Mario Balotelli s agent says the striker will likely end his career in Italy but he remains committed to Manchester City for now.
Balotelli s future in England is currently the subject of much speculation, with City boss Roberto Mancini admitting that the Premier League outfit will probably try to sell the striker in the summer after his dismissal against Arsenal.
The Italy international s representative has now flown to Manchester for talks with Mancini but he insists that the purpose of his visit is not to thrash out a transfer which would see the player return home.
Balotelli will end his career in Italy, but at the moment it s better for him to stay at Manchester City, agent Mino Raiola told Sky Sport Italia.
Manchester City don t want to sell him.…
Russia s Dutch coach Guus Hiddink admitted Spain had been the better side and deserved to be in the Euro 2008 final after his side s 3-0 defeat here on Thursday.
After a more cautious first-half Spain shook off the shackles in the second period and tore Russia apart with their crisp passing game.
And Hiddink, whose side had stunned Holland in the quarter-finals due to their physical condition, said that his team simply could not keep chasing shadows as Spain pinged the ball around.
We lost against a very good Spain team, said Hiddink, who saw his hopes of a major final dashed again having taken Holland and South Korea to the 1998 and 2002 World Cup semi-finals respectively.
We were more or less on the same level for an hour but we couldn t keep it up…
Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal s American ownership and believes Stan Kroenke has changed the perception of the fans.
The Gunners owner has faced a wealth of criticism during his spell at the helm, with thousands of fans protesting last season as they pushed for the Kroenke family to sell up amid interest from Spotify owner Daniel Ek.
Kroenke remained adamant he would not sell though, despite the frustrations of the fans being the latest in a history of anger that also included the ill-fated European Super League plans and a compulsory purchase of shares that saw many supporters lose part-ownership of the club.
Now though, head coach Arteta feels that Kroenke and son Josh have changed the attitude of the supporters after showing their backing – spending more …
Guus Hiddink, christened the wizard by grateful Russian media, said Tuesday there was no magic to his giant-killing exploits as a coach in big international tournaments.
There s no recipe, there s no secret, there s no magic, he told journalists during a visit to South Korea, the team he took to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals against all the odds.
What we emphasised was to expose (ourselves), as a team, as players, to play fully committed and fully hard, the 62-year-old said of his latest team Russia, which he led to the Euro 2008 semi-finals last month.
The country had not advanced to the knockout stage of a major competition in 20 years.
The Dutchman a hero in South Korea also took Australia to the second round of the World Cup two years ago.
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Freddie Ljungberg believes Arsenal just need to dig out a win for confidence after their poor run continued with a defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Arsenal s winless run extended to nine games – their worst stretch since going 10 matches without a victory in 1977 – after suffering a 2-1 Premier League loss at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
But interim head coach Ljungberg feels one win could help turn Arsenal s season around, admitting his players looked scared during the first half against Brighton.
That s the tough part. They looked very short on confidence, in the first half they were scared to get the ball, scared to move and were just standing still, he told a news conference.
We need to talk about that but they need to, have to dig out …