Werder Bremen midfielder Mesut Ozil, one of the stars of this summer's World Cup following his impressive displays for Germany, has hinted that he would welcome the opportunity to play in England.

The 21-year-old was particularly outstanding in the victories against Australia and England and is expected to play a key role in Saturday's quarter-final clash with Argentina.

However, Ozil has just a year left on his current contract with Werder Bremen and the Bundesliga side may opt to capitalise on his excellent form in the tournament by selling him this summer.

Ozil would not be unhappy about that prospect, saying:"The World Cup is all that matters at the moment but when I get back we can think about my future. For now it's not something I want to give a lot of thought to.

"To the top players the Premier League is attractive. You look at what Manchester United and Chelsea have achieved over the last five years and you see it would be easy to be successful at two clubs like that.

"I see what Michael Ballack achieved at Chelsea and the quality of players he played with and the temptation becomes obvious.

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"Trophies are what matters to me. There are two teams in England always at the top and of course that's attractive. But the same is true for La Liga. They're the strongest leagues in the world."

Ozil has scored 13 goals in 95 appearances for Werder since making his debut for the club in February 2008.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

When I sat down to watch England play the Platinum All-Stars on the internet there was no commentary, instead all I got was a torturous, mono-toned drone. I checked the speakers on my laptop and fiddled with the wires, but still it continued. I then realised that the noise was coming from the game, and after only 5 minutes it was bugging me. ‘I hope it doesn’t last for the whole game’, I thought. Unfortunately it lasted for the whole month.

The Vuvuzela, what more can I say? We all have our opinions on them, some love them most loathe them. Me? Well, I loathe them, so I was thrilled when the first few Premier League dominoes started to topple in banning them. In the World Cup we tolerated them as they were all part of the South African footballing culture. But now we’re coming back round to the start of our domestic season it is time to leave them in the sub continent.

Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Sunderland and Birmingham have all made official announcements which prohibit the instruments from entering their stadia this coming season. All of which cited health and safety and decibel levels as reasons for their actions. However I can’t help but feel that at some level these are just official excuses for saying: ‘We just find them irritating’. I don’t believe that anyone in England would relish sitting through a game with a man blowing on his Vuvuzela next to them for 90 minutes.

At some point we’ve all been sat in the stands near the large man banging away on his big bass drum *BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG BANG, TOTTENHAM*. That can get a bit annoying sometimes, but at least it encourages some crowd interaction. What would happen to terrace chanting amidst the whining of trumpets? The strong hearted encouragement for the home team, the gentle mockery of the opponent; these are the thing we stand to lose if the Vuvuzelas are welcomed in the Premier League.

Blackpool are rumoured to be considering allowing them into Bloomfield Road in order to create an intimidating home field advantage. In fairness to them, they may be on to something. Blackpool will have the smallest stadium next season, so if they think they can increase the noise inside the ground with the Vuvuzelas then good luck to them. But the question that arises is will people actually do it? I expect one man with a Vuvuzela could quickly be discouraged from using it if the 100 people around him aren’t keen. Birmingham have said that they have banned it after a survey of fans were heavily in favour of keeping them away from St Andrews – power to the people!

When I was 13 I brought a flag at the Tottenham club shop. It was, what can only be described as a standard flag – a piece of cloth with the club badge on it attached to a piece of cheap wood. But when I got to the turnstiles it was taken from me because it was deemed a health and safety hazard. ‘Health and Safety gone mad’ I remember thinking. But, for once, it seems health safety has been thinking clearly. So long Vuvuzelas, it’s been…well…annoying.

Written By Karl Sears

Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer

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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has made Lazio defender Aleksandar Kolarov his fourth major signing since the end of last season.

The 24-year-old Serbia international, who has passed a medical and been granted a work permit, will provide direct competition for Wayne Bridge at Eastlands.

Mancini said of Kolarov, who is reported to have cost City £16million:"I want two top-class players for each position.

"I first saw Kolarov when he made his Lazio debut back in 2007. He was composed on the ball had an excellent delivery with his left foot and was technically very able.

"I have watched him a lot since then and so have the Manchester City scouts. His attacking capability is very good. He is fast and can shoot with power and accuracy.

