The injured Cristiano Ronaldo is looking to make a return in Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League match against Ajax.

Ronaldo initially suffered his ankle injury during a match against Real Mallorca on August 29th.  The 25 year-old winger was expected to miss three weeks, keeping him out of Portugal international games against Cyprus and Norway, but could be back sooner than later.

Ronaldo will miss Real Madrid’s match against Osasuna on Saturday, but just may be back for next Wednesday.

“I feel better and we’ll see how it (the injury) develops,” he told reporters.

“I’m still not perfect but almost at one hundred per cent. I’ll return as soon as possible, maybe in two days I can rejoin the squad.”

“I believe I can be ready for the match against Ajax.“

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Barcelona technical director Andoni Zubizarreta has revealed Javier Mascherano’s price tag of €24 million.

After a lot of chatter over Barca’s approach to finances, there has since been some debate about the high price paid for Liverpool’s Mascherano.

However, Zubizarreta said: “We paid Liverpool €20 million plus the €4 million that came from the player by reducing his salary.”

“The total salaries of the squad have gone down by 5%. We weren’t looking for this but we wanted a competitive team.”

To recover some moolah, Barca have allowed a number of footballers to go out on load, including the likes of Keirrison (Santos), Victor Sanchez (Getafe), Henrique (Racing), Martin Caceres (Sevilla), and Alexander Hleb (Birmingham).

Zubizarreta has also given some insight on Barca’s €40 million offer for Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas that was rejected by the Gunners.

“Both the club and the player did as much as possible,” he said. “Our second offer was €40 million. From the moment Arsenal said they didn’t want to negotiate, we respected their position.

“We would have liked to have signed him, but we weren’t able to negotiate. It wasn’t a disappointment – it was simply impossible. Thanks to the conversations, we have re-established contact with Arsenal.”

“Barca always has a team that wants to win. Historically, that’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it is now. The fact that the first team squad consists of 19 players isn’t important. We have plenty of cover because there are players in Barca B that could be in the first team. We’d had plenty of offers from the Spanish first division and from around Europe for them.

“We have a balanced squad. We’ll keep on looking at what we have and at the market but there’s no pressure to bring players in from the reserves or in the winter transfer window.”

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now labeled his one-time coach at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, as a ‘small time’ boss.

These big words [being directed at a coach of one of the world's most elite clubs] for a highly overpaid striker who didn’t produce during his stint with Barca.

The 28 year-old hit-man has made a return to Italy, joining AC Milan, after previously spending time with both Juventus and Inter Milan.

“In my book, a great coach solves his problems. A small-time coach runs from them,” Ibrahimovic said.

“There was only one person (on the Barcelona team) who wanted to get rid of me.”

“I have never had problems with any coach before during my career.

“But suddenly I had a thousand problems and I had no communication with ‘the Philosopher’. No communication whatsoever. I don’t know what his problem was.

“I couldn’t take it. I had no choice but to find a new place of work and I was lucky to go to a club like Milan. I am 28 years old and cannot afford to lose a year sitting on the bench and watching the weather.”

Now, let’s be blunt here… Many Barcelona fans were not crushed by seeing Ibra leave for Milan.  The addition of Spanish national team striker David Villa will likely produce twice what Ibra was able to during his short time with the La Liga powerhouse.

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Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo will be out of action for the next three weeks due to an ankle injury which he sustained during Sunday’s La Liga opener against Real Mallorca.

The 25 year-old Ronaldo is set to miss out on Portugal’s upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Cyprus and Norway, along with club team matches against Osasuna and Ajax.

There is no doubt that Ronaldo on the sideline isn’t a good thing.  However, Real Madrid has a very deep bench with the likes of Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil who are more than capable to try and fill the hole left by Ronaldo.

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Aldo Duscher has signed for Barcelona team Espanyol on a free transfer. The 31-year-old defensive midfielder had the last year of his Sevilla contract cancelled by mutual consent. Now the Argentine helps fill the gap that Moises Hurtado left after he departed the Cornella-El Prat for Greek club Olympiakos.
Duscher is an experienced campaigner. He spent a decade in La Liga with Deportivo La Coruna, Racing Santander, and Sevilla, a combative player who was famously involved in the incident that left former Manchester United player David Beckham with a broken foot shortly before the 2002 World Cup in Japan.
Espanyol has had tough seasons recently, but in Aldo Duscher they have the ideal experienced player to sit back and protect the back four. He could be a massive help in helping the club kick on from mediocrity.

