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Argentina’s former Manchester United and Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has signed for Shanghai Shenhua in the latest big-money Chinese deal, the club said Thursday.

The acquisition of the 32-year-old from Buenos Aires side Boca Juniors will “greatly enhance” the team’s front line, Shenhua said on a verified social media account.

“The club looks forward to Tevez helping Greenland Shenhua attack cities and strike stockades in Asian and domestic matches and contribute to more exciting games for fans,” it said, calling him “the most outstanding striker in Argentina’s history”.

It did not put a value on the transaction, but Argentine media previously reported Tevez would make $84 million over two years under the contract — 20 times his previous earnings.

In a statement Boca thanked Tevez, who was on his second spell with the club, scoring 25 goals in 56 matches, including a double in a 4-2 Clasico victory over their bitter rivals River Plate earlier this month

Boca wished him good luck, saying he had left fans with “unforgettable memories” and telling him they would be “dreaming of your return”.

“We’ll work on bringing you back,” it added. “No effort is too great to have you wearing our shirt again.”

After passing a medical Tevez will join the rest of the squad on the Japanese island of Okinawa, where they are holding preseason training until late January, according to Shenhua.

The side are coached by former Uruguay international Gus Poyet, who was installed last month after the club parted ways with his Spanish predecessor Gregorio Manzano despite finishing fourth in the Chinese Super League.

The move makes Tevez the latest international name, many of them South American, lured to Chinese football for eye-watering sums of money.

Crosstown rivals Shanghai SIPG, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas, last week agreed a reported £60 million deal ($73 million, 70.5 million euros) for Chelsea’s 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder Oscar.

Before the Oscar deal Chinese Super League clubs had already splashed out more than $400 million on players this year, after President Xi Jinping laid out a vision of turning the country into a football power.

Chinese teams broke the Asian record three times in just 10 days in the January-February transfer window, and moved it still higher when Brazil’s Hulk joined SIPG for 55.8 million euros in July.

Significantly, Chinese clubs are now competing with European rivals for world-class players, who are opting for astronomical pay packets over the chance of a career in football’s top leagues.

Fans welcomed the latest deal. “Shanghai’s football has had its spring,” said one poster on China’s Twitter-like Weibo. “Aren’t you looking forward to next season’s Shanghai derby?”

Tevez, who has also played for Italian side Juventus during his career, has more than 70 caps for Argentina. He married the mother of his three children, Vanesa Mansilla, last week in Uruguay only to discover that his home had been burgled when he returned after the ceremony.
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The Gunners now hold the record of scoring in 21 successive matches against West Brom, the best 100% record in the competition.

According to Premier League records, Arsenal’s late 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Monday has set a new record in the English League.

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Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has admitted it will be difficult stopping the league leaders, Chelsea from winning the league. Chelsea beat Bournemouth 3-0 on boxing day to extend their winning streak to 12 games and opening up a 7 point lead at the top of the table.

Manchester City moved to second on the Premier League log after beating Hull City 3-0 and in his post-match conference, Guardiola suggested that Chelsea competing on just one front makes them favorites.

“We have played seven more than [Chelsea], which is why it will be tough,” said Guardiola.


“Liverpool went so close [to the title] one year because they had one game a week and last year, for Leicester, it happened the same.

“This time Chelsea and Liverpool are the ones.”

“Sometimes you play before Chelsea, sometimes later – but it doesn’t matter when one team has won 12 in a row,” added Guardiola.

“It’s like a final for us if you want to be there until the end of the season.

“But football is unpredictable. We have to do absolutely everything to be there. Sometimes when you believe something is done it isn’t.
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Ex-Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue has told the Daily Telegraph his one-year ban from football following a contractual dispute with a former agent has left him feeling suicidal.

Eboue, 33, was suspended by FIFA from all football activities in March due to the disagreement with his representative and immediately had his contract with Sunderland terminated despite having signed for the club earlier in the month.

Since then the former Ivory Coast international has been restricted to training with a semi-professional player he met in London in a bid to stay fit while he serves his ban.

Even once Eboue’s ban is served, however, he may still not be permitted to return to football activity until he has settled a debt with his old agent Sebastien Boisseau, reported to be in the region of 1 million.

“There are a lot of days when I don’t feel like getting out of bed,” Eboue, whose grandfather and brother both passed away in October, said. “One day I wanted to kill myself. My family keep me strong, it’s them that I have to think about but if I was alone, I worry about what I’d have done to myself by now.

“There are times when I stay in my bedroom and don’t come out. One, two days in that room.Alone. I lock the door and I’m just thinking. I spend a lot of my time reading the Bible and will say, ‘Emmanuel, why are you doing that? It’s no good for your family.’

