Worldwide Soccer Sport

Liverpool have confirmed a deal is in place for Alberto Aquilani to join AC Milan on loan.

The deal will see Aquilani spend the season at the San Siro with an option to make the signing permanent. It has been reported that Milan will be obliged to sign the Italy midfielder if he makes 25 appearances.

Liverpool said on their website that the deal would be subject to a medical, but a Milan statement read: "After undergoing his medical this morning, Alberto Aquilani arrived at the training centre at 13.20."

Aquilani, 27, joined Liverpool from Roma in 2009 as a replacement for Xabi Alonso, but he struggled with injuries during his debut season and was then allowed to spend the 2010-11 campaign on loan at Juventus.

Reds boss Kenny Dalglish had earlier suggested that he would be happy to include Aquilani in his plans but, with a high number of midfielders at his disposal, the Italian has been allowed to depart.

Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli told the club's official website: "I want to pay tribute to the way Alberto has conducted himself during these discussions. Throughout the entire process, his only desire has been to play football and he has put this ahead of any other considerations and at personal cost to himself. We wish him well for the season ahead."

Bayern Munich and Germany captain Philipp Lahm is to be warned by the German Football Association (DFB) about his future conduct after causing irritation with his soon-to-be-published biography.

Excerpts from the book have been published in the Bild newspaper over recent days and his criticism of former Germany coaches Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann have not gone down well.

The DFB will discuss the issue with Lahm ahead of next week's international matches against Austria and Poland and warn the full-back that he has overstepped the mark.

A decision on whether he will remain captain of the national team should also be taken in the meeting between Lahm, Germany coach Joachim Low, national team general manager Oliver Bierhoff, DFB general secretary Wolfgang Niersbach and DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger.

"Our national team players must be aware of their particular responsibility in public," Zwanziger said in a press release. "That includes respecting other footballing personalities with whom they may not have shared or may not share an opinion.

"For me, Philipp has made a mistake by misjudging the impact and possible interpretations of the pre-publication of his book."

Low also believes there is a need to sit down with Lahm and discuss his conduct.

"There are some passages in the book which I don't like," he said. "Here is a player who is publicly judging some coaches with whom he has worked for a long and successful period of time. We are going to have to talk about this in the coming weeks."

Furthermore, the DFB has condemned Lahm's criticism of Voller and Klinsmann.

"Rudi helped us after the 2000 World Cup in an extremely critical situation and, despite many problems, he did an amazing job which you still have to take your hat off to today," Niersbach said. "Therefore, Philipp Lahm's remarks are completely uncalled for and unacceptable.

"Jurgen created a spirit of optimism when he took over in 2004 which culminated in the remarkable 2006 World Cup. As national team players and world champions, but also in their overall service to German football, Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann cannot be esteemed highly enough. Philipp should know this.''

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani is looking forward to making a big impact at the San Siro as his loan move to AC Milan nears completion.

Aquilani, 27, underwent a medical in Milan on Thursday morning to pave the way for a deal that could result in a permanent switch at the end of the season.

The Italian, who was plagued by injury at Roma and Liverpool, must make at least 25 appearances this season if he wants to remain with Milan when his loan deal expires.

"I am delighted to have arrived here,'' said Aquilani. "This is a leap in my career. I have come to Milan to do well.

"The clause of making at least 25 appearances? It's not a problem for me and I'm not thinking about it. I will do everything possible to earn the trust of the club.''

Aquilani has been signed to plug the gap left in midfield by the exit of Andrea Pirlo, who joined Juventus on a free transfer in the summer, but the two-time Coppa Italia winner insists it is not a like for like swap.

"I have different characteristics to Andrea Pirlo but this is a further responsibility for me. I believe I can play in all positions in midfield,'' he added.

Aquilani, who spent last season on loan at Juventus before returning to Anfield earlier this summer, is under contract with Liverpool until June 2014.

Sir Alex Ferguson has put an end to his long-running feud with the BBC.

