According to the Brazilian newspaper ‘O Globo’, Neymar last week signed a document that commits him to joining La Liga club Barcelona after the Confederations Cup, which takes place in June.

The Santos player had been hoping to move to Europe after the World Cup next summer, but after gettig hammered by Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season, Barcelona move the deadline up by 12 months.

If Neymar does leave after the Confederations Cup, then the match on Sunday against Flamengo will be the 21-year-old’s last game for the club.

The newspaper reports that Santos are negotiating the possibility of him bidding farewell to the fans of his boyhood club in a final appearance after the Confederations Cup.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari gave his blessing to the move saying:

“Neymar will be a great signing for Barcelona. He’ll be a huge idol alongside [Lionel] Messi,” declared the coach, who led Brazil to the World Cup in 2002.

According to ‘O Globo’, the transfer could be confirmed on Wednesday after a meeting of the Steering Committee at Santos, where directors of the Brazilian club will analyse the latest offer made by Barcelona.

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According to reports in the British media, West Ham United have bought Andy Carroll from Liverpool for around £15m. Now West Ham have to do is agree personal terms with Carroll.

Carroll had been on loan to West Ham all season, where Carrol scored seven goals in an injury riddled season. But when he was healthy, Carroll showed how good a player he is.

‘I have enjoyed every minute of being here,’ he told whufc.com.

‘I have just tried to play my best in every match, score goals and keep myself fit once I got back from the injuries I had and then push on from there.

‘I have worked hard to get myself back in the England squad, trying to play my best for West Ham, so I am really pleased about that.

I just have to make sure I keep playing well to stay in there.

‘I have had a great season here at West Ham, really enjoyed being part of a great set of lads in the team, with the staff around us and the fans.

‘Everyone has been so welcoming to me and I have been over the moon to be here. This is a great club.’

A £15m price tag is a massive loss for Liverpool who paid a Torres inflated price of £35m in January 2011 for the former Newcastle center forward.

When Brendan Rodgers took over as Liverpool manager a year ago, he made it crystal clear that a big target man like Carroll did not fit into his tika-taka style of football. Which is why he was sent to West Ham at the end of August.

It is a great signing for West Ham and Carroll. The £15m price tag that he carries now, will not have the same burden and expectations as when he moved to Liverpool. Plus, Big Sam plays the style of football that fits Carroll’s style. Carroll will be the focal point of the Hammers attack next season, and Allardyce will make sure that they provide Carroll with the kind of service that will play to his strengths.

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Major League Soccer today announced that their 20th franchise will be called New York City FC and will be co-owned by Manchester City and baseball’s New York Yankees. The team is expected to begin play in 2015.

“We proudly welcome two of the most prestigious professional global sports organizations to Major League Soccer,” MLS President Don Garber said in a statement released by the league. “This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country. The New York area is home to more than 19 million people, and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city.”

“New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base,” said Ferran Soriano, CEO of Manchester City. “We are thrilled to contribute to the energy and growth of New York City Soccer. In the Yankees, we have found the absolute best partner for developing a world-class sports organization and a winning team that will carry the New York City Football Club name with pride.”

Man City and their owner Sheikh Mansour will be the majority partners in the team and they are expected to pay a $100 million franchise fee for New York City FC. The team will play in a new stadium in Queens that is expected to cot Mansour and the Yankees around $340 million.

I cannot see how that stadium will be complete by the 2015, so the team will have to find a place to play for at least one season.

It will be interesting to see how Mansour and the Yankees approach New York City FC. Both clubs have spent heavy on players in the past and I would expect NYC FC to use its full allocation of three Designated Players.

Manchester City have also invested millions into their academy program in the last two years, and I would expect NYC FC to do the same. The academy programs are slowly coming along here in the U.S., but they are still a long way behind those of the top clubs in Europe.

NYC FC could provide Mansour with access to the best young talent in the U.S.. The question will be, when the NYC FC academy develops its first really good young American player. Does NYC FC promote him through their system into the MLS side, or will they be moved to England and Manchester City?

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Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year as the Swede and his team-mates dominated the awards.

“I came to a new country. It was not an easy situation, but everything went well. We worked hard. Now is the time to enjoy it,” said the former Barcelona forward.

Ibra has been brilliant this season and with one game left in the season, away at Lorient this Sunday, his is currently one goal behind the French all-time record for a season of 30 goals, set by Jean-Pierre Papin while playing for Marseille in 1989-90.

Ibrahimovic joined PSG from AC Milan last summer for a reported £15.7m. and he has now won an amazing 8 league titles in Italy, Spain and France, with a further two stripped because of a match-fixing scandal with Juventus.

