Mario Balotelli: AC Milan link dismissed by Manchester City

Manchester City assistant manager David Platt has said Mario Balotelli will not be moving to AC Milan this month, despite reports in the Italian media suggesting negotiations were under way.

"I don't think anything is going to happen," said Platt of a proposed January move involving the striker.

AC Milan's spokesman, Riccardo Coli, described stories linking the club with the 22-year-old as "only rumours".

Last week reports emerged that a loan bid from the club had been rejected.  

But City manager Roberto Mancini said on Friday that the Italian, regularly linked with a return to Italy since he arrived in England in 2010, will not leave the club."It is not true. Mario stays. We didn't have any requests about Mario or other players," said the 48-year-old.

The Italian also stated it would be "difficult" to buy new players with the transfer window set to close next week.

"I don't know [if City will buy anyone] but we don't have enough players," he added. "We are 18 players now. We can't sell any players."

Balotelli - who has scored one league goal in 14 appearances this term - has courted controversy throughout his time in England, with the latest incident involving a training ground bust-up with Mancini at the start of January.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani had stated that if City were to lower their valuation then a move could occur,  but Mancini - who expressed his frustration with the furore surrounding Balotelli - insisted the Italy international remained part of his long-term plans.

"Mario has another three years on his contract," he replied when asked about the ex-Inter Milan player's future.

Mancini was similarly dismissive of another article that argued director of football Txiki Begiristain has stipulated that City play in the 4-3-3 system favoured by the Spaniard's former club Barcelona next season  and all future signings will be purchased with that formation in mind.

He said: "I don't know but I speak with Txiki every day and he never told me this and we have the same thoughts about football and it's not more important to play 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, it's important to have good players.

"Everyone wants to play like Barca but Barca is one, like Real Madrid or AC Milan, it's impossible to play like Barca but you can win if you play different styles.

"We are agreeing about everything because we think the same about football. We are the same. We don't have a different view."

Villas-Boas relaxed on striking crisis

Andre Villas Boas

André Villas-Boas defended Tottenham Hotspur's recruitment programme after they had been added to the list of Premier League casualties in the FA Cup and insisted he was comfortable with their attacking options despite going into the tie at Leeds United without a recognised senior striker.

Jermain Defoe has battled the pain of a niggling pelvic problem in recent weeks, which has required at least one injection and may yet need surgery to cure properly, and he was stood down from the 2-1 defeat at Elland Road. With Emmanuel Adebayor absent on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Togo, Villas-Boas was left to start two attacking midfielders, Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson, as centre-forwards.

Villas-Boas said that Defoe would return at Norwich City on Wednesday but there has been concern behind the scenes at Tottenham about the England international, even if the manager has been defiant in public. Defoe had been expected to miss the previous Sunday's home fixture against Manchester United only to declare that he was fit enough and determined to play.

The club have explored the possibility of signing a new striker this month, and Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo is the latest possible target. But Villas-Boas said that he did not foresee any reinforcements in the final week of the transfer window and he added that the apparent imbalance to his squad was not to blame for the loss to Leeds.

"It is risk we were willing to take," he said. "We are comfortable with the situation. We are happy with the squad. This defeat is not going to alert us to anything. Unfortunately we missed Defoe, who gives us options, but we have him back for Norwich and still have Ade to return so we have strength in depth.

"We will have to see when we can get Ade back but we did not lose because we missed chances that a striker may have taken. We lost because we could not create enough clear-cut chances.

"It's disappointing because we wanted to stay in this competition but Leeds were very competitive and scoring first gave them the extra stimulus. Leeds made the most of their opportunities and deserve credit. We had a couple of chances in the beginning that normally we score and maybe we could have done a little bit more but it's a hard game for any team that comes here. Leeds were really up for it and going to 2-0 gave them more inspiration."

Neil Warnock, the Leeds manager, described it as a "fabulous day" for the Championship side. "We've got some good players. We haven't got a massive squad but when we play like we did today it makes me really proud to be the manager. We've had a few problems, a bit of dissent around the place. But I didn't think we got anything other than we deserved.

"When you look at the two teams on paper you don't know how the hell you are going to have a kick, let alone beat them. But you don't play teams on paper. It just shows what can happen if you've got a good group of players and you are all in it together."

West Yorkshire police confirmed after the match they were investigating a laser pen being shone from the crowd. Neither manager was aware of it but Warnock did mischievously suggest that "it must have been on their centre-half [Steven Caulker] for the second goal".

