LaLiga president Javier Tebas declared Barcelona are on the right track to register their new signings before the season begins – but made it clear they cannot pressure Frenkie de Jong to take a pay cut.
The Catalan club s financial issues have been well documented in recent years, but coach Xavi has still been able to make considerable additions, landing Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski while Jules Kounde looks set to follow from Sevilla.
That activity has raised eyebrows across Europe regarding how Barcelona can afford to land new recruits, with it clear that departures will be on the cards in the latter stages of the transfer window to balance the books.
Tebas admitted that was indeed the case, with Barcelona having a little work still to complete, but that …
Leicester City clinched the Premier League title without playing on Monday, eight months after setting out for a new season with expectations only of survival following desperate battle with relegation in 2014-15.
Claudio Ranieri s side have become the story of the sporting world since then after what began as little more than early promise and a recurring insistence from the Italian that winning the title outright would never be a realistic objective.
But Leicester s modesty rarely threatened to curtail their pursuit of the title – losing just three of the 36 games needed for them to secure the championship, as well as winning more games than any other side.
Here, we take a look at the five matches that paved the way for the unlikeliest of Premier League c…
Alvaro Morata has thanked Juventus fans for their support after returning to Real Madrid following a two-year stay in Serie A.
Despite the Italian champions being keen to keep Morata, Madrid exercised a buy-back clause reportedly worth €30million to bring the striker back to the Spanish capital.
Morata, who has hit three goals in as many games on international duty at Euro 2016 with Spain, posted a letter to Juve fans on his personal website.
Hello everyone. Writing this letter isn t easy for me, wrote Morata, who won back-to-back domestic doubles with Juve as well as scoring in the 2015 Champions League final.
I would like firstly to thank all the people who believed in me, who placed their faith in me and who treated me extremely well to make me hap…
What is it with Tottenham Hotspur? I go away on holiday for two weeks, having confidently predicted that they would start the season well and maintain a genuine challenge to the top four, and when I get back they are languishing at the bottom of the table and facing their worst start for nearly thirty years.
Two defeats and the prospect of a trip to Scolari’s Chelsea on Sunday have left Spurs looking less like European challengers and more like the ‘crisis club’ that sacked Martin Jol so early into last season.
It would appear that Juande Ramos is going to turn to Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to solve his goalscoring problems as the big front man has told the Russian media he is poised to join Tottenham Hotspu…
Premier League side Manchester City made an eleventh-hour bid to sign Germany striker Mario Gomez from Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart last Sunday, the forward revealed on Saturday.
Gomez, who is under contract in Stuttgart until 2012, told German tabloid Bild there was a multi-million euro offer for him from City just before the transfer window closed on Monday September 1, but his club refused.
With new Arabian investors at the helm, City recruited Brazilian Robinho for a British transfer record of £32.5 million (57.5 million US dollars) last Monday and bid for Gomez who scored in Stuttgart s 2-0 win over Hanover last Sunday.
Yes, that is correct. After our win over Hanover, Manchester City made an offer which our manager, Horst Heldt, rejected, confi…
Bayern Munich set a new Champions League benchmark when they completed a perfect Group B campaign with Wednesday s comfortable 3-1 victory over Tottenham.
Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller and Philippe Coutinho were on the scoresheet as the Bundesliga champions improved their points haul to a maximum 18 from six games.
Bayern finished well clear of second-placed Spurs, and the combination of points and positive goal difference – a commanding +19 – confirmed them as the best group winners in the competition s history.
The highlight was undoubtedly the 7-2 thrashing of Tottenham in London at the start of October, a result that seemed to hasten Mauricio Pochettino s downfall.
Bayern changed their own head coach in November, moving Niko Kovac aside, but inte…
Arsene Wenger has dismissed speculation he could break his Arsenal contract early after another disappointing campaign at the Emirates Stadium.
The Frenchman s future with the Gunners came under intense scrutiny last season as his previous deal neared its end, but he then put pen to paper on a two-year extension.
Arsenal have struggled to be competitive, though, despite heavy investment in Wenger s squad – the like of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arriving for club-record deals.
Sitting sixth in the Premier League table, and having exited the FA Cup, Arsenal s only chance of silverware this season is in the Europa League or EFL Cup.
And that has led to reports Wenger could walk away, but the experienced manager intends to honour his …
Egypt international Ahmed Fathi will have a trial at Arsenal after Al Ahly confirmed that the right-back is due in London on Friday.
Fathi spent six months on loan at Hull City in the second half of the 2012-13 Championship season, but made just one start and six league appearances in total.
However, the 29-year-old has been given the chance to impress Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger ahead of the 2014-15 Premier League campaign.
Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly confirmed on their official Facebook page that Fathi will leave for London on Friday and will miss his side s Egypt Cup semi-final on Monday.
Fathi also spent eight months with Sheffield United in 2007, playing just three Premier League games.
Ahmed Fathi is set to travel to England on …
After making his return to the Newcastle United first-team, Jonas Gutierrez revealed how he was told to move on by former manager Alan Pardew.
Gutierrez made his comeback on Wednesday against Manchester United, after recovering from testicular cancer.
The Argentinian was given a rousing reception by the St James Park faithful upon his return, but has explained how former boss Pardew was happy to see him move on during his period of rehabilitation.
He told me to look for a team a moment after the second operation at the end of 2013, he told Marca.
This hurt me a lot.
You have to be more human and not look only at the football side and business.
I only look to the future and each of us has to look at themselves and their conscience.
Minnesota United lived up to their terrific away record with a 2-1 win against Nashville SC at Geodis Park on Sunday.
At home, Nashville were the betting favourites in the contest, but perhaps that should not have been the case as they entered the match with the worst home record in the Western Conference, collecting just 14 points from 12 matches.
On the other hand, Minnesota are the West s third-best team away from home, with 19 points in 13 matches, and while they have been strong recently – with only one loss from their past 10 games – Nashville have only one win from their past 10.
The road team took the life out of the crowd when Franco Fragapane put Minnesota ahead 1-0 in the 27th minute, getting on the end of a terrific ball from Emanuel Reynoso after…