They are finally back !

Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie could return for Manchester United's Premier League encounter with Cardiff at Old Trafford after training on Monday.

Rooney has been missing with a groin strain since the New Year's Day defeat by Tottenham, whilst Van Persie suffered a thigh problem in the Uefa Ch.L win over Shakhtar Donetsk last month.

However, both are in contention to face Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men on Tuesday night, along with £37.1million new-boy Juan Mata, who is set to make his debut.

"They have all trained today," said United boss David Moyes, who could also have midfielder Marouane Fellaini back after wrist surgery.

Meanwhile, the United boss has dismissed rumours of a big-money bid for teenage sensation Adnan Januzaj from Paris St-Germain.

"I think you have been listening to too much speculation," said Moyes to a question about Januzaj's future.

"Adnan is very much part of what we are doing and it will continue to be that way."

And Moyes side-stepped questions over the future of Rooney, whose contract expires in 2015 but has been linked with a massive extension, that could net him £300,000 a week.

"It is one I have left with (executive vice-chairman) Ed Woodward and Wayne and his advisors," said Moyes.

"We will give you an update on it at the right time. Right now I would prefer to talk about his performances."

Moyes might find himself in rather a strange situation on Tuesday given the reception for the opposing manager is going to be far more enthusiastic than his own given the depth of feeling for Solskjaer at Old Trafford

Yet the Scot feels such accolades are only to be expected.

"He deserves it because of what he has done here," said Moyes. "He won the Champions League and was a great ambassador for Manchester United."

Hazard dreaming...

Eden Hazard wants to match the achievements of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and believes he has matured under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
The Belgium international has been in fine form for the Stamford Bridge club this season, with his playmaking efforts alongside Oscar contributing to the Blues' decision to sell Juan Mata to Manchester United.

Hazard did not find the net for Chelsea in the Premier League this season until the 3-1 victory away to Norwich in October, but since then he has added eight further goals to keep Jose Mourinho's men firmly in Premier League title contention.

"I realise that I can compete with Messi and Ronaldo in the near future, if I put in some more effort. I don't know if I will ever reach their level. It'll be hard, they have incredible stats, but I accept the challenge."

Eden Hazard

The 23-year-old, who arrived in West London in a £32million deal with Lille in summer 2012, accepts he has the ability to follow in the footsteps of Barcelona ace Messi and Real Madrid's Ronaldo, who have claimed the Ballon d'Or honour for the world player of the year on multiple occasions.

"Of course I want to be the best in the world," he told Het Laatste Nieuws. "Previously I was more worried about the game itself: football was just a game for me, I wanted to amuse myself and didn't bother what the people thought about me "But since I'm here at Chelsea, I've become more aware of my qualities, I guess. Before I knew I was a good player, but not one of the better players in the world.

"Now I realise that I can compete with Messi and Ronaldo in the near future, if I put in some more effort. I don't know if I will ever reach their level. It'll be hard, they have incredible stats, but I accept the challenge."

Hazard believes the influence of Mourinho, who returned to Chelsea for his second spell in charge of the Stamford Bridge side in the summer, has also had a major impact on his career, with the Portuguese coach encouraging his attacking charge to reach greater heights.

"I agree, I've matured," Hazard added. "On the pitch, I haven't changed much. I'm still the same, but I realised that, if I want to be among the best in the world, I'll have to perform consistently, game in, game out.

"I'm now important for the team, I give good passes, I score more goals and Chelsea is performing well.

"Everyone expects more from me. I hear it every day. Maybe I need these little comments, too. When a manager always says 'Eden, you're doing great', there is a threat that you can snooze.

"As a professional, you have to challenge yourself every day. Put yourself in front of a mirror. The manager is close to his players, but when he has something to say, he does to your face, in a friendly way. And he knows how to challenge his players.

"At Lille, in France, I sometimes played on a high level too, but I was more focused on the beauty of the game and how I could entertain the audience."

Eden Hazard

"At Lille, in France, I sometimes played on a high level too, but I was more focused on the beauty of the game and how I could entertain the audience. I still try to do that, but I've become more efficient now and have become a real team player.

"I have the image of someone who doesn't care. I've been playing professional football for five seasons now, I rarely was injured, I follow a strict diet, I sleep well, I rest and I'm always on time.

"No-one can ever accuse me of not living for my job, because I do."

With Chelsea firmly in the title race and through to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup, Hazard feels that they should be aiming for a minimum of two pieces of silverware this season.