Warnock had left out Luciano Becchio because of his transfer request and confirmed there had been "two or three offers" from abroad but none that matched the club's asking price. Leeds, however, did not miss their leading scorer and Caulker was not alone in having a poor day. "My reflections on our defending I don't really want to make public," Villas-Boas said.

Wilfried Zaha: Manchester United set to complete £15m deal

Wilfried Zaha will undergo a medical with Manchester United in the next 48 hours before completing a £15m move from Crystal Palace.

The 20-year-old forward has agreed a five-and-a-half year deal but will be loaned back to Palace until the summer.United will pay £10m up front, with the fee potentially rising to £15m based on Zaha's appearances and success.

Zaha, who joined Palace as a 12-year-old, is expected to win his second England cap against Brazil in February.

Both clubs have refused to comment on a proposed deal, but Sir Alex Ferguson has been heavily involved in the talks, having remained in England as his squad travelled to Qatar on Sunday for a short training camp.

He was named the Football League Young Player of the Year last season and attracted the attention of a number of Premier League clubs.

Zaha, who came through the youth academy at Selhurst Park, has scored 15 goals in 124 appearances for the Eagles since his debut against Cardiff in March 2010.

He is Palace's latest home-grown talent, following in the footsteps of Chelsea's Victor Moses and Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne.

Former Eagles forward Mark Bright has described Zaha as the biggest talent to emerge at the club since former England striker Ian Wright.

"He is probably the best prospect we [Palace] have had in terms of what he could go on to achieve," said the BBC pundit.

India humiliating England again

The chanting started immediately Yuvraj Singh lost his off stump to a beauty from James Tredwell. For the best part of a minute, as Yuvraj walked back towards the pavilion, the 40,000 who had been lucky enough to secure a ticket for the first one-day international in Ranchi implored their local hero, MS Dhoni, to promote himself above Suresh Raina in India's batting order, and have a bat on his home ground.

Dhoni has never seemed the sentimental type, any more than India's coach Duncan Fletcher. But the roar left no doubt that he had granted Jharkhand its wish, trotting down the pavilion steps in his blue cap, and it did not cease until he removed the cap to take guard against Tredwell. The game was already won, England having crumbled to their second-lowest total in a one-day international in India - three fewer than they had managed in Kochi last Tuesday - a double flop that their captain, Alastair Cook, admitted is unacceptable even for this inexperienced team. But who other than Dhoni to hit the winning runs?

He made the crowd wait, playing back three dots against Tredwell before punching Steve Finn back down the ground with such power that the ball still raced away for four after hitting the stumps at the bowler's end. Then, after helping himself to a couple of singles, Dhoni applied the fairytale finish by pulling Finn through square leg for four - off the first ball of the 29th over, a humiliating statistic for England. Virat Kohli had made a brilliant unbeaten 77 from 79 balls, but was completely overshadowed.

"I was sitting next to Raina and he said 'Why don't you go in?'" Dhoni explained. "I understand the fact that people want to see me bat so I said ok - it wasn't really looking as though I would get a chance to bat, but let me pad up and see. Then Yuvi got out. The response of the people was amazing - they have been very excited about this game, not just at the stadium but next to the hotel all week. The stadium was made in two and a half or three years so I think it was the perfect script."

Not for England, it wasn't, and they are left with much to ponder ahead of the fourth match of the series in Chandigarh on Wednesday, which is now a must-win. "We're going to have to look deeply in our dressing room, and produce a better performance in Mohali," Cook said.

They might consider dropping Kevin Pietersen down the order to no4, given the significant change of emphasis demanded by the new fielding regulations which place a greater importance on preserving wickets early in an innings and plundering runs late on. Joe Root again played well enough in top-scoring with 39 to suggest that he could fill in for Jonathan Trott at no3, although even he could not be spared criticism for the manner of his dismissal, chasing a wide one from Ishant Sharma with 13 overs of England's innings remaining.

Craig Kieswetter must now be close to being dropped altogether, after following a scratchy 18 in Kochi with a hapless dismissal here, sliding his bat along a curtain-rail to provide no defence against Ravindra Jadeja's skiddy straight-on delivery. Samit Patel went lbw in similar fashion in the same over to leave England doomed at 98 for six, but he has more credit in the bank from earlier in the series.

Dropping Kieswetter now would represent a major rethink for England, having clearly included him in their plans for the Champions Trophy in the summer. But his Somerset team-mate Jos Buttler is desperate for a chance on the remainder of this tour, and Matt Prior is waiting in the wings.

