Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho must decide whether now is the time to recall Zlatan Ibrahimovic to his starting line-up as Manchester United prepare to visit West Brom in the Premier League on Sunday. The former Paris Saint-Germain striker has played 73 minutes in five substitute appearances since returning from cruciate knee ligament […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – A far-right Brazilian party on Friday denied reports that World Cup-winning footballer Ronaldinho is to be one of its candidates in elections for the Senate. "There is no agreement between the party and Ronaldinho for him to launch a bid for a Senate seat," the party, Patriota, said. Patriota is […]

Paris (AFP) – Reigning French champions Monaco eased past struggling Saint-Etienne 4-0 on Friday to stay on PSG's tail with the highly coveted Fabinho and Thomas Lemar among the scorers. Djibril Sidibe curled in the opener after Keita Balde shot was blocked and Thomas Lemar — the target of a bid by Arsenal in the […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho will allow any unhappy fringe player to leave Manchester United in the January transfer window, which will spark speculation over the futures of the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Mourinho adopted the same policy in the last winter transfer window when he agreed to requests from Morgan Schneiderlin and […]

London (AFP) – A wonderful strike by Portuguese star Ruben Neves was sufficient to see Wolverhampton Wanderers beat an unlucky Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 on Friday and extend their lead at the top of the Championship. The 20-year-old — the most expensive player in the second tier with Wolves paying nigh on £16 million ($21.3 million) […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Friday warned the rest of the Premier League that his runaway leaders still have room to get even better. City set a new English top-flight record on Wednesday with a 16th successive win as they beat Swansea City 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium. They […]

Madrid (AFP) – The governing body of world football (FIFA) confirmed on Friday that it has written to the Spanish federation (RFEF) warning they could be suspended form the 2018 World Cup because of political interference. Earlier in the day Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Spain had received "no such letter from FIFA." The issue […]

London (AFP) – Christian Benteke admitted he let his Crystal Palace team-mates down by missing a penalty he should not by rights have taken in the 2-2 draw with fellow Premier League strugglers Bournemouth last Saturday. The 27-year-old Belgian international — who is yet to score in 12 appearances this season — should have let […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Kyle Walker has been told by Pep Guardiola he is physically one of the best full-backs in the world, but needs to improve his football brain to maintain his form into his thirties. The 27-year-old Manchester City full-back has enjoyed an excellent season since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur in July […]

Lausanne (AFP) – AC Milan face penalties from UEFA after European football's governing body said on Friday it had failed to strike a deal with the Italian club over its spending. Seven-time European champions Milan have run up losses of 255 million euros ($300 million) in the last three seasons, way above the 30 million […]

London (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp took issue on Friday with the notion that because Liverpool have drawn their last two games the "dark days are back" in terms of inconsistency. The 50-year-old German — whose side have drawn successive games against Everton and West Brom which dampened spirits followed a stunning 7-0 Champions League humbling […]

Paris (AFP) – Neymar, who made a three-day trip to Brazil earlier in the week, should be ready to play for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 this weekend, manager Unai Emery said on Friday. Neymar flew home to Brazil for three days because of a "family problem" and returned to France on Wednesday. French league […]

Stockholm (AFP) – Kim Kallstrom, who won 131 caps for Sweden, announced on Friday that he was hanging up his boots at the age of 35. The left-sided midfielder had returned to one of his first clubs, Djurgardens, in Stockholm, on a two-year deal before the recently completed Swedish season. Kallstrom won national league titles […]

Paris (AFP) – Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone admitted on Friday that French forward Antoine Griezmann would likely leave the club in the near future. The 26-year-old was heavily linked with a move in the close season, but with Atletico under a transfer ban, signed a new contract to stay until 2022. "Of course […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Friday warned the rest of the Premier League that his runaway leaders still have room to get even better. City set a new English top-flight record on Wednesday with a 16th successive win as they beat Swansea City 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium. They […]