London (AFP) – Watford signed AC Milan forward M'Baye Niang on loan for the rest of the season on Thursday as boss Walter Mazzarri looks to rejuvenate his spluttering side. The 22-year-old Frenchman, who can play wide or up front, could make his debut in Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at third-tier Millwall. Niang arrives […]

Paris (AFP) – Despite Sunday night's highly anticipated clash between champions Paris Saint-Germain and leaders Monaco all eyes will first be rivetted on Marseille for the Ligue 1 return of former France captain Patrice Evra. The fiery 35-year-old left-back's arrival is the latest development of the Marseille revival and should send their raucous Velodrome stadium […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – A colourful tycoon under whom the Formula One team Lotus went bankrupt on Thursday officially became the new owner of debt-ridden French Ligue 1 club Lille. Luxembourg-Spanish businessman Gerard Lopez, who has also been linked with a takeover of Premier League Hull City, acquired a 95-percent stake in Lille for 80 […]

Madrid (AFP) – From 40 games without defeat to just one win in four, 2017 hasn't been kind to Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid with the European champions' Copa del Rey elimination to Celta Vigo sparking doubts for the first time in the Frenchman's tenure. Zidane celebrated a near flawless first year in charge at the […]

London (AFP) – Southampton owner Katharina Liebherr has confirmed the Premier League club are interested in potential investment from a Chinese group. Lander Holding announced its intention to buy a stake in League Cup finalists Southampton to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday. The news came less than 24 hours after Claude Puel's team reached […]

Milan (AFP) – Juventus are consulting lawyers to protect the club's "honour and integrity" after a newspaper report linked club officials to hardline ultra-fans with organised crime connections via a ticket touting scam. A report in Rome based daily Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper on Thursday claimed Juventus president Andrea Agnelli had met with ultra leader […]

Hong Kong (AFP) – Beijing football club Guoan FC has been bought by a Chinese real estate developer, according to a statement on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with the club now valued at 754 million euros — more than AC Milan. Developer Sinobo Land bought 64 percent of the club from Chinese financial services […]

London (AFP) – Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri insists he has no problem with unhappy striker Leonardo Ulloa despite being branded a liar by one of the Argentine's agents. Ulloa handed in a transfer request last week but the Premier League champions have reportedly rejected a bid from Spanish club Alaves because Ranieri would prefer to […]

London (AFP) – Burnley midfielder Dean Marney has been ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee for a second time. Marney suffered the injury while challenging Mesut Ozil in a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League last Sunday. The 32-year-old sustained the same […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino expects Erik Lamela to report to the club's training ground on Friday after completing his treatment for a hip problem at his former club Roma. Lamela hasn't played for Tottenham since October and reports suggested the forward might try to engineer a transfer back to Italy when he […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger has defended Granit Xhaka after the Arsenal midfielder was spoken to by police over an allegation of racial abuse just days after being sent off for the second time this season. Xhaka will serve a four-match ban after being dismissed during Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Burnley last Sunday following a […]

Saturday's live broadcast of Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur helped NBC Sports mark four consecutive weeks that a Premier League match has drawn more than 1 million viewers on the network. The 12:30-2:30pm ET broadcast on NBC posted 1.16 million viewers. This number ties the match between Hull City and Manchester United in the opening […]

London (AFP) – West Ham manager Slaven Bilic spent two days in hospital this week after a bad bout of flu, according to reports on Thursday. Bilic is believed to have checked himself into a London hospital on Sunday following West Ham's 3-1 win at Middlesbrough last Saturday. The 48-year-old Croatian was feeling unwell before […]

Berlin (AFP) – Neven Subotic confirmed Thursday he has joined Cologne on loan from Bundesliga rivals Dortmund until the end of the season, as he looks to regain form after injury. The 28-year-old has been with Dortmund since 2008 and was a key part of the side which won the 2011 and 2012 German league […]

Bayern Munich's game last Friday against Freiburg was the least-viewed Friday afternoon Bundesliga game on FOX Sports since September, 2016. The opening game of the second half of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season after the winter break was watched by an audience of just 54,000 people. The last time a Friday afternoon Bundesliga game got a […]