Wayne Rooney to play for Everton again in Duncan Ferguson testimonial

  

 Old sparring partners reunite for the first time in 11 years 
• Ferguson: ‘I wanted Wayne to play and I am chuffed to bits he accepted’

Duncan Ferguson has praised Wayne Rooney for braving a return to Goodison Park and revealed how one right-hander from the then teenage Everton striker brought their sparring days to an abrupt end.

The Manchester United captain will play for his boyhood club for the first time in 11 years on Sunday having accepted an invitation to appear in Ferguson’s testimonial against Villarreal. The Scot, now Everton’s first team coach, was Rooney’s idol as a youngster and the pair played together before the England international’s acrimonious transfer to Old Trafford in August 2004.

Ferguson said he hopes Rooney receives a good reception from the Goodison crowd. “It was a long time ago and, as far as I’m concerned, he is one of us and I’m sure he’ll get a good reception,” he said. And the former centre-forward admits the United striker was the only former colleague he wanted to play in the testimonial. He added: “I did consider one or two others but Wayne is still playing and I wanted him back for that personal touch.

“I asked Wayne and he was delighted. We probably drifted away from each other over the last few years because you move on and that happens. But I wanted him to play in this game and I am chuffed to bits that he accepted.

“I played with Wayne when he made his debut at Wrexham and scored twice. We hit it off on the pitch from the start – he did what I told him to do but about three weeks later he was telling me what to do!”

Ferguson developed a fearsome reputation during his time north and south of the border but that did not deter the teenage Rooney from using his boxing skills on the Everton favourite. He explained: “I am always in the gym and I remember us putting on the boxing gloves one day and having a spar. We were in the gym lifting weights. It was an off-the-cuff thing and I have to say he was a handy fighter. I remember getting punched right in the forehead by him. He was wearing the right glove and I was the one hiding away. We only did it once – I never wanted to do it again. He was handy.”

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Surprise is that there is no surprise, says Van Gaal

Manchester United's much-anticipated surprise signing is the lack of any such signing, Back of the Net can reveal.

Louis van Gaal’s remarks about a surprise transfer at Manchester United last week sent the rumour mill into overdrive, its gossip spokes churning out fine-grained chunks of hearsay straight onto back page columns.

“Do I have a surprise for you!” the 63-year-old Dutch manager told assembled journalists. “You won’t believe it when you get a load of this surprise! It’s incredibly surprising!”

United were variously linked with Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Müller and Pedro Rodriguez, before Van Gaal specified that the surprise was “not a striker,” adding that it was “even more surprising, and funny, than the funny surprise you get when you sit on a whoopee cushion”.

Links quickly surfaced with Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Ramos and Jasper Cillessen, who was just as quickly dismissed after pundits agreed that signing the goalkeeper would be less surprising than the surprise you get when you sit on a whoopee cushion.

Press conference called

On Monday morning, United called a press conference to reveal the nature of the surprise, presenting journalists with a figure covered in a sheet emblazoned with question marks while chief executive Ed Woodward played suspenseful music on a hand organ.

As journalists shouted out names like ‘Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ and ‘Edinson Cavani’, assistant manager Ryan Giggs whipped off the sheet to reveal Van Gaal himself, who shouted “Ta-da! There is no surprise! Are you not surprised now?” before doubling over with laughter.

“I, Louis van Gaal, have fooled you all once again,” he said, upon recovering his composure. “This is why I am the best of the managers.”

Journalists agreed that although they had indeed been hoodwinked by Van Gaal’s wily bait-and-switch, it was still a better story than the time United pretended that signing up Swissquote as their Official Global Online Financial Trading Partner was worth five seconds of anyone’s time.

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Arsenal thumping still hurts - Fournier

In the lead-up to the Trophee des Champions, Hubert Fournier conceded Lyon are still reeling from their big loss to Arsenal.

Lyon coach Hubert Fournier revealed his team is "still marked" by their 6-0 thumping at the hands of Arsenal last week ahead of Saturday's Trophee des Champions.

Fournier's side have claimed just one victory in five pre-season friendlies ahead of the 2015-16 campaign, with the demolition by Arsenal prompting president Jean-Michel Aulas to publicly criticise the coach in an interview with Le Progres.

While captain Maxime Gonalons and veteran defender Christophe Jallet played down Aulas' comments and insisted Lyon will improve against Paris Saint-Germain in the Trophee des Champions in Montreal, Fournier conceded they were still hurting from last week's debacle.

Arsenal scored four goals in the space of 10 first-half minutes in the Emirates Cup clash to destroy Lyon, with both Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud ending the game with one goal and two assists in the six-goal triumph.

"We are still marked by the defeat against Arsenal," Fournier said on Friday.

"We don't want to relive the same experience. And we will play against a team [PSG] with the same potential or higher than Arsenal."

After the loss, Aulas questioned why international players were given an extra week's break, which saw them miss friendlies against Sion and PSV Eindhoven on July 11 and 15, and the 66-year-old added that he would find out if Fournier "made a mistake or not" against PSG.

The Trophee des Champions is the traditional opening match of the French league season, with Ligue 1 and Coupe de France champions PSG taking on Lyon, who finished second in the league last term.

"It's the president's role to bang his gavel from time to time," Jallet said, according to Ligue 1's website.

"The players listen and they hear what he has to say. It's perfectly normal: it's the boss talking. We're trying to patch up the shortcomings in our game, but over and above that, we want to honour the club by winning the Trophee des Champions."

Gonalons added: "We're not worried. The president said what he was thinking and feeling. From time to time it does you good to get a reality check like that.

"It put our feet back on the ground, helped us to focus on our values and got us back to work. We had a tough weekend in London and we want to bounce back as quickly as possible."

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Chelsea set to sign Abdul Rahman Baba

Chelsea have made a £17.5 million pound offer for Augsburg defender Abdul Baba Rahman to replace Filipe Luis

Chelsea have made a £17.5 million pound bid for Ghana and FC Augsburg defender Abdul Baba Rahman.

Augsburg have already rejected a £14 million bid for the 21-year-old, who they signed from Greuther Furth for £1 million in 2014. However, they are expected to accept Chelsea's improved offer.

Baba Rahman established himself as a rising star in 31 Bundesligaappearances in the 2014-15 season, earning attention from Arsenal,Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Roma in addition to the Blues. Despite interest from other clubs, however, it is believed he will accept Chelsea's proposed £27,000 a week five-year deal.

Filipe Luis' departure leaves opening for Babe Rahman

After just one season at Stamford Bridge in which he made 15Premier League appearances, full-back Filipe Luis has transferred to former club Atletico Madrid. 

His departure leaves Cesar Azpilicueta as Jose Mourinho's only left-back, making Baba Rahman an important signing for the Portuguese. The Ghana international would most likely serve as a back-up to Azpilicueta, whom Mourinho believes to be "the best left-back in the Premier League."

Mourinho not giving information on Baba Rahman or Stones

Mourinho had an enigmatic response when asked about his pursuit of defenders Baba Rahman and John Stones.

In addition to left-back, the Blues boss is looking to strengthen the centre of his defence and find a long-term replacement for John Terry, which he hopes to accomplish by signing Stones.

Everton have already turned down two previous offers from Chelsea for the player, claiming their star defender is not for sale.

Still, Mourinho is believed to be planning a third bid of £30 million for the English centre-back, but refused to give details in a press conference on Friday ahead of Chelsea's Community Shield clash against Arsenal.

However, Baba Rahman's agent, Sascha Empcher, has confirmed that a deal is nearing finalisation between his client and Chelsea, but "both clubs are still working on fine-tuning."

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