THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

Veteran France international defender Lilian Thuram may be the next player to leave Barcelona. The Catalan side have begun a shake-up of their squad following the arrival of new coach Pep Guardiola, with Gianluca Zambrotta having already left to join AC Milan while Martin Caceres and Gerard Pique are the new arrivals in defence. Reports in France suggest Paris St Germain would be the 36-year-old's preferred destination and the France veteran, who is out of contract this summer, admits the capital club is one that interests him. "There are a number of things that could interest me, most notably going to PSG or maybe another club too," he told French television station TF1. "I don't know what I'm going to do in the coming days, so I can't really say." However Thuram, who is currently with the France squad at Euro 2008, also admitted that Britain or Italy could be possible destinations. "Going to a club outside of France is also being discussed. We

Spanish star David Villa Sánchez has hinted he would like to move to Liverpool, if he heads to England this summer. The Valencia striker has lit up Euro 2008 with four goals in their opening two group games. A host of clubs are tracking Villa with Liverpool and Chelsea reported to be heading the queue for the diminutive front-man. Villa, who has linked up so well with current Reds star Fernando Torres for Spain, admits he would be tempted by the prospect of playing with him on a weekly basis. "Liverpool and Chelsea are both big clubs with a lot of attraction," he told the News of the World. Villa, nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid), also admitted that Liverpool's Spanish coach Rafa Benitez could play a big role in attracting him as he tried to sign him earlier in his career. "Liverpool have a Spanish coach and I also have a lot of friends there," he said. "When Rafa was coach at Valencia and I was at Zaragoza there was contact about me joining Valencia but I cou

Switzerland will be without talismanic captain Alexander Frei (28) for the remainder of UEFA EURO 2008 after he tore interior ligaments in his left knee in the 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic. The 28-year-old limped off the St. Jakob-Park pitch in tears 42 minutes into Saturday's Group A opener, following a challenge with Zdeněk Grygera, and an MRI scan has now revealed the extent of the problem. "The injury is a shock, no doubt about it," said Switzerland coach Köbi Kuhn. "To lose our skipper is a disaster." Meanwhile, Jürgen Klopp, Frei's club coach at BV Borussia Dortmund, predicted that he will be out of action for six to seven weeks. The most prolific scorer in Switzerland's history with 35 goals from 59 internationals, the Dortmund striker has been beset by complications stemming from an operation for a hip problem this season. He made just 13 Bundesliga outings, scoring six times. Switzerland played well in Frei's absence against Czechs but d

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Henrik Larsson can help him end his long goal drought at Euro 2008. Ibrahimovic has won back-to-back Serie A titles with Internazionale but he has not been able to reproduce his club form at international level. He has not scored for Sweden since October 2005 but feels confident that he can make an impact in Austria and Switzerland. The 26-year-old is hoping to play alongside Henrik Larsson, who was a surprise call-up to the Sweden squad after coming out of international retirement. "Henrik and I have a special relationship and we have played a lot together. He helps me a lot and he can help me during this championship if we are picked together," Ibrahimovich told reporters. "Of course it is up to the coach who plays and I respect all the strikers in our team but Henrik is who I play best with. Pressure "Sooner or later I will score. I just keep trying to create as many chances for myself and my team-mates. "The only p

Barcelona have announced that they have come to an agreement with Spurs over the transfer of the 19-year-old Mexican Giovani Dos Santos. Dos Santos, who can play up front or on either wing, will sign a five-year contract at White Hart Lane on June 30th, with Spurs paying an initial fee of £4.7m rising to £8.6m on appearances. Barcelona have retained the right to 20% of any fee should the player move on from Spurs in the first two years of his spell with the club. And, according to the Spanish club's website, they will get 10% of any fee if he is sold later in his contract. Dos Santos had struggled to make an impact in a Barcelona team blessed with an abundance of attacking talent, but scored a hat-trick in his last game for the club, a 5-3 win over Real Murcia. The signing of Dos Santos, who had reportedly interested Chelsea and Manchester City, is a real coup for Juande Ramos and Tottenham, who have already added the exciting Croatia midfielder Luka Modric and Crystal Palace young

