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Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina appears to have played a major role in convincing Adrian to move to West Ham United in 2013.

There has been a proliferation of Spanish goalkeepers across the top European leagues. Adrian has been one of those to have established himself in the first-team of a club like West Ham. The goalkeeper was signed by the Premier League club despite having played only 32 first-team games for his Spanish club. They had undoubted faith in his talent, but it took a lot of convincing from Reina in order for the move to happen.

In the past, the Premier league has been very difficult for international goalkeepers to deal with. This is due to the plenty of long balls involved in the league. A number of teams – especially lower down the division – try to get the ball into the penalty box as soon as possible. This often leads to goalkeepers, who are used to more play on the ground in leagues like the la Liga, struggling and their confidence almost immediately. Adrian has been able to cope with this threat largely because West Ham themselves played with a long ball style under Sam Allardyce.

This may have been one of the attributes that helped Adrian improve himself. “I talked with Pepe Reina before signing. Pepe told me the football was slightly different [from that in Spain]. As a goalkeeper, you need to be alert all the time for shots from long distance. Over here, players try to score from far out. In Spain, they try to work a position closer to the box. The other thing is aerial balls. You need to be strong in your area,” said Adrain, who may be the target of big clubs if he continues in the same vein of form.

The last game that the Spurs played ahead of international break was versus the Toffees and that was a scoreless draw.

Everton is not that bad a team and a draw against them is not the most disappointing result ever for Tottenham, but, coming out of White Hart Lane post that game, most of the fans were bitterly disappointed.

It was the 4th match in a row in this Premier League that Tottenham’s attack just looked powerless.

Mauricio Pochettino’s formation in that Everton game had three players in the attacking role in the midfield, but, the penetration was still missing.

The pressure was being applied by that trio, but, the Everton defence had them covered easily and that was because there was no real speed at the flanks.

It’s that which Pochettino needs to acknowledge. He needs a bit of a spark in the wide positions
He has got a couple of players who are blessed with sizzling speed and can do that for him.

Clinton N’Jie, who although is a striker originally, can be put out there as a right winger if Tottenham goes on all out attack.

The other choice can be Son Heung-Min. He can also bring some creativity into play in a wide position and he would be full of confidence as well having scored three goals for his national side Korea in a recent game.

Yes, neither of these two is experienced with regards to Premier League. They have made their way to English Football just recently and are yet to make their debuts, but, they’ve it in them to make a difference for Tottenham. Wonderful talents both of them are.

Tottenham is set to visit Sunderland the coming weekend. It would be interesting if one of N’Jie or Heung-Min gets handed a debut there.

Aaron Lennon’s latest season has seen him performing with Everton as the English player played the second half of the past Premier League season with Everton after having signed a loan deal which expired at the end of the season.

Now that the deal has expired, the future of Aaron Lennon is uncertain as the player has earned praise and recognition during his time spent at Goodison Park but since his contract with Everton has reached it’s end, the player has to make a move back to Tottenham Hotspur.

If Everton’s Roberto Martinez has been impressed enough by the performances of Aaron Lennon, the manager of Everton might be motivated on launching an offer to Tottenham Hotspur and attempt to sign Aaron Lennon on a permanent contract.

However, even if Aaron Lennon has to make a move back to Tottenham Hotspur, the English player has praised Roberto Martinez as he was the man who sparked life back to his career and given him a sense of confidence that was lost some time ago.

The 28 year old English winger, Aaron Lennon said: “It’s been brilliant to work with Martinez. Obviously, it was a tough start to the season for me when I wasn’t playing, but, from the first moment the gaffer called me, I couldn’t wait to work with him and he’s done nothing but impress me since I’ve been here.The way he wants to play, the confidence he has shown in me and the confidence he’s given me has been unbelievable.”

Tottenham Hotspur is willing to allow Aaron Lennon leave but only if they receive an offer which is tempting enough. The summer transfer window is a chance for Roberto Martinez to lure him Aaron Lennon permanently into the team but they will face competition from Stoke City as they are also interested in signing Lennon.

Roberto Martinez has suggested that former Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon has been a major reason behind the club’s revival in form in the last month.

After flirting with relegation for much of the campaign, Everton have dropped only two points in the last five matches. This form may have come a bit late for European football next season, but it could see Everton back into the top 10 of the table before the end of the campaign. They continued their winning run after a 1-0 success over Burnley at Goodison Park. Belgian winger Kevin Mirallas scored the only goal of the game while Barnes was sent off for a second yellow card just before half-time.