The Blues trail Arsenal by two points in the top flight and are one behind Manchester City, who they must travel to in the FA Cup fifth round, while Galatasaray and Didier Drogba await next month in Europe.

He said: "We are still in the race for the title, the Champions League and the FA Cup. We have to win at least one or two of these competitions.

"Chelsea is a club that goes for prizes and I want to win trophies too."

Royal rumble show

WWE's famous multi-man melee is back.

The 2014 Royal Rumble will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office on Sunday, January 26 as 30-grapplers fight it out for the chance to  WrestleMania XXX 

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

1am, Sun, Jan 26 (Mon)

The winner of the match will earn a championship bout in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 7 - and there looks to be plenty of contenders, including Batista, Alberto Del Rio, and CM Punk.

Will Big E Langston brawl his way to glory? Will Rey Mysterio prevail? Will Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Kofi Kingston or any member of The Shield claim the notable prize? Stick with us to find out...

Randy Orton, meanwhile, will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at January's event in Pennsylvania, just over a month after beating the man from Massachusetts at Tables, Ladders and Chairs in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs encounter.

The Viper handcuffed Cena to the ring ropes on that occasion but can he defeat his rival in a straight-up, no-frills singles encounter - and will Lesnar, who has made no secret of his desire to become champion, get involved?

However, The Anomaly - who won the Royal Rumble match in 2003 before going on to conquer Kurt Angle and win the WWE Title at WrestleMania XIX - has something else on his plate: Big Show.

The gargantuan grapplers clashed at Old School Raw and will go at it again at the Royal Rumble in a sanctioned bout. Which powerhouse will come out on top?

Plus, Daniel Bryan will tackle nemesis Bray Wyatt, while, on the Royal Rumble pre-show, Cody Rhodes and Goldust will put their WWE Tag Team Titles on the line against the resurgent New Age Outlaws.

Booking details

WWE Royal Rumble will be shown on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 743) and Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 752) at 1am on Sunday, January 26 (Monday morning).

The event is priced at £14.95 for UK customers, €21.95 for customers in the Republic of Ireland.

Viewers can call 08442 410 888 from Friday, January 17 to book WWE Royal Rumble. (There may be an additional charge for telephone bookings).

Rafael Nadal refuses to quit Australian Open final

World number one said he would hate to quit a Grand Slam final despite the injury that derailed his Australian Open hopes.

Nadal lost 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 to Stanislav Wranivka ending his bid for a second Australian and 14th Grand Slam title.

The Spaniard, 27, had been hoping to become only the third man to win all four major titles at least twice.

"The last thing that I wanted to do was retire. No, I hate to do that, especially in a final," he said."At the same time, it's tough to see yourself during the whole year, working for a moment like this, and the moment arrives and you feel that you are not able to play at your best."

The Spaniard revealed that he had felt an issue with his back even before the match had started.

"Since the beginning I felt it a little bit, from the warm-up," he said. "At the end of the first set, I started to feel worse.

"Then at the beginning of the second was the key moment that I felt, during a serve in a bad movement, it was very stiff, very bad."

Nadal then left the court for a medical timeout, unaware of the exact nature of the problem.

Nadal was jeered by large sections of the crowd when he returned from the medical timeout, with some feeling he was trying to disrupt the in-form Wawrinka, but the Spaniard received a standing ovation at the presentation ceremony, by which time it was clear he had been struggling badly.

"Sometimes it's tough for the crowd to understand," said Nadal. "The only thing they want to do is enjoy a great match.

"They paid for a ticket to watch the best match possible, and I was not able to offer that to them for some moments.

"I wanted to try my best until the end, but I can understand very well the reaction. They understood later that I was bad. I was trying all that I can try on the court with that situation.

"The crowd was great with me during both weeks. The support has been enormous, more than ever. I feel very, very proud about how they treat me, how the crowd is supporting me here.

"You never will heard me talk badly about the crowd here."

And Nadal was keen to pay tribute to Wawrinka, "a good friend" who won his first Grand Slam title.

"It's Stan's day, not my day," he said.

"He was playing amazing. It's very tough to stop him when he's playing that way.

"So I just congratulate him because he's playing better and better and he's playing with amazing confidence, hitting every ball very, very hard, moving great."

Oscar strike

Oscar's sublime free-kick was enough to end Stoke's interest in this season's FA Cup and earn Chelsea a fifth 

The Blues, winners of the trophy four times in the last seven seasons, wasted a bundle of chances and hit the post twice in a one-sided cup tie.

