Football Bizness

Crystal Palace v Liverpool/Bolton Arsenal v Middlesbrough Aston Villa v Leicester West Brom v West Ham Bradford v Sunderland/Fulham Blackburn v Stoke Derby v Reading Preston/Sheffield Utd v Cambridge Utd/Man Utd Ties to be played across the weekend of February 14 and 15.

Theo Walcott claims the return of Arsenal's injured stars has given the Gunners belief they can challenge for any trophy this season.

The 21-year-old midfielder was introduced to the media at the Bernabeu on Monday afternoon after successfully undergoing a medical at Sanitas La Moraleja Hospital.

  There was no rest for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea as they were put through their paces on Monday after the FA Cup humiliation against Bradford City on Saturday. 

Legendary Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme has decided to retire from football at the age of 36. Riquelme ended his career with Argentine club Argentinos Juniors after also playing for the likes of Villarreal, Barcelona and Boca Juniors.

The Dutchman’s current deal at Old Trafford expires in 18 months and he has yet to hold talks with manager Louis van Gaal or any senior figures at the club about his long-term future.

Brendan Rodgers has revealed Liverpool's plans for the transfer window...and it doesn't make good reading for their eager fans. Despite being linked with big money moves for both a striker and a goalkeeper before the window slams shut next Monday, the Reds boss has admitted he will not be bringing any new faces into Anfield. Asking if he would be doing any business to strengthen his squad , he replied: “Nothing at all. I don't think we'll be doing any business no. “It will be fairly quiet and unless something dramatic happens we'll be as we are. I wouldn't think anything dramatic would happen.” Culled from the MIRROR

Despite his high level of achievements, Ronaldo displayed a low level of temperance during Real's weekend match against Spanish team Cordoba. The current winner of the FIFA ballon d'Or was sent off after he had an outburst where he angrily kicked Cordoba defender Edimar and hit another in the face.

Newcastle names John Carver as the Head Coach until the end of the season following a long fruitless search for a head coach. Carver has lost three matches and drawn one match. He will meet Hull in the weekend and hopes to secure his first win. He faces former boss Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace on February 11.

Following the clash between Barcelona ace player Lionel Messi and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, there have been speculations that the Argentine International is considering a move to German club Bayern Munich.

   According to ESPN, Real Madrid are being investigated by FIFA to ascertain that they are not breaching the rules on the transfer of players younger than 18.

Lionel Messi and Neymar each scored twice as Barcelona hammered Elche 6-0 on Saturday evening.

They may have suffered their worst season in Premier League history but Manchester United have rocketed into second place in a list of the world's wealthiest football clubs.

Cristiano Ronaldo has apologised to Cordoba defender Edimar for the kick that saw the Portuguese sent-off for the ninth time in his career on Saturday.

Saturday’s fixtures in the fourth round of the 2014/15 FA Cup provided a number of logic-defying results around the UK.

Harry Redknapp is the right manager to keep Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League, believes Kevin Gallen.

The second day of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations featured two evenly contested Group B matches, with Zambia drawing DR Congo 1-1, as Tunisia and the Cape Verde Islands also drew with the same score.

Manuel Pellegrini admitted his Manchester City side must win at Chelsea in this month's title showdown after slumping to a shock home defeat against Arsenal.

Marseille cut the gap to Ligue 1 leaders Lyon to a single point with a late 2-1 win over Guingamp on Sunday.

Mourinho was close to taking Gerrard to Stamford Bridge during his first spell in charge but the former England captain chose to stay at Anfield.

West Ham United fans were booing at half-time but what a difference 45 minutes makes. Three goals, three points, no jeers, just cheers.

The Dutchman sent the Red Devils into action at Loftus Road in an unorthodox 3-3-2-2 formation, one that the struggling R’s were able to pick apart regularly in the first half.

Santi Cazorla looked dead on his feet. The first Arsenal substitution had been made and more than a few were surprised it had not been his number called. Not that he was playing badly. 

Madrid, Spain - Lionel Messi fired home a trio of goals on Sunday as Barcelona rolled to a 4-0 rout of Deportivo La Coruna at the Riazor.

Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote another page of the Real Madrid record book with two of the three goals that helped give his team a 3-0 win over Getafe.

Real Madrid will aim to focus on its Spanish league campaign after losing its Copa del Rey defense to a dominant Atletico Madrid when it hosts another local team - Getafe.

After opening up a three-point gap at the top of the table and winning at Napoli for the first time in more than 14 years, Juventus will look to continue its march to the Serie A title against Hellas Verona on Sunday.

       Samir Nasri could be sidelined for up to a month with a calf injury, Manchester                      City manager Manuel Pellegrini has announced.

Algeria are the only north African side ever to have won the tournament outside north Africa.

  West Ham United  manager Sam Allardyce has urged Alex Song to turn his temporary stay into a permanent one.

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to training at Real Madrid a hero after winning the Ballon d'Or award for a second successive year.

Jermain Defoe admits he will be judged on his goals return after signing for Sunderland in time to make his debut at former club Spurs on Saturday.

