Liverpool youngster will be leaving Anfield this summer

The Express has revealed that Liverpool forward and England international Raheem Sterling will be leaving the club this summer, according to talkSPORT.

It is rumoured that Sterling will be making a big money move to Real Madrid after the end of this current season.

The 20-year-old has arguably been Liverpool’s star player this year, as the Reds have begun to show last season’s class once again as of late.

Possible transfer ban

It has already been made public for a while that Real Madrid could soon face a transfer ban similar to La Liga rivals FC Barcelona.

Talks of this have appeared to have halted Madrid’s potential signing of Marco Reus this upcoming summer from Borussia Dortmund, who now looks likely of moving to the Premier League.

It has not been announced whether the current UEFA Champions League holders will face a transfer ban, but if they do what will become of this apparently already done deal?

This apparent deal was brought to life by the radio station known as talkSPORT’s La Liga expert.

A sterling signing

Real Madrid have already showed their intentions of signing young talent this past January Transfer Window, with the signing of 16-year-old Norwegian wonder kid, Martin Odegaard, and now they look to be bringing in one of England’s top young talents.

The Liverpool and England winger was signed by Rafael Benitez from Queens Park Rangers’ Academy in 2010 for a fee of £600,000, and in 2012 made his senior Liverpool debut, aged just 17.

Since his debut Sterling has made 82 appearances for the Merseyside club, and has scored 16 goals in the process. Along with this he has also earned 13 caps for Roy Hodgson’s England side.

With the whole possible transfer embargo against Real Madrid and no word coming from Liverpool as a club itself, this is a definitely a story which is going to have to be tracked and kept an eye on.

 

Chelsea in contact with Real Madrid defender

According to the Express, Chelsea have made contact with the agent of Sergio Ramos over a potential move to Stamford Bridge this summer.

The 28-year-old has already turned down the offer of a contract extension from Madrid, and his current contract expires in 2017.

Ramos is already drawing attention from other Premier League sides such as Manchester United and Arsenal, but reports say it is Chelsea that have made the first move.

Potential earnings

The Spanish international is looking to be earning as much as teammates Karim Benzema, and the World’s most expensive footballer Gareth Bale.

Ramos is believed to be keeping his options open ahead of a shock move away from the Santiago Bernabeu, and could end up playing for former coach Jose Mourinho.

Rumours are that Ramos is the key target out of a bunch of players in Mourinho’s head, as he looks for a long term replacement for Chelsea veteran and captain John Terry.

Title winner

The Spanish centre-half is no stranger to winning silverware, with a vastly impressive list of honours to his name.

In his time at Real Madrid Ramos has won the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, La Liga 3 times and the Copa del Rey twice.

Alongside that he has also with his country Spain won the FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA European Championship’s twice.

New contract from Carlo

Whether or not Ramos fancies giving life in English football a go under either Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal or Arsene Wenger remains to be seen, but his future now remains in the hands of current manager Carlo Ancelotti.

 

Bayern Munich back out of signing Dortmund star

According to the Mail Online, Bayern Munich have pulled out of potentially signing Borussia Dortmund and Germany star Marco Reus, leaving other teams to fight out for the player’s signature.

The door has now been left wide open for Real Madrid and the Premier Leagues top clubs, such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, who are all apparently interested in signing the forward.

According to Bild, Bayern decided to take themselves out of the equation on the basis that they already had enough forwards, and that they did not want to worsen their relationship with Dortmund.

Notorious buyers

In the past few years Bayern Munich have signed star players from Dortmund, with Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski swapping football at the Westfalenstadion for the Allianz Arena.

Both players have become key members to FC Bayern’s squad, and are showing their worth at the current Bundesliga champions.

Spain or England?

Now that Bayern have withdrawn themselves from the Marco Reus saga, Real Madrid do look to be the favourites to sign the 25-year-old.

But with Real Madrid potentially receiving a transfer ban, it looks like the Premier League where the German star could end up next summer.

The Dortmund forward has made 23 appearances for the German national side, scoring 7 goals, but sadly missed out on the World Cup win last year.

Reus was also Dortmund’s player of the year during the 2013-2014 period, but their poor form this year makes him likely to move on next season.

Real Madrid remove Christian cross from the clubs crest to seal alliance with Abu Dhabi bank

Real Madrid are the current UEFA Champions League holders, currently sit top of the Liga BBVA table, and have millions of fans from all around the globe. They are without a doubt one of the biggest sporting superpowers known to man at this current time, and have been for quite some time too. But have they just made a huge error on their part?

The Spanish giants have made the decision to remove the commonly found Christian cross out of the clubs logo, after making a deal with Abu Dhabi bank ‘NBAD’. It is believed that the new badge was formed to avoid offending Muslim sensibilities in the United Arab Emirates, along with sealing the deal with the bank itself.

Pictures have emerged of Real Madrid Football Club President Florentino Perez holding a large makeshift credit card of the Abu Dhabi bank with Madrid’s crest featuring on it, which is now also going to double as a Real Madrid membership card, without the Christian symbol in the unmistakeable club crest. Also featuring in the picture are a few Real Madrid players, such as Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal, along with representatives of NBAD.

Florentino Perez labelled the deal as a “strategic alliance with one of the most prestigious institutions in the world”, but Spanish sports paper Marca has labelled the redesigning of the famous club badge shows how far clubs are willing to go to create new forms of revenue, even sacrificing parts of their famous identity.

Perez also said recently: “This agreement will help the club to keep conquering the hearts of followers in the United Arab Emirates”. But the question is, what about the hearts of the fans found in other parts of the world? Especially the fans from home, situated in Spain and Madrid.

Real Madrid is a football club situated in a Christian country, so it is highly likely that they have gone and offended their local supporters. Nevertheless, the original logo will still be used when they compete in Europe, featuring the tiny Christian cross at the top of the crest.