Barcelona director Ariedo Braida has said the club are unlikely to try and sign Manchester United’s Paul Pogba this month with Rafinha set to stay at the Camp Nou for now. has claimed that Barca will attempt to buy the France international before the transfer window closes in Spain, but Braida suggested those reports are untrue. “I don’t think we’re going to move for Pogba, but he’s a great player,” he told Radio Sportiva. Rafinha’s future could be linked to whether or not Barca make any more summer signings. If he stays, they are unlikely to move for another midfielder…
Author: David Folami
“All that’s missing is a 9,” ran the headline in Madrid sports daily AS after the opening game of Julen Lopetegui’s Real Madrid tenure ended in a 2-1 defeat against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. Other than serving as a thinly veiled cry for a Galactico to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, those few short words also give the impression that Lopetegui’s side played United off the pitch. That was scarcely the case. The game was conducted with the gravity a preseason cash-spinner deserves, and Real’s starting lineup contained a half-dozen players who won’t be bothering Lopetegui’s team…
Tottenham were confirmed as the winners of this summer’s International Champions Cup on Saturday, hours after also kicking off their Premier League season with a victory. Spurs’ status as ICC champions was confirmed when Inter Milan failed to beat Atletico Madrid by a wide enough margin in the final game of the friendly competition on Saturday. Mauricio Pochettino’s men beat Roma 4-1, fell to Barcelona on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and edged AC Milan 1-0 in their tour of the U.S. in July to top the table with seven points, just ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Inter on goal…
Gerard Pique has said he will not reverse his decision to retire from international football despite a recent conversation with Spain coach Luis Enrique. However, the defender says his decision stands. “I spoke with Luis Enrique a week ago,” Pique said in a news conference on Saturday ahead of the Spanish Super Cup final against Sevilla. “I told him the decision was made a while ago and that I had put a lot of thought into it. I had a great time playing for Spain but now I want to focus on Barcelona.” Despite his success, though, he was often…
Maurizio Sarri has said Chelsea must use the rest of August to improve despite getting the Premier League season off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town. Goals from N’Golo Kante, summer signing Jorginho and Pedro Rodriguez secured a convincing win for Chelsea at the John Smith’s Stadium, and club-record purchase Kepa Arrizabalaga recorded a clean sheet in relative comfort on his debut in goal. But while he said he was very happy to take three points, Sarri said that he hopes to get his players more in tune with his ideas before international commitments and…
Cristiano Ronaldo has said he is pleased with his decision to join Juventus following his departure Real Madrid after nine seasons as he prepares to play his first match for his new club. The Portugal captain said he had developed an appreciation for Juve over the years and shared his affinity for the club in an interview coinciding with the launch of their streaming Juventus TV channel. “It’s a great club, first of all,” Ronaldo said in the interview. “Since I was a child, I knew this team and I hoped that one day I could play there. … Now…
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United made it two wins from two matches at the start of their Championship campaign when they overcame Frank Lampard’s Derby County with an imperious 4-1 victory on Saturday. Alongside Aston Villa and Swansea City, Leeds are one of three sides with a 100 percent start and trail only table-topping Middlesbrough — who have played one more game — after they beat Birmingham City 1-0. Earlier on Saturday, Aston Villa were 3-2 victors against Wigan Athletic and needed a dramatic, 95th-minute winner from Birkir Bjarnason to keep up their perfect start to the campaign. Jay Fulton scored…
Unai Emery praised Danny Welbeck for his versatility and said the forward has been training at left-back as Arsenal deal with an injury crisis. However, Emery said Welbeck has shown he can play all over the pitch: “Danny Welbeck is one of the players who has a multi-position possibility. “Right winger, left winger, striker, and also yesterday he worked with us at left-back — his performance was good! I like this spirit. To help positions across the team with positive spirit.” Although English clubs can’t buy new players now that their summer window has closed, they can sell. But Emery…
Paul Pogba avoided the opportunity to end talk he is unsettled at Manchester United by insisting: “there are things that I cannot say, otherwise I will get fined.” He has been linked with moves to Barcelona and Juventus after sources said the 25-year-old was unhappy at some of Mourinho’s criticism of him during the summer. Speaking to reporters after the game against Leicester, Pogba was asked whether he is “happy and comfortable” at the club, but the £89.3 million man turned down the chance to put the speculation to bed. “There are things, and there are things that I cannot…
Thibaut Courtois has apologised for singing an offensive song about Real Madrid, following his £35 million move from Chelsea. Courtois, at his unveiling at the Bernabeu on Thursday, was quizzed by reporters after footage emerged of him singing an offensive song following Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over Real in the 2013 Copa del Rey final. (Contains strong language). And the 26-year-old, who could face former club Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup next week, said: “I was very young at that time, I got carried away in the moment. I apologised at the time and I do again now. It…