"He also has the ability to play in numerous positions and is very good in midfield. This is an additional benefit to the team.

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"He has a fantastic international career ahead of him and I am looking forward to working with him."

Mancini had already signed David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng this summer with Kolarov's arrival increasing his spending to approximately £75million since the end of last season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Whilst Manchester City continue to splash their cash in ostentatious fashion, another one of their rivals has suppressed the talk of the Premier League title heading to the City of Manchester Stadium in the upcoming season.

Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Salomon Kalou is somewhat unconvinced by their credentials and has being recently quoted expressing his views that you cannot simply buy 10 players each term and finish top of the table.

Kalou’s comments however contradict the fact that a mere few years ago, Chelsea did the same meaning it would perhaps be foolish of him to write off Mancini’s side. In 2004-2005, Mourinho spent in excess of £70 million on transfer fees with players such as Tiago, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Mateja Kezman, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira arriving at Stamford Bridge -Chelsea won the league.

City have added the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng with both Inter Milan’s Mario Balotelli and James Milner remaining targets for the Eastlands’ outfit.

Salomon Kalou perhaps needs to trawl through the history books at the Bridge before laying his hat in the ring with regards to dismissing the power of spending big in the transfer market. When he said that “City have to remember there are still teams like Chelsea, (Manchester) United, Liverpool and Arsenal who will always be at the top” he forgot one simple thing, without spending copious amounts of money from Roman Abramovich, Chelsea themselves would be nowhere near the top.

The quality of player that Manchester City will be revered by many of the top managers and there is no reason why they cannot challenge for major honours in the new season. After all, despite narrowly missing out on Champions League football to Tottenham last season, Manchester City beat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. Adding to that side will certainly bridge the gap between the current champions and City.

Whether they can gel in time for the new season and play with the level of cohesion required to win any trophy remains to be seen but such comments will only add fuel to a burning desire to cast last season’s disappointment into an abyss of sorrow.

Although the theory that “Spending a lot of money on new signings doesn’t guarantee anything” any views expressed on this particular from the Chelsea camp will be looked upon with an air of cynicism due their own dealings in the market which brought them to their current standing in world football.

With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery

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Manchester United have been drawn alongside Scottish champions Rangers in Group C of the Champions League, while Spurs' reward for reaching the group stages includes games against holders Internazionale.

Also in Group C with United and the Gers are Valencia and Bursaspor, while Group A is comprised of Inter, Spurs, Werder Bremen and FC Twente.

Chelsea head Group F and will take on French champions Marseille, Russian side Spartak Moscow and Slovakians MSK Zilina.

Arsenal were drawn in Group H, where they will face Shakhtar Donetsk, Partizan Belgrade and the conquerors of Celtic and Sevilla, Sporting Braga.

Group A: Internazionale, Werder Bremen, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Twente.

Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Group C: Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor.

Group D: Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj.

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Group F: Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina.

Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre.

Group H: Arsenal, Shakhtar Dontesk, Sporting Braga, Partizan Belgrade.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Fulham’s England international striker Bobby Zamora has undergone surgery on the leg injury sustained in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Wolves at Craven Cottage.

The 29-year-old is facing at least four months out of action, with the surgeon also having to repair ligament damage to Zamora’s right ankle, just below his fractured fibula.

A statement on the club’s official website confirmed:“This morning (Sunday) Bobby Zamora underwent an operation on the injury sustained in Saturday’s match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“The operation was viewed as successful by the surgeon and the fracture to the fibula was repaired – ligament damage was also discovered and repaired during the operation.”

Meanwhile, Cottagers boss Mark Hughes has backed Moussa Dembele to help cover for the absence of Zamora, after the Belgium international scored both goals against Wolves.

He said:“We hope Moussa can get the goals – there’s a big onus on him now that Bobby’s gone.

“He’ll get good support from the guys around him and that will help him become the success we think he will be.

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“The beauty of Moussa is that he can play in a number of positions. That’s the attraction from my point of view, because I like players who have that flexibility.”

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Sunderland striker Darren Bent has been ruled out of England's European Championship qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday evening by a groin injury sustained in training.