The victory condemned Burnley to a place at the foot of the table, but it was more good news for Everton. After the 1-1 draw with Swansea in the last league match, it was important for Everton to return to winning ways. They have also reached the 40 point mark that will see them achieve a psychological safety barrier from the drop zone. However, it will be important for Martinez to carry on this form since the team will be expected to challenge for at least a trophy next campaign. Martinez says that the work rate of the 27-year-old is a huge factor.

“The work-rate Aaron Lennon has has been a massive influence, along with the pace that helps him get into certain positions.That has been infectious and is really helping the team. You seem him going into goalscoring positions and using his talent and creativity in the final third.He is clearly a massive part of the reason we have performed so well in the last four games and got those results.But every player has reacted in the same manner, the commitment of the whole team and the way we have been working on and off the ball shows a real team ethic,” said Martinez.

Aaron Lennon is one of those players who find it hard to smile even while posing for photographs.

The 27-year old player has made his way to Merseyside club Everton for the remaining few months of the 2014-15 Season.

Doing a photo session while unveiling his Everton jersey, Lennon had quite a serious look on his face and the people at Social networking sites have been taking a dig at him for having such facial expression.

Those pictures of Lennon do look funny.
And Lennon himself also agrees to that. According to the winger, he’s been told by his mom to try and keep a smiling face while being photographed.

Interacting with the media people the other day, Lennon said, “I am terrible at posing and all and people seem to be getting stuck into me for those photographs. My mother has not spared me either. However, I don’t mind that. Good, healthy banter is alright. The fact is that I have joined Everton and that’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me.”

“There were a few other parties in line, but, my preference was always to come to Merseyside. I hope to have some opportunities over here. The first half of this season, I have not enjoyed much sitting on the bench.

There was no clarity from the manager. I was not told why I was out. Somebody who has played regularly in his career, dealing with such sort of situation was not easy.”
Lennon will have to play impressive Football if he wants to see Everton finishing in top 7 or 8 in the top flight.

The Toffees have had a horrible campaign thus far, a lot worse than what they had last season. They are sitting below teams like Crystal Palace and that would be making their fans feel really bad.

On 2005, when Aaron Lennon joined Tottenham Hotspur he became a regular starter for the Premier League club as the English winger made over 20 league appearances in every single season until the current season as Lennon has seen his time on the playing grounds being limited due to the arrivals of Erik Lamela and Andros Townsend.

The coach of Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino is trying to rebuild his squad and it does not seem like Aaron Lennon will be playing any important role in the team.

Aaron Lennon along with a number of other players in the squad of Mauricio Pochettinois rumored to be on their out way of the White Hart Lane as they aren’t currently in the near future plans of the coach.

Kyle Naughton and Roberto Soldado are some of the other players of the team that could be exiting the Premier League club in the January transfer window.

Stoke City is turning out to be a possible destination for Aaron Lennon as Mark Hughes is interested in signing the English player but it will cost Stoke City around £7m in order to acquire his services and lure him away from Tottenham Hotspur.

Queens Park Rangers is another club that has revealed their interest in signing Aaron Lennon and could be making a move for him when the transfer window re-opens in January.

Southampton’s MorganSchneiderlin is one of the winter targets of Mauricio Pochettinoas well as Jay Rodriguez and the manager of Tottenham Hotspur is willing to allow some of his fringe players to be sold in order to use that cash injection to upgrade his squad by signing his desired targets.

This start of the season has been a struggling one for Tottenham Hotspur as the Premier League club is located in the middle section of the English League standings and Mauricio Pochetino will have to make a series of changes in his squad if he wants to avoid being sacked in his debut season in charge of the Premier League club.

Stoke City are reportedly looking at the possibility of signing winger Aaron Lennon in the January transfer window.

The England international has lost his first-team spot in the last few months. A number of injuries in the last year have not helped his case. It appears that he may not return to the first-team spot on a regular basis as long as Mauricio Pochettino remains the manager. Further, the Spurs boss is also keen on trimming the squad, which he managed to some extent during the summer. As a result, Lennon could be available for around £ 7 million during January.

Stoke have made an inconsistent start to the season under Mark Hughes, but they remain in with a shout to qualify for the Europa league. It will be a tremendous achievement considering the club’s small transfer budget. Hughes has done extremely well especially in the loan market to get players like Victor Moses, who have played a key role so far. Stoke are ninth in the table above the likes of Tottenham, Everton, and Liverpool. Keen to maintain this form, Hughes is reportedly keen to strengthen the squad in January. Even though Tottenham want around £ 7 million for Lennon, who has featured in 21 matches for England since his debut in 2006, Stoke believe that they can sign him for less.

