City spend eight times as much as United on agents November 30, 2009 MANCHESTER CITY’S lavish recruitment policy saw them splash out almost £13m in agents’ fees alone last year – more than eight times as much as champions Manchester United. City, who have spent close to £120m on signing a host of big-name players in the last 12 months, paid agents £12.9m for transfers and contract negotiations. [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF January 3, 2010 Ski breaks hit by the recession Almost 20 per cent of UK consumers intend to sacrifice their annual winter sun or ski break this year to combat the financial pressures of the recession, research from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown. But consumers will balance their winter thriftiness with a travel spending spree in the summer, [...]
Build United’s future around me, says Vidic November 26, 2009 NEMANJA VIDIC last night angrily scotched rumours he is ready to quit Manchester United, insisting he wants to become an integral part of the club’s next generation. The Serbian’s future at Old Trafford has been thrown into question in recent weeks amid reports his wife Ana is unhappy in the north-west. The rumours followed an [...]
Spurs tighten grip on fourth and return to winning ways January 26, 2010 TOTTENHAM (2) vs FULHAM (0) TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp savoured his first Premier League victory of 2010 after goals from Peter Crouch and David Bentley boosted their Champions League aspirations. Spurs came into the match without a win in three but England forward Crouch eased their nerves with a 27th-minute strike. Out-of-favour midfielder Bentley justified [...]
City dwellers lead the move to online shopping December 14, 2009 LONDONERS are increasingly turning to online shopping even though they have major shops on their doorsteps, a survey by PayPal has revealed. A total of 45 per cent of shoppers from the capital said they had increased their web shopping in the last year. And across Britain City dwellers are more likely to surf for [...]
Ferguson frets as injury curse strikes again December 6, 2009 MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing a defensive injury crisis ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League trip to Wolfsburg. Wes Brown and Gary Neville became United’s latest casualties at the weekend after picking up knocks in the victory over West Ham. It left Ferguson having to pair left-back Patrice Evra and midfielder Michael Carrick [...]
Sturridge brace propels Blues progress January 4, 2010 Chelsea 5 Watford 0 CHELSEA boss Carlo Ancelotti backed Daniel Sturridge to fill the void left by Didier Drogba after the teenager’s brace helped the FA Cup holders set up a fourth-round tie with Preston. Sturridge scored in each half to press his claims for a place while Drogba, who has scored 19 goals this [...]
Gunners dig deep to avoid a Hammering January 4, 2010 West Ham 1 Arsenal 2 ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger admits he wants to strengthen his squad this month after seeing the Gunners given a scare before reaching the FA Cup fourth round. Wales starlet Aaron Ramsey and Croatia striker Eduardo struck within five second-half minutes to save Wenger’s men, who looked to be heading out [...]
Italian directories publisher Seat joins the long list of corporate bond issuers January 18, 2010 ITALIAN yellow-pages publisher Seat Pagine Gialle yesterday revealed that it will be issuing a €650m (£573m) bond to help it refinance its debts. The group, which publishes ThomsonLocal in the UK, issued a prospectus following a refinancing deal reached last week with its senior creditor banks in an agreement managed by the Royal Bank Of [...]
Pets at Home snapped up for nearly £1bn by KKR January 27, 2010 PETS at Home was snapped up by private equity firm KKR yesterday in a deal worth an astonishing £955m. The sum was well above the £800m being touted by analysts in the lead up to the acquisition. KKR beat stiff competition from Apax Partners, Bain and TPG, who had all tabled offers in the second [...]