Tevez Set For Manchester City Exit

Manchester City are set to sell Carlos Tevez to AC Milan and will use the cash to fund a swoop for Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.City boss Roberto Mancini has been told he has to make room for the arrival of Van Persie and has already agreed to sell Emmanuel Adebayor to Tottenham and now Tevez looks set to follow him out of the exit door.The departure of both players will bring in transfer revenue and also take a large chunk off the City wage bill that will free up cash to fund a deal for Van Persie.Edin Dzeko is a player that could also move on with Milan again keen but reports now claim that Tevez is the player who will head to Italy.A source close to City has been quoted as saying: "They are selling Tevez to Milan. You'll see it in the next few days. If, for any reason, that deal hits a complication, City may sell Edin Dzeko to Milan instead. But, for the moment, all efforts are focused on selling Tevez. That will open up the Van Persie deal."Manchester United are also still in the hunt but City are favourites and should be able to step up their bid this week once Tevez has been sold.

Barca,AC Milanand Spurs Chase Brazilian Wonderkid

Barcelona have joined AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign Internacional starlet Oscar after the Brazilian wonderkid was dubbed the new Kaka. The Blaugrana are reported to have had scouts monitor the progress of the 20-year-old playmaker after he rose to prominence with a hat-trick in the final of the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in the summer. Milan have been linked with the player, whose full name is Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior, for several weeks but have yet to make official contact, according to Sport. Internacional have seen scouts from several major European clubs attend their games due to the interest in striker Leandro Damiao and reports soon filtered back about Oscar. Tottenham Hotspur have a partnership agreement with the Porto Algre-based outfit and could have first refusal on the youngster if they want to make their interest concrete. Oscar joined Internacional from Sao Paulo in 2010 and has made only 22 appearances for the first team after playing only as handful of times before making the move. After helping his club win the Copa Libertadores in 2010, the midfielder won the Campeonato Gaucho and Recopa Sudamerica this year. Last month Oscar made his first two appearances for Brazil's first team when he played in the Superclasico de las Americas double header against Argentin

Chelsea chasing Pato

Chelsea are trailing AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato according  with a cash-plus-player deal being mooted. Manager Andre Villas-Boas is set to try and persuade Blues owner Roman Abramovich to try and sign the Brazilian forward. A £30 million-player-plus-cash deal is in the pipeline for the player who has been tracked by Chelsea for the last three years. Villas-Boas see’s the striker as the perfect foil for Fernando Torres and believes their partnership could fire the club to Champions League success. Chelsea are understood to be willing to offer £20 million plus either Nicolas Anelka or Salomon Kalou in exchange for Pato’s services. It’s thought that Milan are prepared to let the Brazilian go if they can secure the signature of Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli. However they may ask Chelsea for more money if they do go ahead with a move for Balotelli who has admitted he wants a move away from City. Pato scored 14 goals in 25 appearances last season at the San Siro despite being afflicted by minor injures all year losing his place in the national team to Neymar in the process. However the 21-year-old has plenty of Champions League experience for a player of his age and fits the profile of the type of player Villas-Boas wants at Stamford Bridge.

AC Milan to Swoop for Balotelli and Aquilani

AC Milan could make a double Premier League swoop as they line up bids for Mario Balotelli and Alberto Aquilani, according to reports in Italy. The Italian giants are looking to spend having won the Serie A title last season and have set their sights on two Italians who have failed to settle in England. Manchester City frontman Balotelli, who has long been linked with a return to the San Siro having played for city rivals Inter, admitted at the weekend that he had failed to settle in Manchester. And Gazzetta dello Sport have claimed that AC Milan will step up their interest in the 20-year-old, with vice-president Adriano Galliani saying: “We will see what happens.” If the move does go through then Balotelli could be joined at the San Siro by Liverpool outcast Aquilani. The midfielder has disappointed since Rafael Benitez spent £20m to bring him to Anfield, and he was allowed to join Juventus on loan last summer. Juventus declined to make the move permanent and a proposed switch to Fiorentina also fell through, but AC Milan could offer him a route back to Italy for a fee of just £5.5m plus add-ons. “It is necessary to look at the details, but for the player, having an opportunity to join a large team would be very attractive,” Aquilani’s agent, Franco Zavaglia, told Radio Radio.

