Glen Johnson discharged from hospital

Glen Johnson has been discharged from hospital after undergoing scans on the injury that kept him out of Liverpool's 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.


The full-back complained of severe pain on the right side of his face and jaw shortly before the Premier League clash was due to kick off and was taken to hospital for tests.

Initial scans indicated a localised infection but the England international was allowed to return home on Saturday evening and is likely to be fit for training in the week.

Medical staff at Anfield expect Johnson to be back in contention for November 9's match against Fulham.
Johnson has featured in five league games for Brendan Rodgers's men this season either side of a spell on the sidelines due to an ankle injury, with Liverpool picking up 13 points from a possible 15 in those matches

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Several clubs want Banega -Agent

Ever Banega's agent plans to meet with Valencia's directors in the coming days as several club have expressed an interest in signing the Argentine.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been at Mestalla since 2008 and stated before the season began that he was determined to repay los Che for standing by him during some difficult times off the field in recent seasons.

However, Banega's representative, Marcelo Simonian, has now revealed that his client could move elsewhere as early as January.

I can only tell you that we are already talking with several clubs in relation to the next window, the agent told NapoliCalcioLive.com. 

In the next few days I will be travelling to present all the options to Valencia.

Valencia signed Banega from Boca Juniors for a reported fee of €20 million but his time in Spain has been blighted by injuries and controversy.

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Says Courtois: My future's in Chelsea's hands

Thibaut Courtois has stressed that he does not know whether he will play for Atletico Madrid again next season as Chelsea have the final say on his future.

The Belgium international is on loan at the Vicente Calderon side until the end of the season after previously spending the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns at the club, but no decision has been made about whether he will play away from Stamford Bridge again next term.

We must wait, time will tell, the goalkeeper, 21, told Sportium.

This year I wanted to stay at Atletico because I wasn't sure if I would play at Chelsea. Besides, I was excited to play in the Champions League with Atletico and wanted to be a starter with a view towards the World Cup.

But now everything depends on Chelsea. I had a conversation with [Jose] Mourinho and decided it was best to stay here. I belong to Chelsea, but Atletico are the most important club of my life. I've got titles and prestige in a short time.

Atletico sit second in La Liga following a superb start to the season, but Courtois knows that Diego Simeone's side have a long way to go if they are to be in the running for the title.

We are working very hard for the team to maintain this level all season, but the road is very long. We want to get as far as possible and we are showing that we have the team for it.

It has improved a lot since Simeone arrived. He is one of the best coaches in the world, he's well motivated and gets the best out of everyone. He has instilled his winning mentality.

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BREAKING NEWS: Klopp signs Dortmund extension until 2018

Borussia Dortmund have announced on their official website that they have reached an agreement with Jurgen Klopp over a new contract until the summer of 2018.

The 46-year-old's previous deal with the Bundesliga giants was due to expire in June 2016 and a number of clubs were supposedly closely monitoring Klopp's situation at BVB.

However, he has now ended all speculation about his future by signing for two additional seasons.

It's an honour that some big clubs rate my work at Dortmund, but I'm not the type of person who wonders whether the grass is greener elsewhere. It's important to be at the right place at the right time and Dortmund is the right place for me," Klopp commented on his renewal.

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Samuel delighted with Inter return

Inter defender Walter Samuel has voiced his delight with his return to match action in Tuesday's 1-1 Serie A draw against Atalanta after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury.

The 35-year-old had been out of action since April due to an Achilles tendon problem, but featured for the full 90 minutes against the Bergamo side.

I'm back on the pitch at last, Samuel was quoted as saying on the official Inter website.

It was a difficult game but I felt quite good even though I've been out for nearly six months. 

I was sorry to miss out before now, but my team-mates have been putting in a huge amount of work and effort.

Samuel has made over 200 official appearances for Inter since joining them from Real Madrid in the summer of 2005.

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Says Kehl: Dortmund deserved more Ballon d'Or nominations

Borussia Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl feels the Bundesliga side deserved more recognition by the Fifa Ballon d'Or judges.

Jurgen Klopp's side were represented only by Poland international Robert Lewandowski on the 23-man shortlist and Kehl believes more of his team-mates should be in the running for the prestigious individual award.

First of all, I haven't seen the entire list yet, so for me it's a new situation. But I would have expected a few more Dortmund players to make it, Kehl told reporters.

And I wouldn't exactly see it as justified that there's only one player from Borussia Dortmund.

It may be that Dortmund are judged as a team, but of course we have a lot of great individual players, too.

But we are successful as a team at the end of the day and I think that's not subject to any debate.

The winners of the award will be revealed at the Fifa Ballon d’Or gala as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on January 13, 2014.

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Neymar enthused by great Clasico debut

Barcelona star Neymar enjoyed his Clasico bow after his strike helped his side to a 2-1 victory against Real Madrid on Saturday.

