Football news

German international Per Mertesacker insists he will be sticking with Werder Bremen for the coming season despite interest from clubs including English Premier League side Arsenal.

“I’m staying at Bremen,” Mertesacker said.

“There have been so many rumours concerning me, but I’ve never had to be concerned because none were concrete,” he added.

Mertesacker was one of the revelations of the German team that finished third in the World Cup.

The 25-year-old is under contract with Werder until 2012.

Roma sign Burdisso junior

Roma have signed central defender Guillermo Burdisso on loan from Argentines Rosario Central, Ansa said.

Burdisso is the younger brother of Inter’s Nicolas, who spent last season on loan at Roma and even displaced Frenchman Philippe Mexes in the first team.

The 22-year-old younger brother will earn 400,000 euros for the season and the loan will cost Roma 500,000 euros with an option on a 4.5 million-euro transfer at the end of the year.

Roma are still trying to tie up a permanent deal for Burdisso senior, 29, but the two clubs have yet to agree a fee for the Argentina international.

Aussies name Osieck as coach

German veteran Holger Osieck was yesterday surprisingly named Australia’s new football coach over a host of better-known candidates.

Osieck, 61, was Franz Beckenbauer’s assistant when Germany won the 1990 World Cup and led Canada to the 2000 CONCACAF title.

“It’s a great pleasure for me to be here and I feel very much honoured that I’m your choice,” Osieck told journalists from Slovenia.

Osieck replaces Dutchman Pim Verbeek, whose contract expired after the World Cup in South Africa, where Australia failed to reach the knock-out stages.

Maicon hints at pay rise

Inter’s Brazil full-back Maicon should get a contract extension after snubbing a move to Real Madrid, his agent Antonio Caliendo suggested.

This week, Inter president Massimo Moratti declared that Maicon was off the transfer list following weeks of speculation that he would join former boss Jose Mourinho in Spain.

And speaking to Italian news agency Ansa, Caliendo hinted that he felt the right-back should be rewarded for his loyalty.

“I believe Maicon should get a minimum of recognition,” he said when asked if the Brazilian deserves a contract extension like Argentine team-mates Diego Milito and Javier Zanetti.

“I was just with the player and he told me: ‘after five titles Moratti has finally realised he has a champion at the club’.”

Matthaus eyes fresh start

Germany’s former World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus revealed that he is looking to start life afresh in England as he prepares to divorce his fourth wife.

“While I haven’t found work it’s good for me to be in England, the home of football,” the 49-year-old told the daily Bild.

The 1990 Ballon d’Or winner said that he was hoping to be able to observe the work of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger in Arsenal.

Matthaus’ private life has been splashed all over newspapers in Germany following revelations that his 22-year-old fourth wife Liliana openly cheated on him when she was photographed kissing another man on a yacht in Sardinia.

Aston Villa director slams O’Neill

Aston Villa director Charles Krulak has slammed manager Martin O’Neill’s decision to quit the club just days before the start of the new English Premier League season.

O’Neill resigned on Monday, reportedly because of a breakdown in his relationship with Villa’s owner Randy Lerner brought about by having to sell his best players.

But Krulak insisted O’Neill had received full financial backing during his four years in charge.

“He knew full well about the need to bring wages in line with revenue – the same as every Premiership club. The reality is that the wage-to-revenue issue was not addressed and Martin apparently was unwilling to help address it. He quit.

“No one person is bigger than our club – not me, not Randy, not Paul Faulkner (chief executive), not Martin. What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact.”

Steaua turn to Dumitrescu

Steaua Bucharest appointed former Romanian international Ilie Dumitrescu as their new coach after former star Gheorghe Hagi turned down the chance to replace Victor Piturca, who resigned on Sunday.

“He (Dumitrescu) will not be my employee. He does not want the club’s money. He told me simply – ‘I am coming but money does not interest me. I just want respect,’” club owner Gigi Becali told broadcaster Realitatea TV.

It was a breakdown in relations with Becali which caused Piturca to throw in the towel and Hagi himself had a run-in with Becali when he stepped down after just three months in the job in 2007.