SAMI KHEDIRA

Italy have been boosted by the news that midfielder Andrea Pirlo will continue to play for the national team amid speculation that he was set to retire in order to focus on his club career. The 35-year-old has been the most important player for Italy in the last decade, as he has often been the creator of many things good in a team that has lacked quality up front since the retirement of Alessandro del Piero. Even though Italy were knocked out of the group stages in the World Cup 2014, Pirlo was one of the better players.

After recently bringing in Juventus manager Antonio Conte to replace Cesare Prandelli, Italy appear to have convinced Pirlo to stay on playing at the national team level. Conte has worked closely with Pirlo in the last three years, as the brilliance of the former AC Milan man has largely been responsible for Juventus winning three successive league titles. Pirlo is already one of the legends at the international fold after having made 112 appearances for the national team. He sits fourth in the list of all-time most appearance makers for the four-time World Cup winners. It remains to be seen if new Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri will be happy with this decision.

“I have been talking with (new Italy coach Antonio) Conte who asked me if I was ready to play again for the Azzurri and I told him that I was. It was a difficult decision to take. I had wanted to stop playing for the national side but he (Conte) took over and he asked me to lend a hand. I am happy to do that and we are hopeful we can achieve great things together,” said Pirlo, whose job now will be to get Italy to the Euro 2016. Conte began his regime with a 2-0 win over Netherlands in a friendly.

Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez are widely believed to be the trio of midfielders that Carlo Ancelotti will use in the next season of the Spanish League. Ancelotti is expected to utilize the 4-3-3 formation with Modric, Kroos and Rodriguez being the midfielders for the team while the attacking department will be filled by: C.Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale.

This leaves no place for Sami Khedira in the squad of Carlo Ancelotti. The German midfielder has been losing his starting place in Real Madrid since last season when he only managed to make 13 league appearances and things will only be tougher for him taking into consideration that all of the major signings that Real Madrid has completed are mainly midfielders.

Khedira was left out of the UEFA Super Cup match against Sevilla which was played a few days ago and the German midfielder is well aware that his time at the Santiago Bernabeu is reaching its end, unless of course he would be satisfied with having a spot in the sidelines of the team and only playing a role as a back-up option. He still has a contract with Real Madrid which expires in the next season but it will be up to him if he wants to remain in the Spanish club playing a role as a substitute player.

Arsenal and Chelsea are both interested in signing Sami Khedira but it seems highly doubtful if any of the English clubs would be willing to accept his fairly high salary of €3 million each season.

After everything is said and done, a transfer of Khedira away from Real Madrid will ultimately depend on the player himself if he wants to stay on the sidelines of the club and still earn his salary without playing for the majority of the matches or if the German wants to play in a club where his chances of performing in the main squad are guaranteed.

An injury has left out Sami Khedira for the vast majority of the season as the defensive midfielder is recovering from the knee injury he sustained during Germany’s friendly match against Italy in November.

Khedira revealed that his objective is to get fit before the 2014 World Cup and hopefully get another chance to play for Germany but if he does not recover in time, it will not be the end of the world.

‘’My goal is to play at the World Cup, but I am still relaxed about it. If I don’t make it, it won’t be the end of the world for me.”

“I will work obsessively until the last second, but I also know that there’s no point lying to yourself, which is something I have learned in rehab. You shouldn’t want to run when you know that you’re not ready yet’’. Khedira said

Joachim Low is the head coach of Germany and he is the man who will be choosing which players to take into Brazil but the tactician has already stated that he will only consider those who are not only fit but have been performing exceedingly well with their respective clubs.

Even though Khedira has been out of action for the majority of the season, Real Madrid is going to be renewing the contract of the German midfielder as soon as he recovers from his injury.

Khedira has a contract with Real Madrid which runs up until 2015 but the Spanish club is expecting to extend his stay until 2018. The contract extension is going to be a way for them to retain Khedira and keep away clubs who are interested in signing him such as Fiorentina and Inter Milan.

