Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora - Black Widow

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Ola Jordan flashes nipples in see-through top - see the pictures

Strictly Come Dancing star leaves little to the imagination as she steps out for the Radio Times Cover Stars party with hubby James.

OLA Jordan clearly isn't a fan of wearing a bra, as she proved whilst stepping out for a night out on the town with her hubby James, on Tuesday evening.

The Strictly Come Dancing star flaunted her toned dancer's figure in a sheer top, as she arrived at the Radio Times Cover Stars party at the plush Claridges hotel.

Her svelte body wasn't the only thing she paraded, as the 30-year-old's nipples were on display for the entire world to feast their eyes on.

Despite Ola suffering a seriously embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, the Polish dancer oozed body confidence as she beamed with smiles for the camera.

The blonde beauty finished off her racy ensemble with a black mini skirt and a pair of stockings which showed off her enviable pins.

Ola was honoured at the star studded event, with a framed copy of the SCD September 2013 cover edition of the Radio Times.

Beautiful Places In Singapore

Beautiful Places In Singapore

Premier League - Sanchez connection excites Walcott

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott believes he and Alexis Sanchez can form a potent partnership that will strike fear into opposition defences next season.

Sanchez joined the Gunners for a fee in the region of £35 million from Barcelona, where he scored 47 goals in 141 appearances.

The 25-year-old forward also scored two goals for Chile at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.

"Sanchez is a world-class player and I enjoyed watching him play for Barcelona and for Chile at the World Cup," Walcott told Arsenal Player.

"He's still very young as well and he is going to show so much pace and power, which we lacked a bit last year.

"With me and him on the flanks, a lot of teams won't be looking forward to playing Arsenal this year."

The signing of Sanchez represents something of a coup for Arsenal, who splashed out £42.4m on Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil last year.

Walcott believes both transfers demonstrate the ambition of the club and admits he is excited to see who else will be brought in.

"There's a great buzz around the club at the moment," Walcott said.

"He is a marquee signing and something that the club has pushed on to - first you had Mesut Ozil and now it is Alexis Sanchez. Who knows where it is going to stop?

"It is great to learn from these players, and I cannot wait to play alongside him. I am really looking forward to it."

Walcott is returning to fitness after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Arsenal's FA Cup third-round victory against Tottenham in January.

The England winger refused to set a date for his comeback but insists he is pleased with the progress he has made.

"The knee is going really well, I am doing some good stuff with the physios and fitness coaches and we have worked really hard throughout the summer," Walcott said,

"Things are looking really good and I have worked very hard for the last five months now.

"The most important thing is getting the strength back and it has pretty much nearly healed - it is just about building up that stability and strength again.

"It is coming along nicely and I am really pleased."

Premier League - Markovic set to complete £20m Liverpool deal

Liverpool are set to complete their fourth signing of the summer with the capture of Lazar Markovic.

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Lazar Markovic Benfica (Reuters)

The Benfica winger has been on Merseyside to undergo a medical and Press Association Sport a deal is likely to be finalised on Tuesday.

His arrival will take Rodgers' spending close to £60 million after Liverpool triggered the 20-year-old's £20m release clause just a year after the Serbian moved to Portugal.

Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Emre Can have already been added to the squad while negotiations are continuing in an attempt to sign Belgium's Lille striker Divock Origi.

Rodgers is looking to strengthen further following the £75m departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, which is expected to be completed later this week.

Sevilla have also confirmed they have agreed to take Liverpool forward Iago Aspas on loan for the season.

Premier League - Man Utd 'go to war' over £34m Vidal

Premier League - Paper Round: Man Utd 'go to war' over £34m Vidal

Manchester United are refusing to meet Arturo Vidal's price tag, but two other big names could be coming to Old Trafford - all the stories from the morning's papers.

