Stevie G Quitting Anfield.

Liverpool captain, and a living playing legend Steven Gerrard announced that he will leave the club he has played for throughout his career in a bid to move to a foreign team at the end of the season, the English Premier League club said on Friday.

Gerrard, 34, has made a total of 695 appearances and scored 180 goals for Liverpool after joining the club as an eight-year-old schoolboy.

"Although I can't confirm at this stage where that will be, I can say it will be somewhere that means I won't be playing for a competing club and will not therefore be lining up against Liverpool -- that is something I could never contemplate," he added.

Gerrard is out of contract at the end of the season and the English media speculated that he could move to North America to play in the Major League Soccer (MLS).

He has been at the heart of the Liverpool team for the past decade and showed his enduring value to the club when he scored both penalties in a 2-2 draw with Leicester City on Thursday.

His greatest moment in a Liverpool shirt was when he helped to inspire their dramatic comeback win over AC Milan in the Champions League final in 2005.

However, he suffered disappointment last May when Liverpool missed out on the Premier League title. They faltered late in the campaign when they appeared poised to become English champions for the first time since 1990.

"My decision is completely based on my wish to experience something different in my career and life and I also want to make sure that I have no regrets when my playing career is eventually over," added Gerrard.

Host Nation and 5 times World Champion thrashed and humiliated

A brace each from Toni Kroos and Andre Schurrle and goals from Thomas Muller, a record breker from Miroslav Klose and a rarity from Sami Khedira helped Germany beat Brazil in the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup. Shorn of injured playmaker Neymar, who suffered a fractured vertebra in the quarter-final against Colombia, and suspended captain Thiago Silva, Brazil were torn apart by a ruthless Germany at Estadio Mineirao.

Miroslav Klose breaks the record for the leading scorer in World Cup finals history as Joachim Low's side scored four goals in the space of six first-half minutes and led 5-0 after only 29 minutes, then struck twice in the second half to set up a final against either the Netherlands or Argentina at the Maracana on Sunday.
Thomas Muller set the ball rolling with his fifth of the tournament and veteran striker Klose netted his 16th World Cup goal, surpassing legendary Brazil striker Ronaldo's tally as shell-shocked Brazil were totally outclassed.

Brazil had no answer to Germany's swift and accurate passing and movement as Toni Kroos struck twice and Sami Khedira added a fifth before substitute Andre Schurrle scored twice in the second half as the hosts were totally humiliated in the most emphatic semi-final win in World Cup history.

The hosts started brightly against Colombia in the quarter-finals, but looked nervous early on and Germany took full advantage when Muller put them in front just 11 minutes in courtesy of some dreadful defending.
It was all too straightforward for the Bayern Munich forward, who side-footed home after being left unmarked from an outswinging Kroos corner.
Brazil looked disjointed as they gave the ball away far too easily, while Germany were playing with a swagger and doubled their lead with a landmark Klose goal after 23 minutes.
Muller was involved once again, as he cut in from the right and laid the ball off for Klose after being picked out by an incisive Kroos pass. The veteran striker slotted into the corner with his right foot after Julio Cesar had kept out his initial attempt.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's men were stunned, but far worse was to come as Germany capitalised on more shambolic defending to score another three goals in the space of five minutes.
First, Kroos was on hand to fire home with his left foot from 18 yards after Muller had failed to make contact with a Philipp Lahm pass, then the midfielder struck again almost straight from the kick-off as Brazil fell apart.
The Bayern Munich man robbed Fernandinho as he dithered in possession and laid the ball off for Khedira, who unselfishly cut it back for his fellow midfielder to net.
And the outstanding Khedira got in on the act by adding a fifth with only 29 minutes gone, driving forward and passing to Mesut Ozil and then finishing with his right foot after the Arsenal midfielder cut the ball back to him inside the penalty area.  
Scolari replaced Fernandinho and Hulk with Paulinho and Ramires at half-time and both substitutes were in the thick of the action early in the second half as they brought saves out of Manuel Neuer.

But normal service was resumed as Germany showed no mercy and Cesar produced a fine save to tip over Muller's goal-bound strike on the hour mark.
Cesar could do nothing to deny substitute Schurrle a sixth goal 69 minutes in, though, and once again it was all too easy as Lahm fed Khedira, who in turn picked out the Chelsea forward and he made no mistake with a simple finish.
And Schurrle put Germany in seventh heaven with a clinical left-foot finish at the near post 11 minutes from time that prompted Brazil fans to sportingly applaud despite their heartbreak.

