SOCCER

By the time you are reading this article, the press conference being set up by Real Madrid for 19.00 hours GMT will probably have started, so to save you the wait, I can tell you that it has already been agreed by the two parties that Mourinho can leave this summer. The stumbling block previously has been that he has another year left on his contract, so sacking him would cost Real Madrid about £5.5m. They obviously want to avoid that, but they also know that Mourinho is desperate to leave and go to Chelsea, so a compromise deal has been put in place, whereby he can leave on the 3rd June after the last two La Liga matches have been played, but there will not be any compensation paid.

Mourinho has been touted for a return to Chelsea for most of this year and results at Real Madrid have not been at the level expected. Indeed, the miserable performance in the Copa Del Rey against their Madrid rivals, Atletico, merely underlines the paucity of the performances Real have produced this season, having lost the league title by a landslide to Barcelona.

By the time you are reading this article, the press conference being set up by Real Madrid for 19.00 hours GMT will probably have started, so to save you the wait, I can tell you that it has already been agreed by the two parties that Mourinho can leave this summer. The stumbling block previously has been that he has another year left on his contract, so sacking him would cost Real Madrid about £5.5m. They obviously want to avoid that, but they also know that Mourinho is desperate to leave and go to Chelsea, so a compromise deal has been put in place, whereby he can leave on the 3rd June after the last two La Liga matches have been played, but there will not be any compensation paid.

Mourinho has been touted for a return to Chelsea for most of this year and results at Real Madrid have not been at the level expected. Indeed, the miserable performance in the Copa Del Rey against their Madrid rivals, Atletico, merely underlines the paucity of the performances Real have produced this season, having lost the league title by a landslide to Barcelona.

News has just emerged from the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club that Gareth Bale has signed a new contract extension that will see the player of the year`s wages soar to £150,000 a week. However, the downside for Spurs is that the condition attaching to the deal is that Bale will be allowed to leave next season for a minimum of £50m.

Fans at the club will heave a sigh of relief, but their joy may be short lived as this is the first time that Tottenham have given any indication that Bale would be allowed to leave at all. Yesterday`s results mean that Tottenham will miss out on Champions League football for the second year running, despite spending in the transfer markets last season. That was the cue for the media to speculate that Bale would leave the club and go to one that is in the Champions League next season.

With most of the football matters now settled apart from the Champions League Final and the Championship Playoff Final, the media now turns its attention to the transfer market. Of course, the rumours rumble along all season in the background, but now it is time for them to take centre-stage. Most will be fantasy and invented by tired hacks that have column inches to fill, but those journalists who actually take the time to substantiate their claims will find that readers will take more interest in their articles.

All of which brings me to a past favourite; Carlos Tevez. The latest rumours have arisen because of the earlier rumour that Radamel Falcao has agreed to move to Manchester City for around £54m! If that is true, then it seems logical that Tevez will want out from City, as his appearances will be limited. However, if that is the case, where would he go?

Sunderland face their final match of the English Premier League campaign this afternoon of May 19, 2013, when they travel to Tottenham's White Hart Lane, but a few months ago the side looked less than thrilled to face the end of the season as relegation was looming.

The Black Cats looked a team on the brink of relegation close to two months ago. A club that had appeared to have been rejuvenated under Martin O'Neill last campaign was simply looking to be falling apart under the former Aston Villa and Celtic boss.

Despite having made key signings of Steven Fletcher, Adam Johnson and later Danny Graham, all three failed to be the saviors of the side that were believed to be the ones to get them into the top half of the table.

With Sunderland appearing to be a sinking ship in March, Martin O'Neill was given his marching orders and former West Ham Striker turned manager Paolo Di Canio was appointed as his successor.