Soccer

Porto duo Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez have joined Monaco in a transfer deal worth €70 million. The French club confirmed the two acquisitions on Friday though did not reveal the cost of either player, however, due to the Portuguese side being on the stock market, the cost of the duo has been unearthed. Moutinho, who was linked with a January move to Tottenham, has cost the newly promoted Ligue 1 outfit €25m, while Colombian forward Rodriguez has fetched an enormous €45m for the Primeira Division champions. More to follow…

Outgoing Manchester United chief executive David Gill is confident Wayne Rooney will stay at the club next season.

• Speculation over Chivas USA's ownership• Johan Cruyff's grandson has trial at DC United• Impact's Jeb Brovsky has nose broken in six places• Bakary Soumare is back at Chicago FireIn case anyone missed the week's really big news, it looks like HOUSTON MAY BE HEADING BACK TO THE WESTERN CONFERENCE! Yes, struck by the debilitating dynastic prospect of more Dynamo vs Galaxy finals, MLS has acted resolutely by accepting $100 million of outside investment to start a new New York team and presumably shunt Houston back to the West in 2015. It's a bold move, that everybody nobody saw coming, but arguably no more leftfield a move than bringing the Yankees in as partners...The existing New York/New Jersey team, the Red Bulls, greeted the news from the top of the Supporters Shield standings, with the chance to emulate an unbeaten streak they last achieved some ten years ago (when Kevin Keegan was Manchester City manager). The Red Bulls face Columbus this weekend at the start of a three game home stand on the field and a possible 18 month one off it. Meanwhile, as the rest of the league feasts themselves on the Red Bulls discarded games in hand, Montreal edge back into action, having apparently been determined not to run out of games as they did on last year's run-in. The Garbo-esque Impact make a rare public appearance against a Philadelphia side who are beginning to show more than just McInerney's goals.Houston won't be in the West just yet, but it'll be a shame to miss their regular ongoing tussles with Sporting KC if and when they do go. After Sporting ended their record-breaking unbeaten home run a couple of weeks ago, the Dynamo will be out for revenge, though Kei Kamara will be looking for a definitive performance to show he's back home. That's this week's NBCSN game on Sunday afternoon.New England added insult to injury for the Dynamo when they added a second straight home defeat for them last week, and now they go home themselves to welcome Toronto, who might need a quick reminder of the long term nature of the revival project they're working on, as the immediate pressures of poor league form pile up. Also feeling the pressure, the redoubtable Chelis at Chivas, who are slumping alarmingly after their bright start, and who face a tough trip to the quietly achieving Colorado side, who are finally getting their first choice players back, but who've done just fine with their so-called second stringers.Colorado can't rest up in that last play-off spot though, as a surging Seattle team are just behind them and going to LA looking to extract some revenge for last year's semi-final elimination and prove that they are indeed, back. Seattle come into the game with the confidence of having beaten erstwhile frontrunners Dallas last week. Dallas are back home, yet again, to face San Jose. The Earthquakes are still scoring late goals, but they're tending to get them single points rather than three points in recent games. They have one win in nine games.Chicago meanwhile, have two wins in ten games, and the second worst goal difference in the league. They've just lost successive games to the Union and seem to think they might have the blueprint. That may explain why they're rumored to be moving to bring Bakary Soumare back to where he started, and may further explain his "shop window displays" in those two recent games. The Fire go to RSL this weekend, who are back home themselves for the next four games — they're tucked in nicely in second spot in the West and will hope to put a little bit of pressure in Dallas with that run.Our regular cast of team reps join us this week, to begin ratcheting up the hype about what Dom Kinnear might wear for his first game back in the West, and also mention in passing the main stories for their teams heading into the games this weekend. See what they have to say below and add your own take on the weekend's action, then join us on Monday to see if we're any the wiser.All kick off times are listed as ETDC Unite

Turkey (U19) ( 5 – 1 ) Italy (U19) , European Union on The 24th of May, 2013 at five to three Podcast:

