Golaccio

FC Barcelona manager Josep Pep Guardiola has ruled out replacing crocked striker David Villa during the winter transfer window.

The Spanish international striker broke his leg during the FIFA Club World Cup match against Al Sadd and it was initially believed that the 30 year old striker would miss the rest of the season and could also miss Spain’s defense of their Euro crown in the summer.

But after the surgery, the doctors are of the opinion that Villa might just have a slim hope of returning just before the end of the season, albeit it all depends on the recuperation process.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager has ruled out making any signings during the January transfer window, saying that he trusts his players enough to not have to make any panic buys in January.

Fergie has never been too keen to bring in players during the winter transfer window and has rarely broken that trend, buying Louis Saha from Fulham, Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow and Patrice Evra from AS Monaco being the rare few occasions when he has brought in players during this time.

AC Milan are worried about their striker Antonio cassano, after the player is believed to have had a mini-stroke on the flight back to Milan from Rome.

AC ended up as 3-1 winners in a hard-fought battle in the Stadio Olympico, and were returning home on Sunday night when Cassano seemingly had a fit. He lost control of his speech and muscles, causing the club doctors and staff to be very concerned for him.

As soon as the flight touched down he was whisked away to a private hospital, where thankfully his condition has improved, and he is set to make a full recovery.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender Carles Puyol is almost certain to miss Wednesday's Champions League tie against Arsenal due to injury.

Puyol has not appeared for Barca since a 3-0 win over Racing Santander on January 22 as he has been struggling with a knee injury.

Though he has taken part in light training, the defender is some way short of match fitness and Guardiola told a press conference on Friday that Puyol's chances of featuring at Emirates Stadium are "really complicated".