BREAKING NEWS:
Ajax and Liverpool have agreed on a €26.5 million move for Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez. That’s the good news. The shocking news from Anfield Road is that their Spanish star striker Fernando Torres is demanding that he be sold to Chelsea!

Torres feels a move away from Liverpool now is right for his career. Liverpool could make more than a £20m profit if they accept Chelsea’s bid. Should the deal go through, Torres will also be eligible to play in the Champions League for Chelsea. It’s only three days until this transfer window closes.

Raul Meireles is a central midfielder who plays for English side Liverpool and Portugal.
Meireles came up through the ranks of Portuguese 1st division teams Boavista and Aves. In 2004, aged 21, he signed for Porto, one of the country’s top teams. He went on to win four league titles and three cup titles with Porto. In 2006 Meireles made his debut for the Portuguese national team and is today an established regular.
In August 2010 he moved to the English Premier League after Liverpool signed him for £11.5 million. At Liverpool he has quickly settled. In what has been a tumultous few months for the club after Rafael Benitez left as manager, the brief reign of Roy Hodgson before the take-over by Kenny Dalglish, Meireles has been one of the most consistent players. In November he was the club’s player of the month and his good form has continued over the new year period. Ex-Liverpool great Alan Hansen has compared Meireles to Terry McDermott, as the same energetic, goal-scoring box-to-box midfielder. McDermott played with Hansen and Kenny Dalglish in Liverpool’s great team of the 1970s and early 80s.

This season’s Football League Championship has turned out an exciting competition. Twenty-four teams are battling it out for the three to earn promotion for next season. While the Premiership also is more open than it has been for years, both near the top and bottom, there are more than a dozen teams that could move up from the Championship.
The winner and runner-up qualify directly for the Premier League, while the four teams placed between 3rd and 6th go to a play-off for the third spot. Last season Newcastle won with West Bromwich as runners-up. Blackpool grabbed the third spot after having beaten Cardiff in the last play-off round. Blackpool were the great surprise after first getting past Nottingham Forest in their first play-off match, while Cardiff had battled off Leicester.

The 24 teams of 2010/11 season includes teams from Portsmouth in south (last season’s Premiership jumbo) to Middlesbrough in north. With 20 matches still to go until the season wraps up in May, the west London club of Queens Park Rangers sit in 1st place. This has been the case for most of the season so far but they look less comfortable than they did before their first defeat last month at home to Watford. Indeed Watford have come up as one of the major contenders, currently just inside a play-off placing.
Neck-in-neck chasing QPR at the top are the two Welsh teams in The Championship; Cardiff (who so closely missed out last season) and Swansea (who placed 7th last season). The other closest contenders, in addition to Watford, are Norwich, Leeds and Nottingham Forest. Five other teams at least must be said to still be in the competition (for a play-off spot); Reading, Millwall, Burnley, Coventry and Hull.
It’s quite extraordinary, that the three teams promoted from League One last season (Leeds, Norwich & Millwall) have all managed to play themselves into contention for a top 6 placing already in the first season. Amongst the Premiership relegates the chances look good for both Burnley and Hull, while Portsmouth’s struggles have continued also in The Championship.

Ahead of the season fans had high hopes for clubs like Leicester, Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Crystal Palace. Leicester have been boosted with Sven-Göran Eriksson as new coach, after a disastrous start to the season. Things have picked up again for the East Midlands club but the question is whether it came a bit too late. Middlesbrough had a similar bad start to the season and also parted with their manager Gordon Strachan. Ipswich on the other hand started well before a bad run saw them plunge towards the bottom of the table. This lead to the sacking of their manager, Roy Keane. For Crystal Palace the whole season has merely become a matter of survival, seemingly anchored to the relegation zone towards League One football next season.

The competitiveness and quality seen in The Championship is what’s directly reflected in the Premier League. It is the top of the breeeding ground making the Premier League the toughest league in the world!

We’ve seen the last of Ronaldinho’s dazzling footwork in European football. Radio Globo in Brazil have reported the star has been in Rio de Janeiro over the Christmas holidays, signing a 3 1/2 year contract with his hometown club Grêmio. Ronaldinho has struggled to find his old form since signing for AC Milan in 2008. Milan since signed Ibrahimovic, Robinho and recently also Cassano. Ronaldinho has found himself in and out of Milan’s starting XI and only showed glimpses of the constant brilliance he displayed in Barcelona.

As a kid Ronaldinho was taken under the wings of Grêmio at the age of seven. His football talent was apparent already then. His older brother also played for Grêmio. In 2001, aged 21, Ronaldinho moved to Europe. He played two seasons in France, for Paris Saint-Germain before being signed by Barcelona in 2003. With Barcelona he won two doubles and the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League. Individually he won most Player of the Year titles available in 2004, 2005 and 2006 including 2 x FIFA World Player of the Year. On international duty with Brazil he won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1997 and the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

For some of the Ronaldinho magic we’ve all come to love, view here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS3Pj5u4Pv4&feature=fvsr

EDIT: Since the article was written an insurance clause in Beckham’s contract has stopped him for playing any matches for Spurs. He is only training with them, until his return to LA Galaxy on February 10th.

In the past David Beckham ruled out playing for any other English team than Manchester United. Fresh off the press in the new year it’s all up to LA Galaxy if they will allow a two month loan to Tottenham. Beckham has told Spurs manager Harry Redknapp that he is ready to come, if he gets the green light from his Major Soccer League club. Redknapp said Beckham could be presented as a Spurs player already next weekend, in the FA Cup match vs Barnsley. The weekend after they will host Manchester United at White Hart Lane and Beckham could be part of the team against his former club. This would be his first match for him in the Premiership since he left Manchester United in 2003.

So what’s in it for both parties? Beckham still has a love of football and the desire to perform at top level. There could maybe also be a faint hope for him to return to Fabio Capello’s England squad.
For Tottenham Redknapp insists Beckham could have a positive impact. His playing style was never about pace but about ball delivery and striking it well. Beckham wouldn’t play every minute of every match but he can come on and help keeping the ball. Even more so, Redknapp sees him as someone who can inspire and help improve other players in training. Tottenham’s flying winger Aaron Lennon has a lot to offer, in Beckham’s place both at Spurs and for England, though his final ball ball sometimes lets down his game. It would be hard to picture anyone who better can illustrate perfect cross-balls than David Beckham.
The 35 year old Beckham must be available for LA Galaxy again in March when the Major Soccer League start their new season.