Frank Lampard swept in his remarkable 21st league goal of the season. Liverpool’s extra-time exertions on Thursday against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final then kicked in as what had appeared an immensely dangerous penultimate fence for Chelsea was eventually cleared while barely breaking stride.

It was Chelsea’s first league win at Anfield since 2005 and leaves them firmly on course for the League and Cup double. They face Portsmouth at Wembley on May 15 in the final.

“We deserved to win. We did a fantastic job because there was a lot of pressure on us in this game,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is set to win silverware in his first season in charge.

“Now the team is fit and in good physical condition, good mentality ahead of next week’s game. I always said the title would be decided at the end of the season.”

Lampard added: “We were at a bit of a low point a couple of months ago but we dug ourselves out of it and pushed on to be on the brink of doing the double.”

United, who had not lost to Sunderland in the league for 13 years, took a while to subdue them on Sunday before Nani drove in a nicely-angled shot after 28 minutes.

Dimitar Berbatov disappointed again, missing two great chances, while Michael Carrick had a shot cleared off the line, leaving United to survive a nervy second half as Sunderland probed for an equalizer, although without really threatening to find one.

“We missed an awful lot of chances, 1-0 is not a healthy score away from home,” United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports. “They probably felt they were comfortable but we got there though, that’s the important thing.”

Looking ahead to next Sunday and United’s bid for an unprecedented fourth successive title he added: “All we can do is win our game in front of our fans. Wigan will have a go and you never know what happens in football, it’s a crazy game. “We are clutching straws a bit but the important thing is to win our game and enjoy it in front of our fans. “If it were to happen it would be an incredible achievement, I think it won’t be done again, four in a row.”

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