Wenger: The next 12 days could make or break Arsenal's season, manager Arsene Wenger said yesterday. Arsenal play London rivals Fulham, Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League as well travelling to Portugal to face Porto in the Champions League in that time. "The period that comes up now for us is the moment of truth," Wenger said. "We must not hide. There is a big obstacle in front of the players but I feel they are ready to jump it."

Barcelona: Barcelona have included Javier Saviola in their 23-man squad for the Club World Cup in Japan next month. Argentine striker Saviola has been out of action with a thigh injury for just over two weeks but is expected to return in time for the tournament in Japan from Dec. 10-17. The other teams are South Korea's Chonbuk Motors, Mexican club America, Egypt's Al Ahli, New Zealand's Auckland City and Brazil's Internacional.

Zenden: Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden has been ruled out for five weeks after injuring the medial ligaments in his knee. It is the same knee he damaged last season and the former Dutch international will undergo surgery today. Liverpool play Portsmouth at Anfield in the Premier League today with only one recognised central midfielder in Steven Gerrard.

Chelsea: Chelsea are to produce a Mandarin-language website about the Premier League champions in a move to build the club's brand in China. Chelsea have signed a deal with leading Chinese internet portal SINA, whose own site will carry a link to the new Chelsea site to be launched in mainland China in 2007.

Zenit: Zenit St Petersburg have signed Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak on a three-year contract. The 23-year-old becomes the first major acquisition for ambitious Zenit SP and their Dutch coach Dick Advocaat two days after Zenit finished a disappointing fourth in their league campaign. Zenit have also bought out the contract of Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen from Rangers.

Sculli: Former Italy U-21 striker Giuseppe Sculli has been banned for eight months after an investigation into a Serie B game in 2002. Telephone interceptions involving Sculli discussing the match were published in Italian media and the Football League's disciplinary commission handed down the ban yesterday to the forward who now plays in Serie B with Genoa.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.