It is now emerging that Neymar will not be leaving Santos after all. Premier League club Chelsea have confirmed that they have ended their pursuit for the teen star after he committed his future to Santos until 2014.

Villas-Boas revealed that his side have failed in trying to sign Neymar and that he has already chosen his next destination which will most likely be Barcelona.

Sack Vanderlei Luxemburgo or part ways with Ronaldinho? That was the choice Flamengo president Patricia Amorim had to make yesterday as she picked the star player over the 59 year old tactician.

It is not quite certain why Luxemburgo was sacked, however, many believe that his icy relationship with Ronaldinho was a major factor that led to his dismissal.

""Football can go to hell if this is the situation.""
-

Those were the words of Al-Ahly's star player Mohamed Aboutrika in the wake of the tragedy in Port Said, calling for the Egyptian league to be suspended indefinitely. "Crowds are dying in front of us, and there aren't any police or security forces," he said.

There's a whole slate of FA Cup 4th Round matches this weekend, kicked off by a match today that is especially interesting for viewers on this side of the pond. Everton hosts Fulham, which means it's also a faceoff of the two best American players of this generation: Landon Donovan vs. Clint Demspey.

"Letsh have de chit-chatsh..."It's safe to assume any TFC Media Day will be forever considered a success if the star player doesn't openly discuss going on strike. With that lofty criteria only a year old, today's meet and greet with the city's press will be considered downright cosy. Optimism, a seemingly happy squad, plans for the future and heck.

By Andrew Crawford, writing from Shanghai

Despite the city starting to slow down for the Chinese New Year, Shanghai Shenhua's PR machine remains as busy as ever. The club's website is more brightly coloured than usual and images of the new manager, Jean Tigana, and his star player, Nicolas Anelka, flicker across the screen whilst behind them, four silhouetted figures stand in the background.

Brazilian World Cup winner and former AC Milan and FC Barcelona star Rivaldo could soon be playing his football in the African plains with top flight Angolan club Kabuscorp.

Rivaldo who was until last month a Sao Paulo player will become the first international star player to ever play in an African league.

Brazilian World Cup winner and former AC Milan and FC Barcelona star Rivaldo could soon be playing his football in the African plains with top flight Angolan club Kabuscorp.

Rivaldo who was until last month a Sao Paulo player will become the first international star player to ever play in an African league.

The Phoenix New Times has an in-depth look at some events in Arizona a few years ago that highlight some of the problems inherent to youth soccer and how youth soccer has changed recently. A successful coach at Sereno Soccer Club named Les Armstrong was suspended from coaching after he forged a parent's signature to drop a player from his roster before the State Cup championships.

Neil Warnock's sacking by QPR after a run of just two points from their last eight league matches was not as much of a surprise as one would expect. Warnock had not only saved the club from relegation after joining from Crystal Palace during the 2009-10 season but led Rangers to the Championship title in his full season.

The Independent has run a story today which claims that Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson have fallen out which has lead to the striker looking for a move away from the club, again.

Acting quickly, in a statement issued last night by the club and Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford, it was confirmed that Rooney has no intention of leaving United.

The Independent has run a story today which claims that Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson have fallen out which has lead to the striker looking for a move away from the club, again.

Acting quickly, in a statement issued last night by the club and Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford, it was confirmed that Rooney has no intention of leaving United.

While watching Liverpool take on Oldham last night, I couldn't help but notice a much bigger deal (footballwise) going on in the media world a leaked copy of tomorrow's front page of the Independent, claiming that Wayne Rooney might be on his way out of Manchester United that had somehow found itself causing a big stir on Twitter.

Inter Milan play maker Wesley Sneijder has admitted that this could be his last season with the Italian giants. Sneidjer has been with the Nerrazzuri since 2009 and despite signing a 5 year contract extension last summer tying him to the club until 2015, the Dutch star has lately looked very unsettled with the team.

The transfer window is upon us and with a number of players set to move now and in the summer, we would like to take you through a list of the players who could potential leave their clubs when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

At look at the heavyweights making the list across the big clubs reveals that they are set to lose very influential players in the summer.

Since Newcastle started off very well over the first 11 games of the season, and had some very good luck, things have gone against us over the last seven games or so. Luis Suarez misses game on Friday die to one match ban But that may just be starting to change with the news today that Liverpool's star player [.

By Alan Duffy

Norwich City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League 27th December 2011

It's fair to say that Gareth Bale, for the last couple of seasons, has been the subject of more hype and superlatives than most footballers in the Premier League.

With the January transfer window opening up in just a few days, we look ahead at some of the players most likely to be changing clubs in the January sales.

1. Carlos Tevez, Man City. Hopefully Tevez will finally leave and join AC Milan, with the transfer saga dragging on for a long time already.

One of the more interesting rumors of the holiday season in Europe surrounds Thierry Henry's potential return to Arsenal on a short-term loan in January. Nobody at Arsenal is publicly admitting it is in the works (Arsene Wenger said he has yet decide whether to pursue it), and there is no guarantee that the New York Red Bulls would be willing to let their star player go on a loan, but the idea remains an intriguing one.

Thomas Rooney takes us through some of the candidates and they're not necessarily the ones you'd expect.

The FA have begun their annual search to find out who England fans rate as their player of the year for 2011. With the disappointment of 2010 well behind us, 2011 has certainly been a much brighter year for the national team, with renewed optimism about their hopes for Euro 2012.

Until recently, Liverpool were the most successful English team. Their comprehensive history includes: 18 top tier English football league titles, 7 FA Cups, 7 League Cups, 5 UEFA Champions League titles, and 3 UEFA Cups.
The Reds' most successful season was back in the 1983/84 season where they managed to claim a prestigious treble obtaining the top tier league title, the League Cup, and the European Cup.