The 26-year-old had been expected to partner Wayne Rooney in attack at Wembley Stadium, having netted his first international goal last time out in the 3-1 victory in Switzerland.

The setback for Bent comes as Black Cats boss Steve Bruce had backed his man to make an England place his own.

He told the Daily Telegraph:"Over the 15 months he's been here with me, Darren's record is there for all to see – he's up with the very best.

"Last season, only Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba scored more goals than Darren. And this season, he's up amongst the very best once again.

"He's at Sunderland, not Manchester United or Chelsea, and with the best will in the world we create fewer chances than those top clubs.

"A lot of players when they get in front of goal get a bit nervous, but Darren goes cold, ruthless.

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"He's set an unbelievable standard for himself here. He's scored 32 goals in 49 games in all competitions for us so far, including the first goal in 18 of those games – it's a staggering return.

"Let's hope he keeps on going and producing that kind of form."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has voiced his concern that young players today are handed long-term contracts far too readily.

Redknapp would rather see youngsters forced to earn their deals the hard way, but accepts that the modern game sees the players wielding far more power than in previous times.

He told reporters:"I worry about it with kids now. We've ended up in a situation where you give young kids long contracts now, for fear of losing them.

"They come in here at 17, suddenly they get a four- or five-year contract. They've got their feet under the table, they can go and do what they want, they're getting plenty of money.

"Some of them, they'll work their socks off. But too many of them, they're in the comfort zone at too early an age.

"Now, we're scared that they will walk away and go somewhere else if we don't tie them up into long deals.

"Half the time, you give them long deals and they don't deserve long deals, because they're not good enough to have long deals. They've not done anything; they've not proved anything.

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"Half of them probably never will prove anything, but we give them long contracts for the fear of losing them.

"When you're dealing with kids, I personally would take a chance on losing them. If they don't want to stay at your club, well okay, fine."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini plans to appeal against Mario Balotelli's red card in Sunday's 2-0 win at West Brom.

Referee Lee Probert dismissed the former Inter Milan star, who had scored two first-half goals, for two yellow cards.

A furious Mancini said after his side's victory:"I absolutely do not agree with the referee about this sending-off.

"A red card for what? He played a fantastic game, he scored two goals, but the sending-off was very strange.

"I want to know why it was a direct red card. For me this is not correct and the referee must explain.

"I am angry because I explained to him before the game – pay attention with the referee. I wanted to change Adam Johnson for Mario, but I didn't have time to make the change.

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"We played a fantastic game – we played football very well, all the team.

"We scored two goals and we could have scored another two. For us, Carlos (Tevez) is very important up front. I am very happy with the result."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

A second half collapse saw Arsenal throw away three vital points at the Emirates this afternoon that Arsene Wenger simply put down to silly mistakes. The Gunners’ home form is becoming something of a concern and it is something that Wenger needs to address if Arsenal has any hope of challenging for the title this season.

This week at FFC we have seen a variety of blogs which has included; Wenger’s transfer priority in January, the Nicklas Bendtner poser and time for Jack Wilshere to take centre stage.

We also have a look at Arsenal’s best stories on the web.

Time for an Arsenal clearout?

The Nicklas Bendtner Poser

Whatever happened to Michael Thomas?

One signing all Arsenal fans would welcome this winter

Arsenal’s Ultimate XI – Left Back

Wenger should go all out to secure January deal

Arsenal signings – hit or miss?

Time for Jack Wilshere to take centre stage?

Would Arsenal fans really be sad to see him sold on?

Patience is a virtue for Arsenal’s disgruntled star

Progress Report: Sanchez Watt at Leeds

The liberation of Alex Song

VIDEO: Top TEN Audacious Penalties

The Top TEN club returns from hell

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Click here to see the Best ARSENAL BLOGS around the Web this week

Best of Web

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Is it time for Carlos Vela to move on? – Highbury House

Arsenal’s New Set Of Brass Balls – A Cultured Left Foot

One time Spurs player, lifetime Arsenal fan – Online Gooner

Arsene Wenger, time to say goodbye. – Le Grove

Pires reassures any doubters and Bendtner’s attitude is so wrong! – Highbury House

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