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Ronaldinho officially retires from football at the age of 37

Barcelona legend Ronaldinho has officially called it quits on his footballing career at the age of 37.

The Brazilian legend was a joy to watch in his playing days and delighted many fans with his outrageous skills and infectious smile.

He moved to PSG from Brazilian side Gremio in 2001, then decided against joining Manchester United to move to Barcelona after the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.

He helped Barcelona win the 2006 Champions League by beating Arsenal in the final, and made himself a hero in Camp Nou over the course of his time there.

He fell out of favor with Pep Guardiola in 2009 and moved to AC Milan.

He won the Serie A with the Rossoneri in 2010/2011 season.

However, he has not played for any professional club since he left Fluminense in 2015.

His brother who is also his agent, Roberto Assis disclosed the news of his retirement to the Brazilian press.

He claimed that activities have been lined up to celebrate his career and events would take off across the continents of the world after the World Cup in Russia later this year.

He also confirmed that Nike would be heavily involved in sponsoring his farewell events.

Naby Keita will NOT join Liverpool from RB Leipzig this month

Liverpool have been dealt a major blow in their efforts to bring forward the summer move of Naby Keita from RB Leipzig.

The Reds have been hoping to bring the Guinean midfielder’s transfer forward this month even if it required them paying an extra charge.

However, the Germans have decided against allowing him to leave early, and they released a statement saying he would remain a Leipzig player until June 30th this year.

Keita was widely expected to join Liverpool this week, with reports in the German media claiming he would be playing his last game for the Bundesliga giants on Saturday.

He did play that match against Schalke 04 and even opened the scoring, but that would not be his last game.

Keita joined Leipzig from Redbull Salzburg before the 2016/2017 season and was the best midfielder in the German league in his first season.

Liverpool wanted to sign him last summer, but the Germans refused. The Reds then struck an agreement that would see him join the for £67 million next summer.

Keita has scored 3 goals in 14 Bundesliga games this season.

Jamie Vardy and Mohammed Salah break club records in Liverpool victory

Jamie Vardy’s rise to football prominence is one of the most inspiring stories an amateur footballer would need to keep his hopes of making in to the top flight alive.

The England attacker rose from non-league football to win the Premier League with the Foxes two seasons ago.

He broke the goal scoring record for the longest number of consecutive games a player played and scored in the Premier League that season.

And when he scored in the third minute of their 2-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday, he set a new record.

The 30 years old became the first Leicester City player to score in five consecutive games against Liverpool, and he has netted 7 goals in his last 8 games against the Reds.

However, despite scoring first, the former Premier League champions ended up as the losing side.

Salah scored twice to help the Reds win 2-1, in the process the Egyptian became the first Liverpool player since Roger Hunt to score 23 goals before the new year, a record that was set in the 1961-1962 season.

Salah has now netted 17 times in the Premier League this season.

Jose Mourinho claims he knows how Manchester United can stop Manchester City

Jose Mourinho claims that spending more money would help Manchester United stop Manchester City from running away with the Premier League title.

The former Chelsea boss has already spent £300 million to try to rebuild the Red Devils since he was made manager before last season, but he claims it is not enough.

The Red Devils fell 15 points behind Manchester City in the title race over the weekend following a hard fought draw with Burnley.

Related: Manchester United close in on signing Brazilian wonderkid

The gap could have been worse had it not been for Jese Lingard’s brace off the bench which helped the them to a point after Burnley had gone 2-0 up.

According to Jose Mourinho “Manchester City buy defenders for the price of strikers”

When he was reminded that the Red Devils have spent roughly £300 million since he took over last year, the Portuguese was quick to play down the outlay claiming it was “it is not enough.”

He further claimed that the historically big clubs are usually punished in the transfer market because of their history.

According to Talks Sport, he was asked of he intended to still spend big during the January transfer windows, but the Portuguese manager left the room without answering.

The Red Devils have been linked with Malcom of Bordeaux this month.

Manchester City prepare to make Pep Guardiola the highest paid manager in the world

Manchester City would sit down with Pep Guardiola at the end of this season to extend the Spaniard’s deal.

The new deal would reportedly be worth £5 million more than his current £15 million per season.

Guardiola still has about 18 months to run on his current contract at the Etihad, and he looks willing to stay in the Premier League longer than he first thought.

The Catalan declined  the offer of a new deal at Barcelona after four trophy-laden years, citing tiredness, he went on to managed Bayern Munich for a further three years in Germany. However, he also decided against renewing his deal with the German giants despite failing to win the Champions League in the three seasons he managed there.

He joined Manchester City last season, but could not win the Premier League and doubted if his methods would bring him success in the most popular league in the world.

This season however, his Manchester City team has found their mojo and are currently on a 16 games unbeaten run, which has delighted him.

The City board are convinced he would sign an extension with them and are prepared to offer him £20 million a season to continue his good work for them.