The host and 5 times World Champion were left wandering most of the times. Its like they dont even know what hit them. The introduction of Dante to pair with David Luiz in the heart of the defence at first seems harmless as both are playing for a massive European Club and Dante, having played with almost half of his Bayern Munich team mate, should have at least know their playing style. But, it was a total disaster. With the front pairing of Fred and Hulk did nothing to impress or even to create a goal, let alone scoring. 

The Class of 92 attends Salford City game

Class of '92 stars Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes were pictured showing their support for Salford City on Saturday. The trio, along with Phil Neville and Nicky Butt have sealed a takeover of the Northern Premier League Division One side. All three were part of Manchester United's famous year of scholars, while Giggs will be assistant to Louis van Gaal next season at Old Trafford.

Giggs, Neville and Scholes were looking to make a financial commitment to the club in a bid to boost the recruitment of talented young footballers in the area.
'I had my first trial for Manchester United in Salford at age 11 and I will never forget how important that was to me,' Gary Neville said.
'Salford City FC to me represents those early years, the commitment, hunger, enthusiasm, desire and spirit of football and I am very excited about this venture.'

World Cup 2014 Knockout Round : Clash of the South Americans

This will be an intriguing match-up indeed. Brazil 5 times Champions of the World and the host nation will go against one of the surprise of the tournament. Brazil will have the upper hand having not lost to Chile Brazil have never lost at home to Chile in 2 meetings spanning 95 years, but they are all too aware of how difficult it will be to extend that record. Chile's aggressive pressing and fluid attacking style means that, at their best, they are irresistible to watch and near-impossible to contain. Just ask dethroned world champions Spain.
Chile have not reached the quarter-finals since they hosted the tournament in 1962. However, the current side are not lacking in belief.
Star player Alexis Sanchez said: "We have respect for them, but I think we are going to beat them. We came to this World Cup to make history. We beat the world champions, and although we had a slip-up against Holland, we are going out to try and win the Cup."
Chile certainly have the host nation worried. Coach Sampaoli suspended training on Thursday when a helicopter from Brazilian television station O Globo hovered over the pitch as he was working on tactics. The helicopter eventually took flight but Chile will be vying to ground Brazil on Saturday.

Suarez gets hefty ban

World football's governing body FIFA has acted swiftly to ban rogue Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez for nine international matches and from any football-related activity for four months.

Suarez brought international opprobrium onto himself when he bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay's 1-0 win over the Azzuri on Tuesday.
The victory saw La Celeste through to the knockout round of the World Cup, where they will face Colombia on Saturday night, while Italy were sent home as a result of the loss. The ban will also mean that Suarez once again misses several matches at the start of Liverpool's next Premier League campaign.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee said in a statement that Suarez was guilty of 'unsporting conduct towards another player'.
"The player Luis Suárez is to be suspended for nine (9) official matches. The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on 28 June 2014. The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay’s next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team qualifies, and/or in the representative team’s subsequent official matches...."
"The player Luis Suárez is banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of four (4) months"
''A stadium ban is pronounced against the player Luis Suárez ... the player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of the ban. The player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium in which the representative team of Uruguay is playing while he has to serve the nine-match suspension''.

“Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field.
In addition, Suarez has been fined 100,000 Swiss Francs ($118,876).
"The Disciplinary Committee took into account all the factors of the case and the degree of Mr Suárez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant provisions of the (disciplinary) Code. The decision comes into force as soon it is communicated,” said Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Van Gaal's first summer signing

The Athletic Bilbao midfielder was met by Sir Bobby Charlton with a reception party at Carrington after he arrived in a white VW transporter before being shown around, along with his agent.

A club doctor is on site, though no medical has yet begun, as a €35 million transfer nears completion, with the Red Devils keen to do business quickly as his release clause would rise to around €40m on July 1.

Herrera is believed to have arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday and stayed in London before making the journey up to the North West, accompanied by his agent and friends. Much of the legal work to push the transfer through was completed at United's office in Mayfair on Tuesday.

The midfielder's agent was cautious when questioned about the possibility of securing a move but told the press that "things were moving along nicely". 

The party flew into Northolt on a private flight on Tuesday ahead of talks with United officials at the training base on Wednesday. 