Oswaldo de Oliveira is convinced his veteran midfielder will not be returning to AC Mlan club amid rumours over the future of the current boss Botafogo coach Oswaldo de Oliveira has completely dismissed suggestions that Clarence Seedorf could ditch the Brazilian club to take over as AC Milan trainer. The speculation over the future of Rossoneri boss Massimiliano Allegri has led to rumours that the veteran Dutch midfielder, who enjoyed a 10-year spell at the San Siro club, is being lined up as the Italian’s replacement. Seedorf joined the South American side on a two-year deal in 2012 and Oliveira is extremely confident he will stay, believing that the 37-year-old is now settled in to life in Brazil. “It will not happen,” the 62-year-old coach told reporters. “I don’t open Italian newspapers, nor do I know the name of even one of them. I talk with Seedorf a lot, who is a quiet guy, I have nothing but respect for him. “I think that the Seedorf settled in in Rio de Janeiro through the familiarity of his wife [Luviana, a Rio native], because he is very streetwise. “You see that he affects the whole game. He goes at the same tempo throughout and when the game is nearing its end, he has emptied his petrol tank.” Seedorf was the first player to win the Champions League with three different clubs – Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and twice with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007.

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger believes his former club "need" to win the Champions League final.

Few things go better with soccer than a cleverly designed T-shirt. That’s why EPL Talk has partnered up with Who Are Ya Designs to offer three fabulous prizes to EPL Talk readers. In this one-of-a-kind contest, you — the soccer fan — are tasked with coming up with an idea for a fun and creative T-shirt design. The three best ideas submitted will have the T-shirt designed, produced and sold in the Who Are Ya Designs online store! The deadline for ideas is FRIDAY, JUNE 7th, winners will be announced MONDAY, JUNE 10th, and the winning shirts will be for sale THURSDAY, JUNE 13th. The prizes are as follows: 1ST PRIZE – The first print of your shirt to come off the press…and a $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE to whoareyadesigns.com 2ND PRIZE – The first print of your shirt to come off the press…and a $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE to whoareyadesigns.com 3RD PRIZE – The first print of your shirt to come off the press…and a $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE to whoareyadesigns.com To enter the contest, visit the contest page and submit your idea today! Thanks to WhoAreYaDesigns.com for sponsoring this awesome contest. It’s time to tap into your creativity! Enter to Win A Contest To Have Your Own Soccer T-Shirt Featured On Who Are Ya Designs is a post from EPL Talk - Independent voice of EPL soccer fans since 2005.

