Fabregas taunts long-ball Chelsea

Former Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas has delivered a backhanded compliment to new Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo ahead of the Blues' Champions League clash with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.

Man United on alert over Van Persie

Wayne Rooney admits Manchester United must stop in-form Arsenal striker Robin van Persie if the champiare to keep their title defence on track with a victory at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Top 5: Goalscoring goalkeepers

As Joe Hart watched his header drift agonisingly wide against Sporting Lisbon last night, the Manchester City keeper also saw his side's European adventure end for another season.

Reading promoted into Premier League

Reading returned to the English Premier League after securing automatic promotion with a 1-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Football's young guns set for golden era

Messi

Whilst most of last week’s football headlines across the world went to Lionel Messi, a young Brazilian continued his rise to prominence with a hat-trick of his own. Messi’s five goals against Bayer Leverkusen may have trumped Neymar’s three against Internacional, but the manner of the 20-year-old’s goals

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Chelsea Sacks Villas-Boas as Manager

Andre Villas-Boas today "parted company" with Chelsea, the club have confirmed.

The 34-year-old lost his job less than 24 hours after yesterday's Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion, which left the Blues fifth in the table.

Yobo sets record as Eagles draw

Nigeria's Super Eagles and their Rwandan counterparts, the Wasps, played out a goalless draw in a 2013 Afcon qualifying in Kigali on Wednesday.

Eagles did not shock me - Hamilton

Former Nigerian footballer and manager, Paul Hamilton is excited that Super Eagles did not lose to the Amavubi of Rwanda.

Nigeria force draw in Rwanda

Nigeria survived a late Rwanda onslaught to force a 0-0 draw at Stade de Kigali Wednesday in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations first round qualifier.

Arshavin transfers to Zenit

Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin has returned to former club Zenit St Petersburg on loan for the rest of the season, in a deal completed on Russian transfer deadline day.

Andrei Arshavin has received some heavy criticism this season

Arshavin joined Arsenal in a high-profile move from Zenit in 2009, but the 30-year-old has been struggling for form this season and consistently linked to a possible move away from The Emirates.

Speculation emerged on Friday that Zenit were keen on welcoming Arshavin back, with unsubstantiated sources suggesting the Russian league leaders were prepared to pay a £1 million fee along with his wages.

The terms of the deal are yet to be announced, but confirmation arrived via Arshavin's personal Twitter account around 8pm. "It's done," he wrote.

Soon after ther Russian club said on their website: "Arshavin is back!''

The move may have come as a surprise to Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, who had maintained earlier on Friday he did not expect Arshavin to rejoin his former club before the Russian transfer window closed. Wenger did add he would "not stand in his way'' should an 11th-hour agreement be reached.

Arshavin spent eights years with Zenit, and his return to the Russian league leaders will no doubt be greeted warmly by fans who witnessed his rise to become one of Europe's most sought-after talents.

Another motivation for Arshavin's return can be found in this summer's Euro 2012 tournament, in which he would hope to feature prominently for Russia. Playing regularly for Zenit certainly won't harm his chances.

Tevez has return to Manchester city

Carlos Tevez returned to Manchester on Tuesday insisting he wanted to end his long-running feud with Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini and play again for the Premier League leaders.

Liverpool deny any sponsor pressure on Suarez.

Liverpool denied on Tuesday reports they'd apologised for Luis Suarez's conduct at Old Trafford as a result of pressure from shirt sponsors Standered Chartered bank.

Uruguay striker Suarez sparked fresh uproar last weekend when he refused to shake the hand of Manchester United's Patrice Evra, having only recently returned from an eight-game ban for racially abusing the French defender.

Liverpool subsequently apologised for Suarez's conduct but, having steadfastly supported their forward up until that point, there were suspicions they had been pressured into taking action by Standard Chartered, who are currently half-way through a four-year deal worth £81 million.

However, Liverpool insisted Tuesday that managing director Ian Ayre and manager Kenny Dalglish had not been prompted by anyone from outside Anfield.

"Ian Ayre kept Standard Chartered fully informed of developments over the course of the weekend," said a Liverpool statement. "The actions the club decided to take on Sunday were supported by Standard Chartered."

