Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has thrown in the towel as The Blues lose steam on Ronaldinho Chase.

The official at Stamford Bridge was frank and truthful about his team's chances of signing Ronaldinho next season, and his response showed that not much hope was being entertained by the English side, after a hail of rumours and counter-rumors greeted the news of transfer surrounding the Brazilian in recent times. In latest reaction to the possibility of Ronnie moving to Chelsea FC, Bruce said:

I don't see it being likely that Ronaldinho will be here next year. Anything was a possibility and certainly there had been rumours and discussions of that, but I don't see it happening.

The main reason the Chairman gave was that:

We are looking to balance some losses at the club, and a player like Ronaldinho will blow up the already huge money spent in recent years on buying new players. We have to focus on less expensive players and hope they will become of great value to us in the future when we want to sell them.

However, the real reason Chelsea may not be continuing their chase for the Barca star is believed to be the outright refusal of FC Barcelona to sit down on the negotiation table with Chelsea FC for talks on a possible transfer of the Brazilian super star.

Sensing the heat, Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain has opened fire on FC Barcelona.

Perhaps, a good way of catching your coach's attention if he has confined you to the substitute's bench is to vouch for your team even when uncertainty is growing. This is the method Real Madrid's striking sub, Gonzalo Higuain has adopted as the young Argentine player publicly dismissed FC Barcelona as serious contenders for the La Liga. Higuain believes the La Liga race is won and lost, but passes his verdict with a customary show of respect to the talents that lie in FC Barcelona. The Argentine said:

We are undoubtedly the best team. Barça has great individual talent, but Madrid have proved they are better. I'm not saying that Barca are not good, but the La Liga title belongs to us and this is final.Even though it looks like Barça are catching up, we have the grounds to stop them from rising to the top.

Real Madrid are five points ahead of FC Barcelona at the top of the La Liga, but the five point advantage was reduced from a wider margin of nine points some few weeks back, through some great display from the Catalan giants, who have won at both home and away, while Madrid lost miserably to Real Betis in their last League match, and failed to secure a victory in their champions league midweek tie against Roma, losing out 2-1.

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Management

Efforts by FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta for club compensation is finally bearing fruit.

Uefa president Michel Platini has announced that clubs will benefit from a package being put together, which will allow compensation to be paid out to clubs whose players honour internal matches. The clubs are often denied of the chance to use their star players, who such clubs paid handsome figures to acquire and who often come back injured and dumped on the club for treatment by their respective national associations. The total outlay of 174 million Euros will be disbursed over the next four years.

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter coming out to openly suggest that the timing of the African Nations Cup be changed from January-February to July-August, when most clubs worldwide especially in Europe will be on break and when other similar competitions like the European Championship and Copa America are played.

The Blaugrana president looks ahead to more consistency and the annexing of trophies in a tough season.

FC Barcelona's president Joan Laporta is all happy and wheeling in delight as the Catalan giants continue their roller coaster ride since the 2008 calender year began. After winning against Santander and preparing to knock-out Villarreal in the Copa del Rey, the Barca president is very satisfied and confident that his team will continue in their winning ways and never look back. A delighted Laporta beamed with positive expectations as he said to the press:

I am impressed and very satisfied with the result tonight. It’s vital to keep on picking up points and not fall further behind Madrid.

Speaking on the return of Lionel Messi, Laporta said:

Leo is a player that decides matches and getting him back from injury is a reason for all Barça fans to be happy.