Having come through the youth setup at Cardiff, Collins left the Welsh club to join West Ham in 2005. Four years later, he moved on to Aston Villa but went back to the Hammers in 2012. He spent the following six years there and was released upon the expiration of his contract in the summer of 2018. In January 2019, he joined Ipswich for the remainder of 2018/19, and was without a club since the summer of 2019.
The centre-back played a total of 279 games in the Premier League, 188 for West Ham, and 40 in the Championship of which 34 were for Cardiff. He also has 51 international caps for Wales to his name.
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Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan headline a star-studded United States squad for the Women s World Cup as veteran Ali Krieger was a surprise inclusion.
Many of the 23 players coach Jill Ellis selected were expected to make the trip to France, but there were also a few surprises that came with Thursday s announcement.
Krieger, 34, was added to the squad, even though she has only played for the national team once in the past 25 months. But Krieger helped the Americans win the World Cup in Canada four years ago after playing every minute of every USA game in the 2011 event, and Ellis indicated earlier this month that experience was crucial.
Morgan (set to compete in her third World Cup), Megan Rapinoe (third) and Lloyd (fourth) were among those expected to make the…
Former Croatia striker Ivan Klasnic has undergone a third kidney operation after a donor was found.
The 37-year-old suffered kidney failure in 2006 while playing for Werder Bremen and after his body rejected a transplant from his mother, he received a donor from his father.
His kidneys failed again in September last year, though, and the 37-year-old has endured an anxious wait to find a new donor.
Klasnic, who played for Bolton Wanderers between 2009 and 2012, was due to attend their Championship game against QPR at the Macron Stadium on Saturday.
The club issued a statement on its official website, saying we are looking forward to seeing him back at the Macron Stadium in the future .
extend our best wishes to Ivan Klasnic who has undergone a sud…
Barcelona signed off a tough Champions League campaign with a win after coming out 4-2 victors in an action-packed clash with Viktoria Plzen.
The Blaugrana were already condemned to a place in the Europa League ahead of their final match of Group C, with Inter and Bayern Munich s progression assured last week.
Barca s only other victory of a dismal Champions League campaign came in the reverse fixture against Plzen in September, but Xavi s team rallied to win in style at the Doosan Arena.
Ferran Torres scored twice after Marcos Alonso s early opener and though Plzen hit back through Tomas Chory s double, Pablo Torre marked his first Barca start with a goal to settle the contest.
2 Pablo Torre (19 years and 212 days) is the second youngest Barcelona player…
Kylian Mbappe has revealed he asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain in July amid interest from Real Madrid as he wanted the Ligue 1 side to receive a transfer fee.
The France international was repeatedly linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu during the most recent transfer window after entering the final year of his contract.
Madrid are reported to have had three bids turned down for the France international in July and August, the last one said to be worth up to €200million.
Speaking about his future in detail for the first time, Mbappe confirmed in an interview with RMC Sport, which will be released in full on Tuesday, that he does not intend to sign a new deal at the Parc des Princes.
I asked to leave, he said. From the moment where I did not wa…
Best odds: 13/25
Bookmaker:
The Premier League is back in action after the final international break of 2020, and there are a few very interesting matches to note this weekend when it comes to the title race. Chelsea have beaten Newcastle United away and temporarily took the top spot. It s another round between old enemies Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola when Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City do battle in north London later today (Saturday). And on Sunday, champions Liverpool will welcome their ex-manager Brendan Rodgers and his Leicester City team to Anfield.
Liverpool
Liverpool are currently heavily hit by an injury crisis with manager Jurgen Klopp s first-choice centre-back pair of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez likely out for the rest of the season and r…
Casemiro has made clear Real Madrid s squad are firmly behind Zinedine Zidane as they aim to avoid a hugely embarrassing Champions League exit.
Madrid have become accustomed to success in Europe s premier club competition under Zidane, having lifted the trophy three times during his first spell in charge.
However, the reigning LaLiga champions were dumped out at the last-16 stage last season, going down 4-2 on aggregate to Manchester City, and are in serious danger of failing to make it out of their group for the first time ever.
Los Blancos sit third in the table going into the final round of fixtures, when they will play host to leaders Borussia Monchengladbach in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.
Having also faltered in the early…
Spain coach Luis Enrique had no hesitations in handing Alvaro Morata an international recall after claiming the forward has turned himself into a different player at Juventus.
Morata last played for Spain in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Romania last November, seemingly falling out of favour since.
But the 28-year-old re-joined Juventus on loan from Atletico Madrid in September, and an upturn in form has brought him six goals in seven games for the Bianconeri.
Morata has scored 17 times in 33 appearances for Spain since making his debut in November 2014, but his consistency at club level has been questioned in the past.
However, Luis Enrique has closely monitored Morata s performances at Juve and seen enough to warrant his return to the squad.<…
Best odds: 8/5
Bookmaker:
Leicester City are set to welcome Southampton to the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon for what should be an interesting game of football in the 22nd round of the 2019/20 season in the Premier League.
Leicester City
Without a doubt the most pleasant surprise of the season in England s top flight, the Foxes have done better up to this point than many would have believed possible. A departure of one of the best players is very often a sign of troubles to come for most clubs, but having sold Harry Maguire to Manchester United for £80 million last summer and replaced him with Caglar Soyuncu, this team actually looks better as the Turk hit the ground running.
It has been argued that manager Brendan Rodgers wasn t ready to co…
Tottenham were made to wait in their bid to reach the Champions League s last 16 after Harry Kane was denied a 95th-minute winner in a contentious and chaotic finish to their 1-1 draw with Sporting CP.
Kane looked to have sealed Spurs progression from Group B when he fired past Antonio Adan from close range at the last, but a VAR review controversially ruled the striker to have been offside.
Marcus Edwards – who came through Spurs youth system before moving to Portugal – had earlier handed Sporting a deserved lead, which was cancelled out by Rodrigo Bentancur s header.
Antonio Conte was dismissed for his furious reaction to Kane s disallowed goal, and his side will now require a result at Marseille next Tuesday in order to reach the knockout stage.
I…