Gunners lead Barton interest

Arsenal, Tottenham and Stoke City have reportedly made enquiries about Newcastle's Joey Barton.

Barton has been made available for free transfer by The Magpies after the board's patience finally snapped following his fresh criticism.

Despite the 28-year-old's past, a number of big-clubs are keen on the midfielder, with Arsenal, Spurs and Stoke all interested.

Meanwhile, Bolton manager Owen Coyle was asked on whether he would like to bring Barton to the Reebok and while he confirmed the midfielder is a talent, he stopped short on confirming his intent.

"He's a very talented player. We know that," Coyle told Sky Sports News.

"There's no doubt Joey will have very attractive offers because he's a talented player.

"We'll continue to bring the right players to football club. Hopefully I can have one or two new faces, ideally before the QPR game, but certainly before the end of the transfer window.

"Every manager is in the same boat. We're trying to improve our squads and trying to do the best business we can for our clubs."

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Manuel Neuer named German player of the year

Bayern Munich shot stopper Manuel Neuer has expressed his shock after being named German footballer of the year.

The 25-year-old Germany joined Bayern from Schalke earlier this summer, came top of the annual poll run by sports magazine Kicker and became the first goalkeeper since Oliver Kahn 10 years ago to win the award.

He beat new team-mate Mario Gomez into second place, with Nuri Sahin – recognized with third place for his displays in Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga-winning campaign before switching to Real Madrid.

"This is a huge honour," Neuer told Kicker.

"When I was first told, I thought someone was pulling my leg. I'm totally shocked, especially because it's not every day a goalkeeper wins the award."

Neuer helped the Royal Blues win the DFB-Pokal last term and reach the Champions League semi-finals, will be presented with the award at the Allianz Arena ahead of Bayern's opening Bundesliga fixture of the season against Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday.

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Hoffenheim sign young Belgian goalkeeper

Hoffenheim have confirmed the signing of Belgium Under-19 goalkeeper Koen Casteels for an undisclosed fee from Belgian club Genk.

The 19-year-old has signed a four-year contract, the Bundesliga outfit announced on their website.

"We are pleased that we could secure the services of Koen Casteels, a highly talented young goalkeeper," general manager Ernst Tanner told www.achtzehn99.de.

"He is recognised as one of the top talents in Europe."

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PSG all set to sign Javier Pastore

Paris Saint Germain director Leonardo has revealed that the club hopes to conclude the record signing of Javier Pastore in the coming days.

PSG have beaten Chelsea to the signature of the Palermo playmaker, who is due to complete a €40million-plus move to the French capital.

Palermo have already confirmed a deal is in place, and now PSG sporting director Leonardo has confirmed the move is imminent.

"Pastore is not officially our player yet", Leonardo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"And until the end of the negotiations you can never consider discount anything.

"But the good relationship with Palermo allow us to think positively.

"I count on being able to present Pastore in the first days of the week."

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