Gennaro Gattuso given four-match ban for headbutt

AC Milan's Gennaro Gattuso has been banned for four matches after clashing with Tottenham assistant coach Joe Jordan during a Champions League tie.Midfielder Gattuso headbutted Jordan following his side's 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their last-16 encounter at the San Siro and has since apologised.European football's governing body Uefa handed down the punishment after a disciplinary hearing on Monday.But Milan have said that they will not be appealing against the decision.The 33-year-old former Rangers star had already been ruled out of the second leg at White Hart Lane on 9 March after picking up a booking in the first match.
The veteran Italian headbutted Jordan as tempers flared at full-time in Milan 1-0 Champions League .
"I lost control. There is no excuse for what I did. I take my responsibilities for that," the Milan captain said.
"I was nervous. We were both speaking Scottish, something that I learned when I played in his home city of Glasgow, but I can't tell you what we said."I didn't want to argue with players and I did it with him but I was wrong to do what I have done. I will have to await what they decide."
Gattuso and 59-year-old Scot Jordan had already clashed on the touchline during a bad-tempered second half in which Mathieu Flamini escaped with a only booking for a two-footed challenge on Vedran Corluka.
Croatia full-back Corluka left the field on a stretcher and was later seen on the substitutes' bench with crutches and an ice pack on his ankle."The tackle from Flamini was a horrendous tackle," Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp commented. "It was a sending off. He was two or three feet off the floor with his two feet raised. It was a leg-breaking tackle."The Flamini challenge turned the second half into a feisty affair, with Gattuso becoming increasingly aggressive.The Milan skipper, making his 450th appearance for the Rossoneri, confronted Spurs striker Peter Crouch before collecting a booking that will rule him out of the second leg for a lunge at Steven Pienaar.
At the final whistle, Gattuso removed his shirt and headed straight for Jordan, hurling abuse at the Spurs first-team coach before lashing out with his head.The Italian was pulled away by team-mates and briefly stopped to embrace Spurs defender William Gallas before following Jordan down the tunnel.

"I don't know why it all got so silly," Redknapp added. "Gattuso had a flare-up with Joe Jordan. I don't know why."He obviously hadn't done his homework. He could've picked a fight with somebody else. Putting his head into Joe's face, it was crazy. He lost his head."
Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri said he was disappointed with his captain's conduct but claimed his rage was sparked by a late tackle on him by Pienaar which preceded the touchline clash with Jordan.
"Flamini's tackle was quite a bad one but the foul on Gattuso on his knee was also a bad one," Allegri stated.

"I don't know what happened at the end of the match. It was not nice to see. I think there was a reason but there is no excuse for that."
Describing the scene on air, BBC Radio 5 live's Mark Pougatch said Gattuso had "lost it".
Italian football journalist Gabriele Marcotti added: "Gattuso is an emotional player but after getting angry he calmed down enough to hug and kiss William Gallas and Harry Redknapp.
"You think he is going to calm down then he goes after Joe Jordan. Absolutely incredible."
Redknapp joked that it was not wise to pick a fight with Jordan, who played for AC Milan between 1981 and 1983 after long spells with Leeds and Manchester United.
"There would be only one winner there - Joe," the 63-year-old Spurs boss said. "I'd have my money on Joe. Of all the people to pick on, don't pick on Joe."

AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham

Tottenham earned a memorable first-leg win at AC Milan to give themselves the upper hand in their last-16 Champions League tie against the Serie A leaders.
Peter Crouch stroked in the winner after 80 minutes from a pass by Aaron Lennon, who had led a blistering Spurs counter-attack.
Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes had twice kept his side level with two superb saves from Mario Yepes headers.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a late goal disallowed for Milan as Spurs held on.
The match was marred by a touchline fracas which saw Milan's combative midfielder Gennaro Gattuso appear to headbutt Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan after the final whistle.
Gattuso had already been in an altercation with Jordan, seemingly shoving him in the face close to the Spurs dug-out when they clashed during the game and the Italian continued his battle after the match.

The result would not have helped the combustible Italian's temper, in addition to the AC Milan captain picking up a yellow card which rules him out of the return leg, as his side were made to look second best for most of the game at a rain-soaked San Siro.
A touch of nerves from Spurs almost let Milan back into the game but, after Robinho's far-post shot had been diverted wide, Ibrahimovic was rightly punished for pushing Michael Dawson before guiding in a shot with his back to goal.
The aim of Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was to make sure his side were still in the tie going into the return leg at White Hart Lane but his players did so much more.
Crouch, who had come on as a late substitute when his former club Liverpool lost to AC Milan in the 2007 Champions League final, had led the line tirelessly before being rewarded with his late goal.
It marked a win which came from some of the attacking football Spurs are capable of but also the type of resolute display Redknapp had doubted his team could produce.

