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Louis van Gaal has taken charge after his World Cup exploits and is apparently ready to move players in and out to shape the squad Richard Heathcote Rising star: Barkley is being tracked by a number of Premier League heavyweights Here's our round-up of all the latest United-related transfer stories from the morning's papers and across the web... Friday's United stories from other newspapers and websites Ross the Red Devil? New boss Louis van Gaal may have only just got his feet under the Old Trafford manager's desk  but he's already spent plenty of cash. The Dutchman has already shelled out close to £60million on Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw this summer but is in the market for more reinforcements. Indeed,  with the confirmation coming that Michael Carrick will be missing for up to 12 weeks  a midfielder may well be top of his shopping list. The Daily Star report that the deposed champions are among a host of teams chasing Everton's  Ross Bar...

Actress Lohan posed in bikinis and short dresses with her tag in 2010 - and they could soon be coming to a court near you United Press International / eyevine / Splash Ankleholics anonymous: Wild child Lindsay Lohan poses with her SCRAM tag in 2010 New laws banning people from drinking and forcing them to wear “booze bracelets” are to be introduced. Courts will have the power to issue alcohol-monitoring ankle tags, the sort worn by  Hollywood wild child Lindsay Lohan. Offenders can be given a limit that they are allowed to drink, or they can be banned from consuming booze. The tag measures the  amount of alcohol  in sweat every half-hour, with the results sent electronically to a monitoring system. The Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring scheme will be piloted in South London next month and could be rolled out across England and Wales. Judges must be satisfied that booze was a contributing factor to an offence but that the accused is not an alcoholic in need...

The former X-Factor judge is accused of setting up a drug deal with Sun on Sunday journalist Mazher Mahmood The drugs trial of N-Dubz star Tulisa took a sensational turn today as jurors were played a secret recording where the former X factor judge's manager Gareth Varey told 'Fake Sheik' Mazher Mahmood that Simon Cowell was gay. When Mr Mahmood asked Mr Varey off camera if Contostavlos’ fellow X Factor judge was gay, he replied: "Yes". Mr Mahmood then asked:"‘Have you slept with him?", Mr Varey replied: "No". Asked why he had not, Mr Varey said: "One day I will when I make my move". Mr Mahmood said: ‘Do you fancy him or not?’ Mr Varey answered: "No". Mr Mahmood then asked: "How do you know he’s gay?" Mr Varey responded: "I know people who have".

Brendan Rodgers wants a massive signing as the club look to spend big on their squad, including moves for Loic Remy, Dejan Lovren and Ben Davies Getty Top shop: Liverpool can afford an elite midfielder and are eyeing Vidal, Reus and Pogba Liverpool will smash through the £100million spending barrier in a single summer this year for the first time in the club's history. Manager Brendan Rodgers has already spent £60m and still has QPR striker Loic Remy, Southampton defender Dejan Lovren and Ben Davies, the exciting young Swansea full-back, in his sights. Rodgers will use the cash received from Barcelona for Luis Suarez to finance  the Reds'  next batch of moves, and said: “We are working hard behind the scenes to find players, but it will not be a direct replacement [for Suarez]. "We are looking for several players who can add to what we have and improve us again.” Tottenham were destabilised last summer  when they brought in seven players using the £85m Real ...

The transfer window doesn't wait for anybody, so stay here for all the done deals, latest rumours and plenty more as club's continue with their summer business Arsenal transfer rumours:  Khedira move off with Schneiderlin eyed instead? Liverpool transfer rumours:  Bony chase intensifies as Reds get ready to up offer? Manchester United transfer rumours: Van Gaal among those eyeing Barkley move?

Nigeria’s Senior Producer for MTV Base Africa, Susan Younis, got engaged to her man Gideon Khobane, who is the marketing manager of MNet Africa, this week. Congrats to them….

Former Green Eagles midfielder Henry Nwosu has hailed the country’s rise to the 34th in the latest Fifa rankings released on Thursday and has charged the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) not to relent until the team move closer to the top 10 in the world.The great leap occurred as a result of the Super Eagles round of 16 finish at the just concluded Fifa World Cup in Brazil which took them to the third position in Africa behind Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire.Nwosu, who is the current head coach of Gateway United opined that the country’s present position in the world indicated that the Super Eagles didn’t perform too badly in Brazil but warned that concerted effort is needed if the team is to sustain the momentum.He told Goal that the crises in the football house does not augur well for the growth of football development stating that Fifa ban would only impact negatively on the country.”I am happy that we improved better than before now on the Fifa rankings,” Nwosu told Goal.”It showed ...

