Thursday, June 30, 2011

Why Real Madrid should be delighted to beat Manchester United to rising star Raphael Varane

Raphael Varane is a young defender who has certainly got people talking.

Since breaking into the Lens first XI amid an injury crisis during the autumn, his reputation as a prodigious talent has grown exponentially, though he has long been courted by the likes of Manchester United, who continue to maintain an interest in the 18-year-old.

It is, however, Real Madrid who have seemingly claimed victory in the chase for the France Under-21 international, aided by the words of legendary World Cup-winner Zinedine Zidane. The revered midfielder reportedly played a significant role in persuading the youngster that he would have an opportunity to shine under the Bernabeu’s lights as a first-team squad member.

To win the race for his signature was no easy task. Paris Saint-Germain and hometown club Lille both offered guarantees of regular football from the outset, while the lure of the Premier League was also appealing, with Arsenal rumoured to have made a late rally to secure his services.

“What I want is to go to the club that will make me progress the most,” Varane told. “Another season in Ligue 1, yes, it may be beneficial but there is a choice. There are pros and cons, so it will be for me to decide.”

Clearly, Varane is a young man with a mature head on his shoulders, and this is reflected to a great extent in his play. Many critics have commented upon his grasp of the tactical side of the game, as he is rarely drawn into the kind of cheap errors that more established countrymen such as Adil Rami can find themselves making. Indeed, he has often featured as the sweeping defender in a back four, covering intelligently due to his reading of the game.

Though he lacks in experience, the Nord-Pas de Calais native is certainly equipped with all the attributes that will allow him to make it to the top of the game. As well as a sound mind, he is blessed with a frame that belies his years, and his solid build means that he is already able to tussle competitively with the majority of strikers, while he is also fleet of foot, allowing him to recover from any slips that are made by those alongside him.

Coming from a stable of promising young teenagers that also includes fellow centre-back Geoffrey Kondogbia and Thorgan Hazard, Eden’s 18-year-old brother, Varane receives top billing, and given his outstanding contribution for Lens in the second half of last season, it is little wonder.

But there is, of course, a mammoth chasm to be bridged between playing for the Ligue 2 side and the nine-time European champions. 

Lens president Gervais Martel offered his support to the teenager on Wednesday when he revealed the club were in talks with the Spanish giants, signalling a belief that Varane, who has also been employed as a holding midfielder, can be a genuine factor in Spain next season. “Some believe that Raphael will not play [first team football] there,” he told the club's official website. “I can tell you he will not go to Real Madrid to repaint the changing rooms!”



Varane will certainly have a fight on his hands to play with any regularity in the Spanish capital, and there has even been talk that his performance over pre-season will be closely monitored by coach Jose Mourinho, who may then opt to send the player back to France on loan for a year.

With the much-coveted Sergio Canales left to rot on the bench for much of last term, the Frenchman will certainly want to avoid a similar fate as his talent deserves a stage on which to impress – and those don’t come any bigger than Real Madrid.

