Neptuno is where Atletico’s fans traditionally congregate when their team wins a title. The 2-1 win against Fulham on Wednesday is the first silverware of note for the club since 1996, when it won the Spanish league and Copa del Rey double.

Police have organized safety cordons around the square as fans arrive waving the red and white shirts and flags of Atletico.

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The problem for Goodison manager David Moyes is that Bellamy will have to take a £20,000-a-week drop in wages from his current £50,000 a week deal.

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Merkur says Real have been in touch with Dzeko’s representatives about the prospect of the Bosnia international moving to Spain in the summer.

However, the 24 year-old, according to the Munich newspaper, has his heart set on staying in Germany and joining Bayern Munich. There is also interest in England from Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

Real’s approach for Dzeko casts fresh doubt on the future of French striker Karim Benzema.

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Another Premier League club were quoted wage demands of £200,000 a week to move to the English game, or more than £10m a year, which would match the wages of the world’s toppaid player, Leo Messi at Barcelona.

Villa, 29, is almost certain to leave Valencia at the end of the season, with the club’s debts having risen to £600m.

At least two of Villa, David Silva and Juan Manuel Mata, the club’s best players, are likely to be sold to reduce the debt and meet interest payments.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are in a better position to offer Villa the deal he wants.

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Adebayor was linked with a £30 million move to the San Siro before heading to Eastlands for slightly less and Milan have again been reported to be keeping tabs on the striker.

However, Stephane Courbis claims that the player is now out of the reach of Milan.

“The player has signed a five-year contract with Manchester City and was an expensive purchase,” he told Tuttomercato. “He has a high wages that do not fall within the parameters of AC Milan, moreover, he is dong quite well [in Manchester]. The trains only pass in football once, Adebayor was close to Milan two years ago, but not any more.

“Manchester City paid almost ¬28 million, they do not intend to sell him and these days Milan are not interested in players that cost that much.

“They are trying to sign players on a free [transfer] or within specific figures. This hypothesis [Adebayor to Milan] is impossible.”

Source

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33 year-old Guti has spent 15 years at Real Madrid but told Madrid radio station ‘Ona Madrid’ that this weekend’s ‘Classico’ against Barcelona will be his last.

Guti said, “This will probably be my last Classico. At the moment, there is no possibility of another. I have one more year (on his contract) but hopefully will reach an understanding. Surely they will understand, my choice is to leave and go.”

Looking towards his future, Guti predicts that he has a further two years left to play and would like to spend those years in England or Italy, leaving the door open for a move to Tottenham who have recently been linked to the Spaniard.

Guti continued, “I have two more years…The idea is to go to England, Italy or an Arab country.”

Harry Redknapp is reportedly interested in bolstering his squad with Guti ’s vast experience, which may prove invaluable particularly if Tottenham qualify for the Champions League.

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Barcelona have known to be interested in signing the Spaniard for some time, but City believe their huge bid could see Fabregas staying in the Premier League.

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After tonights lose to Barcelona for the El Classico, a disappointing performance from Los Blancos, it is officially back to the drawing table for Perez and company. The question is what now? Where are Real Madrid’s weak spots? Lets take a lot.

Defense
There is certainly a lot of talent in the Los Blanco’s defensive line, but the club still has a high amount of goals conceded. It just seems that the talent is not in form, perhaps a shake up is necessary? Maybe introducing a new leftback or rightback as the sides are where Los Blancos seem to be at their weakest.

Midfield
There is creativity lacking in the midfield, even with Kaka there. The 60 million dollar man has been awfully quiet in games, and the rest of the midfielders aren’t chipping in. Perez needs to swap some of them for new creativity, players along the lines of Misimovic and Xabi who pull the strings for their teams, Wolfsburg and Barcelona respectively.

Attack
Higuain can be a solid striker, but he is still young and in big games like Champions League games or the El Classico, he does not produce. In the clash with Lyon we saw him miss clear opportunities, in the El Classico he wasted chances and was mostly quiet. Benzema is a solid sub, he still hasn’t found his footing but he has skill and can produce. He simply needs more time to find his ground. Raul is simply too old, and barely lasts a full 30 minutes, no disrespect to the legend. Ronaldo is the only solid attack option that produces day in and day out, he just needs a partner. Berbatov from Manchester United might be an option, it has been shown that strikers who couldn’t make it in the Premier League could make it in La Liga (case in point Floran and Athletico Madrid).

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After his brilliant four-goal Champions League haul against Arsenal on Tuesday, the Argentina forward struck in the 33rd minute at the Bernabeu before Pedro doubled the visitors’ lead in the 56th with a clinical left-foot strike.

Both goals were created by Barca’s Spain midfielder Xavi, the first when he chipped the ball to Messi over the Real defence and the second when he sent Pedro clear to finish low beyond Iker Casillas.

La Liga top scorer Messi twice came close to adding to his 27 goals of the campaign and Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes was rarely troubled as Real struggled against the European champions’ slick passing game.

The victory puts Barca on 80 points with seven matches left and leaves the big-spending Madrid club, who have 77 points, facing a season without silverware after their exits from the Champions League and King’s Cup.

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Ronaldo, now 33 and plying his trade with Corinthians of Sao Paulo, has not played for the national team since the 2006 quarter-final loss to France, which brought him his 97th cap for 62 goals.

While he would like to don the canary yellow shirt again and would answer the call from coach Dunga, the “Phenomenon” says realistically he won’t be on the plane to South Africa.

“Given the few matches I have played this season I don’t deserve to be in the Brazilian squad, that’s clear. But I am still at the call of the coach – after all, it’s my country,” said Ronaldo, who said in February he would retire at the end of next year.

Really sad to see that the R9 will not even be a sub for Brazil, but it is also better to retire him for international football while being regarded as a legend still. What are your thoughts?

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