United 'go to war' over top target: Flush after announcing a new world record £750m kit deal with adidas (which actually comes into effect in 2015), Manchester United are still refusing to pay an excessive amount for top midfield target Arturo Vidal, who is valued at £34 million by employers Juventus. As reported by the Mirror: "United have warned their interest could go cold as it is understood they believe Italian champions Juve, who need to sell either Vidal or fellow midfielder Paul Pogba to balance their books, may be using them to try to start a bidding war for Vidal."

Three alternatives to Sami Khedira for Arsenal

Arsenal have already achieved some fantastic business this summer having secured the signing of Alexis Sanchez - further evidence of their new heavy spending policy - but it would appear that they could be set to miss out on one of their other top targets ahead of the new season.

A defensive midfielder has been at the top of their list as they see it as the missing piece of their puzzle to launch a serious title bid, and Real Madrid's Sami Khedira was thought to be the target identified to do that role for Arsene Wenger's men.

However, wage demands of a reported £150k per week have scuppered those hopes, and Wenger must now look elsewhere to find the man best equipped to anchor his midfield going into the new campaign, with a move for the World Cup winner appearing dead in the water now.

With Khedira having failed to win any of his 13 contested tackles for Germany at the summer showpiece event, one wonders if he would have been the right choice for Arsenal anyway to shore up their midfield, so we at Squawka have looked at three other targets Wenger should consider as alternatives for the Champions League and World Cup winner.

Premier League - Chelsea complete Diego Costa signing

Chelsea have confirmed that they have completed the signing of Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid on a five-year deal.

Jose Mourinho's Blues announced on July 1 that they had met the Brazilian-born striker's release clause and that he would join them in the coming weeks.

Costa, who represented Spain in a woeful World Cup, has now completed his move to Stamford Bridge and will join his new teammates at their training camp next week.

Chelsea announced the news on their website. A statement read: "Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce Diego Costa has today completed his transfer from Atletico Madrid by signing a five-year contract.

"He will join up with the first team for our pre-season European training camp next week."

The 25-year-old expressed his joy at joining the London-based outfit following the announcement of deal.

"I am very happy to sign for Chelsea. Everybody knows it is a big club in a very competitive league, and I am very excited to get started in England with a fantastic coach and team-mates. Having played against Chelsea last season I know the high quality of the squad I am joining," Costa told Chelsea's website.

"I would like to thank everybody at Atletico who made me into the player I am, it was an incredible time for me, but now I am starting a new adventure and I hope to win many trophies with Chelsea."

Premier League - Chelsea accept £8m Besiktas offer for Demba Ba

Chelsea striker Demba Ba looks set for a move to Besiktas in Turkey after the two clubs agreed a fee for the striker.

Despite scoring crucial goals against Liverpool, Swansea and Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season, the Senegalese striker struggled to earn a regular place in Jose Mourinho's matchday plans.

Now with the arrival of £32m signing Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid and the possible return of Romelu Lukaku from loan, he has been deemed surplus to requirements.

"Demba Ba is an excellent player, we have been in talks with Chelsea for a long time over bringing him to Istanbul," confirmed the Turkish club's president Fikret Orman.

"Talks are ongoing. Chelsea initially wanted £10 million for Ba but we have negotiated a price we are happy with. We'll tell the media once the final deal is done."

Ba heavily hinted at a potential move to Besiktas earlier in the summer when he posted a picture of their fans on his Instagram page.

Besiktas are currently coached by former West Ham and Everton star Slaven Bilic and finished third in the Turkish League last season.

City need to get rid of ‘sour apple’ Toure to become a great side

Manchester City have a limited budget due to FFP but they are still bringing in a couple of players in and getting their business done earlier and quietly. That's what the great teams do – they 'top-up' after having had a good season. City look to be following the model that Manchester United used under Sir Alex Ferguson but they need to win back-to-back titles to be considered a truly great Premier League team. Then nobody can question them.

The big question mark for them though has to be Yaya Toure. At the end of the day, they don’t need a sour apple in the barrel. City have reached a level where they have to be bigger than any one individual and it is one player who is causing problems – he has to go.