Ivanisevic

Goran Ivanišević (Croatian pronunciation: born 13 September 1971) is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous for his strong serve, which is considered among the greatest to date.His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind Pete Sampras) in 1994. He is the current reigning Legends under 45 French Open doubles Champion.
Ivanišević was born in Split, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), to Srđan and Gorana née Škaričić.He turned professional in 1988 and later that year, with Rüdiger Haas, won his first career doubles title in Frankfurt, but he focused more on his singles career, yet had some success in doubles, winning nine titles and reaching a career high ranking of 20.
Ivanišević made his first significant impact on the tour in 1990, knocking Boris Becker out of the first round of the French Open men's singles; he went on to reach the quarter-finals. He was also, with Petr Korda, the runner-up in the French Open men's doubles. At that year's Wimbledon, Ivanišević reached the semi-finals, where he lost to Becker in four sets. Ivanišević also won his first tour singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart and helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup. He played in eight ties for Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup before quitting the team after the Croatian declaration of independence in 1991.Yugoslavia lost its subsequent tie against France 5–0.
Ivanišević quickly became known on the tour for his strong, attacking style of play and for an extremely powerful serve. For several years, he had more aces than anyone else on the tour. Capable of beating anyone in the world when at his very best, he was also known for occasional on-court temper tantrums—usually directed towards himself—and the volatility of the standard of his play. Ivanišević received death threats at the 1992 Australian Men's Hardcourt Championships.He went on to win the tournament.
In 1992, Ivanišević steamrolled his way to reach his first Wimbledon singles final, having defeated Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras in succession. In the final he faced Andre Agassi and was heavily favored to win; both players were attempting to win their first Grand Slam title. Agassi eventually won 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. In the 5th set, Ivanišević had a break point on Agassi's serve at 3 all, but did not convert it. In the final game of the match, he served 2 double faults to start the game, even though he had 5 for the entire match before that. His ace count for the tournament (200+) at the time was the highest in the history of ATP. He served 39 aces that day, while Agassi had 37 for the entire tournament. It was a tough loss, but as he was only 20 years old, a bright future was predicted. Later that summer at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanišević won bronze medals in both singles and doubles representing Croatia, a state that had only recently declared independence. He also won four singles titles that year.
In 1996 he won a career-best five singles titles. He reached the Grand Slam Cup final again, but this time lost to Becker in straight sets. Ivanišević also teamed with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. That year Ivanišević also defeated Stefan Edberg to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, his first Grand Slam semi-final away from Wimbledon; the match was the last Grand Slam match of Edberg's career. In the semifinals, Ivanišević he fell again to Sampras, in four sets; Sampras would go on to defeat Michael Chang to win his fourth U.S. Open championship.
By the summer of 2001, Ivanišević was ranked the World No. 125. This was not sufficient to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time runner-up, he was awarded a wildcard for entry into the singles draw. He defeated former and future World #1 players Carlos Moyá, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin to reach the semi-final, beating home favourite Tim Henman in a five set, rain-affected semi-final, setting-up a match with the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. It was Ivanišević's first singles final since 1998. In a match lasting just over three hours, Ivanišević defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.To date, he is the only male entrant to have won a Grand Slam as a wildcard. His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100 Greatest Sporting Moments by a British television programme.

Nadal

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan pronunciation:; Spanish pronunciation; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including 6 French Open titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.
Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first ever title at Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009 He regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French Open title.
Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca, Spain to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman managing his own restaurant, Sa Punta; a glass and window glass company, Vidres Mallorca; and owns an insurance company as well. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.
At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player. This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands. When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing tennis and football all the time.Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."
When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Majorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education,but also because Toni said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home." The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.
At 15, he turned pro.Nadal participated in two events on the ITF junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior event.By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the first four times he played at Roland Garros.n 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal picked up the trademark habit of biting the trophies he won

Sampras

Petros "Pete" Sampras (pronounced) (born August 12, 1971) is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles.Sampras debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final. He was the year-end World No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993–1998), a record for the open era. His seven Wimbledon singles championships is a record shared with William Renshaw. He spent 286 weeks at number 1, the most of any player. His five US Open singles titles is an
open-era record shared with former World No. 1 players Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. He won five ATP World Tour Finals, a record shared with Ivan Lendl and Federer. Sampras is the last American male to win Wimbledon (2000) and ATP World Tour Finals (1999). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Pete Sampras was born in Potomac, Maryland, and is the third child of Sammy and Georgia Sampras. His mother immigrated from Sparta, Greece, and his father was born in the United States to a Greek immigrant father and a Jewish mother.Greek culture played a big role in his upbringing.Pete attended regular services of the Greek Orthodox Church on Sundays. From an early age, Sampras showed signs of outstanding athletic ability. At age 3 Sampras discovered a tennis racket in the basement of his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall. In 1978, the Sampras family moved to
Palos Verdes, California, and the warmer climate there allowed seven-year-old Pete to play more tennis. From early on, his great idol was Rod Laver, and at 11 Sampras met and played with him.The Sampras family joined the Jack Kramer Club, and it was here that Sampras's talent became apparent. He was spotted by Peter Fischer, a pediatrician and tennis enthusiast, who coached Sampras until 1989. Fischer was responsible for converting Sampras's double-handed backhand to single-handed with the goal of being better prepared to win Wimbledon.
Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked World No. 97 after starting the year at World No. 893.[10] His first professional match was a loss to Sammy Giammalva, Jr. at the February Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia. But just one week later at the Lipton International Players Championships in Miami, Sampras defeated two top-40 players before losing to World No. 18 Emilio Sánchez. He did not defeat another top-40 player for almost six months, when he defeated World No. 39 Michiel Schapers at a US Open warm-up tournament in Rye Brook, New York.
In his first Grand Slam singles match, Sampras lost to World No. 69 Jaime Yzaga of Peru in the first round of the US Open 6–7(2), 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–5, 6–2. Sampras did not advance past the quarterfinals in his next three tournaments, although he did record wins over World No. 79 Jim Courier, in their first career match-up, and World No. 8 Tim Mayotte.
The following year, Sampras slightly improved his ranking to a year-ending World No. 81. He lost in the first round of the 1989 Australian Open to Christian Saceanu and the first round of Wimbledon to Todd Woodbridge 7–5, 7–6(5), 5–7, 6–3. He won a Grand Slam singles match for the first time at the French Open before losing in the second round to eventual champion, 17-year-old Michael Chang, 6–1, 6–1, 6–1 in their first career match-up.

