SoccerBlogs

Adam Johnson desperate for England call up - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Sunderland winger Adam Johnson has vowed to fight tooth and nail to get back to the England national squad after failing to make a big impression on a consistent basis since moving to Sunderland in the summer.

Malouda joins the list of unwanted talent in English football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

We have many instances of good talent being wasted, players failing to reach their potential and club making bad purchases. But when a club fails to harness the talent of any highly experienced player, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Wasted Footballers good players whose talents were wasted by their clubs - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

We have many instances of good talent being wasted, players failing to reach their potential and club making bad purchases. But when a club fails to harness the talent of any highly experienced player, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Manchester City's transfer window: Mancini strenghtens late in the day - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester City had a strange transfer window in that their usual financial splurging was not evident until the final hours of Friday's deadline day. Roberto Mancini's men are certainly the team to beat after winning the Premier League last season, and the Italian coach has been vocal in his desire to add new players to his squad in a bid for silverware in 2012-13.

Roberto Mancini confirms Manchester City's intentions to buy - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

After Manchester City came back from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Liverpool on Sunday, Roberto Mancini has confirmed that the club must buy new players before the end of the transfer window to retain their Premier League title.

By Chris Wright

It's a done deal: Adam Johnson has signed a four-year contract with the club he supported growing up after tiring at becoming lost in the shuffle at Man City. The fee is officially undisclosed but known to be somewhere up around £10 million.

Big day for Sunderland on Friday as they signed Manchester City winger Adam Johnson and Wolves striker Steven Fletcher.

"Adding quality players to the squad has been our main aim this summer and Adam certainly fits that bill," O'Neill said. "He has terrific ability, great delivery and I'm sure he is a player who will excite our fans.

Finally Adam Johnson has moved on from Manchester City, joining Sunderland in what is rumoured to be a £15 million deal. This makes Sunderland's spending over the past 2 days around the £30 million mark with the acquisition of Steven Fletcher from Wolves yesterday for a similar amount. The news was broken on the official Sunderland Twitter account, but it appears Adam Johnson will have to complete a medical before finalising his transfer to Sunderland.

Manchester City close to making sensible winger swap - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester City's lack of activity in the transfer window this summer has largely been down to the club having to tighten the purse strings due to the upcoming Fifa Financial Fairplay regulations, with the Premier League winners needing to sell before they can splurge.

Fernando Torres scored twice at Sunderland as Rafa Benitez his first Premier League win in charge of Chelsea. It's been a good week for Torres who has scored a brace in back to back games this week.

Torres got on the end of a clever cross from Eden Hazard to volley Chelsea ahead and then converted his first penalty in English football after Sebastian Larsson fouled Ramires.

Chelsea visited Sunderland on Saturday afternoon as Rafa Benitez looked to secure his first Premier League victory as a Chelsea manager. Fernando Torres, in amongst the goals during Chelsea's midweek Champions League battle, found himself with two goals before half-time and nearly a third just after the first half.

By Chris Wright

And the England squad for the upcoming World Cup 2014 qualifiers against San Marino and Poland is as follows...

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Man City), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Man City), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Kyle Walker (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Man City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

Forwards: Andy Carroll (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd)

So, no Rio though absolutely no-one expected him to be there in the first place, especially anybody who was on the London Underground's Jubilee Line last night.

Our own Jake Livermore continues to build on the best 12 months of his career and following on from his full England debut last month, Jake has been called into Roy Hodgson's squad to face Ukraine tomorrow night.

With Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson returning to their clubs after injury, there was a need for reinforcements in midfield and although the best that he can hope for is a subs place, it's further recognition of Livermore's progress.

Roy Hodgson has announced a 24-man squad for England's upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches against Moldova (September 7th) and Ukraine (September 11th).

It's a squad with all England based players with several from Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United. Ashley Cole will miss the Moldova match due to an ankle injury but might be available for the Ukraine match.

England Manager Roy Hodgson continues to be hit with withdrawals to his England squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifying games with Moldova and Ukraine.

The Three Lions head to Moldova for the first game on Friday 7 September, before returning to England and the match with Ukraine on Tuesday 11 September.

Follow the Linesman to take you through the remaining 10 teams of English Premier League...

11 Fulham 3 pts

A 5-0 win and Petric's hat-trick seemed indicating a smooth start for Fulham, but consecutive away defeats to Manchester United, West Ham, and even Sheffield Wednesday in Capital One Cup demoralised Martin Jol's side.

On this week's Gadsby's England roundup, Beckham is back, and in only 12 minutes entertained us more than the entire Oscars ceremony; Adam Johnson, now at Sunderland, expresses his eagerness to get back into the England squad; and is it Gill in for Bernstein as FA boss?