Welcome To Dipo Liadi's blog: July 2014

30 July 2014

VIDEO: Watch Diego Costa's First Official Chelsea Goal

Amazing goal, looks like this is the type of goal scorer Chelsea needs

ANCELOTTI: We Will Handle Ronaldo With Care

Carlo Ancelotti has insisted that Real Madrid will not take any risks with Cristiano Ronaldo as he continues to work on his fitness. The Portugal international was plagued by injury problems toward the end of the 2013-14 campaign and was not 100 per cent fit at the World Cup either.

He recently resumed training at Madrid's pre-season tour to the USA, but Ancelotti has stressed that they will not rush Ronaldo back to action.

"We have to be careful with Ronaldo, and right now this calls for calm," Ancelotti was quoted as saying on the club's official website.

EMOTIONAL!!! Watch New Jersey Fans Break Down In Tears After Meeting Gerrard

Commonwealth Games: Team Nigeria Wins Bronze In Table Tennis

After missing out from the medal podium at the 2010 Delhi Games, Team Nigeria on Monday returned to the zenith of table tennis at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games after beating India 3-1 to claim the bronze medal in the men’s team event.

In 2010, Team Nigeria failed to win any medal having been a regular medal winning team since table tennis became part of the Commonwealth Games in 2002, but the efforts of the present board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF)-led by Wahid Oshodi yielded positively as the Segun Toriola-inspired team achieved the impossible against the highly rated Indian team.

Even in the rating of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Nigeria has been seeded below India and most of the Indian players are rated higher that the entire Nigerian team.

Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho has declared that Nigerian midfielder, John Obi Mikel, could be on his way out of the club.

Mikel has been consistently linked with a move away from Chelsea but it seems the arrival of Ivorian marksman, Didier Drogba has finally sounded the death knell on the time of the Nigerian at the club.

The return of Drogba means Chelsea’s anticipated first-team squad has one too many foreign players under Premier League and Champions League rules relating to the home-grown quota.

Belgian club Genk have sacked head coach Emilio Ferrera after just one game of the new Pro League season. Ferrera arrived at the club in February, after Mario Been was dismissed following a disappointing run of results.

The 47-year-old helped guide Genk to sixth at the end of the 2013-14 regular season, although they finished bottom of the play-off group with just two wins from 10 matches.

On Sunday, Genk went down 3-1 at Mechelen in their season opener, and that has led to the club's board opting for a swift change of approach.

Vincent Enyeama’s inclusion in the Goal 50 for 2014 comes as no surprise, but a year ago it would have triggered incredulous double-takes around the world.

The position of back-up goalkeeper is football’s most unwanted job. In any other position, rotation might be required due to the rigours of different competitions, but goalkeepers perform the most simplistic function: saving shots. The only way a back-up plays is if the first-choice gets injured or suffers a cataclysmic slide in form.

High Spending Wenger Wants Premier League Trophy

Arsene Wenger has said that he and his players want to top last season’s FA Cup victory by winning the Premier League this season.

The Arsenal boss was telling journalists about the insatiable desire his players had for trophies and success; so after tasting domestic glory in the cup last season, a title victory would be the aim this season.

He said: “High expectations have always been there. We have not always fulfilled them but we ourselves have high expectations for our own performances. We are very ambitious. Last season, we were 128 days at the top of the league and we were frustrated that we couldn’t win it. And we won the FA Cup so next season we want more.

Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas has hinted that a move to Real Madrid is just "around the corner" and predicts it will be sorted within a week.

The 27-year-old had an impressive 2013-14 Liga campaign then was one of the standout players in the World Cup in Brazil, where he helped Costa Rica to reach the quarter-finals which his performances between the posts.

A move to Real Madrid has been heavily rumoured since the end of the World Cup, despite nothing official being announced, and Navas revealed that his future will be solidified in the coming seven days.

Kenneth Omeruo believes another loan move to Middlesbrough is the best option for him at
this stage of his career following talks with Jose Mourinho and Michael Emenalo.

Omeruo signed a new long-term deal at Chelsea in May but does not figure in Mourinho’s
first-team plans for this season and Boro boss Aitor Karanka confirmed earlier this week
that he would be coming back to The Riverside on loan.