Ferguson began his boycott in 2004 after it made allegations against his son, Jason, in a TV documentary entitled "Fergie & Son".

A statement said: "Sir Alex and the BBC have put behind them the difficulties which led to Sir Alex feeling unable to appear on BBC programmes."

The joint statement, released on Thursday, follows a meeting between Sir Alex and the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, and BBC North director Peter Salmon.

It added: "The issues have been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. Sir Alex will now make himself available to the BBC for Match of the Day, Radio 5 live and other outlets as agreed. No further comment will be made by either party on this issue."

The lines of communication are expected to open when Manchester United host Arsenal on Sunday.

Italian football's governing body may have no choice but to postpone the first round of Serie A games because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been signed.

Emergency meetings were held on Thursday in Milan in the hope that the Lega Serie A and the Italian Players' Union (AIC) would reach common ground.

The players have threatened to strike if a new agreement is not signed before Saturday, when the season is due to get under way.

A statement from the federation read: "The Lega Serie A will not accept further mediation and will not sign the collective agreement with the players' association (AIC). At this point it seems more probable that the first round of Serie A games will be postponed.''

The AIC said the Lega Serie A had still not signed the agreement reached with players after intense negotiations last season, when strikes were twice narrowly averted. The Lega Serie A requested changes to the players' proposed agreement.

The AIC were especially unhappy about clubs trying to force players to move in the last year of their contracts, and with coaches forcing unwanted players to train away from the first team.

Clubs also want players to pay a new solidarity tax that applies to high earners.

"We already stated yesterday our conditions to renew the collective contract,'' Lega Serie A president Maurizio Beretta said. "Our requests are reasonable and balanced. We hope AIC will call off the strike and accept the alterations to the contract proposed by us otherwise they will have to assume all the responsibility.''

An old collective agreement expired at the end of the 2009-10 season and talks for its renewal continued throughout the 2010-11 campaign and this summer.

AIC president Damiano Tommasi insists the players will not back down. "We have said it in previous days,'' he said. "We reiterate it again today. Without the signature of the collective contract the players will not go out on the pitch on Saturday and Sunday.

"Once the contract is signed, the players will be ready to play. Now we will await (FIGC president Giancarlo) Abete's decision.''

Earlier on Thursday, Abete gave the league and the AIC a 24-hour deadline to reach an agreement before moving the first round of Serie A games to a later date.

"Either an agreement is reached by tomorrow or we will postpone the first round of games,'' Abete said. "I have the power to move the first round of Serie A games.''

Wojciech Szczesny insists Arsenal's players have never once questioned their manager Arsene Wenger, despite mounting criticism from the media and growing frustration amongst the fans.

Szczesny's spot-kick save in Wednesday night's Champions League play-off second leg at Udinese could yet prove the turning point of the Gunners' miserable start to the season.

Winless in their opening two Premier League matches, having lost both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to rival clubs, and plagued by a raft of injuries, suspensions and sanctions from the game's governing bodies, it had been a fortnight to forget for Wenger prior to the victory over Udinese.

The knives would have been out in force had Arsenal failed to reach the Champions League group stage but Wenger's players belied their brittle reputation by completing an impressive comeback at the Stadio Friuli.

"I think the only people who actually believed in the team was the team itself,'' Szczesny said. "Inside the team, we don't do that at all. We know how good we are and how good our manager is. We believe in what he is doing so I believe we answered a lot of questions.''

It might have been a different story but for Szczesny's second-half penalty save from Antonio Di Natale, which preserved Arsenal's aggregate lead, and the goalkeeper revealed he had indulged in a bout of sledging while Di Natale prepared to take the spot-kick.

"I gave him a little bit of stick and was probably not very nice to him but it worked so I am delighted,'' Szczesny said. "I told him he wasn't good enough, I was too good for him and he wasn't going to score - but in a nice way.

"I got in his head in the head in the end because he missed the penalty.''

Arsenal's 2-1 win was the ideal pick-me-up ahead of Sunday's Premier League game at Manchester United, which is already looking like a must-not-lose clash.

