Dublin, Ireland | AFP | A goal in either half from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his replacement Juan Mata helped Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over Sampdoria at Dublin’s Lansdowne Road in the Reds’ final pre-season game on Wednesday. The pair’s goals came either side of Dennis Praet’s strike to ensure …
Read More »Ronaldo says his ‘brilliance’ bothers people
Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo said Tuesday his “brilliance” annoys people, a day after he was quizzed by a Spanish judge investigating whether he evaded paying millions of euros in taxes. “What bothers people is my brilliance, insects only attack lamps that shine!!!!” the Portuguese wrote …
Read More »Lacazette can’t be replaced, says Lyon boss
Lyon, France | AFP | Arsenal’s new signing Alexandre Lacazette is irreplaceable, according to the coach of Lyon, who sold the forward to the Londoners last month. Lyon have been hit by an exodus of top players during the close season including Corentin Tolisso, Mathieu Valbuena, Maxime Gonalons and Rachid Ghezzal. …
Read More »Sanchez not for sale, insists Wenger
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Arsene Wenger has reiterated his determination to hold onto Alexis Sanchez and slammed claims the unsettled Arsenal star’s dose of the flu was part of his plan to engineer a transfer. Sanchez has just one year left on his Arsenal contract after refusing to …
Read More »Walcott shines as Arsenal trounce Benfica
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Theo Walcott gave Arsene Wenger a timely reminder of his qualities with a brace in Arsenal’s 5-2 friendly thrashing of Benfica as Alexandre Lacazette made his Gunners home debut in the Emirates Cup on Saturday. Walcott is in danger of being reduced to a …
Read More »Unsettled Sanchez due back with Arsenal on Sunday
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Amid persistent reports that Alexis Sanchez wants to leave Arsenal, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger says the Chile forward will return to training on Sunday. Sanchez missed Arsenal’s pre-season tour to Australia and China while he rested after playing for his country at the Confederations Cup. …
Read More »No Real deal for Mbappe, insist Monaco
Monaco, Principality of Monaco | AFP | Monaco insisted on Wednesday that no deal with Real Madrid has been reached for teenage French international striker Kylian Mbappe. Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev also said in a press conference the principality club were in discussions with Mbappe over a new contract extension. …
Read More »Premier League big guns reload as transfer arms race heats up
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Premier League spending looks certain to shatter all previous records before the current transfer window closes as England’s superpowers reload in an increasingly frenzied arms race. Fuelled by lucrative television contracts, currently worth around £8.3 billion ($10.8bn, 9.3bn euros) and unprecedented revenue streams at …
Read More »‘Intuition’ tells Pique Neymar will stay with Barca
Washington, United States | AFP | Barcelona defender Pique remains convinced that Neymar will stay at Camp Nou, but said Tuesday his opinion was based on “intuition” rather than inside knowledge. “It’s a personal opinion from the conversation that I had with him and my intuition,” Pique said at a press …
Read More »Football: De Gea ‘guaranteed’ to stay at United – Mourinho
Santa Clara, United States | AFP | Jose Mourinho has given a “guarantee” that David De Gea will stay at Manchester United this season, despite the long-running saga over a potential move to Real Madrid. Transfer speculation over De Gea returning to hometown club Real has stretched on for the …
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