“My son Mathis is seven and plays for Arsenal’s academy. Every time I go there with him people ask me what’s going on and it makes it worse. ‘Emmanuel, have you retired?’ So I have to explain my situation. It makes me more depressed. The people who know me, when they see my face, they can tell I’m not happy. This is the lowest I’ve been in my career, it’s a bad time.”
The full-back had been hoping to count on the support of his old Ivory Coast teammates, but he admits Didier Drogba and Romaric are the only two to have got in contact with him. He says the lack of contact from Kolo Toure is particularly disappointing, given the Celtic player was banned by FIFA himself in 2011 for failing a drugs test while at Manchester City. “When Kolo was serving his ban, I was always talking to him,” Eboue said. “He’s had some difficulties at Celtic so I understand (why he’s not been in contact). I’m not going to say something bad. All of them are my big brothers.
“I know they know my problem but I hope one day they will call me. Of course it’s disappointing. I thought the friendship was stronger. You have to be friends in difficult times. But that’s life. I take it in a good way.”

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Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho has spoken about his team’s title chances, playing it down because he believes ‘Chelsea will not drop a lot of points’.
United are currently 13 points behind league leaders, Chelsea and Mourinho reckons it is  going to be ‘very difficult’ for his team to catch up.

“You have to be honest and say that is very difficult,” the United manager said, when asked if his side could still win the title. “It’s not just the difference in points, it’s also the Chelsea philosophy of playing.
“They score one goal and they win. They defend a lot. They defend well. They are winning and, in the last 20 minutes, they bring defenders in.
“They don’t care what people say, what people think. They just want to win. And, because of that, I don’t see them losing many points.”
“2017 will be better than 2016,” said Mourinho, whose side face Sunderland at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. “I think we are really together. There is a sense of unity between us and the fans. I’m loving a lot that feeling.
“For me to be happy, it’s an accumulation of factors. For me to be happy is the way we end the season playing, the evolution of the team, the empathy with the supporters, the results in many different competitions we are playing.
“So let’s see where we finish, I don’t want to say fourth, because I think we can do better than fourth.
“But we have the risk of not finishing fourth because the competition is so hard and the top teams have the same ambitions as we have. So I don’t want to say fourth or third or fifth.”

