Barcelona (AFP) – A leading Barcelona board member claimed Liverpool set an asking price of 200 million euros ($238 million) for midfielder Philippe Coutinho as the Catalan giants criticised the rampant inflation in the football transfer market on Saturday. Albert Soler, Barca's director of institutional relations, said the club's under-fire board would not put the […]

Abuja (AFP) – Nigeria have received clearance from FIFA for Chelsea defender Ola Aina to make his international debut in the World Cup qualifier against Cameroon on Monday. Coach Gernot Rohr said Aina, who can play at right-back or left-back, could now line up in Yaounde as the Super Eagles look for a second victory […]

Mexico City (AFP) – Mexico became the fifth team to guarantee their place at the 2018 World Cup on Friday as the United States crashed to defeat at home to Costa Rica to place their qualification campaign in jeopardy. A Hirving Lozano header on 53 minutes was enough to give Mexico a 1-0 win over […]

Madrid (AFP) – In contrast to the lavish spending of England's Premier League clubs and French giants Paris Saint-Germain, Spain's transfer window closed on Friday with La Liga teams posting a healthy profit. Collectively, Spanish clubs emerged from a fervent few months in the transfer market in the black thanks to the huge sales of […]

Harrison (United States) (AFP) – Costa Rica striker Marco Urena scored twice to leave the United States' World Cup qualification hopes in jeopardy here Friday as the 2014 quarter-finalists grabbed a 2-0 away victory. San Jose Earthquakes forward Urena exposed slack defending in the US back four in the 30th minute to fire Costa Rica […]

Madrid (AFP) – Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira joined Valencia on a season-long loan as loan deals dominated an otherwise quiet transfer deadline day in Spain on Friday. As well as Pereira, Valencia secured the services of Portuguese winger Goncalo Guedes on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. Guedes joined PSG for a fee of 30 million […]

Paris (AFP) – Mats Hummels fired Germany to the brink of qualification for the 2018 World Cup on Friday with a late winner against the Czech Republic, while Harry Kane scored twice as England downed Malta 4-0. RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner struck after just four minutes for the world champions in Prague, but Vladimir […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Nigeria hammered African champions Cameroon Friday to virtually seal a 2018 World Cup place, but Ghana drew and South Africa lost to suffer serious qualifying setbacks. Current and former Chelsea midfielders Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel scored one goal and created another as Nigeria overwhelmed Cameroon 4-0 in southeast city […]

Prague (AFP) – Mats Hummels' late header sealed Germany a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in Prague on Friday to leave the defending champions on the brink of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. The Germans took an early lead at the Eden Arena through Timo Werner, but the Czechs deservedly drew level when […]

Valletta (AFP) – Harry Kane scored a brace to help Gareth Southgate's lacklustre England to a 4-0 win over minnows Malta in their 2018 World Cup qualifier on Friday. Kane opened the score early in the second-half but three goals inside the last 10 minutes put a brighter sheen on the result than the performance […]

Madrid (AFP) – Italy's plans for a vital World Cup qualifier away to Spain on Saturday were dealt a huge blow when veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini injured a calf muscle in training on Friday. Victory for either side at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu is likely to be decisive in deciding which side qualifies directly for […]

Paris (AFP) – UEFA opened a "formal investigation" into Paris Saint-Germain on Friday after the French club broke the world transfer record to sign Neymar. European football's governing body said it would look at whether PSG had violated its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. "The investigation will focus on the compliance of the club with […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona have finally abandoned their quest to land Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, 25, after having a series of bids for the Brazilian rejected, Spanish media reported on Friday. The transfer deadline for Spanish clubs doesn't close until midnight local time (2200GMT) on Friday, 24 hours after the rest of Europe's major leagues. However, […]

London (AFP) – Sporting Lisbon and Leicester City announced Friday they had reached agreement for the transfer of Portugal international Adrien Silva to the Premier League club after the summer deadline expired. Portuguese giants Sporting said they were "awaiting confirmation from FIFA" that the deal could go through after Silva reportedly agreed to join Leicester […]

Paris (AFP) – UEFA opened a "formal investigation" into Paris Saint-Germain on Friday after the French club broke the world transfer record to sign Neymar. European football's governing body said it would look at whether PSG had violated its Financial Fair Play rules. "The investigation will focus on the compliance of the club with the […]