Valencia midfielder Ever Banega has agreed to stay in La Liga by signing a contract that will keep him at the Spanish outfit till 2015.

Banega, 23, has attracted the interest of both Merseyside clubs in the past while also being linked to Arsenal and German giants Bayern Munich more recently.

In England, the Premier League had a quiet weekend for Argentine action for the most part. Last week's Hand Of Pod introducer Alejandro Faurlín featured as usual for Queens Park Rangers in a 1-0 loss away to Liverpool, and many ... Continue reading →

Rumours, rumours, every where; nor any drop to drink. Oh, wait, there's some bourbon. Which must mean it's time to dip into the sordid world of transfer rumours to see who's being linked to Liverpool to replace you-know-who, as focus shifts from talk of luxury acquisitions and South American starlets to Liverpool's sudden need for a bit of steel in midfield.

Tomorrow we will know the future of Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League and , probably, the future of Portuguese manager Andres Villas Boas in the bench of the sout-west London club. The "Blues" has the chance to qualify to the knock out of the most important tournament for European clubs, as they will play at Stamford Bridge in front of their supporters, but an easy qualification is not to be taken for granted.

The weekend just gone saw as many crucial contributions from Argentines as ever in the world's biggest leagues, and a welcome return to form for the usual suspects in the Mexican league after last week's no-show. With the usual contributions ... Continue reading →

With the World Cup qualifiers approaching, it's time to take a look at how Alejandro Sabella's boys and those he's not called up did in the weekend just gone for their clubs. Alejandro Faurlín impressed in defeat in ... Continue reading →

Argentines Abroad has been, to put it mildly, a bit out of sync so far this season. It's become truly, monumentally bad this week and last, though, for a few reasons. For that, I apologise, but I present here the updates ... Continue reading →

Name: Ever Banega
Birthday: Jun 29, 1988
Birth Place: Rosario, Santa Fe
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.74 m)
Primary Position: Midfielder
Current Team: Valencia, Argentine National
Youth Team: Boca Juniors
Bio & Stats Sources:
CF Valencia's Bio - Soccernet's Bio - Wikipedia Bio - Goal.

Because I've had a somewhat disjointed week of deadlines not being what they normally are, Argentines Abroad is going up ridiculously late this week. All the same, I did receive the normal dispatches from France, Mexico, Portugal and Spain, so here ... Continue reading →

Alejandro Sabella, after playing four friendlies of dubious importance, finally had his competitive debut as Argentina manager on Friday evening, and it could hardly have gone better. Chile provided tricky opposition and deserved more for their own efforts, but Sabella's ... Continue reading →

We've got a neat finish from Javier Pastore, Gonzalo Higuaín's hat trick for Madrid, some lovely goals form Mexico and, um, a description of Jonás Gutiérrez's brilliant solo effort for Newcastle United (thanks to the Premier League not allowing videos ... Continue reading →

I've been unable to get Argentines Abroad online so far this week, but my normal contributors have submitted their pieces as diligently as ever, and it would be unfair not to use them. So, if you'd like to find out what ... Continue reading →

Hey Juan, enjoy yourself.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EDT.

Team sheets:
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Our biggest test of the Champions League group stage arrives Wednesday in the form of a trip to the Estadio Mestalla. Valencia not only bring forth a heavy test for the Chels, but they also eagerly await the return of a departed son.

Homecoming

Matchday 1 was particularly special to Chelsea supporters for, aside from a win over Bayer Leverkusen, the return of Michael Ballack to Stamford Bridge.

This week's Argentines Abroad is late, thanks to the midweek round of matches here in Argentina keeping me busy. Better late than never, though. As well as Lionel Messi's hat-trick in Barcelona's 8-0 demolition of Osasuna, we've got videos of ... Continue reading →

The transfer rumours don't stop when the window closes – they merely slow down. This morning there have been a number of stories appearing, but the most interesting of these concerns Valencia midfielder Ever Banega.

As the Modric rumours continue, so will the suggestions of possible replacements, but Banega looks to be one of the better players to be linked with a move to Spurs.

