Fallen French giants Lyon are looking to new multi-million euro recruit Yoann Gourcuff to breathe fresh life into a team which has struggled since the departure of Brazil legend Juninho two years ago.
Last year s Ligue 1 runners-up have reached agreement with French first division rivals Bordeaux for France international midfielder Gourcuff in a deal worth 22 million euros.
The 24-year-old Gourcuff, who has so far failed to live up to his one-time billing as his country s natural heir to Zinedine Zidane, will sign a long-term deal after undergoing a medical on Wednesday, Lyon said.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has high hopes for their new recruit who he believes is of the same calibre as Sonny Anderson, bought from Barcelona in June 1999, and who helped spar…
Cardiff City are closing in on the signing of Adam Le Fondre from Reading,.
The South Wales side, who were relegated back to the Championship earlier this month, are rebuilding their squad in an attempt to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The 27 year old striker has struggled to hold down a first-team place under Nigel Adkins at Reading, though he still managed fifteen goals as the Royals narrowly missed out on a top-six finish.
They finished seventh in the second-tier, a point behind Brighton and Hove Albion, who secured their place in the play-offs with a last minute winner against Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season.
Le Fondre moved to the Madejski Stadium from Rotherham United in the summer of 2011, goin…
Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku headlined the list of Serie A s MVP winners for the 2020-21 season.
Ronaldo finished the campaign as the leading scorer in the competition, netting 29 times across 33 appearances for Juventus to be named the most valuable forward.
Lukaku ranked second in the scorer s list with 24 goals from 36 outings, though the Belgium striker did provide 11 assists compared to Ronaldo s tally of three as he was named the best overall MVP.
Both forwards only netted one goal from outside the area and scored six penalties apiece, while Lukaku had a better shot conversion rate than Ronaldo – 25 per cent compared to 17.26 as he helped Inter finish as champions.
Meanwhile, Gianluigi Donnarumma – whose future remains unclear as his co…
The Mirror understand that Manchester United have emerged as favourites to sign Borussia Dortmund sensation Jadon Sancho.
The midfielder, who moved to Dortmund from Manchester City in the summer of 2017 is in the form of his life having scored four goals in his last three club appearances.
He also made his senior England debut in the 0-0 draw with Croatia earlier this month having won five caps for the U19s.
The Red Devils are now the 2/1 favourites to secure the services of the eighteen-year-old, with his former club City a 3/1 chance despite him recently having signed a new contract with the Bundesliga outfit until the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
In total he has made twenty-five appearances in all competitions for Dortmund, scoring six times.
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Dani Alves spoke of his determination to deliver a dream Champions League title to Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon ahead of Saturday s showdown with Real Madrid.
Buffon, 39, has failed to land Europe s biggest club prize in his storied career, while Alves has the experience of three Champions League triumphs the last coming for Barcelona against Juve in 2015.
Facing the media ahead of the game, Alves does not feel as though his previous experience with Madrid s Clasico rivals will be a deciding factor, but spoke of the motivation he finds in helping his illustrious colleague capture the only major title to elude him.
Alves said: I don t feel more important than any of the other players because I ve lived moments like this. Moments are only good for the history …
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Germany and Latvia will face each other in a friendly international this week. The match is slated to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Monday and promises to be an exciting game of football.
Germany
This will be Germany’s final warm-up game ahead of the Euro 2020 finals. Joachim Low’s side will take on France in their opening Group F match next week. Low will leave his role as the Germany boss after the competition, and he will be determined to leave as a winner.
Germany played out a 1-1 draw with Denmark in their last international friendly game, which was held on Wednesday evening. The Germans also suffered a shock 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in March as well.
Team News…
Newcastle United s new owners were at St James Park for the first game of the PIF era against Tottenham, who named Son Heung-min in their starting XI.
Last week saw Mike Ashley s 14-year tenure as owner at Newcastle come to an end as a long-awaited takeover was completed.
Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund (PIF) took an 80 per cent stake in the club. Amanda Staveley s PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben brothers RB Sports Media each took on 10 per cent.
With PIF having estimated total assets of at least $500billion, their financial backing is expected to transform Newcastle into a club that will consistently compete for major trophies.
The club s new chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was among those in attendance to watch Newcastle attempt to get their f…
Amazon Games’ MMORPG New World is no stranger to game-breaking issues, but few could have expected seemingly innocuous Valentine’s Day cosmetics to be the cause of a serious server-crashing bug.
It was just a few hours after various Valentine’s Day-themed cosmetics went on sale yesterday in New World that Amazon removed the cosmetics from the store, much to the confusion of players. As it turns out, the skins had a potential bug that could cause server crashes, though Amazon states that players who did manage to purchase the skins should still be able to use them Come from Sports betting site VPbet . The cosmetics will return to the store once a fix has been found.
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Wolves will be looking for their second big scalp in a row when they travel to London to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.
Mick McCarthy s side pulled off the biggest upset of the season last weekend when they inflicted a first loss of the season on league-leaders Manchester United at Molineux.
The 2-1 win over United lifted Wolves off the bottom of the table, albeit on goal difference, and they will be looking to put further space between them and the foot of the table when they travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on the Gunners.
And although 18 places separate the sides on the Premier League table, midfielder Jamie O Hara said the upset victory over United had given Wolves the belief they could beat anybody.
I don t see why we can t g…
Real Madrid host Lyon in their Champions League second-leg clash on Wednesday with the Spanish giants favoured to progress to the last eight.
Madrid are primed for their first quarter-final appearance in the Champions League in six years due to their precious away goal from the 1-1 stalemate at le Stade de Gerland a fortnight ago.
But recent history has proven progression is not a given for the nine-time champions, and that Lyon provide staunch opposition.
Real are yet to defeat Lyon and bowed out of the competition last season at the hands of the former Ligue 1 champions.
However, manager Jose Mourinho is not afraid of Lyon, having dispatched the French side in the Champions League during his reign as Porto coach.
My team are not afraid of rec…