Marseille (AFP) – France World Cup winner Adil Rami has been left out of the Marseille squad for the pre-season tour of the US, the club announced on Tuesday. Rami, 33, was already the subject of a club disciplinary procedure by the Ligue 1 side. The decision followed the appearance of the World Cup winning […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos is close to joining Arsenal on a season-long loan, Spanish media reported on Tuesday. Newspaper Marca said the 22-year-old would head to north London "without an option to buy", and the Gunners "would be responsible for 100% of the player's salary, which is about three million euros […]

Yokohama (Japan) (AFP) – Chelsea legend Frank Lampard said Tuesday he won't be looking backwards as he takes on possibly the biggest challenge of his career: managing his former team. Speaking in Japan where the Blues are playing two friendlies, Lampard said he was "very happy" with his squad but expects to work the team […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Former South African footballer Marc Batchelor was shot dead in an apparent targeted killing on Monday evening as he drove home in Johannesburg, police said. "He was driving to his house and he was accosted by two guys on a motorcycle," police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini told AFP. "They fired shots at him […]

Perth (Australia) (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Tuesday he was optimistic that goalkeeper David De Gea would sign a new deal to remain at Old Trafford as Manchester United prepared to face old rivals Leeds in Perth. United's pre-season tour of Australia has been overshadowed speculation over the futures of several stars, including De […]

Paris (AFP) – Defender Matthijs de Ligt has agreed to join Juventus, Dutch and Italian media reported on Monday, but it was not clear whether the Turin club had yet agreed a fee with Ajax. Reports said that the 19-year-old Dutch international, who captained Ajax to the semifinals of the Champions League, had agreed personal […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Everton said on Monday that they have signed England midfielder Fabian Delph from Manchester City on a three-year deal. Everton did not say how much they had paid for the 29-year-old England international, who joined City from Aston Villa in 2015. Delph played 89 games for City, winning two Premier League medals. […]

Monaco (AFP) – Montpellier goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte has joined Monaco on a five-year deal, the Principality club announced on Monday. Lecomte, 28, who was part of coach Didier Deschamps' most recent France squad in June but did not feature has played 194 Ligue 1 matches since his debut for former club Lorient. According to sources […]

London (AFP) – A group of influential Arsenal supporters' organisations, fanzines and blogs have joined forces to call for better leadership of the club and have hit out at Stan Kroenke's "passive ownership". A total of 16 signatories, including the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, published a statement on Monday demanding change as the Gunners prepare for […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona announced on Monday they had completed the signing of young Japan winger Hiroki Abe from the Kashima Antlers of the J-League. The Catalan club said they had paid 1.1 million euros ($1.25 million) for the 20-year-old and assigned him to their reserve team, which plays in the third-tier Spanish Segunda B. […]

Rome (AFP) – Aaron Ramsey says that he wants to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and Juventus hero John Charles after the Welshman was unveiled at the Serie A club on Monday. Ramsey will have a tough task emulating Charles, who died in 2004 at the age of 72, as the former Leeds United […]

Cairo (AFP) – Gernot Rohr believes Nigeria will be stronger for their experience at this year's Africa Cup of Nations after his side suffered a painful, last-gasp defeat to Algeria in the semi-finals. Nigeria looked to be heading into extra time against a team that required penalties to overcome Ivory Coast just three days earlier, but […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Iker Casillas will join the Porto staff while he recovers from the heart attack he suffered two months ago, the Spanish goalkeeper and Portuguese club announced on Monday. In a statement, Porto said Casillas will be the "liason between the players, coach and management", a role that could be extended to other […]

Paris (AFP) – Neymar showed up for training at Paris Saint-Germain on Monday, according to French media reports, a week late and days after controversially claiming his best football memory was beating PSG when he played for Barcelona. A video posted on the website of leading sports daily L'Equipe showed the 27-year-old Brazilian — his […]

Barcelona (AFP) – French striker Antoine Griezmann trained with his new Barcelona teammates for the first time on Monday following his controversial move from Atletic Madrid last week. "The first of two sessions scheduled for the day was completed by all available first team players, including the newest incorporations, Frenkie de Jong, Neto, and Antoine […]