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The Daily Telegraph reports, external that Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is ready to send defender Robert Huth out on loan and offer Peter Crouch a new two-year deal.

The paper says Hughes has held talks with Huth and agreed to sanction a temporary move away from the Britannia Stadium for the German centre-half.

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Fifa presidential hopeful Jerome Champagne insists he is not being squeezed out of the race despite Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein entering the contest.

Champagne, the French former Fifa deputy general secretary, has conceded that gaining the minimum five nominations may not be straightforward but rejected suggestions that the Jordanian prince's decision to run against Sepp Blatter has made things more difficult.

"I am not squeezed at all and Prince Ali has not issued any programme yet, just slogans," Champagne said. "I welcome Prince Ali's candidacy as it is important for the future of football to have an open, democratic process but I am the only one who has placed on the table a detailed, concrete and financially viable list of proposals."

The Daily Star , externalreports that Martin Skrtel, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Jon Flanagan are in line to sign new contracts at Liverpool.

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Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic claims he has no issues with manager Manuel Pellegrini as he prepares to join Schalke on loan.

The German club have announced the signing of the Serbia centre-back - subject to a medical - on a temporary deal that could lead to a permanent move.

"I think that is the best option for me and I hope everything will be all right," he said. "It was hard for me. In six months I didn't play one game. I wanted to go because for my career it is best at the moment to play a lot of games."

New York City FC, the newly-formed sister club of Manchester City, are to play two friendlies in Manchester next month.

The American club, who will enter Major League Soccer in March, will take on Scottish side St Mirren and Danish outfit Brondby at the City Football Academy.

St Mirren will be NYCFC's first pre-season opponents on 10 February with Brondby visiting five days later. Former Spain striker David Villa will be NYCFC's star attraction with Frank Lampard now expected to join them in the summer from City.

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Mo Farah seems to be recovering from the illness which forced him to withdraw from the Great Edinburgh Cross Country international challenge.

"On the track this morning.....!!! My boy's helping me out," tweeted the double Olympic champion. , external

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Former Wolves owner Sir Jack Hayward has died at the age of 91, the Championship club have announced.

A Wolves statement read: "It is with great sadness and regret that Wolverhampton Wanderers today announce the passing of Sir Jack Hayward OBE, the club's legendary former owner, chairman, life president and one of the country's great philanthropists.

"Sir Jack, who was 91 years of age, had been ill for several months and passed away in Fort Lauderdale on 13th January, 2015.

"Wolves would like to extend its deepest and most sincere condolences to Sir Jack's wife, Lady Hayward, his companion of many years, Patti Bloom, and all his family and friends at home and across the world."

Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Ricky Walden 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.

"I'd have to find where my game can get back to where it was 18 months ago, but at the moment I'm just scraping through and you can't keep doing it," says O'Sullivan.

"I'm just going to chill out and just get ready for Thursday. I'm just happy to still be in it."

Whoops and cheers at Alexandra Palace as Ronnie O'Sullivan joins Stephen Hendry as the all-time leading century-maker in snooker, with 775.

England prop Kieran Brookes will join Premiership champions Northampton Saints from Newcastle next season.

The 24-year-old tight-head is expected to be a replacement for Salesi Ma'afu, who is reportedly joining Toulon., external

"Northampton Saints' record over the last few seasons speaks for itself and I'm under no illusions of the quality of squad I'm going in to and the challenge that presents," he said.

Here are a selection of your thoughts on Roy Hodgson selecting Javier Mascherano as his first pick in the Ballon d'Or ballot.

Ben Jordan: , externalHodgson's picks were like everyone else. Based on anything but actual ability. Ronaldo and Messi should've been picked by everyone

Robert Sheaf: , externalGet the point about Hodgson but German coach didn't have Messi or Ronaldo in his top three either! No one mentions that

Paddy Emmerson:, external Why are people shocked by Hodgson's lack of knowledge? Been apparent for years but been hidden by his mates in the media

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert says new signing Carles Gil will give his team a "creative spark".

The 22-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half year deal with the club.

Lambert told the club's official website: , external"We've been on the lookout for a creative player and he will certainly bring that extra element to the side.

"He's only 22 years of age but he will come here and give us something I don't think we have at the moment. He can play either role, coming in off the sides or playing in behind as well."

We asked you earlier to name the nine men, other than Cristiano Ronaldo, to have won the Ballon d'Or on more than one occasion.

The answers are Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, Kevin Keegan, Lionel Messi, Michel Platini, Ronaldo, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Marco Van Basten.

And the winner is Mr E.V. Lambert of Homeleigh, The Burrows, Oswestry. Thanks for playing along.

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Aston Villa have signed Spain under-21 winger Carles Gil from Valencia. We will update you with more details as we get them.

A bit of housekeeping now to clear up possible confusion over Solihull Moors' Conference North match with AFC Fylde tonight.

Contrary to this website's fixture list (which is in the process of being amended) this match is very much on and will kick-off at the Autotech Stadium at 19:45 GMT.

The game was originally postponed due to Flyde's scheduled FA Trophy tie with AFC Telford, but after that match fell foul of the weather the league meeting with Solihull Moors was restored to the schedule.

Chairman Milan Mandaric says Sheffield Wednesday are stable enough to sell and reach the Premier League shortly afterwards, as was the case with his previous club Leicester City.

Wednesday, who are currently ninth in the Championship, are reportedly in "advanced talks" with Thai investors. , external

"There's always interest in our club and I'll gladly step aside if it can move forward like things at Leicester," Mandaric told BBC Radio Sheffield. "We've had a good period of stability. It was a very similar situation there, a good buyer came in that could accelerate it and I was so happy to see them promoted."

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He's one of the world's most recognisable footballers so it's no surprise Mario Balotelli enjoys going under cover.

The Liverpool striker posed for a selfie with his brother, Enoch, wearing a Rey Mysterio mask. (Rey Mysterio is an American wrestler.)

The Italian posted the picture on his Instagram, external account, saying: "Rey Mysterio mask. We just don't care with love."

Harlequins back-row forward Luke Wallace has signed a new contract with the Premiership club to run until 2017.

The 24-year-old has appeared for England Saxons and featured for an England XV against the Barbarians last June.

"Luke already has a wealth of experience and from my point of view he is just going to get better," director of rugby Conor O'Shea said.

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Liverpool winger Oussama Assaidi's disappointing spell at Anfield is over after he joined Al Ahli Club in Dubai.

The 26-year-old Moroccan signed for the Reds from Dutch side Heerenveen in 2012 but struggled to hold down a place in the team and made just 12 appearances.

Assaidi spent last season on loan at Stoke, where he scored five goals, and returned to the Britannia this term.

League One side Crawley Town have signed Brazilian goalkeeper Evandro Rachoni de Lima on non-contract terms.

The 25-year-old has spent the bulk of his career in Brazil, but has also had spells in Angola and Ukraine.

Crawley have just one senior keeper on their books at the moment, with no recognised back-up to Brian Jensen, who suffered a thumb injury on Saturday.