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AS Roma

are wrapping up a deal for

Real Madrid

midfielder Fernando Gago. Gago was also interesting

Manchester City

, but is set to join Roma, says Sky Italia.

UEFA president Michel Platini expects Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to be punished for his clash with Barcelona’s Tito Vilanova.

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Arsenal have failed with an audacious loan bid for Real Madrid star Kaka – but could still buy the Brazilian. The Daily Mail says manager Arsene Wenger tried to act quickly to appease fans in the wake of Samir Nasri’s move to Manchester City, which followed Cesc Fabregas’s switch to Barcelona.

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Real Madrid will make a move to sign Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor, according to Marca, with the Spanish club now having lost hope of signing former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy back from Hamburg.

Madrid will reportedly offer €2 million and the option of a friendly match to loan Adebayor until the end of the season, while Real will pay half the salary of the Togo international, who will be eligible to play in the UEFA Champions League.
The new move comes after Hamburg categorically stated the Van Nistelrooy will not be released.
"We have rejected for the last time a new offer from Real Madrid. Everyone has agreed that we want a place in Europe, and so it is unthinkable that we would let go of Ruud van Nistelrooy," Hamburg president Bernd Hoffman said in a statement issued on the club’s official website.

Madrid looked to have cooled their interest in Adebayor just over a week ago when they switched their attentions to Van Nistelrooy, and Monaco had stepped in to attempt to take their former player on loan. However, while the tide has turned for Madrid, has the situation changed for Manchester City? They previously said they did not want to loan their striker out after the injury to Italian forward Mario Balotelli.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas’ journalist girlfriend, Sara Carbonero, was quoted on Italian television as saying: "By the end of January, either Adebayor or [Miroslav] Klose will be in Madrid to replace Higuain."

UPDATE 16:00 CET: Various sources in Spain suggest that Real Madrid could reach an agreement with Manchester City for Adebayor within the next few hours, and that the striker could be unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu before the end of the day.
The 26-year-old will sign on loan until the end of the season, with an purchase option included in the deal.

Barcelona striker David Villa believes that the four-point lead the club hold over bitter rivals Real Madrid is nothing, and that the Blaugrana have a difficult run of fixtures coming up.

El Guaje’ has been in great form as the Catalan giants have continued to maintain a blistering pace at the top of the Primera Division table, but when addressing the media yesterday, the former Valencia goal-getter said he knows that it is an advantage that can easily be made up by the opposition.

He remarked: “The difference is small and for Barcelona to keep up our streak of victories is difficult. We know that we can fail, but we know that if we win, we will be champions. We have an advantage and we must seize it.”
“I do not know if Madrid are in crisis, but we know that four points is nothing. We are very close, and there are many more points to play for. We have to make sure that we pick up as many as possible, because we know that Madrid will.”
Villa also spoke fondly of his experiences working with coach Pep Guardiola, and said that he is confident the tactician will decide to remain at the Camp Nou.
He added: “He has built this Barcelona, people are willing him to renew, he has never done anything against this club, and we would like a renewal to be announced as soon as possible.”

To celebrate Barca clean sweep in yesterday’s FIFA and  Ballon d’Or shortlisting, remember this quote

“I am the first, second and third”

The then 23-year-old high-flying Manchester United star said, before going on to win the FIFA World Footballer of the Year and Ballon d’Or awards for the year 2008.

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Barcelona winger Pedro attacked Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo during Monday’s El Clasico.

During the infamous bust-up between Ronaldo and Barca coach Pep Guardiola, Pedro was the most aggressive in the aftermath of the all-in brawl.

El Mundo Deportivo says Pedro screamed at Ronaldo: "Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?" during the push-and-shove.

His approach even shocked – and impressed – his Barca teammates as they sought to put former Manchester United star Ronaldo in his place after weeks of bad-mouthing the club.

As things turned out, they couldn’t give us more memorable football. Barcelona gave us a piece of drama beyond compare, something so thrilling and so extra ordinary that no one who was at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night will ever forget it.

There have been great El Clasico’s before, but there has never been a piece of theatre like this, and in no other sport could have it occurred. You can be staring down the wrong end of three match points in a Wimbledon singles final and spend the next two hours stripping your opponents bare. But in this episode of the Clasico, maximum triumph was guaranteed within eighteen minutes.

As the final whistle approached, most of us were polishing paragraphs pointing out the error of Jose Mourinho’s decisions. Mourinho had gone into his first Clasico encounter by making the biggest strategic mistake of his life.

What, as they stood or sat or lay in postures of frozen despair after every Barca goal, could have been going through Madrid’s players’ heads? How did they feel when the referee urged them to take up their positions for the restart, knowing that they would be kicking off another bout of Guardiola’s men’s wrath?

History, as we know, is the winner’s story. But without such pathos there could have been no heroism, without catastrophe no triumph. And if ever a mere game burst out of its boundaries to approach the proportions of myth, this was it.

As for now, Mourinho is back in the dugout, preparing his next move. Shutting it up wouldn’t be a bad move.