“I have as much enthusiasm for leaving Madrid as I do for dying,” Keylor Navas said after his side’s friendly victory over Roma on Tuesday in response to the arrival of Thibaut Courtois at the Bernabeu. It was an uncharacteristic choice of words by Navas, and spoken by a devout Christian was as emphatic a phrase as the Costa Rica keeper has ever uttered in a Madrid shirt. Navas’ immediate existence might have hit a snag but his response to the challenge has been crystallising for several years. Its jagged edge made the inference perfectly clear: from here, the 31-year-old…
Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool “have to be” Rocky Balboa in this season’s Premier League title race and compared Manchester City to Ivan Drago. Klopp used an analogy from the film ‘Rocky IV,’ where heavyweight boxer Balboa takes down the favourite Drago, to describe Liverpool’s task ahead in the upcoming campaign. “I know a lot of people because we were that active in the transfer window,” he said. “That’s all part of the business, but it doesn’t decide anything. “We want to — that’s clear for ages — be the champion of England or winning the league. “But how could…
Maurizio Sarri warned that it may take “a couple of months” to implement his style of football at Chelsea, adding that he is expecting his team to encounter problems in the first half of the season. Two of Chelsea’s summer signings — club-record purchase Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid loanee Mateo Kovacic — only arrived at Cobham on Wednesday, and Sarri admitted that he will need more time to get his new players up to speed with his ideas. “For sure in this moment, we are not at the top of our potential,” he said. “We did…
Son Heung-Min has said he is relishing the prospect of facing his South Korea captain Ki Sung-Yueng at Newcastle on Saturday. Ki joined Newcastle from Swansea on a free transfer after captaining South Korea in Russia. “He did very well at the World Cup,” Son said ahead of Spurs’ opening fixture at St James’ Park. “He was very excited to move to Newcastle, and I’m looking forward to playing against him. “He can bring a lot of things because he’s a very good player. He can change the side, shoot, make a good pass. He doesn’t lose a lot of…
Jose Mourinho has said last season’s second-place finish is one of his greatest achievements — and insists his team are “ready” for the new season despite failing to bolster his squad on transfer deadline day. He also included what appeared to be a dig at Jurgen Klopp, who is without a trophy in his three years at Liverpool, and Mauricio Pochettino, who is yet to win any silverware at Tottenham. “My view is that first of all is difficult for me to believe we finished second when I listen, when I read, not much but sometimes I do, it is…
Unai Emery has said the prospect of Stan Kroenke gaining total ownership of the club is “positive” after the billionaire gave him his full backing in May. Kroenke, who already owned two-thirds of the club, announced this week that minority shareholder Alisher Usmanov had agreed to sell his 30 percent stake to him. The development has angered some fans because it would mean Kroenke could force the remaining smaller shareholders to sell their combined three percent stake, taking Arsenal into private ownership. “I met the Kroenke family in Atlanta, and he gave us his commitment in this project with Arsenal,”…
Pep Guardiola has rejected stories linking him to the vacant job as Argentina coach following the country’s disappointing performance at the World Cup. Argentine FA president Claudio Tapia had claimed that Guardiola was approached, but the Manchester City manager insisted he was never contacted and was annoyed by suggestions that his wages made a deal impossible. “I’m a little bit disappointed because he cannot say, the president of Argentina, that I cannot contact Pep because his salary is amazing, to know that he has to know my salary,” Guardiola told a news conference. “The second one, he has to know…
Unai Emery has made Laurent Koscielny captain of the club despite his long-term injury, and named Mesut Ozil among his four other co-captains. The other four captains are goalkeeper Petr Cech and midfield trio Aaron Ramsey, Ozil and Granit Xhaka, Emery revealed on Friday. “This morning, I give them [the squad] the official captain. First, he is injured but he is also captain of this group, is Koscielny,” Emery said ahead of Sunday’s Premier League opener against Manchester City. “In my career, I want leaders in the team. … It’s natural these five players are in the position to be…
Paul Pogba has revealed that Manchester United do not have a designated penalty-taker, following an on-pitch discussion with Alexis Sanchez in their Premier League-opening 2-1 win over Leicester City on Friday. Pogba explained his side of the incident after the game and said he would not always be taking penalties for United this season. “We don’t have a penalty-taker, it’s how we feel, and I decided to take it,” Pogba told Sky Sports. “Maybe on the next game I leave it to Alexis.” It was the first game back with United for Pogba after his World Cup-winning exploits, and he…
Nine people have been killed by gunmen in a fresh attack on a community in Benue state. The attack, which was carried out in Tse Ujoh community in Ikyurav-Tiev area in Katsina Alla local government area, of was confirmed by the state police command on Friday, August 10, 2018. The command’s spokesman, Moses Yamu, said security personnel had been deployed in the area to bring the situation under control after the gunmen attacked the community early on Friday morning. Meanwhile, Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom, has confirmed the attack. The governor, however, said three persons had been arrested in connection…