Here are the results of our post-season polls, featuring the gifted but gripe-worthy Gareth BaleEarlier in the week you judged the best and worst of the 2012-13 season in the Premier League, voting in nine categories from best player to biggest gripe (both of which feature the same Tottenham Hotspur midfielder). Here are the results:Who was the player of the season?Gareth Bale 38%Luis Suárez 15%Robin van Persie 13%Juan Mata 11%Michael Carrick 5%Who was the manager of the season?Sir Alex Ferguson 40%Michael Laudrup 23%Rafael Benítez 14%Arsène Wenger 6%Steve Clarke 5%What was the match of the season? Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United 23%Manchester United 2-3 Tottenham 16%Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham 14%West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United 12%Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle 7%Who was the pundit of the season?Gary Neville 68%Roy Keane 6%Pat Nevin 6%Lee Dixon 6% Alan Shearer 4%Who was the signing of the season?Michu 39%Robin van Persie 19%Christian Benteke 17%Philippe Coutinho 8%Santi Cazorla 6%What was the flop of the season?Queens Park Rangers 51%Newcastle 9% Emmanuel Adebayor 7%Manchester United's wingers 6%Martin O'Neill 5%What was the goal of the season?Robin Van Persie for Manchester United v Aston Villa 32%Matthew Lowton for Aston Villa v Stoke 15%Luis Suárez for Liverpool v Newcastle 15%Gareth Bale for Tottenham v Swansea 9%David Luiz for Chelsea v Fulham 9%Gareth Bale for Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich 7%What innovations should be introduced next season?Retrospective punishment that can over-rule the referee's decision 28%Retrospective punishment for diving 14%Only allow captains to speak to referees 13%Standing areas 9%Broadcast feed from referees' earpieces 7%What is your gripe about this season?Gareth Bale's trademarked heart shape 16%Exorbitant ticket prices 12%The date and time of the FA Cup final 10%Low quality teams 9%Endless controversies 9%Thanks for taking partPremier LeaguePaul CampbellGuardian readersguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Sporting KC hopes to extend Houston’s losing streak this weekend. (Photo by Mark Shaiken – WVHooligan staff photographer) First off, forgive me for the lack of posts yesterday. I had the day off from the real world and took full advantage of it by just getting tons of other little things done that I’ve been putting off for ages. So thanks. Now on to the task at hand. MLS rolls into the final week of the May. I skipped over the What To Watch For this week so I’ll try to provide a little more context to the weekend ahead before I get into my predictions. 1. Montreal humming along. The Impact are still a club that I feel is not getting the respect that they deserve so far this season. It may be due to the fact that they’ve only played ten games where the clubs above them in the Eastern Conference have two or three more games in the books on them. I look at these next few weeks as huge for the Impact both in the league and in the Canadian Championships. If they want to be taken serious by all, winning in both is key. They host a streaky Philadelphia club this weekend, which brings another chance for Marco Di Vaio to do his usual thing up front for them. 2. Rivalry budding between SKC and Houston. We know where this one has been going for years. Ever since the Dynamo were moved to the Eastern Conference to make way for Portland and Vancouver to join the league in the West, these two have been getting a nice rivalry going. Most of that is due to the fact that they’ve met in the conference finals the last two years and throw in the fact that Sporting just ended Houston’s long unbeaten streak at home and this one has a lot to be excited by. Houston knows how to win at Sporting, so this one will certainly go either way this weekend. Easily the game I am looking forward to the most. 3. Sounders hope to continue hot form. No team is hotter in MLS right now than Seattle. Eight goals in their last two games, both at home against conference foes is a big deal. But I look at what Dallas was able to do against Seattle in the second half of last week’s 4-2 win for the Sounders as proof that good teams will give this Sounder club trouble if they aren’t pressing enough. Sigi Schmid’s team took the foot off the gas for just long enough for Dallas to get two quick goals. Seattle may have won that game but they have to play a complete game to continue their charge up the standings. They get LA on the road this weekend, never an easy game for the Sounders. The contrasting style of play out of both clubs makes it difficult for Seattle to play their speed game from the wings and up front. 4. Is anyone talking about RSL? The quick answer is no. Everyone in the West is focused on Dallas, Portland, LA and Seattle while Jason Kreis’ club is sneaking up and around everyone. Currently RSL is second in the West and have been sneaky good as of late.  One reason why they may not be getting the respect is due to who they have lost to. They’ve dropped games against good clubs like Montreal, Dallas, LA, and even against rivals Colorado. Kreis and company just need to continue to win no matter what and with Chivas USA in town, that form should continue.  Saturday Portland Timbers at D.C. United: The Timbers still only have one loss on the season, an early loss at home to Montreal. But there is something about this roadie to D.C. that could be trouble for Caleb Porter’s bunch. United have been much better these last couple of weeks and now that Chris Pontius and Nick DeLeon are healthy to go with Dwayne De Rosario, some results should begin to trickle in. WVH Prediction: D.C. 1, Portland 1 Philadelphia Union at Montreal Impact: Who will be in defense for the Union now that Bakary Soumare is back in Chicago? Honestly, I don’t think he would have made that big of a difference against the Impact, who are rested and at home. WVH Prediction: Montreal 2, Philadelphia 0 Toronto FC at New E

• Zenit decide against signing 31-year-old Russian• Arshavin's Arsenal deal expires at end of next monthZenit St Petersburg have ruled out signing Andrey Arshavin, whose contract with Arsenal expires at the end of the month."He hasn't played much for lately. Why? You would have to ask him that question," their coach Luciano Spalletti said in reference to the former Russia captain, who joined Arsenal from Zenit for £15m in early 2009.Arshavin, who turns 32 next week, rejoined Zenit on a three-month loan from Arsenal in February last year after but failed to rediscover his top form.Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Zenit's former captain, is poised to rejoin the club on a free transfer after four years at Bayern Munich. "I don't see any problem of Tymoshchuk coming back," Spalletti said.The 34-year-old Ukraine midfielder, who captained Zenit to the Russian league title in 2007 and the Uefa Cup the following year, moved to Bayern before the 2009-2010 Bundesliga season.Zenit finished second behind CSKA Moscow this season after winning the league title for the past two years and qualified for the Champions League preliminary round next season.ArsenalZenit St Petersburgguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds