THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

Alexander Hleb admits he is badgering former Arsenal team-mate Cesc Fabregas to join him at Barcelona. Belarus midfielder Hleb quit the Gunners in the summer to move to Camp Nou and wants to play alongside Fabregas again. Fabregas, who left Barcelona for Arsenal in 2003, admitted earlier this week that a return to the club would be 'a dream come true'. The Spain international plans to review his future at the end of the season and Hleb hopes Fabregas will come back to Barcelona. Like a brother "We get on very well on and off the pitch. For me he is like a brother. We call each other a lot to talk about things," Hleb told El Mundo Deportivo. "He tells me he misses me at Arsenal and, without wanting to detract from anyone, I would love it if he came to Barca to be a part of all this. "I don't stop insisting that he should return to Barca and he doesn't stop insisting that he is very happy at Arsenal and with Arsene Wenger. "I will keep boring him

William Gallas admits he has had to reassert his authority as Arsenal captain after conceding he "flipped his lid" against Birmingham City last season. French defender Gallas was given the armband by Arsene Wenger ahead of the 2007/08 campaign, but blotted his copybook in a 2-2 draw at St Andrews in February. Birmingham were awarded a last-minute penalty and, in protest at the decision, Gallas retreated to the halfway line and sat down sulking. The result was seen as a pivotal moment in Arsenal's faltering title bid and Gallas acknowledged he made a mistake with his actions. He believes some of the criticism aimed in his direction was unfair, but is confident he still has the backing of his team-mates to be Gunners skipper. Gallas told L'Equipe Magazine: "The controversy about my captaincy? People had to find a scapegoat as we didn't win any trophies last season. "So, they talked and talked again about the Birmingham match. Indeed I made a mistake. I mus

Steven Gerrard will miss both of England's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers after having an operation on Thursday on his troublesome groin problem. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez revealed that Gerrard has been playing through constant pain after the Anfield side forced their way into the Champions League group stages. A goal two minutes from the end of extra-time by Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool a 1-0 aggregate victory over a brave Standard Liege side in the third qualifying round. But it was clear that Gerrard was not at his best, and he will now go under the knife to make sure he is fit to lead Liverpool into the group stages in September. Gerrard will miss Liverpool's trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, the England games with Andorra and Croatia and possibly the Reds' home league game with Manchester United on September 13. Benitez said, "He has a groin problem so he will have an operation and could be out for 10 to 15 days. It is not serious but we need to do it now. He has b

For Philippe Senderos, joining Milan is a dream come true. Now there is, most of all, a lot of desire to work. Senderos has joined AC Milan from Arsenal on a season-long loan deal on 27 August 2008. With already a good knowledge of the Italian language, Philippe Senderos gave his first few declarations as a new Milan player before the afternoon. "I am very happy to be able to play for a team like Milan, for me it's like a dream come true, everything went very quickly, in a week. Here everything is incredible, the people are very simple and I can say they have made me feel right at home." Philippe Senderos then talked about all his personal successes but for him the dream isn't over. "In the past I have achieved some satisfactions, like winning the European Championship with the Under 17 team and then of course at 18 my passage to a great team like Arsenal. in London I learned a lot, it was a life school and Wenger helped me, but today I can certainly say I have r

Robinho's agent remains hopeful the player could still secure a move to Chelsea despite Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon's insistence he is not for sale. Chelsea have already had one offer turned down for the Brazil forward who reportedly has his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge. Calderon is adamant Robinho is going nowhere, but Vagner Ribeiro believes his client could still leave the Bernabeu this summer. 'He (Calderon) was very polite with us,' he told Globoesporte.com. 'I told him that we had an offer of 32million euros from Chelsea and that Robinho wanted to leave the club.' 'He said he didn't want to hear that a player was unhappy with the team, but at the end nothing much was going to happen.' 'Calderon said that he wouldn't sell Robinho even for 100 million. He was very emphatic.' 'I left the meeting thinking that was that. But then I spoke to other directors of the club and saw that this position could end up changin

Zenit St Petersburg claim they have lowered their asking price for Andrei Arshavin to clear the path for the Russia forward to move to Tottenham. Spurs were originally told the 27-year-old, who starred at Euro 2008 for his country, would cost upwards of £20million and no fee was agreed between the clubs. Arshavin, encouraged by a conversation with Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos, is willing to join Spurs after initially declaring Barcelona as his preferred destination. Spurs are in the market for strikers following the departure of Robbie Keane to Liverpool and Dimitar Berbatov wanting to leave White Hart Lane Lane for Manchester United. Arshavin would be seen as a like-for-like replacement for Keane. "There are only small differences left," Zenit sporting director Konstantin Sarsaniya told Russian newspaper Sovetsky Sport, who suggested a deal could be concluded over the weekend. "Zenit have decided to reduce the asking price for Andrei, but exactly how much I cannot

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is set to miss the Olympic Games football tournament after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Wednesday that clubs were not obliged to release players for the event. The Lausanne-based CAS's ruling has major implications for reigning Olympic champions Argentina and fellow South American giants Brazil ahead of the start of Thursday's tournament, primarily an Under-23 event although teams can field over-age players. Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke had all been fighting to keep their young stars -- Argentina's Messi and Brazil's Diego and Rafinha -- out of the Games, which clash with their own season after appealing an earlier ruling by FIFA, football's world governing body, which said players must be allowed to compete in Beijing. "FIFA is surprised and disappointed by this decision, but we respect it," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter. "Nevertheless, I appeal to the clubs: Let your players take part in

Liverpool's increasingly impressive unbeaten pre-season run was stretched to seven games via a 4-1 win against Valerenga in Oslo - but they suffered the worrying loss of skipper Steven Gerrard. The midfielder limped off in the first half of this comfortable victory with what looked like a recurrence of a groin problem that has dogged him in recent weeks. Liverpool will hope they took Gerrard out of the action before any further serious damage could be done, but with a Champions League qualifier in a week's time against Standard Liege, this is a problem boss Rafael Benitez could do without. The loss of Gerrard after 27 minutes, though, was a worrying blow. After bursting from defence, he pulled up with what seemed a recurrence of the injury that has disrupted his pre-season. Teenager Jay Spearing took over. Steven George Gerrard MBE born at 30 May 1980 in Whiston, Merseyside, England. He has been called an influential and versatile midfielder, and is known for his long-range sho

Dutch international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart will "almost certainly" be Real Madrid's only new signing of the season, the president of the Spanish champions, Ramon Calderon, said Tuesday. "Rafael van der Vaart is the first recruit of this year and he will almost certainly be the only one," Calderon said during the 25-year-old's official unveiling at Real Madrid's Santiago-Bernabeu stadium. His comments come amidst growing signs that Real Madrid's bid to recruit Manchester United's Portuguese international winger Cristiano Ronaldo have stalled due to the English side's refusal to sell the 23-year-old player. Van der Vaart, whose mother is Spanish, signed with Real for five seasons in a deal reportedly worth 13 million euros (20 million dollars). "This is a family dream. I want to win many trophies," said van der Vaart who becomes Real's fifth Dutch player, the others being Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder

Barcelona want Samuel Eto'o's future to be decided before next week's Champions League qualifier. Eto'o has been told that he will be allowed to leave the Nou Camp over the summer, but has yet to reach an agreement with any clubs. The Cameroon striker has been linked with moves to both the Premier League and Serie A, and is wanted by "four or five" teams, according to Txiki Begiristain. However, Begiristain is keen for the matter to reach a quick resolution ahead of Barca's game against either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow in a week's time. "The date limit we have set to decide the future of Samuel Eto'o is the 12th August," Begiristain told reporters in New York. "The days are going past and the market closing. "If there is a decision, the best solution would be to do so before the Champions League preliminary. "We are looking at reactions and above all watching to see how Pep (Guardiola) sees himself with the group and

Andriy Shevchenko insisted Tuesday he can still be a Chelsea legend if he avoids the injuries that have plagued him since his move to Stamford Bridge. Shevchenko has endured a miserable two years in west London following his 30 million pounds (37 million euros) move from AC Milan and has repeatedly been linked with a switch back to Serie A. The Ukraine striker scored 173 times for Milan but has only recorded nine league goals for Chelsea, yet he has no intention of throwing in the towel. "During these two years at Chelsea I had two operations and a serious back injury," Shevchenko told the club's official website. "If I will have the opportunity to train and play without injuries, I would like to leave my mark on the history of Chelsea. Injuries constantly kept me out of action. "I have trained with the team only a week. The process of recovery is taking place normally and the injury doesn't bother me." Shevchenko hopes to thrive under new manager Luiz

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon claims the club could sign Hamburg star Rafael van der Vaart this weekend. The Holland international has repeatedly been linked with Madrid throughout the summer after some fine performances at Euro 2008, and the Primera Liga champions have already had a six million euro bid rejected. Reports in Spain suggest an improved bid of 10million has been accepted and, with the two clubs set to meet in London this weekend at the Emirates Cup, Calderon is confident Van der Vaart is only days away from becoming a Madrid player. 'That's certainly a possibility and we are waiting to come to an agreement with Hamburg,' he told Spanish sports daily AS. 'It's an operation that isn't causing difficulties. 'He's a player that (coach Bernd) Schuster likes a lot and he is within our range, that's true. But what we are not going to do is sign a centre-forward. This I can definitively declare. 'We have four extraordinary strikers.

Sulley Ali Muntari has confirmed he is close to joining Inter Milan after revealing the offer was too good to turn down. Inter have agreed a deal with Portsmouth to sign Muntari after being frustrated in their attempts to lure Frank Lampard away from Chelsea. Muntari is highly-rated in Italy after a successful spell at Udinese before joining Portsmouth for £7million last summer. The Ghana international established himself as a key member of Pompey manager Harry Redknapp's side helping the club win the FA Cup. Inter chief Jose Mourinho is thought to be a big fan of Muntari and Inter are believed to have offered the 23-year-old a four-year deal to return to Serie A, with reports suggesting he will undergo a medical on Friday morning. Inter Milan has shown interest to buy Muntari last year. Italian Press reported that time, Inter were preparing offer for the highly rated midfielder. Injuries to Esteban Cambiasso and Patrick Vieira underlined just how short of ball-winning midfielders

Arsenal's summer woes have been compounded by the news that Kolo Habib Toure has been diagnosed with malaria. It's thought that the defender contracted the disease while on holiday in his native Ivory Coast. After flying out for Arsenal's pre-season tour of Austria and Hungary, the 27-year-old was sent to hospital in Vienna where malaria was diagnosed. Although an Arsenal spokesperson described Toure as "being in good spirits", it seems unlikely he will be fit for the start of the new season. That leaves Arsene Wenger with only Johan Djourou or Philippe Senderos as potential partners for William Gallas after he decided against recruiting any new defenders this summer. Kolo Toure was born at March 19, 1981 in Bouake, Ivory Coast. Touré is renowned for his pace, strength, athleticism. He is the older brother of FC Barcelona midfielder Yaya Touré and Ibrahim Touré of Metalurg Donetsk. He is deployed by Arsène Wenger at centre-back, as well as anywhere In Defence. He

Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing to remain coy over his future despite Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's optimism the forward will remain at Old Trafford. Ferguson met Real Madrid target Ronaldo for clear-the-air talks on Monday and insisted he was confident the player would still be at Old Trafford next season. But Ronaldo -who is on holiday in America as he recovers from ankle surgery- has still to make a firm decision on his future. 'I've had hundreds of questions about Manchester United and Real Madrid,' he told ESPN. 'What do you want me to say? That I'm going or I'm staying? 'I don't know about the future, only God knows it. I can't say any more. 'Great players are always hounded by great clubs. It's a normal situation. There are other great players who are in the market who are good and who other clubs want. 'I have always been hounded, not only this year. It's not strange for me, to see what happens.' Madrid