A Standard Chartered statement Sunday said: "We were very disappointed by Saturday's incident and have discussed our concerns with the club."

It has been suggested the club's American-based owners, Fenway Sports Group, only became fully aware of the severity of the Suarez situation when reports appeared in the US press.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson branded Suarez's conduct ahead of Liverpool's 2-1 defeat on Saturday a disgrace, while Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor called the Liverpool star's actions "disrespectful, inappropriate and embarrassing".

Suarez finally showed some contrition in a statement expressing his regret for his actions.

"I have spoken with the manager (Kenny Dalglish) since the game at Old Trafford and I realise I got things wrong," Suarez said Sunday on Liverpool's official website.

"I've not only let him down, but also the club and what it stands for and I'm sorry. I made a mistake and I regret what happened.

"I should have shaken Patrice Evra's hand before the game and I want to apologise for my actions.

Ayre added: "We are extremely disappointed Luis Suarez did not shake hands with Patrice Evra before yesterday's (Saturday's) game. The player had told us beforehand that he would, but then chose not to do so," Ayre said.

"He was wrong to mislead us and wrong not to offer his hand to Patrice Evra.

"He has not only let himself down, but also Kenny Dalglish, his teammates and the club. It has been made absolutely clear to Luis Suarez that his behaviour was not acceptable."

And, later on Sunday, Dalglish said: "Ian Ayre has made the club's position absolutely clear and it is right that Luis Suarez has now apologised for what happened at Old Trafford.

"To be honest, I was shocked to hear that the player had not shaken hands having been told earlier in the week that he would do."

Top 10 Afcon flops.

Gyan after a penalty miss...

Here, in no particular order, are MTNFootball’s Top 10 Flops of the recently completed 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Attendances

Though both Gabon and Equatorial Guinea did a great job in hosting the tournament, the one area they failed to come to grips with was the poor attendances.

Apart from matches involving the two host teams, empty seats more often than not outnumbered spectators.

The worst example was Zambia’s 3-0 win over Sudan in the quarterfinals when the Esatdio de Bata, with a capacity of 37,500, had no more than a couple of hundred people in it.

Senegal

Enough has been written and said about Senegal’s shocking failure at the 2012 Nations Cup, so we won’t go on anymore about it here. They came into the tournament as one of the favourites and were sent packing in the group stages after three successive defeats. Ouch!

Demba Ba

Almost all of Senegal’s attacking players were disappointing at the Nations Cup, but none of them came into the tournament with red-hot form like Demba Ba.

He was banging in goals left, right and centre for Newcastle in the Premier League, but at Afcon 2012 he simply failed to fire.

He then returned to the Magpies and scored in his first game back, as did Papiss Cisse on his debut for the club. Go figure.

Ghana’s discipline

Three players sent off in the space of six games points to a serious lack of discipline in Ghana’s ranks.

It was a major problem for the Black Stars at this tournament and when they look back on just why they failed to live up to their favourites tag, it will definitely feature high up on the list.

Gervinho

CAF may have included Gervinho in their team of the tournament, but apart from his (admittedly superb) solo goal against Mali in the semifinals, he was a major disappointment for Cote d’Ivoire.

His finishing, final pass or cross and link-up play was sub-standard. He then underlined his struggles with a nervy miss in the final’s penalty shootout.

Morocco

Talked of as ‘dark horses’ for the title, Morocco were eliminated after losing their first two group games to Tunisia and co-hosts Gabon.

They at least salvaged a little pride with a win over Niger in their last match, but it was still a dreadfully disappointing showing from the North Africans.

Burkina Faso

And we can say the same for Burkina Faso’s Stallions. Sure, they were in a tough group, but to go home with no points at all?

Just not good enough, especially from coach Paulo Duarte, who blamed pretty much everyone and everything, but himself for his side’s abject failure.

Goalkeeping

While Zambia’s Kennedy Mweene gave a tournament-long master class in the art of goalkeeping, the standard of glove work at the Nations Cup was generally pretty ropey.

The nadir was Aymen Mathlouthi’s inexplicable howler that gifted Ghana a 2-1 win over Tunisia in the quarterfinals.

