Xavi: I may not retire at Barcelona

The Spaniard thinks it will be hard to stay at Camp Nou until his career comes to an end and says he has not decided if he will take up coaching in the future

Xavi has hinted that he may transfer away from Barcelona before he retires, claiming it will be "difficult" to stay at Camp Nou.

The midfielder, who turns 34 later this month, has a contract with the Catalans until the summer of 2016 and has already made 22 appearances this season.

Though he insists he would like to stay at Barca until the end of his playing days, Xavi thinks that it will be tough to remain in the Liga champions' first team plans as his illustrious career draws to a close.

"It's difficult to finish your career here," the Spain veteran told Panenka Magazine. "I don't know if I will end it at Barca. I'd like to, but I don't know what will happen.

"I feel good physically, better even than in the last two seasons. I don't want to miss any games and sometimes that can affect you. I have to give myself a little bit more rest now.

"I am happy playing for Barca because of our philosophy. Perhaps I could have been happy playing for another club, I don't know, but my priority has always been Barca."

Xavi also spoke about the possibility of becoming a coach and, though he refused to commit himself to the idea of taking charge of a club in future, he laughed off the notion that he would exit the world of football upon hanging up his boots.

"I don't know if I will be a coach because I am still playing and I haven't stopped to think about it yet," he added. "But I like football a lot and I will stay linked to it. What on earth would I do otherwise - become an economist?"

GARETH BALE RETURNED AND SET UP A GOAL FOR RONALDO

My job is to create goals"

• "I am happy about my pass to Ronaldo, but my job is to create goals for my colleagues", he said.

01/07/2014

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Gareth Bale returned and did his job. The Welshman reappeared after missing the last three matches and he did so with a decent performance, mainly thanks to the pass he provided Cristiano Ronaldo within the last minute for the third goal.

"I am happy about my pass to Ronaldo, but my job is to create goals for my colleagues. I hope to keep improving game after game and perform well for Real Madrid", he said afterwards.

Despite his injury problems Bale assured the press: "I am very happy at Real Madrid. To play here was always a dream for me and I am making that come true"

BENÍTEZ'S NAPOLI IS BEST PLACED

Mata offered to Barça and Real

According to 'The Sunday Times', Juan Mata's agent has offered Spanish player Juan Mata to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter and Napoli. The side from Naples is the best-placed club to secure a deal.

Rafael Benítez's position as coach of the Italian team is the key to shaping Mata's future. The Spanish manager has already worked with him while he was at Chelsea, where the player was an indisputable starter. At this stage of season, he had played seven more games last campaign than he has this time around.

After the arrival of Mourinho, Mata has often ended up on the bench

Who would have thought that things would change so drastically for Juan Mata in less than six months? The fans' choice for the Premier League's best player last season was a Chelsea icon and established himself as the London club's star player.

New signings and the arrival of Portuguese manager José Mourinho mean that the Spaniard has had to fight for his place, often ending up on the bench and occasionally failing even to make the squad.

This is not a pleasant situation for the former Valencia man, who appears to be looking for an exit in the winter transfer window.

Reports claim that he is not on great terms with Mourinho

Reports in England claim that he is not on great terms with Mourinho, and this may be another factor contributing to his departure.

Mata knows that he needs to be a regular starter in a world class side if he is to have a chance of playing for Spain in the World Cup.

I AM GOING TO THE GALA; IF I WIN GOOD, IF NOT ALL STAYS THE SAME

Ronaldo confirms his presence in Zurich

• On Eusebio's death he said: "It is a special day on which I want to thank everybody, especially all of Spain, for the tributes that have been made to Eusebio".

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will be present in Zurich for the Ballon d'Or ceremony on the 13th January to perhaps pick up the award he is the favourite to win. "I am going to the gala; I don't know if I should win, if I do, great, if not, life goes on", he told the press after the match on Monday with Celta.

On Eusebio's death he said: "It is a special day on which I want to thank everybody, especially all of Spain, for the tributes that have been made to Eusebio. For the Portuguese people it is very important".

HIS AGENT / BROTHER MAKES PLAYER'S DEMANDS

Ronaldinho's Ten Commandments

Seven plane tickets a year to Brazil; a car with a personal chauffeur at his service; individual sponsors; both a fixed and a mobile telephone; six million a year... These are some of the demands made by Ronaldinho Gaúcho to Besiktas in return for joining Turkey's "Black Eagles".

The future of the Brazilian star is still up in the air. Roberto de Assis, who is both Ronaldinho's brother and his agent, is still negotiating with Besiktas.

Ronaldinho is asking for seven plane tickets a year to travel to Brazil with his family. He also wants a car of his choice, along with a chauffeur and fuel, both to be paid for by Besiktas; and the wages of his domestic staff to be paid for by the club. Ronaldinho would choose his sponsors individually. He also wants a fixed phone and a mobile at the club's expense. And after one year he could be transferred.

As for financial rewards, a figure of €6 million is being spoken of, plus a percentage of shirt sales and an 8 per cent penalty clause in case of a delay of over two months in the payment of his salary.

To this, according to the Turkish media, would be added a bonus if Besiktas qualifies for the Champions League (€1 million); if the club wins the Turkish league (€œ million); for winning the Europa League (€1 million) plus €2 million for winning the Champions League in his second season.

BlackBerry hires former HTC exec to run its devices unit

Ron Louks will take on the role as head of BlackBerry's Devices and Emerging Solutions.

BlackBerry has hired a former HTC exec to lead the devices business.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

BlackBerry has made another key hire in its battle to turn itself around.

Announced by BlackBerry on Monday, former HTC executive Ron Louks will join the company as the president of the Devices and Emerging Solutions unit. He'll report directly to CEO John Chen.

"Ron will focus on BlackBerry's long-term product road map, including hardware, software, and design, as well as the company's joint development efforts," Chen said in a statement. "A good deal of Ron's time will be spent with customers, carriers, and partners. On our path to return BlackBerry to profitability, nothing is more important than remaining deeply connected to our customers and designing and delivering secure products that exceed their expectations."

Louks was previously CEO for The OpenNMS Group and held roles as chief strategy officer for HTC America and chief technology officer for Sony Ericsson.

In December, BlackBerry announced the hiring of former SAP executive John Sims as the head of its Global Enterprise Services division

HP debuts its Z1 G2, a 27-inch touch-screen workstation

The Intel-powered machine, announced at CES, can pivot for easier touch control and optionally includes Thunderbolt 2 ports.

HP's Z1 G2 workstation features a 27-inch touch screen.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

Hewlett-Packard announced its the Z1 G2 workstation, a model with a 27-inch display that brings touch-screen technology to this corner of the high-end computing market.

The Z1 G2 is somewhat similar to the 2012-era Z1, an all-in-one design with the processor, memory, and other computing components housed behind the screen. Both can be pivoted so the screen is flat, something particularly useful with the G2 so people get better touch control.

Like other new HP workstations, the Z1 G2 also includes Intel's high-speed Thunderbolt connections, which are useful for external storage, monitors, and other data-intensive tasks. Unlike those previous models, though, the new machine uses Thunderbolt 2.0 -- and makes it an optional upgrade.The starting price of the Intel-powered machine is $2000, HP said Monday at CES 2014. It'll ship in late January.

Workstations are higher-end, higher-priced machines typically used for tasks such as video editing, computer-aided design and engineering, and scientific simulations.