The Daily Mirror, external reports former Liverpool and Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez is close to the sack at Napoli with his team 12 points off leaders Juventus in Serie A.

Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain:, external Was an honour to have played alongside this man! My idol and a big inspiration to my career... #KingHenry.

Hartlepool United are in advanced takeover talks and former Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore is close to becoming manager, BBC Tees Sport has learned.

, external after 44 days in charge following the FA Cup loss to Blyth, with Pools bottom of League Two.

Moore, 61, has been out of work since Tranmere terminated his contract in April after he admitted breaking Football Association betting rules.

The potential takeover is believed to involve boxing promoter Dennis Hobson.

Image source, Getty Images

Barcelona have said "Merci", external to Thierry Henry today after he announced his retirement from the game.

The French striker won a host of titles with Barça, most notably the 2009 Champions League as well as two Spanish League titles, a Club World Cup, a Spanish Cup and both the Spanish and European Super Cups.

In all, he played 121 official games for the club, bagging 49 goals including two hat tricks (against Levante and Valencia) and scored twice in a 6-2 win at Real Madrid.

Adrian Bevington, the FA's director of communications and managing director of Club England, is to leave the organisation after 17 years.

Image source, Getty Images

Henry had not appeared in the World Cup final two years previous, but he made his mark at Euro 2000, scoring three goals and was named man of the match in the final. He did not score in Rotterdam, but hit the post early on and was a handful all night for the Italian back line. Were it not for the brilliance of Francesco Toldo, who kept Henry out numerous times, the match - which needed extra-time to find a winner - would have been over a lot sooner.

Thierry Henry on Twitter:, external Overwhelmed by all your messages and support. Thank you to all.

0.45 goals per game? Not bad in front of goal then...

A reminder of some of the top stories on the BBC website today:

Football: Thierry Henry has announced his retirement from football.

Football: Fifa ethics investigator Michael Garcia has had his appeal against the summary of his report into the bidding processes for the 2022 and 2018 World Cups dismissed.

Football: Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera and Swansea winger Jefferson Montero are among 41 people named in a match-fixing probe in Spain.

Football: Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has rejected talk of disharmony at Anfield.

Cricket: Tillakaratne Dilshan's 18th one-day international hundred in his 300th match for Sri Lanka left England needing a ground-record run chase at the Premadasa Stadium.

Image source, Bojan Krkic

Stoke City and former Barcelona striker Bojan Krkic:, external You've been a very special person in one of the most wonderful stages of my life. An example of professional & person.A LEGEND. Thanks Titi!

So, we had plenty of suggestions for who is the greatest Premier League striker ever and now is the time to vote for your favourite.

Simply click on the option at the right of the page, having read the terms and conditions first. The vote will close at 14:15 GMT and we will bring you the results soon after.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney tells the Manchester Evening News, external his club can still win the Premier League title.

"We have to believe we can win the title," he said. "It is still early days but we are getting better and better, the results are coming and there are a lot of games to go.

"Christmas is going to be a very important time for us. If we can keep picking up points and winning games, then hopefully the other teams will drop points and we can be right in there going into the second half of the season."

Image source, Getty Images

It took a breathtaking solo effort from Henry to break the deadlock two minutes into the second half as injury-hit Arsenal became the first English team to win at the Bernabeu. After receiving the ball in the centre circle, Henry breezed past four players before steering a cool left-footed finish past Iker Casillas.

Inter Milan vice president Javier Zanetti has opened the door for Mario Balotelli to return to the club, according to the Daily Star., external

Roberto Mancini back with Mario Balotelli? That could be fun...

Chris Lawrence:, external Be a little more welcoming and offer support and advice to them. As a youngster every time I went to a club I felt unwelcome.

Cameron Wallace:, external Bring in a shorter quicker version as cricket has done with 20/20.

Andy G:, external Sad thing to say but relax the rules and "traditions" If you walk into my "local" club its like you've committed a crime!

Rory McIlroy wants golf to speed up to help encourage youngsters to play the game. What do you think could be done? Tweet #whatgolfshoulddo.

Arsenal Ladies have signed Spain international Natalia Pablos Sanchon from Bristol Academy.

The 29-year-old forward, who played under Gunners boss Pedro Martinez Losa at Rayo Vallecano Femenino, scored nine goals in 19 appearances last season.

"Natalia is a player I know very well," Losa told the Arsenal website. "She was a natural goalscorer in Spain and she has proven she can score in England too. She has a great character and will add a lot to our team."

Natalia is the second player to move from the West Country to London this month, after defender Jemma Rose joined Arsenal last week.

Nottingham Forest have won a £250,000 transfer fund to spend in the January window, despite being subject to a Football League embargo.

Forest supporter Shaun Lander earned his side the prize as Sky Bet's Transfer Fund competition came to an end on Tuesday lunchtime, just over 24 hours after the Football League put Forest, along with Championship rivals Blackburn and Leeds, under an embargo for breaching financial fair play rules.

That's useful, isn't it?

Image source, Premier League

Some nice Thierry Henry stats tweeted by the Premier League, external above. There wasn't a lot the Frenchman didn't do in England was there?

Arm_inder:, external Could have been Suarez but know without a doubt King Henry was #greatestpremstriker.

Joe Hunter:, external Shearer scored the most, Drogba scored the most important, Henry scored the most sublime.

Arslan Malik:, external Thierry Henry #greatestpremstriker ever his goals assist everything he had was unbelievable #legend #TH14 #ThierryHenry.

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has responded to being among 41 people named in a match-fixing probe in Spain.

He said on Facebook:, external "In an on-going legal process involving Real Zaragoza (Spain), the club I was honoured to play from 12 until 22 years of age, there are 41 people cited as possible witnesses, of which I am one.

"I have never had and will never have anything to do with manipulating match results. If I am ever called to testify in any judicial hearing, I'll be happy to attend, as my conscience is totally clear.

"I love football and I believe in fair play, both on and off the pitch."