The Bianconeri official has dismissed talk of the 21-year-old leaving Turin, insisting that he is confident of persuading the midfielder to sign a contract extension
Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta has rejected rumours of a possible deal with Paris Saint-Germain for Paul Pogba, claiming the club would reject the reported €70 million on the table for the France international.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a fine first half to the season but his poor form since January has sparked speculation that he has had his head turned by PSG's reported interest in signing him this summer.
Marotta, though, insists that there is no truth in stories that Juve have already agreed to sell the midfielder for €70 million.
"The rumours about the transfer of Pogba to PSG have no foundation," he told La Repubblica. "We want to keep Paul and prolong his contract.
"It's true that €70 million would be an attractive figure, but Juventus is a club that always aims to win trophies.
“In the past, these kind of sacrifices have been made - for example, we sold [Zinedine] Zidane to take [Gianluigi] Buffon and [Pavel] Nedved - but this is not the case.
“Anyway, today we do not have a concrete proposal, so there is nothing to talk about.”
With Juve currently eight points clear at the top of Serie A, Marotta admitted that he is hoping that Antonio Conte's men pull off a league and cup double by winning the Europa League at Juventus Stadium on May 14.
He said: “A third consecutive title would go into history and as for the cup, the final in our stadium gives us even more reason to honour this competition.”
The Uefa president has tipped his fellow Frenchman to take the reins at the Ligue 1 club, with the Real Madrid assistant tipped to imminently take his first top job
Michel Platini believes Zinedine Zidane should kick off his career as a head coach at Monaco.
Zidane is currently working as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Real Madrid and has been spoken of as a potential successor to the Italian at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Platini believes that his fellow French legend is now ready for a top job and believes that the Stade Louis II would be an ideal place for the World Cup winner to cut his teeth, given Les Rouges et Blancs are backed by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.
"If Zinedine wants to be a coach, it's good to start with Monaco," Platini told L’Equipe. “It is a good club that has means.
"He has spent a year with Carlo Ancelotti at Real. So, he's ready. If he wants to do the job, he has to take the step.
"And if he wants to take charge of the French national team one day, it's better that he starts with a club.”
Indeed, Platini claimed that Zidane does not lack ambition and feels the former Madrid attacking midfielder has what it takes to become a top coach.
"I have spoken to Zinedine and I know that he wants to commit himself,” the Uefa president continued.
“He has a name, he's intelligent. He'll be a very good coach."
The two strikers clash at the Allianz Arena on Saturday and will be team-mates next year, but is the Pole really that much better than the Croat?
DEBATE By Enis Koylu & Stefan Doring
Bayern Munich's signing of Robert Lewandowski on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund was always going to be controversial.
The Bavarians were signing yet another of BVB's stars, after acquiring Mario Gotze at the end of last season for €37 million, to further strengthen their position as the top side in Germany - despite the fact that they already have another top-class striker in the form of Mario Mandzukic anyway.
So, should Pep Guardiola drop the Croatian, who has performed brilliantly in his two years at the Allianz Arena in favour of the more glamorous forward? Goal's experts debate the issue.
"MANDZUKIC HAS DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS"
By Enis Koylu
When Bayern Munich lost the Champions League final to Chelsea in 2012, then club president Uli Hoeness was quick to scapegoat Mario Gomez, saying that they would have won if the German was “world class” rather than just “good”.
Mario Mandzukic was promptly signed to replace the former Stuttgart man and delivered Europe’s biggest title less than 12 months later, scoring the opener in the Wembley win over Dortmund. He may not be spectacular, but the Croat’s work rate, commitment and eye for goal are invaluable.
But apparently that’s not enough. Despite having an effective No.9 who has delivered time and time again, Bayern have sought to bring Robert Lewandowski to the Allianz Arena on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund.
The move has, quite understandably, left Mandzukic miffed. The former Wolfsburg man has done little wrong in his two seasons in Bavaria, having won his place from Gomez fair and square.
His contribution to the team is undeniable. With Claudio Pizarro having played a bit-part role this season, he is the only main striker in the first team and has led the line admirably and tirelessly.
And yet Pep Guardiola seems desperate to replace him, having played Gotze and Thomas Muller as strikers – a role to which they seem ill-suited and even leaving him in exile from the first team at the turn of the year.
Since then, he has responded in typical fashion, spearheading the European champions’ front line.
When he is left out, he is missed. When the Bavarians were struggling in the recent Champions League tie at Old Trafford, his introduction heralded a change in fortunes as he immediately set up Bastian Schweinsteiger’s equaliser, before he triggered a comeback in the second leg after they went a goal down.
