The Dutch Eredivisie has produced plenty of attacking talents for the rest of Europe down the years and AZ Alkmaar believe they have another star in the making in young Adam Maher. The 19 year old Dutchman is on the fast train to stardom after breaking into the first-team last season and his progress has been capped off by recent call-ups to the Netherlands National team.

Arsenal are said to be a perfect fit for the attacking midfielder who has seven goals to his name this season and Arsene Wenger’s record with young talent does make the Gunner favourites should Maher leave in the summer. But Man City have thrown a spanner in the works according to the Daily Mail by sending their Director of Football Tixi Begiristain to Holland to meet the teenager, with the City honcho even inviting the player to a game at the Etihad.

Wesley Sneijder is close to choosing Galatasaray over the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and PSG according to ESPN after the Turkish announced a successful deal with Inter Milan for the Dutch playmaker. Sneijder has been a long-term target for Sir Alex Ferguson, at least in the gossip columns, and the rumours re-surfaced late last year after the 28 year old was frozen out of the Inter squad for financial reasons. The Champions League winner’s wage demands have proved to be a stumbling block though, with even moneybags PSG being turned off by his talents.

Galatasaray have put a substantial offer on the table though, a €10m offer to bring in established European talent before they embark on the Champions League knockout stage. Sneijder definitely possesses enough in the locker to produce match-winning performances at the highest stage and the Turks would be getting the Dutch International for a bargain.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers recently spoke about the need for the Merseyside giants to get back into Europe’s elite competition, the Champions League, to keep their biggest star Luis Suarez. But the Reds are seemingly close to luring another International superstar despite the absence of the Champions League on their CV as the Gazzetta Dello Sport report that Wesley Sneijder is being seriously tracked by the 18-time English champions.

Sneijder has spent the last few months in the wilderness at Inter Milan, who have sidelined the Dutchman due to his refusal to accept a pay-cut, and a January move has been on the cards for a while. The usual suspects, Manchester United, Man City, PSG and Tottenham have been regularly reported as interested parties but Liverpool have jumped ahead of everybody by making a reported £9.5m bid for the 28 year old.

Manchester United's star striker Robin van Persie has been dropped from the Netherlands' squad for their mid-week friendly against Germany owing to a thigh strain. The Dutchman joins United teammate Wayne Rooney on the injury list, who picked up an ankle injury in their last Premier League clash against Aston Villa.

The Dutchman played the entire 90 minutes in United's clash against Villa, setting up the winner for Javier Hernandez with a well-taken free-kick. However, the Dutch national team will unfortunately miss out on the forward's blistering form when they take on the Germans on Wednesday night, reported the Daily Mail. Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will get the nod in the absence of the former Arsenal star.

The long, winding road to Brazil 2014 began in earnest last night as the European leg of the World Cup qualifiers kicked-off. All the big guns endured a happy night but for Italy as the 2012 Euro finalists were held to a 2-2 draw by Bulgaria. England thrashed Moldova 5-0 while their great rivals France edged Finland 1-0. Germany strolled to a 3-0 victory over the Faroe Islands while their arch-enemies Holland began their campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Turkey. Finally, Russia and Portugal also opened their accounts with a victory a piece while Bosnia and Herzegovina provided the fireworks on the night by hammering Liechtenstein 8-1.

England kick-started yet another campaign for a major tournament with promising signs as Roy Hodgson’s outfit struck five past Group H opponents Moldova. Frank Lampard netted a brace, with his first coming from the penalty box on 4 minutes before he made it 2-0 on 29 minutes. Jermain Defoe then broke open the floodgates three minutes later, turning in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross with ease. Steve Gerrard hobbled off at the end of the 1^st half but England continued to press as James Milner added a 4^th on 74 minutes before the scoring was rounded-off by Leighton Baines’ free-kick on 83 minutes.

The A1 Grand Prix series seems to be out of the 2010 sporting calendar with high profile cancellation of races in Australia, Malaysia, China, South Africa and Holland. TheSportsCampus.com explores the dogged past of this "World Cup of Motorsports" series and the events leading upto this debacle.

The troubles for the nation-versus-nation A1 GP series began in June 2009 when A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd., the A1 Holdings subsidiary that manages its day-to-day operations, went into liquidation after cash-flow problems and reported accumulated debts of nearly $162 million.

This was followed by doubts on the commencement of the 2009 season after rumours surfaced that engine suppliers Ferrari would pull out over non-payments of dues. Current chairman Tony Teixeira's restructuring announcements didn't help either as A1GP failed to show up to their events, notably dishonoring bookings at Australia, China and Malaysia - severely denting all confidence in the franchise.