Bayern Munich star Lukas Podolski has agreed to join his old club FC Koln at the end of the season. He attracted a lot of interest from Premier League sides Manchester City and Tottenham but has finally agreed to join his previous club. Podolski will stay at Bayern till the season end and returned to training on Wednesday after recovering from a bout of flu. But, he still remains a doubt for their game against Mainz.

Meanwhile, VFB Stuttgart, who have been struggling mid-table have reinforced their belief in their young stars and have extended the contracts of Julian Schieber, Christian Träsch and Daniel Didavi.

“We are delighted that Julian Schieber, Christian Träsch and Daniel Didavi have extended their contracts. All three have great potential and hold all qualifications to establish themselves in the first team”, VfB sporting director Horst Heldt said.

French League leaders have targeted Caen frontman Steve Savidan as a direct replacement for the departing Brazilian Fred. Savidan,30, earned his first French cap earlier this season and has been very impressive in the league following his $6 million transfer to Caen from Valenciennes.

“We’ve been approached, now it’s up to the club to decide,” said
Savidan, who was playing third-division amateur football just four
seasons ago. “I’m not the sort of person to go banging on people’s
doors though - the decision will have to be made collectively.”

Meanwhile, Nancy have warned clubs off their young striker Issiar Dia. Dia,21, was instrumental in Nancy’s dream run last season and has continued his impressive displays. Dia’s game has earned comparisons to Nicolas Anelka and his game would be perfectly suited to the English League. But Nancy are not prepared to do any business even though they find themselves stuck in midtable mediocrity.

If recession was not enough to deter English fans from flocking into stadiums, the hike in EPL ticket prices has led to outrage among the English football fraternity.

All major clubs have hiked ticket prices which has led to steady decline in attendances. Manchester United is being investigated by Britain’s competition watchdog after fans of the English champions complained about a sharp rise in ticket prices and that season ticketholders were being forced to buy tickets for matches they did not want to see.

In this precarious scenario, fan-to-fan ticket exachanges like Seatwave have come in really handy. Fans who have booked sports tickets at high prices have been able to sell them to potential buyers without the hassle of going through the ticket offices.

There has been discontent among fans that League Cup matches have been excluded from the season ticket plans further relegating the importance of the League Cup.

January should hopefully see an influx of quality players, and attendances should be on the rise !

Spanish club Real Mallorca, who went down 1-3 against Barcelona yesterday are in ongoing talks with former Newcastle owner Freddy Shepherd over a possible takeover bid. Former Mallorca president Vicenc Grande put his 93 percent stake in the club up for sale after his Grupo Drac real estate company filed for insolvency in June. Grande was replaced this month as president by an associate, Joaquin Garcia, who said he had until the end of January to find a new investor.

The controversial and often outspoken Shepherd, who owns Shepherd Offshore has made Mallorca his second home. Mallorca are looking for a €40 million investment from the English businessman. Mallorca are struggling to survive in the league and have just signed Dudu Aouate from Deportivo la Coruna as a replacement for first choice keeper Miguel Moya.

“At the moment there is only contact with Freddy Shepherd, the only party formally interested in buying the club,” Mallorca spokesman Hector Romero told Reuters.

“It’s clear that the international economic situation makes the functioning of all companies more difficult and our club is no exception,” he said.

“But to meet the contractual rights of players you have to make financially solvent guarantees.”

Newell’s Old Boys have named former Udinese player-manager Sensini as their new manager. Sensini, 42, will take over the reign from 6th January.

As a player, Sensini earned 59 caps for Argentina without ever getting onto the scoresheet. He played a lot of football in Italy where he represented Lazio, Parma and had two different spells at Udinese before managing them in 2007.

Sensini started his professional career with Newell’s Old Boys and made 74 appearances for them. He is a firm fan favorite within the club and his appointment could be seen on the lines of Pep Guardiola’s choice at Barcelona.