Here goes nothin'...

"here goes nothing" (American & Australian informal)
something that you say just before you do something that you think will not be successful. (Just incase you all needed an explanation of this posts title!...lol)

In the month of July I will attempt #18 on my 30 before 30 list, which reads as follows: 
Go on a one month "No-Buy"...Only purchase food, gasoline, and necessary household/hygiene items. 
 
Were booking our NYC trip on July 1st, and I want to pay for the whole thing with cash (There ya go Dave Ramsey!), I don't want to dip into my savings at all, so I'm going to free up the 1k (almost) from my July checks! That means...no shoes, makeup, purses, Target trips, Starbucks, Eating out (unless I'm not payin' ;)), basically cutting out anything that isn't necessity! This should be interesting, going from shopaholic, to a 31 day no buy! The girls at Sephora and MAC will probably miss my face...lol...jk...no really, they'll be totally confused! See ya in August gals! :) I'll definitely keep you updated! 

 

One Last Thing

I received my new People magazine yesterday, and this was in the back. I thought it would be fun to do...maybe a Thursday regular?

Last time I laughed out loud... last night with a Drew Barrymore impression.

Last vacation... Vegas, bitches! I went in Oct. 2010 with one of my best friends, her hubby, and his best friend. It was a blast. (I also went in June 2010 with a different group of girlfriends. It was also a blast.) To be honest, I would be happy if it was also my next vacation.

Last card I sent... In the mail? A mother's day card to both of my grandmothers. I gave? To my dads (real dad and stepdad) for father's day.

Last thing I bought online... Grey's Anatomy Season 4 on eBay. I've been an ebaying fool this week, y'all!

Last show I watched... Chelsea Lately

If you have nothing to blog about, feel free to use this. Be sure to leave me a message with the link; I want to read!!!! Come back next Thursday; there may be a new set of "Lasts."

Madonna & Lola debut MG + NYC with Kelly Osbourne


MG Icon, the joint venture between Iconix Brand Group, Inc. and Madonna, in partnership with Macy's announced it will continue its association with actress and television personality Kelly Osbourne for the fall 2011 Material Girl marketing campaign titled, "MG + NYC." The multi-media marketing campaign will debut in September issues of fashion and lifestyle magazines such as PEOPLE StyleWatch, Nylon, Seventeen, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan as well as online, outdoor, in-store and in Macy's marketing collateral.

"We have both enjoyed working with Kelly and are thrilled to have her on board for the launch of the Fall 2011 collection," commented Madonna and her daughter Lola.

"I'm really enjoying being the face of Material Girl. I love being part of a brand for girls and having the opportunity to work with Lola who has an amazing fashion instinct. Added to that is the fact that Madonna has been a big influence on my style over the years," stated Kelly Osbourne.

The campaign creative represents the quintessential New York City scene with Osbourne being photographed for a series of print ads in Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, Soho, the West Village, Little Italy and Chinatown. The background includes the world famous Empire State Building, as well as a more playful feel with Osbourne on top of a double-decker tourist bus riding down Fifth Avenue.

Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, Iconix Brand Group, commented, "Kelly has been an amazing partner for Material Girl; she has truly embraced the brand and our consumers have reciprocated." Marder added, "The essence of Material Girl is all about your own personal style and individuality. The new fall campaign, 'MG+NYC' reflects all the different sides of our Material Girl, from uptown to downtown."

