Barcelona
Barcelona identify €35m star as ideal replacement for Inter Milan-linked Jordi Alba – report
Barcelona have identified Valencia defender Jose Gaya as the ideal replacement for Inter Milan target Jordi Alba, Marca reports. Alba has been with the club for the past nine years, where he has been an excellent contributor from the left-back role. However, there are suggestions that he could leave them for Inter. The club are open to negotiating his departure. They need to reduce their wage bill to comply with La Liga rules, and are willing to sell Alba, who earns £150,000-a-week. Gaya earns just one-third of those wages at Valencia. He has stood out for them despite their league struggles in recent years. Sportslens view: Gaya has been a long-term target for the Blaugrana, but they haven’t come close to landing his services from Los Che. The assurance of regular game time has been ...
Barcelona want Chelsea star as Junior Firpo’s replacement, Serie A giants also interested – report
Barcelona could revive their interest in signing Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso with Junior Firpo likely to leave the club this summer, Mundo Deportivo claims. Firpo has been linked with numerous clubs in recent weeks, and West Ham United have recently emerged as front-runners to sign him. It is now reported that the Blaugrana are braced for his exit, and could look into signing Alonso as a suitable replacement. The Catalan giants had agreed terms with the Spaniard last summer, but a deal failed to materialise after Firpo stayed put. Alonso has received more game time since Thomas Tuchel took charge, but it is suggested that the Blues would be open to his sale. Inter Milan are long-term admirers of Alonso, and they have also been credited with an interest in his services this summer. Sport...
Dick van Burik: Kevin-Prince Boateng could have reached Lionel Messi’s level
Retired former Dutch professional footballer Dick van Burik believes Kevin-Prince Boateng had the potential to reach Lionel Messi’s level. The former centre-back captained Hertha Berlin and played with the Ghanaian in the same team between 2005 and 2007. The West African, recently, made a return to the team where he started his career and signed a one-year contract. The now 47-year-old Dutch concedes the qualities of the attacker in the German team were world-class and much was expected from him. “Even when Kevin came from the youth to the first team, his potential was immediately world-class,” Van Burik said as quoted by Ghanaweb. “He can do things that you go to the stadium for. Even then he had the… attitude and simply showed what he can do. “He has become a great player but I actually ...
Manchester United man leads Euro 2020 Best XI while Ronaldo leads from the front
The Euro 2020 group stages have come to a close, and it’s just a short wait before the knockout rounds begin. The opening two weeks of action have been nothing short of enthralling. We’ve seen some incredible goals, great drama, and an inexplicable amount of own goals. What’s not to love? Here is our best XI from the group stage. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – Hradecky can count himself unlucky to be going home early, having put in some excellent performances in the last three games. He kicked off his tournament with a crucial penalty save in the 1-0 win over Denmark and followed this up with another good performance in the 1-0 defeat against Russia. His final game was impressive but ended in heartbreak. He made several brilliant stops to keep Belgium at bay but scored an unlucky own goal to s...
1 from Portugal, 1 from France, 2 from Netherlands – Euro 2020 Best XI of Round 3
The group stage has come to an end, and now we have to endure two whole days without Euro 2020 action. How will we cope? At least the groups ended on a cracker, with several exceptional performances from the final round of fixtures. Here is our best XI from round three of Euro 2020. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – It feels a bit bizarre to include someone who scored an own goal, but here we are. Hradecky kept Finland in the game for as long as possible, producing several excellent stops to keep Belgium out before being cruelly robbed of his clean sheet. Nelson Semedo (RB) – The selection of right-backs from the latest round of fixtures was somewhat slim, but Nelson Semedo gets in for a solid performance. He got a lot of criticism for his performance against Germany, and many feared that it...
Real Madrid and Barcelona enquire about £63m star with 17 goal contributions last season
Real Madrid and Barcelona have enquired over the situation of Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka, Sport1’s Florian Plettenberg claims. The Germany international had a solid 2020/21 season for the Bavarian giants, registering eight goals and nine assists from 32 games. Despite this, there remains uncertainty over his future with the club, with his current contract expiring in 12 months. The player has yet to commit to a new deal due to salary concerns, but Bayern are optimistic that they can make the breakthrough. Goretzka now has a new duo of agents, and it is claimed that Madrid and Barcelona have enquired over the possibility of signing him. Sportslens view: Bayern sanctioned the sale of Thiago Alcantara to Liverpool last summer after he entered the final year of his contract. Howeve...