His actions since the season has finished are the actions of a man who wants to leave. What he is doing now is the same as what he did at Barcelona – it is just the excuses that are different. He always seems to be chasing money so what City need to do is turn around and say to him: 'Fine, you can go.'

Barcelona got rid of him, and it didn't do them any harm. City have a couple of ex-Barcelona men upstairs now so they should know exactly what he's about.

Of course Toure is one of the best at what he does but he is not irreplaceable. City can go out and get a different style of player. It is like when Manchester United replaced Bryan Robson with Roy Keane.

City need to do something similar because they need a happy camp. The reason why they didn't go back-to-back the last time is because the manager upset some of the players.

Again, City just have to look at what their neighbours did when they were successful. If Yaya Toure behaved as he did under Sir Alex he would have gone – simply as that.

Fergie let some big names go, and was always questioned for it, but he would then win the title the next season. He never kept bad apples at the club - he got rid of them before they  had a chance to infect the barrel.

Alves’ Barca future in doubt following City celebration

Dani Alves could be on his way out of Barcelona after raising the ire of the club with the way he celebrated his goal against Manchester City.

Alves’ dance to mark the second goal of the 2-1 win was criticised by some of his teammates, AS reports, in the locker room after the final whistle.

The full-back’s contract has 12 months to run and Alves could seek to leave Barca either this summer or next, the newspaper says.

He also exchanged words with some of the Camp Nou supporters, calling for more backing from the stands.

It isn’t the first time Alves’ celebrations have been rounded on by his teammates as Carles Puyol disapproved of a celebration during the 7-0 win over Rayo Vallecano, when Alves was joined by Thiago Alcantara.

No Barca player danced with Alves on Wednesday although Neymar did join in with his compatriot when Alves celebrated scoring against City in the first leg, as he did during this season’s 6-0 win over Rayo.

Alves’ contract is thought to expire in 2015 and it is said that he is considering leaving La Liga in order to experience a new league, having only played in Brazil and Spain.

The World Cup has been described as Alves’ chance to attract suitors and Barca would prefer him to leave this summer so they receive a fee, but AS points out that if Alves leaves on a free transfer, he can command a bigger pay packet for himself.

Nasri: We'll benefit from loss

Samir Nasri believes Manchester City will emerge a stronger team from their disappointment in Barcelona.

City bowed out of the Champions League as they slipped to a 4-1 aggregate defeat to the Spanish champions with a 2-1 loss at the Nou Camp.

City did rise to the occasion and applied pressure as they sought to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit, but a 67th-minute strike from the brilliant Lionel Messi effectively ended their challenge.

They battled on, even after the sending off of Pablo Zabaleta in the 78th minute, but Vincent Kompany's late equaliser proved mere consolation and was immediately cancelled out by Dani Alves in the last minute.

Barca were the better side but City can take encouragement from their performance and, after premature exits at the group stage in the past two seasons, progress is being made.

France playmaker Nasri said: "I think we played a good game. I think we did everything we could.

"We can have regrets about the first leg - it is in the first leg we lost it - but here we did everything.

"I think this defeat is going to be good for us in the future.

"This is where you get experience and get much stronger as a team and a group. Next year our target is to be up there with the best."

City were aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty in the second half when substitute Edin Dzeko was clipped by Gerard Pique.

To compound matters, Zabaleta was dismissed for taking his complaints too far in the protests that followed.

Those incidents, however, could be considered to have redressed the balance somewhat after Barca were also denied a penalty and had a goal harshly disallowed for offside in the first half.

With the red card, refereeing controversies and Barcelona goalscorers being the same, the match mirrored the first leg in many ways.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini could only watch from the stands as he began his touchline ban for his outspoken attack on the referee in Manchester last month.

Nasri said: "Once again, we did not have any help from the officials so it is a little bit difficult.

"But our only regret is we didn't play the first leg like we did here.

"In the first leg if we had attacked them from the start, pressed them like we did here we could have had better chance to go through."