"The last couple of games, we had disappointing results but, as I said, there was never a doubt in our heads that we are a very good side,'' Szczesny said. "So we are going to keep going, put in a good performance at Old Trafford on Sunday and see how it goes from there.

"The team believes we are capable of playing very well and winning games.''

Players who mob referees to protest against decisions could face instant red cards in the future, according to UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina.

Collina revealed there would be tougher action than ever when players surrounded officials.

The Italian said: "We don't want to see referees mobbed by players, where players run from long distances to crowd the ref. This could even be punished by a red card. Certainly one of the things we need to improve is stopping this kind of behaviour. It's not nice to see.''

Collina said that referees in the two European club competitions were being aided by the extra assistant referees standing behind each dead-ball line, and that serious foul play would not be tolerated.

He added: "Referees have been instructed to protect the players. We don't need doctors on the pitch. We do not want to be in a situation where we have broken legs. Better to convince the players to stop before.

"Look what happened to Eduardo a few years ago. It was shocking and was not football. If there is a serious risk to endanger the safety of an opponent, this has to be removed before there is actual damage.''

Collina also revealed former English referee Phil Sharp will take a workshop in Poland before Euro 2012 to provide special training for the 12 quintets of officials who will take charge at the tournament.

The Primera Division season will finally get under way on Saturday after a second weekend of strike action was averted.

Talks between the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) and Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) finally reached a resolution on Thursday afternoon.

The AFE announced earlier this month that players from the top two divisions in Spain would go on strike for the first two rounds of the 2011-12 season unless an agreement with the LFP was reached.

The AFE wanted a guaranteed fund to protect players' wages in the event of their clubs being declared insolvent and they claim clubs in Spain owe around €50 million in unpaid salaries to more than 200 players from the end of last season.

However, a statement on the AFE website confirmed the matter was now resolved.

''The committee of the AFE and LFP have reached an agreement that ensured, through various means, the salaries of footballers,'' it read. ''After the meeting today between the AFE and the LFP, the strike scheduled for Friday August 26, Saturday August 27, Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29 is off.''

The statement continued: ''Here at the AFE, we thank for their understanding and patience all those who have been affected. Finally, and most importantly, we want to thank all the non-Spanish and Spanish players who play in our championship.

''We want to convey how proud we are of them all and the unprecedented unity and solidarity they have shown at a time when many of their colleagues were struggling.''

Discussions between the two parties last week failed to find a resolution, leading to the scheduled opening round of Primera Division and Segunda Division fixtures being postponed at the weekend, but the second round of matches includes champions Barcelona hosting Villarreal on Monday and Real Madrid travelling to Real Zaragoza on Sunday will now take place.

The first week's fixtures are scheduled to be played on December 28, but an agreement with the AFE still needs to be reached, as players' contracts ban them from playing during the festive period.

UEFA has named Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the Best Player in Europe for the 2010-11 season.

Messi claimed 38 votes for the newly-created award, putting him some distance ahead of Barcelona team-mate Xavi, in second place with 11 votes, and third-placed Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who received just three votes.

The UEFA Best Player in Europe Award is given to players on the basis of their performances for club and country. The award is designed to replace the old Ballon d'Or award for the best player in Europe, which has been supplanted by the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world.

Messi enjoyed a hugely successful season with his club, scoring 31 goals in the league to help clinch the league title and putting in a man-of-the-match performance in the Champions League final victory over Manchester United.

"I'd like to thank all the people that voted for me, and all my team-mates," Messi said. "I keep all these awards at home and I still have some space for more. It's an honour to be so successful and to come up with the goods at the right time - thanks to my team-mates for helping me achieve this.

"[My motivation] comes from being at a club that's so successful and having a structure that allows us to be so successful. That was taught to me when I moved over and I've tried my best to keep it up."

1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2 Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

4 Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

5 Falcao (FC Porto)

6 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

7 Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)

9 Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

10 Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke)