Premier League clubs target action on 'out of control' player agents

Premier League clubs are to establish new regulations to curb agents targeting players as young as eight which they fear is making it harder to develop new talent and uncover another Wayne Rooney or Gareth Bale.

Football Association rules state that a player has to be aged 16 to sign with an agent but Southampton director of football and former FA director of football Les Reed told ESPN FC many are getting around them by forming relationships with their parents through financial and other inducements.

"The situation is getting out of control and we have to act," he said. "Agents are linking up with parents who then place huge pressure on their children; and we are talking about very young players who are just starting out at a club. For many parents having an agent has become like a fashion accessory."

Reed revealed that the agents-parents nexus was making the job of clubs to develop young players increasingly difficult.

He said: "Parents are becoming much harder to deal with. They argue with coaches when their sons are not being picked, challenge how the team is being run and even question tactics. And it's all because they are being egged on by agents who are turning their heads with money and how much their son could earn if he makes it to the first team."

Reed is also a former England under-15 coach who has worked with some of the brightest prospects in the game who went on to establish themselves at the top level, including Sol Campbell, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Southampton also have one of the most respected academies in British football having produced Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale in recent years.

He said: "We need to keep producing the likes of Bale and Rooney, to name just two but these predatory agents are having a negative impact on the national game."

Reed said that from discussions he has held so far, all 20 Premier League clubs support outlawing agents forming relationships with parents and also want to introduce other tougher regulations. These would then have to be adopted by the FA, the English game's governing body.

He claimed the problem has become particularly severe following changes introduced by FIFA last year which abolished the licensing of agents and replaced it with the concept of intermediaries and a less regulated system.

"Since these changes there are a lot more agents out there who are fighting over younger and younger players," he said. "It's absolute madness and it's become a free-for-all and we have to act to protect our young players."

Gareth Bale’s future father-in-law jailed for multi-million pound shares scam

Martin Rhys-Jones, the father of Bale's fiancée Emma, has been sentenced to six years in prison by a court in the United States.

Gareth Bale's future father-in-law has been jailed for six years in the United States over a multi-million pound shares scam.

Martin Rhys-Jones, the father of Bale's fiancée Emma Rhys-Jones, admitted money laundering in a $2.9m fraud earlier this year.

Rhys-Jones, 52, and his associates conned investors into buying almost worthless shares at hugely inflated prices.

Salesmen working for him in Barcelona used high pressure tactics to sell shares that were restricted and worth almost nothing, the Mirror reported.

About 250 people were scammed, the court in Buffalo, New York, was told.

'Fraud plain and simple'

The sums involved ranged from about $2,000 to more than $360,000 in one instance.

Rhys-Jones, of Cardiff, was prosecuted in the US as some of the cash went through an account in New York state before being moved overseas.

US District Judge Elizabeth Wolford said he engaged in “fraud plain and simple” in the three-year scam with 250 victims in the UK, US and Canada.

He admitted money laundering. Judge Wolford said he was “motivated by greed and self interest and didn’t take into account the people you were harming.”

Rhys-Jones was in a Spanish prison from May 2012 to March 2013 before being extradited to a US jail. He has already spent four years, three months behind bars.

Eleven others charged

Rhys-Jones is a father-of-five who is reported to have left Cardiff for Barcelona in 2005.

His daughter Emma has been Gareth Bale's partner since she and the football star were at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff together.

According to the Mirror, friends said their wedding was postponed in the hope Emma's dad could attend.

Eleven others were charged including British model Jamie-Lee Church.

GARETH BALE SPOTTED PLAYING GOLF AT ROYAL ABERDEEN

Welsh football star Gareth Bale enjoyed his summer break with a couple of rounds of golf in the North-east yesterday.

The Real Madrid player was spotted first at Trump International before heading to Royal Aberdeen.

It was reported the footballer was in the region with school friends as part of an annual golf trip they take.

Gareth Bale playing golf at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen. Picture by Kenny Elrick

After playing at two of the North-east’s biggest courses the group headed south to St Andrews to play the Old Course today.

Barcelona thrash Espanyol, Real Madrid win, Atletico crash out of title race

Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title by thrashing local rivals Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday as Atletico Madrid dropped out of the race after losing 2-1 at Levante and Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-2.

Barca top the standings on 88 points, Real moved into second on 87 and Atletico have 85 with one game remaining.

Barca went ahead in the eighth minute when Lionel Messi curled a 22-yard free kick into the top corner with a magnificent finish.

Luis Suarez stretched the hosts' lead with two goals in the second half before Rafinha and Neymar completed the rout.

Atletico took the lead at Levante in the first minute through Fernando Torres, but the relegated home side fought back, equalising through Victor Casadesus before Giuseppe Rossi grabbed the winner in stoppage time.

Real were without goalkeeper Keylor Navas, defender Dani Carvajal, midfielder Luka Modric and winger Gareth Bale through injury, but went ahead thanks to a thunderous low finish from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 26th minute.

