Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has sent out a 'come and get me' plea to Spanish giants Barcelona.

The Ivory Coast striker said: "Any striker in my situation would be really happy to get the chance to play alongside Samuel Eto'o.
"I don't see why it should not happen. It would be something exceptional but Barcelona need to get their chequebook out.
"The things I love about Samuel are his pace, his instinct for goals, his running and simply the fact he is indispensable to Barcelona.
"When Chelsea played a Barca side that was without him, we knew we'd have the game won even before we took the field.
"Every Chelsea player would say the same and Jose Mourinho as well. When he learned that Samuel wasn't playing against us in October 2006 he told us: 'We've won.'"
Source: tribalfootball.com

Addy291 wrote:
exactly

but no need to fear, they have signed...José Manuel Pinto from Celta!

he is now the official #2 goalkeeper at 32 years old

Addy291 wrote:
For the Brits, highlights of the African Cup of Nations is on tonight at 7pm on BBC3. Always very good to watch.

jolly_antunes wrote:
How the hell Ghana isn't winning???

issoisso wrote:
Pascal Feindouno. one of my favorite players

Guinea has a good team. the commentators are severely underrating them.

oh wait Ghana scores. 2-1

The club had been asked by Manchester City's supporters' club to have a minute's applause before their home Premier League game on 10 February.

It feared that the occasion could be marred by disrespectful visiting fans.

But United spokesman Phil Townsend said they would not change their plans, telling the BBC: "It's a solemn event."

He added: "We don't think applause is the best way to commemorate the death of 23 people."

"We are wearing a special kit, decorating the away concourse area, and members of Frank Swift's family are attending the game.

"We also spoke to United and expressed our concerns about a minute's silence"

"United took those concerns away and came back and said they wished to continue with the idea of a minute's silence.

"We respect their decision and, ultimately, it is their decision because it is their home game and, clearly, the tragedy was felt more at Manchester United than anywhere else.

"However, the whole of Manchester shared the grief."

Both United and City have already announced they will wear special kits for the Manchester derby.

United will wear a replica of their 1958 kit, devoid of the players' names or shirt numbers, while City's will incorporate a black ribbon with their sponsor's branding removed.

City's supporters' club spokesman Kevin Parker explained the reasoning behind its decision to write to United requesting a minute's applause, saying it would only take one "buffoon" or "idiot" to ruin the special occasion.

"Being a Manchester City fan and living in the city of Manchester all my life, I know the rivalry between these two football clubs," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Unfortunately, there is also, in some small areas, a great degree of hatred.

"We are concerned as an organisation that it will only take one of those idiots to decide to shout something stupid and then the whole situation has been spoilt forever.

"We are calling for applause just in case. We can't be wrong for doing that, surely.

"We want this to be for the good of football, the good of Manchester, for the good of Manchester City."

He added: "If Manchester United played Liverpool on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, I'm sure that they wouldn't hold a minute's silence.

"I'm sure they would now consider holding a minute's applause instead. It's the reality of the situation. We can't be wrong for asking Manchester United to consider this."

City have also written to the 3,000 of their fans who have tickets for the derby to ask them to show respect.

The BBC will show all of its live Euro 2008 coverage online to UK users and is the only British broadcaster to screen the final of the tournament.

England will play Germany in a friendly match in Berlin on 19 November.