Can this month get any better for Chelsea fans? As if winning the FA Cup and Champions League was not good enough, the best young talent in Europe, Eden Hazard says that he will be playing for Chelsea next season. Hazard snubbed both Man City and Man United in picking Chelsea.

Hazard has enjoyed a hugely successful season in France, where he was named Ligue 1 player of the year for the second season running, scoring 17 goals in 37 league games.

The football season has ended, and for Newcastle United, the summer will be a crucial one in terms of bringing in new players. So, below is a list of transfer targets that have either been linked to a move to St. James's Park, or transfers we reckon have at least some potential of happening.

Sagna Confident RVP Will Stay, Wants M'Vila Signed Too

Bacary Sagna is confident that Arsenal will be successful in their attempts to secure captain Robin van Persie's long-term future and has urged the club to also sign Rennes' defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila in the summer transfer window.

At first glance it did not look serious.


Two last-minute expressions of interest in hosting Euro 2020 were registered before the deadline to add to Turkey's existing one.
One came from Georgia and the other was a joint proposal from Eire, Scotland and Wales.

Joint-ownership of football players; the future or a financial cloak? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Long gone are the days of simply buying and selling players; due to the extortionate amounts of money that football players are worth modern day contracts are intricate, with many different beneficiaries in every deal.

In our recent analysis of the PFA awards, my fellow blogger John McGee highlighted the disagreement that can ensue when debating the worth of leading young players. With Jordan Rhodes valued by the press as a knee jerk £6 million, John pointed out that Adam Le Fondre, the man whose two goals fired Reading to victory over Southampton in the Championship's recent summit meeting, cost a mere £350,000.

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Werder Bremen midfielder Marko Marin for between £5.5 million and £6.5m. Reports in Germany claim that Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku will spend a season on loan with the Bundesliga side as part of the deal.

The 23-year-old Marin, joined Bremen from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2009 has already passed a medical in London and will sign a contract with the Blues in the next few weeks, according to his current club.

Is it possible to like someone who hurts you?

Of course it is, otherwise we would all be divorced.

Nasty old Roberto Martinez hurt us badly on Monday night. He got his Wigan team to play so well against us that – heaven forfend – they may have cost us the three points that guarantee Champions League football next season, depending on how our remaining fixtures go.

Is it possible to like someone who hurts you?

Of course it is, otherwise we would all be divorced.

Nasty old Roberto Martinez hurt us badly on Monday night. He got his Wigan team to play so well against us that – heaven forfend – they may have cost us the three points that guarantee Champions League football next season, depending on how our remaining fixtures go.

Let's all raise a glass to the highly not credible, often made up, anonymous sources that rule the media and news agencies. Their "insider" information may be slightly exaggerated, or altogether useless, but they still fill our lives with random gems of dictionary-chewing banalities like this story, for example nonetheless.

Balotelli is at it again. Only hours after news of his brief union with call girl Jennifer Thompson made headlines, the 21 year old again found himself on the wrong side of the law yesterday when he crashed his white Bentley in the Deansgate Locks area of Manchester. Following his latest behaviour, Manchester City are seriously considering selling him this summer to put an end to all his shenanigans.

How Financial Fair Play could reshape the Premier League (good for Arsenal & Spurs, bad for Manchester City..) is a post from: Just Football

Are Manchester City's days of lavish spending about to end?

by Amit Singh

The Financial Fair Play rules (FFP) will become effective at the start of the 2013-2014 season which means that clubs will only be allowed to spend what they earn as well being expected to break even over a three year period starting from 2011-2012.

Sometimes, the Kansas City Royals actually spend money. They did so on Friday when they gave Alex Gordon a $37.5 million contract over the next four seasons. Gordan is one of the best players on the Royals and was one of the best hitters in the American League last season.

The contract calls for Gordan to make $6 million this year and then $9 million next year.

According to Sport360, Barcelona have not only reached an agreement with Santos to sign the Brazilian phenom Neymar after the 2014 World Cup, but that Barca have already paid Santos some of the transfer fee.

