According to multiple sources, Chelsea are strongly back in the race for the services of Southampton s Romeo Lavia, after they submitted an offer of £48 million, with add-ons included.
Chelsea had several offers for the 19-year-old midfielder rejected by Southampton. Then Liverpool moved into the frame, only to be turned down as well, with their last offer to date worth up to £45m.
Chelsea s new offer is obviously the closest to the Saints reported £50m valuation of the player, and now it s up to the Saints to decide whether to accept, or hold out for the full asking price. They aren t likely to give an answer quickly, given the possibility that Liverpool may yet move again.
As for Lavia, he s reportedly made his feelings clear he wants to leave Southampton f…
Manchester United s players must be ready to hear things we don t want to from new manager Erik ten Hag if they are to avoid a repeat of last season, according to full-back Diogo Dalot.
Ten Hag officially replaced interim boss Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford last month on the back of United posting their lowest-ever Premier League points tally (58) in the 2021-22 campaign.
The Dutchman s tenure has started in a positive fashion with three wins and a draw during the Red Devils pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia, scoring 13 goals in the process.
However, Ten Hag criticised his team for an unacceptable loss of concentration in Saturday s friendly with Aston Villa, which finished in a 2-2 draw despite United leading by two goals at half-time.
Dalot, w…
Neven Subotic s long association with Borussia Dortmund has come to an end after the defender agreed to join Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne on a reported free transfer.
Subotic whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season had been on the books at Dortmund for just under 10 years after joining from Mainz in June 2008.
The Serbian became a key player under Jurgen Klopp and was part of the team that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12, before also playing in the Champions League final the following year as Dortmund were defeated 2-1 by Bayern Munich.
Injuries have troubled Subotic in the last two-and-a-half years and he has played just 10 Bundesliga games for Dortmund since the start of the 2015-16 campaign.
— AS Sai…
Thomas Tuchel expects Eintracht Frankfurt manager Dino Toppmoller to exploit his inside knowledge of the Bayern Munich players this weekend.
German champions Bayern return to action after the postponement of last weekend’s clash with Union Berlin as they travel to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Toppmoller was a member of the Bayern backroom staff under current boss Tuchel’s predecessor Julian Nagelsmann before he was sacked in March.
Full focus
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN)
“We haven’t made too many changes since and so he’s going to look back on our recent games and analyse them,” Tuchel told reporters at his pre-match press conference.
“But that is nothing unusual. We cannot leave out every player that wo…
With the Premier League once again taking center stage this weekend, we have a string of eye-catching affairs from up and down England s top-flight. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth taking note of.
Saturday August 13th
BST 12:30 Aston Villa vs Everton
Starting with Saturday s hosts, while Aston Villa might have enjoyed an impressive summer purple patch, Steven Gerrard s men came crashing back down to earth last weekend. Opening the 2022/23 campaign with a shock 2-0 defeat away at Premier League returners Bournemouth, the ex-Rangers boss does find some growing pressure on his shoulders. Having to settle for a sluggish 14th-place finish last season, Villa have made it clear that they have t…
Mauricio Pochettino insisted only winning the Premier League or the Champions League will take Tottenham to a different level , not the FA Cup ahead of their semi-final showdown with Manchester United.
Pochettino s Tottenham and United will do battle at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the FA Cup final, against either Chelsea or Southampton.
Spurs – third in the Premier League standings – have not claimed silverware since hoisting the EFL Cup trophy aloft in 2008, while they last won the FA Cup in 1991.
However, Pochettino played down the importance of winning the FA Cup in Tottenham s bid to establish themselves among Europe s elite.
People sometimes have short memories. When we arrived here four years ago, all people were talking about was reduci…
Tyrell Warren, Ged Garner and substitute Emile Acquah netted their first goals of the season as Barrow beat Doncaster 3-2 in Sky Bet League Two to record their first win in four games.
Warren had not scored since finding the net against Rovers in September 2022 but he rose superbly to convert Elliot Newby’s cross to give Pete Wild’s side a 12th-minute lead.
Grant McCann’s visitors were chasing a third successive league win but fell 2-0 behind eight minutes into the second half, Garner firing in a deflected free-kick after goalkeeper Louis Jones had been penalised for handling outside his area.
Doncaster gave themselves a glimmer of hope three minutes later when Joe Ironside headed in his third goal of the campaign.
However, Barrow’s hopes of recor…
Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley says the club s owners decided to invest in the Magpies over the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham because it was cheaper.
Staveley s consortium, partnered with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, purchased Newcastle in October 2021, paying around £300million, and she explained that one of the key reasons for doing so was so more money would be left over to invest in the club than if they had bought a more expensive alternative.
Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, Staveley also pointed to the fans as a driving force behind deciding to buy the club.
I think if we look specifically at Newcastle, we were very clear that prior to buying the club, we wanted a club with a very pa…
Cesc Fabregas has hit back on social media after being accused of swapping Arsenal to become a benchwarmer at Barcelona.
The midfielder, now at Monaco, left Barca for the Gunners as a 16-year-old and quickly established himself as a key first-team player in the Premier League.
The Spain star was even named as club captain at the age of just 21 but chose to return to his boyhood club two years later after winning only one FA Cup during his time in north London.
Fabregas found consistency difficult back at Barca, though, as he competed for midfield spots occupied by Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi under head coach Pep Guardiola.
It was put to him by a Twitter user that he traded the Arsenal captaincy to sit on the bench at Barcelona , but the play…
Cristiano Ronaldo insists he wants to stay at Real Madrid amid speculation over his future with the Spanish and European champions.
Ronaldo inspired Madrid to glory at home and abroad last season, with the 32-year-old s efforts also leading to him scooping a host of individual awards, including a coveted fifth Ballon d Or to bring him level with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.
The Portugal icon picked up a less-celebrated gong – Best Player of the Year from Chinese football app Dongqiudi – this week, amid rapidly changed fortunes for Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane s men are 19 points shy of leaders Barca as they languish fourth in LaLiga and face a tough last-16 Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain after finishing second in their group to Tottenham.
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