Roy Keane has left his position as manager of Sunderland

Sunderland confirmed the departure of Keane on Thursday, with players and staff at the Stadium of Light also informed. "Roy's decision sums up his desire to always do what is best for the club, despite the club's efforts to keep him," said chairman Niall Quinn. "Roy deserves huge respect for his contribution and the manner in which he guided the club from the depths of the Championship back to the Premier League. "His winning mentality and singled mindedness were just what this club needed. Even in his departure he has been more concerned for the welfare of the players and his staff than himself. "The board has reluctantly accepted his decision and wish him and his family well for the future." The Black Cats are 18th in the Premier League and have lost five of their last six games. Sunderland's latest defeat came against Bolton on Saturday, with the Black Cats losing 4-1. "I ask myself every day if I'm the right man for Sunderland," he said after that defeat. "I asked myself this morning, and I said I was. Sunday morning, if the answer's no, we'll have to look at it." Keane had been locked in talks over a new deal, which he had refused to sign until he was fully happy with the terms. The former Manchester United skipper took charge in August 2006 and he made an immediate impact as he led Sunderland to the Championship title the following May. Last season the club consolidated their place in the top flight and Sunderland backed Keane in the close season by spending nearly £30million on new players with the likes of Djibril Cisse, Pascal Chimbonda, Anton Ferdinand, El-Hadji Diouf and George McCartney all coming to the Stadium of Light. However, despite a morale-boosting Wear-Tyne victory over rivals Newcastle, Sunderland's form and place in the league has plummeted, prompting the crowd to boo the team in recent weeks. During his 12-year career at Old Trafford he earned himself a fearsome reputation as a no-nonsense tough-tackling midfielder. Keane also had spells at Nottingham Forest and Celtic, winning 66 caps for his country.

Ajax hold talks over Huntelaar move

Ajax has confirmed that they are holding talks with Spanish giants Real Madrid over a sale of star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Reports on Monday suggested that the two clubs had agreed a deal, but the Dutch side denies that.
A statement read: “Ajax are in talks with Real Madrid over the possible sale of Klaas Jan Huntelaar to the Spanish club.
“However no deal has been agreed at the moment.”
It is believed Real Madrid will have to pay around £20million for the highly rated Holland international.
Real are keen on strengthening their attack, as Ruud van Nistelrooy will be out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.

Ronaldo has described winning the Ballon d'Or as one of the 'most beautiful' days of his life. The Portuguese winger was the clear winner after finishing 165 points ahead of Barcelona's Messi, with Liverpool's Torres a further 102 points behind the Argentina forward. "It is one of the most beautiful days of my life. To gain this trophy is something I dreamed of as a child," he told France Football. "Great emotion fills me but I cannot really describe it. "I want to thank those who voted for me, those who know me and those who live with me. "I was not worried, because I was aware of what I did in the course of the season. "But to the people who mentioned my name, I say thank you. Thank you also to my team-mates. "This (trophy) is one that I want to win again because it is so good. Therefore, I will wake and I will say to myself, 'I want to be even better'." Ronaldo scored 42 goals last season to propel United to glory in both the Barclays Premier League and Champions League. The 23-year-old is already FIFPro World Player of the Year and took the top prizes from the Professional Footballers Association and the Football Writers last season as well as winning the ESM Golden Shoe awarded to the leading goalscorer in Europe. Ronaldo becomes the first United player to be awarded the Ballon d'Or since George Best in 1968 and the fourth in total following earlier wins by Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. 2008 Ballon d'Or voting 1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd) 446 points 2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 281 pts 3 Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 179 pts 4 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 133 pts 5 Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona) 97 pts 6 Andriy Arshavin (Zenit St-Petersburg) 64 pts 7 David Villa (Valencia) 55 pts 8 Kaka (AC Milan) 31 pts 9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) 30 pts 10 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 28 pts 11 Marcos Senna (Villarreal) 16 pts 12 Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) 12 pts 13 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 11 pts 14 Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) 10 pts 15 Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 8 pts 16 Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) 7 pts 17 Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) 6 pts 18 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 5 pts 19 Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) 4 pts 21 Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) 3 pts 24 Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), 2 pts Previous winners: 1956 - Stanley Matthews (England) 1957 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain) 1958 - Raymond Kopa (France) 1959 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain) 1960 - Luis Suarez (Spain) 1961 - Omar Sivori (Italy) 1962 - Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia) 1963 - Lev Yashin (Soviet Union) 1964 - Denis Law (Scotland) 1965 - Eusebio (Portugal) 1966 - Bobby Charlton (England) 1967 - Florian Albert (Hungary) 1968 - George Best (Northern Ireland) 1969 - Gianni Rivera (Italy) 1970 - Gerd Mueller (West Germany) 1971 - Johan Cruyff (Holland) 1972 - Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) 1973 - Johan Cruyff (Holland) 1974 - Johan Cruyff (Holland) 1975 - Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union) 1976 - Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany) 1977 - Allan Simonsen (Denmark) 1978 - Kevin Keegan (England) 1979 - Kevin Keegan (England) 1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) 1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) 1982 - Paolo Rossi (Italy) 1983 - Michel Platini (France) 1984 - Michel Platini (France) 1985 - Michel Platini (France) 1986 - Igor Belanov (Soviet Union) 1987 - Ruud Gullit (Holland) 1988 - Marco van Basten (Holland) 1989 - Marco van Basten (Holland) 1990 - Lothar Matthaus (Germany) 1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin (France) 1992 - Marco van Basten (Holland) 1993 - Roberto Baggio (Italy) 1994 - Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) 1995 - George Weah (Liberia) 1996 - Matthias Sammer (Germany) 1997 - Ronaldo (Brazil) 1998 - Zinedine Zidane (France) 1999 - Rivaldo (Brazil) 2000 - Luis Figo (Portugal) 2001 - Michael Owen (England) 2002 - Ronaldo (Brazil) 2003 - Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic) 2004 - Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) 2005 - Ronaldinho (Brazil) 2006 - Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) 2007 - Kaka (Brazil)