Real Madrid can move a big step closer to the Spanish Premier League title today with a win against Levante in one of the day's most anticipated matches.

Barcelona's shocking loss to Levante on Saturday means Real Madrid could extend their lead atop the La Liga standings to a huge ten points.

Former Liverpool striker Nicolas Anelka left Chelsea for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua in January, and for a brief period prior to signing, the Frenchman was dubiously linked with an improbable return to Anfield. Anelka could've also joined Carlo Ancelotti at Paris St Germain, but as he now reveals, the move held no interest for him.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has dismissed suggestions that the club approached Manchester City over the weekend with a proposal to swap Andy Carroll for exiled Argentine Carlos Tevez.

Carroll, who has struggled continuously with form and fitness since his £35 million move from Newcastle United in last year's January transfer window, recently spoke about his determination to make a mark at Anfield.

A pair of heated English derby match-ups headline today's action, and both will have added subplots that will only make things more intense.

Manchester United and Liverpool clash in their first meeting since the controversial match where Luis Suarez allegedly used racial slurs against Patrice Evra; while London rivals Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers meet for the first time since John Terry allegedly used a racial slur against Anton Ferdinand.

Today as expected, Alex signed for PSG and ex Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti after asking to leave the club towards the end of last year.
The Official Chelsea Website posted up confirmation this afternoon with a statement that reads:

"Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have agreed terms for the permanent transfer of Alex to Paris St Germain.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas insists that he is not the right man to discuss a potential deal for Genk youngster Kevin De Bruyne and also feels that "certain issues" will prevent the club from signing Brazil international Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup visit to cross-town rivals QPR a fixture that Villas-Boas desperately wants to win in order to get one step closer to silverware the Blues gaffer told reporters that neither De Bruyne nor Willian were in his immediate plans.

Generation 2022: Al-Kass Under-17 International Cup Scouting Report is a post from: Just Football

Always on the lookout for new talent here at Just Football, we sent our man in Qatar to check out the inaugural Al-Kass International Under-17 tournament. A warm welcome to Raphael Nawari, who reports on a competition full of promising youngsters:

In a small secluded part of the world, the new stars of tomorrow are taking part in a newly formed tournament, which in years to come will be considered as one of the better known youth tournaments, rivalling the Milk Cup and others where the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi have graced us with their precocious talents.

Giovani Dos Santos is no stranger to moving during the winter transfer window, but instead of what has happened in past years, he is on the verge of leaving club purgatory for good.

Forever glued to the bench at Tottenham, the 22-year-old Mexican star is on the verge of a full transfer to Spanish club Villarreal, according to reports from Europe.

Do you ever expect to win the league again while Wenger is manager at Arsenal?

I was listening to Talk Sport the other evening (I know, I know) when suddenly they posed that question and it struck me like a bolt of lightning. I don't usually take too much notice of the anti-Arsenal rhetoric that Adrian Durham spews out.

A clearly angry Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has ruled out Carlos Tevez's move to Italian giants AC Milan. Mubarak who did not mince his words during an interview with The National in Abu Dhabi.

Mubarak is livid with the way Milan have conducted themselves the entire time and have continually maintained that loaning him with the option of buying at the end of the season is not an option.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has been found guilty of gross misconduct and fined six weeks' wages after flying home to Argentina without permission, a club source told Reuters. Tevez has been in Argentina since November as his agents try and negotiate a move to AC Milan.

City have obviously had enough of Tevez's antics and told Reuters:

"In response to speculation, the club confirms that Carlos Tevez was found guilty by a disciplinary hearing on 21 December of gross misconduct for serious breaches of contract and was fined six weeks' wages," the source said.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak issued some very scathing remarks yesterday to Carlos Tevez and AC Milan warning them in effect that for either party to get their way in this messy situation, the club's standards must be met.

On a day when Tevez was fined a staggering £9.

And so the roulette wheel continues to spin.