The Anambra Police Command  has made a handful of arrests in remote communities in the state as it parades 34 criminal suspects who were believed to have fled the urban areas. The 34 suspects whose crimes include armed robbery, kidnapping, car snatching and cultism among others were  paraded at the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Awkuzu in Anambra state. Reacting to the development, Anambra State Governor,  Willie Obiano , commended the State Police Command in their successful onslaught, and restated his commitment to supporting every measure that would see to the end of crime and criminality in the second phase of the war against criminals in the state. The first phase of the war against criminals in the urban areas, tagged “Operation Nkpochapu”, an onslaught initiated by the administration of Governor Willie Obiano, was successful and the second phase which started in rural areas, where most of the fleeing hoodlums have gone to hide...

Oh yeah, Kendall Jenner? You really think  you’re the hot sister now ?!? Kim Kardashian sent a clear message to her rival sibling yesterday while sun tanning in Mexico, essentially asking Kendall:  Are you sure about that?!? Wearing a bikini (and no top in one picture!), Kim shared two photos via Instagram, each of which depicted #OurLovelyLadyLumps. Thats Joe Francis’ pregnant girlfriend, Abbey Wilson, alongside Kim in the first shot:

298 people died yesterday July 17th when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was blasted out of the sky at 32,000 by a surface-to-air missile, allegedly by pro-Russian rebels. Among the dead were 80 children, including t hreeAustralian children, (pictured left), Mo Maslin, 12, (left), his brother Otis, eight, (centre) and sister Evie Maslin, 10, (right) who were traveling with their grandfather Nick Morris. According to  Australian newspapers, the family had been on holiday and the childrens parents had remained in Amsterdam for a few extra days while Mr Norris took his grandchildren on MH17 to get them back to Australia in time for school. The plane was going from Kuala Lumpur to Australia. More than 100 AIDS researchers who were heading to an international conference in Australia were also on board the plane.  There were 173 passengers from the Netherlands, 27 from Australia, 44 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, 9 from the UK, 4 from Belgium, 4 from Germany, 3 ...

Premier League champions Manchester City have announced Nissan as their new official automotive sponsor.The five-year deal was announced on Thursday at Nissans global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, and is reported to be worth UK20 million (US$34.2 million).The agreement sees Nissan become the first global partner of City Football Group (CFG), a network which includes Man City, City Womens FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC and the Nissan majority-owned J-League side Yokohama F. Marinos, in whom CFG acquired a minority stake in May.The new partnership will see the Japanese car manufacturer enjoy a strong branding presence at Citys Etihad Stadium, as well as on the clubs online platforms.Nissan will be involved with a number of fan engagement opportunities, whilst its electric vehicles will be used in and around The Citizens new football academy, which is opening later this year.Additionally, the Nissan logo will feature on the back of City Womens first team shirts, as the com...

Nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards 2014 have been released and Beyonce leads the pack with eight nominations.The coveted Video of the Year prize will be contested by Beyonc and Jay Zs Drunk In Love, Iggy Azalea and Charli XCXs Fancy, Sias Chandelier, Pharrell WilliamsHappy and Wrecking Ball from Miley Cyrus. Beyonc has also been nominated for her videos for Partition and Pretty Hurts, with the latter scoring multiple technical nods.Iggy Azalea and Eminem follow closely behind with seven nominations each, while Sam Smith, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Lorde and Zedd are among the acts with multiple nominations. Meanwhile, Usher and 5 Seconds of Summer will perform at this years ceremony, which takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Sunday, August 24. They join the already-announced Ariana Grande, who will perform her new Zedd-assisted single Break Free.