Beyond that, Lewandowski and Mandzukic have both scored 17 Bundesliga goals - despite the Croatian starting fewer matches. The Pole is hardly more productive, despite all his talents.
Whether it is because Bayern want to weaken a direct rival by signing their star player, or because they simply feel the need to upgrade to an allegedly better striker, Mandzukic has done nothing to be dropped in favour of Lewandowski.
They are both great players, but Mandzukic has proved his worth in Bayern’s XI, not once, but countless times.
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"LEWANDOWSKI IS THE BEST & BAYERN ARE THE BEST"
By Stefan Doring
Robert Lewandowski played his last Champions League game for Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. On Saturday, he'll come up against his future employers for, if everything goes to plan in the DFB-Pokal, the penultimate time in yellow and black.
When he moves to Bayern Munich in the summer everything will come together. The best striker in the Bundesliga - maybe even the world - will be lining up for the finest team Germany - probably the planet - has to offer.
The fact is that Lewandowski is a rare talent. His touch is outstanding, his eye for goal is outstanding, his all-round play is outstanding. He is simply the most complete striker in the league and would be of huge importance to any team. Dortmund have benefited from his brilliance for years, as have Poland.
The way he handles the ball is beyond the wildest dreams of other footballers. He puts his body on the line in every challenge and comes away with the ball cleanly. The way all of the facets of his game combine is special.
It's not without reason that Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona have all chased his signature and Dortmund have been vindicated in their decision to hold onto him for another year and lose him for free at the end of the current campaign.
Quite simply, there is no player like Lewandowski in the transfer market.
So, there is no question as to who will line up for Bayern next season. Lewandowski fits better than Mandzukic in Pep Guardiola's system thanks to his brilliant team work and he is certainly not just a penalty-box striker.
He is a better dribbler, which will help the Bavarians with their game of ball retention, and drops further back to get involved in the play. With his back to goal, he is perhaps the best and often brings his team-mates into great positions.
The Colombia international has hit 16 goals for current club Hertha Berlin this season but he will "develop" with Die Schwarzgelben, according to their 46-year-old trainer
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has expressed his delight at the club's completion of a deal for Adrian Ramos, claiming that the Hertha Berlin striker is only going to get better at Signal Iduna Park.
Die Schwarzgelben was announced during the week that the Colombia international, who has hit 16 Bundesliga goals this season, will join from Hertha Berlin this summer.
Ramos has essentially been signed as a replacement for the Bayern Munich-bound Robert Lewandowski and Klopp is in no doubt that the 28-year-old will fit right in at Dortmund.
"Adrian Ramos is a very good player and he never scored more goals than in this season," the BVB boss told reporters.
"He works very hard, is very calm in front of the goal and good in ball possession.
"We are sure he can develop at Borussia Dortmund. We are very pleased the transfer was successful."
Klopp is currently preparing his side for Saturday's Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, with Dortmund hoping to upset the newly crowned champions in order to maintain their grip on second place.
Indeed, while BVB face Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals on Tuesday, the 46-year-old intends to field his strongest possible starting line-up in Bavaria.
"I have to see who will be available for Saturday against Bayern Munich and I have not decided yet," Klopp said of his injury-ravaged squad.
"Next Tuesday [against Wolfsburg] is the end of four (tough) weeks, but in Munich it is about three points.
"I don't know what they (Bayern) plan on Wednesday [in their DFB-Pokal semi-final] against Kaiserslautern; probably they won't be challenged that much.
"We will not give something away, however, we also have to see who will be available."
Despite a deserved defeat to Atletico, Dani Alves moaned about the grass at the Calderon on Wednesday - the latest in a long line of Catalan complaints about the playing surface
COMMENT By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times. Blame it on the pitch.
Every time Barcelona lose (and sometimes, even when they don't), the Catalans complain about the playing surface and Wednesday's deserved defeat at Atletico Madrid was no exception as Dani Alves moaned about the state of the Vicente Calderon grass in the mixed zone after the game.
"It wasn't a matter of desire; they play with their weapons and leave the field very, very dry," the Brazilian said, even though Atletico scored the only goal of the game, hit the woodwork on three occasions, saw an excellent penalty appeal turned down and were superior in terms of chances if not overall possession.
But Barca's pitch protests are nothing new and here, Goal takes a look at some of the Catalans' more memorable laments in recent seasons.
2014
April 9 Atletico (a) Lost 1-0
Even though Xavi claimed Barcelona deserved "at least a draw", most observers and even fans of the Catalan club admitted Barca were second best on Wednesday. But Alves complained: "It wasn't a matter of desire; Atletico play with their weapons and leave the field very, very dry." Unnecessary.