Cook had started fluently after Dhoni chose to bowl on winning the toss, reflecting a general uncertainty about how the pitch at this new venue would play. But he fell lbw to Shami Ahmed's inswing as he tried to hit to leg, setting the pattern that would stymie the England innings - each of the top five made double figures then fell trying to force the pace.

Pietersen seemed unlucky, with replays suggesting he had been incorrectly given out caught behind off Ishant Sharma when the ball appeared to have brushed his trousers. But there were no excuses for Ian Bell, sharply caught by Dhoni standing up to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the next over to leave England on 68 for three.

As in the second game in Kochi, that gave the middle-order a chance to prove that England are not overly reliant on their big three. As in Kochi, they failed miserably, with spin doing the bulk of the damage.

Eoin Morgan chipped a catch to short third man playing a horrible reverse sweep at Ravi Ashwin. Then Kieswetter and Patel were both undone by Jadeja, much as the Test batsmen had floundered haplessly against Abdur Rehman in the UAE this time last year. Despite a belated application of Yorkshire common-sense by Root and Tim Bresnan, that was pretty much that.

Shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala discharged from UK hospital

                               

Nearly three months after she was rushed to Britain for life-saving treatment for gunshot injuries, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has recovered enough strength to be discharged, a hospital said Friday.

Malala, who was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 15, left the medical facility Thursday to continue her convalescence at her family's temporary home in England's West Midlands region.

The 15-year-old became an international symbol of courage after she was shot by Taliban gunmen last fall for her crusade about girls going to school.

She had blogged fearlessly about girls' education and accused the Taliban of thriving on ignorance. The Taliban forbid girls in the classroom and have threatened to kill anyone who defies them.

The attack, which left her with gunshot wounds to the head and neck, prompted outrage and wide outpourings of support, both in Pakistan and overseas.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife welcomed the news of her progress Friday, saying via Twitter: "Good news that Malala is well enough to leave hospital. We wish her well as her recovery continues with her family."
Malala will continue to receive outpatient care at the hospital, its statement said, and is expected to undergo cranial reconstructive surgery in the next month.
"Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery, said Dr. Dave Rosser, medical director of the University Hospitals Birmingham.
"Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers."

Rosser said Malala had been leaving the hospital for home visits on a regular basis over the past couple of weeks to see if she could cope there.
Her father Ziauddin, mother Toorpekai and younger brothers, Khushal and Atul, traveled to England in the fall to be with her as she recovers.
Pakistani officials confirmed Thursday that her father has been given a job in a Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.
Ziauddin Yousafzai has been appointed education attache and will function as head of the consulate's education section for three years, the Pakistani government said. His job could be extended for two additional years.
When he left Pakistan to join his daughter, Ziauddin Yousafzai told reporters he intended to return to his native country as soon as she had recovered. It is not clear whether his appointment will mean the entire family stays long term.
At the time of his daughter's shooting, he ran a school in Pakistan's conservative Swat Valley that kept its doors open to girls -- in defiance of the Taliban.
Read more: Malala's journey from near death to recovery
Malala was in a school van in the area on October 9 when Taliban gunmen stopped the vehicle and demanded that other girls tell them who was Malala. They identified her. Malala was then shot, as were two other girls who survived the attack with lesser injuries.
Malala was left in a critical condition, with her father later describing her survival as a miracle.
As public outrage over her shooting intensified, the Taliban issued a statement online saying that if Malala lived, they'd come after her again.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik promised government protection if the schoolgirl does return to Pakistan. Pakistani authorities are paying for her medical care in Britain.
Since her shooting, Malala has become an international figure. She was selected as runner-up for Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2012. CNN and Time are owned by Time Warner Inc.

Big victory for Chelsea

Chelsea have played a stunning match today against Aston Villa, and the final score was 8-0 for Chelsea. With this victory they announced back in shape and on top of the table. Result could have been much bigger, and Chelsea also missed a penalty kick.
Scorers for Chelsea were:

 3'     [1 - 0]    F. Torres        
29'    [2 - 0]    D. Luiz        
34'    [3 - 0]    B. Ivanovic        
58'    [4 - 0]    F. Lampard        
75'    [5 - 0]    Ramires        
79'    [6 - 0]    Oscar (pen.)        
83'    [7 - 0]    E. Hazard        
90'    [8 - 0]    Ramires