Ibrahimovic’s goals helped him edge out colleagues Thiago Silva and Blaise Matuidi, as well as the league’s second top scorer, St Etienne’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for the lead players’ prize when it was announced on Sunday.

Ancelotti shared the best coach honour with Christophe Galtier after the 46-year-old ended St Etienne’s three-decade long wait for silverware with victory in the Coupe de la Ligue.

PSG’s Italy international defensive midfielder Marco Verratti was beaten to the young player gong by Bastia’s attacking midfielder Florian Thauvin.

Team of the Year: Salvatore Sirigu (PSG); Christophe Jallet (PSG), Thiago Silva (PSG), Nicolas Nkoulou (Marseille), Maxwell (PSG); Dimitri Payet (Lille), Marco Verratti (PSG), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille); Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Etienne)

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Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels says that Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final will not be his last game for the club.

The highly rated defender has been linked with a move to Barcelona this summer, but the Dortmund defender told Kicker magazine that he will still be wearing a yellow and black shirt next season.

“I’ve not had any contact with Barcelona or any other club,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my duty to dismiss rumours which other people invent. If there was to be any truth in them, I would say so. If I say that there is nothing behind the speculation, then people should believe me.”

When asked whether Saturday will be his last game for Dortmund, Hummels replied:

“Of course not.”

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Real Madrid have announced that head coach Jose Mourinho will leave the club at the end of the season after three years in charge of the Spanish giants.

At a packed press conference today, Real President Florentino Perez said”

“We’ve decided to bring our relationship to an end,” said Perez. “Nobody’s been sacked, it’s a mutual agreement.”

“The club and manager agree the timing is right to bring our relationship to an end,” Perez added.
“On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Jose Mourinho for all his hard work.

“The team has improved in his three years and we wish him all the best.”

Real Madrid have two games left this season. They re away at Real Sociedad on 26 May, with Mourinho taking charge at the Bernabeu for the final time on 1 June against Osasuna.

While Mourinho is expected to join Chelsea this summer, the matter of who will replace Mou in Madrid is not so clear, with PSG digging in their heels over releasing Carlo Ancelotti from his contract.

Perez was asked about Mourinho’s replacement and he responded:

“We have no pre-contract signed with any managerial candidate,” he said.

“It’s something we’ll have to look at in the coming days.”

Mourinho’s stint in Madrid will be viewed by many in the media as a failure because he failed to win the Champions League despite reaching the semi-finals for three consecutive years. But that is a short sighted viewpoint. Real had not won a trophy for two years before Mourinho arrived and they could not get past the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

Under Mourinho, Real He finished second in La Liga in his first season, four points behind Barcelona, and they beat their rivals in the Copa del Rey final. Last season, Mourinho’s side won the title, amassing a record 100 points in the process.

What do you think of Mou’s time in Madrid? Was it a success or not?

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Updated May 19. The first big summer games happen this week as Manchester City and Chelsea are set to meet twice in the U.S.A. On Thursday the two sides will meet in St. Louis (click for tickets) and then on Saturday they will meet at Yankee Stadium in New York (click for tickets).

These games kick of a busy summer of soccer, with World Cup qualifiers, Spain and Germany, Gold Cup games and Lionel Messi in Chicago there is a little bit of something for everything. And to top it off, Brazil will play Portugal in Boston in September which promises to eb a fantastic game.

What should be the big attraction this summer 2013 International Champions Cup. After announcing that Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, and the LA Galaxy, the organizers have not announced who else will take part in the competitions and where games will be played.

There are reports out of Turkey that Galatasaray will participate and that they will play Real Madrid in Phoenix. There are also rumours that two Premier League sides, Everton and Tottenham will participate will also appear but that has not been confirmed yet. With the Premier League season ending today, hopefully we will hear more this week.

To be notified when further details become available, sign up for our International Champions Cup newsletter.

2013 Summer Schedule
May
May 23: Chelsea v Man City in St. Louis – Buy Chelsea v Man City Tickets
May 25: Chelsea v Man City at Yankee Stadium – Buy Chelsea v Man City Tickets In New York
May 29: USA v Belgium in Cleveland – Buy USA v Belgium Tickets
May 29: Germany v Ecuador at FAU Stadium In Boca Raton
May 31: Mexico v Nigeria in Houston -  Buy Mexico v Nigeria Tickets

June
June 2: USA v Germany at RFK – Buy USA v Germany Tickets
June 2: Israel v Honduras at Citi Field, New York, NY -Buy Israel v Honduras Tickets
June 8: Spain v Haiti At SunLife Stadium in Miami – Buy Spain v Haiti Tickets
June 11: USA v Panama in Seattle – Buy USA v Panama Tickets
June 11: Spain v Ireland at Yankee Stadium – Buy Spain v Ireland Tickets
June 18: USA v Honduras in Sandy UT – Buy USA v Honduras Tickets
June 22: Orlando City v Fluminense at Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL

July
July 6: Lionel Messi And Friends Match In Chicago - Buy Messi and Friends Tickets
July 6: Xolos v Club America in San Diego
July 7:  Buy Canada vs. Martinique and Mexico vs. Panama Tickets at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
July 8: Buy El Salvador vs. Trinidad And Tobago & Haiti vs. Honduras Tickets  at Red Bull Arena, Harrison, N.J.
July 9:  Buy Costa Rica vs. Cuba & Belize vs. United States Tickets at JELD-WEN Field, Portland, Ore.
July 10: Chicago Fire v Club America – Buy Chicago Fire v Club America Tickets
July 11: Buy Panama vs. Martinique & Mexico vs. Canada Tickets at CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wash.
July 12: Buy Trinidad And Tobago vs. Haiti & Honduras vs. El Salvador at Sun Life Stadium, Miami , Fla.
July 13: Buy United States vs. Cuba & Costa Rica vs. Belize Tickets at Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
July 14: Buy Martinique vs. Mexico & Panama vs. Canada Tickets at Mile High, Denver, Colo.
July 15: Buy El Salvador vs. Haiti & Honduras vs. Trinidad And Tobago Tickets at BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
July 16: Buy Cuba vs. Belize & USA vs. Costa Rica Tickets at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.
July 18: Norwich City v TBA in Sacramento, CA
July 20: San Jose Earthquakes v Norwich City – Buy San Jose v Norwich Tickets
July 20: A2 vs. B2 and A1 vs. B3 or C3 at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga. – Buy Gold Cup QuarterFinals Tickets
July 21: B1 vs. C2) and C1 vs. A3 or B3 at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md. – Buy Gold Cup Quarterfinals Tickets
July 24: Portland Timbers v Norwich City
July 24: Houston Dynamo v Stoke City
July 24: Winner of Quarterfinal 3 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 4 and Winner of Quarterfinal 1 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 2 at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas – Buy Gold Cup SemiFinals Tickets
July 27: FC Dallas v Stoke City – Buy FC Dallas v Stoke Tickets
July 28: Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill. – Buy Gold Cup Final Tickets

August
August 6: International Champions Cup Semi-Finals in Miami
August 7: International Champions Cup Final in Miami

September
September 9: Brazil v Portugal in Boston
September 10: USA v Mexico Columbus, OH – Buy USA v Mexico World Cup Tickets

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Arsenal‘s 1-0 Premier League victory over Newcastle ensured that the Gunners will be playing the Champions League next season at the expense of North London rivals Tottenham, despite their 1-0 win at home against Sunderland courtesy of another late blockbuster from Gareth Bale.

With the title already secured by Manchester United and relegation matters settled in midweek, the only piece of intrigue left to be settled was who will be playing in Europe next season. Both games were scoreless at half-time leaving both sets of fans nervously waiting the last 4t5 minutes of the season.

Arsenal grabbed a goal first in the 52nd minute when Laurent Koscielny hooked home from close range following a free-kick from the right.

Overall at White Hart Lane, Spurs had two stone cold penalty appeals turned down, shots cleared off the line and woodwork rattled before Bale curled in a sensational winner following David Vaughan’s red card. Yet it was not enough and Tottenham will be in the Europa League next season.

Chelsea wrapped up third place with a 2-1 home win over Everton.Juan Mata and Fernando Torres scored either side of Toffees midfielder Steven Naismith as the Rafa era came to an end at Stamford Bridge. Bring on Mourinho!

The best game of the day was at the Hawthorns, where Sir Alex Ferguson saw his side throw away a three goal lead to draw 5-5 with West Brom.

Shinji Kagawa, Alex Buttner and a Jonas Olsson own-goal put United 3-0 up after half an hour, while Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez also hit the target on Ferguson’s big day. But a Romelu Lukaku hat-trick teamed with efforts from James Morrison and Youssouf Mulumbu ensured the Baggies a share of the spoils. Three of West Brom’s goals came in a frantic last ten minutes.

Jamie Carragher’s final match for Liverpool before retirement ended in a 1-0 win over QPR, who finish bottom of the league. Philippe Coutinho grabbed the winner with a fine 23rd-minute strike but Carragher, goalless since 2006, almost grabbed the spotlight when he hit the woodwork in the second half.

Carragher’s former Liverpool and England team-mate Michael Owen also played the last match of his storied career but a 16-minute cameo in Stoke‘s 1-1 draw at Southampton was not one to remember.

