West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic believes his club have done everything needed to complete the signing of Branislav Ivanovic.
The 36-year-old former Serbia international spent nine years at Chelsea, playing a total of 377 games and scoring 34 goals in all competitions. A versatile defender, he has spent most of his career on the right defensive flank but has been a fantastic centre-back as well, very physical and formidable in the air. He helped the Blues win three Premier League titles and as many FA Cups, one League Cup, the 2012 Champions League and the Europa League the following year.
He joined Zenit St Petersburg in 2017 and won two Russian Premier League titles with them, together with one Russian cup. His contract expired this summer and he now joins th…
Alessandro Florenzi and Edin Dzeko scored late on as Roma beat Juventus 2-0 to boost their top-four hopes.
It means the champions have recorded only one win in seven games across all competitions for the first time since 2010.
Claudio Ranieri s men looked to be heading for a disappointing draw that could have contributed to them potentially ending this round of fixtures five points adrift of the Champions League spots, but Florenzi and then Dzeko found the net in the final 11 minutes to keep them right in the race.
A thrilling first half brought a host of chances, with Antonio Mirante in the Roma goal impressing, while the woodwork denied both Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala at either end.
Despite Roma s greater need for a result, Juve continued t…
Gareth Southgate believes any manager of a top team must be prepared to make big calls as he will with Jack Grealish, citing former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson s difficulty choosing between Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
Heading into a Nations League double-header against Belgium and Iceland, pressure is building on Southgate to name Aston Villa captain Grealish in his XI.
The 25-year-old switched allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to England in 2015 but did not make his senior Three Lions debut until September this year.
Even after breaking into Southgate s squad, Grealish who has four goals and five assists in the Premier League this season has struggled to hold down a place in the line-up.
Grealish s bow came from the bench in the goalles…
According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Bournemouth have not yet had any kind of approach or bid for Jordon Ibe. This is despite the fact that Crystal Palace are believed to be very interested in signing him, with the Cherries also being willing to allow him to leave if the right sort of offer comes in. He currently has just six months remaining on his contract and after being with Bournemouth for three years now, it definitely feels as if he’s ready to make the jump up to the next level.
It’s starting to become clear that the objectives for these two clubs are going to be pretty different as the season progresses with Bournemouth attempting to fight off the threat of relegation and the Eagles pushing for what could be a surprising spot in the top half of the …
Manchester United held Chelsea to a draw thanks to a positive defensive display and a little less inspiring performance in attack.
Champions Manchester City beat West Ham (again), and the weather, while Everton failed to win (again) as things turned frosty towards Rafael Benitez.
Brighton and Hove Albion, meanwhile, drew 0-0 once more to thrust expected goals back into the limelight, for which Stats Perform at least is grateful.
Read on for more of the weekend s weirder stats from the Premier League
Oh, shoot
One of the first things Ralf Rangnick will need to do at United is the complex, tactical process of asking professional footballers to kick the ball at the goal at bit more often.
United s attacking output has diminished r…
Bayern Munich s display in their 4-1 rout of Hoffenheim set the standard for the rest of the season, according to Hansi Flick.
Jerome Boateng, Thomas Muller, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry struck as Bayern cruised to a fourth straight Bundesliga victory – their second-longest winning run of the season after they won five games on the spin between matchweeks three and seven.
Munich have now scored 57 goals in the league this term, a club record after 19 games, while the only other side to have scored more after the same amount of fixtures was Hamburg in 1981-82 (58).
It lifted Bayern, briefly at least, 10 points clear at the top of the table, with the signs looking ominous for the rest of the league as the Bavarian giants chase down a ninth successive title…
Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle have “massively over-achieved” this season and will have to spend big in the summer if they are to match it next time around.
The Magpies secured a return to the Champions League after a 20-year absence when Monday night’s 0-0 draw with Leicester guaranteed a top-four finish ahead of Sunday’s final-day trip to Chelsea.
That represents a significant upgrade on the club’s target at the start of the campaign, and it will require further investment from their Saudi-backed owners this summer to ensure they can compete on all fronts.
Eddie Howe speaks to the media ahead of :
I m feeling good. It s been a hectic few days. For me, it s onto planning and preparing for next season straight away. It s an incredible achiev…
According to the , Paris Saint-Germain are set to offer Kylian Mbappe a new contract which would have him earning €1.2 million (close to £1m) per week, making him the best paid player on the planet by far. The player is apparently considering that proposal now.
The future of the 23-year-old star has been a subject of much talk for a very long time now. His current contract expires at the end of the season and he has rejected all offers of a new one so far, and the media in Spain have taken that to be a sign that he s already agreed to join Real Madrid as a free agent.
However, Mbappe himself has insisted he still hasn t made his decision on where he ll be playing next season.
As for PSG, they obviously see the France international as a big part of their proje…
Mohamed Salah is suffering after seeing Liverpool s well-drilled machine frontline disbanded this season, according to Jurgen Klopp.
Sadio Mane left for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich prior to this term, while Roberto Firmino has seen his role diminished after the arrival of Darwin Nunez and more recently Cody Gakpo.
Egypt international Salah remains the constant in Klopp s front three, though he has struggled in front of goal this campaign – converting just 11.7 per cent of his chances for seven Premier League goals.
That mark may seem poor for the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, whose previous lowest conversion rate for Liverpool was 14.4 per cent when he scored 19 in the 2019-20 campaign.
Of course he is suffering, said Klopp ahead…
Karim Benzema expressed pride to have ended his near six-year exile from the France national side in Wednesday s friendly with 10-man Wales, but admitted there is room for improvement after missing a penalty in the 3-0 win.
The 33-year-old failed to convert a first-half spot-kick at the Allianz Riviera and hit the post in the build-up to Ousmane Dembele s late strike after Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann had put France on course for a routine win.
That was Benzema s third penalty miss in a row for his national side, having also failed to convert against Switzerland and Sweden in 2014.
However, on what was Benzema s first appearance for the world champions in five years and 237 days, the Real Madrid striker is pleased with how things went overall.
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