Martino to Barcelona official confirmation imminent

Several of Spain's biggest news
outlets are claiming former Newell's Old Boys coach Tata Martino has signed with Barcelona for three years.
The club are expected to make an
official announcement soon.

Real Madrid plan €50m bid for Arturo Vidal

The "Blancos" want to make an offer about €50m for the defensive midfielder of Juventus.     After the signing of Illaramendi and Isco, Real hope to keep boosting the midfield with the Chilean international.

Everton set to bid for Scott Sinclair

Everton have joined the race for
Manchester City winger Scott Sinclair.
Manager Roberto Martinez will
attempt to persuade the former
Swansea man to move to Goodison Park after failing to make an impact at the Etihad.

Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to a boy

Her Royal Highness The Duchess
of Cambridge was safely
delivered of a son at 4.24pm.
The baby weighs 8lbs 6oz.
The Duke of Cambridge was
present for the birth.
The Queen, The Duke of
Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales,
The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince
Harry and members of both
families have been informed and
are delighted with the news.
Her Royal Highness and her child
are both doing well and will
remain in hospital overnight.
The good news is that both the
boy and his mother are doing
well. She will be spending the
night in hospital. Both families
have been informed.
So, the UK is going to have male
monarchs for some time to
come.

Drake & Chris Brown VICTORIOUS in $16 Million Nightclub Brawl Lawsuit

Chris Brown and Drake now have
something else in common besides Rihanna -- a New York judge just ruled they don't owe a CENT to a nightclub they brawled next to last summer, TMZ has learned.As we reported, Brown and Drake were sued for $16 million by Entertainment Enterprises, the company behind Greenhouse nightclub in NYC.
Greenhouse is adjacent to W.i.P
nightclub -- where Chris and Drake's entourages got into a massive bottle- throwing brawl last June -- and EE said their reputation took a massive hit following the ordeal because of its proximity to Greenhouse. EE said the brawl cost them a lot of money.Drake responded to the lawsuit, saying it wasn't his problem -- because he can't control how the media reported the incident -- and this week, the judge in the case took his side.The judge said Drake and Chris had no duty to the club to behave -- especially because their brawl didn't even occur on Greenhouse's premises -- and while nightclub brawls are unfortunate, they're not
uncommon ... which means EE can't just sue whenever a fight
happens.The lawsuit was tossed out.

Nelson Mandela improvement 'sustained'

South Africa's first democratically
elected President Nelson Mandela, 95, is showing "sustained improvement" in hospital, a government statement says.
However, he remains in a critical
condition, said the statement from
President Jacob Zuma's office.
Mr Mandela was admitted to a private hospital in the capital,
Pretoria, on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.
Revered as the father of the nation, he celebrated his 95th birthday in hospital last week.
Mr Zuma visited Mr Mandela on
Monday and assured him of "the love and support of all South Africans", the statement said.
Mr Mandela's grandson Mandla said the former president was getting "stronger and stronger every day". He visited Mr Mandela on Sunday.

Royal baby on the way, Catherine enters hospital in labor

As a nation and the world awaited news of a child who
could one day sit on the British
throne, Catherine, Duchess of
Cambridge, was experiencing a
normal labor Monday morning,
Kensington Palace said.
The duchess and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, traveled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital, his office at Clarence House announced at 7:37 a.m. (2:37 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.) Kensington Palace issued a progress report about 90 minutes later.
The hospital, next to Paddington
Station in London, is where William and his brother Prince Harry were born.

Chelsea confident of securing £30m Rooney

Chelsea are confident of securing Wayne Rooney from Manchester United for a fee approaching £30 million but accept that the deal will not be done before the two clubs meet on August 26.

Pellegrini targets £22m Pepe swoop

Manchester City are to bid for Real Madrid defender Pepe, as Manuel Pellegrini wants more Champions League experience in his squad, though they are not willing to pay over £22 million.