Spurs' swashbuckling style has made them one of the entertainers of this season's competition but, despite Redknapp vowing to attack, he also had one eye on tempering his side's adventure with vigilance.
The memory of Tottenham being four goals and a man down after 35 minutes when they played Inter Milan at the San Siro in the group stages might have had an influence on his thinking.
He preferred the more defensive-minded Steven Pienaar to Niko Kranjcar, who had grabbed two winners in the last two games, on the left of a midfield also including holding players Sandro and Wilson Palacios.
However, there was still plenty of threat up front and the visitors were unlucky not to have a penalty when Rafael van der Vaart's cross appeared to be blocked by the arm of Milan centre-back Alessandro Nesta in the opening minutes.
The aerial threat of 6'7'' striker Crouch made life uncomfortable for the Italian league leaders and he almost scored when Vedran Corluka's incisive pass released Lennon, whose cross was intercepted by keeper Christian Abbiati.
In diving to palm away Lennon's cross, Abbiati got a knock to the head and had to be replaced by Marco Amelia.

Crouch shows his delight after his winner at the San Siro
Spurs had a degree of control and comfort, while Milan looked lethargic and laboured.
A long range Van der Vaart left-foot strike was tipped over by Amelia before the Dutchman produced a sublime chip which went agonisingly wide as Spurs went close.
Milan had brought on Alexandre Pato for the ineffectual Clarence Seedorf at the break and, as they began to to carry more of a threat, Spurs keeper Gomes was called into making a crucial save.
From Gattuso's dinked cross AC Milan centre-back Yepes guided a header towards the top corner and it took a dive at full stretch for Gomes to palm his effort wide.

The home side's increased appetite spilled over into overly aggressive play at times and ex-Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini should have been sent off for a two-footed lunge on Corluka but he somehow escaped with a yellow card.
Jonathan Woodgate, who had not played since November 2009, came on for Corluka as some of Milan's antics started to ruffle Spurs' feathers.
It took another crucial save from Gomes to keep his side level as he again kept out a Yepes header from close range.
But the visitors stunned the San Siro crowd when Lennon left the AC Milan side in his wake as he stormed upfield and the winger had the composure to slide the ball across to Crouch to slot in for a famous victory.

BALE OUT OF MILAN GAME

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has conceded that Gareth Bale will not be fit in time to face AC Milan on Tuesday.

The two teams meet at the San Siro in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League, and the Welshman will be unable to make a return to the stadium where he scored a hat-trick against Inter earlier in the competition.

"I would like to be able to scare Milan a bit and say he [Bale] is travelling," Redknapp said, according to the Daily Mail.

"But we cannot take a chance with him. The specialists have looked at him and it doesn't look too bad but he doesn't feel he is right.

"He worked with the fitness coaches on Saturday and when they pushed him he could not do it."

He added: "The Italians have been asking about him, but he caused so many problems for Inter. His improvement is unbelievable."

Despite the unavailability of the young winger, the boss is thought to have received positive news as Rafael van der Vaart is reportedly expected to play against the Italian side.

Meanwhile, towering striker Peter Crouch is also said to be in line to travel to Milan, but is far from certain to make the starting line-up.

"Crouchy had an epidural in his back as well and he looked worse," Redknapp said.

"He is touch and go. We have got so many injuries we have not got enough subs for the bench. Maybe I will put two goalkeepers on the bench to make the numbers up."

Redknapp also praised the strength of character shown by defender Michael Dawson, who scored the leveller that sparked Spurs' comeback during the victory over Sunderland on Saturday.

"You need character in your club," he said. "You need people like Michael Dawson who have that never-say-die attitude. When he was left out he didn't come in on a Friday and say, 'I can't travel, bad back', or something else.

"You don't want toe rags in your club. If you have people who don't appreciate being at a good club then go somewhere else."

Concerning potential threats to Spurs' ambitions of progressing further in the Champions League, Redknapp said: "[Zlatan] Ibrahimovic is a top player.

"I went over last week and watched them play Lazio and he was outstanding. It will be a tough game but we are looking forward to it."