Paris St.-Germain have pulled out of talks with Manchester City to sign striker Carlos Tevez. The Ligue 1 leaders were considered the front-runners after talks with AC Milan broke down last week. PSG's sporting director Leonardo and new manager Carlo Ancelotti met with Tevez's advisers but couldn't come to terms

"There was an opportunity, we have studied it, we made a good offer but failed to agree a deal," Leonardo told L'Equipe.

According to media outlet talkSPORT, cash-rich French giants Paris St. Germain are on the verge of a sensational swoop for Chelsea star Frank Lampard.

The midfielder has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, with Premiership Talk last week reporting of a possible move to Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy.

By ADAM SERRANO

LOS ANGELES -- David Beckham has always been a vital part of AEG president Tim Leiweke's plans for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Now as Beckham prepares for his second stint with the club, Leiweke is considering the legacy that he will leave on his team.

Goalkeeper David De Gea has not exactly lived up to expectations in his first season with Manchester United, and there is pretty legitimate reasoning to explain what has gone wrong.

He might need be able to see clearly.

De Gea reportedly requires laser surgery to repair a case of farsightedness.

Ah, the magic of the French cup We've just got over our annual dose of nostalgia during FA Cup third round weekend, but there was definitely a distinct lack of chicken chasing from England's footballing minnows. The FA Cup has been outdone by France's Coupe De France. Fifth division outfit Sable face the giants of [.

David Beckham will finish his playing career in America after signing a new two-year deal with LA Galaxy.
The soccer betting in the US had linked the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan star with a move to Paris St Germain after his Galaxy contract expired at the end of December.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

LOS ANGELES --It is official, David Beckham will be returning to MLS and it appears that he may be staying for quite some time.

The Los Angeles Galaxy presented Beckham before a group of reporters on Thursday to announce his new two-year-deal with the club.

At the end of the 2011 MLS season, the conventional wisdom was that the images of David Beckham raising the Anschutz trophy would be his last in a LA Galaxy uniform. Paris St-Germain, bankrolled with the billions of their Qatari benefactors, were pushing hard for Beckham to join their team and were willing to pay any price to have him.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

At long last, the David Beckham sweepstakes is officially over, and the Los Angeles Galaxy are the winners.

The league's original Designated Player signed a two-year deal with the Galaxy on Wednesday, putting an end to a long-winded bout of speculation regarding his future.

BY ADAM SERRANO

David Beckham is returning to Los Angeles.

Sources confirmed to Soccer By Ives on Wednesday that the English star would be returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy for the upcoming 2012 season.

A press conference is expected to take place on Thursday in Los Angeles to announce Beckham's re-signing.

News coming out of Italy is that French Club PARIS ST GERMAIN & REAL MADRID player & midfielder KAKA may have come to an agreement for the latter to catch a plane from Madrid to Paris for next season. The news comes from the Italian paper "La Gazzetta dello Sports" & concludes that the final step needed is an agreement between Clubs.

News coming out of Italy is that French Club PARIS ST GERMAIN & REAL MADRID player & midfielder KAKA may have come to an agreement for the latter to catch a plane from Madrid to Paris for next season. The news comes from the Italian paper "La Gazzetta dello Sports" & concludes that the final step needed is an agreement between Clubs.

By Alan Duffy

Paris-bound?

Filthy stinking rich and proud of it, Paris St Germain are now loaded enough to bid for any player on the planet, courtesy of the Qatar Investment Authority. And, according to new boss Carlo Ancelotti, the agents of some of the Premier League's most high-profile strikers have been beating down his door, looking to secure their clients a lucrative contract in the French capital.

Paris St. Germain's new manager Carlo Ancelotti claims that prolific Napoli Striker Edinson Cavani is available for a move during the January transfer window. Cavani plays alongside Luis Suarez in the Uruguay national team, and it appears that Napoli are willing to let him go despite handing him a new 5-year contract last summer.

Inter Milan have stepped up their efforts to sign Carlos Tevez as the tumultuous transfer saga surrounding the controversial striker shows no signs of dissipating.

