Napoli s Christian Maggio remains hopeful of featuring for Italy at the FIFA World Cup after recovering from lung surgery.
Maggio has not played since his club s 1-0 Serie A victory over Roma on March 9 due to a partially collapsed lung.
However, the versatile right-sided player has now returned to training, and is hoping to convince Italy coach Cesare Prandelli that he deserves a spot in Italy s 23-man squad for Brazil 2014.
I am optimistic, Maggio told Radio Kiss Kiss. To have come back into training now has made me more relaxed about it because now I have time to prepare myself well and make myself available for the boss.
Until I know I won t be in the squad I will continue to hope. The important thing is that Prandelli knows I have returned to training.
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Yaya Toure has admitted that it would be great if he could move back to Barcelona to continue his playing career.
The Ivorian midfielder featured for the Spanish club for three years and was sold to Manchester City for around 30 million euros in the summer of 2010.
Toure has been a popular figure at the Etihad Stadium and his double at Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday left City on the cusp of their first top-flight crown in 44 years.
But the 28-year-old has revealed his desire to end his career with the Catalan giants.
I would love to return to Barcelona. If they called me, I would not think twice about it, he said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC1.
I love the city, and Barca has always been the most important club for me…
Paris Saint-Germain s record-breaking season comes to an end when the struggling Montpellier visit the French capital on Saturday.
With the Ligue 1 crown already wrapped up, the capital club turned their attention to achieving a new benchmark for the amount of points claimed in a Ligue 1 season, which stood at 84.
And they achieved it with one game to spare thanks to a 3-1 win at UEFA Champions League-chasing Lille last week, which moved them to 86 with a final three to play for.
Although they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of Europe s premier club competition for the second year in a row, this campaign has represented a step forward for the Parisian outfit.
A more attacking brand of football has reaped rewards for coach Laurent Blanc, who saw his side wr…
Gabriel Jesus trained alongside his Arsenal team-mates ahead of Thursday s meeting with Sporting CP as the striker eyes a return to action following a three-month injury lay-off.
Jesus made an immediate impact upon his arrival from Manchester City last July, helping Arsenal to the Premier League summit, but he has not played since suffering a knee injury in December.
Having undergone surgery on the injury – which he sustained while representing Brazil at the World Cup – Jesus returned to light training last month.
While Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said Jesus was not far from a return ahead of Saturday s thrilling 3-2 win over Bournemouth, he added the 25-year-old had much more to do before he could be reintegrated into the matchday squad.
On Wednesda…