ANTONIO CONTE has insisted that he and the Chelsea board need to settle their differences if he is to stay at Stamford Bridge but warned that he will have plenty of options if he leaves. The Italian will still have 12 months left on his £9million a year contract at the end of this season although it is widely believed that he will leave then after a long running row with the board over transfers. Chelsea have drawn up a list of candidates
ROMA legend Francesco Totti believes Mohamed Salah still hasn’t reached the best of his abilities yet. Salah has been a revelation at Anfield since signing from Roma in the summer and his £34million price-tag looks to be one of the deals of the season. Only Harry Kane has managed more goals in the Premier League this season and Salah has already notched up 30 strikes in just 36 games. The Egypt international’s performances have been crucial to Liverpool’s top four hopes so far
MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho has praised Paul Pogba for his performance against Sevilla after leaving the midfielder out of his starting line-up. After being left out of the starting XI by Mourinho, Pogba was called into action early in the first half when Ander Herrera was forced off with an injury. And alongside Nemanja Matic and youngster Scott McTominay, the 24-year-old was under the cosh for much of the game as Sevilla searched for a first-leg advantage. But a stunning reflex save
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN appears to have aimed a subtle dig at Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho. The Armenian endured a tough relationship with the Red Devils boss during his time at Old Trafford. After enjoying a strong first season in Manchester, Mkhitaryan suddenly found himself frozen out during Mourinho's second term. The winger ended up being used as a makeweight in United's move for Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez. While Mourinho is known for his defensive tactics, Arsene Wenger's men play a more attacking brand of
THIS is the shocking moment a footballer used a CORNER FLAG to defend himself during on-field brawl. Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle faced River Plate in the under 20s semi-final of the Copa Libertadores last night. River Plate suffered a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Independiente and things got heated at the final whistle. Independiente ace Angelo Preciado found himself at the center of a mass brawl at the end of the match and forced to take drastic measures to defend himself. Preciado was
LIVERPOOL are said to be lining up a summer move for Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Doubts have grown over the current choices, with Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet failing to convince they are reliable No 1s on a long-term basis. Liverpool have been eyeing a deal for Roma shot-stopper Alisson, although it is thought the 25-year-old will fetch £70million. Recent reports have suggested the Anfield outfit will abandon a move for the Serie A star as they are put off by his huge
BAYER LEVERKUSEN star Leon Bailey has dropped a massive transfer hint. The winger was heavily linked with moves to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United last month but a deal never materialised. However, all three clubs could reignite their interest in Bailey at the end of the season as they look to close the gap to Premier League leaders Manchester City. And the 20-year-old has expressed his desire to move on to a “big” club once he has achieved his goal with Leverkusen. But he wants
Former Manchester United skipper and legend Roy Keane has come out in support of Paul Pogba after the Frenchman again came under more criticicsm for his performance against Sevilla in the Champions League. The Irishman believes that Pogba is being wrongly condemned and is being used as a scapegoat for their sub-par performances by Manchester United fans and manager Jose Mourinho.Pogba was benched on Wednesday for thei first leg of Manchester United's Round of 16 clash against Sevilla but had to come on early
RYAN SESSEGNON has already agreed a deal to leave Fulham this summer, claims the club’s former forward Leroy Rosenior. The highly-rated teenager made his breakthrough at Craven Cottage last season and the 17-year-old’s impressive form this term has alerted a number of Premier League suitors. Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham have all been linked with the teenager in the past but were dealt a blow in their attempts to sign him when he signed his first professional contract at Fulham last summer. Fulham
Romelu Lukaku has come in for a huge amount of criticism ever since his big money from Everton to Manchester United earlier this season. And not it seems like people just can’t wait to get on the case of the Belgian who had another night to forget playing in the Champions League. After another night where he failed to really make a mark against a big name side, the Twitterati was out in arms to reassert their claim that the 24-year-old can only
Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah’s performances this season have been outstanding. 31 goals in 37 games in the Red of Liverpool has seen the Egyptian help the Merseyside giants to third place in the table and one foot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after thumping Porto 5-0 in the away leg. His imperious form in his first season in England has, however, has attracted eyeballs some of the biggest sides in Europe. It was reported earlier that Real Madrid remain the keenest
SERGIO RAMOS took up penalty duties as Real Madrid beat Leganes 3-1 this evening. The La Liga champions were completing their domestic game in-hand and they rested a number of key men including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. And it looked like the decision could have been a regrettable one early on as Unai Bustinza gave Leganes a shock lead inside six minutes. But Lucas Vazquez restored parity five minutes later before Casemiro flipped the game on its head on the half-hour mark.
Real Madrid managed to pull off yet another come-from-behind win on Wednesday (their third in a row) against Leganes. Strikes from Lucas Vasquez and Casemiro in the first half combined with Sergio Ramos’ goal in the second sealed a 3-1 win for the Blancos after they had fallen behind within the opening six minutes. However, one Real player was left fuming when the final whistle blew. That player was none other than Dani Ceballos – who was brought in at the end of
REAL MADRID manager Zinedine Zidane has explained why Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were absent from his starting line up against Leganes. The Frenchman rotated his stars to allow some of the younger fringe players some much needed gametime. Instead, Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio were trusted to lead the attack with Karim Benzema - and the former found the back of the net inside 11 minutes. Ronaldo scored a brace in the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain last week so was
IAN WRIGHT has taken issue with one particular remark from Jose Mourinho after Manchester United’s draw to Sevilla. Manchester United were held to a goalless draw in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie and lacked creativity and guile going forward. In fact, United came very close to conceding and David de Gea had to pull off a series of reflex saves to keep a clean sheet. Mourinho suggested after the game that United began to tire in the second half.
WILLIAN was left upset by Chelsea’s failure to beat Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The Brazil international hit the post twice in the first half as Chelsea pinned the visitors on the ropes. It was third time lucky after the break when he found the back of the net from the edge of the box. But Lionel Messi’s late leveller means Barcelona have a crucial away goal going into the second leg. Willian was pleased with Chelsea's performance
CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte should be disappointed to have only managed a 1-1 draw with Barcelona. That is the opinion of BBC Sport pundit Andy Townsend. Chelsea played magnificently to hold the La Liga leaders to a draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash. Willian scored the opening goal just after half time but it was cancelled out when Lionel Messi capitalised on a major defensive mistake to level it up. But Townsend thinks Blues boss Antonio Conte will
LIONEL MESSI has apparently sent an off-camera message to Cristiano Ronaldo when scoring at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. The Barcelona star scored a vital equaliser against Chelsea in the Champions League to earn his side a 1-1 draw. Willian netted to open the scoring but Messi took advantage of a loose Andreas Christensen pass to take a crucial away goal into the second leg. And when his low drive hit the back of the net he burst towards Andres Iniesta, who played the assist, and
David De Gea reportedly believes his hopes of securing a Real Madrid move have been boosted due to Man Utd’s interest in a midfielder. Spanish outlet Don Balon are claiming that the United goalkeeper is hopeful of a dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu due to the Red Devils’ interest in Toni Kroos. They believe that permission will be granted to sign Kroos in an £80m deal this summer – if they are willing to sacrifice their prized goalkeeper. United are reportedly planning to
MANCHESTER UNITED target Jorginho could be sold by Napoli in the summer, his agent Joao Santos has claimed. Manchester United have been linked with a move for Jorginho in the summer as a potential replacement for Michael Carrick. Reports say the Brazilian is one of three targets being considered by the Red Devils, including Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Nice’s Jean Michael Seri. Jorginho’s agent Joao Santos has previously discussed a move to Old Trafford for his client but joked he would not like