Stuttgart’s director of sport Robin Dutt has confirmed that Huub Stevens will not be remaining in charge of the club next season.

For the second year running, Stevens was appointed during the season, and once again he has succeeded in keeping them in the Bundesliga.

Armin Veh was appointed to succeed him at the end of last season and Stuttgart will soon present a new successor after Stevens made up his mind to leave.

“He told the rest of his coaching team a few weeks ago that he didn’t want to carry on,” Dutt said.

“He has fulfilled his mission here and we can only be grateful to him for that.”

Alves injury mars Valencia delight

Valencia’s joy at securing a berth in Champions League qualifying for next season was tempered by a serious knee injury to their Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Alves.

Alves had to come off after hurting his right knee in the second half of the 3-2 La Liga win at Almeria and Spanish media reported he had damaged cruciate ligaments.

With an operation required, the club did not say how long the keeper might be sidelined, but Spanish media reported he would be out for around six months.

“We are happy and pleased with the victory but sad for Diego Alves,” executive president Amadeo Salvo said.

Drogba to leave Chelsea again

Didier Drogba is leaving Chelsea for the second time and played his last game for the Premier League champions against Sunderland yesterday.

The Ivory Coast striker, who first signed for Chelsea in 2004, has scored 104 goals in 253 league matches, becoming a talisman during the most successful era in the club’s history.

“I want to play for at least one more season and in order to play more football I feel I need to go to another club,” he said.

“All the fans know my love for Chelsea and I hope to be back here in the future in another role.”

Rio ‘overwhelmed’ by support from fans

Rio Ferdinand has described being “overwhelmed” by the support he received from football fans after his wife died.

The former England captain said Rebecca Ellison’s battle with cancer was “the most difficult period” for his family and paid tribute to her as “an incredibly brave woman”.

He said: “It has been the most difficult period of my life, what with managing the emotions of our three children and watching such a great woman as my wife Rebecca die without being able to do anything about it.

“The day it was announced that Rebecca had died, we were overwhelmed by messages of support.

“It was refreshing to see such compassion in the game.”

Xavi irreplaceable, Luis Enrique says

There will never be another player like Xavi and Barcelona will have to adapt accordingly now he is leaving, coach Luis Enrique said after the midfielder made his final appearance in a 2-2 draw against Deportivo on Saturday.

Xavi, 35, announced last week he was joining Qatari side Al Sadd after 17 seasons in Barca’s first team and 23 trophies, bringing to an end more than two decades with the club he joined as an 11-year-old in 1991.

“There is no replacement for Xavi,” Luis Enrique said.

“You cannot replace unique players. I, as a coach, and those who come after me will have to adapt to different types of player.

“Xavi is a football genius and he is the best midfielder in the history of the game.”

Scudamore focused on player quality

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore insists he is “not at odds” with the FA on the objective of increasing the number of English players in the top flight, but reiterated his opposition to a quota-based system.

FA chairman Greg Dyke has published plans to increase the number of homegrown players in Premier League squads from eight to 12.

“We want more homegrown players in Premier League squads, so we’re not at odds with that,” Scudamore said.

“But the way to do it in our view is with investment in youth development on qualitative basis, not necessarily on quotas and rules.

“We do have our own rules but the progress we’re making in youth development, the enormous strides in quality of our investment and development programme will ultimately come through.”

Cameron signs new Stoke deal

Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron has signed a new three-year contract with the Potters, the club have announced.

The 29-year-old was heading into the final year of his previous deal but is now committed to the club until 2018.

Cameron joined Stoke in 2012 from Houston Dynamo, and has made 99 league appearances for the Premier League club.

News of the deal comes three days after Stoke announced they had made fellow defender Philipp Wollscheid’s loan move from Bayer Leverkusen permanent.