Month: January 2025

Chelsea are set to loan Kurt Zouma out next season in a bid to improve the defender’s fitness, .

Despite racking up thirty-two appearances in all competitions for the Blues last season, the twenty-two year old has started just two Premier League games under Antonio Conte as he has struggled to recover from a knee injury.

There is already set to be a major defensive re-shuffle at Stamford Bridge in the summer with club captain John Terry on his way out of the club and a bid for Southampton’s Virgin van Dijk in the offing and now Zouma could be playing his football elsewhere for the foreseeable future.

Since signing from Saint Etienne in the summer of 2014, Zouma has made sixty-nine appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals and was part of the squ…

Manchester United are ready to move for Southampton winger Sadio Mane after he was left out of Southampton’s starting line-up on Saturday afternoon.

The Senegal international was punished for being late for a team meeting, and his future at the south coast club is once again the subject of speculation.

He was strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford in the summer though he remained at St Mary’s and has made twenty-five appearances in all competitions so far this season, scoring seven goals.

Mane moved to England from Salzburg in the summer of 2014 and his appearance yesterday was his fiftieth in the Premier League.

Internationally, he has been capped thirty-one times for his country, scoring nine goals while he was also part of their Olympic…

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed three more players have tested positive for COVID-19, putting their return to Ligue 1 action next week in doubt.

It means six players have now returned positives across the last two rounds of screening, with the first three having been reported on Wednesday.

Thursday s news will likely see PSG s match at Lens, scheduled for September 10, rearranged to a later date, having already been pushed back at the request of the beaten Champions League finalists.

A brief statement from the club said: The latest tests for PCR SarsCoV2 carried out on the Paris Saint-Germain first team confirmed three new positive cases.

The players are following the appropriate health measures.

Thomas Tuchel s men were crowned Ligue 1 cham…

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson said he and his team-mates told each other to stick together during their recent difficult run of form.

The Reds won just two of their first eight Premier League games as they fell away from any talk of the title race in the early weeks of the season.

However, back-to-back 1-0 home wins against Manchester City and West Ham have restored some feel-good factor at Anfield, with the Brazilian s penalty save on Wednesday helping his team narrowly beat the Hammers.

A 22nd-minute header from Darwin Nunez put Liverpool in front, before Jarrod Bowen was brought down in the box by Joe Gomez just before half-time.

However, Alisson dived down to his right to palm Bowen s spot-kick away, before some nervy defending in the second half event…

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hailed his side s 5-1 win over Club Brugge as one of the best performances they have produced in Europe.

Riyad Mahrez scored twice, with Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker and Cole Palmer all getting on the scoresheet too, while Hans Vanaken netted for the hosts in Belgium.

It was a scintillating showing from last season s losing Champions League finalists and Guardiola believes they could have won by an even greater margin.

[It was] one of the best performances we have done in Europe, definitely, Guardiola said after the match.  I looked over Brugge in the international break. I looked at many games. I know how good they did against PSG.

We found a lot of passes with Phil [Foden]. We had runners in behind. We could have …

Callum Wilson has completed his move to Newcastle United from Bournemouth in a reported £20million deal.

The 28-year-old striker, capped four times by England, has signed a four-year deal with the Magpies ahead of the new Premier League season.

Wilson spent six seasons with the Cherries and scored 67 goals in 187 appearances, but he was unable to prevent them from being relegated into the Championship at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.

Aston Villa were heavily linked with Wilson, who has previously been of interest to Chelsea too.

From the minute I knew that Newcastle were interested, it was definitely something that appealed to me, he said in quotes published on Newcastle s website.

It s a massive club with great history. Along the years, …

Publicity stunt

There could soon be two new foreign forward players in the Premier League if yesterday’s media reports are to be believed.

Similarity

There is no doubt that the two players being mentioned are, or have been, world class. That, however, is where the similarity ends. One, the proposed purchase of Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko by Manchester City, is a serious signing by a rich club looking to take the next step to challenge for honours at home and in Europe. The other, the proposed purchase of AC Milan’s Ronaldinho by Blackburn Rovers, is a publicity seeking signing by a supposedly rich club who haven’t got the faintest idea what they are doing.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini spoke yesterday to say that he believed a deal has been a…

Burnley moved to within two points of the Championship promotion play-offs with a 3-1 home win over Middlesbrough on Tuesday.

Jay Rodriguez was the star for Eddie Howe s side, opening the scoring after 22 minutes and then setting up Wade Elliott for the second a minute later.

Some slack marking allowed Burnley defender Michael Duff to head home a third from a Danny Fox corner, and although Andrew Taylor claimed a late consolation for Middlesbrough, it was a dark day for the visitors who are 18th in the table.

Burnley are now just two points adrift of sixth-placed Leeds, although they sit in ninth place with inferior goal difference to both Nottingham Forest and Hull, with four games to play.

It is Burnley s first season back in the Championship after bei…

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has signed a five-and-a-half year deal to remain at Stamford Bridge until 2016.

The Serbian international signed with the club when Avram Grant was in charge in 2008, before making his senior bow under Grant s successor Luiz Felipe Scolari later that year.

Ivanovic is due to make his 100th appearance for the Blues when they clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday, but the 26-year-old has more significant milestones in mind, in particular team-oriented ones.

It (the long-term deal) is good news for me, it is a very big step for me in my career and I want to give my maximum and try to help Chelsea win a lot more trophies, Ivanovic said.

These things take a little time but my first vision was always to stay with C…

Rodrigo Muniz scored twice as Tottenham missed out on the chance of moving into the Premier League top four after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Victory would have meant Ange Postecoglou’s side moved a point ahead of Aston Villa but the north Londoners instead finish the weekend in fifth.

Muniz’s double took his top-flight tally to seven goals in his last seven appearances on a day where the Cottagers shone in west London.

Sasa Lukic scored his first goal of the season as Marco Silva’s side bounced back from last week’s 2-1 defeat by Wolves at Molineux.

Fulham looked to strike an early blow through the in-form Muniz, who was freed into a pocket of space. After his initial shot was blocked by Cristian Romero, Andreas Pereira’…