Karim Benzema scored the second before the break but Rodrigo Moreno, who was later sent off, pulled one back for Valencia after halftime.

Ronaldo added his second a few minutes later before Andre Gomes scored a sumptuous consolation goal for Valencia.

Transfer gossip: Chelsea keen to swap Eden Hazard for Gareth Bale

Unsettled Real Madrid star Gareth Bale's and the German Bundesliga's deadliest marksman feature in today's transfer round-up.

BALE COULD BE A TARGET FOR CHELSEA

Real Madrid’s eagerness to bring Chelsea’s Eden Hazard to the Bernabeu may see them consider a lavish swap deal involving their club record signing Gareth Bale, according to fresh reports.

Rumours in Spain over the last few months have suggested that Hazard is one of Real Madrid’s top transfer targets, with the club’s new manager Zinedine Zidane known to be a firm admirer of the Belgian playmaker.

Despite his alarming slump in form in the back end of 2015, Real Madrid still see Hazard as a player they want to add to their ranks of superstars and the question remains whether they would allow Bale to leave if he is being replaced by the current PFA Footballer of the Year.

Manchester United tried and failed with extravagantly expensive bids to sign Bale from Real Madrid last summer, but a move that could see both clubs acquiring top quality players may be more palatable to the hierarchy at the Spanish club.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have played down reports that Bale is unhappy at the club following the sacking of coach Rafa Benitez on Monday, with Zindane insisting the Welshman is a central cog in the club’s future.

DORTMUND STAR COULD BE A BIG JANUARY MOVER

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could emerge as the biggest signing by a Premier League club in this transfer window, amid fresh reports in Germany the Bundesliga’s leading scorer could be destined for the Premier League.

Arsenal and Liverpool are believed to be at the front of the queue to sign Aubameyang, with the 26-year-old Frenchman missing training with his club on Tuesday due to “a personal appointment”, according to a club statement.

Bids in excess of £40m would be required before Dortmund would consider selling their star man this month, but that figure may not deter big spending Premier League clubs who have the guarantee of a windfall of fresh money from the lucrative new TV contract that will kick in next summer.

“We all hope he will stay,” said his Dortmund team-mate Matthias Ginter when asked about Aubameyang. “He’s very important, on the pitch and off, for what he contributes to the group atmosphere.”

Aubameyang has fired 18 Bundesliga goals this season, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp well aware of his abilities as he worked with the Frenchman in his final two years with Dortmund.

ARSENAL CLOSE ON THEIR FIRST JANUARY SIGNING

FC Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny is edging closer to a deal to become Arsenal’s first signing of the January transfer window, after his club confirmed they expected him to leave “in the coming days.”

Basel returned to training on Tuesday after the Christmas break and Elneny was not a part of the group working under coach Urs Fischer.

A statement on Basel’s website read: “Absent (from training) was Mohamed Elneny, for who there could be a transfer in the coming days.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted that he will be busy in this transfer window, with Elneny set to be the first of several signings designed to bolster their squad in a season when they are emerging as favourites to lift the Premier League title.

FALCAO OFF TO AMERICA?

Chelsea are eager for Radamel Falcao to find a new club this summer after his disastrous and expensive loan move from Monaco, with a report in the Daily Mirror suggesting MLS side Columbus Crew are eyeing up a bid for the Colombian.

A move to MLS at the age of 29 would confirm that Falcao’s days as a top level performer are over, but his stock has never been lower after a woeful spell at Manchester United last season has been backed up by an equally poor stint at Chelsea in the last few months.

Chelsea will be forced to continue to pay Falcao’s wages for the rest of this season unless he finalizes a move in this transfer window, with his parent club Monaco under no obligation to take him back under the teams of his year-long deal they agreed with the Premier League champions.

Zinedine Zidane: Gareth Bale appears less enthusiastic than his Real Madrid team-mates upon greeting new boss

Real Madrid have released footage of the moment new manager Zinedine Zidane greeted his players for the first time since his appointment - and some seem more enthusiastic than others.

The Frenchman replaced Rafael Benítez this week in a move which has reportedly unsettled Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive player, who has been linked relentlessly with a move to Manchester United.

Zidane is captured strolling across the bench in the Madrid dressing room, notably passing an empty spot where Bale was supposed to be sat, before eventually finding the former Tottenham forward.

Unlike his team-mates, Bale doesn’t stand up immediately and instead shakes his new manager’s hand sat down before climbing to his feet and exchanging a joke with the Madrid boss.

Speaking on Tuesday, Zidane admitted: “I understand that Gareth could be annoyed by Rafa’s departure because he was a very important coach in his career.

“But he is going to receive the same affection from me. He is fundamental for the team and what he has been doing of late for us on the pitch is phenomenal. He will have all my support so that he continues to play well for us.”