Ferguson ready to end German hoodoo

Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United are ready to end their run of Champions League exits at the hands of German clubs, as the Premier League leaders prepare to face Schalke in this season's semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

Ferguson's side have suffered knockout defeats against Bayern Munich (twice), Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen in recent memory - with the latter two both ending United's Champions League dream at the semi-final stage, in 1997 and 2002 respectively.

Most recently, Bayern knocked United out of last season's competition en route to the final, triumphing on away goals after winning 2-1 in Munich and losing 3-2 at Old Trafford.

United do, of course, also have fond memories of facing German opposition having beaten Bayern in dramatic circumstances in the 1999 final, while they also defeated Wolfsburg home and away last season.

And Ferguson believes United are fully equipped to exorcise their German knockout demons when they line up against Ralf Ragnick's Schalke at Veltins Arena on Tuesday.

"We've not had a great record against Bayern from the 99 season. We drew twice in the group stages and beat them in the final," Ferguson said.

"We were very unlucky against Leverkusen, we should have seen them off and we were very unlucky against Dortmund but you can't always be unlucky and sometimes it'll change for you. The German teams have always had that resilience and determination about them and that will be exactly the same on Tuesday night.

"We're going into this game with far more experience than we have in previous years and our record away from home in the last few years has been terrific."

Schalke's line will be led by three-time European Cup winner Raul, who recently revealed that United were interested in his services when his time at Real Madrid was drawing to a close last summer.

And Ferguson confirmed that he had considered signing the veteran Spain striker, who is the Champions Laague's all-time leading scorer in the Champions League with 71 goals.

"We spoke to his agent or his agent spoke to us and we were a little bit tempted because you said to yourself 'He's not too old that he can't score a goal in the Premier League," Ferguson said.

"His time at Real had come to an end after a fantastic career but players like that always find something in terms of ambition, they don't just wither away, and at his age he had plenty to do, plenty to offer.

"It would have been [a Henrik Larsson-type signing]. You get opportunities with experience like that like we did with Michael Owen and Michael Owen has been a fantastic professional here. They bring value to the team, bring experience and I think if I didn't have Michael Owen I might have been tempted.

"Raul is Raul and you've got to be careful in the last third of the field because he's still got the intelligence and a fantastic goal record. It's 71 in the Champions League? Bloody hell, I hope it stays that way for the next three weeks."

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Arsenal Unlikely To Battle Manchester United For £25m German Goalkeeper

Emirates boss unlikely to bid for Veltins Arena keeper and will leave him for his old foe at Old Trafford.

Arsene Wenger will look to solve Arsenal’s goalkeeping concerns by launching a summer move for Germany No 1 Manuel Neuer. The Gunners have been dogged by goalkeeping headaches in recent seasons and Wenger has earmarked the Schalke shot-stopper as the man he wants to bring stability to the problem position.

Arsenal have tracked Neuer for over a year and Sportsmail has learned Wenger contemplated a move last summer but opted to pursue Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina instead. Wenger has instructed the club’s European scouts to keep a close eye on Neuer’s progress this season with a view to a summer move and the Frenchman is finally preparing to firm up his interest after another season of inconsistency between the posts.

Source: Daily Mail

No chance, never going to happen, not on your nelly!

This is just not how Arsene Wenger goes about his business.

Wenger’s policy is to give youth a chance and after the emergence of Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, plus with Vito Mannone to comeback the manager is not looking for a shot-stopper.

This may force some Gunner fans to pull their hair out but Wenger has constantly acted in this way.

When Patrick Vieira left he promoted Cesc Fabregas and after Ashley Cole he pushed Gael Clichy into left-back.

Monsieur Wenger did not do this on a whim but he gradually integrated them into his side.

Szczesny and Fabianski have proved this season they are worthwhile candidates to battle for the gloves in the long-term. And at 20 and 25 respectively they are the right age to do so.

Throw the 23-year-old Mannone into the mix and you can see why Wenger is not going to spend the £25million on Manuel Neuer that Schalke want.

He would not even spend £20million on Pepe Reina!

Wenger could be tempted to go for a more experienced shot-stopper and is keeping a close eye on Gianluigi Buffon’s contract problems at Juventus.

The Old Lady wants the 33-year-old to take a pay cut or he will be sold.

This is more tempting for Wenger, who has identified a centre-back and a holding midfielder as his transfer priorities for the summer.

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Tottenham Confident of Winning Race to Sign German International Miroslav Klose

Harry Redknapp wants to bring hugely experienced striker to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham have emerged as shock front-runners to snap up in-form Germany marksman Miroslav Klose on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the season. Though an automatic choice for his country, the 32-year old has been confined to the bench for Bayern Munich recently and is ready to seek a fresh start abroad. His stance has alerted Benfica and Juventus, but Sportsmail can reveal Tottenham have also made their interest known and are confident of winning the race to sign him.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

Anyone who thinks that Miroslav Klose has little to offer at this stage in his career should remember the Bayern Munich man’s exploits at last summer’s World Cup when he netted four times and indeed the 32 year old has since gone on to eight goals in the Euro 2012 campaign, indeed the Polish born goal machine is the top scorer in the Qualifying round.

Klose has struggled to get a spot in the Bayern Munich starting eleven but that is mainly down to the good form shown by Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez and youngster Thomas Muller. Even in a reduced tole the former Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen man has netted 52 goals in four seasons and won two domestic titles in the process.

This could be Klose’s chance for a last hurrah after a career spent scoring goals for fun in the Bundesliga and one can see why Redknapp may be interested in a player who could be a quick and cheap, if not long term, fix to his striking concerns.

Thus far this season Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and to a lesser extent Roman Pavlyuchenko, have all struggled for form this season and that has led to the White Hart Lane boss making unsuccessful moves for a number of striking talents from the likes of Diego Forlan to Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

Remember just how big an impact Jurgen Klinsmann made at the North London club, he too was the wrong side of 30 when he first arrived at Tottenham for his original spell at the club and then went on to be a success again when he joined on loan for a second shift.

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Manchester United Consider Move for £12m Rated German International Giant

Sir Alex Ferguson keen on bringing solid centre back to Old Trafford.

Manchester United are weighing up a move for Werder Bremen’s vastly experienced centre back Per Mertesacker this summer. Sir Alex Ferguson is known to be an admirer of the giant German international and the recent defensive crisis at Old Trafford has led the Scot to believe he may need another option at the back and will look to make an offer for the 26 year old when the transfer window re-opens.

Having amassed over 70 caps and almost 300 top tier appearances for Werder Bremen and Hannover it is believed that 6ft 6fin defender Mertesacker would be open to moves from the continent and that has led to much interest in the Premier League, primarily from Arsenal. With his side struggling just four points from the drop, in marked contrast to last season’s third placed finish, the tough tackler is keen to explore alternatives to his current Bremen club.

Having five seasons at the Weserstadion and eight seasons in the Bundesliga as a whole, Per Mertesacker has achieved precious little in the way of silverware and despite his undoubted success at international level (two World Cup third-place finishes and one European Championship runners-up medal) he is yet to prove himself at club level and would surely be interested in a move to either the Emirates or Old Trafford.

Manchester United have struggled at the back this term as the usual starting partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic has barely featured together with the former England captain suffering with injury problems that may well curtail his career. Jonny Evans has suffered with poor form that could see him offloaded and whilst Chris Smalling has impressed, Ferguson probably didn’t plan on the youngster being shoved into the first team spotlight quite so soon.

Mertesacker is repotedly available for around £12m and would represent a very solid defensive alternative who may well suit the physical approach of the Premier League.

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