Football
Chelsea still keen on signing RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner
Chelsea are maintaining their interest in RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner despite the fact that Liverpool are leading the race to sign the Germany international, 90min reports. The 24-year-old has enjoyed a superb season with Leipzig where he has scored 27 goals and registered 12 assists across all competitions. Out of those, 25 goals and seven assists have come in the Bundesliga, where he has helped his team keep up with Bayern Munich in the race for the Bundesliga title. In recent months, Jurgen Klopp’s side have been touted as the favourites to sign the German forward but they have yet to make an official approach to land his signature. Werner currently has a £52m release clause on his contract but the Reds are yet to trigger the value, given they are assessing the financial impact of th...
Arsenal make transfer decision on Dani Ceballos
Arsenal are understood to have no plans of extending the stay of midfielder Dani Ceballos beyond the current campaign, a report from El Confidencial claims. The Spain international joined the north London club on a season-long loan from Real Madrid last summer and he made a lively beginning to the season with two assists on his home league debut against Burnley. However, he could not sustain the same level of performance thereafter and picked up a hamstring injury in November which kept him out of action until the turn of the year. In that period, the Gunners opted to dismiss Unai Emery from the head coach position and his successor Mikel Arteta was initially reluctant to play him in January. Ceballos managed to change the manager’s opinion of him during the warm-weather training camp in D...
Finidi George offers advice to Odion Ighalo amid uncertain Manchester United future
Former Super Eagles and Ajax Amsterdam forward Finidi George has offered some advice to ex Watford striker Odion Ighalo as his United future remains uncertain. Finidi was reacting to comments credited to a former Manchester United captain Gary Neville who believes the club management should not spend a £20m transfer fee for Ighalo at this time. In a chat, the former Ajax winger said Ighalo has a decision to make concerning his future as the entire footballing lifespan is short. “If he wants to be in the limelight, he has to stay with the Premier League but if he is going for the money he should go back to China,” Finidi said. “It all depends on what he wants at this stage of his career, he is thirty now so, he should look at what is before him and make a decision fast. The experienced Nige...
Coronavirus: Two football games in Belarus postponed due to coronavirus fears
Two games in the top two tiers of Belarusian football have been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. The Premier League match between FC Minsk and Neman Grodno – scheduled for May 15 – has been called off, as has the second-division meeting between Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and leaders Lokomotiv Gomel. The country’s football federation confirmed it was because of suspected cases of COVID-19 among the Minsk and Lokomotiv players. No new dates have yet been arranged. Belarus is one of the few European nations in which major sporting competitions have continued despite the spread of the virus. Premier League games have been played, often in front of spectators, while the rest of the continent has largely been forced to suspend all football. All grounds are required to have several sanitiser statio...
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City interested in Kingsley Coman
Getty Images Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are interested in signing Bayern Munich attacker Kingsley Coman, according to Sky Germany. The Bundesliga club want to keep hold of the France international however, should Leroy Sané join Bayern, Coman will rethink his situation at the club should Sané take his place in the starting XI. Bayern Munich remain hopeful of signing Sané in the summer, with a preference to sign the Germany international over compatriot Timo Werner (RB Leipzig). Get more stories like this on Twitter
Lyon women awarded French title for 14th consecutive season
French women’s football giants Lyon will be declared league champions for the 2019-20 campaign, collecting the title for the 14th consecutive year after the season was ended by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was confirmed to AFP by a source close to talks held Monday by the French football federation as well as a source at Lyon, backing up an earlier report from RMC Sport. Lyon, winners of the past four Women’s Champions League finals, have claimed the French title every year since 2007. The women’s top flight in France was halted in mid-March when Lyon held a three-point lead over Paris Saint-Germain. Last month, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that professional sport could not return until September. The men’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 divisions were ended, with PSG na...