After suffering a major injury during the first half of the season, Sami Khedira has revealed that he is making good progress in the last few weeks. The Real Madrid midfielder has been a major doubt for the World Cup 2014. He was playing for the German national team when he suffered the injury in November. He continues to be an important part of the club and national teams. Hence, there was a lot of expectation that he would be back for the final few weeks of the campaign. This would be a major boost for Carlo Ancelotti, whose team are fighting to win the league and the Champions League.

Khedira, though, seems to have not fixed any comeback date since it would only worsen the rehabilitation process. Khedira has already made 44 appearances for the German national team despite being only 26 years of age. After initially struggling to cope with his absence, Real Madrid have been struggling to get consistent results in recent months. They have gone top of the table with a four-point advantage over archrivals Barcelona. Ancelotti has suggested that there is a chance that Khedira may come into the team with only a couple of matches remaining in the season. However, the player seems to be insistent on getting back only when he is fully fit.

“I’m doing my best not to get ahead of myself. I am trying to look as little as possible into the future. Right now I’m focused on working hard and conscientiously every day. That’s my main concern, not announcing when I’ll be fit again. I believe that it is the right way to fully concentrate on the rehab. Everything else comes after that,” said the midfielder in a recent interview. Khedira was signed from Stuttgart after the midfielder impressed at the 2010 World Cup.

Even though the transfer window has been closed down for a few weeks now and it will remain shut for a longer time it does not stop clubs from being rumored or linked with new arrivals and Jose Mourinho has sparkled one of his own rumors.

The former coach of Real Madrid is reported to be interested in wanting to work together once more with Sami Khedira. The German midfielder is not a consistent performer for Carlo Ancelotti and a move away from the Spanish club might just be the best decision he makes for his career.

Chelsea has already seen Michael Essien leaving the club as he made his way to Ac.Milan and they might just need a new player that can be a consistent performer for Jose Mourinho in the Premier League.

Khedira was a target of Mourinho last summer but the defensive midfielder suffered a long-term knee injury which ultimately prevented the transaction from being done. Chelsea has a very attacking minded team with players such as: Lampard, Oscar, Ramires, Hazard and Willian leading the charge for Jose Mourinho’s team but the same cannot be said for their defensive side of the team. Khedira is known and liked by Mourinho as they have already worked together some time ago and the German player even considered himself to be ‘’a disciple of Mourinho’’.

Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti could allow Khedira to leave the Spanish club considering the fact that Xabi Alonso recently agreed an extension and the youngster Asier Illaramendi is showing promising displays of being a future star for the club while Luka Modric can also be used a more defensive midfielder allowing Isco, C.Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria to work their magic on the attacking side of the club.

Germany boss Joachim Loew was dealt with a major blow after it was announced that midfielder Sami Khedira could quite possibly missed the World Cup after suffering a serious knee injury. The Real Madrid midfielder suffered this injury back in November and it was estimated that he would miss the next nine months of action. This made him extremely unlikely to be fit for the World Cup, but the German national team has received a major boost in the form of Khedira making good progress in his rehab.

Germany will go to the World Cup 2014 as one of the favourites to win the tournament itself after having done extremely well in recent major tournaments. However, there is a lot of pressure on Low having failed to win the recent tournaments despite going extremely close. He needs the best possible players at World Cup 2014 in order to tackle the climatic conditions and the opposition. Khedira has emerged as one of the finest midfielders of his generation. He came to the fore in the last World Cup in South Africa.

Mesut Ozil was another good find for the German national team, but Khedira contributes in all areas of the pitch and not just in the offensive side of things.

“If all goes well, Sami’s calendar will be full (this summer). I spoke to Sami on the phone three days ago. He feels good. He’s training gently on the treadmill. He’s not suffered any setbacks,” said Low on the possibility of having Khedira for the World Cup 2014.

In his absence, Real Madrid have been able to maximise the quality of Luka Modric, who has firmly established himself in the first-team. The former Tottenham man struggled for first-team opportunities last season, but he is looking at ease in the centre of midfield for Madrid.

The 26 years old defensive midfielder of Real Madrid and Germany Sami Khedira has been confirmed to be unable to play for either his club or the national team for an estimated time of 6 months.

