The good news for Jose Mourinho is that he can concentrate all his energies on winning the Premier League title now that Chelsea are out of the Champions League.

David Beckham has backed former team-mate Luis Figo’s bid to become the next FIFA president.

“I care about football so what I’m seeing regarding the image of FIFA – not only now but in the past years – I don’t like it."

Liverpool are closing in on a deal to bring maverick striker Mario Balotelli back to England from AC Milan.

Villarreal have been fined but have escaped a stadium ban as punishment for the banana-throwing incident involving Dani Alves.

They circled him like sharks, occasionally breaking ranks to dart forward and nip him, just to see what he would do.

It is a most curious conundrum. The better Gareth Bale plays, the less likely it is that he will stay at Tottenham.

Arsenal have indicated they are anxious to retain the services of Liam Brady in a new capacity after it was announced that the Irish football legend will step down as head of the club’s youth academy in May 2014.

BELIEVE in me, he told us.

COMPLIMENTS of the season from festive Heathrow where the annual snow crisis has arrived a little earlier this year.

NWANKWO KANU might have been treated as part of the Premier League furniture for longer than he can care to remember, but at least one man believes his contribution merits special mention.

YOU can usually tell what gets an Italian manager riled. For Giovanni Trapattoni it seems to be the Andy Reid question. For Marcello Lippi on Sunday it was more the Giovanni Trapattoni question.

THE final hours of the January transfer window made an inevitably frenetic start yesterday, as Premier League clubs tried desperately to bulk out their squads ahead of today's 5pm deadline.

IT will clearly take more than the untold wealth of oil-rich Arabs to rid Manchester City of their clownish reputation.

Anorthosis Famagusta 3 Internazionale 3

PATRICK VIEIRA could be set for a return to English football with Portsmouth.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo will have struck fear into opposing defenders by insisting he is nowhere near the finished article yet.

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he expects to return to England when his time comes to an end at Internazionale.

Brazilian forward Ronaldo will be fit to return in one month after recovering from a career-threatening knee injury sooner than anticipated.

Internazionale have denied that coach Jose Mourinho is being paid €11mn a year.

SERGIO AGUERO’S brace helped Atletico Madrid hit the ground running as a terrific performance from the Argentina midfielder saw his side rip apart hosts PSV Eindhoven 3-0.

ITALY coach Marcello Lippi admits the Azzurri need to raise their game after only scraping past Cyprus in their opening World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez has been named in the Argentina squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru.

Holders Manchester United will face Celtic in the Champions League group stages following the draw in Monaco.

Petr Cech is sure Frank Lampard will stay at Chelsea for at least another year.

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea exit appears to be growing ever nearer after Internazionale director Gabriele Oriali claimed the England midfielder wants to join them.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon insists Frank Lampard will see out the remainder of his contract if they cannot persuade him to sign a new deal.

Chelsea have told Internazionale they will not even discuss the possibility of selling Frank Lampard.

Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Real Madrid forward Robinho after sporting director Frank Arnesen met with the player’s agent.

AC Milan are a step closer to signing Ronaldinho after the Barcelona midfielder’s agent admitted there was only one club for him.

Hamburg have confirmed they will play Manchester City at home in a pre-season friendly on July 26.

Internazionale president Massimo Moratti has highlighted the capture of Chelsea's Frank Lampard as his club's "number one" priority this summer.

Goals from Roque Santa Cruz and Salvador Cabanas enabled 10-man Paraguay to remain on top of the South American qualifying zone with a convincing victory over Brazil on Sunday.

Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho has cast doubt on his future at Stamford Bridge by criticising the club's treatment of former boss Avram Grant.

Sweden 1 Spain 2

Alessandro Del Piero is ready to take centre stage when Italy face Romania in tonight’s Euro 2008 showdown in Zurich.

The agent of Barcelona playmaker Deco has denied speculation his client is poised to link-up with Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea.

Barcelona midfielder Deco believes Arsenal’s Alexander Hleb is the ideal candidate to replace him when he leaves the Nou Camp this summer.

ALEXANDER HLEB'S representative yesterday claimed a deal to take the Arsenal player to Barcelona "is close".

Jose Mourinho announced to Italian football on Tuesday at his unveiling as Internazionale boss that he is “a great coach” but insisted he no longer wants to be special.

Jose Mourinho may not have the power to make wholesale changes to his new Internazionale side after president Massimo Moratti revealed he hoped to leave the squad largely untouched.

Roberto Mancini’s advisor has denied his client is in talks with Chelsea and insists he is intent on leading Internazionale to a fourth successive Serie A crown.