London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expressed "relief" over Olivier Giroud's decision to stay after the France striker earned his side a breathless 4-3 win against Leicester City. Giroud came off the bench with Arsenal trailing 3-2 in Friday's Premier League curtain-raiser at the Emirates Stadium and after fellow substitute Aaron Ramsey equalised, he […]

Newcastle (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Tottenham's start to the season has been overshadowed by Danny Rose's criticism of the club's transfer policy, but Mauricio Pochettino insists his side are still in position for a strong Premier League campaign. Rose attacked Tottenham's lack of success in the transfer market — they have yet to sign a […]

London (AFP) – Romelu Lukaku's remarkable scoring record against West Ham United means he will expect to hit the ground running when he makes his Premier League debut for Manchester United on Sunday. The Belgium international, 24, scored nine goals in his first nine appearances against West Ham for former team Everton before the east […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United are equipped to maintain his remarkable second season success rate by winning the Premier League title this term. Mourinho has won the domestic league title at the end of his second year in each of his five major management jobs. He achieved the feat at […]

London (AFP) – Substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud scored as Arsenal twice came from behind to beat Leicester City 4-3 on Friday in a dizzily entertaining opening Premier League game. Record signing Alexandre Lacazette put Arsenal ahead after only 85 seconds at the Emirates Stadium, before a Shinji Okazaki header and a Jamie Vardy […]

Paris (AFP) – Last season's surprise package Nice suffered their second setback of the Ligue 1 campaign Friday falling 2-1 at home to promoted Troyes to dampen confidence ahead of next week's Champions League play-off at Napoli. The Riviera outfit, third last season but beaten 1-0 at Saint-Etienne in their opener, were without their two star […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain was axed by Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli on Friday for crucial World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela as the South American giants look to resurrect their faltering campaign. Higuain, who has scored 31 international goals in 68 appearances, failed to convince recently-appointed coach Sampaoli of his […]

Rome (AFP) – Inter Milan coach Luciano Spalletti vented his fury Friday as wantaway French international midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia skipped training. Kondogbia's failure to turn up prompted the 24-year-old to be axed from Inter's squad for Saturday's friendly against Real Betis. A furious Spalletti told reporters he had been unaware of the defensive midfielder's desire […]

London (AFP) – Rafael Benitez has pledged not to quit as manager of Newcastle United despite his mounting frustration over the club's failure to back him in the transfer market. Since guiding Newcastle into the top flight by winning the second-tier Championship last season, Benitez has been engaged in a transfer struggle with owner Mike […]

Monaco (AFP) – Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim insists he is not worried by the ongoing speculation surrounding the future of star striker Kylian Mbappe amid reports that he is close to joining Paris Saint-Germain. "I am not going to talk about conjecture. I am staying focused on my work and helping my team to evolve," […]

London (AFP) – Antonio Conte insists he isn't looking for sympathy despite admitting Chelsea are facing problems at the start of their Premier League title defence. Conte has been frustrated by Chelsea's failure to land his top transfer targets while the champions' title rivals embarked on multi-million pound spending sprees. The Chelsea manager's public complaints […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool insisted on Friday that Philippe Coutinho would not be sold at any price amid reports the Brazil star has submitted a transfer request in a bid to force a move to Barcelona. Coutinho is Barcelona's top target to replace Neymar following the striker's world record move to Paris Saint-Germain. After having […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said the club will curb their transfer spending in future years after a huge outlay on players during the close season. Defenders Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker and Danilo have all arrived at the Etihad Stadium along with goalkeeper Ederson and midfielder Bernardo Silva to […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United are in discussions to re-sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the second half of the season when he recovers from a serious knee injury, manager Jose Mourinho confirmed on Friday. The former Sweden striker was United's top scorer last season, hitting 28 goals as they won the Europa League, the […]

Istanbul (AFP) – Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado on Friday signed for Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbahce after two seasons at Villarreal in his native Spain, the Istanbul club said. Spain international Soldado, 32, signed a two-year contract with an option of staying on for a third year, Fenerbahce said. Some reports have said […]