 

Read More about Madonna & Lola debut MG + NYC with Kelly Osbourne @ Fibre2fashion

Rumour Mill: Manchester City or Former Arsenal XI?

There are 2 rumours today floating around Eastlands and I can't see how this piece can be particularly long, in that both names get a big 'yes' from me....In the interests of being informative and interesting however I suppose I should go into a little bit of detail, lets take one of these at a time.  Firstly we might have an answer to the left back conundrum in French international Gael Clichy.


The flying left back is one of those players that is deceptively young, it feels as if he should be in his late 20s because of the fact he has been playing for what feels like eternity, but in fact he is only 25 so definitely no problems there.  It is clearly a position that we need to strengthen, and to be fair an area of the field where we have struggled for years, our defensive record from crosses is poor to say the least and I would wager that many of those crosses are coming from our left hand side.  I want Aleksandar Kolarov to work out but he just hasn't adapted to Premier League football as quickly as we would like and maybe a season rotating with a more experienced player will do him the world of good.


Of course we will be battling on an extra front next year, clearly it would be foolish to suggest that we have any real chance of winning the Champions League, but that doesn't mean we can't put in a decent showing.  Our squad is pretty light on experience of Europe's top competition but it is something that Clichy can provide by the bucket load and that is another real benefit.


He is quick, skillful, and useful in attacking areas, and whilst he may not be the best full back defensively, he is by no means one of the worst, and I personally think that makes him a more attractive proposition than say Leighton Baines.  The Everton defender is many peoples first choice, but I am slightly put off by the fact that it would cost over £20million to secure him, Clichy is rumoured to be available for £7million, surely that is better business?


The second possible signing I see as a lot less likely, but it would be one to really get excited about.  Samir Nasri has flattered to deceive at times during his Arsenal career, but in the last 18 months he has really started to show what he is capable of and I think he would be perfect for City.  Those lovely people at Talksport reckon that we are sniffing around and readying a bid of £20million, now before this gets dismissed out of hand, it is important to remember that the figure is slightly lower than what might be expected due to the fact he is in the last year of his contract.


There appears to be conjecture about the validity of this story, word on twitter originating from the Mirror claims that City 'sources' have confirmed interest in Clichy but denied we had made contact with Arsenal over a transfer for Nasri.  Clearly he would be a great addition to the squad, if he were to come in his link up play with Silva and the rest of the forward line could be a joy to behold, but just how likely is it?


Firstly there is rumoured to be strong interest from Manchester United and obviously that could present one or two problems, secondly is the ongoing Cesc Fabregas saga.  If, as expected, he moves to Barcelona over the next few days surely Arsene Wenger will do whatever he can to retain the former Marseille midfielder and offer him the wages that he is demanding to stay at the Emirates.


If I were a betting man I would say the signing of Clichy is highly likely, any move for Nasri though I just can't see at this point.  Since we withdrew from the Sanchez deal I think it might just be more rumour mongering from the tabloids, not that I wouldn't want him, I am just not sure I see it as being that likely, i'd love to be proved wrong though.....

IMTA's Josh Duhamel in Transformers: Dark of the Moon Opening Nationwide!



IMTA alum (New York 1997's Male Model of the Year-more on that below!) Josh Duhamel's movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon is opening nationwide. This sequel to the Transformers series promises to be a block buster! Josh reprises his role as the capable and handsome Captain Lennox fighting to save Earth from robotic aliens who can transform their bodies into various different configurations, such as cars, truck and airplanes.


Josh, who competed at IMTA in New York in 1997, won Male Model of the Year. Famously, he and Ashton Kutcher closely competed that year at IMTA and each ended up with top prizes (Ashton won Most Sought After Male Model). Josh, who won an Emmy for his role on All My Children, will return to wrap up his storyline in this legendary soap opera.

Be sure to get to theaters this weekend to see Josh in
Transformers: Dark of the Moon!

iOutfit - Ketty in abbigliamento Casual, Elegante e Discoteca



La moda dei ragazzi fatta dai ragazzi.


