CITY CHASE DUTCH STAR

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The Premier league champions Manchester City are thought to be considering making a bid for the AZ Alkmaar midfielder Adam Maher. The 19-year-old has been one of the bright aspects of the team in an otherwise poor season for the club. The club are currently 14th in the table just a few places above the relegation zone. However, Maher has been able to impress the scouts with his ability to create chances and score goals. He has made 23 appearances this season, and he has five goals to his name. As a result, he finds himself just behind the US international Altidore in terms of the number of goals scored by an AZ Alkmaar player this season.

Maher also has four assists to his name this season. Manchester City believe that he has the qualities to become one of the best midfielders in the world. He is expected to be signed as a replacement for Samir Nasri, who has received a lot of criticism from the manager Roberto Mancini for his attitude and below par performances this season. Chelsea, PSV, Arsenal, and Ajax are also thought to be interested in his services, but City are willing to offer around £ 8 million for the player. This could effectively seal the deal the summer.

Adam Maher has been in the AZ Alkmaar first team for the last three seasons. However, he has been a first-team regular only in the last two seasons. He has really managed to come of age this season, as he has already reached his goal tally of last season. The Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini criticised the club for not building on the success they achieved last season. City did not spend a lot of money in the summer. According to Mancini, this has been the reason for their inability to keep up with United.

BABEL HAPPY WITH DRAW

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The former Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel has said that he is extremely happy with the performance of his team in the recent 2-2 draw with Manchester city. Ajax were taking on Manchester city in the Champions League looking to achieve a repeat of the 3-1 scoreline a fortnight ago. This would take Ajax closer to the prospect of playing in the last 16 stage, despite having been in a group containing the champions from England, Spain, and Germany. Things looked extremely promising for the Dutch team in the early part of the match after they managed a 2-0 lead at halftime.

However, a spectacular comeback from Manchester city saw them only draw the match 2-2. This means that Ajax are likely to settle for the Europa league spot due to the four points that they have secured up until now. The Dutch winger Ryan Babel, who recently completed his move to Ajax, said that he could not be more pleased with the performance and result. Even though Ajax lost a two-goal lead in the match, he has said that getting a point away from home is always a bonus in Europe. Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid were also involved in a draw in the other group match.

“It was a statement to the other teams. We have to take it step by step but I think we made a little statement. We have to analyse what the game plan will be for the next two games but I think these two games will give us confidence. I think it was a tough match. It was a different game from the game against City at home. They pushed a lot from the start. Fortunately we scored the two early goals but we still had to keep the focus,” said the Ajax midfielder.

BABEL SIGNS FOR AJAX

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The former TSG Hoffenheim striker, Ryan Babel, has signed for the Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam. The manager of Ajax, Frank De Boer, has confirmed the signing of Babel. A few days back, there were reports that Babel was very close to signing for Fiorentina. But, those reports didn’t turn out to be true. Babel has joined Ajax on a contract of 1 year. Babel’s contract with Hoffenheim was going to finish in 2013, but, both the parties agreed for the termination of contract and Hoffenheim released Babel. According to Babel’s agent, Winny Haatrecht, Babel had got the offers of many big clubs, but, he wanted to play for a Dutch club. So, he rejected all the offers and joined Ajax.

Babel is not joining Ajax for the first time. He has played for Ajax before. He had joined Ajax in 2004 when he was just 18 years of age. He had played for Ajax till the 2006-07 season, but, during his three year tenure at Ajax, Babel spent a lot of time on the bench. He wasn’t given regular first team chances. In July 2007, he was sold to Liverpool at a transfer fee which was rumoured to be somewhere around 11.5 million pounds. He got renowned as a quality striker while playing for Liverpool. He gave a number of phenomenal performances for Liverpool. In January 2011, he joined TSG Hoffenheim. But, his tenure at Hoffenheim didn’t turn out to be that successful. He managed to score only 6 goals in 51 matches that he played for Hoffenheim.

After signing for Ajax, Babel said that it’s wonderful to be back in Ajax again. It is the club where he had started his career and now, he is back after having a bit of experience of playing overseas. As per Babel, he expects to get regular first team chances in Ajax this time around.