It is understood that Hughes and Stoke City are not the only clubs competing for Lennon’s signature. QPR, who have made a real difference to the league table in the last few weeks, are also looking at him. The London outfit have the advantage of location and also the manager Harry Redknapp, who has worked with Lennon in the past. At just 27 years of age, Lennon appears to be in the prime of his career. He came to Tottenham in a £ 1 million deal several years ago.

Aaron Lennon’s long spell at Tottenham may come to an end on transfer deadline day after it has been reported that QPR are interested in signing him on a permanent basis. Harry Redknapp knows the England international extremely well after having managed him for a few years when he was at Tottenham. Lennon was one of the important players under the regime of Redknapp, as he formed the perfect partner for Gareth Bale on the right side of the wing. The 27-year-old was a major reason in Tottenham finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League a few years ago.

Despite being one of the few players in the Tottenham team with pace to burn, it seems that he may not figure in the plans of manager Mauricio Pochettino. The South American has admitted that Tottenham need to trim down the squad since he does not like working with more than 25 players over the course of a season. Tottenham have already allowed one of the important players, Michael Dawson, to join Hull city for around £ 6 million. The likes of Sandro have also been linked with an exit. Interestingly, QPR could come in for both Sandro and Lennon at the same time.

Still just 27 years old, Lennon would be a valuable addition for QPR who just returned to the Premier league after one season in the Championship. After QPR are set to lose like Remy to Chelsea for £ 10.5 million, the addition of Lennon will be potent given that the team needs players who can stretch the opposition. It has also been rumoured that Lennon may not move to Loftus Road on a permanent deal but on a loan spell. Sandro, however, looks set for a permanent transfer after the two clubs are reportedly close to agreeing a £ 10 million fee.

The head of AC Milan has disclosed that he had the opportunity to sell Mario Balotelli for a big amount of money just before the beginning of the ongoing FIFA World Cup and he had almost secured that deal, but, for some reason, it couldn’t materialize.

There have been a lot of rumours of late about a couple of English clubs being interested in buying Balotelli. Arsenal is believed to be one of them.

Balotelli’s performance for his national side Italy in Brazil was not as good as expected. He began aright with a match defining goal against England, but, in the next two games, he disappointed his fans big time.

Talking to the reporters yesterday, the Rossoneri head, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, said, “Italy suffered in Brazil and with that, I suffered as well. A club was ready to spend big cash on Mario before the tournament, but, now, after how he played there, I don’t think they would be that interested.”

However, still, there is a big possibility that Balotelli would be playing for a new club in the upcoming season. His representative Mino Raiola said yesterday that his client was not happy to be treated as a villain by the Italian press after the team’s exit from Brazil.

This statement of Raiola suggests that the controversial young striker is not eager to spend the next season in Italy.

As far as Balotelli’s contract at San Siro is concerned, it’s not anywhere close to getting completed. He still has 4 years to spend there, but, because of some financial issues, the club is looking to offload him.
Balotelli has so far made 54 appearances for Milan and has found the back of the net on 30 occasions. He had been bought by the Rossoneri from Manchester City at the start of the last year.

David Bentley, the former Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur player has retired from professional football at the age of 29, after claiming to have fallen out of love with the game.

The Englishman played for seven different games during his career as a professional – Arsenal and their North London rivals Spurs, Norwich City, West Ham United as well as a stint with FC Rostov. But he spent arguably the most successful spell of his career with Blackburn Rovers, becoming the first ever player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick against Manchester United in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

During his spell with Rovers, Bentley was tipped as arguably the most talented youngster in the English game and a natural heir on the right wing for the England national side, but critics say he never really lived up to fulfill his massive potential as a footballer.

Having played only one first team game for Arsenal where he was a youth team product, he was constantly loaned out and spent a few months with Norwich City, playing 26 matches for the Canaries and scoring two goals for them.

His form at Rovers prompted Spurs to bring him to White Hart Lane but he never really made his mark in the team and the emergence of Aaron Lennon ended his time at the club and he was moved on.

Bentley played 107 matches for Blackburn Rovers while with Spurs, where he moved for a massive £ 15 million fee, and made just 42 appearances for the club, scoring two goals. He left the club on a free transfer twelve months ago and did not have a club since then and his retirement from football comes with many critics citing his off field antics as one reason for his unfulfilled potential.