Football news

Lille star Eden Hazard admitted that Chelsea’s Champions League triumph had made him reflect about which club he wants to join this summer.

Hazard played his final Lille game on Sunday, claiming a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Nancy, and he had been expected to announce which of the two Manchester clubs he had agreed to join.

“As long as I’ve not put pen to paper, I won’t say where I’m going,” the Belgian international said. “Chelsea makes you hesitate. They’ve won the Champions League and they’ll be in it next season.

“For now, nothing’s been decided, but it will be soon.”

Mihajlovic named Serbia coach

Former Yugoslav international Sinisa Mihajlovic has been appointed coach of Serbia’s national team on a two-year contract, the Football Federation of Serbia (FSS) said yesterday.

Mihajlovic, 43, succeeds Vladimir Petrovic who quit his post last year after the team had failed to qualify for Euro 2012.

Mihajlovic has already coached Fiorentina, Bologna and Catania in the Italian Serie A after a distinguished playing career which saw him win the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and the Italian championship with Lazio.

Unsettled Anelka warns Shenhua

French striker Nicolas Anelka has threatened to leave Shanghai Shenhua, a state-backed newspaper said yesterday, in a sign relations with his Chinese club may have soured.

Speaking in an interview with the Xinmin Evening News, Anelka criticised a lack of support from the club.

“If there is still no-one to support me and (they) continue to play little tricks behind my back... then I will quickly decide whether or not to retire,” he said, in comments published by the newspaper in Chinese.

“This will be decided on what happens in the next few weeks.”

Roman wants more titles – Buck

Roman Abramovich has told Chelsea’s players to go on and win more European titles, according to chairman Bruce Buck.

Owner Abramovich finally got his hands on the trophy he coveted most on Saturday when the Blues beat Bayern Munich on penalties to win the Champions League. And now he has told the players he is hungry for more, according to Buck.

“Roman told them that there is still plenty more to aim for,” Buck told The Sun.

“There’s a lot of clubs with three or four of those stars on their badge. We have only one.

“Roman gave a thank you speech, the message was that it was all down to the boys.”

Berbatov: I have to leave United

Striker Dimitar Berbatov is resigned to leaving Manchester United.

The 31-year-old has had limited first-team opportunities over the last couple of seasons, and claims manager Sir Alex Ferguson did not make good on promises to give him more chances.

He told The Sun: “We talked 10 times, he told me there would be a place for me but I stayed on the bench.

“My time at Manchester United is running out. I no longer feel like a valuable part of this team. I think I did well in the few opportunities that I received.

“I am a little frustrated by the way this happened, I do not think I deserved it. But I have dignity and I stopped going to such meetings, it is clear that I’m leaving United.”

King makes Rangers claim

Rangers director Dave King insists he has first option to purchase Craig Whyte’s shares in the club, claims the current owner denies.

Former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green has signed an “irrevocable” agreement with Rangers’ administrators Duff and Phelps and majority shareholder Whyte after weeks of negotiations.

But King’s claims cast doubt over the anticipated sale of the ailing Glasgow giants to Green’s consortium.

“It was verbally agreed over lunch but is legally valid,” King told BBC Scotland.

“It suited him at the time and I will hold him to it.”

Pescara keen to retain Zeman

Pescara are determined to keep coach Zdenek Zeman after securing promotion to the Serie A on Sunday.

Reports claim that the Czech-born Zeman, one of the most experienced coaches in Italian football, is the subject of interest from clubs like Fiorentina and Genoa.

“We said it a long time ago that we wanted to continue our relationship with Zeman,” Pescara president Daniele Sebastiani said.

“We’ll now sit down around a table and discuss what to do.

“We have serious plans for the future as we are going into Serie A with the intention of staying.”