The Serie A giants have offered Manchester City more than $32 million to sign Tevez in the January transfer window. Inter president Massimo Moratti opened communication with the Premier League club after a possible deal with AC Milan crumbled at the last minute.

Inter Milan are back.

The champions from 2006-2010 have stormed back into the title race after an atrocious start and started off 2012 with a bang with a 1-0 win over AC Milan. Diego Milito scored against the run of play nine minutes into the second half to wrap up the victory on a foggy day at the San Siro.

Here we are in the January transfer window, and we are all excited over the new stars that will be coming to the Emirates.

There is talk of this one, and talk of that one. Yet behind all the hype in the press you have Wenger telling us what I am afraid is going to be a very big disappointment for us all, and that is they do not want to spend any money with this financial crisis going to only get worse.

The Philadelphia Independence drafted six players in Friday's WPS draft, with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen being the top pick. The big question is whether they'll get her to move over from Bayern Munich, where she's under contract.

The Independence then took UC-Irvine defender CoCo Goodson and Florida State defender Toni Pressley in the second round, Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger and Portland forward Danielle Foxhoven in the third, and Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer in the fourth round.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

One of the most intense rivalries in the world of soccer is set to write another chapter.

AC Milan and Inter Milan face off on Sunday in a game with substantially more significance now that Inter are back in the title race. Inter are on a five-game winning streak in league play that dates back to Dec.

Carlos Tevez is not headed to Milan.

Talks between Manchester City and AC Milan suddenly broke down after Alexander Pato refused a move to Paris-St. Germain. Milan needed the 20-25 million pound transfer fee from the Brazilian international's move to have any chance of raising the necessary cash.

Guardian: Newcastle deny £10m approach to Liverpool for striker Andy Carroll

• Reports linked Alan Pardew with cut-price bid for Carroll • Newcastle sources deny making contact with Liverpool Newcastle United have dismissed speculation that their former striker Andy Carroll could make a cut-price return to Tyneside.

Interesting news in the Evening Chronicle today as Lee Ryder is reporting that PSG striker Melvut Erding is back in Newcastle's sights. Mevlut Erding - Newcastle back in for Turkish International striker It's not surprising that the Paris St Germain Turkish International striker is unsettled with the Ligue 1 side, as PSG will be bringing in new players [.

Oh, Diego Diego Maradona has hit out at Paris St Germain boss Leonardo by seeming to suggest that the Brazilian is only in his role due to the masses of money on offer at the Qatari-owned French outfit. El Diego said: "I wonder if he is a player, coach, agent or oil dealer. I do [...]

Oh dear. On the verge of Demba Ba's departure for the African Cup of Nations, Newcastle United striker, Demba Ba gave an interview for French sports radio station, RMC. When asked by the station if he could play for moneybags Paris St Germain, the Carlo Ancelotti managed Manchester City of France's Ligue Un, our goalscorer [.

The FA Cup continues in full swing today, with the biggest match-up of the weekend featuring the Manchester Derby.

Manchester City will look to take a step closer to defending their FA Cup title against a Manchester United side that is coming off a painful loss to Newcastle in league play.

Liverpool's bad-boy Luis Suarez is Europe's £30million wanted man.
Top clubs on the continent are queuing up to offer the Uruguayan ace, currently serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, an escape route from his Premier League hell.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid, loaded French outfit Paris St-Germain and Serie A giants Inter Milan and Juventus would all be interested in taking Suarez, 25 later this month, away from Anfield in the summer.

Liverpool's bad-boy Luis Suarez is Europe's £30million wanted man.
Top clubs on the continent are queuing up to offer the Uruguayan ace, currently serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, an escape route from his Premier League hell.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid, loaded French outfit Paris St-Germain and Serie A giants Inter Milan and Juventus would all be interested in taking Suarez, 25 later this month, away from Anfield in the summer.

For the first time since his racial rowe with Patrice Evra caused a firestorm in England, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has issued an apology.

Well, sort of.

Suarez apologized to anyone who might have been offended by the use of the word "negro" but did not go as so far as to apologize directly to Evra.