It was another packed weekend in which Argentines around the world had a big say in footballing matters, so here's another dose of Argentines Abroad. Sergio Agüero hit a hat-trick for Manchester City, Fernando Belluschi for Porto and Javier Pastore ... Continue reading →

That's not the best headline I'll ever put up on HEGS, I realise, but it is a fairly accurate one, at least. There were a fair few impressive performances by Argentina's foreign legion during the weekend just gone, as action ... Continue reading →

The twenty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is, as the milkmaid said to the parson, quite a whopper. That's largely because Sam, Australian Dan and Seba have not one but two rounds of Torneo Apertura matches to look back on, ... Continue reading →

Hours after announcing his first Argentina domestic squad for the double-header of friendlies against Brazil next month, Alejandro Sabella has announced his first Argentina senior squad. These players will form the teams to take on Venezuela in Calcutta and Nigeria ... Continue reading →

This feels like it should be a running segment, and it sort of is.

He's at it again, posing in a Real Madrid shirt despite playing for Valencia. Still, anyway.

Up for debate is whether or not the shirt or that facial hair is the most egregious decision in the photo.

Argentina's second performance in the 2011 Copa América they are hosting had to be better than the first, or people were going to start getting angry. Well, people are starting to get angry. Argentina were a side without imagination or ... Continue reading →

Tuesday is a day off after the opening round of games in the 2011 Copa América have seen everyone play once. You can find my thoughts on the tournament, of course, over on ESPNSoccernet, where I discuss how remarkably closely-fought ... Continue reading →

As kick off edges closer, now only just over three hours away, there's another preview of the Copa América by me; this time focussing more on the Argentine national team and how they're likely to line up, as well as ... Continue reading →

Sergio Batista announced on Saturday the three names to be cut from the 26-man preliminary list for the Copa América. The Argentine press describe it as 'without surprises', but I have to confess I'm slightly taken aback that Diego Milito ... Continue reading →

Long-term HEGS readers will remember that in 2007, 2008 and 2009 I ran an award to find the Best Argentine Abroad according to my readers. This year, in an attempt to widen the voting, the award (which in 2009 was the ... Continue reading →

Sergio Batista has just announced a preliminary squad for the 2011 Copa América which starts in Argentina one month tomorrow which will be trimmed slightly to 22 players for the final squad. Carlos Tevez, after the amazing about-turn ... Continue reading →

This week saw confirmation on Tuesday that two Argentines Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta will feature in next season's European Cup; at least assuming Tevez stays with Manchester City, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to confirm a top ... Continue reading →

In spite of not having done anything in particular this week out of the ordinary, Thursday night has arrived and I've still not yet put up Argentines Abroad. I have had two contributions sent in, though, from Spain and Mexico, ... Continue reading →

Lionel Messi scored against a José Mourinho-coached team for the first time at the weekend, in the clásico in Spain, but he wasn't the only Argentine to notch a goal in foreign lands. There were a few beauties in the Mexican ... Continue reading →

There wasn't a great deal of Argentine action last weekend, which is part of the reason this edition of Argentines Abroad is going online so late. Carlos Tevez hobbled out of Manchester City's Premier League game against Liverpool early on ... Continue reading →

The thirteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan discussing things in a remarkably sober manner. We look back on the USA vs Argentina friendly on Saturday, considering the performance. Seba has a few words he ... Continue reading →

The friendly between the United States of America and Argentina in New Jersey on Saturday evening saw the visitors dominate and produce moments of really nice play, but eventually only get a draw against a well-motivated American side. After a ... Continue reading →

Argentina take on the United States in a friendly in New Jersey this evening, and Sergio Batista has gone with virtually the same starting eleven as the one that saw off Portugal 2-1 in a friendly last month. The only ... Continue reading →

Argentines Abroad is up late this week in honour of an infamous anniversary; it's twenty years today since Diego Maradona played his final match for Napoli, failing a doping test after the game. Napoli's current Argentine star, Ezequiel Lavezzi, scored ... Continue reading →

With Argentina's friendly against Portugal in Geneva just a few hours away, HEGS readers have a wide choice of previews. First, if you'd like to remind yourself of the main players in the Argentine side, you can get yourself over ... Continue reading →

He's not in Argentina's squad to face Portugal on Wednesday, of course, but Carlos Tevez celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a first half hat trick against West Brom for Manchester City, and on the very same day the world's ... Continue reading →

Sergio Batista has announced his first Argentina squad as permanent boss, having been only caretaker manager when he named the squad to face Brazil late last year. When Argentina take on Portugal in Switzerland on the 9th February, they'll do ... Continue reading →

The first round of matches of the new year have featured a few Argentine-inspired flashpoints, as well as the news that Gonzalo Higuaín's season is officially over; an operation on a hernia will sideline him for six months. Carlos Tevez ... Continue reading →