The tug-and-pull situation the world’s top soccer players find themselves in is an enviable one for 99% of the sport’s players. These players have to balance between playing for their employer club and representing their country at the international level and, depending on the nation’s success, the competition for both can be equally as fierce. […]

1. Real Madrid Players In James Rodriguez-£63million Toni Kroos-£27million Keylor Navas-£9million Javier Hernandez-Loan Players Out Angel di Maria-£59.7million Alvaro Morata-£17million Xabi Alonso-£9million Nuri Sahin-£6million Casemiro-Loan Diego Lopez-Free Transfer It seems rather difficult to say a team who have just signed James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos are losers in the transfer market but bear with me. […]

Going into the off-season, we wondered how the mighty Manchester United would react. Or more pressingly, how would they respond to their inter-city rivals winning the title. What could we expect to see from the players as they respond to David Moyes' feeble efforts after Sir Alex Ferguson's departure? And how would the team come […]

Manchester United head into what Louis van Gaal has labelled a 'derby match' with Burnley on the cards next up. Sean Dyche's side hope to recreate the heroics of the 2009 team which defeated United 1-0 on their last visit to Turf Moor. Shinji Kagawa is an addition to United's injury list, following a concussion […]

Allow The Sweeper to hurtle you through this past week’s best stories at the speed of Mario Balotelli racing through Milan’s streets in a Ferrari with his queasy pet Rottweiler by his side. 1. “Think Outside the Ibrox” Picture Ben Roethlisberger back in the MAC scrambling to find holes in the Akron Zips’ secondary on a […]

Complete the sequence: Angel di Maria, Fernando Torres, Andy Carroll, Robinho, Andrei Shevchenko, "X". For those who don't instantly recognise what connects the aforementioned soccer players — make a note of the eventual answer, because it's a nailed on pub quiz question – it's a chronologically descending list of the men signed by English clubs […]

The first year of the post-Manuel Pellegrini era commenced with a startling thud, as through seven rounds last season, Villarreal propped every other Primera División team up at the bottom of the table.  This smooth, plucky team from the Valencian Community had not felt such futility since they made their maiden voyage to La Liga […]