NEWS RELODED

Here are five of Jose Mourinho’s most notable quotes picked out by  AFP Sports  from his first press conference as Manchester United manager on Tuesday. “I was in trouble for the last five months: the first month (at Chelsea) was fine, the second month was not so good and after the second month it was a disaster.” – Mourinho on the troubled end to his second Chelsea spell last season. – “There are some managers that the last time they won a title was 10 years ago. Some of them the last time they won a title was never. The last time I won a title was one year ago, not 10 years ago or 15 years ago so if I have a lot to prove, imagine the others.” – the ‘Special One’ taking a dig at his rivals, notably Arsene Wenger. – “Manchester United for many years success was just routine and in this moment the last three years are to forget. I want the players to forget. I don’t want the players to think we have to do better and finish fourth. Finishing fourth is not the aim.” – ...

English champions Leicester City are set to break their record transfer fee for the second time in a matter of days by buying Nigerian international attacking midfielder Ahmed Musa on Wednesday, his agent told the BBC on Monday. The 23-year-old, who scored a brace for Nigeria in a 3-2 defeat of Lionel Messi’s Argentina at the 2014 World Cup, will see his present side Russian outfit CSKA Moscow receive £16.6m ($22.1m, €19.8m) – a record outlay for Leicester. “Everything has been finalised and Musa will be in England for his medical on Wednesday,” Musa’s agent Tony Harris told  BBC Sport. Musa and Sunday’s signing former France Under-21 midfielder Nampalys Mendy, who joined from Ligue 1 side Nice on a four-year deal for a club record at the time of £13m, will bolster the Foxes squad for a tilt at the Champions League. Musa’s soon to be former coach Leonid Slutsky said the Nigerian – who scored 53 goals in 161 matches for CSKA since joining them in 2012 – would be ideal f...

Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players that they have to prove themselves all over again following his arrival at the club. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach was making his first public appearance as City handler on Sunday in front of thousands of fans at a festival held at their Academy Stadium. The Spaniard is already familiar with the players he is inheriting, having faced his new club in Champions League contests in two of his three seasons at Bayern Munich. In addition, the new manager has also been able to glean information on the squad from director of football Txiki Begiristain, a close friend going back to their days together as Barcelona players. Guardiola has also moved quickly to bring in new talent, signing German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund for £20million and Spain winger Nolito from Celta Vigo for £13.8million. But he insists that all of his players are starting with a clean slate – regardless of what they have...

Brazil’s government will hand out nine million condoms for free around Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics in August, a push meant to encourage safe sex and also defend the Amazon rainforest. Rio’s local Olympic organising committee said about 450,000 of the sustainably-produced condoms would be destined for athletes and staff housed in the Olympic Village. The rest will be made widely available to the many visitors who will be arriving in the city in just a few weeks, the Health Ministry said. All the condoms to be distributed are produced by Natex, a factory in the western Amazonian state of Acre, deep in the rainforest near Brazil’s border with Bolivia. The factory, run by the Acre state government, uses latex gathered from Amazon rubber trees by tappers who are employed by a government-run program designed to protect their traditional livelihood, foster sustainable use of the rainforest and deter illegal loggers. The tappers see themselves as guardians of the rainfore...

Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino announced his resignation on Tuesday, deepening the chaos in the frustrated squad a month before the Olympics after its star striker Lionel Messi also quit. In a statement published by the Argentina Football Association, Martino said he and his coaching staff quit due to management disputes in the association and difficulties in getting the squad together in time for the Olympics. The blow came less than two weeks after Messi said he was quitting following defeat to Chile in the Copa America Centenario — which sparked demonstrations by fans desperate for him to stay. The crisis in the national squad laid bare managerial squabbles in the AFA that are blamed for disrupting the organization of Argentina’s favorite sport. Martino’s decision was “due to the lack of clarity in the naming of new leaders for the association and the serious inconveniences in forming a squad to represent the country in the coming Olympic Games,” the statement sai...

Jose Mourinho said the Manchester United job had come at just the right time in his life and he would be targeting legend Alex Ferguson’s two Champions League trophies. The 53-year-old self-anointed ‘special one’ — who replaced the sacked Louis van Gaal as united boss at the end of last season — was facing the media on Tuesday for the first time since taking the reins at Old Trafford. “I don’t hide. I chase Sir Alex’s record in Champions League matches,” said the Portuguese. The former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto boss added the departure last weekend of United icon Ryan Giggs was because the Welshman hadn’t got the job he wanted — namely his. Mourinho’s eyes are firmly fixed on re-establishing United as title challengers — after a three year hiatus under first David Moyes and then the autocratic van Gaal — and targeting the Champions League which is off United’s menu next season. He told the packed press conference, “The reality is I think it is a job eve...

Carla Bruni, 48, who is wife to former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, 61, was asked what her reaction will be if her husband were to be unfaithful. Monsieur Nicolas could be in danger of losing his ears if he doesn't listen to his wife. The former first lady jokingly said: 'I could do extreme gestures, like cut his throat or his ears when he's asleep for example. 'I think you should avoid to cheat if you can, it's too dangerous. It's a road to a break up.  'Also, fidelity, this is a sine qua non (essential) condition for a wedding, I guess. Why cheat and lie whereas you have the possibility to choose your life, get married or not, have kids or not.' Bruni who made a name for herself as a model and singer married Sarkozy in 2008, months after he split from his second wife, Cecilia.