"According to several reliable sources Barca have already paid a quarter [€14.

According to Sport360, Barcelona have not only reached an agreement with Santos to sign the Brazilian phenom Neymar after the 2014 World Cup, but that Barca have already paid Santos some of the transfer fee.

"According to several reliable sources Barca have already paid a quarter [€14.

The Original Ronaldo has dished out crucial advice to one of Brazil's hottest footballing prospects to date Neymar telling him to flee and never come back! You see, Ronaldo believes that the Brazilian Championship is steadily growing but it has no potential to "impress others.

After establishing that Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the world's highest-paid footballer, earning €33 million a year (€10.5-million salary, €1.5 million in bonuses and €21 million in advertising and other contracts), France Football magazine has discovered that Manchester United disappointment on loan at Beskitas is the world's 97,612th highest paid footballer.

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba is said to be in critical condition after suffering heart attack while featuring in Bolton's FA Cup fixture against Tottenham yesterday.

The 23 year old went down unchallenged in the 41st minute of the game and was immediately attended to by paramedics who spent 6 minutes trying to resuscitate him before he was stretchered off the pitch.

Guest Post: "A View from France: Will the WPS help to grow the game in France and beyond?"

Photo courtesy: WPS / www.womensprosoccer.com

Background on the women's game in France
Women's soccer is starting to get more recognition and exposure in France.

Guest Post: "A View from France: Will the WPS help to grow the game in France and beyond?"

Photo courtesy: WPS / www.womensprosoccer.com

Background on the women's game in France
Women's soccer is starting to get more recognition and exposure in France.

MLS continues to grow, and not only are they drawing large crowds at the turnstyles, but also large TV audiences as well.
Saturday's Vancouver-Montreal game was the most-watched MLS game ever in Canada, drawing an average audience of 541,000 viewers for the Impact's debut game on TSN (288,000) and RDS (253,000), according to BBM Canada.

The Jimmy Bullard saga continues to take it's twists and turns at Ipswich Town and I'm torn between concern and fascination.
When Jimmy B joined The Blues on loan last season, it seemed as though our saviour had come. He played some great football, lifted a struggling side and in the space of just a few months he earned the Fans Player of the Season award at Portman Road.

Watch out guys, there's a revolution coming up in Russian football! That's if you comrades fully trust in Anzhi coach Guus Hiddink who picked up a cool €50,000 bonus when his team defeated Dynamo Moscow in the opening game of the Russian league yesterday.

A few headlines from Arsenal Holdings Plc. Interim accounts for six months ending 30.11.2011.

Profit before tax... £49.5 million (2010 £6.1 million loss)

Turnover from football £113.5 million (2010 £97.6 million) with increases from match-day (increased ticket prices and four additional games played) and commercial income streams.

While most of the numbers were leaked last week, Arsenal‘s financial results make interesting reading.

Here are some of the highliights:

• Group profit before tax was £49.5 million (2010 – loss of £6.1 million)
• Profit on sale of player registrations amounted to £63.

While most of the numbers were leaked last week, Arsenal's financial results make interesting reading.

Here are some of the highliights:

• Group profit before tax was £49.5 million (2010 loss of £6.1 million)
• Profit on sale of player registrations amounted to £63.

There has been some very bad news for football over the last week. The fact that Glasgow Rangers have been put into administration, by the club's owner, is an indication of the sorry state the Beautiful Game is in both financially and in terms of management.

This latest occurrence has come about as a result of Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC) demanding up to £50 million in unpaid taxes and National Insurance contributions due on money paid into Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).

Michael Ballack could be coming to a MLS side near you. (Getty Images)

German international midfielder Michael Ballack could be close to joining a Major League Soccer team. Sources close to Goal.com say the midfielder is in "deep negotiations" with the league.

Sources from both sides have confirmed that MLS Executive VP Todd Durbin initiated talks that would bring the former Germany captain and current Bayer Leverkusen midfielder to North America.