City may have won the Capital One Cup earlier this month but, after Sunday's FA Cup loss to Wigan, they have now gone out of two other competitions in the past four days.

They now face a catch-up job in the Barclays Premier League having fallen nine points behind leaders Chelsea while concentrating on cup football over the past three weeks.

Nasri, 26, said: "We don't have a choice. Now our target is to win the league.

"I think here we showed we have the quality to be up there with the best teams in Europe.

"We came here to play. I don't think you are going to see that many teams come to Camp Nou and have that much possession, that many attempts on target.

"It is a good thing for us. It is important now to finish the season well and win the league."

City are back in action at Hull at midday on Saturday.

They are awaiting an update on the injury sustained by top scorer Sergio Aguero in the first half at the Nou Camp.

The Argentina striker felt a twinge in his hamstring early in the match and, having only recently returned from a five-game lay-off with problems in that muscle, was withdrawn at half-time.

Assistant manager Ruben Cousillas, who called the shots on the touchline in Pellegrini's absence, said the move was precautionary.

He said: "Apparently it is nothing serious, he felt some kind of pain in his muscle.

"It is more a precaution, but we are doing some tests to assess it.

"It will be up to the medical staff who determine the extent of the injury, so we cannot speculate about this."

Van Persie: I want to stay at Man United

Robin van Persie has insisted he wants to stay with Manchester United.

Recent speculation has linked the Dutch international with a move away from Old Trafford, suggesting he is unhappy.

However, Van Persie has refuted the rumours and claimed he would be happy to sign a new deal with the Barclays Premier League champions. His current contract runs until summer 2016.

He told United Review, the club's official programme: " I don't mind if my performances get dissected and people criticise what I've done on the pitch. They can talk about my game 24/7 for all I care...and a lot of those opinions and criticisms may actually be right. So I don't mind that.

"What I need to address are the situations when people are taking it upon themselves to think for me, make assumptions, or interpret things as if they are me.

"Last time I checked my head was still attached to my body, so I'm the only one who knows exactly what I'm feeling and that is not what I or the fans have been reading.

"The truth is I'm very happy here at this club. I signed for four years and I'd be delighted to stay even longer, beyond the next two years I have left on my contract.

"This is how I feel, although it's not what has been suggested in the media."

Arsenal's Ozil out for 'three to six weeks'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed record signing Mesut Ozil will be out for 'three to six weeks' with a hamstring injury.

The Germany international - a £42million buy from Real Madrid last summer - suffered the problem during Tuesday's 1-1 last-16 draw at Bayern Munich which saw Arsenal exit the Champions League.

Wenger confirmed Ozil would definitely be out of Sunday's north London derby with Tottenham, but was not able to put a specific time frame on recovery.

"We lose Ozil, who has been injured for Sunday, I don't know how long he will be out but it looks a minimum of three weeks," Wenger said at Friday morning's press conference.

"When the minimum is three, (then) the maximum is six. I am not specialist enough to know, it is a grade two hamstring (tear), so let's say four weeks."

Midfielder Aaron Ramsey's return from a thigh injury has been delayed, and England international Jack Wilshere is sidelined with a broken foot.

Sweden international Kim Kallstrom could be in contention for his debut after signing on loan from Spartak Moscow with a back injury while full-back Nacho Monreal is also available again.

Wenger added: "It is of course a blow, but I am confident we have the quality to deal without him (Ozil). We have many creative players who can take over to produce quality performances."

Kim Kardashian's boob leaks…on TV

North West's mum 'weirds out' brother Rob as she lactates on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

YOU would think there would be some aspects of Kim Kardashian's life she'd want to keep away from the cameras. 

But, judging by the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, it turns out there's not.

Nope, North West's mum went to new levels of intimacy when she allowed her reality show to air clips of her lactating - that's right, leaking from her boob.

As she sat with her siblings Rob and Khloe Kardashian, the 33-year-old proved she really is only human when her right breast sprung a leak. 

Failing to notice the dribble, her sister was forced to tell her: "Your boob is, like, leaking out of control! It is like a water fountain.