The 20-year-old defender spent time with the Championship club last season and is happy to
be heading back there, having spoken with Chelsea boss Mourinho and technical director
Michael Emenalo about his future.

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and world class music Rapper Lil Wayne will go Into business together. A report monitored in TMZ reveals that American rapper Lil Wayne is set to branch out into sports management and his No.1 client will be Real Madrid and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

The pair are said to be close friends and Ronaldo’s high profile will help grow the business in the early days of its introduction into the world of sport.

The Hip Hop star’s company will work closely with PolarisSports, which has affiliations with the CAA Agency and GestiFute Sports, two agencies that the Madrid ace’s agent Jorge Mendes uses.

Chelsea have completed the signing of Didier Drogba on a one-year contract. The 36-year-old returns to Stamford Bridge having left in 2012 after winning the Champions League.

Drogba, who featured for Cote d'Ivoire at the World Cup earlier this summer, has scored 157 goals in 341 appearances for Chelsea and has also won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups with the club.

"It was an easy decision,” the striker told the club’s official website.

Benfica have secured the signing of Manchester United outcast Bebe on a four-year deal that could be worth €3million. Bebe was signed by former Old Trafford boss Alex Ferguson from Vitoria Guimaraes for an estimated £7m in 2010.

However, Ferguson admitted he had never seen the winger play and Bebe subsequently managed just seven appearances in four years at the club - the last three of which were all spent out on loan.

After unsuccessful spells with Besiktas and Rio Ave, the 24-year-old finally proved his talents with an impressive campaign at Pacos de Ferreira last season, scoring 13 goals in all competitions for the Primeira Liga strugglers.

TONI KROOS> I Wanted To Stay At Bayern

Toni Kroos has stressed that he only started thinking about a transfer to Real Madrid after talks with Bayern Munich over a new deal collapsed.

The Germany international was keen to stay in Bavaria, but he eventually opted to join the European champions for a reported €25 million after failing to agree terms on a contract extension with Pep Guardiola's side.

"I first started thinking about a transfer when talks with Bayern were unsuccessful. Bayern were always my priority and I didn't talk to anybody else," Kroos told the official DFB website.

Wenger Quiet Over Thomas Vermaelen's Future

Following Arsenal’s 2-0 pre-season win over Boreham Wood on Saturday, Arsene Wenger fielded some questions from reporters.

During the Q&A Wenger was asked about the future of Thomas Vermaelen, and the Gunners gaffer refused to confirm that the Belgian will be at the club next season.

As reported by Arseblog via Gunnerblog, Wenger replied:

Super Eagles striker, Brown Ideye was on cloud nine on Friday after sealing his dream move to the EPL, joining West Brom for the club’s record transfer fee of believed to be in the neighbourhood of £10m, reports Completesportsnigeria.com

The former Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine forward took to his Twitter handle on Friday to thank God for his latest blessing . He would also express his gratitude to everyone whose contributions acted in tandem to land him his dream job.

Ideye writes inter alia in his Twitter handle, @OfficialIdeye: “Done deal, officially a West Bromwich player. Thank you God.”

Pep Guardiola is fully capable of inspiring the Germany World Cup winners in his Bayern Munich squad to achieve even greater heights, says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Five current Roten players started the 1-0 World Cup final win over Argentina, with new Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos also in Joachim Low's first XI, while Mario Gotze entered the action late on to score the extra-time winner.

However, far from expecting some of Bayern's stars to consider their international triumph as the pinnacle of their careers, club CEO Rummenigge is confident Guardiola can repeat the success he managed with Barcelona in 2011 - just a year after Spain claimed the World Cup in South Africa.

A brace from captain John Terry helped Chelsea overturn a two-goal deficit to defeat AFC Wimbledon 3-2 in a friendly on Saturday.

Having beaten Wycombe Wanderers 5-0 in their first pre-season fixture on Wednesday, Chelsea would have expected a similarly strong showing against Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow.

But Jose Mourinho's men were up against it as Alan Bennett scored inside the first minute and Matt Tubbs - who joined from Bournemouth last month - scored from the penalty spot shortly before the break.

