London (AFP) – France midfielder Paul Pogba's world record transfer to Manchester United from Italian champions Juventus is poised to go ahead subject to him passing a medical, the clubs confirmed Sunday. The long-running saga suddenly took a huge step forward when Juventus announced they had granted permission for the 23-year-old to undergo the medical […]

Berlin (AFP) – Schalke's new signing Coke is expected to miss the rest of 2016 after the Spanish right-back suffered suspected torn cruciate knee ligaments in a pre-season friendly. The Bundesliga club are waiting on an exact diagnosis to hear how long they will be without the Spanish defender, full name Jorge Andujar Moreno but […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has launched a barb at Claudio Ranieri ahead of the Community Shield by declaring he would not swap careers with his Leicester City counterpart. "I have my career, he has his career," Mourinho said, in comments published by several British newspapers on Sunday. "Ask him if he […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – The USA's women's quest for a fourth straight football gold remains firmly on track after captain Carli Lloyd ensured their 13th consecutive win in the Olympics with a 1-0 victory over France on Saturday. World Player of the Year Lloyd, who also netted the Americans' opener in a 2-0 win […]

Klagenfurt (Austria) (AFP) – New signing Hatem Ben Arfa was among the scorers as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a one-sided 4-1 win over Lyon in the Champions Trophy, the traditional French season-opener, on Saturday. Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura and Layvin Kurzawa got the other goals before Corentin Tolisso grabbed a consolation as the French champions […]

London (AFP) – New signing Sadio Mane scored one goal and made another as Liverpool slickly defeated Barcelona 4-0 in a one-sided friendly match at a sun-soaked Wembley on Sunday. A 34 million pounds ($44.5 million, 40.1 million euros) capture from Southampton, Mane struck a 15th-minute opener and then supplied the cross from which ex-Liverpool […]

Naples (Italy) (AFP) – Napoli have moved to quash speculation surrounding the future of Marek Hamsik by extending the Slovakia star's contract by two seasons. "Napoli is proud to release that Marek Hamsik signed a contract extension until 2020," read a brief statement in English on the club's website on Saturday. The 29-year-old Hamsik, who […]

London (AFP) – Scotland international Steven Naismith was among the scorers as Norwich City ran rampant with a 4-1 win at Blackburn Rovers in their opening Championship game on Saturday. Newcastle United, the hot favourites for the title, had slipped to a 1-0 loss at Fulham on Friday. And Norwich, who like Newcastle are aiming […]

London (AFP) – Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has committed his future to the club by signing a new five-year contract, the Premier League champions announced on Saturday. Schmeichel, son of Manchester United and Denmark great Peter, kept 15 clean sheets last season and played every minute as Leicester pulled off a 5,000-1 upset by […]

Glasgow (AFP) – A Martin Waghorn goal midway through the second-half salvaged a point for Scottish giants Rangers as they drew 1-1 with Hamilton on their return to the Scottish Premiership at Ibrox. Rangers, who gained promotion at the end of last season after a four-year hiatus following a financial meltdown, found themselves behind in […]

London (AFP) – Roberto di Matteo has reached the heady heights of winning the Champions League as a manager but on Sunday he hopes for something rather more mundane: winning his first game in charge of Aston Villa. The 46-year-old Swiss born former Italian international — who won the 2012 Champions League when in charge […]

London (AFP) – Teenage Colombian forward Marlos Moreno has joined Manchester City on a five-year contract, the Premier League side announced on Saturday. The 19-year-old arrives from his formative club Atletico Nacional and will spend the 2016-17 season on loan at Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna. He is reported to have cost City 4.75 million […]

London (AFP) – Jose Mourinho locks horns with old adversary Claudio Ranieri as FA Cup winners Manchester United tackle fairytale Premier League champions Leicester City in Sunday's Community Shield at Wembley. Mourinho, who has succeeded Louis van Gaal at United, twice pipped Ranieri to the Serie A title during their time in Italy, where he […]

London (AFP) – Matt Smith's header made a mockery of Newcastle United's status as favourites to go straight back up to the Premier League as Fulham ran out 1-0 winners in their Championship season opener on Friday. Rafael Benitez's side could point to not being given what looked like a penalty for handball against Ryan […]

Monaco (AFP) – Monaco striker Radamel Falcao will miss "several weeks" with a left hamstring injury, his club confirmed on Friday, ruling him out of the start of the French season and the Champions League play-offs. Falcao pulled up injured late in the first half of Monaco's 3-1 home win against Fenerbahce on Wednesday that […]