Arsene Wenger has identified Mario Gomez, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric as the possible stars of Euro 2008. The Arsenal manager admits that he has come to the tournament 'with his chequebook' but feels that it has been increasingly difficult to unearth hidden gems. Wenger is not expecting to be surprised by many unfamiliar names but thinks exciting youngsters who are already on their way to establishing themselves could be the ones to watch. He is backing Germany striker Gomez, France forward Benzema and Croatia playmaker Modric to take the competition by storm. "What has changed in these major tournaments is that you don't really discover players any more," Wenger told reporters. "You expect (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Thierry Henry to be up there but I am now looking at younger players like Gomez, Benzema and Modric. "Apart from all the stars we know, these could be the three players who will be interesting to watch and maybe see overall if they can perfor

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will make an announcement on his future plans in the next "two to three days". Ronaldo has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid in recent weeks although United are determined to hold on to their prize asset and have even threatened to report the Spanish champions to FIFA over what they claim are attempts to unsettle him. The 23-year-old is hoping an announcement will end the speculation. Speaking after Portugal's 2-0 win over Georgia, Ronaldo told A Bola: "Let's see, I hope there will be news soon. In two to three days I will announce my decision." If he decides his future lies away from Old Trafford, Ronaldo would have a fight on his hands to secure a transfer to the Bernabeu. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson on Sunday claimed the Glazer family, the club's owners, would rather keep the player even if a hypothetical situation arose where he refused to play for the Red Devils. The Scot sa

Arsenal will complete the £11 million signing of French Samir Nasri from Marseille early next week. The skilful, 20-year-old playmaker will fill the position soon to be vacated by Alexander Hleb, whose departure was confirmed by his agent, Nikolai Shpilevski, on Friday. Nasri, who is expected to make a significant impact on this summer's European Championships, will sign a four-year deal with the north London club as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger attempts to add depth to a squad which failed to keep pace with Manchester United and Chelsea in the final furlongs this season. Nasri, 20, has undergone a medical, agreed a four-year contract and will be announced an Arsenal player once he is released from a France training camp to put pen to paper. A source close to Marseille said: "The deal has been agreed. The medical took place on Wednesday, he agreed to sign on Thursday and the only hold up is that he is with the French squad at the moment." Wenger is a big admirer of Nasr

The transfer speculation surrounding Olympique Lyon winger Hatem Ben Arfa continues to grow as the Sun claims that the twenty-one year-old has already signed a deal with Arsenal after the Gunners agreed a €20 million deal with OL. According to English newspaper, the Sun, Arsenal have beaten off competition from Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea with a price tag of around €20m required to prize one of France's leading young lights away from his native country. It has been no secret that Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger is a keen admirer of the player however the suggestion had been that Ben Arfa would be used by Lyon as a makeweight in a deal to bring Samir Nasri north from Marseille. Speculation has been rife over the last month that the winger could be on his way out of the Stade Gerland however reports yesterday appeared to indicate that Ben Arfa would be happy signing a new deal for the French giants. Ben Arfa, born in Paris of Tunisian descent, has played for Lyon since he

Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra is looking increasingly likely to join Inter Milan in the summer, according to the Corriere dello Sport. The Mali international has been tipped to leave Madrid for quite sometime now due to his frosty relationship with Coach Bernd Schuster. Things took another turn for the worse yesterday when it was revealed that Diarra had been fined €300,000, a month's wages, for returning to Spain late from the African Cup of Nations. With Schuster seemingly set to exclude him from his team for tonight's match with Recreativo, despite injuries to Guti and Wesley Sneijder, an end of season exit is looking inevitable. Inter have identified the signing of a top-class centre midfielder as their priority in this summer's transfer market, and Roberto Mancini's first-choice is Diarra. Yesterday the player's agent, Frederic Guerra, admitted that a move to Inter was very possible."Milan, Liverpool and Juve have all called, but the team that in