Seydou Keita: Mali midfielder born to wear the captain’s armband

When Fabio Capello accepted the role as England manager he could not have foreseen the messy affair that selecting a player to pull on a small elasticated piece of cloth over his shirt sleeve would become. From Rome to Madrid, the Italian had never experienced such scrutiny over the captaincy and ironically it would be that very issue that would lead the former Juventus, Real Madrid and Milan coach to walk out on his lucrative deal with England.

Roy Hodgson dropping Shelvey, Sterling and Zaha is the real news on transfer deadline day

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cast an eye over BBC Sport more than once on January 31st, but the circus that Sky has now created on the last day that football clubs can sign up players until the end of the season ensures any real football news gets buried in the incessant transfer speculation and interviews conducted through car windows.