Herrera would be Louis van Gaal's first summer signing and would see the 24-year-old finally complete a move that stalled at the end of the summer 2013 transfer window under then-boss David Moyes.

He said goodbye to his Athletic team-mates before flying out from Spain, with United having offered a contract worth €180,000 per week.

The fall of an era..

The reigning World Champion elimination from the World Cup by Chile not only spelt the end for one of the greatest national teams, but also threatened the demise of an entire footballing philosophy.

Spain's intricate passing style, dubbed 'tiki-taka', swept all before it for the best part of six years, but the sight of aging midfield generals in the shape of Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso being harried out of their stride by Jorge Sampaoli's hard-working Chile at the Maracana on Wednesday felt like the end of an era.

As Spain midfielder David Silva asked British newspaper The Independent before the tournament: "Why would we change? We've done very well with this style. There's no need to change it." Maybe there is an aura of over confidence when other teams have been studying ways to contain them.

Where Spain led with tiki-taka, winning Euro 2008, so Barcelona followed, dominating the European club game between 2008 and 2011 under Pep Guardiola, who subsequently installed the same playing philosophy at Bayern Munich.

Carlo Ancelotti's counter-attacking Real Madrid got the better of both teams last season, however, routing Bayern 5-0 in the Champions League semi-finals and edging Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey.

Bayern's loss to Madrid was particularly illustrative, with the Spanish side procuring a 1-0 first-leg lead despite enjoying only 36 percent of possession at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Introducing the style of "Counter-punchers"

Indeed, all over Europe, teams have been relinquishing the ball and still enjoying success, with Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea in the vanguard of the new wave of counter-punching sides.

Rather than endlessly circulating possession in a manner that prompted some critics of tiki-taka to brand it 'boring', the counter-punchers rely on breathless industry and water-tight defensive organisation.

It is on their opponents' mistakes that they prey and in the tika-taka era, with teams falling over themselves to ape the Spanish style by taking more and more risks in possession, it is an increasingly effective approach.

Against such tactics, tiki-taka can seem naive in its steadfast commitment to conserving possession, but its impact already reaches so deep that it would prove impossible to fully uproot.

It was Barcelona, with Lionel Messi, who first brought the 'false nine' tactic to a wider audience, while it is now commonplace to see goalkeepers methodically practising first-time passes during their pre-match warm-ups.

The cult of possession has forced players in every position to sharpen up their technique and has made the scrutiny of passing completion statistics an early port of call in any after-match post-mortem.

Its legacy can also be seen in the ubiquitousness of small, Spanish midfielders at Europe's leading clubs, from Silva at Manchester City and Santi Cazorla at Arsenal to Thiago Alcantara at Bayern and Juan Mata at Manchester United.


'Change names, not identity'

While Xavi Hernandez may never play for Spain again, having been dropped for the 2-0 defeat by Chile, it is in his image -- and with likeminded players such as Thiago -- that the national team will be rebuilt.

The 34-year-old midfielder, a faultless passing metronome for Spain and Barcelona, typifies tiki-taka more than any other player and he believes that it will always be a point of reference for teams such as his own where waiting for the opponent to make a mistake is not an option.

"If you go two years without winning, everything has to change. But you change names, not identity," he said in a 2011 interview. "The philosophy can't be lost. Our fans wouldn't understand a team that sat back and played on the break."

Tiki-taka owed its origins to a unique set of circumstances, specifically the emergence at Barcelona and Spain of a group of similarly aged players who were coached in the same way.I am convinced that with a right group of younger players, and some mixing of direct football instead of always passing the ball around, the "tiki taka" can be resurrected. After all that is supposed to be the nature, evolve and adapt.

Its figureheads, such as Xavi and Iniesta, were always destined to topple from the sport's summit at some point, but with tiki-taka disciples now dotting the game, it would be precipitous to sound the death knell too soon.

Sad Day for World Player of the Year

Portugal's dismal and lacklustre performance in their 4-0 humiliation by Germany during ther first round of matches in the 2014 World Cup on Monday was a painful reminder that despite having the world's best player at your disposal, success is not guaranteed.

Their ageing, bad-tempered team endured a nightmare afternoon in the wilting heat of Salvador, suggesting that coach Paulo Bento may have miscalculated in staying faithful to the players who reached the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Poor finishing, dreadful defending and a generally unsporting attitude, culminating with central defender Pepe's infantile sending-off for a headbutt, combined to make it an all-round disaster for Bento's side in their Group G opener. Pepe should not have reacted as the referee did not see anything wrong with his hands off tactics on Mueller.