I tre outfit di Ketty




Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The 28 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies

As a kind of antidote to the horrible Transformers: Dark of the Moon, I decided to make myself feel better with this slapdash, homemade list of the greatest (i.e. my favorite) sci-fi movies. I'm sticking to my one-per-director rule, otherwise, the list would be dominated by David Cronenberg. I also decided to draw the line, in certain cases, on hybrids. If something seemed a bit more like a comedy, such as in the case of The Nutty Professor or Spaceballs, then out it went. The same went for horror hybrids, romance hybrids, etc. My list, my rules. Did I forget anything? Enjoy!
  1. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
  2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
  3. The Fly (1986, David Cronenberg) 
  4. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001, Steven Spielberg)
  5. Repo Man (1984, Alex Cox)
  6. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, Philip Kaufman)
  7. The Thing from Another World (1951, Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks)
  8. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner/George Lucas)
  9. Dark City (1998, Alex Proyas)
  10. Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam) 
  11. Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)
  12. Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)
  13. Children of Men (2006, Alfonso Cuaron)
  14. Planet of the Vampires (1965, Mario Bava)
  15. The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller)
  16. Starman (1984, John Carpenter)
  17. Innerspace (1987, Joe Dante)
  18. Alphaville (1965, Jean-Luc Godard)
  19. La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker)
  20. Face/Off (1997, John Woo)
  21. Gattaca (1997, Andrew Niccol)
  22. Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis) 
  23. The Truman Show (1998, Peter Weir)
  24. Aliens (1986, James Cameron)
  25. Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1992, Craig Baldwin)
  26. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer)
  27. A Scanner Darkly (2006, Richard Linklater)
  28. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959, Edward D. Wood, Jr.)

Introducing ‘Little Xavi’: Marvin Martin is France’s new playmaking hope


Following the relative disappointment of Friday night’s stale encounter against BelarusFrance head coach Laurent Blanc will be tempted to make changes to his XI for a friendly encounter against Ukraine on Monday night.

The second leg of France’s eastern European tour rolls into Kiev before Thursday’s match in Poland, and the coach will no doubt be eager for his side to play in a more confident manner than was achieved in Minsk.

While they never looked like losing against Belarus after drawing level through Florent Malouda, a lack of precision from the midfield meant that they were deficient offensively, and the forthcoming games provide a chance for some of the nation’s fringe players to showcase themselves.

One man who has been grabbing headlines at home but has yet to make a name for himself outside of France’s borders is Marvin Martin, and the 23-year-old is liable to make his debut, albeit off the bench, on Monday night.

Uncapped, the Sochaux player only made his real breakthrough in Ligue 1 this season and finds himself in the national team for the first time. There can be little doubt that his performances over the last year have merited his place in the spotlight.

Featuring for a side expected to struggle in Le Championnat, he was instead one of the major catalysts as they charged towards a top five finish, earning European football in the process. Along the way, he set a new record for assists in Ligue 1, notching 17 in total, far surpassing the previous best mark, which was set by Lucho Gonzalez of Marseille 12 months earlier, managing a mere 11.


Sochaux specialised on the counterattack, and Martin’s abilities in broken play were commendable, though it will be his command of a dead-ball that will arguably interest Blanc more. The France coach loves his side to be proficient from set-pieces, and in this regard the Paris-born playmaker shines.

Dubbed ‘Little Xavi’ by his club-mates, Martin actually stands the same 5ft 7in as his Spanish counterpart and possesses a similar style.

Such was the impression he made over the campaign as a whole, the No.14 would find himself on the shortlist for Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year. He was in illustrious company, with Ghanaian World Cup star Andre Ayew and France internationals Yann M’Vila and Mamadou Sakho the other players on the four-man list.

Further recognition has come from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, who have started to take a closer look at the man whose shirt number matches the Parisian arrondissement in which he grew up, playing notably with Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa as a youngster. In France, Marseille and Lyon have both reportedly added the player to their list of summer targets, while Lille are similarly interested. Meanwhile, German champions Borussia Dortmund have cast their eye over a player slowly starting to cause ripples in the European footballing world.

With the summer window not due to open in France until later in the week, Martin should take this chance to lay down a marker in the international game, particularly as big question marks still remain over the form of Yoann Gourcuff. He has risen to every challenge presented to him thus far, but breaking into the national team on a regular basis is undoubtedly his biggest test to date, though it could also be the making of him.


Pakistani Shalwar Kameez design

Pakistani Shalwar Kameez Design