Despite being the joint top scorer in the English Premier League last season alongside Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov found playing time hard to come by in the latter stages of Manchester United s season. After being left off the match-day squad for the UEFA Champions League Final, Berbatov was no where to be seen. When asked about his whereabouts, Berbatov responded:
To be honest, I was in the dressing room. I watched the final from there. This was embarrassing for me – that I was not included in the group. I didn t want people to see the pain in my eyes.
I will remain at United. I will fight for my place and I will fight for title number 20.
If I was a man who gave up easily, I would never be here in the first place – …
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned Manchester City that Robin van Persie is not for sale.
The Arsenal captain has been in scintillating form since his return from injury last November, narrowly missing out on being last year’s top scorer with 18 Premier League strikes in just 25 games, and already notching three goals this campaign.
Wenger reluctantly saw France internationals Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri leave for the Etihad Stadium in the summer, and he appears determined not to see his captain follow them.
Robin is under contract until 2013, this is a story created to create a story, there is no truth in it, Wenger told reporters.
Why should we sell players in January?
Wenger hit out at free-spending Mancini by suggesting he already …
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez once again found himself at the centre of controversy following his country’s 1-0 FIFA World Cup win over Italy.
The South American nation secured second place in Group D and a passage to the knockout stages thanks to Diego Godin s second-half winner in Natal on Tuesday.
Yet their talismanic striker is once again set to steal the headlines after appearing to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the closing stages.
Following a sensational year at club level with Liverpool, Suarez has now added another chapter of controversy to a career where his misdeeds have often overshadowed his mercurial talent.
Here are six occasions when Suarez has overstepped the mark and badly tarnished his reputation.
1. July 2010 Urug…
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has defended his decision to send Darren Bent out on loan despite his side struggling to find the net.
Bent, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, is Villa s record signing, having arrived from Sunderland in January 2011 in a deal worth a reported £24million.
However, the former England striker has fallen out of favour under Lambert and will spend the next month with Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion.
Although Villa have mustered just six Premier League goals this term, Lambert feels the move will benefit all parties.
He said: Darren wanted to go out on loan about a month ago but with Christian Benteke being suspended we had to keep him here.
It gets Darren s career going again and that s why I loa…
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid’s transfer business over the last two seasons has been understated.
The Spanish giants are known for big-name purchases, but have hardly added outsiders to their squad in recent seasons, instead selling some of those who haven’t made the grade.
And the ones they’ve sold have made a lot of money which is testament to how strongly the squad had been built.
Real Madrid‘s success with a similar squad has hampered fringe players
In the last three years, Real Madrid have won the La Liga title, Champions League twice, Copa Del Rey, UEFA Super Cup twice and FIFA Club World Cup twice. They’ve retained much of the same side from 2014 which has made it difficult for certain signings to get game time.
After weeks of speculation, Neymar finally completed his world-record €222million move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday.
The Brazilian leaves Camp Nou after four years that yielded two LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey trophies, a Supercopa de Espana, one Champions League and one Club World Cup.
Alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar contributed 105 competitive goals to help inspire the Catalan giants to such a surfeit of silverware.
Here, we take a look at 10 of the Brazilian s finest in a Barca shirt.
February 15, 2014 vs Rayo Vallecano
The last in a 6-0 rout at Camp Nou, this goal was the first true glimpse Blaugrana supporters were given of Neymar s superstar quality. Receiving the ball on the halfway l…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be ready to extend his contract at Milan after a fine start to the season.
Ibrahimovic returned to the Serie A club in January, extending his deal in August through until the end of the 2020-21 season.
However, the veteran striker could be set to remain at the club for longer, per speculation in Italy.
TOP STORY – IBRAHIMOVIC COULD RENEW AT MILAN UNTIL 2022
Ibrahimovic s agent Mino Raiola is already studying a plan to extend the striker s deal at Milan until 2022, according to Corriere della Sera.
The 39-year-old has scored four goals in two Serie A games for league leaders Milan this season, including a brace in the derby win over rivals Inter at the weekend.
Ibrahimovic netted 10 goals and provid…
Pep Guardiola feels Manchester City can simply look back at recent seasons to avoid getting carried away with their sparkling recent form.
City sit top of the Premier League after a run of landslide wins over Liverpool, Watford and Crystal Palace, while they dispatched Feyenoord 4-0 in their Champions League opener two weeks ago.
Guardiola s men return to action in Europe s elite competition at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday but the ex-Barcelona boss has been here before when it comes to early-season optimism.
Including a two-legged Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest, City won their first 10 competitive matches under Guardiola before a 3-3 draw at Celtic 12 months ago set in motion a winless run of six games in all competitions.
Th…
According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea have no plans to sell Jorginho with Thomas Tuchel not being able to “do without” him.
Jorginho, who missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 final shootout, has had a decent tournament with the Azzurri and will be hoping to carry that momentum forward into his time with the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are the current European champions and, funnily enough, Jorginho now holds that distinction at the international level which would lead one to believe he could be in a pretty confident mood once the Premier League gets up and running again.
Jorginho is still viewed as one of the most exciting and intriguing players in the English game and we can t imagine that s going to change anytime soon, but it …
Cristiano Ronaldo s future has been widely discussed this off-season.
The 36-year-old five-time Ballon d Or winner has only one more year on his existing Juventus contract.
Ronaldo has been linked with several suitors among Europe s elite clubs as well as a switch to MLS after Juve failed to win the 2020-21 Serie A title.
TOP STORY RONALDO SET TO EXTEND JUVE STAY
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to remain with Juventus amid talk of a new cut-price deal, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Portugal international has attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain and former club Manchester United this off-season.
However, Ronaldo is close to extending his Juve stay with a fresh one-year contract, taking a pay cut.
con la prima pagi…