Asamoah GyanAsamoah Gyan came into the tournament under an injury cloud and, apart from his brilliant free kick goal against Mali in the group phase, he looked a shadow of himself.

His weak penalty miss in the semifinal against Zambia summed up the kind of Nations Cup he had.

Big-name strikers taking penalties

Didier Drogba missed two penalties, including one in the final; Asamoah Gyan fluffed one in the semifinal; Gabon’s star Pierre Aubameyang missed in the quarterfinal shootout against Mali; and Gervinho fired wide in the final’s penalty shootout.

For some inexplicable reason, most of the continent’s best attackers were pretty useless when it came to spot kicks.

United fan plans to stop City expansion

A Manchester United fan aims to block rival Manchester City's "goals of football domination" by selling off thousands of parcels of a site earmarked by the world's richest club for a £100-million training complex.

Businessman Shaun O'Brien has divided the land at his vehicle recovery company, OB Trucks, near City's Etihad Stadium, into 18,500 square-foot plots for sale in a bid to disrupt a proposed council order to make him sell it.

He was selling the plots for 250 pounds each through website, Unite Against the City, to "ardent Reds and anybody else that feels strongly about our David & Goliath situation," in order to make the club negotiate individually and fairly for each plot, the website said.

The sale had attracted buyers from around the world, including the United States and Spain, since the website went live on February 6, O'Brien told Reuters, declining to reveal the sales figures. "We're very close to fulfilling the 5,000 minimum."

The campaign was "to prevent Manchester City's attempts to acquire our land in Eastlands, Manchester, in order to further their goals of football domination", O'Brien wrote on the website.

Local newspaper Manchester Evening News said O'Brien had refused a one-million-pound offer from City to leave the site, stalling the club's bid to redevelop a run-down, 80-acre plot near their stadium.

O'Brien said City had offered him 200,000 pounds for the land for the past two years, though they had said they would pay another 750 000 pounds for moving and expenses.

"But it's just not enough," he said. "I've been here for 15 years, I had no intention to sell (the land)... As a business who want my land to further their business they should come and sit down, negotiate and we'll hack out a figure, whereas all along they've said we'll give you 200,000 pounds or we'll get the council to CPO you," he said.

A compulsory purchase order has now been issued by Manchester City Council and the club to try to force O'Brien to sell at market value.

Manchester City hold the title of the world's richest club, gained after they were bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi three years ago.

Giggs not in a hurry to retire.

Manchester United great Ryan Giggs has insisted he won't make the same mistake as teammate Paul Scholes by retiring too soon.

Scholes quit after helping United win a record 19th English title last season and started to coach the reserve side at Old Trafford.

However, he was summoned back into first-team action by Sir Alex Ferguson in January to help ease United's injury crisis in midfield.

Giggs though recently signed a one-year contract extension and the 38-year-old, who has only ever played professionally for United, is set to take part in a 22nd season at Old Trafford, having made his debut in 1991.

Since then midfielder Giggs has scored 162 goals and won 12 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, four FA Cups and three League Cups.

And on Thursday he is set go become the first player to make 900 appearances for United when they play Ajax in the Europa League.

"When to retire is difficult," Giggs told Tuesday's Daily Telegraph. "Do you quit too early or go that one too many games and let people see you on the slide? Retirement is just a decision that I have to take my time with because I feel different after each game.

"He (Scholes) was missing it and it's no secret that me, (Gary Neville) and a few other people felt that he had finshed too early, but who where we to know?

"We wanted him to carry on but he'd made his decision quite early and it was probably too early, which I think he accepts now. Who knows? Maybe he'll carry on next year," the former Wales international added.

Giggs could feature as an over-age player in the Great Britain side at the 2012 London Olympics but is wary of taking part lest it damage Wales's case to remain an independent football nation.

"I haven't thought about the Olympics too much but nearer the time, I am obviously going to have to," Giggs said. "First of all, I have to get picked - there are a lot of players vying for 20-odd spots - (and then there) is another obstacle: will it affect Wales in the future?.

"If it does, then it will be an easy decision for me to make. If it comes to the time when the likes of myself, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey are picked, it is something we will have to speak to the FAW (Football Associatiob of Wales) about," he added.

Giggs said switching to central midfield after starting out as a left winger had helped prolong his career.