The Brazilian prodigy was the subject of a tug of war between the two arch-rivals over the summer, before eventually deciding on a €57 million switch to Camp Nou.
And, after netting the opener in his first appearance against los Blancos, the 21-year-old expressed his delight at how well his first appearance in the famous fixture had gone.
I had seen many Clasicos, was great to play one, Neymar told reporters. 
It was so hard against a great team. I'm so happy about the victory, the team and the goal. Cristiano [Ronaldo] is a great player, but we have also many good players.

Team-mate Alexis Sanchez was introduced by Gerardo Martino in the second period, and effectively won the game for Barca with sublime chip over Diego Lopez.
I'm very happy about the goal and the match. I saw Diego Lopez had advanced too much so I tried to hit the ball over him, the Chilean said.
This is a very beautiful match that everybody wants to play. Real Madrid is a very hard team to beat, it was not easy.
The Spanish champions now sit six points ahead of third-placed Madrid in la Liga.

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Moyes delighted with De Gea display against Stoke

David Moyes heaped praise on goalkeeper David de Gea for his performance in Manchester United's 3-2 win over Stoke at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils were facing the possibility of a third Premier League home match in a row without victory on Saturday, as a close-range Peter Crouch effort and Marko Arnautovic's superb free-kick helped the Potters into a 2-1 lead.

Stoke could have been out of sight as Crouch and Jonathan Walters both missed opportunities to extend their lead at 1-0 and Moyes was grateful to his Spanish keeper for keeping Stoke at bay.

We needed our goalkeeper to make an extraordinary save to deny Walters in the first half, he said.

But that's what he's in the team for, he's there to do that, he's part of the team.

Stoke have not scored many but they have not conceded many either, so we knew we would have to work hard after going behind.

United have been notorious for late comebacks at home in the past, but had only won once on their own turf in the Premier League this season before their victory over Stoke.

But Moyes felt his team deserved the win and was delighted to see all three of his strikers get on the scoresheet.

He added: "I thought in the end we deserved to come back. I thought we did a lot of good things and a lot of poor things that put us in the situation we were in. Some of the play was good but it didn't put is in a position to score goals.

I thought we were very worthy of getting a goal back. We tried, we knocked at the door, we tried to find ways through.

In the end, we had three centre forwards on the pitch who all scored goals.

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Says Figo: Quitting Barcelona for Real Madrid was easy

Luis Figo has claimed that he did not think twice in his decision to leave Barcelona for Real Madrid in 2000.
The former Portugal international infuriated the Blaugrana supporters when he elected to swap the Catalans for their arch-rivals for a then world-record fee of €62 million, culminating in one fan hurling a severed pig's head in his direction on his return to Catalunya in 2002.
Despite the sensitivity of such a transfer, though, the 40-year-old says that the decision to leave was straight-forward due to the belief that he was under-appreciated at Camp Nou.
Speaking to Grada360, Figo said: At that moment when at Barca, I was not satisfied with how I was valued, I had the opportunity and did not think twice. 
I did not always feel valued for what I had given to the club. For so much time I gave everything that I could and in the end my desire to leave became a reality.
It is so in any profession, if your boss does not appreciate you and if you have another opportunity certainly you will consider it. And that was so.
Saturday will see the first Clasico of the current campaign take place in Catalunya, with Barcelona knowing victory would establish a six-point margin between their bitter rivals.

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Mandanda admits interest in Barcelona move

Olympique de Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has expressed his interest in joining Barcelona.
Current Blaugrana No.1 Victor Valdes has already confirmed his intention to quit Camp Nou when his contract with the Catalans expires at the end of the season.
The Liga champions have not yet been linked with Mandanda but the France international has confessed that if Barca did come calling, he would find it difficult to say no.
If a place becomes available in Barcelona, that's very good, he told L'Equipe.
The player that says he does not want to go to Barcelona, I think he's lying a little ... Well, a lot, actually!
After that, there are agents involved, and the president also, so making predictions about what might happen is difficult.
Mandanda was heavily linked with Monaco during the summer but the 28-year-old insisted that his head wasn't turned by all the transfer speculation, explaining he was more than happy to stay at the Stade Velodrome.
It's been quite a few years 've been at 'OM for quite a few years, he mused. "There was an interesting challenge put forward by Monaco. But I stayed and I had no reason to be unmotivated. 
I am, first and foremost, a competitor, a great professional. I also know that I have a debt to l'OM, who picked me up in Le Havre while I was only the second goalie. 
Here, I feel important, appreciated by everyone. The fans have always been behind me. I want to justify the confidence of an entire club in me.
I am not envious, sincerely. I am here. During pre-season training, I had a discussion with the coach. 
It lasted 30 seconds. I told him, 'I'm staying, I am completely here!
Mandanda added that while he has the utmost confidence in himself, he knows that there are better goalkeepers out there at the moment.
I'm not the best, he stated. "The best is Manuel Neuer; he is very complete, very consistent. 
After him, there solid players such as Gianluigi Buffon. Petr Cech is having a special season. 
Young people like Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet have also arrived. To place them in relation to me is tricky.

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