Former Austrian Manager Wants Super Eagles Job

Even as Super Eagles head coach, Stephen keshi’s future with the Nigeria national is yet to be decided in the aftermath of Nigeria’s Round of 16 ouster in the concluded FIFA World Cup in Brazil, former Austria manager,Dietmar ‘Didi’ Constantini has expressed interest in taking up Super Eagles coaching job as successor to the Big Boss.

59-year-old Constantini stepped down as Austria senior national team manager September 13, 2011 after two years in the saddle.

With 198 caps for his country, Didi Constantini has had several spells with Austrian national teams, including U-18 and U-21s as well as senior national team assistant role in 2001 having equally handled Al-Ittihad of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia among several other Austrian clubs.

Tottenham are set to offer Jan Vertonghen a new contract as Mauricio Pochettino continues to build for his first season in charge at White Hart Lane.

Pochettino, appointed as Tim Sherwood's successor in May, is keen to tie the club's best players to the club ahead of the 2014-15 campaign and has already convinced Hugo Lloris to put pen to paper on a five-year contract.

Vertonghen has four years remaining on his current deal but Spurs are keen to thrash out improved terms on an extension as they bid to keep him at the club, with the likes of Barcelona monitoring his situation.

Chelsea of England midfielder Mikel Obi has admitted Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji has a likeable and lovable personality.

Mikel, who is an Amstel Malta Ambassador, spoke as a guest at an event organised by the brand in Lagos.

“We work together, it’s a working relationship,” Mikel said. “We endorsed Amstel Malta together, she’s a very nice person; I spoke to her a few times and she’s a very lovely person,”said Mikel who has been criticised for his below par performance in Brazil at the FIFA World Cup.

He’s been in the Manchester United job for less than 24 hours, but the Mirror are billing Louis van Gaal as ready to shift the deadwood out of Old Trafford.

Ten players are set to for Old Trafford exit door, say the tabloid, with Marouane Fellaini and Wilfried Zaha some of the bigger named stars set to leave.

Without any further information available on the backsheet of the paper, the narrative that’s being built is the van Gaal fundamentally believes the squad at Man United is all wrong.

Super Eagles midfielder Joel Obi played for an hour for Inter Milan who cruised to a 6-1 victory over Trentino Team as the Nerrazuri won their first pre-season match at the La Pineta training ground.

Obi who played on loan at Parma last season was replaced by Rubin Kanzan loanee Yann M’Vila who made his debut for Walter Mazzarri’s men.

Argentine striker Mauro Icardi and youngster Federico Bonazzoli scored a brace each, while strikes from Jonathan and Juan Jesus completed the rout.

The worst-kept secret of the summer has finally been revealed. Toni Kroos is a Real Madrid player. Just as we have been reporting over recent weeks, the deal had already been done.

The player has left Bayern Munich a year before his contract expired in exchange for €25 million plus another €5 million in variables, which depend on the player reaching certain objectives once dressed in white. He will earn €6 million per season to the end of his contract.

The best player of the World Cup, according to FIFA's website, will land in Madrid to be presented to his new public. Kroos will wear the number 8 shirt, expected to become a bestseller from the minute it hits the shelves in the Bernabéu shop.

According to a report in Tuttomercatoweb, AC Milan boss, Filipe Inzaghi has rejected Chelsea’s offer of Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi for a fee of around five million euros.

Mikel has been declared surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge following the arrival of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona and the retention of the defensive midfield duo of Nemanja Matic and Ramires.

It was widely reported on Tuesday that Chelsea had offered the Nigerian to a number of Serie A clubs and Tuttomercatoweb in its online edition of Wednesday July 16 revealed that AC Milan was offered the midfielder but rejected the chance.

Chelsea are emerging as front runners in the race to sign Sami Khedira as they step up plans to reinforce their midfield. The Blues have made contact with Real Madrid about discussing a €25 million deal for Khedira, who has only a year remaining on his contract with the Spanish giants.

Chelsea's move comes as Arsenal's pursuit of the Germany World Cup winner has stalled due to his salary demands. Khedira is believed to be pushing for a €250,000-a-week plus top-up bonuses.

