Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona managed to register new signings Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha on Friday in time for their Liga opener against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. However, French defender Jules Kounde remains unregistered with La Liga. Barcelona have spent 153 million euros on transfer fees alone to strengthen their squad, with […]

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder Willian quit Corinthians on Friday following the Brazilians' Copa Libertadores elimination against domestic rivals Flamengo, after claiming he and his family received death threats on social media. "Willian asked us for his (contract) termination. We are sad not to have him any more and also because […]

Paris (AFP) – Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi paid a high price for an underwhelming first season with Paris Saint-Germain when he was left off the 30-strong list for this year's coveted football award. Lucy Bronze, who was runner-up in 2019, is one of three members of England's Euro-winning squad to be short-listed for […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has said Sunday's match away to London rivals Chelsea will be an acid test of his side's progress. Spurs lost four times to Chelsea last season, including three defeats, two in the League Cup semi-final followed by one in the league, in January. A fine finish to […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola said he has been taken aback by Erling Haaland's desire to succeed after Manchester City's new striker announced his arrival in English football by scoring twice on his Premier League debut last weekend. City beat off competition from around Europe for the Norwegian after he scored 86 goals in 89 […]

Paris (AFP) – Real Madrid pair Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne were on Friday shortlisted for the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award. The European body of European football said that a jury made up of journalists and representatives of clubs playing in European competitions voted for the […]

Milan (AFP) – Filip Kostic completed his transfer to Juventus from Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday after signing a four-year deal with the Serie A club. Serbia winger Kostic arrives in Turin in a transfer worth "12 million ($12.3m) euros payable in three financial years", Juventus said, with further costs and potential bonuses pushing the value […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Erik ten Hag expects Marcus Rashford to remain at Manchester United despite rumours this week that Paris St Germain have made contact with the forward's representatives. Rashford's form dipped dramatically last season as he scored just four goals in 25 Premier League games, which has led to him being dropped […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said he will always have a "close bond" with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as speculation links the Barcelona forward with a move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues are looking to reinforce their forward line after the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner. Aubameyang, who only joined Barcelona in January, […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Cash-strapped Spanish football club Barcelona have sold part of their media production unit "Barca Studios" for 100 million euros, the club announced on Friday. Barcelona had to cut player wages and off-load their star Lionel Messi last year as the club face up to an economic crisis caused by loss of revenue […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp does not envisage the Reds dipping into the transfer market to reinforce their midfield before the end of the summer window despite a hamstring injury to Thiago Alcantara. The Spanish international is expected to be out for four to six weeks, leaving Liverpool light on midfield options with […]

Doha (AFP) – Facing a bank of screens that look like NASA mission command, technicians counting down to the World Cup in Qatar control the temperature, gates, 15,000 cameras and much more in the eight stadiums. The Aspire control and command centre will monitor all stadiums at once, as Qatar pulls out all the technical […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Tottenham lived up to pre-season hype they could challenge for the Premier League title by going top of the table on the opening weekend of the season, but face a truer test of their credentials away to Chelsea on Sunday. Antonio Conte has been heavily backed in his first full […]

Berlin (AFP) – When new Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac makes his return to the Allianz Arena to take on Bayern this Sunday, he is unlikely to receive the warm welcome former double winners would usually be afforded. Kovac coached Bayern to a Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2018-19, but was forced out of the […]

Milan (AFP) – Serie A new boys Monza might be about to embark on their first ever season in Italy's top flight but Silvio Berlusconi's club do not seem overawed at the task awaiting them come the visit of Torino on Saturday. Monza were still in Serie C when former Italian prime minister Berlusconi bought them […]