But it was all too much for Rob, who walked out saying: "What the f*** - that weirds me out, for real. That just weirded me out."

As Kimmy-K looked down to see the wet patch on her thin grey vest top, she casually rearranged her cleavage and shoved tissue down the other side of her shirt. 

Sanchez: Vidal perfect for Barcelona

Alexis Sanchez has claimed that Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal would a perfect fit for the Blaugrana.

The Chile international has been constantly linked with a move away from Turin, with both the Catalan giants and Real Madrid rumoured to be keen.

And Sanchez has insisted that his countryman would be the perfect type of player for his team.

“Arturo would be perfect for Barcelona,” Sanchez is quoted as saying by CalcioNews24.

“He is the player that we need, he has great qualities and I would be extremely happy if he ended up here in Spain.”

Fiorentina's Joaquin misses Juventus clash

Fiorentina have named their squad for the Europa League clash with Juventus on Thursday, and will be without Joaquin.

The Viola travel to Turin this week for the first leg of their Last 16 clash, just four days after their League loss.

However, they will do so without the Spanish winger, who has picked up a thigh injury in training this week.

Alessandro Matri has been called up to face his old side with Mario Gomez also in the travelling squad.

Fiorentina squad for Juventus: Ambrosini, Aquilani, Borja Valero, Bakic, Bertolacci, Compper, Cuadrado, Fernandez, Gomez, Ilicic, Matri, Neto, Pasqual, Pizarro, Rodriguez, Roncaglia, Rosati, Ryder, Savic, Tomovic, Vargas.

AC Milan want to be in Europa league, says Galliani

AC Milan's chief executive has scuppered suggestions that the seven-times European champions do not want to take part in next year's Europa League.

"Qualifying for the Europa League will be our target from now until the end of the season," Adriano Galliani told Milan's television channel.

"We must beat Parma on Sunday which will put us five points behind them. Milan have always been in Europe in the last few years and we want that to continue.

"It's not true that Milan don't want to take part in the Europa League."

Milan were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after losing 4-1 to Atletico Madrid and have only a mathematical chance of qualifying for the flagship competition next season.

They are 10th in Serie A with 35 points, nine behind Inter Milan who are in fifth which is the final Europa League spot.

Parma are sixth with 43.

Neymar frustrating for Barcelona while Messi stars

With Lionel Messi firing on all cylinders again, Barcelona's Champions League challenge is very much alive but coach Gerardo Martino would be much happier if marquee signing Neymar was not on such patchy form.

Messi scored his eighth goal in five appearances in the latest edition of Europe's elite club competition in Wednesday's 2-1 win at home to Manchester City, which sent the Spanish champions through to the quarter-finals for the seventh straight season, 4-1 on aggregate.

It was a typically brilliant piece of skill from the Argentina forward as he dinked the ball over City goalkeeper Joe Hart in the 67th minute, his 28th goal of the season during which he has spent two months on the sidelines with a thigh injury.

Neymar started the last 16, second leg match at the Nou Camp instead of Alexis Sanchez and Pedro, who have both been on good form this term, but the Brazil forward squandered the chances that came his way and turned in a generally disappointing performance before making way for Alexis 10 minutes from time.

Out for several weeks in late January and early February with a twisted ankle, Neymar has only scored once for Barca since the turn of the year, the sixth goal in a 6-0 La Liga drubbing of minnows Rayo Vallecano.

It is hard not to think that the controversy surrounding his move from Santos in the close season, which has prompted charges of misappropriation of funds and tax evasion, and the pressure of playing for one of the world's richest clubs are having some effect on the 22-year-old.

It must also be perplexing for Martino that Neymar can head off on international duty and net a hat-trick in a friendly against South Africa this month but fail to step up when he pulls on the Barca shirt.

Martino defended Neymar at his post-match news conference on Wednesday and noted the player was still working his way back after the ankle injury.

"Neymar made a big contribution to the team and did some great work helping in defence," the Argentine told reporters.

