Manchester City close in on 'Nigerian Neymar' Yahaya

Manchester City are poised to secure a deal for Nigeria under-17 star Musa Yahaya. The attacking midfielder would be the third Nigeria Under-17 international to sign on at the Etihad Stadium following the African nation's success at the World Cup Yahaya scored four times in seven matches at the U-17 World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates, with Nigeria beating Mexico 3-0 in the final to win the tournament.
Dubbed the 'Nigerian Neymar', Yahaya had been tracked by Tottenham, as well as teams in Portugal and Spain, but City appear to have won the race for the 16-year-old and are in deep discussions with the player's agent, Babawo Mohammed.

How coaches decided Yaya Toure as African Player of the Year

Thursday’s emergence of Cote D’Ivoire’s Yaya Toure as African Player of the Year for the third successive time was always expected. In figures released by the Confederation of African Football, voting patterns show how dominant the Ivoirian was and why he retained his title as the continent’s best footballer According to the figures released by CAF after the ceremony, the Ivoirian was always favoured to retain his crown ahead of challengers John Obi Mikel and Didier Drogba.

Yaya Toure is CAF African Player of the Year 2013

Manchester City's Yaya Toure has been named the African Player of the Year 2013 by the Confederation of African Football at an awards ceremony held in Lagos on Thursday evening.  The Ivoirian has been named the best player from the continent for a third straight time after beating compatriot Didier Drogba and local favourite Obi Mikel at a ceremony in Lagos

The Ivoirian won the title for a third straight time beating off competition from compatriot Didier Drogba and local favourite John Obi Mikel to the title. In a ceremony dominated by Nigeria who swept the Coach of the Year and Team of the Year awards, many had expected Chelsea's Mikel to win the top gong on the back of the Super Eagles' victory at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ramos: Listening to critics a waste of time

The Real Madrid defender says he is focusing on his own game and has warned his team-mates that they have no margin for error after Christmas, Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos says that listening to critics of his style of play would be a waste of time.

The 27-year-old's disciplinary record has been in the spotlight of late, having picked up the 18th red card of his career in the 2-2 draw with Osasuna. However, he insists that he never paid heed to those who criticise his style of play, insisting that he is focusing on giving his all for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Nigeria will do well at the World Cup, says Mikel

Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel believes that his country will do well at the World Cup by riding on the confidence of being reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions. The Chelsea midfielder thinks that the Super Eagles can ride on the wave of being African champions to have a successful campaign at Brazil 2014

The Super Eagles won their third African title in February and will go to Brazil 2014 as the first reigning African champions since 2002 when Cameroon held the title and also played at the World Cup.

Nigeria are drawn in Group F alongside perennial foes Argentina, Asian high flyers Iran and debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“I think being African champions has given us a huge lift. I think the mentality of the team has changed in the past couple of years, we believe now that we can go into every game and win,” Mikel told www.goal.com while receiving the 2013 Goal Nigeria Player of the Year award, beating compatriots Vincent Enyeama, Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses and Godfrey Oboabona to it.

The Super Eagles already have a foretaste of what to expect next year after this summer’s campaign in the Confederations Cup saw them win against Tahiti and lose against Uruguay and Spain. “If you look at the games we played in the Confederations we put on a very good performance in all the games. We were unlucky in the game against Uruguay, I think we should have beaten them by four or five. If you look at the game against Spain, we played really well but they just had that little bit of quality to get the goals,” he said.

With Ghana’s quarter final finish at South Africa 2010, the Super Eagles are being touted by their fans to go a place better than their neighbours in Brazil. “I think the Africa Cup of Nations has given us a lot of belief to go into the World Cup - I know we can do well,” Mikel said.

“It’s going to take a bit of time but it’s something we’re working towards. Hopefully we will start to hit our heights soon and be playing consistently well but right now I think we’re in a very good position in the Premier League and the Champions League so if we can pick the standard up even higher I think it will be a very successful year,” he said.

Suarez all the way

The Uruguayan latched onto Henderson's backheel to curl a superb third past David Marshall just before half-time and, though Jordon Mutch pulled one back for the visitors after the break, the damage was done. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brendan Rodgers made no changes to the Liverpool side that beat Tottenham 5-0 on Sunday. Suarez retained the captaincy after scoring eight goals in his previous three games.

Gattuso: Insisted he can not gamble with his life

Former AC Milan star Gennaro Gattuso says he is determined to clear his name after being dragged into a match-fixing scandal. The former Italy star is being investigated for match-fixing but says he is determined to prove his innocence, insisting he has never gambled in his life

Iheanacho up for Man City contract talks

The Golden Eaglets star has been given leave of absence to undergo trial with the English Premier League giants. Iheanacho has been training with the Nigeria squad preparing for next month's African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa. Coach Stephen Keshi released the lad after speaking to his father James Iheanacho on the telephone on Monday afternoon.

Drogba: I'm the luckiest man in the Champions League!

The Ivorian was thrilled to get the opportunity to play at Stamford Bridge once again when his Galatasaray side face Chelsea in the last 16 Didier Drogba has branded himself the "luckiest man" in the Champions League after Galatasaray were drawn against Chelsea in the last 16. The Cote d'Ivoire international - who played more than 340 games for Chelsea in a stellar career for the London club - admitted he was relishing the prospect of returning to Stamford Bridge for Roberto Mancini's men when the sides lock horns in the new year.