Mourinho returned to press conference duties after serving a self-imposed ban after comments he made after their 1-1 draw with Southampton on December 28 led to an FA charge, which he confirmed he is appealing against.

Being substituted before the hour and having a whole stadium boo you as you go off does not usually bring a smile to a player’s face but Fernando Torres could not stop himself from grinning on Thursday night.

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who scored 175 goals for the club, claimed this week Sanchez had been the Gunners' "best signing in the last six years".

Bayern Munich have four men in UEFA's Team of the Yearfrom 2014 as the regular candidates dominate an all-star XI, which includes no British players.

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says striker Radamel Falcao still needs to justify his place at Old Trafford.

Paul Pogba has left the door open for a dramatic return to Manchester United, revealing he still loves the club he left for Juventus in 2012 .

David Ginola has stunned football by announcing his intention  to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. The former Tottenham and Newscastle midfielder, who is looking for support from a number of associations, will officially announce his leadership bid later today. A spokeswoman said: "We will be looking for the full support of Uefa and five football associations." Blatter, seeking a fifth term in office after being elected in 1998 , is already slated to go against FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and former diplomat Jerome Champagne. But Ginola's name is the one that is sure to get tongues wagging around the globe. However, it is not certain whether the 47-year-old will actually be allowed to undertake a bid. To qualify Ginola needs the support of five football associations and must be able to show he has being active within the game for two of the last five years. culled from mirror.co.uk    

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal would be in the January market in search of players. Recently, Debuchy dislocated his shoulder in the match against Stoke City at the Emirates which was a big disappointment for Wenger as he was ruled out for three months. Mikel Arteta also had a surgery on his ankle. Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com: "Yes we are more [in the market now]".

Since August and spent part of his recuperation time in America with the Boston Red Sox over Christmas. "Daniel Sturridge is back and working well but obviously not ready to play as of yet," said Rodgers. "But he is working well and hopefully in the near future he'll be ready. "Time will tell (when he can return). We just want him fit and there is no timeline on that. He is working hard and he's back into the final stages of his rehab here at the club."

Ronaldo has made shining seem so normal so much so that his feet shine too, literally. After Cristiano Ronaldo won his third Ballon d'oR on Monday Night, footwear giants Nike decided to give him a little present. This little present probably costs more than the salary of the average middle class person. Nike decided to make Ronaldo his own pair of unique "rare gold" boots encrusted with diamonds (micro-diamonds to be specific). Nike's creation was made to depict the "remorseless work ethic" of the Portuguese International. Nike said while the world thought Ronaldo was on his best form, he always gave himself a room for improvement. According to the official blurb: "The commitment to keep chipping away at something already impressive reminded Nike's design team of Ronaldo's work ethic" By the way, people really had huge convictions that Ronaldo would not rise this high once he left the English Premier League. hmmmm....I guess some ...

Wilfried Bony has completed his big-money move from Swansea to Premier League champions Manchester City.The Ivorian striker, who is on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, joins Manuel Pellegrini's side for an nitial fee in the region of £25million with another £3m inadd-ons over four years. Bony, 26, has agreed a four-and-a-half year deal. He willwear the No 14 shirt worn previously by Javi Garcia. 'It’s a great feeling for me, it’s a big honour to be here and it’s a great challenge,' said Bony.

Xherdan Shaqiri is confident he has made the right decision to join Inter Milan after turning down offers ‘to join the Barclays Premier League in the January transfer window. The Switzerland international joined Inter from Bayern Munich last week and has signed a contract that will keep him at San Siro until June 2019.

Napoli manager Rafa Benitez will be in charge of a new team next season. Benitez, 54, has had spells with Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League and has most recently been linked with the vacant role at Newcastle with his contract in Serie A expiring at the end of the season. Benitez could be on his way back to England after it was confirmed he turned down the chance to lead the Peru national team to focus on club management.

image from Skysports   Oscar's opening goal and clever assist helped Chelsea to extend their narrow advantage over title rivals Manchester City. CHELSEA star Oscar produced his best display of the season to help defeat Newcastle on Saturday , but the Brazilian midfielder has not rested on his laurels and has demanded even more from his team-mates.

Cristiano Ronaldo has leapt to the defence of Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale, after the Wales star was criticized by their supporters at the weekend. Real fans slated Bale for failing to play in Ronaldo for an open goal in their 3-0 win at home to Espanyol on Saturday night.

Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2014 Fifa Ballon d'Or ahead of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi , scooping up the prestigious individual award for the third time in his career.

Six months have passed since Alexis Sanchez arrived at Arsenal for £35million and one nagging question remains: what do you think they were smoking over there at the Nou Camp?

Lionel Messi showed why he is the boss at Barcelona making the first two goals and scoring the third in a 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp.

Wilfried Bony's move to Manchester City is set to be completed after Swansea accepted an offer worth close to £30million. The initial fee is £25m up front, plus a further £3m if City win the Barclays Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup, though Bony would have to figure in 60 per cent of games in those competitions.