That would make him comfortably the highest paid player at Emirates Stadium, where the top earners are €160,000-a-week duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, but he would fit in with the Chelsea wage structure for A-list players.

Nigeria rose up ten spots to 34th place in the Fifa rankings released on Thursday, courtesy of the Super Eagles' second round finish at the World Cup in Brazil.

The Eagles are now the third-ranked African side behind Algeria and Cote d'Ivoire who finished in the 24th and 25th positions.

World champions Germany (1) climbed to the top of the pile after defeating Argentina (2) in the showpiece final on July 13. The South Americans are now in second place.

Liverpool Bigger Than Luis Suarez Says Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers has insisted Liverpool are "bigger than any individual" following Luis Suarez's €88 million move to Barcelona.

Both clubs confirmed an agreement has been reached for the sale of the striker on Friday, with Suarez set to undergo a medical and pen a five-year deal at Camp Nou next week.

Rodgers is now keen to focus on the progress the club have made rather than dwell on the loss of the striker who scored 31 Premier League goals last season.

Alexis Sanchez has revealed Arsene Wenger's coaching pedigree was one of the main factors behind his move to Arsenal.

The Chile international completed his switch from Barcelona to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday for his first foray into English football. Having won La Liga and the Copa del Rey while at Barca, Sanchez was a reported target of Juventus and Liverpool in recent weeks.

However, the 25-year-old revealed an admiration for Wenger was a key pull in persuading him to join Arsenal.

Why David Luiz Left Chelsea For PSG

Keeping their sources close to their chest, Spanish paper El Confidencial paint themselves as having inside knowledge into how David Luiz feels revealing new details in relation to the defender’s move from Chelsea to PSG.

Luiz, who is now known worldwide for his appalling performance in Brazil’s 7-1 thrashing against Germany, moved to PSG for €50m just before this summer’s competition started.

Perhaps looking to do the player a solid and move the conversation along from his show against the Mannshaft, El Confidencial today give insight into why Luiz push through his exit at Stamford Bridge to become the world’s most expensive defender.

The FIA has rejected claims that Kimi Raikkonen should have been punished for his crash in the British Grand Prix, and that the red flag delay was too long.

The Ferrari driver crashed heavily on the opening lap after he lost control of his car as he rejoined the track on the Wellington Straight.

Article 20.2 of F1's Sporting Regulations states that: "Should a car leave the track the driver may rejoin, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage."

Ex-Nigeria international, Seyi Olofinjana has taken a swipe at reports credited to Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi demanding 10million naira to stay on as coach of the national team.

Olofinjana working for Optima Sports Media in Brazil criticised the Keshi’s demand while giving his assessment on a daily show tagged Inside Brazil.

“His demands is outrageous ,that’s a whole lot of money to demand from your country, especially coming off a time when players are getting hammered for demanding for so much money, now the coach has joined in and it’s not right in anyway,” he said.

Luis Suarez is on the brink of officially completing his sensational transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona after the terms of a deal worth just over €88 million were agreed on Wednesday night.

The agreement comes after a week of negotiations between the clubs, with an announcement expected in the coming days - perhaps even within 24 hours.

Barcelona have captured Suarez in a straight cash deal after agreeing to meet the release clause in the Liverpool contract he signed last December.

Courtney Spruill, a Kernan Middle School teacher and assistant soccer coach, has been suspended for 15 days for inappropriate behaviour at a students party, including accusations that she twerked on her players.

According to reports, the incident happened back in May at one of the student’s houses, however it only came to be public knowledge in recent weeks when another teenager told another teacher.

North Florida’s Action News Jaxx report that “The district investigation made note of twerking as a form of dirty dancing. The district also reviewed cellphone video of Spruill getting a lap dance from a student at the party.”

Victor Moses Faces Bleak Liverpool Future

The future of Super Eagles forward Victor Moses is uncertain following Liverpool’s interest in Serbian winger Lazar Markovic as reported by Caughtoffside.com

Moses who just finished his 2014 World Cup assignment with the Nigerian national team in Brazil played 19 games in total for the Reds, but failed to impress manager Brendan Rodgers and his loan deal is not likely to be renewed following the acquisition of Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana plus the impressive Raheem Sterling.

