Jose Mourinho says the Premier League is stronger than ever despite English clubs flopping in the Champions League this season.

Chelsea ended Mourinho’s six-year exile in Italy and Spain when they reappointed him manager for his second stint at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

But the Portuguese refused to state that he was returning to a poorer top-flight in England.

“The Champions League is a thermometer of world football and English football was out of the competition too early,” he told Chelsea TV.

“People were speaking about the level of the Premier League going down compared with other countries, but I don’t believe that. Sometimes things happen when there are no reasons.

“But the Premier League is still a fantastic competition and I believe five or six teams are very strong.

“When I was here before it was more about us, Man United and Arsenal and after that there was a gap to the other teams.

“Now you can put five or six teams in the same plan, aiming to reach the Champions League spots which is very difficult, with those with more ambition aiming to win the Premier League.

“The competition will be fantastic and I hope I can beat the other clubs.”

Improvement

Chelsea fans will expect Mourinho’s return to be accompanied by a spending spree as owner Roman Abramovich arms his manager with the funds to reclaim a title they last won in 2010 when Carlo Ancelotti was at the helm.

Forward reinforcements top the shopping list, with Andre Schurrle of Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko and Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic reported to be on Mourinho’s radar.

But the 50-year-old insists that drawing the best from his existing squad will be his most pressing concern and refuses to prioritise any silverware.

“We have to improve the team, but when I say improve the team people are already thinking about how many millions Chelsea will spend. When I say improve the team, I mean through work,” he said.

“My work has to improve players and improve the team. If I don’t do that I am not happy with myself.

“If after that we can improve the team by buying a couple of players it is fantastic, but I have to improve the team and the players with my work.
“The priority is to improve. In the last two years we have struggled in the Premier League.

“If Chelsea didn’t win the Champions League then the club wouldn’t have been in the competition this year. This year we had to fight until the last match to qualify.

“We must improve individually, improve collectively and improve the structure of the club around the football team, and try to win the next match.

“Which one is the next match? The Premier League? Let’s go for the Premier League. If the next match is the FA Cup, let’s go for the FA Cup.

“It’s difficult for me to say something is the priority. The priority is to work hard, work professionally and make the team better.”

According to Skysports

Cristiano Ronaldo has put Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain on alert after indicating he will not renew his contract at Real Madrid beyond 2015.
Real are determined not to sell the Portuguese this summer but United and PSG remain keen when he does come available.
Alex Ferguson sold Ronaldo to Madrid in 2009, but the 28-year-old has admitted several times in the past few months that he is not totally happy in the Spanish capital.

Leaving Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo says that he will not renew his contract past 2015

Keeping everything open: Ronaldo may be open to a move back to old club Manchester United

Madrid President Florentino Perez had said that he expected Ronaldo to end his career at the club, but it now appears he could be looking for a new club in the next two years.
If Ronaldo is true to his word, he would be leaving on a free, not something Madrid are likely to want after having splashed out £80 million on him.
Whether he would move back to United now their manager has changed is yet to be seen, but he could emulate former boss Jose Mourinho by going back to a club he knew appreciated him completely.

Back home: Ronaldo played at Old Trafford in the Champions League this season

Sweet spot: In his time at Manchester United, Ronaldo won three Premier Leagues

United are also considering a move for PSV Eindhoven’s £25m-rated midfielder Kevin Strootman.The Holland U21 international had been on Everton’s wishlist this year.Manchester City are ready to step up interest in Ronaldo’s teammate Pepe over the next week.

Looking for a way out: Pepe is being targeted by Manchester City

According to Dailymail

The thought of playing alongside Lionel Messi has Neymar feeling like “one of the luckiest men in the world” after he signed a five-year deal at Barcelona.

The 21-year-old striker flew to Barcelona this Monday morning to sign a five-year contract with the Catalan giants, with 57million euros (£48,600,000) going to Santos nine days after a preliminary agreement between the clubs was made public.

After posing for photographers and passing a two-part medical at Barca’s offices, Neymar put pen to paper on a deal running through to June 2018 in the presence of president Sandro Rosell, vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta.

Thousands of fans and hundreds of journalists awaited Neymar’s arrival on the Camp Nou pitch and, after parading his ball skills and the new Blaugrana shirt, the Brazilian admitted treading the turf where Argentinian forward Messi has developed into the envy of world football was overwhelming.

He told fcbarcelona.es: “The thrill of being cheered when I entered the Nou Camp… it was hard not to cry. My dream has come true.

“I’ve never worried about being the best in the world. The best is already here and that’s Messi.

“I’m one of the luckiest men in the world to be able to play with him and it’s an honour. I’m very happy to be realising my life’s dream.

“To have the opportunity to play with great players I admire like Messi, Xavi and (Andres) Iniesta… I’ve begun a new stage of my life and I’m going to be very happy and achieve a lot.”

Before his decision to join Barca became public, it had been established that Santos had received a similar financial offer from their fierce rivals Real Madrid.

It then fell to the player to end constant speculation over his preferred destination.

Neymar added: “Barca and Madrid are two great clubs. I was happy that both wanted me but my heart was with Barca.

“It was a family decision but I had the final word, and none of us were motivated by money. I don’t work for the money and I don’t worry about the numbers.

“I’m going to adapt really quickly to European football so I can help the Barca cause.”

A Brazil international since 2010, Neymar has already scored 20 goals for the Selecao and was representing his country in a 2-2 friendly draw against England at the Maracana Stadium only hours before flying to Europe.

And he revealed that his national team-mate Dani Alves, a wing-back for the Spanish champions, played a role in convincing him to sign.