Nigeria Premier League outfits Enyimba, Dolphins and Sharks have all booked a place to the next round of the Federation Cup after securing victories in their round of 16 games on Wednesday afternoon.Sharks saw off the resistance of Dynamites of Benin 2-0 at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti with the Blue Angels getting their goals through Kelly Kester and Christian Pyagbara. The will face reigning champions Enyimba in the quarter final of the competition.Defending champions Enyimba kept the dream of a back to back conquest alive by silencing Nembe City 2-1 in the game played at the Ondo State Sports Complex in Akure. A brace from Mfon Udoh got the Peoples Elephant to the next stage of the competition despite their opponents effort to pull a comeback.Dolphins and Lobi Stars will square up in another interesting quarter final clash. The Pride of Port Harcourt stopped El Kanemi Warriors progression 1-0 through Emem Eduok strike in Lafia while the Makurdi based team conquered Pla...

Zenit St Petersburg defender Domenico Criscitosays he would happily take a pay cut in order to facilitate a transfer to AC Milan.The Italy international’s agent already claimed earlier this week that the Serie A side had contacted him over a potential transfer and Criscito is desperate to return to his native country after a three-year spell in Russia.”When my name is combined with the big teams I enjoy it. My agent has spoken with Milan and is working on things with Zenit. I would take a pay-cut to join Milan,” Criscito was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.”Milan have been after me for some time and this can only make me happy, now we are having contacts with Milan, but I do not know at what point negotiations are.”Milan remains one of the largest clubs in the world, with [Filippo] Inzaghi as coach the team will have more ‘oomph’, just as he had as a player. “I would return to Italy only for a team of great coat of arms, as in Russia I’m fine and my family is well estab...

This leaked audio claims to reveal a conversation between pro-Russian militants just minutes after the crash Leaked audio clips reveal the moment Russian rebels realise they have shot down flight MH17, Ukrainian intelligence agencies claim. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plunged six miles from the sky and crashed into a field in a ball of flames, killing all 295 on board – including up to six Brits. Ukrainian rebels quickly denied they were behind the tragedy, which was also feared to have killed 80 children. But moments after the plane crashed near the ­separatist stronghold village of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, rebel commander Igor Strelkov boasted his forces had shot down a Ukrainian air force Antonov-26. He tweeted: “We just hit down An-26. We warned you… do not fly in ‘our sky’.

David Beckham and his sons Romeo and Cruz were slimed on stage at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles last night   He is well-known as Goldenballs but David Beckham's fans took the joke to the extreme last night by sliming him on stage in golden goo. The 39-year-old football legend and his sons Romeo and Cruz, who struggled to escape the slime, were left covered in the sticky paint at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles last night. The trio stood looking pretty stunned as the paint dripped from them. It's a good job the former LA Galaxy star has a good sense of humour.

Pastor Devon R Ollivierre said of the star's wedding to Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in Mustique: "The atmosphere was incredibly captivating" Getty / Splash Special occasion: Pastor Devon R Ollivierre and happy couple (inset) The sun was setting on Mustique’s Macaroni Beach. The bride wore a stunning white dress fitted with a long, silky train. The couple shared a most passionate kiss. Pastor Devon R Ollivierre said: “They seemed very in love, the atmosphere was incredibly captivating – even if I didn’t know who she was.” In fact, she was singer and  X Factor personality Cheryl Cole, 31.  And the local Baptist leader had just married her last Monday to French playboy Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, 33. Pastor Devon, speaking from his home on the neighbouring Caribbean island of Bequia, said: “I married Cheryl last week. She was wearing a white dress with a train and her husband was wearing black pants and a white shirt. “They looked incredible. It seemed i...

A Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agency Interfax reports Thursday, July 17, 2014. The plane, a Boeing 777  reportedly went down near the border between Russia and Ukraine. Updated at 17:43 Nigerian time: Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Najib Tun Razak has made a statement on the crashed plane.

It doesn’t appear there would be an end to the number of guys who  have  crush for Nollywood screen goddess, Genevieve Nnaji. Joining   the list of those who have the hots for the actress like Majid Michel, OC Ukeje, Wizkid, D’Banj is fast-rising singer, Orezi, who disclosed his affection publicly in an interview. When asked whether he could date Genevieve, Orezi gushed and mumbled that he loves the actress but understands she is far beyond his reach, as the actress is bigger in fame and in age. ,“Genevieve no be for us (Genevieve is not for us), but in the real sense, I love Genevieve, I admire her a lot,” he said.

