Football news

English Premier League leaders Arsenal FC posted a 54 per cent rise in first half profits yesterday, boosted by new big money TV deals and the sale of former captain Thierry Henry over the summer.

The club said pretax profit rose to £20 million in the six months to Nov. 30 from £12.6 million a year ago.

Total turnover dropped to £97 million from £100.8 million a year ago due to a near 70 per cent drop in revenues from property deals.

Capello gives Liverpool warning

England manager Fabio Capello has warned Liverpool not to think they have sewn up qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals after beating Inter 2-0 at home on Tuesday.

"Liverpool must be very careful at the San Siro," he said. "Inter are really strong at home. Even at Anfield they defended with order after (defender Marco) Materazzi's sending off, conceding only a couple of chances.

"They can reverse the result, although it shouldn't be forgotten that Liverpool haven't reached two finals in three years by chance."

Drogba, Sheva on Milan's wish list

Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said Chelsea forwards Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko were among the players he would like to fill the gap left by injured Ronaldo, along with Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Olympique Lyon's Karim Benzema.

"All four of those would be fine," Galliani told reporters when asked about a possible replacement for the Brazilian, who is expected to be out for nine months after undergoing knee surgery last week.

"We'll talk about the transfer market in May-June, but with Ronaldo out, we need another striker."

'Real not missing Capello'

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said he had no regrets about sacking Fabio Capello after winning the league last season.

"We sacked Capello because it wasn't him that won us the league but the players," Calderon told the free newspaper 20 minutos. "(Current coach Bernd) Schuster's team play better football."

Real, who host Getafe tomorrow, have lost two out of their last three games but have a handy five-point advantage at the top of the table.

Reyes still confident

Atletico Madrid are hoping their UEFA Cup elimination will not affect their bid to win a place in the Champions League.

"We are really disappointed and upset about not being able to get through and now we've only got one competition left to play for," forward Jose Antonio Reyes told reporters.

"But we will pick ourselves up from this and finish in the top four."

Atletico have only won four of their 14 matches in all competitions since the turn of the year, but remain in fourth place in the Primera Liga. They are away at Osasuna tomorrow.

Focus on Roma, says Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero wants Juve to focus on second place rather than trying to catch runaway Serie A leaders Inter.

Juventus closed to within a point of second-placed Roma with a 1-0 win over the capital side last weekend but Del Piero - who scored the game's only goal - has all but ruled a late surge to prevent Inter from securing successive titles. Inter are 12 points clear of Juve with 15 games remaining.

"We have so many points to recover and Inter are not showing signs of slowing down," Del Piero said. "We're looking at the team that precedes us in the standings and that's Roma."

Amauri wants Italy shirt

Palermo striker Amauri said it would be a dream to play for adopted country Italy at Euro 2008 this summer.

Amauri could be the answer to national team coach Roberto Donadoni's prayers as he seeks an understudy for striker Luca Toni. Having lived in Italy for seven years, Amauri, 27, is eligible for citizenship.

He said: "I am counting on the fact that everything will quickly resolve itself. I hope to go to Euro 2008, why not?"

Moyes hopes Gascoigne recovers

David Moyes has revealed his shock at the predicament that former Everton star Paul Gascoigne now finds himself in. Gazza has been detained under the Mental Health Act following an incident at a north-east hotel earlier this week.

Everton was Gascoigne's last top flight club, and he was part of the Toffees squad when Moyes took over almost six years ago.

"I do hope that things start working out better for Gazza," he said. "He used to phone me and text me a lot. I just hope he gets over the situation he is in now."

Newcastle - no takeover talk

Chris Mort has dismissed speculation that owner Mike Ashley is ready to listen to takeover offers as "rubbish". Reports have surfaced in the last few days that former team captain Alan Shearer would front a consortium of north-east businessmen looking to buy out Ashley.

Mort, the club chairman, said: "The reality is that the Alan Shearer story is absolute rubbish."