Former Real Madrid striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy got off the bench to score a brace in the span of 2 minutes for his new club Hamburg SV as they cruised to a 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Friday.

Van Nistelrooy who left Real in the winter transfer window was making only his second appearance for the club and he did it in style.

For Arsenal supporters, Alexander Hleb will always be considered as one who could have done much more for the North London Club and was wrong when he decided to leave to join Barcelona. Ironically, the ...

You could be excused for being a bit maddened by the fact that many sides this week, have a massive amount of key players either injured of doubtful ahead of their respective Week 6 fixtures. Arsenal and Manchester City are hurting the most, both figuratively and literaly. Here's a quick look at who is lounging in the physio's office:

Arsenal are missing five players ahead of their test with West Bromwich Albion.

UPDATE: According to Barcelona's official website, Barcelona have completed the signing of Javier Mascherano for a fee thought to be around £18million . Mascherano signed a four-year deal with the club that has an escape clause worth €90million.

Arsenal 2 1 Birmingham City

All the talk surrounding this match involved the return of Alexander Hleb (CM) to The Emirates Stadium, the rumored return to fitness of Theo Walcott (RW) and the non-rumored return of Nickolas Bendtner (S) for The Gunners.

Arsenal 2 1 Birmingham City

All the talk surrounding this match involved the return of Alexander Hleb (CM) to The Emirates Stadium, the rumored return to fitness of Theo Walcott (RW) and the non-rumored return of Nickolas Bendtner (S) for The Gunners.

Arsenal FC will host FC Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium on the 31st of March in the first leg of what promises to be one of the most interesting Champions League Quarter Final ties in recent years.

The Gunners and The Blaugrana are widely acknowledged at two of the modern stylists of the beautiful game.

After the latest round of both the Champions League and the Euro-Disney League, we refocus our attention on the Premier league for Week 7. There are some good looking fixtures this week, but none match up to the London-derby between Chelsea and Arsenal on Sunday. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at who will not be featuring this week thanks to their bastardly behavior:

A late and altogether stupid challenge in the dying minutes of Birmingham City's match with Wigan Athletic in Week 6 saw Craig Gardner (CM) given a straight red.

Reflecting on Chelsea v Arsenal's match this past Sunday at Stamford Bridge, I was immediately reminded of one of the most amazing goals I have ever seen.

The date was December 10, 2006. Chelsea desperately need points as they hosted Arsenal in order to keep pace with a runaway Manchester United at the top of the table.

By Chris Wright

There's a bumper crop today. Here's the round up...

Rumour No. 1: Now they are guaranteed to be playing Premier League football next season, Wolves are reportedly eyeing a move for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane.

Opening week of the EPL season and already we have seen the biggest upset of the season with newly promoted Blackpool thumping Wigan 4-0. Most teams are still wheeling and dealing in the transfer market looking to strengthen their squads for the season, here's a look at the Transfer gossip hitting the headlines in this Sunday's UK Newspapers.

spotted at FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

The saga continues between Mascherano and his current club Liverpool.

Javier Mascherano took a step further towards a transfer to Barcelona with the Liverpool midfielder believed to have agreed personal terms with the La Liga champions.

Here we go, the last day of Silly Season for 2010. By the end of the day we'll know the complete list of who is staying and who is moving on. I'll be keeping a running list here of the moves and my impression of their impact on your fantasy choices in the weeks and months to come. I'll also update this post as new confirmations come in.

All 20 clubs had to submit a squad of up to 25 players containing no more than 17 players who do not qualify as homegrown.

Homegrown players are classed as players who "irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday".

With the International Break behind us, and the scores of injuries suffered baying before us, Week 4 of the Premier League could be a bit underwhelming. There aren't any matches that jump off the page and scream classic this week. Though Manchester United's trip to Goodison Park to face Everton could be a diamond in the rough.

Defending European champions Barcelona held out for a 1-1 draw in Germany against a a very impressive but unlucky Stuttgart. This was the first time in a very long time that i have seen Barca outclassed.

The Catalans were reduced to mere spectators in the first half as Stuttgart tormented Barca defenders Puyol, Pique and Busquets for long periods of time.

Eastlands boss keen on former Arsenal attacker.

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Manchester City are ready to end Alexander Hleb's Barcelona nightmare by bringing the talented Belarus international to Eastlands. The former Arsenal man has failed to make it at the Nou Camp and is currently enjoying the taste of first team football on loan at Bundesliga side Stuttgart.

F.C. Barcelona has reached an agreement with Valencia on the transfer of the Spanish International David Villa. The 28 year old had been tempted by Real Madrid this past summer but no agreement was reached. The announcement will be made after the completion of La Liga and it will be the last signing of Joan Laporta as president of the Institution.

If recent news is to be believed, the stage is set for David Villa to take a trip up the coast to Barcelona this summer in a €40million move also involving Bojan and Alexander Hleb. 'El Guaje' has another 4 years left on his Valencia contract, but with the Mestalla club up to their elbows in debt, 40 big ones would do very nicely indeed.

More and more people close to Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas are providing their point of view on where the future of the Spaniard should lie and former Gunner Alexander Hleb believes he should not follow ...

All good things come to an end. That appears to be FC Barcelona's mantra in regards to the stay of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Camp Nou and Cesc Fabregas at the Emirates. In an effort to generate sufficient funds for the signing of Arsenal skipper Fabregas, the Catalan outfit has made it no secret that off-loading their giant Swedish striker is the most suitable alternative.

