Full story: talkSPORT
Arsenal have been put on Pepe Reina red alert after the Liverpool keeper hinted he could quit Anfield next summer.
Full story: Daily Mail
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will attempt to land £15m-rated Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic next summer.
Full story: caughtoffside.com
The Red Devils have also beaten off competition to sign exciting Norwegian prospect Mats Moller Daehli.
Full story: talkSPORT
OTHER GOSSIP
Chelsea are in talks to quit their 105-year old home at Stamford Bridge and build a 60,000-seater stadium on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Earls Court exhibition centre.Full story: The Guardian
Carlos Tevez can win Wednesday's Manchester derby on his own, according to his City team-mate Joe Hart.
Full story: Daily Mail
Former Liverpool midfielder John Barnes believes current manager Roy Hodgson has proved he's the right man at Anfield following the club's 2-0 win over Chelsea.
Full story: talkSPORT
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has warned striker Andy Carroll, who is in line to win his first senior England cap, he must sort out his life off the pitch before he can live up to his growing reputation on it.
Full story: Daily Mail
Is Samuel Eto'o the world's best striker?
Six months ago the question couldn't have been asked but it's certainly relevant now following the coaching changes at Inter Milan, Diego Milito's recent absence and the goals, the endless goals: is there a better striker in the world right now than Samuel Eto'o?The Cameroonian's goalscoring ability hasn't been in question since his Real Mallorca days but it was hidden under a bushel during Jose Mourinho's reign at the San Siro given the latter's preference for Milito to single-handedly spearhead this attack.
"When we had the chance to bring in Eto'o, I thought I could play 4-4-2 and 4-3-3," Mourinho has said. "I knew that in Europe you needed to be more balanced and Eto'o could give me that."
So the Portuguese bought the Indomitable Lion for his versatility which initially saw Eto'o deployed as Milito's partner before being withdrawn more and more onto the flanks until some were jokingly describing him as a full back.
That said, the arrival of Rafa Benitez has unleashed the predatory beast that is the Douala-born destroyer, the man whose Barcelona spell brought 108 goals in 144 league games.
"With Mourinho we played on the counter-attack, with Benitez we press more and that's better for forwards because we win back the ball higher up the pitch and create more chances," Eto'o has said.
"For a forward it's important to play close to the goal. It's more complicated for me when playing on the wings."
Eto'o started out wide under Benitez but with greater freedom since he was largely relieved of his back-tracking duties and, with a point to prove after Cameroon's disappointing World Cup, the Indomitable Lion - 'I had a bad summer' - is back doing what he does best.
He's the leading scorer in both Serie A, with seven in nine, and the Champions League where he's red-hot - with seven in four. In his first game up front following Milito's injury, Eto'o bagged a hat-trick against Werder Bremen, and he's been there ever since.
And while the three-time African Footballer of the Year's finishing is impressing (not just the poacher's goals that were his bread-and-butter at Barca but also well-hit efforts from the edge of the box), so is his all-round game as well - particularly his movement and link-up play.
The weighting of Eto'o's passes are normally near-perfect, as his assists in the Champions League wins over Werder Bremen and Tottenham Hotspur showed.
His close control and first-touch are also world-class, able to kill a lengthy ball dropping over his shoulder (witness his sublime second against Bremen) or control any pass fired at him - as shown when scoring against Palermo or teeing up Dejan Stankovic in the 4-3 win at home to Spurs.
The Cameroonian gave a master class in the art of a forward in the first half of that match, making two and scoring two, the second a typical Eto'o strike where his run off the shoulder of the last defender was timed to perfection.
At White Hart Lane on Tuesday, Harry Redknapp's perfectly-executed tactics ensured Tottenham's midfield cut the crucial supply lines to Eto'o but the insatiable forward still brought Inter back into a match where they were over-run, scoring a beauty out of nothing to set Spurs hearts racing.
To be the world's best out-and-out striker at present, the Inter star would clearly have to be better than the usual cast. So is he?
For my money, the only man who can rival him at present is another African - Didier Drogba, whose form (like Eto'o's) has been unaffected by this summer's World Cup and who's bagged seven goals so far while creating another six.
Although their styles differ - one a battering ram of brute force strength who is good in the air and on the deck, the other a smaller more lithe version with a greater element of finesse - their unerring eye for goal is as good as their form this season. The same cannot be said of other big names - David Villa and
Diego Forlan - who are suffering a World Cup hangover, while recent pretenders to the throne of the world's best forward have dropped off: see Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres.
There is of course another man who's flying even if Cristiano Ronaldo is not an out-and-out striker, playing more central these days admittedly but in the hole behind Gonzalo Higuain. The winker kept Madrid in the title hunt last season, on his own at times, and he's picked up where he left off in La Liga, netting 11 in nine.
Lionel Messi has also been banging in the goals for Barcelona (12 now) despite not being at his best, fatigue seemingly taking its toll, but the Argentinian is another who cannot really be considered as a pointman.
Across Europe, there are dozens of strikers in good form (Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Llorente to name but two) but I guess the question, in true pub banter style, is this: if you had to choose a striker to convert a chance upon which your life depended, who would it be? I know mine.
