Betting Recommendations for Barclays Premier League Matches (21 August 2011)

BOLTON vs MANCHESTER CITY

Bolton hope to have new signing Tuncay Sanli available to play against the Citizens. The Turkish international is expected to have his work permit processed in time. Meanwhile, Jamaican Midfielder Ricardo Gardner will have a late fitness test on a groin injury. Former City man Tyrone Mears and Korean Lee Chung-yong both sustained broken legs during pre-season.

After handing in a transfer request, it was expected that a host of clubs would make a move for Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez. After a move failed to materialise, the Manchester City talisman returned to his club where he could feature at the Reebok Stadium tomorrow. Sergio Aguero's devastating cameo could result in the hotshot being given his first start for the Blues. The only doubt for Sunday is Dutch enforcer Nigel de Jong who picked up a foot injury against Premier League newcomers Swansea.

Both teams display a fine performance in their opening Barclays Premiership game winning by the same scoreline, 4-0. With the attacking threat that Man City possess, we can expect another great game with goals in it. However, as we have seen many times in the Barclays Premier League last season, Mancini has opted to go with negative tactics in Man City’s matches away from home. Will Mancini do the same this season? With so many high profile attacking players on his side, we can expect Mancini to go attacking this time. He has been criticised many times last season for being negative. So expects goals in this game. Over 2.50 will be my choice.

Juan Mata On Verge Of €27m Move To Chelsea

Juan Mata is on the verge of joining Chelsea from Valencia for a fee of €27m (£23.5m). Mata spoke to André Villas-Boas during the day and the Chelsea manager explained the role he has in mind for the attacking midfielder. Lawyers are finalizing details on the deal, which is expected to be definitively closed over the weekend. The Chelsea manager had admitted this week: "We might just add a number in midfield."

The 23-year-old, who has studied at university and speaks reasonable English, has long been open to a move to the Premier League. His father and agent, also Juan Manuel Mata, had spoken to a number of clubs in England. Mata's initial preference was to secure a move to Barcelona but he was in no hurry to depart Valencia. The signings of Alexis Sánchez and Cesc Fábregas by Barcelona finally ended any possibility of a transfer to the Camp Nou.

Mata had already turned down the opportunity to join Tottenham Hotspur at the end of July. Tottenham sought to take advantage of a clause in Mata's contract that allowed him to leave the club before 31 July for a set fee of €25m: had Valencia unilaterally blocked a move at that stage, they would have been forced to increase Mata's salary. The player, though, did not want to move to Spurs.

Liverpool had previously shown an interest in the player but opted in the end to buy Stewart Downing from Aston Villa, with Kenny Dalglish putting a premium on players with Premier League experience. Despite showing an interest and although Mata's camp was open to the idea of a move to the Emirates, Arsenal failed to make a formal bid during that window of opportunity in July. Now Chelsea have done so.

Valencia was not keen to sell one of their key players and believe that, although their financial situation remains difficult, they were not obliged to sell.

They had also hoped to avoid a situation in which they lost the midfielder close to the start of the season but replacements had already been signed in the shape of Sergio Canales and Pablo Piatti and they had set a figure of €30m at which they could be persuaded, given that the July release clause would come into effect again next season.

Mata's desire to accept the offer to move to west London finally helped to bring the two clubs to an agreement which is being finalized.

Milan Consider Crouch Bid

Milan is being linked with a £8m offer for Tottenham and England hitman Peter Crouch.

According to Itasportpress, the 30-year-old is back on their radar after reports already spoke of an interest last year.

The Rossoneri see Crouch as an ideal understudy for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as their other strikers are all physically rather short.

However, they face competition from the likes of Sevilla, Everton, Fulham and Sunderland.

Crouch has a contract with Spurs until June 2014 and is valued at around £8m.

Bayern Munich In For Montolivo

Fiorentina declared Riccardo Montolivo is only for sale abroad, so Bayern Munich reportedly stepped in with a €10m offer.

The midfielder was stripped of his captaincy when refusing to sign a contract extension, so he’ll be a free agent next summer.

Milan was his most likely destination, but Viola director Pantaleo Corvino declared on Friday “Montolivo will only be sold abroad.”

This apparently alerted Bayern Munich, who have lined up an offer of €10m for the Italian international.

According to Sky Sport Italia, Atletico Madrid is also interested in making a Montolivo swoop.

Milan is instead forced to turn their attention towards Liverpool outcast Alberto Aquilani, who would relish a return to Serie A after his loan spell at Juventus.

Tottenham Looking To Replace Modric With Ganso

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has already lined Brazilian sensation Ganso as the player he wants to replace Luka Modic if, as expected, he completes his move to Chelsea before the end of the transfer window, reports out of France are suggesting.

L'Equipe are reporting that Spurs are eyeing a move for Brazil international Ganso, who is keen to test himself on the bigger stage of European football.

With Harry Redknapp now coming around to the idea of selling midfield playmaker Modric, signing a replacement is on his mind, and top of the list is the Santos player.

Ganso and his current team mate Neymar have both been linked with moves to Europe this summer, but the club are determined to hold on to their star assets until at least January, as they are due to play in the Club World Championship later this year.

Santos have reportedly rejected offers from Real Madrid and Chelsea for Neymar, while big spending PSG have had an offer for Ganso rebuffed by the Brazilian club.

However with a potential transfer kitty of £30million, it may be hard for Santos to reject Spurs' overtures, should they make their interest formal.

Ramirez Closer To Juventus

Gaston Ramirez is determined to leave Bologna and Juventus could be his destination. “He won’t join Napoli or Fiorentina,” said his agent.

The young Uruguayan talent has refused a contract renewal and warned he is “held prisoner” at Bologna.

He has been linked to numerous sides, but none of them have been able to satisfy Bologna’s demands.

“I don’t think he will join Napoli, nor Fiorentina, seeing as Felipe turned down the move to Bologna,” agent Vincenzo D’Ippolito told Radio Marte.

This morning several newspapers in Italy have pinpointed Ramirez as a prime target for Juventus.

The Bianconeri are still looking for three more signings before the end of the transfer market on August 31.

They include Chelsea centre-back Alex at a cost of €8m and left-winger Diego Perotti.

Ramirez faces competition from Cesena revelation Emanuele Giaccherini for the final role.

Man United Consider Shock £25m Move For Star Samir Nasri

Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be considering a late bid for Arsenal’s want-away attacker Samir Nasri. The Man United boss has been made aware of the Frenchman’s desire to make the move to Old Trafford and now the Premier League champions are toying with the idea of making an offer to beat local rivals Man City to his signature.

24 year old Nasri has one year left on his current Arsenal contract and has made it clear he has no intention of signing a new deal, hoping to force Arsene Wenger’s hand, and with a move to the Etihad Stadium said to be on the cards Ferguson may opt to tempt the former Marseille man into moving to Man United.

Ferguson has been strongly linked with moves to bring in an attack minded midfielder who can able link midfield and attack and help fill the void left by Paul Scholes, who hung up his boots at the end of last season. To this end Man United are said to have shown a very real interest in the likes of Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder, Tottenham star Luka Modric and Borussia Dortmund youngster Mario Goetze and now the club may turn their attention to Samir Nasri.

The Arsenal man had his most effective season of his Gunners career last term, netting 15 goals and assisting many others and was arguably one of the few bright lights of what was otherwise a dire season. Wenger has already lost Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Gael Clichy to Man City and had hoped to keep Nasri at the club regardless of the fact that doing so would lead to the French international being able to leave for nothing in 12 months time, it seems however that may now not be the wisest course of action.

Some Arsenal supporters have turned against their former hero, chanting abusively at Nasri, with the talented attacking midfielder registering his dismay at such behaviour via his twitter account. Arsene Wenger may feel that now the time is right to sell to avoid having a disruptive unhappy player in his dressing room in what could be a pivotal season for the club and indeed the Emirates Stadium boss himself.

Man United has a number of midfield options but other than wingers Nani and Ashley Young, Ferguson does not have much in the way of a goal threat and is therefore reportedly keen on Nasri and Old Trafford chief executive David Gill has confirmed that funds are still available to Sir Alex and as such a bid may well be in the offing.

Ferguson will also be all to aware of Nasri’s abilities having been on the receiving end of one of the Arsenal player’s best performances for the club when the newly arrived midfielder scored twice in a memorable win over Man United back in November 2008.

Roberto Mancini is said to be keen to complete the move to sign Samir Nasri as soon as possible and with such a move a distinct possibility Aston Villa are said to be keen on two players who seem most likely to under threat by such a signing, James Milner and Adam Johnson.

The interest shown by Man United could indeed lead to a bidding war for the Arsenal man.

Real Madrid And PSG Battling For Swiss Hotshot

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have shown interest in FC Zurich defender Ricardo Rodriguez, according to L’Equipe.

The 18-year-old full-back is already considered a first team regular at Zurich and has attracted a lot of attention with his impressive displays at the start of the season.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have been alerted of the player’s potential and they are now pondering a bid for the highly rated youngster.

Rodriguez, who is part of the Switzerland Under-19 side, has four years left on his contract and is valued at €4 million.

The left back was part of Switzerland side who won the 2009 Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

Tottenham Break Bank For La Liga Ace Transfer

Tottenham Hotspur has agreed a transfer fee of around £10m with Real Madrid for defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra, according to Goal.com.

The French midfielder is seemingly surplus to requirements at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, and Jose Mourinho is looking to get him off the wage bill.

According to Goal, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has offered Diarra the astronomical sum of £100,000 per week, which would surely make him the best paid player at White Hart Lane.

However, that sum reportedly includes bonuses, so how much Diarra's basic rate would be remains unclear.

Diarra signing for Tottenham would continue the club's connection with Real Madrid in recent times, with Rafael van der Vaart having signed last year and recent Los Meringues loan striker Emmanuel Adebayor thought to be on the way.

Should Diarra arrive, it will also most likely signal the end of Wilson Palacios' tenure with Spurs, with Stoke City the team most strongly linked to his signing.

Milan Line Up €7m Aquilani Swoop

Milan is on the verge of completing their €7m swoop for Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

Riccardo Montolivo had been the primary target for the summer, but on Friday Fiorentina director Pantaleo Corvino scoffed at their proposal and declared he would “only be sold abroad.”

With this in mind and time running out, the Rossoneri have transferred their efforts to signing Aquilani instead.

The midfielder is an Italian international who has made it abundantly clear he’d like a return to Serie A after Juventus refused to take up their option on his loan spell.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Liverpool is prepared to part with Aquilani for only €7m.

It is a huge drop from the €20m the Reds paid for this player to take him from Roma in August 2009.