March 8 Valladolid (a) Lost 1-0
Barcelona were unrecognisable in a dreadful display which at the time looked to have put paid to their hopes of winning La Liga. "The pitch was bumpy and that didn't allow us to play our game," Xavi said afterwards. Nor did their paltry performance.
2013
December 2 Athletic (a) Lost 1-0
Just days after losing at Ajax, the first defeat under Gerardo Martino, Barca went down by a single goal at San Mames. Neymar had problems with the pitch and had to change his boots. "It wasn't just him," said sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta. "The pitch affected a lot of our players."
January 19 R. Sociedad (a) Lost 3-2
Barcelona lost just twice in La Liga last season and the first of those defeats came at Real Sociedad, when Tito Vilanova's team went down 3-2. "It's hard to play at Anoeta, Xavi said afterwards. "The pitch is really big and the surface is usually too soft."
2012
August 29 Real Madrid (a) Lost 2-1
Barca beat Real Madrid 3-2 at home in the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa, but lost the return 2-1 and saw the silverware won by their fierce foes. "The pitch was dry," coach Tito Vilanova said later. "The ball didn't move properly and that harmed us."
April 7 Zaragoza (a) Won 4-1
Pep Guardiola's side cruised to victory at La Romareda, but the Catalan coach was still unhappy with the playing surface. "The grass was long, but at every away ground it's like that," he sighed. "The only team that doesn't leave the grass long is [Marcelo] Bielsa's Athletic."
March 28 AC Milan (a) Drew 2-2
AC Milan and Barcelona drew 0-0 in a Champions League quarter-final first-leg match at San Siro, but the Catalans were furious with the state of the pitch and presented an official complaint to Uefa. "We adapt to everything," coach Guardiola said. "But it's clearly a problem for the game as a spectacle."
February 1 Valencia (a) Drew 1-1
Barca failed to overcome Valencia in the first leg of the sides' Copa del Rey tie in February and Guardiola was unhappy at the state of the pitch. "I didn't expect them to leave it that dry," he said. When Carles Puyol equalised, he screamed: "Let them leave the pitch dry!"
2011
April 16 Real Madrid (a) Drew 1-1
Barca were unhappy that Jose Mourinho left the Bernabeu grass long in the sides' 1-1 draw in La Liga. "I believe people like to see attractive football on a good playing surface, not long grass and hard pitches," Xavi said. "It's deplorable that there are no regulations in place for the state of the pitches."
March 2 Valencia (a) Won 1-0
Barca beat Valencia, but the Catalans weren't happy with the Mestalla pitch. "The grass was long and the pitch was dry," David Villa said. But Unai Emery hit back at Barca. "Some of their coaching staff protested," he said. "But in Barcelona they prepare the pitch as they like it. Every team does that.
It has been claimed that the 32-year-old is upset that he plays second fiddle to Iker Casillas for cup games, but he insists that he has no problem fighting for the No.1 jersey
Diego Lopez has rubbished reports that he is unhappy at Real Madrid, joking that he will only leave if the club kick him out of the Santiago Bernabeu on his backside.
It has been claimed that the 32-year-old goalkeeper is frustrated by the fact that he is only Carlo Ancelotti's first choice for Liga games, with club captain Iker Casillas always preferred for Champions League and Copa del Rey clashes.
However, Lopez says he is more than happy to fight for the No.1 jersey and insists that he is not in the least bit unsettled at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"I have said many times," he is quoted as saying by Sportyou. "I have three years on my contract and I'll only leave if they kick me out on my ass!
"The rumours are a joke. I'll stay here. I'm very happy here and I will continue to fight for everything."
Lopez joined Madrid from Sevilla during the January transfer window for a reported €3.5 million transfer fee.
The once-capped Spain international is expected to start in goal for Madrid in Saturday night's Liga meeting with Almeria at the Bernabeu but will most likely revert to the bench for Wednesday's Copa del Rey final against Barcelona at Mestalla.
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple "vastly overstated the scope of its patents" and is asking for an unreasonably high amount of damages, Samsung argued Tuesday during its opening arguments in a court here.
"The suggestion seems to be if you're not asking for billions, you don't take patents seriously," Samsung attorney John Quinn said.
Almost two years after Apple and Samsung faced off in a messy patent dispute, the smartphone andtablet rivals have returned to the same San Jose, Calif., courtroom to argue once again over patents before federal Judge Lucy Koh. Apple is arguing that Samsung infringed on five of its patents for the iPhone, its biggest moneymaker, and it's due $2 billion for that infringement. Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone maker, wants about $7 million from Apple for infringing two of its software patents.