"Moving in to central midfield has definitely helped me," he said. "I had a taste of what it was like on the wing against Liverpool on Saturday (a match Premier League champions United won 2-1) and it's just completely different because you are up and down all the time."

City includes Tevez in their 25 squad man list

Premier League clubs have submitted their squads for the final half of the season following the close of the January transfer.

• Crazy football skills..

In a surprise list,  Manchester City league-leading AWOL striker Carlos Tevez was included  in their 23-man squad while Blackburn defender Chris Samba is another wantaway star named in his club's squad, despite not playing since handing in a transfer request last month.

Meanwhile, second-placed Manchester United have added injured skipper Nemanja Vidic, while Liverpool will evidently hope that midfielder Lucas Leiva also makes a swift recovery as the Merseysiders put forward the smallest squad with just 19 names included.

In the EPL rule which states that each club's 25-man squad should have eight homegrown players who - regardless of age or nationality - have spent three years in the youth system of a club in England or Wales before they reached the age of 21.

Contrary to reports elsewhere, players aged under 21 can, if required, be named in the 25-man squad as a homegrown player. An Under-21 player is defined as being born on or after January 1, 1989.

Clubs can use an unlimited number of Under-21 players in addition to their 25-man squad. For instance, Chelsea would not need to name Daniel Sturridge and Arsenal Jack Wilshere in their 25-man squad.

Any player who is left out of the 25-man squad will only be eligible to play in the Carling Cup until January 1. From January 1 to January 31, clubs can make unlimited changes to their 25-man squad. On February 1 a new 25-man squad must be named to run until the end of the current campaign.

If a club chooses fewer than 25 players for their squad it is almost certainly due to them having a large number of under-21 players. Clubs with fewer than 25 players in their squad are still permitted to sign free agents.

Full squads:

(Squad lists do not include registered Under-21 players as information is not yet available)

ARSENAL: Andre Santos, Andrey Arshavin, Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun, Maroune Chamakh, Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Lukasz Fabianski, Gervinho, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Vito Mannone, Per Mertesacker, Park Chu-young, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Thierry Henry, Alex Song, Sebastien Squillaci, Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Theo Walcott.

ASTON VILLA: Gabriel Agbonlahor, Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Darren Bent, Ciaran Clark, James Collins, Carlos Cuellar, Fabian Delph, Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Brad Guzan, Christopher Herd, Emile Heskey, Stephen Ireland, Eric Lichaj, Andrew Marshall, Stiliyian Petrov, Stephen Warnock, Charles N'Zogbia, Jermaine Jenas, Alan Hutton, Robbie Keane.

BLACKBURN: Christopher Samba, Michel Salgado, Herold Goulon, Bradley Orr, Bruno Ribeiro, David Dunn, Paul Robinson, Mark Bunn, Nick Blackman, Martin Olsson, Mauro Formica, Radosav Petrovic, Gael Givet, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Steven Nzonzi, David Goodwillie, Vince Grella, Simon Vukcevic, Ayegbeni Yakubu, Scott Dann, Amine Linganzi, Anthony Modeste, Marcus Olsson.

BOLTON: Robbie Blake, Adam Bogdan, Tim Ream, Kevin Davies, Mark Davies, Chris Eagles, Sean Davis, Stuart Holden, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Ivan Klasnic, Zat Knight, Robert Lainton, Tyrone Mears, Fabrice Muamba, Temitope Obadeyi, Martin Petrov, Darren Pratley, Nigel Reo-Coker, Sam Ricketts, Paul Robinson, Tuncay Sanli, Gretar Rafn Steinsson, David Wheater, David Ngog, Chung-Yong Lee.

CHELSEA: Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Michael Essien, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Didier Drogba, John Mikel Obi, Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Salomon Kalou, Ross Turnbull, Daniel Sturridge, John Terry, Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Hilario, Sam Hutchinson.

EVERTON: Victor Anichebe, Leighton Baines, Tim Cahill, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, Darron Gibson, Nikica Jelavic, Seamus Coleman, Sylvain Distin, Marouane Fellaini, John Heitinga, Tim Howard, Jan Mucha, Steven Pienaar, Landon Donovan, Royston Drenthe, Denis Stracqualursi, Marcus Hahnemann, James McFadden.

