Gareth Bale moved a step closer to a Real Madrid return on Tuesday after returning to training. The Wales international was not present last weekend as Madrid lost ground to Barcelona in the Liga title race, a calf injury keeping him out of the 1-1 draw at Real Betis. Barca took command in the title race as they saw off Malaga 2-1, taking top spot off Atletico Madrid, who were held 0-0 by Sevilla. He could return against Espanyol this weekend after training alone, the forward tweeting: “Steadily strengthening… Getting closer to the pitch!” In a statement Madrid confirmed Bale’s…
Author: David F.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insists Cristiano Ronaldo will not be leaving the Santiago Bernabeu with the club facing a two-window ban on registering new players. Ronaldo has established himself as the leading star in Madrid since his arrival from Manchester United in 2009, recently surpassing Raul’s club record of 323 goals by scoring 27 times in as many appearances this season. The Portuguese has been persistently linked with a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, with pictures of him whispering to Laurent Blanc after the two teams’ Champions League meeting earlier this season reigniting such rumours, while a return to United…
Sinisa Mihajlovic says Mario Balotelli will not be ready to face Inter on Sunday despite his goalscoring return to the AC Milan starting line-up against Alessandria. The Liverpool loanee made his first start since September in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg and scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot late in the first half. Mihajlovic has publicly criticised his side’s attack this season and was frustrated at their missed opportunities in Tuesday’s game, but he is nonetheless not prepared to risk Balotelli against Roberto Mancini’s side. “Mario was never in the condition to play in…
Premier League leaders Leicester City are interested in Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa as they look to bolster their squad ahead of the title run-in. The Claudio Ranieri led club have submitted a £15.1m offer for the CSKA Moscow attacker which as been rejected. The Russian club are holding out for fee closer to their £18.9m valuation of the 23-year-old who has scored 10 goals in 29 games this season. Musa has a £22.8m buyout clause in his contract but Leicester are confident that they can get him for less and are likely to return with an improved bid.
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is hoping to overhaul Mesut Ozil’s assist total for Arsenal before the end of the season. De Bruyne moved to City in a £55 million deal from Wolfsburg last summer after earning a reputation for creating chances while playing in Germany. Last season he equalled the Bundesliga record for assists with 21 as Wolfsburg finished runners-up in the league and won Germany’s domestic cup competition. He also created 112 chances — the second most in Europe’s top five leagues behind Marseille’s Dimitri Payet. This season he has nine assists — seven adrift of Ozil –…
La Liga president Javier Tebas says the punishments handed out by FIFA to Spanish giants Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona for breaking youth transfer regulations are “medieval and anachronistic.” Earlier in January, Madrid and Atletico were banned from all transfers during the summer 2016 and winter 2017 windows after FIFA found the two clubs had on many occasions broken the laws regarding the international transfers of players aged under-16. Both clubs have denied any wrongdoing and are set to appeal as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sport if necessary, with Atleti lodging a formal appeal to FIFA’s…
Atletico Madrid lodged an appeal Monday against a one-year transfer ban imposed by Fifa over their dealing in under-age players. The ban starts from the July transfer window this year and finishes with the January transfer market in 2017. Real Madrid were hit with the same punishment. Atletico were also fined 900 000 Swiss francs (820 000 euros) and Real 360 000 (330 000 euros). However, both clubs are still allowed to sign players until the end of the month. Atletico in a statement announced that they had “lodged an appeal against the decision by Fifa’s disciplinary commission”. World football’s…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said on Tuesday he was confident that Brazilian star Neymar would commit to the Catalan giants beyond his current contract in 2018. Asked at the team’s press conference if the Brazil captain was ready to extend his stay in Barcelona, Luis Enrique said: “I believe so, yes.” Neymar, 23, has himself remained vague concerning his future plans, and after stating last month that he was in talks with the club concerning a new contract, he added: “I don’t know, life is very long.” This has lead to speculation of a possible move, including to Liga rivals…
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has apologised to the Federal Government and Nigerians for the Super Eagles’ failure at the ongoing African Nations Championship (Chan) in Rwanda. The Eagles led the group before kick-off of the final group matches on Tuesday but failed to fly in a 0-1 loss to Guinea in Rubavu that eliminated the side from the continental party in Rwanda. NFF President Amaju Pinnick reiterated that the African Nations Championship is “both developmental and preparatory for bigger challenges” and said without mincing words that the federation would now shift focus to the qualification race for the bigger…
Everton manager Roberto Martinez said his side have “nothing to lose” when they face Manchester City in a League Cup semifinal at Eastlands on Wednesday. The Toffees travel to Manchester with a 2-1 lead from the first leg and Martinez believes there’s no reason why they cannot go all the way to Wembley despite some poor recent form, including Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat by Swansea City. But Spanish boss Martinez believes Everton have not got full value for their efforts this season. “You want every player to show the mentality of being ready and that the team can rely on…