"In the first half he had two good chances and the process of rejoining the team means he still can't manage the 90 minutes."

However, Barca did not buy Neymar to help out in defence and they will be expecting more from him as the season enters a crucial phase with the club still alive in all three competitions they are contesting.

Chasing a fifth La Liga title in six years, they are four points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid in third and play at their arch rivals on March 23.

The Champions League quarter-finals, where they could be drawn against Real, are at the start of April and they meet them again in the final of the King's Cup on April 16.

Barca slipped to third in La Liga behind Atletico Madrid last weekend after a shock 1-0 defeat at Real Valladolid and anything other than a win at home to Osasuna on Sunday could see them drop out of the domestic title race.

There have been plenty of doubts about their style of play this season, in particular surrounding the defence, which has been vulnerable in the air from set-plays.

It has been a difficult first year in charge for Martino, who arrived with his own ideas and felt that the team needed to have more in its armoury than just their typical short-passing football.

He has tried several different styles looking to make the team more direct, including interchanging long and short balls and switching possession from different wings.

However, a number of lacklustre displays have added to the sense that Barca are a club in decline after a spectacular run of success under former coach Pep Guardiola.

"The team has had ups and downs and we are coming to this point in the season with less calm than we wanted," Martino said. "In Valladolid we were lacking in football not in intensity.

"In the same way that we put on a poor show there, today we turned that around."

Bartra to sign new Barcelona deal

Marc Bartra will next week put pen to paper on a new contract that ties him to Barcelona until the summer of 2017.

The club’s official website has confirmed that the defender’s new contract includes a release fee of €25m.

Bartra made his Barca debut as a right back under Pep Guardiola in 2010, having come through the academy at La Masia following a short spell at Espanyol.

He has featured more regularly in the first team this season under Tata Martino, to date making 20 appearances in all competitions.

The deal will be formally completed on March 18.

 Bayern president Hoeness jailed for three-and-a-half years for tax evasion

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison after being found guilty of tax evasion.

Prosecutors had argued that Hoeness's voluntary disclosure - that he had failed to pay taxes - was incomplete and thus did not meet a vital requirement needed for amnesty under German tax laws designed to encourage tax evaders to come clean.

Hoeness has admitted he evaded 27.2 million euros (£22.7m) in taxes on income earned in secret Swiss bank accounts but the 62-year-old was hoping for leniency in one of the most closely watched tax evasion cases in German history.

"The voluntary disclosure is not valid with the documents that were presented alone," said the judge.

Hoeness, 62, bowed his head and stared at the floor when the verdict was delivered, his face turning red.

The case hinged on the question whether Hoeness, who as a player helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup, fully cooperated with his voluntary disclosure. It shocked the nation and prompted thousands of tax dodgers to turn themselves in.

Prosecutors originally charged Hoeness with evading 3.5m in taxes. But on the first day of the trial Hoeness stunned the court by admitting he had actually evaded five times that amount - or 18.5m.

That figure was raised even further to 27.2m on the second day of the trial when a tax inspector testified that the amount was higher. Hoeness's defence team acknowledged the higher figure.

Hoeness apologised to the court and pleaded for leniency.

"I deeply regret my wrongdoing," he said on Monday. "I'm doing everything I can to put this unhappy chapter behind me."

Tax evasion is a serious crime in Germany. Peter Graf, the late father of tennis champion Steffi Graf, was sentenced in 1997 to three years and nine months for evading 12.3m marks (6.3m euros). He was released after 25 months.

Hoeness, once one of Germany's most admired football administrators, voluntarily alerted tax authorities in January 2013 about his bank account and undeclared income. He said the Swiss account was a personal account created for financial market trades.

Some 55,000 tax evaders have turned themselves in over the last four years and paid a total of about 3.5bn euros in back taxes, according to the taxpayers association. The number of voluntary disclosures rose four-fold in 2013 from 2012.