Chelsea, Moses’ parent club are also likely to call time on his Stamford Bridge career as more superstars make their way to the West London club.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari insists he will wait until after the World Cup before deciding his future.The World Cup hosts were humiliated 7-1 at the hands of Germany on Tuesday evening in Belo Horizonte, conceding five goals by half-time before Andre Schurrle struck twice to book their place in the final.

Brazil now face either Netherlands or Argentina in the third-place play-off on Saturday, and Scolari says he will discuss his future with the Brazilian Football Confederation after the tournament, as originally planned.

"After the World Cup we will make a presentation to the CBF, where we will talk about the good and the bad that we have done, and it will depend on the board."

Jose Mourinho says it would be unfair to single out David Luiz for blame after the most humiliating night in Brazil's footballing history.

Luiz was Brazil's stand-in captain for the World Cup semi-final against Germany with Thiago Silva suspended and was guilty of a poor display, finding himself at fault on a number of occasions as the Germans ran riot, winning 7-1.

However, Mourinho, who recently sold Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record £50 million for a defender, said many of his team-mates were equally culpable.

Standard Liege striker Imoh Ezekiel may join legions of Nigerian players playing in the Gulf region next season after Tottenham Hotspurs and FC Porto failed to reach an agreement to sign the highly rated forward, Complete Sports has gathered.

The Belgian outfit was close to agreeing a deal for the 20-year-old forward who scored 13 goals last season but were forced to back out on the deal after he failed to meet the requirements to feature in the English premier league.

“Tottenham were close to signing him but he doesn’t meet the basic requirements to play in England,” his mentor Liameed Olawale Gafar said.

Neymar’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, has launched a scathing attack on Luiz Felipe Scolari, brandishing the Brazil coach "repulsive and conceited."

The World Cup hosts were dumped out of the competition on Tuesday, suffering a humiliating 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in Belo Horizonte – Brazil’s biggest defeat since a 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920.

And as the fall-out from what the Brazilian media described as the most shameful result in the country’s football history, Riberio took to Twitter to launch a six-point personal attack on Felipao with an ironic list of requirements to be Brazil coach.

Argentina have reached their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, when they went on to finish runners-up to West Germany.

La Albiceleste have progressed from all three of their World Cup semi-finals.

These teams have met four times in the World Cup, with Netherlands winning twice and Argentina once, with one draw.

Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata appears close to joining Juventus, having described the move as a "new challenge".

Reports suggest the Spain Under-21 international is on the verge of a switch to the Italian champions, having been linked with an exit from the Santiago Bernabeu in recent months.

Morata has struggled for a regular spot under Carlo Ancelotti due partly to the presence of star names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

Thiago Silva has urged disgruntled Brazil fans to help the crestfallen FIFA World Cup hosts overcome the side's semi-final capitulation.

Missing captain Thiago Silva through suspension in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, Brazil suffered a humiliating 7-1 thrashing at the hands of rampant Germany. A desperate first-half performance saw Brazil go into the break 5-0 down and things barely improved after the interval as Germany cruised into an eighth World Cup final.

Brazil fans, so fervent in their support of the national team throughout the tournament, were stunned into silence and even began to applaud Joachim Low's side after Andre Schurrle netted the seventh goal.

The Fifa Emergency Committee has suspended the Nigerian Football Association (NFF) with immediate effect due to alleged "government interference".

The move comes after the dissolution of the NFF executive committee by the country's government and the detention of NFF president Aminu Maigari by the Department of the Dstate Security Service.

"The FIFA Emergency Committee has decided today, July 9, 2014, to suspend the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with immediate effect, on account of government interference," a statement read.

QUESTION: Did Drogba Place An Enchantment On Chelsea Strikers?

The brawny Brazilian-come-Spaniard may be Chelsea's best hope of finally ending the Drogba era, says Alex Hess...