Peter Crouch gave the Potters the lead two minutes into the second half and Rickie Lambert levelled 10 minutes later for the Saints.

Managerless Manchester City ended a disappointing season with a 3-2 home defeat to Norwich. One of Roberto Mancini’s much-maligned summer signings, Jack Rodwell, twice equalised for City but goals from Anthony Pilkington, Grant Holt and Jonny Howson won it for the Canaries.

West Ham beat the Canaries to a top-half finish with a 4-2 win over relegated Reading. Kevin Nolan claimed a hat-trick and Ricardo Vaz Te also netted, while Garath McCleary and Adam Le Fondre ensured the Royals did not go down without a fight.

FA Cup winners Wigan are also bound for the npower Championship but they added one final point to their tally with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa. Darren Bent, on a rare start, had put Villa ahead before Emmerson Boyce’s header and a Nathan Baker own-goal gave the Latics a sniff of victory. Ron Vlaar snuffed out those hopes in the 61st minute.

Fulham shook off some questionable form to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Swansea, Alex Kacaniklic, Dimitar Berbatov and Urby Emmanuelson on the scoresheet for the Cottagers.

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The New England Revolution shocked the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in Houston last night.  Diego Fagundez put the Revs in front early in the second half before an own-goal from Ricardo Clark in the 84th minute sealed the home team’s fate.

The result gives Houston (6-4-2) back-to-back home losses for the first time since losing three in a row in 2010 and leaves them on 20 points while New England (3-4-4) now have 13 on the season.

Diego’s goal was a little bit of magic, and the Revs home grown star  played a little give-and-go with Clyde Simms before tucking his shot inside the near post. The goal was Diego’s third in New England‘s last five matches as he has really taken to game to a new level this season. No longer  a player who plays on the periphery, Diego has become a much more complete player this season under Jay Heaps guidance. For the first time he seems to understand the defensive responsibilities he has, and, he is showing a much better awareness to get himself in good goalscoring opportunities inside the box.

So in the Revs last two away games, they have gone to Portland and drew 0-0 and now won 2-0 in Houston. That is impressive. It might be that Jay Heaps Catenaccio style of soccer is more suited to playing on the road, rather than at home. Away from home, the Revs can sit back, deny space to the home team and then hit them with their counter-attack. That is a little harder to do at home, where the onus is on the Revs to force the tempo of the game. With three home games coming up, it will be interesting to see how Heaps and the Rev adapt to having to force the tempo of the game.

The downside in New England’s win was the sending off Dimitry Imbongo in the first half. From the opening kick-off Imbongo and Bobby Boswell were going at each other, and their battle reached a boiling point in the 37th minute when Boswell went in head first on Imbongo, and he retaliated by putting the center back in a headlock and sending him to the ground. The antics from the two were enough for referee Edvin Jurisevic to reach for his red card and send both to the showers.

In less than a game and half, Imbongo had given the Revs a completely different look than what they had with Jerry Bengtson and Saer Sene in the lone striker look. Imbongo does a much better job of holding up the ball and allowing the speed they Revs have in midfield to get forward into attacking positions than Bengtson and Sene do. Which is why it was interesting to see Jay Heaps bring on newly signed Juan Agudelo and not Bengtson or Sene. Changing off the guard up-front for the Revs?

The Revs will now return to Gillette Stadium for a three-game home-stand, beginning next Saturday night when they’ll host Toronto FC.

Photo Credit All rights reserved by nerevolution

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There are still three matches remaining in the La Liga season but for all intents and purposes for Jose Mourinho reign in Spain is over and it has ended in failure.

Defeat tonight in the Copa del Rey to city rivals Atlético meant that Real Madrid ended the season with no silverware. That is simply not good enough for Real and the ‘The Special One’ acknowledged that in his post match press conference:

“This is the worst season of my career”, said Mourinho. “With a final, semifinal, a second place and a Super Cup, for me it is the worst”.

When asked if he had failed this season, Mourinho admitted that not winning a major trophy is not good enough.

“I have failed this season because in the first season we win the Copa, we get to the semifinals of the Champions League and fight for a league”, explained Mourinho. “In the second season it is a failure to win a league, make another Champions League semifinal lost in penalties. The third season, with these results, it is a failed season. When things go well, it’s because of everyone. When things go bad, it is the manager’s fault. For me it’s the worst season. I have never gone without winning a major trophy because the Super Cup is very little”.

Mou, who is widely expected to leave Madrid for Stamford Bridge this summer had this to say about his managerial future.

“I have a contract for three more years. I have not sat down with the president to talk about my future. I think it’s normal that people are speaking of Ancelotti if I go to Chelsea. When the season ends I will sit down with the president so that the fans know what is going to happen”, concluded Mourinho.

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