Arsenal will enter new contract talks with resurgent midfielder next month

Following his return to full fitness this season, Arsenal are set to offer Jack Wilshere a new deal when the transfer window reopens next month.

Wilshere has seen his Gunners career take a hit following a series of high profile and long term injuries over the past few seasons, and almost left the club last summer.

The midfielder was shipped out on loan to Bournemouth last season, but he failed to impress and his loan spell was ended by an injury which kept him out of pre-season.

However, he has successfully fought back and has gone through the first half of this season with no injuries so far.

This has caught the attention of Arsene Wenger who insist the England international is an “Arsenal man.”

The Gunners are facing a mass exodus of players next summer, but Wenger does not want Wilshere to join that group.

According to him, he wanted to see how long Wilshere would last without getting injured before talking about a new deal.

With Mesut Ozil likely taking a walk at the end of his current deal next summer, if Wilshere stays fit the Gunners may build their midfield around him.

 

German legend regrets not playing in the Premier League despite interest from Manchester United

Germany and Bayern Munich legend Oliver Kahn has joined the list of former professionals who regret not taking a chance with a Premier League move before ending their careers.

The 2002 World Cup finalist was courted by Manchester United who were still looking for a capable replacement for Peter Schmeichel in 2003, but he turned them down as he was reluctant to leave Bayern at the time.

According to the German, Sir Alex Ferguson is still upset with him till this day for turning him down and he wished he had joined the Red Devils at the time.

Kahn claims Ferguson had expected him to join them in 2003 or 2004, he disappointed the Scot as he looked to help define an era in Munich.

He was in goal when Manchester United stunned Bayern with two late goals in the 1999 Champions League final at the Camp Nou, and his subsequent performances had impressed  Ferguson who hoped he would retire in the Premier League with the Red Devils.

Kahn went on to make 400 appearances for Bayern Munich over a 14 years period, while the Red Devils found a good goalie in Edwin Van da Sar who helped them win a few titles including the 2008 Champions League.

 

Manchester United defender to be out of action for up to three months following surgery

Manchester United would be without the services of Ivorian defender Eric Bailly for at least the next two months after the club decided that he should undergo surgery on his injured ankle.

Bailly has not played in eight consecutive games for the Reds Devil after he got the injury while on international duty.

He has not featured for the Red Devils since their 1-0 loss to Chelsea and looks set to miss even more games.

Jose Mourinho had previously admitted to fears that the defender might need to go through surgery before he would be fit to play again, and his fears have been confirmed.

Speaking ahead of his side’s game this weekend, the Portuguese tactician confirmed that the club has decided Bially would go through with the necessary surgical operation, also letting reporters know that he could be unfit for the next three months.

Without Bailly, the Red Devils would be left wit Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof. This could force Mourinho into making a defensive signing next month, but his is not a fan of the winter transfer window.

According to Mourinho, the January transfer window does not always appeal to him, but certain situations could warrant him taking a chance.

German giants fire manager and replace him almost immediately

Borussia Dortmund have fired Peter Bosz and replaced him with former FC Cologne manager, Peter Stoger.

The German side fired the former Ajax manager after their 2-1 loss to relegation battlers, Werder Bremen.

His replacement, Stoger was let go of his job by FC Cologne on the 3rd of December after a poor run of results also.

Stoger had joined FC Cologne in 2013 and led them to promotion to the German top flight in his first season.

They also had a great season last year that saw them finish in the Europa League places, but this season hasn’t gone as planned and he was let go. He left Cologne with the team at he foot of the  Bundesliga table.

Dortmund’s loss to bottom-of-the table Bremen was the eighth consecutive time they have failed to win in the league.

Dortmund had previously gone 41 home games without a defeat, but after their home loss to Leipzig on October 8th, they have lost two and drawn one at home, the draw coming in the form of a 4-4 draw with bitter rivals Schalke 04.

Bosz helped Dortmund achieve the best start to a Bundesliga season, with 6 wins and one draw in their first seven games.

Brighton vs Crystal Palace set to become first competitive English game to use VAR

Video Assistant Referee would be use to overturn refereeing decisions for the first in England in the FA Cup game between Brighton and Crystal Palace.

The English FA had longed announce their decision to use video technology in the FA Cup this season, and initially considered using it in the Liverpool vs Everton tie. But the Merseyside derby was deemed too high profile for the trial to take place.

The FA made the announcements in March, and would be used first in the FA Cup third round tie between 5th and 8th January, and it would be used only in the Televised games played on Premier League grounds.

The International Football Association Board has laid down protocol under which a match changing decision can be overturned through video review. per the protocol, only cases of “direct red cards, penalty or no penalty, awarding goals,  and when the identity of a culprit is mistaken can necessitate a decision to be overturned.

The reason why the trial is being restricted to only televised games in Premier League grounds, is because they have the necessary infrastructure to aid the administration of the technology.

Liverpool vs. Everton, and Brighton vs Palace are the only two games that meet this criteria.