Stewart Downing came for a big fee in the Summer of 2011. With a good touch, pace and consistently the most crosses in the Premier League he looked like a good compliment to Andy Carroll, but he was never worth the £18.5 million pounds Liverpool paid for him, becoming the sixth most expensive Liverpool signing of all time in the process.

Last week the USSF announced changes to the structure of the developmental academy system. The two primary changes were a shift to a nationwide 10-month season (USSoccer.com) and a top-down forced choice between high school soccer and the Academies (TopDrawerSoccer.com). These changes are part of the national federation's continued quest for improvement and are extensions from the establishment of the Academy system and growing MLS HomeGrown Player rules (both SBNation.

The new Indian League franchise got their squads ready during the week, with a fantasy league type auction.

The six week run tournament, seen each team bid for an "Icon" player and a foreign coach set up in the same style as the Indian one day cricket format currently used to great effect.

By Chris Wright

'Twas a bit of a slow one yesterday as anyone who spent 11-and-a-bit hours 'glued' to the live feed will tell you, with the total spending across the English leagues failing to surpass the £50 million that Chelsea spaffed on Fernando Torres this time last year let alone the ludicrous £225 million that was spent in total in January of 2011.

Reports from Craven Cottage are suggesting that Fulham have sold QPR a player who "never existed in the first place."

The extraordinary claims come on the back of Bobby Zamora's mooted £5 million move from Fulham to QPR.

A source from the West Ham grounds staff revealed today that "Bobby Zamora gave up football a long time ago.

Martin Jol has stunned the footballing world by dramatically selling himself to Aston Villa.

"To be honest I expected more from Fulham. It's a small club," he explained while screwing up his nose and sniffing. "And I wanted to be at a big club. You know? With big things."

Jol continued: "I had seen what happened to Mark Hughes after he walked out on Fulham.

In recent years, Swedish clothing retailer H&M has made strides in growing its brand in the United States, and it seems they've decided to take a major step in brand recognition by paying $3.5 million to air a commercial during Sunday's Super Bowl. What better way to make a splash in your first Super Bowl commercial than by having it star one of the world's most recognizable football players, David Beckham?

Sebastien Le Toux's return to Philadelphia truly does appear to be simply a chance to pack his belongings, as the striker's transfer to Bolton Wanderers is set to be completed in the next two days.

MLSsoccer.com's Joe Prince-Wright told TalkSport UK, in an interview, that the Frenchman was "gonna finalize his contract tomorrow with Bolton.

After weeks of rumours and hand-wringing negotiations, Martin Caceres finally returns to Juventus from Sevilla on loan for the rest of the season. Juventus will initially pay €1.5 million and an additional €8 million in the summer to make the move permanent. The Uruguayan defender was already once on the books for Juventus during the disastrous 2009-10 season on loan from Barcelona; however, due.

Looks like the the effect of those UEFA financial fair play rules are having at best a marginal effect as losses rose to €1.6bn for the 2010-11 FY, up from the previous year's €1.2bn loss racked up by Europe's soccer leagues.

The only exception is the Bundesliga which managed to turn around losses into a healthy profit of €52.

According to media reports in Spain, Jose Mourinho will quit his job as Real Madrid manager this summer.

For the first time Mourinho was booed and whistled at by the Bernabeu faithful as rumors continue to swirl around the team of divisions within the squad.

The sensational claim that Mourinho will quit came from highly-respected Spanish football journalist Siro Lopez, who said after Real Madrid's 4-1 win against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend that the former Chelsea boss will walk away from his £11.

According to media reports in Spain, Jose Mourinho will quit his job as Real Madrid manager this summer.

For the first time Mourinho was booed and whistled at by the Bernabeu faithful as rumors continue to swirl around the team of divisions within the squad.

The sensational claim that Mourinho will quit came from highly-respected Spanish football journalist Siro Lopez, who said after Real Madrid's 4-1 win against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend that the former Chelsea boss will walk away from his £11.