Romelu Lukaku s return to Chelsea has bolstered team-mate Marcos Alonso s optimism for the season ahead.
The Belgium forward moved back to Stamford Bridge from Inter for a reported £97.5million (€115m) fee, having proven prolific in Italy.
Lukaku led Inter to their first Serie A title in a decade last season, netting 24 league goals.
Having left the Blues in 2014, Lukaku rejoins a club who won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel last term and Alonso is thrilled to have the 28-year-old on board.
I m looking forward to playing with him, the Spaniard told Chelsea s official website.
He s going to be a great help for us. He s a great player, it s good to have him back and I m looking forward to start training with him.
Alonso, who…
Kolo Toure believes working under Pep Guardiola was the perfect crash course in management for Vincent Kompany.
Former Manchester City captain Kompany has enjoyed a fine season in charge of Burnley, leading the Clarets straight back to the Premier League and the Championship title.
Kompany, 37, left City in 2019 to become player-manager of Anderlecht.
He joined Burnley last year, and his success at Turf Moor has seen him become one of the most highly coveted young managers, with Tottenham reportedly interested in taking him to north London.
Kompany s ex-City team-mate Toure, who endured a difficult, short spell as Wigan Athletic boss earlier in the 2022-23 campaign, always felt the Belgian would go onto big things in management.
You could feel th…
Stefano Pioli hailed Milan for replicating their strong Champions League showings in Serie A after Sunday s victory over Lecce arrested a slump in domestic form.
Milan had won just one of their last six league games, denting their hopes of a top-four finish, but overcame Lecce 2-0 at San Siro after a Rafael Leao double.
The Rossoneri sit level on points with fourth-placed Roma, who visit Atalanta on Monday, while they trail Juventus by three after the Bianconeri s 15-point deduction was reversed this week.
Their struggles in the Italian top flight were in stark contrast to Champions League performances, having reached the last four for the first time since 2007 after a 2-1 aggregate win over Serie A leaders Napoli.
Pioli revealed his message to his Milan …
Liverpool s incredible unbeaten home run in the Premier League was ended in a shock loss to Burnley on Thursday.
After going 68 league games unbeaten at Anfield, the defending champions were stunned 1-0 after Ashley Barnes 83rd-minute penalty.
It was the first time Jurgen Klopp s side had lost at home in the top flight since they went down to Crystal Palace in April 2017.
The Reds run started with a 0-0 draw against Southampton and featured 55 wins and 13 draws, scoring 176 goals and conceded just 44 in the 68 games.
They also managed to keep 36 clean sheets, creating a fortress that helped propel them to a first league title since 1990 last season.
Liverpool are second on the all-time list for top-flight unbeaten runs at home, behind Chelsea …
Hasan Salihamidzic is doing a great job as Bayern Munich sporting director and does not deserve to be criticised, according to his former team-mate Sammy Kuffour.
Salihamidzic has held the role since July 2017 and was recently handed a new contract to remain as part of the Bayern boardroom staff for the next four years.
Bayern have won five successive Bundesliga titles during the Bosnian s tenure, as well as the Champions League, Club World Cup and the DFB-Pokal on two occasions.
Despite Bayern s success, Salihamidzic has often had to defend himself when it comes to the club s transfer business, not least after Robert Lewandowski s recent departure.
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern)
But Kuffour, who played alongside Salihamidzic for t…
Bernardo Silva will likely seek a new project in the next few years, but he will wait until the end of the season before discussing his Manchester City future.
Since signing for City from Monaco in 2017, Silva has won four Premier League titles as well as five domestic cups, playing a vital role in Pep Guardiola s team.
Barcelona were reportedly interested in luring the Portugal international to Camp Nou in the last transfer window, though City s reluctance to sell ensured a move never materialised.
While Silva is focused on winning more silverware with City before the end of the season, he has refused to rule out a move prior to next campaign.
I m very focused on this season and it doesn t make sense to talk about leaving because we re in the middle of …
James Rodriguez is set to join Olympiacos on loan from Qatar Stars League Al-Rayyan, according to Fabrizio Romano. The two clubs are apparently in full agreement over the proposed temporary transfer of the Colombian playmaker, who has flown to Greece today (Wednesday) to undergo a medical. If that goes as planned, the signing of his contract with Olympiacos should become imminent.
The Colombian has had a colourful career so far. He attracted much attention during his spells with FC Porto and AS Monaco, and after he played a fantastic tournament at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Real Madrid swooped in for his signature. Things, however, soon started going downhill for him there, when Zinedine Zidane came in and changed the preferred formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3, restoring defe…
Everton gave their late chairman Bill Kenwright the send-off he would have wanted as ex-Burnley duo James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil played a major part in the 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over their former club.
On a night when the fanbase, which has often been divided over the role of Kenwright spanning almost two decades, rose as one to mark his death last week at the age of 78, the team ensured the occasion was marked in fitting fashion.
Tarkowski’s header opened the scoring in the 13th minute and the centre-back’s aerial prowess came to the fore early in the second half when he nodded McNeil’s header back into the danger area for Amadou Onana to poke home from close range.
Ashley Young’s first Everton goal in added time came courtesy of substitute Beto�…
De Bruyne prefers MLS over Saudi
Although Kevin De Bruyne might have his sights firmly set on making more history with this season, it has been suggested that the 32-year-old is already planning for his future away from the Etihad.
Continuing to shine since returning from a long-term hamstring injury at the start of the year, the one-time starlet sees his current deal with the defending Premier League champions expire in the summer of 2025.
Watching the likes of Ilkay Gundogan leave at the end of last season, it has been heavily speculated that the Sky Blues are cautious about giving long-term deals to players above the age of 30.
Although it might have been reported over the past few months that several clubs are monitoring De Bruyne’s situation at the Et…
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has defended Sheffield United, acknowledging it has been a bad season, but dismissing that the Blades do not have a positive future.
A midweek defeat to Manchester United means the Blades can be relegated back to the Championship should they lose to Newcastle United on Saturday.
The Blades are 10 points from safety with four games left, but even a point would not realistically be enough given they have a goal difference of -59, 41 worse than Nottingham Forest’s -18.
To make matters worse, the Blades will start their next season in the Championship with a two-point deduction for financial discrepancies.
We re not saying everything is great, said Wilder.
What we are saying is there is a load of optimism abou…