The Footy Mumble: Lampard leaving, Balotelli in bust-up!

Cruyff says Pep moving to England

Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff has claimed that Pep Guardiola is on his way to England in the summer.

Cruyff was responding to reporters about rumors that Guardiola was set to take over as coach of the Catalan national team.

“Guardiola is the ideal man, but of course he is still very young. It seems that he will coach in England and then he might not have time for that. And you don’t need to worry about me being bored. I have enough to do. I always have a lot of fun and was done working with players who like to form a part of the Catalan team.“

With reports that Sir Alex Ferguson is eyeing 2 more years at Manchester United, it seems like Pep will now be heading to Chelsea, or even arch-rivals Manchester City instead.

Mancini, Balotelli come to blows

Balotelli continues to keep up his controversial reputation as the troubled Manchester City striker was seen tugging and pulling his manager after an argument over a rash tackle on Scott Sinclair in training.

Mancini reportedly ordered Balotelli off the pitch after the tackle, but the Italian stood his ground and refused to leave. Mancini then attempted to drag Balotelli off the pitch and a scuffle ensued.

But being the loving ‘father’ that he is, Mancini downplayed the incident in his press conference earlier today, claiming:

“I will give him another 100 chances if I think it’s possible he can change. I give him another chance, sure, because he is 22 and he can make a mistake.”

West Ham player’s show of support for gays

In a bold statement, West Ham winger Matt Jarvis has posed on the cover of a British gay magazine, Attitude.

Adding support for gay footballers, Jarvis claimed:

“I’m sure there are many footballers who are gay, but when they decide to actually come out and say it, it is a different story. It’s one that I’m sure they’ve thought about many times. But it’s a hard thing for them to do.”

Only two gay footballers have ever come out in the open.

Justin Fashanu, the 1st black player to be transferred for £1 million, killed himself after receiving severe abuse after coming out in the open in 1990. A Swedish footballer, Anton Hysen, is the only footballer after Fashanu to have ever come out in the open since then.

Daily Transfer Updates

Frank Lampard is on his way out of Chelsea, if team-mate John Terry is to be believed.

The controversial defender and Chelsea captain posted a picture of him and Lampard with the FA Cup, with the following caption:

“Devastated is an understatement.We should retire the number 8 shirt in honour of Lamps. #theheartbeat #hero #legend #hero #goalmachine #friend #ktbffh #cfc #chelsea”

With such a statement in public, it is hard to expect Lampard to stay at the club, and he may even leave by the end of January.

Meanwhile, Joe Cole has completed his £3 million from Liverpool to West Ham.

Unlike Chelsea fans, Liverpool fans will be celebrating, as the club will have finally got rid of his £90,000-a-week wages, which perhaps comes second only to Michael Owen’s £8,000 per minute wages!

Video of the Day

In today’s Video of the Day, check out AC Milan players walking off the filed mid-match after Kevin-Prince Boateng came under severe racial abuse from opposition fans.