Liverpool will win the League Cup title regardless of who they meet in the final, manager Jurgen Klopp has predicted after his side’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over Stoke City on Tuesday. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved two penalties in the semifinal as Liverpool won the penalty shootout 6-5 to reach Wembley after the tie finished 1-1 at Anfield. They have to wait until Wednesday to find out whether Manchester City or Everton will join them in the Feb. 28 final. “Manchester City or Everton, I don’t care, we will win the cup,” Klopp, who returns to Wembley for the first…
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois backed teammate Diego Costa to continue his goalscoring spree after the striker scored the winner in Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League victory over bitter rivals Arsenal. Costa has struggled to recapture the form he displayed on his debut season, when he netted 20 goals in 26 league appearances to lead Chelsea to the league title. The 27-year-old appears to have found his scoring touch since Guus Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho at the helm at Stamford Bridge, scoring six goals in as many appearances in all competitions. “We knew that when he scored a few goals again he…
Olivier Giroud’s high work rate and an ability to “smell” situations have been key to the striker’s impressive form this season, according to his Arsenal team mate and compatriot Laurent Koscielny. The France international has scored nine times in his last 11 club appearances, including a vital Champions League hat-trick at Olympiakos Piraeus and a brace against Liverpool in the Premier League. Giroud, 29, has netted an impressive 18 goals in 32 games in all competition for the Gunners this season and Koscielny stressed the forward gives much more to the team than just those goals. “He’s so massive and…
Manchester City playmaker David Silva is not fully fit but the 30-year-old is improving fast and should be at his best by the end of the season, manager Manuel Pellegrini has said. Silva had a six-week lay-off with an ankle problem prior to the minor knock he picked up in the League Cup semifinal first leg 2-1 loss to Everton on January 6. Limited to just 13 Premier League starts this campaign, Silva has scored two goals and registered eight assists and his manager expects him to get better. “David has had different injuries during the season… But now he…
Anthony Martial has all the attributes to become a great striker, his Manchester United teammate Daley Blind has said. Following his big-money move from French side Monaco in the close season, Martial has scored eight goals in 27 appearances for United. Blid is impressed by the talent of the France international as well as how the 20-year-old has adapted to English football. “He is a big talent, he is still young and we cannot forget that. But you can see on the training pitch and even in the matches already how much quality he has,” Blind told the club’s website…
National chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, has said his party would not return the N100 million he collected from a Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Anenih. The money is said to be from the $2.1million meant for the procurement of arms and received by the Office office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki in the last administration. Falae had insisted that he had no idea the money he took from Anenih was from the arms fund. He said his party collected the money from the PDP, represented by Anenih and…
The Osun Government, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), will flag-off the ‘Integrated Campaign Against Measles’ in the state on Thursday. The State Health Promotion Officer, Mr Adewole Adewoye, said on Monday in Osogbo at a stakeholders meeting that the campaign would hold between Jan. 28 and Feb.1. He said children between nine months and five years would be immunized against the disease in all the designated health centres across the 30 Local Government Areas in the state. He said the measles campaign was part of government efforts in preventing the damages caused by measles such as brain…
The Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria (EHOAN), Lagos State Chapter, on Monday said that it had destroyed no fewer than 4,400 rats at six major markets in the state under its de-rat market programme. Its president, Mr Samuel Akingbehin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his association carried out the exercise at Onigongbo, Oshodi , Oke-Odo, Ikotun Idanwo, Ojuwoye and Mile 12 Markets. He said that de-rating the markets was part of the association’s efforts to curb the spread of Lassa fever in the state. “The exercise is strategic in our effort toward the prevention of communicable…
Former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has responded to the statement of Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, which linked her with the $2.1bn arms scandal. The immediate past minister alleged that Falana made the statement because she “hurt the interests of his corrupt sponsors” while she was in office. The human rights lawyer had on Sunday, January 24, urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute and arrest Okonjo-Iweala for failing to “prevent systematic and widespread corruption” in the previous administration. According to a petition sent to the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, Falana…
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Oyegun, has said that the party is broke and does not plan to involve President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it is not part of his national assignment. He stated this during an interactive session with journalists at the APC headquarters in Abuja. “We are working to raise resources within the membership. We have not asked for rescue from the president because it is not part of his national assignment”, he said. READ: John Oyegun says PDP is paying for their sins He also lamented the current state of the nation,, saying…