Real Madrid stalwart Cristiano Ronaldo has said he has “almost” recovered from an ankle injury and may be available to play against Ajax in their Champions League group opener next week.
The Portuguese winger took a knock to his right ankle in Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw at Real Mallorca on August 29, and was ruled out for about three weeks.
“I feel better and we’ll see how it (the injury) develops,” he said.
“I’m still not perfect but almost at one hundred per cent. I’ll return as soon as possible, maybe in two days I can rejoin the squad.”
He added that “I believe I can be ready for the match against Ajax” on Tuesday.
Galliani defends Huntelaar exit
Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani defended the club’s decision to sell Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to Schalke 04, claiming that whatever they do, someone is always unhappy.
Huntelaar and Marco Borriello, who left for Roma, both had to make way for the arrivals of Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Brazilian Robinho but Galliani doesn’t believe he will regret letting the two centre-forwards leave.
“It’s the same old discussion when we buy players it’s a mistake and when we sell them it’s a mistake,” he told reporters.
“Let’s be clear about this, Huntelaar is a good player, he’s a central striker but we’ve chosen Ibrahimovic for that role and hence he’s left.”
Houllier seeks Bergues reunion
New Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier is hoping to appoint one of his former Liverpool backroom staff – Patrice Bergues – at Villa Park.
Houllier had wanted to bring in Phil Thompson, his number two at Anfield as assistant-manager, but he has opted to remain in his role as a pundit with Sky Sports.
Houllier will take charge of Villa for the first time at Stoke on Monday after being unveiled to the media today. But before then he will meet the players including skipper Stiliyan Petrov, Luke Young and James Collins who all backed caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald to become new manager.
Marseille made Drogba bid – Dassier
Marseille have revealed they tried to bring Chelsea star Didier Drogba back to the club before the transfer deadline, even as relations between coach Didier Deschamps and sporting director Jose Anigo were stretched to breaking point.
Club president Jean-Claude Dassier has revealed Deschamps and Anigo were in disagreement over several potential signings but those tensions did not stop the club launching a bid to sign Drogba, the player they sold to Chelsea for £24 million in 2004, and they could try again in the near future.
“We even tried to bring in Drogba, but this has not been possible,” Dassier said. “We’ll see, you should never give up in life.”
Neville was facing up to the end
Gary Neville has admitted he thought his career was coming to an end at the end of April this year.
Although his fellow veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes had already agreed new one-year contracts, Neville was still waiting to hear whether Sir Alex Ferguson still wanted him.
“I turned round during training one morning and said ‘I have three games to go at Manchester United’,” Neville, who signed a one-year contract extension towards the end of last season, said at a sponsorship announcement for Singha Beer.
“I had not spoken to the club and I genuinely felt it could be the last three weeks.
“The club didn’t owe me anything and I was more than happy. I was enjoying myself.
“In some ways, my best football came in a period I thought I was just going to enjoy.”
Balotelli to undergo knee surgery
Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has been ruled out for “up to six weeks” after the club revealed he is to undergo knee surgery.
The high-profile summer signing has been suffering with the injury recently and it has been decided he will go under the knife in a bid to cure the problem.
The Italy international has returned to Milan as City confirmed the injury to his lateral meniscus. They had hoped to avoid surgery but after his recovery suffered a setback, an operation became necessary.
Balotelli is set to miss key matches against Chelsea in the Premier League and Juventus in the Europa League but could return for the visit of Arsenal on October 24.
Italian businessman shows Roma interest
Giampaolo Angelucci is lining up a bid in excess of €100m to purchase Roma, Il Corriere dello Sport reported yesterday.
However, the Roman businessman wants to examine the club’s accounts first and his advisor from IMI will ask Rothschild if they can proceed with due diligence.
Rothschild have been assigned the task of finding a buyer for Roma from Unicredit, another bank who have a controlling stake in the club after agreeing a debt resettlement package with Rosella Sensi.
There are reports that Angelucci has two backers – one from Europe and another from China. He apparently plans to fork out as much as €100m so Roma can make an important signing as a signal intent.