Luis Suárez's racism ban: media reaction

There was little sympathy for the Liverpool striker after his eight-match ban, with the club and manager facing criticism too The media's reaction to Luis Suárez's eight-match ban and £40,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra has been frenetic and largely unsympathetic towards the Liverpool striker.

As Arsenal prepare to take on Man City in a thrilling encounter at the Etihad Stadium, rumours doing the rounds suggest that the club could re-sign legendary striker Thierry Henry on loan in January.

However, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has remain silent on the issue drawing more speculation that Henry could indeed be on his way back to the Emirates.

Barcelona has reportedly placed David Villa on the transfer list, sparking a scramble for his signature between Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
The Spanish international, 30, has dropped down the pecking order at the Nou Camp this season, and more importantly, has allegedly fallen out with star player Lionel Messi.

Sao Paulo midfielder Lucas, who is wanted by a host of top European clubs, has ruled himself out of a possible move to Manchester United in the near future, insisting that his desire is to remain in Brazil for the foreseeable future.
The midfielder is being closely monitored by bitter rivals Liverpool, who will be relieved by the news that Lucas is unwilling to negotiate for the moment, as Dalglish's side would almost certainly represent a second choice for the in demand star.

... Brad Gregory. Congratulations to Brad who triumphed over the two nights of the Heineken Star Player League this week by predicting the outcome of events in the Napoli v Manchester City match and the Bayer Leverkusen v Chelsea game in the Champions League. Brad is now on his way well, not just yet [.

By Chris Wright

Full-time in Chelsea's last-minute loss in Leverkusen brought Pies' Heineken Star Player mini league challenge to a close, with one lucky so-and-so (by his own admission!) winning a pair of tickets to Manchester City's must-win final Champions League group game against Bayern Munich at the Etihad on December 7th.

Our chicas were all excited playing Heineken Star Player on their iPhones during the Milan-Barcelona game last night especially since the Rossoneri put up such a spirited performance! How were we supposed to predict that Boateng goal until it eventually went in?

LeBron James: 'I can understand why a lot of people were upset'

The Miami Heat forward on why he bought a stake in Liverpool, his controversial move from Cleveland and the NBA lockout The long wait for LeBron James unfolds in a luxury hotel suite large enough to fit a stylish apartment.

Fancy a chance to watch Manchester City vs Bayern Munich 'LIVE' at the City of Manchester stadium on Dec 7? You can't say no to Kun Aguero or Philipp Lahm, guys! Heineken is giving out a PAIR of tickets to Fabulous Futbolita Fans to catch one of the biggest Champions League clashes up-closethis season, with the Heineken Star Player Game available on iPhone and Facebook.

Competition time One lucky OTP reader will win a pair of tickets to the Manchester City v Bayern Munich match at Eastlands on 7 December. We're still talking about events from last time the two teams met, so it promises to be a great match. We've teamed up with Heineken StarPlayer to offer this fantastic [.

By Chris Wright

Heineken Star Player is a real-time game that allows players to predict the outcome of various incidents during live Champions League games and by playing along with Pies next week, you could stand to win a really rather fantabulous prize.

Coughing and spluttering into my cornflakes this morning as I peruse the papers for snippets of news about God's Own. Reason for my sibilation? A certain Cesc Fabregas holding court with the Press boys on all things RVP after the England-Spain game.

But in fairness once you get past the shock-horror-RVP-must-quit-Gunners headlines, our former skipper seems to simply be being honest.

Months after leaving Arsenal (for understandable reasons), Cesc Fabregas has for the first time spoken out on the club's disastrous start to the season and their recent improved form.

The Spanish midfielder who has suddenly become one of Barca's key goal scorers is now warning Arsenal against letting their top player Robin Van Persie go.

Just when he was starting to gain some ground on his rival Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo had to ruin all the progress he has made in the past few weeks by reacting to Bosnia and Herzegovina fans by showing them middle finger.

According to Ronaldo, he was forced to act the way he did because of incessant criticism from fans during Portugal's training session ahead of their Euro 2012 play off fixture.

Why Tev will regret missing out on City's success and Becks should stay put in the States

Carlos Tevez will look back at his current Manchester City shenanigans – going AWOL and his dispute with the club – and regret it all. He was the star player, scoring goals, racking up the assists, and being one of the main men in a club chasing the Premier League title.

Brazilian Club SANTOS has made a "surprise" announcement today that they have renewed their star player NEYMAR until 2014, as they have said, a solid shut deal. However, you may say : Wasn´t Neymar going to REAL MADRID? Its all part of the "Masterplan". Neymar REAL MADRID has Neymar tied "verbally", & I don´t discard contractually ( cannot prove it ), with the added agreement with Santos

Having yet to play a part for Arsenal this season, Jack Wilshere, looks set to make things up for his club, although not anytime soon but the England international midfielder promised the fans they will see much of him in the future as Wilshere pledged his loyalty to the club.

Answering a question from the media about his future with the London outfit, Wilshere convincingly stated that he has no plan to play for any other clubs aside from his current one.

Inter Milan poised to swoop for Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie. Or how about Borussia Dortmund midfielder Kevin Grosskreutz admitting he is interested in a move to Gunners?

These are two of the offerings within the nation's sports pages this morning in a week that will drag out the merest rumour of a yarn to fill the papers in the absense of domestic football and the stories to meet our thirst for knowledge.

The diminutive Argentinian striker has accepted the fine of two weeks wages imposed on him by Manchester City. Carlos Tevez had recourse to appeal the fine but opted not to. Might it be that the striker has accepted his punishment, which totals close to half a million pounds (or approximately three quarters of a million dollars), with a hope of forcing his way back into his managers reckoning?