Hoeness had been a friend of Chancellor Angela Merkel and a popular TV talk show guest. He spoke out for higher taxes and railed against tax evasion. His case has led to calls to change German laws that allow tax evaders to avoid prosecution if they turn themselves in before an investigation starts.

Manuel Neuer: Not quite the best keeper in the world

"He's the most complete goalkeeper worldwide," said Andreas Koepke of Manuel Neuer this week, the German national team goalkeeping coach gushing in his praise of the young man he gets to work with intermittently for their country. But is he really the world's best custodian?

There is little doubt the Gelsenkirchen-Buer-born Neuer has more than one outsized, begloved hand in the success of Bayern Munich, just as - at times - he cradled his hometown club, Schalke, in his grasp, lifting them to heights - such as their March 2011 Pokal win at Bayern - they otherwise would not have scaled.

It is hard to believe Schalke almost rejected him, only finally accepting to take him on after he was asked how tall his parents were. With a father measuring 1.89m and his mother coming in at 1.74m, the potential packed within Neuer's genes helped convince the club they should take a gamble.

That, though, is all too frequently what Neuer does: gamble.

An illustrious predecessor in the Bayern goal, Oliver Kahn, said that "when Manuel was at Schalke, I often thought it was madness the way he interpreted the goalkeeper's role." That came after his rick against Kazakhstan in last March's World Cup qualifier, a high-profile gaffe in a list rather too lengthy for someone of Neuer's renown. Remember his Bayern debut? I bet Igor De Camargo does, given an ill-advised, poorly judged sortie by Neuer allowed the Belgium international to give Borussia Moenchengladbach a rare victory in Bavaria.

"Of course mistakes happen in the course of a career," stated Joachim Loew in a Kicker feature on Neuer. That is true, of course. I remember my jaw dropping when the previously infallible Petr Cech gifted Turkey passage through to the EURO 2008 quarter-finals at the Czechs' expense, just as I was preparing to pack my bags and follow the Chelsea keeper and cohorts to Vienna for a last-eight tie. But Cech's errors are - at least it seems to me - far fewer in quantity and lower in profile than those of his German colleague.

For example, even though Lukas Podolski's strike at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday had little consequence ultimately, Neuer hardly looked "complete" as he was beaten at his near post. Though Cech is not perhaps the immovable force he once was, is he really less of a presence than Neuer? What about Thibaut Courtois? David de Gea (admittedly no stranger to a gaffe himself)? Hugo Lloris?

Perhaps where Neuer does have the upper hand on some of his colleagues is, ironically, in the use of his feet. The fact was illustrated in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal, highlighting the importance of Neuer to Bayern beyond the realm of shot-stopping. He did not actually touch the ball with his hands until the 18th minute, when he claimed a corner with a dictatorial authority that can only be a massive confidence boost to his back four. But more importantly, he superbly fulfilled what is "asked of modern goalkeepers, to take on the role of libero", as Loew put it.

While Lukasz Fabianski was unsure and wayward in his kicking, Neuer was sure-footed and largely unerring, true to UEFA's stats that have him as the goalkeeper with the most passes attempted and the highest completion rate at an impressive 82 per cent. With Neuer almost as adroit as his outfield colleagues - "he could play outfield," claimed Loew's assistant Hansi Flick in the Kicker article - he is a potent pawn in Pep Guardiola's plan to press opponents high up the pitch. With Neuer emerging readily from his goal, the entire Bayern XI starts play 10 metres deeper into opponents' territory.

It is those sorties, however, that can get him into trouble, and the highlight reel errors are perhaps the price to pay for the modern goalkeeper. Before you get on your high horse, let me say there is little doubt Neuer is a prodigious talent, and - as Loew pointed out - "exudes an unbelievable aura". That was evident on Tuesday when, with Arsenal pressing 10 minutes from time, Neuer came to imperiously claim another corner, and with that catch, all but ended the contest, sucking - as it did - the wind from the visitors' sails.

But "the most complete goalkeeper in the world"? This particular one-man jury remains out.