Ronaldo was dragged into the abyss with the rest of his team mates and, apart from a bright opening 10 minutes, never looked as he would have a chance to pull off his shirt and show off his rippling muscles with one of his defiant goal celebrations.

Nothing went right for the 29-year-old World Player of the Year whose performance reached a low point when he contrived to drill a 30-metre free kick into a one-man Germany wall.

Even his hair, usually immaculately groomed, fell out of place in the dripping tropical humidity.

Vermaelen goes to Man Utd

Thomas Vermaelen has agreed a deal to join Manchester United after this World Cup. United must now agree a fee with Arsenal, but Vermaelen hopes to move to Old Trafford and is preparing to leave the Emirates. Central defender Vermaelen only has one year remaining on his Arsenal contract and has found himself pushed out of manager Arsene Wenger’s first-choice team by Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. New United manager Louis van Gaal is desperate to strengthen United’s defence and believes Vermaelen can find his best form under him. The 28-year-old has been at Arsenal for five years after signing from Dutch club Ajax. He got off to a superb start with the Gunners, but injuries curtailed his progress.

Vermaelen earns around £70,000-a-week and it is understood he has verbally agreed a deal with United that would see him pocket around £100,000-a-week.
Arsenal cannot expect to receive more than £10million for Vermaelen with only a year remaining on his contract.
Vermaelen is currently with the Belgium squad in Brazil for the World Cup, but wants his future sorted out as quickly as possible once the tournament ends.
He shares the same agent as Robin van Persie and that is understood to have been key to United’s interest.


Arsenal have been preparing for the possible departure of Vermaelen by lining up a number of defensive targets including Steven Caulker and Virgil van Dijk.
Although Vermaelen is not a first-team starter for Arsenal any more, his departure to United would be another blow for Wenger after losing Bacary Sagna to Manchester City.

National Icon DIED in a tragic crash!

One of the most shocking news to Malaysian sports scene was when National Hockey mainstay and former skipper Chua Boon Huat was killed in a horrific car crash this morning (approx 2.30am).

It is said that Chua was driving his Perdana V6 back from attending a function lost control of his car before colliding with the back of a lorry that was in duty to water the plants on LDP.

Chua made his debut for the National Hockey team in 1998 and remained an integral part of the squad until today. He has had several stints playing abroad and his passing could dealt a serious blow for Malaysia's bid to win the 2013 Asia Cup.

Andy Carrol joins Hammers

West Ham United have completed the signing of former England striker Andy Carroll from Liverpool for a club record fee £15m. Carroll, 24, cost Liverpool £35m but was loaned out to West Ham in August, scoring seven goals in 24 games.

The former Newcastle United forward has signed a six-year contract, with an option for a further two years. "It's fantastic for me to be here. I really enjoyed last season, and that shows in me coming back and making it permanent," Carroll said.

The transfer fee was agreed in May, but the former England international was said to be unsure about a move before a World Cup year. Carroll added: "The fans, the lads and the club itself have been great to me, and what I wanted to do was come back here and play football.
"Since the end of the season I've had a lot of time to think, I've missed it and that's why I'm back.
"Getting promoted the season before last, then finishing where we did - we did great, and it can only get better for us.

"The way the club's being run, obviously getting the new stadium and everything like that, it's only going up." Carroll, who made his England debut in 2010 and has won nine caps, was signed by Kenny Dalglish for Liverpool on transfer deadline day in January 2011, for what remains a record fee for a British player. He had impressed by scoring 31 times for his boyhood club Newcastle in 81 appearances, but his time at Anfield was short-lived.

Dortmund calls off Lewandowski move

Borussia Dortmund has said to ruled out Poland striker Robert Lewandowski's proposed move to Bundesliga rival and European Champions Bayern Munich - for this year at least.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke tells German daily Bild that ''Lewandowski will definitely not move to Bayern in 2013. That's definitive! We've now told Robert and his advisers that.''

Lewandowski, who has one year remaining on his contract with Dortmund, had indicated his willingness to join Bayern during the offseason transfer window.

Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc confirmed his club's stance to Kicker, which estimated Dortmund would lose out on a possible transfer fee of 25 to 30 million euros to keep the 24-year-old player another year.

