Borussia Dortmund cancel Gotze farewell

The Bundesliga giants have opted to call off the midfielder's official goodbye in an attempt to avoid aggravating supporters ahead of the Supercup clash with Bayern Munich.

Borussia Dortmund have decided to cancel the scheduled farewell ceremony for Mario Gotze ahead of this weekend's German Supercup match against Bayern Munich, in order to prevent any supporter protests.
The Germany international angered BVB fans when announcing his decision to leave Dortmund for Bayern in a deal worth €37 million earlier this year, but Dortmund were nonetheless keen to give the 21-year-old an official goodbye and thank him for his contribution to the club's recent successes.
However, they have now opted against their initial plan to bid Gotze farewell on Saturday after talks with the attacking midfielder's agent Volker Struth, in an effort to placate fans who remain bitter over his switch to the Allianz Arena.
Gotze has been receiving abuse via social media ever since announcing his transfer to Bayern and it has therefore been decided that he will remain in Munich this weekend to work on his recovery from injury rather than travel to Dortmund for the match at Signal Iduna Park.
The creative midfielder has been sidelined with a muscular problem ever since the second leg of Dortmund's Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, but is expected to resume squad training in the next 10 days.

Ronaldinho: Everyone said I was finished.

The former Barcelona and AC Milan star was delighted to have joined a prestigious group of players to win both the Copa Libertadores and Champions League.

Ronaldinho has voiced his delight with Atletico Mineiro's hard-fought Copa Libertadores win over Olimpia and has hit back at his critics who claimed the forward was in decline.
Mineiro were beaten 2-0 in the first leg of the final in Paraguay but turned things around in the return as goals from Jo and Leonardo Silva levelled the tie before the Brazilians ultimately triumphed on penalties.
"This is the reason why I returned to Brazil. This is the one trophy that was still missing," Ronaldinho was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"Everyone said that I was finished and that my time was over. Let them talk now..."
Wednesday's victory saw Ronaldinho join an elite group consisting of Cafu, Roque Junior, Dida, Carlos Tevez, Walter Samuel and Pablo Sorin to have lifted both the Champions League and Copa Libertadores trophies.
The 33-year-old won European club football's elite competition with Barcelona in 2005-06.

Suarez preparing to submit transfer request to force Arsenal move

The striker has told Liverpool that he wants to join the Gunners and is ready to lodge an official request to engineer his departure from the Merseyside club

The striker has told Anfield officials he wants to leave the club and join Arsenal, who made a bid worth €49 million for him on Monday.However, Liverpool insist that Suarez is not for sale and have let it be known to the player’s camp that he will have to lodge an official transfer request in writing in order to leave Merseyside.Sources have told Goal that the Uruguayan is now ready do so as he steps up his plans to remove one of the obstacles to his exit.

This raises the prospect that Suarez will concede bonuses and other financial triggers but, with the player so keen to leave, Liverpool will face a decision over whether to begin negotiating a fee for his sale with Arsenal.

The Gunners lodged a second bid for the forward on Monday, made up of €41m up front and supplemented by €8m of add-ons.

This has been rejected by Liverpool but it is understood that Arsene Wenger will ‘pull out all the stops' in an attempt to land Suarez, who has become the main focus of his attention as he attempts to make a marquee striker signing.

Arsenal are believed to be confident that the Uruguayan is keen on a move to Emirates Stadium, and have now gone into completely unchartered territory to capture him.

The offer, which is comfortably a club record, is nearly double the €27.1m offer the Gunners made earlier this month for Gonzalo Higuain, who is putting the finishing touches to a €35m move to Napoli.

Arsenal are also preparing what is believed to be a lucrative package for a player who signed a €116,000-a-week four-year deal last summer.

Liverpool are fighting to hold on to the striker, who has spoken frequently this summer of his interest in a move, most specifically to Real Madrid. However, the Spanish giants have yet to make a bid for him and Arsenal are currently the only club in the running for his signature.

Earlier, Suarez made an 18-minute cameo appearance as a substitute on as he returned to the Liverpool team for the first time since April 21. In front of 95,000 fans at the MCG, he set up the second goal in the Merseysiders’ 2-0 win.

Brendan Rodgers has compared Suarez's value to that of Edinson Cavani, who joined Paris Saint-Germain last week for €64m, but the Anfield manager has stopped short of completely ruling out the Uruguayan's departure, merely saying every player has his value and he will only leave "if something drastic happens".

A bid rising to €49m for a 26-year-old who is banned for the first six games of the new season might be regarded as tempting by Liverpool's America-based owners Fenway Sports Group but John W Henry seemingly Tweeted to ridicule Arsenal’s latest bid for Suarez, writing: "What do you think they are smoking over there at Emirates?"

Suarez has a €46m clause in his contract which his advisers believe entitles him to ask for permission to speak to any club that matches the price. But Liverpool claim they only have to inform Suarez and the clause does not oblige them to sell. 

Arsenal believe they have been given enough encouragement by the Uruguayan's representatives that he is keen to move to Emirates Stadium in search of Champions League football.

The Gunners' second offer has been timed to coincide with Suarez returning to pre-season training following his extended summer break. The striker linked up with Liverpool in Melbourne on Sunday for the second leg of their pre-season tour.

Suarez has emerged as Wenger's first choice ahead of Higuain and Wayne Rooney, who is the subject of strong interest from Chelsea.

Manchester United can forget about signing Ronaldo , says Jose Mourinho.

The former Real Madrid boss believes David Moyes should turn his attention away from the Portuguese star as the Spanish giants have no need to sell their prized asset.

Jose Mourinho has told Manchester United manager David Moyes to forget about trying to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were reportedly looking into bringing the Portuguese ace back to Old Trafford, despite new Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisting Ronaldo was not for sale.
But former Blancos coach Mourinho has put a dampener on talk of a potential deal by declaring that the Liga giants are unlikely to allow the 28-year-old to leave since their financial muscle means they will not be pressured into a sale.
"What I know is that Real Madrid is such a rich club that they don't need to sell Cristiano," Mourinho, who shares the same agent - Jorge Mendes - as the former Manchester United star, told reporters.
"And [Madrid] are such a rich club I think they can swallow up any offer another club can make for Ronaldo.
"I know Ronaldo loves Manchester United and I know he loves the Premier League but I think he is going to stay.
"It's just a feeling. I've had no contact with him, nothing. It's just my feeling."

Football Mania: Cristiano Ronaldo voted Goal readers attacker of t...

Football Mania: Cristiano Ronaldo voted Goal readers attacker of t...: With the Goal 50 announced on July 29, we wanted to know who you thought was the stand-out attacker from the 2012-13 campaign Cristiano...

Cristiano Ronaldo voted Goal readers attacker of the season

With the Goal 50 announced on July 29, we wanted to know who you thought was the stand-out attacker from the 2012-13 campaign

Cristiano Ronaldo voted Goal readers attacker of the season

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been named attacker of the 2012-13 season by Goal readers.
Ronaldo, 28, continued his incredible goalscoring record at los Blancos by netting 34 goals in 34 games in La Liga and was the top scorer in the Champions League with 12. 
The Portuguese fired Madrid to a Spanish Super Cup triumph, runners-up position in both La Liga and the Copa del Rey, and a Champions League semi-final where they fell to Borussia Dortmund.
Ronaldo, who recorded 29.62 per cent of the vote conducted by readers of Goal International, finishes ahead of Lionel Messi, Robin van Persie, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Balotelli. To hear our experts' reaction to your vote, watch the video at the top of the page.
We will name our 50 best players from last season on July 29 when Ronaldo will hope to add to the prize he won last year in the Goal 50

video related to the goals of Ronaldo in 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG6pPMm8XpE

Football Mania: Napoli agree €37m fee with Real Madrid for Higuain...

Football Mania: Napoli agree €37m fee with Real Madrid for Higuain...: The Serie A club are negotiating personal terms with the Argentine's camp after settling a price with the Spanish giants, who had pri...

Napoli agree €37m fee with Real Madrid for Higuain

The Serie A club are negotiating personal terms with the Argentine's camp after settling a price with the Spanish giants, who had priced Arsenal out of a move.

Napoli have agreed a €37 million fee with Real Madrid for Gonzalo Higuain.

The Serie A club have had a fresh bid for the Argentine accepted by the Spanish club and Napoli are now trying to convince the player to move to the San Paolo.

Personal terms are yet to be agreed, with Higuain's insistence on retaining his image rights providing a something of a stumbling block.

Higuain has two years remaining on a Nike deal worth around €1.8m per year but Napoli would prefer to take control of his image rights and pay him a more lucrative salary.

The forward earns a relatively modest €75,000-a-week at Madrid and Napoli are believed to have offered him a deal in line with the €116,000-a-week starting salary he had agreed with Arsenal.

The Gunners had agreed personal terms with Higuain but a transfer to the Emirates Stadium stalled because Madrid were holding out for a bigger offer than the €27m submitted by the Londoners.

Arsene Wenger subsequently switched his attention to capturing Luis Suarez from Liverpool after learning the Uruguayan was interested in a move to the Emirates.

Wenger is still believed to be monitoring Higuain’s situation but plans to bring him to Arsenal are on the backburner as the Frenchman attempts to land Suarez for £40m-plus in a deal that would smash the club transfer record.

Arsenal will not attempt to match Napoli's bid but could come back into the running for Higuain's signature if he rejects a move to the Serie A club.

New manager Rafael Benitez targeted Higuain for the vacant senior centre-forward role in the team after selling Edinson Cavani for €63m to Paris Saint-Germain last week.

Although Madrid have claimed Higuain is not for sale, it is understood the Spanish club are now ready to offload the forward, who has spent six years at the Santiago Bernabeu.