Aliadiere to Middlesbrough: report

Player: Jeremie Aliadiere
From: Arsenal
To: Middlesbrough
Fee: Free

Middlesbrough confirmed the signing of Arsenal midfielder-cum-striker Aliadiere.

"We tried to sign him in January but were thwarted by Arsenal's injuries," said Boro chief executive Keith Lamb.

"He fits perfectly with the sort of player we are trying to bring in."

Aliadiere joined Arsenal when he was 16, and spent loan spells at West Ham, Celtic and Wolves. Lamb also denied that Boro are interested in bringing Chelsea defender Geremi back to the Teesside.

Real win title

Real Madrid claimed a record 30th Spanish title after coming back from 1-0 down to beat Real Mallorca 3-1.

They finished on 76 points along with bitter rivals Barcelona, who won 5-1 against Gimnastic de Tarragona, but beat the Catalan giants on a better head-to-head record.

"To win we had to suffer. We always seem to have to suffer for our victories, but I'm very happy," said Real coach Fabio Capello.

The victory also sent David Beckham away to Los Angeles with a league championship medal although the former England skipper was substituted before the end of the game. This was Beckham's first trophy win at Real.

Real went unbeaten over their last 12 games of the season and, after lying third in mid-March, they clawed back a five-point advantage from both Barcelona and Sevilla.

It was a nail-biting finish. Real were behind in the 17th minute, and then stayed behind until the 68th minute, in the process losing out Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham to injury and watching the scoreboard inform them about the trashing that fellow title chasers Barcelona were dishing out to Gimnastic.

Reyes, however, got the equaliser in the 68th minute, 3 minutes after coming in for injured Beckham.

Nine minutes from time, Real finally got their noses in front when the ball glanced off an unlucky Angelos Bassinas after Moya had pushed a Mahamadou Diarra header onto his team mate.

To cap Real's night to remember, Reyes scored a 3rd goal 2 minutes later.

Nani injury scare for Sir Alex

Manchester United's new Portuguese signing, Nani, whom they bought for 25-million-pounds, was stretchered off in Portugal's 4-0 win against Israel in the under-21 Championship.

Nani looked to have damaged his ankle after a crude challenge from behind by an Israel defender which left him in a heap.

This is Portugal's last game as they finished third in the group behind Netherlands and Belgium.

After spending all that money, it would not be pleasant for Sir Alex Ferguson if Nani suffers a long-term injury without even kicking a ball for Manchester United.

Gudjohnsen to Man United?

After Manchester United's interest in Eidur Gudjohnsen of Barcelona seemed to be of no use after the player's father said that he had had no talks with them, Gudjohnsen himself has spoken out that he would like to join Man United.

Gudjohnsen said that, in Barcelona, with all the other big names like Eto'o, Messi and Ronaldinho, he was often left on the bench, and therefore wanted to leave to a club which needed some strikers and would play in the UEFA Champions League, and that Manchester United would be the perfect fit.

Barcelona had bought Gudjohnsen from Chelsea for 8-million-dollars last season. It is estimated that United will exceed that amount by 1 or 2 million dollars.

Gudjohnsen would be a useful addition for the Old Trafford outfit, who are presently looking for a striker. With Sir Alex Ferguson ready to spend lots of money in this transfer period, Gudjohnsen is only one of many rumoured to be joining Man U. The list also includes fellow Barcelona teammate Samuel Eto'o, Dimitar Berbatov and Alberto Gilardino.