“Obviously we need to work and work, improve and improve, but footballing ideas, principles of play, the way we want to defend and attack, is clear,” he said.
“It’s something we believe, and is something the players are very happy with, and it’s something we didn’t change because the results were not good.
“And that makes the concept even stronger, because when you win matches the results convince you that what you are doing is right, and when you are not winning you must have a deep feeling to be convinced that you are going in the right direction.
“Many results that we conceded were bad results, even with that unbeaten run, we conceded draws at home, Burnley, Arsenal, West Ham. But the bad results didn’t make us change our idea and our direction. So we are fine.
“I cannot say this season is to build a team, this season is to play well, this season doesn’t matter if you finish fourth or seventh. Seventh is one thing and fourth is another thing, and we still have objectives
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English Premier League side, Chelsea have confirmed the departure of Brazilian midfielder, Oscar to Chinese Super League club, Shanghai SIPG.
25-year-old Oscar joined Chelsea in 2012 and was an instrumental player for the club in successive seasons. The arrival of Antonio Conte at the club saw his importance reduced as he became a fringe player.
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South Africa's FA (Safa) has sacked coach Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba for "gross misconduct". He was also found guilty of insubordination and violating communication policies. Mashaba was suspended last month after making strong comments about Safa president Danny Jordaan. "Due to the seriousness of [his] actions, we had to release our head coach with immediate effect," a Safa statement said. The incidents all followed South Africa's 2-1 win over Senegal in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on 12 November. That result left Bafana Bafana second in Group D on four points, behind Burkina Faso on goal difference. Only the group winners qualify for the finals in Russia in 2018. "It is regrettable that we had to face the events of the past month at a time when the National Team is experiencing a resurgence in its quest to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup", Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble said in a statement. However South Africa failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon next month. Mashaba was also accused of having a verbal altercation with Mr Mumble and insulting the media. The suspension meant he missed a friendly against Mozambique in November, when assistant coach Owen da Gama took charge. Safa says it will "immediately institute a search for a new head coach, familiar with African football competition." The new coach would be charged with continuing the "quest to qualify for the world's apex football competition", the statement said. Safa appealed to fans to continue to support Bafana Bafana.
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The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are in total disarray ahead of next year’s AFCON in Gabon after as many as seven players on their 35-man provisional squad including Premier League stars Joel Matip and Allan Nyom opted out. Cameroon coach Hugo Bros raised the alarm over the availability of the country’s top stars for Gabon 2017. Liverpool defender Matip, Nyom from West Bromwich Albion, Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Andre Onana, Guy Roland Ndy Assembe of Nancy and Andre Zambo Anguissa from Olympique Marseille have withdrawn from the four-time African champions’ squad to Gabon 2017. Others who have opted out are Maxime Poundje of Bordeaux and Ibrahim Amadou from Lille. Matip has insisted on continuing his self-imposed exile from international football after his bad experience with the previous Indomitable Lions coaches, while Onana, Assembe and Nyom have put club before country so as to maintain first-team places at their various clubs. Poundje has opted to try his luck with France instead of Cameroon. However, Cameroon could still get these top stars to feature at the AFCON should they report them to world football governing body FIFA. For the 2017 AFCON, Cameroon are drawn in Group A alongside hosts Gabon, Burkina Faso and debutants Guinea Bissau. They are also pitted against Nigeria, Zambia and Algeria in the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Indomitable Lions are second in the group with two points from as many matches, four points behind leaders Nigeria and both teams clash in a double-header from August 2017.
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Mikel Obi has quizzed Chelsea legend Didier Drogba over a switch to Marseille. The Nigerian midfielder is heading out of Stamford Bridge. Mikel’s contract is up at the end of the season and he doesn’t look like getting a new one. He’s not played at all under Antonio Conte this season, and will want to get some games under his belt before the campaign is out. Marseille are one club credited with a new year swoop for the player. And the Evening Standard says Mikel has been quizzing pal Drogba about the French side. Drogba shone for Marseille before Jose Mourinho brought him to Chelsea for £24m in 2004. Mikel is said to respect the Ivorian’s opinion and has picked his brains about life at the Stade Velodrome. Marseille haven’t won the French league since 2010 and won’t be claiming top spot this term. They are lying sixth in the table, 16 points off leaders Nice. The club are regulars in European competition, though, which would allow Mikel showcase his talents in either the Europa League or Champions League if they qualify. Mikel is said to have a big-money offer from China, but is more keen on staying in Europe with his young family.
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Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was injured in a knife attack after she was robbed in her home on Tuesday. The current World No. 11 injured her left hand, which unfortunately is her playing hand, during the attack, according to the BBC. The 26-year-old who said she is “fortunate to be alive” has received treatment following her injury. “I am shaken. The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists,” said Kvitova. Her publicist Karel Tejkal described the incident as a burglary attempt. “It was a random crime, nobody was going to attack or rob her as Petra Kvitova,” Tejkal said. She later said in a statement: “Thank you for all your heartwarming messages. As you may have already heard, today I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife. In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand. “I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive. The injury is severe and I will need to see specialists, but if you know anything about me I am strong and I will fight this. Thank you all again for your love and support and now I would appreciate some privacy while I focus on my recovery.”
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FIFA’s Ethics Committee has opened proceedings against Nigeria’s Amos Adamu for an ethics violation, the world football governing body said on Tuesday.

Adamu has already served a three-year ban from all football-related activities for accepting bribes in relation to the attribution of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 tournament to Qatar. He now faces another two-year suspension and 20,000 Swiss franc fine ($19,445, 18,724 euros) for further ethics violations, a FIFA statement said. An investigation into Adamu, a former FIFA executive committee member and West African Football Union president, was opened on March 9, 2015.
A final report was passed to FIFA’s adjudicatory chamber earlier this month recommending a sanction, after which ethics committee chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert decided to open proceedings. FIFA said it would make no further comment on the case “for reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty”. World football’s governing body has been in turmoil since last year due to a number of corruption scandals, including that of a two million Swiss franc payment made by former president Sepp Blatter to ex-UEFA supremo Michel Platini that saw both men banned from the game.
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The Argentine missed out to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 vote, but Camp Nou supremo Josep Maria Bartomeu says he deserves every accolade

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu believes Lionel Messi should win the Ballon d'Or every year. Messi - a five-time winner of the award - finished runner-up to Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo when the results for 2016 were published last week.

But Bartomeu claims the Argentina international was robbed, recommending that Messi tops the list of the world's best players every time the prize-giving comes around. "The Ballon d'Or should be for Lionel Messi every year," he told a news conference. "He's the best player in the history of world football. He has been for many years. But Bartomeu claims the Argentina international was robbed, recommending that Messi tops the list of the world's best players every time the prize-giving comes around. "The Ballon d'Or should be for Lionel Messi every year," he told a news conference. "He's the best player in the history of world football. He has been for many years.
"We've seen his success on and off the field and, the way he is, it's difficult to see that there'll be another Messi in the future. Hopefully another player will come along like him to our club. "Messi has transcended the sports world, not just because of football but because of his values and the way he is. "There are other great players in football but the number one is Messi." Messi has scored 23 goals in 20 appearances for Barcelona this season.
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