He picked up the injury during the 1-1 draw against Italy on a friendly match they played at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on November 15^th. This leaves his participation with Germany in the 2014 World Cup in doubts although the doctor of the national team Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wolhlfahrt is confident that Khedira will recover in time.

It was confirmed that Khedira will require a surgery in order to start his recovering process from his right knee.

“This is a bitter blow for Sami and all of us,”

“He is a great player on and off the pitch, he is always thinking positively and this will help and I am optimistic that he will be back in time for the kick-off of the World Cup.We wish him all the best and keep our fingers crossed that the surgery goes well and he can quickly get into rehab.” The coach of Germany Joachin Low said after the conclusion of the match.

The Germans travelled to London earlier this month as they played against England in their last friendly match of this year and despite the absence of Khedira, they still managed to finish the match with a clean sheet and Mertesacker scoring the only goal of the encounter.

His performances have attracted the attention of a number of Premier League clubs as they were about to launch transfer offers for the German midfielder but this injury will probably be seeing him stay in Real Madrid as no club would offload money for a player that is going to be unable to play during half a year.

Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira had been touted as a possible transfer away from Spanish club in the summer. Even the player said that a bid from Manchester United was rejected on the final day of the transfer window. Madrid decided to keep him and sell playmaker Mesut Ozil instead. This was done in order to create space for attacking winger Gareth Bale, who came as a world record addition to the team. Khedira has now praised his former teammate Ozil by saying that he will definitely make Arsenal a much better team.

Arsenal have failed to win any major trophy in the last eight years, while the last Premier league title for the club came in 2004. Ozil has been the best assist creator in the last five years amongst all European leagues. One of the main reasons for Cristiano Ronaldo to have such an incredible run of form in front of goal is partly because of Ozil, who is often unselfish and provides an assist even when he has the chance of scoring a goal. Khedira has said that he is a special player and would definitely make Arsenal the best team in England.

Since coming to the Premier league, he has made an instant impact and has already created four goals. Arsenal are top of the table right now.

“Arsenal had a strong team anyway, but Mesut makes them the best team in England. I am sure he can be the player that makes things happen for them and win them the championship. Mesut is a genius on the field, there is no other way to describe him. Of course, there was some disappointment among the players at Madrid because he is the best in his position in the world,” said Madrid’s defensive midfielder Khedira about Ozil.

Real Madrid recently lost in the derby against Atletico Madrid for the first time in 23 matches after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernebeu. Inform striker Diego Costa scored the only goal of the match, as the pressure on Carlo Ancelotti increased.

This defeat means that Madrid have fallen an incredible 5 points – even at this early stage of the season – behind Barcelona. As result of this victory, archrivals Atletico Madrid have now begun the season with seven consecutive victories. After this defeat, manager Ancelotti has come in for a lot of criticism, but star striker Cristiano Ronaldo chose to blame the players. (more…)

Real Madrid midfield general Sami Khedira has played down talks of a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu and follow his former manager Jose Mourinho to Chelsea and stated that he is looking forward to working under the new manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The Germany international joined the Spanish giants at the beginning of the 2010 season after his stellar showing for the national team at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and had been one of the first signings by the then new manager Mourinho when he took over the club after winning the UEFA Champions League with Inter Milan.

When Mourinho resigned at the end of next season to return to England with Chelsea, Khedira was rumored to follow his former manager and move to the Stamford Bridge outfit. But speaking to a German sports publication, Sami Khedira has stated that he has enjoyed working under Mourinho a lot and he rates him highly.

He went on to add that three years back, the Portuguese manager handed him the chance to come from the Bundesliga into the Spanish League with one of the biggest clubs in the world and he is thankful for that but he is now contracted to Real Madrid and is looking forward to working with new manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Khedira, who is half Tunisian, still has two years to run on his current contract and he also imagines himself signing on an extension. He added that it is an issue but mentioned that his agent takes care of these things and there is nothing concrete to announce at the moment.

Speaking of Ancelotti, Sami Khedira mentioned that he has heard a lot of him, especially from Kaka who worked under him at Milan and is excited at the prospect of a new season under him.