But they only had Oscar's breathtaking 25-yard strike to show for their dominance and were forced to endure a nervy final few moments before securing the victory.

The Potters barely threatened but Stephan Ireland wasted a great chance before the break, smashing a shot into the side netting from close range.

Stoke's hopes of a cup shock had seemed slim and so it proved.

But six consecutive victories and 10 wins from 13 since that setback at the Britannia have take Chelsea to within two points of the Premier League summit.The visitors had won just two games since an impressive last-gasp 3-2 win, over Chelsea on 7 December, beatingAston Villa in the league and Championship leaders Leicester City in the last round of the Cup.

Chelsea's failure to make their first-half dominance count proved their undoing the last time the two sides met. They were once again guilty in front of goal but it did not matter.

Facing a side likely to stack up in defence and flood the midfield, it looked like just the sort of match when the guile and quality of Manchester United new boy Juan Mata would be most required.

But the Blues did not need their two-time player of the year, and once again it was the pace, direct running and trickery of Eden Hazard and Oscar that did the main damage.

With the giant figure of Nemanja Matic dominant in midfield on his (second) full debut, the hosts bossed possession and made full use of it.

Stoke were unable to c

Oscar scored a majestic 25-yard free-kick, curling the ball over the wall and into the far corner to win the game.

But it was Hazard who stood out with a breathtaking display. The Belgian tormented the Stoke defence from the first minute, sparking all that was good about a fine attacking display and earning bookings for Geoff Cameron and Marc Wilson.

Hazard and Chelsea started impressively. Samuel Eto'o shot narrowly wide inside two minutes and although Stoke could have easily have led when Peter Crouch sent a header off target soon after, it was a half dominated by the hosts.

Several promising Hazard-inspired breaks failed to lead to strikes on goal but, with the pressure mounting, Oscar put the Blues ahead - and they should have been out of sight by half-time.

Frank Lampard could not stretch out to divert the ball in from close range after a snaking run from Hazard and also shot over from 20 yards.

In between Oscar hit the post with a well-struck low cross-shot that led to Stoke's best chance of the game.

Familiar terri

The Potters broke with good pace and worked the ball in to Ireland but he smashed a near-post shot just off target with Mark Schwarzer beaten.

However that opening provided brief respite for the visitors.

The second half started as the first ended, with Chelsea cracking the frame of the goal and Jose Mourinho doing plenty of head shaking at his side's failure to kill the game off.

A fierce strike by Andre Schurrle crashed against the post with Asmir Begovic beaten and Oscar almost added his second with a sweet first-time effort that curled just wide of the far post.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes changed tactics in the final 20 minutes, moving the ever-willing Jonathan Walters up front alongside Crouch.

The chances remained Chelsea's though. Lampard had a fizzing low shot well saved by Begovic and substitute Ramires inexplicably spooned an effort wide after a goalmouth melee, the Brazilian getting his feet in a muddle five yards out with the goal gaping.

Begovic then made a brilliant diving stop to keep out a thunderous David Luiz free-kick, but ultimately Chelsea did not need the luxury of a second goal.

Chelsea

• 23 Schwarzer
• 02 Ivanovic
• 03 Cole
• 21 Matic
• 24 Cahill
• 04 David Luiz
• 14 Schürrle (Ramires - 70' )
• 08 Lampard
• 29 Eto'o (Ba - 85' )
• 11 Oscar (Willian - 81' )
• 17 Hazard

Substitutes

• 01 Cech
• 07 Ramires
• 12 Mikel
• 19 Ba
• 22 Willian
• 26 Terry
• 28 Azpilicueta

Stoke City

• 01 Begovic
• 20 Cameron Booked
• 03 Pieters Booked (Muniesa - 85' )
• 15 N'Zonzi
• 17 Shawcross
• 12 Wilson Booked
• 10 Arnautovic (Adam - 83' )
• 08 Palacios (Assaidi - 72' )
• 25 Crouch
• 32 Ireland
• 19 Walters

Substitutes

• 05 Muniesa
• 06 Whelan
• 16 Adam
• 23 Guidetti
• 24 Assaidi
• 29 Sørensen
• 30 Shotton

Ref: Chris Foy

Att: 40,845

Shots

1912

On target

51

Corners

72

Fouls

812

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full TimeMatch ends, Chelsea 1, Stoke City 0.

90:00+4:25Full time

Full TimeSecond Half ends, Chelsea 1, Stoke City 0.

90:00+1:45

Attempt blocked. Charlie Adam (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Stephen Ireland.