Gianluigi Buffon: Why I turned down Champions League for Parma
Gianluigi Buffon has said he rejected ‘two opportunities to even win the Champions League’ so that he could help Parma come back into Serie A and hasn’t lost hope of a spot at the 2022 World Cup. The 43-year-old shot-stopper signed the two-year contract and will be presented to the media this evening after leaving Juventus for the club where his career first started as a teenager. “I have many memories, above all the motivation and hope is to write a few more important pages in the history books of this club, and I know I can do it,” Buffon told Sky Sport Italia. “That is the main reason I returned here, along with the other 999 reasons! I felt such strong emotions, as an emotional reaction is the only way to keep delivering at this level at my age. “I knew Parma would give me something th...
Barcelona open to selling €30m winger after Depay’s arrival, Wolves could be interested
Barcelona are open to offers for Francisco Trincao following their recent signing of Memphis Depay, Spanish publication Sport claims. Depay was regularly linked with the Blaugrana over the past few months, and his free transfer was finally announced on Saturday. He is the club’s second forward signing this summer after Sergio Aguero. It is now reported that the Blaugrana could offload few attacking players. Trincao is highly regarded by the club, but they believe that the Portuguese would be one of the players who would assure them good money. He was purchased from Braga for €21 million last year with Abel Ruiz – valued at €9m, moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal. The club are likely to demand more than €30m for his services. They have already received ...
Euro 2020 Best XI from Round 2: Dumfries, Gosen and a dream midfield trio
It’s been another exciting round of Euro 2020 action, with several players putting in standout performances for their country. As we approach the last selection of group stage fixtures, it’s all very nicely set up. We should be in for an enthralling finale. Here is our best XI from the second round of Euro 2020 games. Danny Ward (GK) – Wales go into their final group game with Italy in a very good position. With four points from two games, they look almost certain to qualify for the knockouts. And they couldn’t have done it without Danny Ward, who was excellent again in the win over Turkey. His stunning late save from Merih Demiral’s header was vital to keeping his side ahead in the closing stages, as they later got a second. Denzel Dumfries (RB) – The right-back has made a reall...
Barcelona reach agreement with Marseille for sale of versatile winger, medical next week – report
Barcelona have reached an agreement with Marseille for the sale of teenage winger Konrad de la Fuente, RMC Sport journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi reports. The 19-year-old made his debut for the Blaugrana last term, but he was restricted to just 36 minutes across three appearances. They had the option to extend his contract (expiring June 2022) for another two seasons but have decided to cash in on his services. Les Phoceens have agreed a package worth €3.5 million with the Blaugrana. De la Fuente has agreed terms over a four-year deal. The transfer will be formally completed following his medical next week. Sportslens view: De la Fuente showed promise with Blaugrana B, registering nine goals and five assists in 29 appearances in all competitions. He now has the chance to establish himself ...
Danish players criticise decision to resume game after Christian Eriksen collapse
Denmark’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and striker Martin Braithwaite on Monday lamented that they had to choose whether to restart the Denmark-Finland Euro 2020 match while they were reeling from Christian Eriksen’s mid-game collapse. “We were put in a position, that I personally feel that we shouldn’t have been put in,” Schmeichel told Danish media at a press event in Helsingor north of Copenhagen. “We had two options,” Schmeichel explained. “Either come back the day after (Sunday) at noon or continue the game.” The Leicester City goalkeeper said he wished someone more senior would’ve said “that it wasn’t the time to take that decision, and that we should maybe wait until the day after to decide”. “What has happened has happened, and hopefully they’ll learn from this,” Schmeichel said, a...
Danish players criticise decision to resume game after Christian Eriksen collapse
Denmark’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and striker Martin Braithwaite on Monday lamented that they had to choose whether to restart the Denmark-Finland Euro 2020 match while they were reeling from Christian Eriksen’s mid-game collapse. “We were put in a position, that I personally feel that we shouldn’t have been put in,” Schmeichel told Danish media at a press event in Helsingor north of Copenhagen. “We had two options,” Schmeichel explained. “Either come back the day after (Sunday) at noon or continue the game.” The Leicester City goalkeeper said he wished someone more senior would’ve said “that it wasn’t the time to take that decision, and that we should maybe wait until the day after to decide”. “What has happened has happened, and hopefully they’ll learn from this,” Schmeichel said, a...