Thierry Henry to sign for Barcelona... or not

Thierry Henry has agreed a deal to move to Barcelona, according to a French football magazine. France Football claims a contract was signed at a secret Ashley Cole-style meeting in the south of France. The reports have been rubished by Henry's agents SEM Group, who were rumoured to have brokered the deal.

The magazine claimed Barca's sporting director Txiki Beguiristain met Henry's agent last week. But SEM's Jeff Weston said: "No such meeting took place. This is absolute rubbish. There's never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season."

Henry himself has been fairly philosophical about his future. He apparently linked himself with a move to AC Milan by admitting he was "flattered" by their interest. He said: "In my head I'm still an Arsenal player and my departure is not a current issue." [Via BBC Sport]

Lionel Messi the new Maradona ?

I remember somebody with the same habits and he ended up as the worlds greatest soccer player, off course i am talking about Diego Maradona.

Who's the best player now: Drogba or Eto'o?

For three years in a row, the title 'best African football player' has been awarded to Eto'o. But his main competitor - Didier Drogba - is right behind him. And Drogba is closing in for next years award since Eto'o is now recuperating from a knee surgery and therefore he misses a great part of the current footballseason.

It is difficult to think of these two players as each other's biggest rivals, since they are not even playing in the same competition. Eto'o, the fast Cameroon striker, plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Division. Ivorian striker Drogba, on the other hand, is currently the man in form at his side Chelsea in the English Premier League.

But they're both African players, they're both strikers, and they're both the best footballers around. So the rivalry between the two is very much present.

Champions League

And occasionally, they do meet each other on the pitch - in the European Champions League. In the season of 2004 / 2005, Barcelona and Chelsea were opponents in the eight finals. Barcelona won the first match with 2-1, in which Drogba received a rather controversial red card. Chelsea made up the deficit in London: within 15 minutes they were up 3-0. In the end, Chelsea went on to the quarter finals with a 5-4 overall victory. Eto'o did manage to score a goal. One-nil for the Cameroonian player.

In the season of 2005 / 2006, for some reason, they met each other again in the eight finals. This time, Barcelona was the better team in two matches (3-2) - with a decisive goal from Eto'o in London - and went all the way through to the finals. And won. Two-nil for Eto'o.

Eto'o also received the title 'pichichi' for leading the topscorers list last season in Spain. So it wasn't really a surprise that he was voted ahead of Drogba as best African player of the year for the third time this year, albeit with the narrowest margin (2 votes) possible.

Football shape

Now, however, with the start of the new season, things have changed. Granted, Eto'o was on a roll again in the Spanish league. He just signed a deal with Ford, stating that he would receive a car for every goal he'd score. But then fate stepped in. Eto'o got seriously injured during a match against Werder Bremen at the end of September. He's out for at least five months.

And Drogba is in the finest football shape of his career so far. He's currently the topscorer of the English Premier League with eight goals. He scored a hattrick last Saturday in the match against Watford. In the Champions League too, he's right on target. For instance, in Nou Camp he scored the vital equalizer against home team Barcelona (yes, they're meeting again).

Tournaments

Other indicators of Drogba's successes are tournaments such as the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup. In terms of goals, Eto'o was the better man (5 goals) as opposed to Drogba (3 goals). In the quarter final match between Cameroon and Ivory Coast, though, Eto'o missed a crucial penalty in the final shootout, while Drogba netted the winning goal for his country. He also took the Ivory Coast by the hand onto the finals, which they ultimately lost.

The Ivory Coast has been the most promising African football country in recent times, mainly thanks to Drogba. Unfortunately and despite their impressive display of football, the West-Africans didn't get far in the World Cup. But again, Drogba showed his strong football skills. Obviously, Cameroon wasn't even around in Germany, so Eto'o had nothing to show for.

With Eto'o out of play and Drogba in form, the latter could very well be the next African Footballer of the Year. He's had to give way to his Cameroonian counterpart for three years. Maybe 2006 and 2007 will be the years in wich Drogba gets his revenge.

Kaká Wants Shevchenko Back

Kaká has revealed that he wants Andriy Shevchenko to return to AC Milan after a problematic year at Chelsea and ruled out Ronaldinho moving to Serie A.
The Brazilian was reacting to reports that the Rossoneri would welcome the Ukraine international back and that they are prepared to leave his shirt number open.

After moving to Chelsea last summer, Shevchenko has struggled to find his feet in the Premiership and is being touted for a swift exit from Stamford Bridge.

"I hope that Shevchenko comes back," Kaká said. "I often talk to him, but in football there are not rules, so you can't just turn around and leave.

"I am sure he would already be here if the decision was only up to him, but it seems there might be some problems."

Milan have also been strongly linked with two of Kaká's comaptriots, with both Ronaldinho and Emerson said to be in their sights.

Despite the rumours, the San Siro star believes that while Emerson would be a great signing for the club, Ronaldinho is not going leave Camp Nou.

"I think is he is staying at FC Barcelona," Kaká stated.

"As for Emerson, I read that Ancelotti likes him and he has good reason too.

"He's tough, he defends, he marks, and he stops opposing midfielders playing. He was a colossus in midfield for Juventus."

looking at his own future, Kaká looked to end all speculation linking him with a move away from Milan and has told Real Madrid to forget about signing him,

"I have talked to the coach (Ancelotti) and I have told him that we both have contracts until 2011 and can win everything with Milan," he said.

"We have decided our future together."

Asked whether Madrid should forget about him and look for other targets, he replied: "Currently, that is the way it stands."

Via goal.com

Muntari fails to agree peronal terms with Pompey

Udinese remain confident that Sulley Muntari will complete his proposed transfer to Portsmouth, despite the Ghanaian star so far failing to agree personal terms at Fratton Park.

Muntari has been in England to discuss the terms of his contract after the two clubs came to an agreement over a fee for the international midfielder on Thursday, reportedly in the region of £7million.

Harry Redknapp has been unable to parade Muntari as his third signing of the summer after the free transfer arrivals of Sylvain Distin and Hermann Hreidarsson though, as some sticking points still remain.

However, Udinese general director Roberto Zanzi has underlined the Serie A club's belief that Muntari is still on the brink of ending his six-year stay at Stadio Friuli.

"Muntari has yet to reach personal terms with Portsmouth," said Zanzi.

"We are confident that the deal will be completed and expect his move to be finalised in the next coming days."

Muntari - who first convinced Redknapp of his quality during the World Cup finals last summer - made 28 appearances for Udinese as they finished in 10th in Serie A this season.

The Dinamo - Steaua Story

Let`s all have a little fun, shall we ?