90:00+0:01

Offside, Chelsea. David Luiz tries a through ball, but Demba Ba is caught offside.

89:24

Ramires (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

89:24

Foul by Peter Crouch (Stoke City).

86:49

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

86:07

Delay in match Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) because of an injury.

85:24

Attempt blocked. Willian (Chelsea) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ashley Cole.

84:25Substitution

SubstitutionSubstitution, Stoke City. Marc Muniesa replaces Erik Pieters.

84:15Substitution

SubstitutionSubstitution, Chelsea. Demba Ba replaces Samuel Eto'o.

83:22

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Asmir Begovic.

83:19

Attempt saved. David Luiz (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.

82:50Substitution

SubstitutionSubstitution, Stoke City. Charlie Adam replaces Marko Arnautovic.

82:25Booking

BookingErik Pieters (Stoke City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

82:07

Ramires (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

82:07

Foul by Erik Pieters (Stoke City).

80:58Substitution

SubstitutionSubstitution, Chelsea. Willian replaces Oscar.

79:48

Foul by Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea).

Late show from Pazzini

Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini left it late to score his first Serie A goal of the season and complete a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory for AC Milan at Cagliari.

The Italy striker only returned to the team in December following a long injury lay-off

and, minutes after Mario Balotelli cancelled out Marco Sau's first-half opener with a free-kick, Pazzini was on hand to knock home from a corner.

It was a second straight league victory for Milan under new coach Clarence Seedorf and, although 14th-placed Cagliari may feel sick after surrendering all three points, the mainlanders can celebrate climbing two places to ninth.

Cagliari started brightly as Andrea Cossu took the ball under control in the visitors' area. He was too slow to get his shot off, though, and goalkeeper Marco Amelia won the battle of wills.

Milan were soon up the other end to test Vlada Avramov through Robinho and Keisuke Honda's backheel almost led to an opening goal from Balotelli.

Avramov saved again and did well to repel another Balotelli shot when the Italy striker burst in to the area in the 16th minute.

The Cagliari keeper then got gloves to an angled drive from Honda, who had been set up by Balotelli, and he watched anxiously as Kaka fell over his own feet in a shooting position.

In the 28th minute, against the run of play, Cagliari took the lead.

Amelia was to blame as he pushed Mauricio Pinilla's tame shot onto Sau's feet, the Sardinian rounding defender Daniele Bonera with ease to clip home.

Milan's response was tame before the break as Robinho wasted a free-kick from a good position - Riccardo Montolivo made a mess of the follow-up - and there was no excusing Honda as he headed into Avramov's hands from two yards out.

The Rossoneri continued to dominate without putting their chances away when play resumed and Balotelli was wasteful once again in the 54th minute, pinging Kaka's cute pass high over the bar.

A fine exchange of passes between Honda and Robinho saw the Japanese clip narrowly over from the D and an innocuous shot from Mattia De Sciglio caused Avramov few problems.

Cagliari had been happy to sit on their lead while Milan toiled in vain but came dangerously close to extending their lead in the 73rd minute as Pinilla fizzed a shot just past a post with Amelia rooted to the spot.

By this point Milan were looking short on ideas and when Davide Astori stopped Kaka shooting from close range, their race appeared to be run.

But, after Matias Cabrera conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area in the 82nd minute, Balotelli stepped up to guide the ball between Avramov and a post.

That single moment galvanised Milan and, to the horror of the Stadio Sant'Elia faithful, Pazzini - a replacement for Robinho - turned the game on its head.

The striker who had only just recovered from a thigh injury in time to make the trip to Sardinia, swung his leg at Honda's corner to snatch another league win for Seedorf's men.

Transfer news: Chelsea complete signing of Egyptian Mohamed Salah from FC Basel

Chelsea have completed the signing of Egypt winger Mohamed Salah from FC Basel.

Manager  made the announcement prior to his side's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Stoke City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The fee involved for Salah has not been revealed yet but Sky sources understand it is in the region of £15million.

The 21-year-old has penned a five-and-a-half-year deal with the club and will wear the number 15 shirt.

Speaking to the club's official websitee, Salah said: "I'm very happy to sign for such a big club. I hope I can make the Chelsea supporters happy."

"I'm very happy to sign for such a big club. I hope I can make the Chelsea supporters happy."

Mohamed Salah

The winger becomes the club's third signing of the winter transfer window following Chelsea's capture of Bertrand Traore and Nemanja Matic.

Salah, who becomes the first Egyptian to sign for Chelsea, will give Mourinho further options in the attacking third of the field following the recent departures of Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne.

