THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

The Football Association are to study Didier Drogba's comments in his autobiography saying he wished he had punched Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League final. The Chelsea striker was sent off in the final in May for slapping the Manchester United defender - and in his book said he now wishes he had punched Vidic. The FA take a dim view of current players making such comments in books, and will study the remark and the whole book to see whether Drogba may have brought the game into disrepute. An FA spokesman said: "We are aware of the comments and will be examining them in their proper context." The FA are not viewing it in the same light as Roy Keane's book, in which the former United skipper said he had deliberately injured Alf-Inge Haaland. Back in 2002, Keane was banned for five games and fined £150,000 by the FA but similar disciplinary action is unlikely to be taken against Drogba, who may simply be warned. Drogba wrote: "I have seen the match on

The north London club were due to begin negotiating a new deal with Walcott at the start of this month after talks were pushed back during the summer but they have still yet to materialise. Walcott has just 20 months to run on his current contract, which ends in June 2010, and Arsenal have taken a risk by allowing him to run down more time after his excellent start to the new campaign. Walcott has established himself as a regular for club and country this season, starring in all four of England's World Cup qualifiers and scoring a stunning hat-trick in England's 4-1 victory over Croatia last month. The player has not been pressing for a new contract and, privately, is adamant that his development would be best served by continuing to work under Arsene Wenger but he is growing increasingly concerned that he has heard nothing from the club and there will be alarm in some quarters if the situation is still the same by the new year. Arsenal re

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