Diego Maradona has won a 30-year battle over tax evasion charges in Italy and will soon return to Naples, the scene of some of his greatest sporting triumphs, his lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Angelo Pisani said his client was cleared of a tax bill of almost €40 million, of which 36 million was interest built up since 1984, when Maradona joined Napoli.

Pisani said: “Diego Maradona can return to Italy a free man. He is free from every debt because he was never a tax evader. He said he will return to Naples to say hello to the city, the Neapolitans and hopefully the football too.”

Gomez recalled

Mario Gomez has been recalled to the Germany squad for next week’s friendly against France after an injury lay-off but there was still no room for Bundesliga leading scorer Stefan Kiessling.

Bayern Munich striker Gomez, who has not played for his country since Euro 2012 after undergoing ankle surgery, was included in a 23-man squad for the friendly in Paris on February 6.

There were no major surprises although critics have wondered why coach Joachim Loew has been reluctant to select Kiessling, whose 13 goals this season have led Bayer Leverkusen to an unexpected second place in the table.

West Brom chief raps Odemwingie

West Brom striker Peter Odem-wingie behaved unprofessionally in his failed attempt to seal a move to QPR on transfer deadline-day, his Premier League club said yesterday.

The Nigerian rushed to west London on the final day of the January transfer window on Thursday despite the two clubs having failed to reach an agreement over a deal.

“Peter has acted wholly unprofessionally. He must now accept the fact he remains under contract for a further 18 months,” West Bromwich chairman Jeremy Peace said.

The 31-year-old striker, who joined West Brom in 2010, handed in a transfer request a week ago, which the club rejected.

Lennon praises Celtic board

Celtic manager Neil Lennon paid tribute to his board for backing the decision not to sanction Gary Hooper’s departure.

The January transfer window came and went with the club’s top goalscorer still a Celtic player despite interest from Norwich.

Lennon had made it clear he had no intention of selling Hooper, with a Champions League last-16 clash against Juventus to look forward to.

He said: “I think we made our stance pretty clear. I don’t think a lot of people believed us but we want to keep this team together for the foreseeable future.

“I’m very grateful to the board for standing by our decision on that.”

Arsenal clinch deal for Monreal

Arsenal clinched a last-minute deal for Spain left-back Nacho Monreal from Malaga late Thursday. The 26-year-old signed a long-term contract with the Gunners shortly before the transfer window closed.

Monreal, who has nine Spain caps and played at Malaga with Arsenal’s Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla, will strengthen manager Arsene Wenger’s options in defence.

“We are delighted that Nacho Monreal has agreed to join us,” Wenger said.

“We have been monitoring him for some time now. Monreal is a strong left-sided defender with good experience at both club and international level.

“He is a technically gifted player, a good crosser in the final third and strong in the air.”

Suarez: I am going nowhere

Luis Suarez intends to stay at Liverpool even if they do not qualify for the Champions League. With the Reds seven points off the top four and seemingly set for another season outside Europe’s elite, the Uruguay striker’s future has long been a subject for debate.

He said: “I will wait until the end of the season and see how we are doing. We won’t know until then how we are doing and what our position is so I am prepared to wait until that time.

“But I want to say now that, if you want to know what will happen to me if we don’t qualify for the Champions League, then I will say this: I have a contract with Liverpool and I am very happy here.

“I will stay.”

Beckham proud of charitable gesture

David Beckham turned this week’s big-money transfer deadline day spending on its head when he revealed he will donate his entire salary at new club PSG to charity.

That means he will likely be giving between £2-3 million to a Paris children’s charity.

Beckham, 37, said: “We decided on something quite unique. In this time I won’t receive any salary.

“My salary will go to a local children’s charity in Paris. That’s one of the things we are very excited about and proud to do and something I’m not sure has been done before.”

Beckham said he had not yet identified a suitable charity, and could not announce how much they would receive, except to say it would be a “huge sum”.

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