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…
With all eyes falling on Wembley this weekend, Manchester City got their hands on a first piece of silverware of the season as they collected a thrilling 7-6 penalties victory against local rivals Manchester United.
While large spells of Saturday’s Community Shield showdown might have failed to live up to its pre-match billing, the Red Devils thought that they had sprung another heavyweight upset in the English capital as Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring with just eight minutes left on the clock.
However, although United might have caused the defending Premier League champions a host of issues at Wembley, Bernardo Silva headed home from close range just seconds before the final whistle.
While Silva might have proved to have been City’s hero on Saturday …
Portugal full-back Fabio Coentrao will miss Euro 2016 after it was confirmed he would require surgery on a thigh injury.
Coentrao picked up the problem in training with Monaco last week and will now travel to Finland for surgery, with an estimated recovery time of three to six months.
Coentrao has won 51 caps for his country and featured at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, as well as at Euro 2012.
The 28-year-old has not played internationally since a 1-0 victory over Denmark in October.
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Market: Italy win to nil
Odds:
Enjoying quite the resurge, a high-flying Italy outfit will welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina to Torino s Allianz Stadium on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, putting in yet another very eye-catching display in their empathic 3-0 win away at Greece over the weekend, few across Europe would have expected Italy s recent revival. Winning each of their opening three matches in Group J and yet to taste defeat since the start of September, it will undoubtedly be the Blues newfound defensive resolve most impressing former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini. Yet to concede a single goal in their EURO 2020 qualifying campaign, Tuesday s hosts have now remarkably recorded six clean sheets on the bounce and have not picked the ball out…
The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.
Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.
Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.
PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.
PG…
England boss Roy Hodgson has been adventurous with his squad selection.
England manager Roy Hodgson has finally named his 23-man squad for this summer’s European Championships, and has raised eyebrows with a highly-attacking selection that could see the Three Lions light up the competition next month.
The 68-year-old initially named a provisional 26-man squad (3 players on stand-by), and has since trimmed the team by axeing three players from the lineup – Manchester City’s Fabian Delph, Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater, Newcastle United’s Andros Townsend. He’s named five strikers for the European Championships, making up the numbers by selecting just three centre-backs.
England’s Euro 2016 squad
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fra…
Jurgen Klopp must be considered as a Liverpool manager as great as the likes of Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly.
That is the opinion of former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock, who was left shocked by the news that Klopp would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Klopp confirmed in a video released via Liverpool s media channels on Friday that he would be calling time on his nine-year stint at Anfield.
In that time, Klopp has led Liverpool to a Premier League title, a Champions League crown, an FA Cup, EFL Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Community Shield.
The Reds are top of the Premier League as it stands, and his tally of five major trophies ranks him fourth on the all-time list for Liverpool, after Shankly (six), Kenny Dalglish (si…