Quinn said Apple's Steve Jobs declared a "holy war" on Android after the mobile operating system started taking off with users and posing a threat to the iPhone. He added that "it's not a holy war" but is a "simple economic transfer" that should be worked out between the two companies.
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He noted that Samsung wants $6.78 million in damages for its '239 patent that covers video transfer and could have implications for Facetime. For its other patent related to camera and folder organization, Samsung wants $158,400 in damages.
"We at Samsung don't ordinarily sue over patents like this," Quinn said. "In the pre 'holy war' days, what would happen in this industry is companies would get together and enter into cross-licensing for their entire portfolios."
Quinn added that Apple lawyers are arguing that Samsung is taking sales away from Apple because it implemented features people want. However, he said Apple doesn't actually use most of the patented innovations. At the same time, Quinn argued that Apple's patents are invalid. Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said during his opening argument earlier Tuesday that it's not acceptable to steal an innovation just because it hasn't yet been used in an Apple product.
"Apple wants you believe these claims are worth over $2 billion even though they're not valuable enough for Apple to use," Quinn said. "Apple is seeking massive damages on fictitious lost sales because of very small features you'll learn didn't have an impact on sales at all."
Apple and Samsung have accused each other of copying features used in their popular smartphones and tablets, and the jury will have to decide who actually infringed and how much money is due. This trial involves different patents and newer devices than the ones disputed at trial in August 2012 and in a damages retrial in November 2013. For instance, the new trial involves the iPhone 5, released in September 2012, and Samsung's Galaxy S3, which also debuted in 2012.
Samsung says Apple's Facetime infringes one of its patents.Apple
Along with different patents and different devices, this trial has some interesting new facets. One is that most Samsung features that Apple says infringe are items that are a part of Android, Google's mobile operating system that powers Samsung's devices. All patents except one, called "slide to unlock," are built into Android.
Suing Google wouldn't get Apple anywhere since Google doesn't make its own phones or tablets. Instead, Apple has sued companies that sell physical devices using Android, a rival to Apple's iOS mobile operating system. In particular, Apple believes Samsung has followed a strategy to copy its products and then undercut Apple's pricing. While Apple isn't suing Google, it expects that Google will make changes to its software if Samsung is found to infringe on patents through Samsung's Android devices.
The latest installment of the Apple vs. Samsung saga kicked off Monday with jury selection as the tech giants battle over patent infringement. The companies selected 10 jurors -- six women and four men -- from a pool of about 140 potential candidates. While the jury pool comes from people living and working in Silicon Valley, few have tech backgrounds. One works as police officer, another is a retired teacher who likes salsa dancing, and yet another is an accounting assistant. In the more tech-savvy category falls a retired software executive from IBM and an executive who works in renewable energy.
However, two jurors asked to be excused from duty at the beginning of court Tuesday. One cited illness while the other cited financial hardship. That brought the jury size down to eight, four women and four men. The jury must have six people for the trial to progress. Judge Lucy Koh joked that she would be giving the remaining jurors Vitamin C and energy drinks and warned them against going bungee jumping or taking other risks for the next month.
The companies may be asking for damages and sales bans, but what's really at stake is the market for mobile devices. Apple now gets two-thirds of it sales from the iPhone and iPad, South Korea-based Samsung is the world's largest maker of smartphones, and both want to keep dominating the market. So far, Apple is ahead when it comes to litigation in the US. Samsung has been ordered to pay the company about $930 million in damages.
There are seven patents at issue in the latest case -- five held by Apple and two by Samsung. Apple has accused Samsung of infringing US patents Nos. 5,946,647; 6,847,959; 7,761,414; 8,046,721; and 8,074,172. All relate to software features, such as "quick links" for '647, universal search for '959, background syncing for '414, slide-to-unlock for '721, and automatic word correction for '172. Overall, Apple argues that the patents enable ease of use and make a user interface more engaging.
Samsung, meanwhile, has accused Apple of infringing US patents Nos. 6,226,449 and 5,579,239, or in shorthand, '449 and '239. The '449 patent, which Samsung purchased from Hitachi, involves camera and folder organization functionality. The '239 patent, which Samsung also acquired, covers video transmission functionality and could have implications for Apple's use of FaceTime.
The Samsung gadgets that Apple says infringe are the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S II, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, and the Stratosphere. Samsung, meanwhile, says the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Mini, iPod Touch (fifth generation) and iPod Touch (fourth generation) all infringe.
The arguments by Apple and Samsung in the latest case are expected to last until April 29 or 30, and then the jury will deliberate. Court will be in session three days each week -- Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays -- though the jury will deliberate every business day until it has reached a verdict.
