Galatasaray take on Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League looking to beat the favourites to win the English league title.

Galatasaray managed to reach this stage after beating Juventus in very difficult circumstances in the final group match. However, Roberto Mancini has almost conceded defeat ahead of this encounter by saying that Chelsea are almost 80% certain to go through to the next round. A win for the blues in Turkey should be enough to see them through, although it has been a difficult place for English clubs to visit in recent years.

Roberto Mancini help Manchester City win the first Premier league title in their history, but he was sacked in the year after following their failure to win any trophy.

Now in charge of Galatasaray, the Italian has criticised his former club for talking with potential candidates before he was sacked. Mancini alleges that City were in talks with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola over the possibility of replacing the Italian. Manuel Pellegrini was ultimately chosen as a replacement, but he came to the club only in the summer.

Galatasaray’s season campaign so far has been a good one with consistent performances and good results that has allowed them on maintaining their spot in the top spots of the Turkish league. Roberto Mancini’s side has been linked with a number of players that might or might not be arriving in January.

The Turkish team has already displayed interest in signing Manchester United’s Alexander Buttner and Moyes is willing on letting him go if the price is right. Buttner has failed on making an impact with the team and has only made 2 appearances with United so far in this season.

Roberto Mancini enjoyed probably the best spell of his managerial career at Inter Milan by getting the club to numerous league titles. The former Manchester city manager recently took over at the Turkish club Galatasaray. At the same time, his former club Inter Milan have changed ownership after a long time.

Massimo Moratti, who has been the president of the club for almost 2 decades, will be stepping down after he sold a major stake in the club to Indonesian investors.

International Sports Capital have bought 70% of Inter Milan to become the major shareholders.

Former England international Scott Carson, who was seen as a long-term successor to Paul Robinson a few years ago, has said that he is now focused on getting Wigan back into the Premier league.

After spending the last two seasons at Turkish club Bursaspor, Carson has returned to English football with Wigan, who have just been relegated to the championship after several years in the Premier league. They are good football bets to make an immediate return though.

Gambling on the possible winners of the Premiership is difficult and risky at such an early stage of the season. That will not stop legions of football betting lovers hitting the bookies to see what odds are available on the different teams.

Most people see this season as being a straight fight between Chelsea and the two clubs from Manchester, and the bookmakers have them down as favourites. City are currently hot favourites at 7/4, with Chelsea second at 11/5 and Manchester United behind them at 3/1, so who should you bet on?

Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder has revealed that he is still in touch with Portuguese manager José Mourinho, who recently took over at Chelsea.

The 28-year-old has been linked with a move to the Premier league outfit in recent weeks. He is someone who had a great relationship with Mourinho when he was in charge of Inter Milan.

Juventus and Galatasaray have both been disappointed with their efforts to sign Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong.

The European Cup winner is out of favour at Manchester City, as he has often found himself playing second fiddle to the likes of Gareth Barry, and Yaya Toure. As a result, there has been talk of him moving in search of new pastures, especially as his contract is coming to a close soon, with many fans sticking football bets on him to be playing elsewhere come the end of the transfer window.

New Swansea signing Wilfried Bony has said that he wants to become the Didier Drogba for Swansea. The Ivory Coast international was recently signed for a club record transfer fee of £ 12 million after weeks of negotiations with Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem and has been made on of the favourites to win the Golden Boot this season on the online betting sites.

Galatasaray have dropped out of the running to sign Manchester United winger Nani due to the transfer fee demands of the English club.

It is understood that Manchester United value the player at close to £ 10 million, and Galatasaray seeing this as an exorbitant transfer fee for a player who has just 12 months left on his contract. Galatasaray will be able to sign the Portuguese winger on a free transfer if they wait only for six months because the winger will be able to negotiate terms with a foreign club from January.

Galatasaray have been one of the big spending clubs – at least in terms of salary – over the last few transfer windows. They have managed to bring in stars like Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba. Even though many consider them to be past their prime, it is still a great achievement for Turkish football to have their services. Nani has been deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, and the Portuguese winger is confident that his situation will not change even after the arrival of David Moyes.

The signing of Zaha has all but confirmed an exit for Nani, but it seems that he will not be heading to Turkey at least in the summer.

"We offered seven million euros (£6million) for him. But they didn't accept. We can't give more than this. We are not going to follow Nani anymore. We can't give more than seven million euros for him. They want 10 million euros (£8.5million). Because of this he is not on our transfer list anymore," said the Galatasaray Chief Executive. Nani managed to score only three goals last season, which was not a good return for a player who cost in excess of £ 25 million a few years ago. He was also sent off in the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.