Chelsea obviously owe much to Roman Abramovich for the way he has funded the grand influx of high-end footballers to Stamford Bridge. But while the club has accrued immense playing talent since that game-changing summer of 2003, it’s not the case that all those glamorous acquisitions have lived up to their billing. Indeed, while no club will ever boast a 100% success rate with transfers, there is an unmistakable recurring theme to Chelsea’s Abramovich-era transfer business: the staggering rate at which high-profile strikers have flopped miserably.

It is a pattern likely to worry Chelsea fans who would rather their club recruited dead-eyed goal machines than shot-shanking figures of fun. And it is a pattern that should be equally troubling for Diego Costa, the west Londoners’ latest mega-money centre-forward. But will he fill Didier Drogba’s venerated boots, or step instead into the well-worn clown shoes of Stamford Bridge?

Former Brazil playmaker Juninho believes the host national can overcome Neymar's absence to win the FIFA World Cup.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's team secured a semi-final place with a stirring 2-1 win over Colombia last Friday, but it came at a price. A robust challenge from Colombia defender Juan Camilo Zuniga left Neymar with a fractured vertebra, ruling him out of the rest of the tournament.

Much of the pre-match build-up to Tuesday's last-four clash against Germany in Belo Horizonte has centred on how Scolari will adapt to the Barcelona forward's absence.

Don't watch this match like a novist. The match will kick off by 9pm and it will be one of the most thrilling encounters of the World Cup. This facts will give you a pre-knowledge of the various encounters, goals and facts you need to know.......

Brazil have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 2002, a year that they went on to lift the trophy.

The Seleção have lost none of their last six semi-final matches, winning five and drawing the other.

Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli believes that Mario Balotelli still has some way to go before he can be considered a true "champion".

The AC Milan foward netted the winner in the Azzurri's World Cup opener against England but disappointed in their subsequent defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay. Even Prandelli appeared to lose patience with Balotelli in Brazil, hauling the forward off at half-time in the latter loss, and he has now admitted that he feels the 23-year-old still has so much to prove.

"For now he only has great shots, but he's not yet a champion," the new Galatasaray boss told reporters at his official unveiling on Tuesday. "He must work to become one."

Arsenal remain confident of pushing through a £30 million deal for Chile winger Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona and expect to complete the signing of France defender Mathieu Debuchy later this week.

Sanchez is understood to have instructed his representatives to close negotiations with the Gunners after deciding against offers from both Liverpool and Juventus. Reports in Spain suggest Barcelona have accepted Sanchez's desire to leave and head to London rather than Anfield, where he could have been used as a makeweight in a potential deal for Luis Suarez.

Some of the Arsenal squad, including Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, had their first pre-season fitness training session at London Colney on Tuesday afternoon, under the watchful eye of assistant manager Steve Bould, with Arsene Wenger still out at the World Cup on media duty for French TV.

After a season plagued by injuries, Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique is desperate to hit the ground running in the 2014-15 campaign.

The Spaniard made just eight Premier League appearances during the previous campaign, before a knee injury curtailed his involvement in November.

However, with the new season set to begin next month, Enrique is approaching full fitness and cannot wait to get started.

Nike has confirmed it will not renew its kit deal with Manchester United at the end of next season. Well you might want to conclude that the recent woes of the club under David Moyes might have helped in pushing that decision considering the fact that United is a top global brand. Nike says its about money but i think that might not be true. Absence of champions league football and a rebuilding process in a more stronger and competitive league might have influenced this decision....

Manchester City have finalised the singing of Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero on a three-year deal.

He told the club's official website: "I am very happy, and really looking forward to the start of pre-season and performing well to help the team.

"This is a new challenge and a new league for me. I have been doing well in the previous years and my goal is to go on and hopefully perform at the same level for City.

The German daily confirm what has been doing the rounds for a number of days now, Kroos will be a Real Madrid player once the World Cup is over.

Kroos refused to be drawn on questions when asked during press conferences at the World Cup but both the Spanish and German press are in agreement.

According to Bild today, Kroos will sign a five-year-deal at the Bernabeu until the end of the 2018/2019 season. At Real Madrid, Kroos will earn 12 million euros gross per season, which amounts to just over 6 million euros net per season.

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