According to the Daily Mail, Fulham are interested in making a move for former Arsenal star Alexander Hleb.

New Fulham manager Mark Hughes reportedly has a £25m transfer kitty to work with, and one of the players on Hughes' radar looks to be Hleb, according to the Mail.

With Inter Milan having rules themselves out of signing Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano, Barcelona are favourites to land the Argentinian and will offer former Arsenal man Alexander Hleb in part-exchange.
Mascherano has reportedly told Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson that he would like to leave Anfield.

Just a few rumors floating around in the early am in Europe.

Liverpool have told Barcelona that they want £24.5m in cash for Javier Mascherano after rejecting an offer of £18.8m plus Alexander Hleb for the 26-year-old Argentine.
Full story: goal.com

Chelsea have been linked with a move for Inter Milan defender Nicolas Burdisso after concluding that Benfica's Brazil defender David Luiz, rated at £27m, is likely to prove too expensive.

LIVERPOOL have snubbed Barcelona's opening bid for Javier Mascherano which is believed to be somewhere in the region of £18.8m with the Catalan club also willing to throw winger Alexander Hleb into the bargain (personally, £18.8 million without Hleb thrown in sounds like a fairly decent deal to me).

Barcelona were preparing a renewed bid for Javier Mascherano after the coach Pep Guardiola admitted that he wanted to sign a defensive midfielder. The comment comes in light of Mascherano's refusal to play for Liverpool at Manchester City.
Barcelona's initial bid of €15m (£12.3m) with €5m more in add-ons was rejected by Liverpool.

According to the Guardian, Barcelona were last night preparing an improved bid in an attempt to land Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano.

Barcelona made an initial bid of 15m euros plus 5m in add-ons, which was rebuffed by Liverpool, who are said to be holding out for 26m.

In to the last 24 hours, here comes the mad scramble.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has made a sensational bid to land Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Goalkeeper Shay Given has decided to stay at Manchester City, turning down the chance to rejoin his former manager Mark Hughes at Fulham.

According to Birmingham's official website, Birmingham have completed the signing of Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb on a season-long loan.

Also according to Birmingham's official website, Birmingham have signed Sparak Moscow captain Martin Jiranek for an undisclosed fee.

Transfer deadline day often fails to live up to its billing as the most exciting day of the summer session. The final day for clubs to roll the dice on new players ahead of the new season tends to come and go without intrigue.

Yesterday was completely different...

New Birmingham City signing Alexander Hleb has sensationally revealed he turned down Premier League rivals Liverpool and Tottenham to sign for the Blues.
The 29-year-old playmaker has joined the Premier League club from Barcelona on a season-long loan deal having spent last season with Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart.

By Chris Wright

'Twas all a bit dull in the end, no? Anyway, in no particular order, here's a round-up of all of yesterday's movers and shakers...

Premier League:

Robinho [Manchester City - AC Milan] Undisclosed
Asamoah Gyan [Rennes - Sunderland] £13m
Alexander Hleb [Barcelona - Birmingham] Loan
Jean Beausejour [Club America - Birmingham] Undisclosed
Marcus Bent [Birmingham - Wolves] Loan
Paul Konchesky [Fulham - Liverpool] £4m (inc.

Barcelona technical director Andoni Zubizarreta has revealed Javier Mascherano's price tag of €24 million.

After a lot of chatter over Barca's approach to finances, there has since been some debate about the high price paid for Liverpool's Mascherano.

However, Zubizarreta said: "We paid Liverpool €20 million plus the €4 million that came from the player by reducing his salary.

So as the dust settles until January, three of the seven transfers that were being rumoured as the day began actually happened. Gyan, Di Santos and Hleb all making the moves they were expected to make as the day started. Once again though as predicted, the 24 hour rolling news channels were making up their own stories.

At long last, there's club football to be played. That's a good thing, right?

As I've alluded to time and again, international breaks are quite possibly the bane of my existence. Maybe not Martin at the Arsenal Offside levels of hatred, but still a healthy amount. I understand there's a heavy investment that many have in their respective national teams' success, but for me it was a long two weeks.

By AVI CREDITOR

At the end of Matchweek 3 in the Barclays Premier League, Theo Walcott was assuming the best form of his young career, Jermain Defoe looked to have avoided what seemed to be inevitable surgery and Frank Lampard looked doomed to miss at least one match.

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has revealed that injury-plagued midfielder Alexander Hleb, who arrived from the recent international break lacking full fitness, could now face Liverpool after all.

Former Arsenal player Hleb, who represented Belarus in their recent Euro 2012 qualifiers, which included a famous 1-0 away win against France, just arrived at St.

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has revealed that injury-plagued midfielder Alexander Hleb, who arrived from the recent international break lacking full fitness, could now face Liverpool after all.

Former Arsenal player Hleb, who represented Belarus in their recent Euro 2012 qualifiers, which included a famous 1-0 away win against France, just arrived at St.

Tomorrow's Premier League matches look to be full of surprise. After countless injuries over the break coaches are scrambling to get pieces in place. You'd think having a week off would mean having a healthy starting XI. Not the case though as International duty has been costly. Take a look at this list before you lock in your fantasy lineup.

Transfer deadline day. As I write this we're 8.30 hours away from the end of the rumour mills and the various "In The Know's" located all over the internet will have to jump back into their boxes until at least mid December.

It seems it could be a busy day, as it always is just before the window shuts, but will it be for Spurs?