Lewandowski has scored 24 goals in the Bundesliga and 10 in the Champions League this season.

The Special One is back at the Bridge

José Mourinho has been once again confirmed as the manager of Chelsea Football Club for the second time after signing a four-year contract with the club. He was quoted telling supporters: "Now I am one of you".

Mourinho, reunited with the club he professes "to love", completed the formalities of his protracted move after flying into London on Monday following his final game in charge of Real Madrid at the Bernabéu at the weekend, and will be officially introduced by the club next Monday.

"Now I can say I am one of you, let's make a little bit of a difference. In my career I have had two great passions – Inter and Chelsea, and Chelsea is more important for me," he told Chelsea TV. Mourinho brings with him the assistant coaches Rui Faria, Silvino Louro and José Morais, with the current coaching staff members Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichon and Chris Jones remaining in place.

A club statement said: "Chelsea football club is delighted to announce the appointment of José Mourinho as first-team manager. Mourinho has signed a four-year contract and will return to the club where he won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups between 2004 and 2007."

The club's chief executive, Ron Gourlay, added: "I am delighted to welcome José back to Chelsea. His continued success, drive and ambition made him the outstanding candidate.

"It is our aim to keep the club moving forward to achieve greater success in the future and José is our number one choice as we believe he is the right manager to do just that. He was and remains a hugely popular figure at the club and everyone here looks forward to working with him again."


Mourinho, 50, departed Chelsea six years ago and since leaving Stamford Bridge has taken charge at Internazionale, where he won Serie A twice and the Champions League, before winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid in Spain.

All time Spanish highest goal getter on the move to England?

Barcelona striker David Villa is reportedly getiing a lot offers from the Premiership notably from teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham as he looks set for a Premiership move.

According to Spanish website Sport.es, the all-time leading Spain goalscorer has decided his future lies away from the Spanish champions and would like a move to England to compete in the Premiership.

Arsenal are in the driving seat to land the Barcelona striker who is available for €14million, following their qualification for next season's Champions League.

As we previously revealed, Spurs have been in negotiations with Barca, but their failure to qualify for the Europe's top competition puts them at a disadvantage.

At Anfield, Pepe Reina has been keen to emphasise to his international team-mate that, with a new structure in place, Liverpool are again ready to challenge for honours.

Villa is keen to play regular first-team football next season, as he eyes a place in the Spanish team at the World Cup in Brazil.

Falcao picks AS Monaco ahead of English Heavyweights

No fee was mentioned in Monaco's statement confirming the transfer, but it was certain to be astronomical, reflecting the interest in Falcao from many of Europe's biggest and wealthiest clubs. Monaco said on their official website: "Monaco are happy to announce we have reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid and the player Radamel Falcao for the transfer to Monaco beginning with the season 2013-14.

"The Colombian international striker has signed for five years."

Monaco said he would be presented to the media when the club's players return for pre-season training.

Falcao wrote on Twitter: "I want to share with you that I will be player of @ASMFC-MONACO next season. I'm eager to start this challenge! I count on your support!"

Monaco's summer spending spree is well under way, with the principality club having signed Porto pair Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez for a combined fee of 70 million euros (£60million) and also Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho from Real Madrid.

Their ambitious rebuilding is being funded by billionaire Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, who bought a majority share in the club that has produced seven French league-title winning teams.

Rybolovlev said: "We are very happy that Radamel Falcao has chosen the challenge of AS Monaco for the future.

"It's something to be proud of for us to be able to count on on of the best players in the world in order to allow ASMFC to get back to where we belong."

Falcao has scored 16 goals in 44 appearances for Colombia, and after spells with River Plate and Porto he joined Atletico Madrid in summer 2011.

Mour's says GoodBYE

Jose Mourinho gave his best wishes to Real Madrid  before the kick off of his final game for the Madrid based club. Jose Mourinho is expected to leave after a 3 years stint with Real Madrid that saw him captured 1 Copa Del Rey title and 1 La Liga title.

It was supposed to be 2 Copa Del Rey title and that could have won back the fans and save him from the exit door, but the ill-tempered match against city rival Atletico went their rivals way. That was the ultimatum for him.

The rocky relationship between him and club captain and one of the longest serving squad member, Iker Casillas also doesnt do him much favour.

"I want to wish everyone at Real Madrid the best of luck. I appreciate all the support and accept the criticism very well". and he wrap it all by saying "Hala Madrid".

