Istanbul (AFP) – Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho was named UEFA men's player of the year at a ceremony in Istanbul on Thursday, beating his club colleague N'Golo Kante and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne to the prize. Jorginho starred alongside Kante in the Chelsea team that won the Champions League, beating De Bruyne's City […]

Istanbul (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, two of the leading candidates to win the Champions League, will face each other in the group stage of this season's competition after coming out together in Thursday's draw. Pep Guardiola's City beat PSG in the semi-finals of last season's Champions League on the way to losing […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City suspended Benjamin Mendy on Thursday after police confirmed the Frenchman has been charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. "Benjamin Mendy, aged 27, has been charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault," Cheshire Police said in a statement. […]

Paris (AFP) – The French Professional Football League (LFP) shared the regrets expressed by other European leagues over FIFA's handling of September's World Cup qualifiers in South America. The Italian and English top flight leagues are also upset about FIFA's decision to not extend exceptions for call-ups to countries where quarantine upon re-entry is mandatory. […]

Burton-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leeds striker Patrick Bamford received his first call-up to the England squad for three World Cup qualifiers next month as Gareth Southgate decided against a recall for 19-year-old Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood. The Three Lions return to action against Hungary, Andorra and Poland for the first time since missing […]

London (AFP) – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is and will remain an Arseal player, the Premier League side's manager Mikel Arteta said on Thursday. The Gabonese international striker had an underwhelming season last term scoring just 10 league goals — he scored 22 in each of the two preceding campaigns — but Arteta sees him as pivotal […]

Paris (AFP) – Olivier Giroud was left out of the France squad named on Thursday for a triple-header of World Cup qualifiers in September as coach Didier Deschamps called up a quartet of uncapped players. Giroud, who turns 35 next month, misses out despite sitting just five goals away from equalling Thierry Henry's all-time record […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Portugal's Euro 2016 winner Joao Mario was included by coach Fernando Santos on Thursday in the squad for next month's fixtures which include two World Cup qualifiers. The Benfica midfielder, 28, won the last of his 45 caps in October 2019 alongside Leicester left-back Ricardo Pereira, who played his most recent international […]

Milan (AFP) – Argentina's Joaquin Correa on Thursday signed for Inter Milan from Lazio as the Italian champions continue to rebuild after losing two of their biggest stars this summer. In a statement sent to the Italian stock exchange, Lazio said forward Correa has rejoined his former coach Simone Inzaghi on a season-long loan worth […]

Madrid (AFP) – Spain coach Luis Enrique named a World Cup qualifying squad on Thursday long on youth but short on Real Madrid players. As he had done for Euro 2020 Luis Enrique decided not to rely on any Real representatives for September's international window fixtures against Sweden, Georgia and Kosovo. The former Real player […]

London (AFP) – Scott McTominay has undergone groin surgery and misses this Sunday's Premier League clash with Wolves with his club Manchester United saying they "hope to have him back soon". The 24-year-old midfielder starred for United in the 5-1 whipping of Leeds in their opening Premier League fixture but was only able to play […]

Milan (AFP) – Denzel Dumfries isn't worried about living up to departed star Achraf Hakimi as the Netherlands right-back eases into life at Inter Milan, a club whose frowns have been turned upside down following a sparkling opening weekend. Inter Milan travel to Verona on Friday looking for confirmation that the champions' new boys can […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner was the hero as the MLS All-Stars defeated their counterparts from Mexico's Liga-MX on penalties to win Major League Soccer's All-Star game on Wednesday. US international Turner pulled off superb saves from Liga-MX duo Rogeli Funes Mori and Salvador Reyes in the shoot-out to hand […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane ended speculation over his future by announcing on Wednesday that he will remain at Tottenham this season. Manchester City were interested in the England captain as a long-term successor to all-time top goalscorer Sergio Aguero. But with three years left to run on Kane's contract, even the deep pockets of […]

Nice (France) (AFP) – Nice were ordered to play their next home game behind closed doors on Wednesday while a member of Marseille's backroom staff was suspended following the mayhem at a French Ligue 1 game between the two teams last weekend. The French league (PFL) told Nice that spectators will be banned from Saturday's […]