FULHAM: Chris Baird, Simon Davies, Mousa Dembele, Clint Dempsey, Damien Duff, Dickson Etuhu, Marcel Gecov, Zdenek Grygera, Orlando Sa, Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, Andrew Johnson, Stephen Kelly, Danny Murphy, Bjorn Helge Riise, John Arnse Riise, Bryan Ruiz, Mark Schwarzer, Philippe Senderos, Steven Sidwell, Csaba Somogyi, Pavel Pogrebnyak, David Stockdale, Rafik Halliche.

LIVERPOOL: Brad Jones, Glen Johnson, Jose Enrique, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Andy Carroll, Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt, Stewart Downing, Jay Spearing, Jamie Carragher, Jose Reina, Charlie Adam, Alexander Doni, Martin Skrtel, Lucas Leiva, Craig Bellamy.

MAN CITY: Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Adam Johnson, Gael Clichy, Costel Pantilimon, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Kolo Toure, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nigel de Jong, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, David Pizarro, Gunnar Nielsen, Owen Hargreaves.

MAN UTD: Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Evans, Michael Owen, Anderson, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Chris Smalling, Park Ji-Sung, Javier Hernandez, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Nani, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia, Tomasz Kuszczak, Anders Lindegaard, Paul Scholes, Ritchie De Laet.

NEWCASTLE: Shola Ameobi, Demba Ba, Hatem Ben Arfa, Leon Best, Yohan Cabaye, Fabricio Coloccini, Robert Elliot, Danny Guthrie, Jonas Gutierrez, Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Peter Lovenkrands, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, James Perch, Danny Simpson, Alan Smith, Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Cheik Tiote, Mike Williamson, Papiss Demba Cisse.

NORWICH: John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Adam Drury, Bradley Johnson, Steve Morison, Zak Whitbread, Andrew Crofts, James Vaughan, Grant Holt, Simeon Jackson, Andrew Surman, Anthony Pilkington, Wes Hoolahan, David Fox, Elliott Bennett, Simon Lappin, Leon Barnett, Elliott Ward, Marc Tierney, Jonathan Howson, Kyle Naughton, Aaron Wilbraham.

QPR: Paddy Kenny, Armand Traore, Clint Hill, Shaun Derry, Fitz Hall, Adel Taarabt, Bobby Zamora, Rob Hulse, DJ Campbell, Jay Bothroyd, Samba Diakite, Jamie Mackie, Danny Gabbidon, Akos Buzsaky, Taye Taiwo, Nedum Onuoha, Joey Barton, Luke Young, Thomas Smith, Heidar Helguson, Radek Cerny, Brian Murphy, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand, Dijbril Cisse.

STOKE: Diego Arismendi, Asmir Begovic, Peter Crouch, Rory Delap, Salif Diao, Matthew Etherington, Ricardo Fuller, Danny Collins, Robert Huth, Kenwyne Jones, Carlo Nash, Wilson Palacios, Jermaine Pennant, Ryan Shawcross, Ryan Shotton, Mamady Sidibe, Thomas Sorensen, Matthew Upson, Jon Walters, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Andy Wilkinson, Marc Wilson, Jonathan Woodgate, Cameron Jerome.

SUNDERLAND: Phil Bardsley, Titus Bramble, Wes Brown, Fraizer Campbell, Trevor Carson, Lee Cattermole, Jack Colback, Nicklas Bendtner, Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson, Kieran Richardson, Michael Turner, John O'Shea, David Vaughan, Kieren Westwood, Ahmed Elmohamady, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Simon Mignolet, Stephane Sessegnon, James McClean, David Meyler, Marcos Angeleri, Craig Gordon, Matthew Kilgallon, Wayne Bridge.

SWANSEA: Michel Vorm, Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Alan Tate, Ferrie Bodde, Leon Britton, Andrea Orlandi, Curtis Obeng, Danny Graham, Scott Sinclair, Nathan Dyer, Stephen Dobbie, Wayne Routledge, Garry Monk, Leroy Lita, Luke Moore, Jose Moreira, Angel Rangel, Kemy Agustien, Mark Gower, Gerhard Tremmel, Fede Bessone, Gylfi Sigurdsson.