Rafa Benitez did not join Chelsea's lap of honour

Rafa Benitez chose not to participate in Chelsea's end-of-season lap of honour despite their 2-1 Premier League victory over Everton ensuring his final competitive match at the club ended on a high.

Multiple banners honouring Benitez for leading Chelsea to third place in the Premier League and the Europa League title replaced the routine booing and 'Rafa out' displays that had marked the majority of his time in charge and which ended, domestically at least, with goals from compatriots Juan Mata and Fernando Torres giving Chelsea their latest victory.

 'It's for the families and the players,' said Benitez, who will overlook two end-of-season friendlies against Manchester City in America before finally departing.
'I received hundreds of messages, more than 200 messages on the website, from Chelsea fans saying 'thank you very much'.

'For me that is enough, and also the players telling me things privately.
'The majority of [the supporters] were very positive in the end. That is good.
'We couldn't change the opinion of some of them. We tried to do our best until the end.'
It was a very contrasting scene when he first took charge after being appointed the interim manager to replace last season's UEFA Champions League winning coach, Roberto De Matteo. But now it seems the Chelsea fans is a bit more appreciative. 

Ryan Giggs is the only Class of 92 survivor

Paul Scholes led the tributes to David Beckham last night after his former Manchester United and England team-mate announced that he is calling time on a glittering 20-year playing career. Beckham,Giggs, Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers were members of the Class of '92 who helped Sir Alex Ferguson deliver unprecedented success to United.

Scholes, who has also retired for the 2nd time, said: 'It's a sad day but hopefully David is happy with what he's done. 'That's all our year finished now. I think there's only Ryan Giggs, who was a year older than us, left still going as strong as ever.'

Ryan Giggs is the only member from the famous class of 92 to kept on going and he is going strong. Ryan Giggs is to be offered a coaching role at Manchester United next season but it is very doubtful that he will hang up his boots before the end of next season.


Ryan Giggs, who turns 40 in November, has signed a one-year extension to his contract but is likely to play less and less in what is almost certain to be his final season. He has already completed his coaching badges.

Significantly, when Moyes met Ferguson for talks on Monday, Giggs – United’s longest-serving player – was invited along.

Macini set to be sacked by Manchester City

Reports are coming from the UK that the City hierarchy have decided Mancini's time at the club is over.

Reports on Friday suggested that City had already agreed a deal with Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini to succeed Mancini.

If those reports are true, the decision to dismiss Mancini had been taken even before City's humiliation in the FA Cup final, which they lost 1-0 to Wigan.

After the game, Mancini expressed his annoyance with City, who neither confirmed nor denied the rumours.
He said: "I don't know why the club didn't stop this.
"If it's true we will see in the next two weeks. If it's not true, you wrote a lot of stupid things for six months. If it's true, I'm stupid because I didn't understand anything about this.

"But I am sure I work with serious people and I'm sure I did a good job, even if we lost this final. Two weeks, maybe one week. Next Sunday. The season will finish. I will know if it's true or not." He added: "I have a four-year contract, not one. There is no reason for me to ask. Do you think the chairman told me not to worry before the game?

"How many teams did better than us this year? Manchester United. Swansea, I don't think anyone else. "Our target at the start of the season was to try and win the Premier League. But our mistake started in the last market. We didn't do enough to improve our team. After winning the Premier League, the second year is more difficult.

"Then maybe you don't get the Champions League. You can have a bad season. We had problems because we lost some players. We lost Yaya (Toure) for a month. We had a lot of problems this season.

"Every manager takes the responsibility. That is normal. But I don't think last year, when Manchester United lost the Premier League and didn't play in the FA Cup final they had all the discussion we did."

Although Pellegrini did not confirm or deny the story ahead of his team's Primera Division match against Sevilla on Sunday, he declared he and several players would not be staying at Malaga, due to the club's ailing financial situation.

Manchester United 2013/2014 Kit

A leaked photo of the new Manchester United 2013/14 Home Kit. The new kit features the main color red while the collar of the Man Utd 2013/2014 Jersey comes in black colour with five buttons. It's the last season AON will be the Shirt sponsor of Manchester United after Chevrolet took over the deal. Manchester United 2013-14 Kit comes with white applications and in an overall classical design.

The new Manchester United 2013/14 Away Kit features the main color dark blue/black. The logos of the new Manchseter United 2013/2014 Away Jersey come in White.