Barcelona could be set to table a shock bid for Real Madrid star Robinho, according to the player's agent Wagner Ribeiro. Speculation has been rife that the forward is on his way to the Premier League, with Manchester United and Chelsea favourites for his signature. Ribeiro claimed on Tuesday that the Blues were winning the race, with Robinho attracted by the idea of linking up with their new boss, fellow Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari. Reports in Spain suggest that Madrid's bitter rivals Barca could be preparing a bid, with both club president Joan Laporta and coach Pep Guardiola in favour of the idea. And Ribeiro insists the notion is not a surprise to him. "It's only logical that a club like Barcelona want Robinho," he told Spanish sports daily El Mundo Deportivo. "He is also wanted by Chelsea and Manchester United. "Chelsea have presented a big offer for Robinho to Real Madrid, but it seems as if the club don't want to sell him." Chelsea have

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is hoping to return to action as soon as possible after undergoing ankle surgery last week. The Portugal international is facing three months on the sidelines after having had the operation in Amsterdam. Ronaldo, who has been strongly linked with Real Madrid this summer, has endured a frustrating summer after Portugal lost 3-2 to Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008. However, Ronaldo, speaking ahead of attending the 2008 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, is looking forward to a return to action despite only recently undergoing surgery. "I'm injured now, but I hope to come back soon," he said on Sky Sports News. "I love to play and I love football. I miss the ball now." Ronaldo has admitted he would like to play in the MLS one day, a league he believes is on the up, although he is keen to remain in Europe for the moment. "I prefer to play in Europe at the minute, but in the future, who knows?" he continued. &qu

Alexander Hleb has been officially presented as a Barcelona player following his move from Arsenal. The Belarusian has been linked with Barcelona for much of the summer and he travelled to the city on Wednesday to undergo a medical. A deal with the Gunners had already been agreed, which was reported to be in the region of 15million euros (£11.9 million). The transfer has now been finalised and Hleb has put pen-to-paper on a four-year deal at Camp Nou. He becomes Josep Guardiola's fifth signing as Barca boss following the arrivals of Martin Caceres, Gerard Pique, Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita. Winning silverware The 27-year-old, who scored seven goals in 89 appearances for Arsenal, has set his sights on winning silverware with Barcelona. He earned rave reviews for his stylish displays in London after joining from Stuttgart in 2005,and played a key role again last season as Arsene Wenger's side fell just short in their pursuit of the Premier League title. Fellow midfielder Math

Chelsea will inform Inter Milan for a second time that Frank Lampard is not for sale at any price. Inter made a £7.95million bid for Lampard on Tuesday but Chelsea will reject their offer and continue to insist that the England midfielder will remain at Stamford Bridge. The club's new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is adamant that Lampard wants to stay at Chelsea for years to come despite a claim from the player's agent that his client's contract situation at Stamford Bridge remains "completely unresolved". Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, now in charge at Inter, seemingly wanted to steal the limelight from Scolari by prompting his bosses to make an official bid for the player just hours after the Brazilian had given his first press conference to the English media. But Chelsea are adamant that they will not budge on the sale of Lampard even though he has just one year remaining on his current contract. The London club will inform Inter again that they 'will not

Ronaldinho is '80-90%' likely to secure a move to AC Milan, according to the Barcelona playmaker's agent Roberto De Assis. Milan have long been linked with a move for Ronaldinho after the Brazilian was told he was not part of Barca's plans for the future. Vice-president Adriano Galliani insisted on Thursday that a deal would only be completed if the price is right, but De Assis is confident his client will make the switch to the San Siro. 'Yes, it's true, it's true that he'll probably go to Milan,' De Assis - who is also Ronaldinho's brother - told Lombardy television stations. 'Everything's ready for the transfer. He is there 80-90% and we are working towards that. 'He is working hard to get back to his best and the important thing is that now he is fine and that he is working for his future.' Milan might be leading the pack but there is no shortage of other possible destinations for Ronaldinho, with Chelsea and Manchester City j