Speaking on Friday, Mourinho revealed his admiration for the attacking midfielder who has scored 17 goals in 27 appearances for Egypt.

"We like the fact that he can play the same way our attacking players do, which is players with adaptability, to play right, left, or behind the striker," Mourinho said.

"He's young, he's fast, he's creative, he's enthusiastic. When we analysed him he looks the kind of humble personality on the pitch, ready to work for the team and to work and to adapt himself to a new life.

Player Profile

22. Mohamed Salah

• Appearances13
• Goals6
• Assists0
• Yellows1
• Reds0
• Current Season

"We think with him and (Andre) Schurrle, (Eden) Hazard, Oscar and Willian we will be fine.

"We lose an experienced top player like Juan, but we bring in a young player with great potential.

"He has some experience in Europe, the Europa League, Champions League, so he's not a naive boy arriving in the jungle.

"Hopefully he comes and hopefully with the talented players we have around in the same positions we all can develop together."

Salah, who has scored three times in four matches against Chelsea in the last 12 months, was said to be the primary January target for Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

FA Cup: Manchester City survive Watford scare as they hit back to win 4-2

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as Manchester City came from 2-0 down to triumph 4-2 against Watford in their FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium and deny the Championship side a famous upset.

Bayern Munich had been the only side to stop City winning at home this season, but the Hornets defied the odds to take the lead through Fernando Forestieri after 21 minutes.

The chances of a major shock increased when Troy Deeney made it 2-0 on the half-hour mark, but City came storming back after the interval to book their place in the fifth round.

Aguero reduced their arrears after an hour and then equalised in the 79th minute, before Aleksandar Kolarov smashed in from long range with three minutes remaining.

Watford's hopes of at least coming back to earn a replay were then dashed as Aguero completed his treble in the dying seconds.

City's bench alone cost £84million but it was Watford who looked the more composed team before the break.

City were lethargic and if there was any complacency on their part it was ruthlessly exposed.

Forestieri: Opened scoring

Deeney gave an early warning of intent with a shot that flew over before Forestieri hit a free-kick into the wall and Cristian Battocchio was wayward from the rebound.

Ikechi Anya got behind the defence but collided with goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon trying to reach a bouncing ball.

City did respond with Micah Richards winning a free-kick on the edge of the area but that came to little and Joleon Lescott spurned a gilt-edged chance from five yards after a corner.

City were almost caught out by a swift counter-attack as Forestieri played in Deeney but his ball was too strong.

But Manuel Pellegrini's side failed to heed the warnings and Forestieri raced past Martin Demichelis from a brilliant flick by Deeney and clinically drove home the opener.

City tried to respond but they lacked a killer touch as Jack Rodwell - making only his fourth start of the season - Jesus Navas and Aguero all shot weakly at Jonathan Bond.

Deeney: Doubled Watford's lead

It was unconvincing from City and Forestieri shot wide before a poor clearance by Demichelis led to Watford's second after half an hour.

Sean Murray and Anya were both involved as the ball was quickly returned towards City's goal and Deeney finished calmly after going through one-on-one with Pantilimon.

The home fans were stunned and Pellegrini, recognising that his defence was struggling, sent out Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta to warm up.

Both were sent on at half-time as City attempted a salvage operation, with Rodwell and Richards making way and the shaky Demichelis pushed into midfield.

City's superiority became evident as they began to make the running but Watford hung in doggedly.

Utilising Navas out wide, City pieced together a good move but Edin Dzeko scuffed his shot.

Aguero: Reduced arrears

Pellegrini sent on Stevan Jovetic to join Aguero and Dzeko up front and his first contribution was to head a good chance wide.

But City had the momentum and they pulled one back on the hour as Dzeko slid onto a dangerous ball from Kolarov on the left.

Bond reacted well to deny the Bosnian but Aguero snapped up the rebound to score for a 23rd time this season.

Watford tried to push forward when they could but thereafter at largely became a question of their resilience.

They managed to repel more attacks as Dzeko, Jovetic and Aguero all combined to good effect.

City could celebrate at full-time

Yet City could come at them from all angles and Navas, who had seen plenty of possession but little joy in the first half, had them backtracking.

He charged down the right and found Aguero, who once again did the rest with a weaving run and marvellous clipped shot into the top corner.

It then became a matter of whether Watford could hold on and they were broken three minutes from time as Bond allowed a Kolarov shot to squirm through his grasp.

Aguero added gloss to the scoreline in the dying moments as City survived a major scare.