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Reasonable seeing we just mentioned he’s in to the last year of his contract and available on a free transfer next summer.  We think so too! But not the team from Seville. . . . They are asking for a whopping £25m.

Now, obviously, Sevilla are entitled to do what they want, and they are more than likely trying to get the striker to commit his future to the club and offer him new terms, and that is their right, but are they playing a risky game? Knowing they could lose him for nothing at the end of the season.

Well we think so. With the lack of loyalty shown by players this summer, it’s possible that the player could sulk, refuse to play, become a disruptive influence. Unfortunately that’s the footie world we live in now.

Now in Fabiano’s defence, he’s given the club good service and been value for money, so seeing out his contract is his right, but surely if you are directors at Sevilla, you’ve got to cash in, and quick!

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But the 32-year-old seems to have a fantastic relationship with the hierarchy at Juve and they seem willing to let him out of the final year of his contract, the move to Alicante is even more appealing because Trezeguet’s wife is from that town.

Winding down your career in Spain is not the worst idea I’ve heard, but we still think he has much to offer for teams challenging for trophies, not just fighting for survival. We wish him well regardless and expect him to knock in plenty of goals wherever he ends up. At the end of the season his experience and undoubted eye for goals could see Hercules have a few seasons in the top tier.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic now has AC Milan playmaker Ronaldinho lobbying for him to make a move to San Siro.

In 2008, 30 year-old Ronaldinho left Barcelona for Milan and is now encouraging Ibra to do the same, even if that means putting his starting position in jeopardy.

On Wednesday, the former-Barcelona star made his way back to Camp Nou when Milan took on Barca in a friendly match.  Ronaldinho was seen joking around with Ibrahimovic before kick-off.

“Right now everyone’s talking about Zlatan,” he told the Milan Channel.

“I told him that if he should come to Milan he would be welcome and it would be a pleasure to play with him, but we’ll see what happens.”

Last season, Milan reached the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League and finished their regular season with a third place finish in the Serie A.

“Even without Ibrahimovic we’re a team that works hard,” he added. “We can’t wait to start the season so we can do well.

“All the players are very motivated and that makes me happy. Personally I want to win trophies with Milan and now I must start my work to help the team win.

“Last season we did well, (although) we let the possibility of winning the league slip away. There are many other good teams in the league but we can also do well.”

There is no doubt that adding the 6’5″ Barcelona hit-man to the roster would only put more balls in the back of the net for Milan.  But are Ronaldinho’s welcoming words enough to lure in Ibra?

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Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero has stated that he will be more than happy to remain with his current club until they decide to cash in on the 22 year-old striker.

Aguero has been linked with a move to the Premier League, with Chelsea being among those most interested in what he brings to the table.

However, the young Argentine insists that he is happy just where he is as long as his club wants him.

“I have told the club that I want to stay here, so they will sort out with my agent whether to renew my contract or not. I don’t get involved with that,” said Aguero, who would require a hefty transfer fee.

“But as I have always said, I’m happy and when the club needs to sell me for the money, they will do. But right now they don’t want to and I’m here.”

Aguero has stated that he expects Atletico Madrid to continue right where they left off last season.

“Practically no players have left,” said Aguero, who joined the club from Independiente for £15 million in 2006.

“All of us from last year, when we got to two finals, are here, and this year, with the players we have brought in, we can do a lot more,” he added.

“We are capable of squaring up to any team with our confidence and winning mentality. It will be a great game.”

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The 24-year-old was on the fringes of the Madrid squad last season and ultimately missed out in going to the World Cup with Argentina because of his lack of play.

Gago is confident that he’s still wanted though, especially after chatting with Mourinho, and went on to say to the Argentine Ole, ”I am going to stay with Real Madrid this season.

“I have already spoken with (sporting director Jorge) Valdano and Mourinho and at no time did they say they wanted to sell me.

“I am very comfortable and relaxed here,” he said.

“Some players are going to have to leave, but I am staying. I was surprised that things were said about me leaving, because I had already spoken to the coach and to Valdano.”

We think Gago is a fantastic player, and has improved since his move from Boca Juniors, we do think he will have a massive hill to climb though. Winning back a regular spot is a massive task, but it wasn’t so long ago that Real Madrid were rejecting silly money bids from Manchester City for his signature.

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