Soldado & Remy new Tottenham targets

Roberto Soldado and Loic Remy have joined Leandro Damiao on Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas's striker shortlist after Christian Benteke shocked Spurs by signing a new Aston
Villa contract.

Manchester United up Fabregas bid to £35m

Manchester United have stepped up their move for Cesc Fabregas by offering Barcelona
£30 million plus £5m in add-ons for the ex-Arsenal midfielder.

Ancelotti: Ronaldo important for future

The Italian coach says the Portuguese star is fundamental to the club going forward and attackerm Gonzalo Higuain still has a part to play at the Santiago Bernabeu Carlo Ancelotti has insisted Cristiano Ronaldo remains an integral part of Real Madrid going forward and says
Gonzalo Higuain is a "fantastic" player.
The Italian coach, who took charge of Madrid for the first time in their 6-0 thrashing of Bournemouth, has had to
fend off questions about the Portuguese star's future while the latest reports from Italy suggest that Napoli are close to securing Higuain.
Ronaldo, who has two years remaining on his deal, has been persistently linked with a move away from the capital-based outfit with Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain the main contenders for his signature, but
Ancelotti has denied that the Portuguese will be leaving anytime soon.
"Cristiano is the most important player in the team and he will be in the future, everyone knows him and he plays
good games and is good for the club," he told reporters.
"Higuain is a fantastic player and right now is a Real Madrid player."
Madrid put on an exhibition display as they put six past Bournemouth, with Ronaldo grabbing a double while
Sami Khedira, Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Casemiro all got on the scoresheet.
Ancelotti said he was pleased with the workout but there is still a lot more to come from his side.
"The most important thing is that the team worked hard and players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ozil, other important
players and youngsters played with flair in attack and performed well.
"We had problems at first but had some good moments; we controlled the match and played well. We have high
calibre players with flair and I am very happy with the squad.
"The first match went well, our aim is to play good football, we have quality and we had a few good moments, some not so good but that is normal, it is the first match and I'm happy because the team worked hard.
"Naturally we have to improve but it is logical after one week of training," Ancelotti was also not afraid to try out different players in different roles with Ozil and new signing Isco forming a
partnership in midfield.
He added: "It was an experiment, but I believe quality players can play together. It is important to find a balance between attack and defence, which is the most difficult thing.
"I think we need time for that and we will eventually get there."

X-Factor High School Choir Claims SABOTAGE!

"X-Factor" producers concocted an
elaborate scheme in order to
GUARANTEE the failure of one H.S.
Show Choir ... all for the sake of
shaming them on national television, so say the alleged victims. Members of Hollywood High School choir H20 -- filmed a segment for the upcoming season of "X-Factor" But things didn't go as planned. The leader of H20 tells TMZ ... producers had a sick plan to humiliate and embarrass their crew when they appeared on stage.They rehearsed an awesome song "Some Nights" by FUN, but at the last minute producers told them the song wasn't on the approved list. Ditto the other song they rehearsed -- "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele. They ended up singing "Shake It Out" by Florence and the Machine ... and it was a disaster.
For starters, Simon cut the choir off before they could get through the song ... because they were wearing normal street clothes instead of their uniforms. But here's the thing -- they say producers insisted that the group NOT wear the uniforms.But wait -- there's more.  The group claims they had to wait 14 hours before taking the stage, they weren't able to rehearse, and they only gave the 14 choir members 6 mics.The group tells us ... they're demanding an apology because they feel they were purposefully humiliated. A rep for "X- Factor" tells TMZ ... "The group had the chance of performing 2 songs for judges. The judges didn't think they were good enough to move forward in this competition." Then adds, "Certain songs cannot be cleared for use in the show and contestants are informed of this in advance and are asked to choose alternative songs if this is the case. None of the judges even commented on what the group was wearing."Now here's what the group sounds like .... singing "Some NIghts" at TedX in Hollywood.