“Alves was one of the people who encouraged me to come and he’s always said good things about the place,” he added.

“I’ll try to improve my Catalan, I speak better Catalan than Castilian. I will try to adapt quickly so that I can relax and just play football.”

The deal that brought Neymar to Spain includes an agreement to play two friendlies against Santos, one of which will be played at the Nou Camp.

It was also revealed that the player’s contract has a buy-out clause set at 190m euros (£162m).

According to Foxsports

Chelsea have appointed Jose Mourinho as their manager for the second time, two days after he left Real Madrid.

The Portuguese has signed a four-year contract and returns to the club he led to two Premier League titles, and FA Cup and two League Cups between 2004 and 2007.
“I never hide that in football I have two great passions – Inter Milan and Chelsea – and Chelsea is more than important for me,” he told Chelsea TV, before adding a message to the club’s fans.
“Now I promise the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add – that I am one of you.
“Now we are back together at a great moment for both. We are to ready to marry again and to be happy and successful again.
“I feel myself not just a Chelsea manager, it’s the first time in my career that I arrive at a club that I already love.
“I am happy and proud because when you return to a place it’s for some reason, it’s not because you had good results in the past, not just because the fans like you, it’s because you left something here. I left something here.”
After falling out with Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho moved on to Inter Milan, where he won a second Champions League after a first with Porto, and then to Real.
“Knowing these different football cultures, being in different countries, was important for my evolution as a manager and as a coach,” he said.
“I think I arrive in my club, my Chelsea, in the best moment of my career, my stability as a manager, my stability as a person.
“I arrive in the best moment ready to give everything I have to try and make the club happy.
“I’m the same nature but much more mature with a different approach to things. Much more ready to establish myself in the club and stay for a long time.”
Mourinho, 50, said he would not live off past successes at the club.
“I’m very demanding with myself. I want to start from ground zero. I want to work hard again, to build a different team from the one I did in the past. I want to have that pressure on myself, like it was the first time I was here… make people feel they have a reason to be happy with me,” he added.
Rather than spend millions of pounds on big-money transfers, Mourinho said his priority was to “improve the team through work” before considering any potential signings.
“If I don’t do that I’m not happy with myself. If after that we can improve the team by buying a couple of players it would of course be fantastic,” he said.
The Portuguese remains a hugely popular figure at Stamford Bridge.
His return will be greeted with delight by Chelsea fans, who protested bitterly against his predecessor Rafa Benitez.
Chelsea’s chief executive Ron Gourlay said: “I am delighted to welcome Jose back to Chelsea. His continued success, drive and ambition made him the outstanding candidate.
“It is our aim to keep the club moving forward to achieve greater success in the future and Jose is our number one choice as we believe he is the right manager to do just that.
“He was and remains a hugely popular figure at the club and everyone here looks forward to working with him again.”
Mourinho ended his three-year tenure at Real Madrid on Saturday with a 4-2 win over Osasuna.
Although he won a Liga title, he had a turbulent relationship with senior players such as Iker Casillas and lost the support of many fans.
Mourinho will be accompanied by three staff – Rui Faria, Silvino Louro and Jose Morais – as assistant first team coaches working alongside current first team staff Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichon and Chris Jones.
Chelsea said he will be officially presented in a news conference at Stamford Bridge on Monday, June 10.

According to Yahoo

ARSENE WENGER has hinted he could make a sensational summer swoop for Wayne Rooney.

The Manchester United striker is unsettled at Old Trafford and handed in a transfer request last month.
Rooney, 27, will thrash out his future with new Red Devils boss David Moyes in the coming weeks.
But Wenger is ready to pounce and could battle Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich for the England forward should he be put up for sale.
The Arsenal manager, who has been handed a £100million warchest, admitted: “Rooney could be an interesting player for everybody in the world, who would turn him down?
“David Moyes’ first challenge is to go in to Manchester and bridge the gap between him and Rooney.
“If that is feasible or not depends on his personality. we will see.
“It will be interesting to see how that will be handled.”
Wenger is also keen on bringing former captain Cesc Fabregas back to the Emirates.
And he reckons the Spaniard is unsettled at Barcelona and could move on this transfer window.
Wenger added: “I think at the moment he’s lacking the confidence of being a regular player. Recently he has not been that.
“Cesc is such a passionate player, a player of such quality, that it must hurt him not to play in every single game.
“That’s what he misses. When you come in and out you never play with full confidence.”

According to The Sun

Manchester United will face Sevilla at Old Trafford on Friday, 9 August in Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial match.

The 34-year-old, who recently penned a one-year contract extension, will start his 12th season at the club with a showpiece match against the La Liga side ahead of the Reds’ Community Shield clash with Wigan Athletic.

“This is going to be a big night for me as well as an emotional one,” said Rio. “I cannot believe where those ten years have gone and I am lucky to have spent them here at Manchester United.

“This club is unique in every way, the history and drive of the place is unbelievable, it spurs everyone to succeed. The fans are the best in the world, their commitment is amazing and I have appreciated their support throughout my career. I hope they enjoy the night as much as I intend to.”

Having signed Ferdinand from Leeds in 2002 and overseen the defender’s entire Old Trafford career to date, Sir Alex Ferguson said: “It is great that the club are granting Rio a testimonial for his services to the club.

“He is one of the best central defenders this club has seen. Rio has a natural ability to read the game and I said last month that I believed that this season has been the best of his Manchester United career. It will be a fantastic night for him and the fans, but it also gets next season’s campaign off to a great start.”

According to Manutd