Taiye Taiwo: Stephen Keshi’s ‘dirty deals’ forced me out of Super Eagles
Former Super Eagles defender, Taiye Taiwo, has alleged that the dirty deals perpetrated by late Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, forced him to dump the team. The left full back stated this in a Face TV Africa in live video. Taiwo said: “I am someone who don’t want dirty glory and in my life, I have never been involved in what is not clean and that was why I packed my bags and left the Super Eagles. “I cannot work or stay where I see that is dirty because I am serving a clean God, and if I am in an area that is not clean, I will have to leave the place. “‘When they appointed Stephen Keshi as coach, he was acting somehow in which I told myself that it was time for me to leave the Super Eagles. “I packed my bags and I told my wife and family that I cannot be involved in dirty deals.” Newsme...
Didier Drogba beats Zlatan Ibrahimovic as best Ligue 1 striker in last two decades
Former Marseille and Guingamp star Didier Drogba has been crowned Ligue 1’s greatest striker of the past 20 years, ahead of PSG legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Drogba was recognised by Ligue 1 on Saturday after collecting 51 per cent of the 40,094 votes cast by fans on social media. He spent two-and-a-half years in the French top-flight and played for Guingamp between 2001 and 2003 before moving to Marseille where he spent a season. The two-time African Player of the Year scored 39 goals in 81 Ligue 1 games – 20 goals at Guingamp and 19 efforts at Marseille while Ibrahimovic scored 113 goals in 122 Ligue 1 matches between 2012 and 2016 at PSG. On his run to the final stage, Drogba saw off competition from Fernando Morientes, Alexander Frei, Karim Benzema and Pauleta. The former Ivory Coast forw...
Real Madrid star set to shun a move to Chelsea
Real Madrid star Lucas Vazquez is set to snub a move to Chelsea as he aimed to remain at Santiago Bernabeu despite lack of regular action under the guidance of Zinedine Zidane. The 28-year-old star has struggled for regular action this season having just started just six La Liga matches and contributing to just three goals in all competitions. Chelsea is keen on signing the former Real Madrid academy product and the winger is also keen on a move to Premier League and Real Madrid has made him available for transfer this summer. However, the report in Mundo Deportivo, the attacker could stay in Madrid this summer. The report claims that Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane is an admirer of the club’s academy product, who has made over 200 appearances for his current side in all competitions. Vaz...
Another Premier League player tests positive for novel coronavirus
A third first-team player from Brighton & Hove Albion tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the Premier League club’s chief executive Paul Barber has confirmed. Two Brighton players had contracted the novel coronavirus in March and April and the latest positive result could cast doubts on the Premier League’s plans to resume the season that has been suspended due to the pandemic. Clubs are due to meet on Monday to further discuss “Project Restart” which envisages a return to play in June once given the green light from government, with the remaining 92 matches held behind closed doors at neutral venues. “It is a concern. Unfortunately we’ve had a third player test positive yesterday,” Barber told Sky Sports on Sunday. “So despite all of the measures that we’ve been taking over the ...
Kylian Mbappe wants to share Ligue 1 golden boot with Wissam Yedder
Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe has said the award should be shared between him and Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder as both finished on 18 goals this season. The Paris Saint Germain striker was deemed the sole top scorer on Thursday after the league was ended prematurely as he had more goals from open play. Three of Ben Yedder’s goals came from penalties. Taking to Twitter, Mbappe thanked fans for their messages of support but said that his international teammate should also have received an award. “Thank you for all your messages. I think that Wissam also deserves a trophy, like the Premier League did last season, to reward his year,” he tweeted. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were all awarded the 2018-19 Golden Boot in the Premier League for finishing the sea...
Arsenal’s Bernd Leno names Alisson Becker as Premier League’s best goalkeeper
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno says his Liverpool counterpart Alisson Becker is the best in the Premier League. The Brazilian has made a huge impression at Anfield since his record-breaking £65 million ($85m) move from Roma two years ago. Taking over from Loris Karius following his disastrous performance in the 2018 Champions League final, Alisson has helped transform Liverpool’s back line. Jurgen Klopp’s side have only conceded 21 goals in 29 league games this season, with Leicester and Sheffield United the only other sides to manage fewer than 30. Asked by Soccer AM who was the best keeper in the Premier League, Leno had no doubt. “For me it’s clear, it’s Alisson,” the German said. “He’s good at everything and his stats are also very good. “He’s played a number of big games for Liverpool ...