MESSI VS RONARDO
Messi is an utterly unique specimen, not just in the confines of the modern football era but across the spectrum of the game's history. His precocious skill and incomparable dribbling ability seemingly become more refined as he becomes a more mature footballer, and from an attacking sensibility few can match his pace and precision when in possession.
At just 23 years of age, we feel like he has been with us forever; indeed it is impossible to imagine Barcelona without their talismanic figure dropping deep to collect the ball and drive towards terrified defences. His switch into a central position, masterminded by coach Pep insistence that he be at the heart of the action, has opened up additional possibilities, and he is revelling in his role as dictator, whilst also remaining goal-getter in chief.
Last season his goals ranged from the spectacular to the downright implausible, and while in 2010-11 his efforts has been slightly more modest, his scoring ability is of no less significance as Barcelona hunt for their third successive league title.
Ronaldo has in many aspects changed the concept of just how physically perfect a footballer can be. He has married consummate fitness with pace and raw, unbridled power, and favours brute force over subtle skill.
When the eternal debate is raised as to who the better player is between CR7 and Messi, you see two fantastic footballers with very different approaches to the game; Ronaldo's exceptional ability to sprint past defenders before unleashing his own brand of shot, a trademark swerving, dipping effort that he almost pioneered, is just as effective as the passing, penalty-box precision of his rival.
But that isn't to say that Ronaldo doesn't have innummerable tricks and flicks of his own, and indeed his equal comfort on either foot as well as his heading prowess make him arguably the most complete player of the recent generations. His strike rate for Real Madrid speaks volumes as to his consistency in the final third of the pitch.
How They Played This Week
Who came out on top in the recent round of La Liga action?
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid 2-0 Atletico Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo saw his hot goalscoring streak for Real Madrid in La Liga come to an end when he failed to find the net in the 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
After scoring in his last four domestic outings in succession totalling ten goals, CR7 amassed a massive eight shots against Atleti, but a majority of them failed to hit the target. There was a nice 'Ole moment' from Cristiano towards the end of the game when his outrageous "back pass" to Xabi Alonso almost led to a goal.
Player Ratings Comment: Went down a little softly for the free-kick that resulted in Los Blancos' second, but then again, no one judges the winners. Tried hard tonight, but it really was not his game. Seems to have lost his free-kick magic as he failed to put away quite a few set-pieces tonight. Still, he did well to retain possession and bring other into play, and gave Valera a torrid time.
Individual Match Stats
| Lionel Messi (vs Getafe) | Cristiano Ronaldo (vs Atletico Madrid) | |
| Goals | 1 | 0 |
| Shots (On Target | 5 (3) | 8 (3) |
| Assists | 1 | 0 |
| Balls Lost | 8 | 5 |
| Balls Recovered | 3 | 2 |
| Fouls Suffered | 1 | 5 |
| Goal.com Rating | 8.5 | 6.5 |
Lionel Messi (Getafe 1-3 Barcelona)
Messi continued his superlative scoring form as he scored one and made one for David Villa to inspire his side to a 3-1 win over Getafe in a Top of the Match performance.
He netted the opener against Geta when he started an attacking move from deep, and collected a return pass from David Villa before slamming a left foot shot first time past the despairing dive of Jordi Codina.
He returned the favour as he played in Villa for the second goal with a slick through ball on the turn that deceived the Getafe defence.
Player Ratings Comment: Scored one, provided a vital assist for another, and pressured Cata Diaz into a mistake to set-up the third. Could have added more and also had a goal disallowed. The world's finest and most talented footballer continued to rock, and those who watched were mezmerised.
Story of a Season
Who's had the best campaign so far in La Liga?
Season Stats
 |  | |
| Minutes Played | 754 | 944 |
Goals
| 8
| 11
|
| Total Shots (On target) | 38 (20) | 81 (31) |
| Assists | 3 | 5 |
| Passes | 501 | 488 |
| Passes Completed | 418 | 357 |
AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR: IT IS ETOO AND DROGBA!
This year's African Footballer of the Year award shortlist has three Premier League players, but there is no place for Emmanuel Adebayor, Yaya Toure or Michael Essien.
Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, as well as FIFA Ballon d'Or nominee Asamoah Gyan make the ten-man list, with Inter Milan forward Samuel Eto'o favourite to land the award after he won the Treble with the Nerazzurri last season.
Gyan is one of three Ghanaians who impressed so much at the World Cup, alongside ex-Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and Marseille's Andre Ayew, who has been attracting interest from some of Europe's elite.
Shortlist for African Footballer of the Year:
Ahmed Hassan (Egypt and Al-Ahly)
Andre Ayew (Ghana and Marseille)
Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana and AC Milan )
Madjid Bougherra (Algeria and Rangers)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast and Chelsea)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon and Inter Milan)
Mohamed 'Gedo' Nagy (Egypt and Al-Ahly)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana and Sunderland)
Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast and Chelsea)
Seydou Keita (Mali and Barcelona)
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