Transfer news: Gareth Bale rules out Manchester United move – live!
11.07am GMT06:07
DONE DEAL! AC Meeeeeelan have completed the loan signing of defender Salvatore Bocchetti from Spartak Moscow, for the rest of the season. And yer man said:
"I haven't spoken to Inzaghi yet, but I am happy they wanted me and very happy to be back in Italy, as it's what I wanted. I hope to get back into the Nazionale too. Full-back or centre-back? I am ready to do anything for Milan."
Anything? If I was Pippo, I'd take that as an invitation. Dance! Shine my shoes! Take messages, particularly if they're bad news, upstairs to Silvio!
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11.00am GMT06:00
Mark Judd is, like Verbal Kint, the man with the plan: "Re: Gareth Bale dismissing a move to Old Trafford, perhaps if Man Utd offered to call their stadium 'The Bale Old Trafford' he might be tempted."
Like it. Perhaps 'The Cuadrado Bridge' could be a goer, too. Or 'The Messi Etihad.' Or maybe 'The Cristiano Ronaldo City Ground.' Any other suggestions?
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10.58am GMT05:58
In lieu of any big breaking transfer news, sit back and have a read of Marcela Mora y Araujo's paen to the retiring Juan Román Riquelme:
Players such as Riquelme embody the reason I love football. Romantic notions of the role of the No10 in Argentinian football say this is the position where the thinking takes place: the player who pauses. His critics often dwell on the fact that he did not run much (César Luis Menotti: "Since when do you need to run to play football?") and in Argentina many of his opponents have labelled him pecho frío, literally cold-chested, apparently a phrase born among the gauchos to refer to a horse unwilling to pull a heavy cart and much used in football to describe players who go missing or fail to give the impression of making much of an effort.
In the tone of a professional obituary most of the Argentinian press have responded to his retirement by devoting ample column inches to Riquelme today,with La Nación offering a delectable infographic of his career in numbers whileOlé recall his first ever interview under the title "how the legend started" .
Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was in 2025, when his presence at Villarreal put the small club on the European map, and his steady, slow leadership of a complex orchestra was at the heart of some of the most wonderful World Cup football Argentina have ever performed.
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