City Boss eyes Hargreaves debut

Roberto Mancini has confirmed Owen Hargreaves could make his Manchester City debut in Wednesday's Carling Cup clash with Championship side Birmingham.

The Italian is set to make major changes to his squad, who were pegged back in the Premier League at Fulham on Sunday to draw 2-2.

Former Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves is set to start on the bench for the clash with the cup holders, with Mancini predicts he will play up to 45 minutes.

The City boss told the Manchester Evening News: "I need to speak with Owen and on Tuesday we will decide if he will play, but he probably will.

"He has been in full training but he is not 100 per cent. He could play maybe 30 to 45 minutes."

The game is also being earmarked for the comeback of center back Kolo Toure, who has not played since February following a six-month ban after he took one of his wife's diet pills, which contained a banned substance.

Mancini added: "I will change the team absolutely because I need five or six players resting. We want to keep going in the competition but we also need to change players.

"We also need to recover Kolo and some of the other players."

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Neymar pledges to stay at Santos

Brazil wonder kid Neymar has denied reports he is on the brink of a big-money move to Spanish Premier Liga and instead pledged to remain at Santos for at least another year.

Neymar has repeatedly been linked with a move to Europe with reports this week suggesting he had undergone a medical in Sao Paulo ahead of a January move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The 19-year-old refused those claims today though and said he intended to remain at Santos until after their centenary season next year.

"I have been sold like 30 times," Neymar was quoted as saying by Lancenet.

"There is no truth to that, I am a player of Santos and I will stay here to play at the club's centenary.

"That is all speculation, there is no deal. I went to the hospital to solve a personal problem."

Neymar's representative is his father and the striker, capped 12 times for Brazil, re-iterated any decision to move would be made in conjunction with his family.

"The final word was always been for me and my father," he said.

"You know very well that my father takes care of my career. He takes care of everything and nothing has changed.

"My decision is that I'm very happy here and that's where I want to be.

"Santos is a club that I love and it has been agreed between my father, me and the president that I will not leave in the next transfer window."

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Villa claims Fabregas improvement

Barcelona forward David Villa believes Cesc Fabregas has improved as a player since joining from Premier League side Arsenal over a month ago.

Fabregas has made an instant impact on his return to the Nou Camp after an eight-year spell with the Gunners, including a goal in Barca's 8-0 win over Osasuna on Saturday.

He has also picked up winner's medals in the Spanish Supercopa and the UEFA Super Cup since re-joining the La Liga Giants.

"Although he spent some time away, he was raised here," Villa told Marca.

"The football of this club and of La Masia isn't just in his legs, it flows through his veins.

"He was a great player at Arsenal and now, surrounded by all these players, we knew that he would benefit and it is showing."

Villa also believes the fantastic win on Saturday came at a perfect time as they face a potentially tricky clash with his former club Valencia in midweek.

"The great match against Osasuna improves our self-confidence ahead of a game that will be complicated at the Mestalla," he said.

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Wolfsburg cut ties with Arne Friedrich

Wolfsburg have terminated the contract of center back Arne Friedrich by mutual consent.

Friedrich joined the Bundesliga club from Hertha Berlin last season but missed the entire first half of the campaign following an operation on a slipped disc suffered in August 2010.

The 32-year-old has only featured in 15 league games for the club, failing to establish himself at  Volkswagen Arena due to his ongoing injury problems and his struggle to regain fitness.

Boss Felix Magath confirmed Friedrich approached him and asked to be released from the deal, which was due to last until June 2013.

"Arne Friedrich came to us and asked us to terminate his contract," Magath told www.bundesliga.de. "We regret his decision, but wish him all the best for the future."

Friedrich told his website "Today [Monday] I asked VfL Wolfsburg for resolution of my 

contract.

"Both sides have parted amicably. I will want to use the next few weeks to consider carefully how to proceed and which path I will take."

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Jose Mourinho to honour Sir Robson memory

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has donated his most prestigious personal trophy to be auctioned in memory of his mentor Sir Bobby Robson.

The 48-year-old worked under Robson at Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon, Porto and  Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona. He has handed over the FIFA Ballon D'Or World Coach of the Year award he won with Italian side Inter Milan in 2010 to be sold to the highest bidder in an online auction next month.

Proceeds from Sir Bobby's Breakthrough Auction, which will run from October 8-23, and a charity ball in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, will go to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Robson's son, Mark, said: "The entire family is completely astounded by this generous gift from Mr Mourinho. We are thrilled and so thankful to him.

"My dad would have been so proud by the way all the different clubs and football managers around the world are pulling together by contributing such incredible prizes."

Other offerings include the chance to join England manager Fabio Capello and his squad at a training session, VIP tickets for a Manchester United game courtesy of Sir Alex Ferguson and a signed limited edition of Pele's memoirs.

Auction founder Gina Long said: "When I started planning the auction, I could only have dreamt that I would get support from such magnificent people and great companies.

"But now that has been turned into reality, it can only help us achieve our goal of raising more than £250,000 for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and Breakthrough Breast Cancer."

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