Rupert Murdoch’s conglomerate said Wednesday it made an unsuccessful bid for rival Time Warner which could shake up the media-entertainment world. The bid by 21st Century Fox, which would merge two of the world’s biggest media-entertainment empires if allowed to proceed, was for $80 billion, a source familiar with the talks told AFP. A statement from 21st Century Fox, said it “made a formal proposal to Time Warner last month to combine the two companies.” The source said that despite the rejection, Murdoch still wants a deal. “He is determined to buy Time Warner,” the source said. The statement from 21st Century Fox, which came after a New York Times report about the offer, said the Time Warner board of directors “declined to pursue our proposal,” and added that “we are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner.” The source familiar with the talks told AFP Murdoch’s group wanted to buy Time Warner and then spin off CNN, which is the cable news rival to his Fox News...

The hot rumour in town right now is about the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima getting married after five children. The rumour has it that the actress, who is holidaying in the United States of America, with her undisclosed hubby, would be walking down the aisle in Portharcourt by December of this year.

Nollywood screen goddess, Stephanie Okereke-Linus is certainly getting her groove on and even spreading her tentacles beyond the shores of Nolywood as she is set to ply her trade in Holywood. *Stephanie Okereke Stephanie, who is clearly ecstatic about her new conquest is starring in an American Western epic movie, “Boonville Redemption”. The sexy actress made the big announcement on her Instagram page. Hear her, “Stephanielinus. Hey fab people, yours will be featuring in an American western epic movie, “Boonville Redemption” will keep you posted” she said. Lets hope she gets wonderful ratings like the 12 Years A Slave superstar, Lupita.

A pan-Igbo group, the South East Revival Group, SERG, yesterday, rose in defence of Governor Sullivan Chime and his Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, over an attack by a group which identified itself as Save Enugu Movement. Save Enugu Movement had alleged in an advertorial in a national newspaper last Friday that Nwobodo was, among other things, involved in shady deals regarding contracts in the state’s Universal Basic Education Board, UBEB, and also made a veiled reference to Chime in the deal. National Coordinator of SERG, Chief Willy Ezugwu, told reporters in Enugu that there was no group known as Save Enugu Movement, describing the advertorial as the handiwork of a few Enugu politicians opposed to the governorship seat going to Nsukka senatorial zone and the decision that those who had served for three tenures in the National Assembly should make way for others. SERG stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, and for the interest of the reading public, the matter that the so-...

Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, yesterday, said that the military was to procure more hardware  to effectively curb  insurgency in the country. Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while on a tour of Navy formations in the state, he said that the Federal Government had approved the release of funds for the acquisition. “President Goodluck Jonathan is committed to enhancing our military efficiency and capacity to deliver in the fight against insurgency. In the fight against terrorism, the President has approved huge acquisitions to build up the capacity of our military as this had not been done in the last 25 years. “These are efforts that are commendable and we should continue to encourage and support government to do more in the fight against insurgency. The fight against terrorism is not all about the President, it is not about you or me, it is about all of us Nigerians and it is a war that we can only win if we stand together.”

Reprieve may have come the way of staff of Anambra State Water Corporation and Environmental Protection Agency, as the Industrial Court sitting in Enugu has ordered First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Awka branch, to release N1.5 billion for payment of salary arrears owed them by the government of immediate past governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi. The order came as a result of garnishee proceeding brought against the state government by Messrs Enobong Etteh, counsel to Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, the umbrella union representing the water corporation and Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency, ANSEPA. The union had initiated the seven-year-old suit against the state government during Obi’s administration for starving them of funds, disowning the agencies in its entirety and above all left in the trail death toll of 232 of the helpless workers between 2006 and 2014. After the court order, the surviving workers expressed gratitude to Governor Willie Obiano for accepti...

Here are more photos from yesterday’s wedding. Continue to see more…

Two men, Jonathan Nwogu from Mgboko Umuola in Obingwa LGA of Abia state and Chibuike Anubuife from Ezeagu LGA of Enugu State were arrested by the Abia state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC while trying to bury the corpse of a 3 year old girl in an abandoned pit in Osisioma, near Aba on Wednesday July 16th, Vanguard reports. Parading the men before newsmen, the state commandant of the NSCDC, Andy Dateer, said the men were apprehended at Enyimba petrol station near Ariara International market, Aba as they tried to put the young girl’s corpse in a sack for burial. A quarrel ensued between the men and another man who was to convey them to the point of burial in his car when men of the NSCDC, who were on a routine patrol around the city, saw them. Continue…