TOTTENHAM: Brad Friedel, Heurelho Gomes, Carlo Cudicini, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Ledley King, Younes Kaboul, Bongani Khumalo, Ryan Nelsen, Aaron Lennon, Jake Livermore, Tom Huddlestone, Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar, Gareth Bale, Louis Saha, Jermain Defoe, Rafael van der Vaart, Sandro, Emmanuel Adebayor, David Bentley, Giovanni Dos Santos, Simon Dawkins, Scott Parker.

WEST BROM: Keith Andrews, Chris Brunt, Simon Cox, Luke Daniels, Graham Dorrans, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Ben Foster, Marton Fulop, Zoltan Gera, Billy Jones, Shane Long, Gareth McAuley, James Morrison, Youssouf Mulumbu, Peter Odemwingie, Jonas Olsson, Steven Reid, Liam Ridgewell, Paul Scharner, Nicky Shorey, Gabriel Tamas, Jerome Thomas, Someon Tchoyi.

WIGAN: Chris Kirkland, Mike Pollitt, Ben Watson, Emmerson Boyce, Gary Caldwell, David Jones, Hendry Thomas, James McArthur, Jordi Gomez, Hugo Rodalleha, Mohamed Diame, Maynor Figueroa, Steve Gohouri, Antolin Alcaraz, Franco Di Santo, Ali Al-Habsi, Ronnie Stam, Adrian Lopez, Conor Sammon, Shaun Maloney, Albert Crusat, Jean Beausejour.

WOLVES: Wayne Hennessey, George Elokobi, David Edwards, Richard Stearman, Jody Craddock, Michael Kightly, Karl Henry, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Steven Fletcher, Stephen Hunt, Carl Ikeme, Roger Johnson, Christophe Berra, Matt Jarvis, Adam Hammill, Nenad Milijas, Sebastian Bassong, Eggert Jonsson, Ronald Zubar, Jamie O'Hara, Kevin Doyle, Dorus De Vries, Kevin Foley.

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crazy soccer skills

Hello soccer fans let a look at some crazy soccer skills by some amazing soccer player..... Enjoy and leave your comments.....

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Neymar Crazy Skills

Ronaldo (9)

Taiwo set to join QPR

A deal has apparently been agreed between the London side and the Milan club regarding their Nigerian defender.

Barca take Copa advantage

Eric Abidal proved an unlikely matchwinner as Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final a the Bernabeu.

Rabiu Ibrahim signs for Celtic

Celtic have announced the signing of Nigerian midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim subject to a successful work permit application.

Chance for Jose to break Barca run

Overcoming Real Madrid's mental block against Barcelona will be the chief concern for coach Jose Mourinho when the teams resume their battle for supremacy on Wednesday.

Scholes back at Man United

Paul Scholes has sensationally returned to Manchester United, and made his return to action in the Third Round of the FA Cup as United knocked out holders City.

Scholes, 37, retired from professional football at the end of last season after an illustrious career with the Red Devils, though has continued to play the game and remains in good condition. He is part of the the club's reserve team coaching staff.

Milan agrees to sign Tevez on load

AC Milan have agreed terms with Carlos Tevez and are waiting to hear back from Manchester City about their latest offer for the Argentine forward.

Henry completes Arsenal return

Thierry Henry has completed his return to Arsenal on loan from MLS side New York Red Bulls and could face Leeds United in the FA Cup on Monday night, live on ESPN.

•  Arsenal eye Podolski swoop 
• Henry still unbelievable - RVP
• Vermaelen forces Wenger into market

Henry, 34, has signed a short-term deal and will return to the USA at the end of February to prepare for the Major League Soccer season.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is set to lose Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh to the African Nations Cup imminently, so the arrival of Henry comes at a useful time, particularly with Robin van Persie notoriously injury-prone and Park Chu-young still unproven in England.

Vermaelen forces Wenger into market

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he will be forced to dip into the transfer market for a defender following a calf strain to Thomas Vermaelen.

The Belgian has been ruled out for two to three weeks after limping off after 54 minutes at Emirates Stadium as the Gunners moved up to fourth with a 1-0 win over QPR, adding to Wenger's defensive injury woes.