Negredo sidelined for Barca clash

The €700million release clause in Lionel Messi s Barcelona contract remains valid and must be paid for his deal to be terminated unilaterally, LaLiga has said.

Messi has informed Barca he wants to leave the club and he is thought to have not attended pre-season medical tests with the rest of the first team on Sunday.

According to reports, the Argentina star believes the clause in his contract that allows him to terminate it at the end of each season and thereby become a free agent still applies because 2019-20 was extended to August due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Barcelona appear adamant this clause has long since expired and that the player s €700m buyout option must be paid if he is to be released.

In a statement issued on Sunday, LaLiga …

West Ham United have reached an agreement with West Bromwich Albion over the sale of Grady Diangana, according to . It has been reported that a transfer fee that could rise to £18 million has been agreed between the two clubs, with the winger having spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan at the Baggies.

According to , Diangana made 23 starts and seven substitute appearances in the Championship for West Brom last season, scoring eight goals and providing six assists in the process. The 22-year-old winger played an important role in Slaven Bilic’s side winning automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of last season.

have claimed that West Brom will initially pay West Ham £12 million as transfer fee for the youngster, with £6 million to be paid in performance…

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has confirmed he will walk away from the game at the end of the season.

Van der Sar had been expected to announce his retirement from football this season, with even United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitting he felt his custodian would depart Old Trafford at the end of the term.

The 40-year-old, who has won three Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy in his 245 appearances with the Red Devils, said he wants to spend more time with his family.

Van der Sar s wife, Annemarie, collapsed with a brain haemorrhage in December 2009, and the custodian admitted he had been weighing up retirement ever since.

It is now time to pay attention to my family, he told the website of his management agency, Spor…

North Queensland Fury have been axed from the A-League after the club was unable to make assurances about their financial viability going forward.

Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley and A-League Head of Operations Lyall Gorman met with club officials on Tuesday where it was decided it was too big of a financial risk to continue next season.

Despite the hard work put in, the target of $A1.5m of capital from the Retain the Fury campaign was not met, with less than $300,000 being pledged, Buckley said.

Whilst the club and the advisory board had attracted some very encouraging sponsorship commitments, the projected loss to run the club next season is still in our assessment in excess of $2m.

FFA had been looking for capital from the campaign t…

United States youngsters Christian Pulisic and Jordan Morris have been included in the host nation s preliminary squad for the upcoming Copa America Centenario.

Borussia Dortmund teenager Pulisic and MLS rookie Morris were selected in Jurgen Klinsmann s initial 40-man squad, which will be trimmed down to 23 players by May 20, before the tournament gets underway on June 3.

Pulisic, 17, made his international debut in a World Cup qualifier last month and the midfielder continues to impress in the Bundesliga.

Seattle Sounders forward Morris, 21, has scored three goals in his debut season in MLS.

Klinsmann does have plenty of experience at his disposal, with Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard, Chris Wondolowski, Brad Guzan and Jozy Altidore at his dis…

Hebei China Fortune have announced the signing of Ezequiel Lavezzi from Paris Saint-Germain for an undisclosed fee.

The 30-year-old s contract with PSG was due to expire at the end of the 2015-16 campaign and the French champions have now opted to cash in on the versatile attacker in order to prevent him from leaving on a free come June.

Lavezzi joined PSG from Napoli in 2012 and made over 100 Ligue 1 appearances for the Parc des Princes side, winning three league titles during his time in the French capital.

He previously featured for Estudiantes and San Lorenzo before making the move to Napoli in 2007.

The attacker joins the likes of Gervinho, Stephane M Bia and Gael Kakuta at Hebei while Ramires, Alex Teixeira and Jackson Martinez all moved to the bi…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hinted he is staying at LA Galaxy following rumours linking him with a return to AC Milan.

Ibrahimovic, 37, joined Galaxy in March after departing Manchester United, and he went on to have an immense impact in his debut MLS campaign, scoring 22 goals in 27 appearances.

The experienced striker had been linked with going back to Europe and his former club Milan in January, with the Serie A side said to be in the hunt for attacking reinforcements.

But, after Milan sporting director Leonardo ruled out the signing earlier in December – citing Ibrahimovic s loyalty to Galaxy – confirmation of the Swede staying in the United States seemed to be just around the corner.

And, in a video posted to his Twitter account, Ibrahimovic has sugg…

Arturo Vidal says Chile have everything in place to win trophies for the next 10 years – and the Bayern Munich star wants to be at the heart of it.

The 30-year-old has played an integral role in Chile s triumphs at the 2015 Copa America and the Centenario tournament a year later, with Juan Antonio Pizzi s side having climbed to fourth in the latest FIFA world rankings.

Vidal believes La Roja have the quality to win the Confederations Cup in Russia and challenge for next year s World Cup as part of a decade-long period of dominance in international football.

Speaking ahead of Thursday s meeting with Germany in Kazan, he told a news conference: I m very happy about what s been said about myself and the national team. We ve won two competitions that were quite go…

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has made an electric start to the 2020-21 Premier League season.

The striker has scored four goals in Everton s opening two games, following up the winner at Tottenham with a first career hat-trick against West Brom last weekend.

Eyebrows were raised in some quarters when Calvert-Lewin was linked with Manchester United during the close season, but if he continues in the same vein then further links to elite clubs will surely follow.

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti does not think the 23-year-old s performances are a flash in the pain, pointing to former Milan star Filippo Inzaghi – a prolific goalscorer despite clear deficiencies in a lot of other departments – as an example for Calvert-Lewin to follow.

I had a fantastic striker in …

Perth Glory missed out on the chance to draw level with Melbourne City in the A-League ladder as their club-record six-match winning run ended in a goalless draw at AAMI Park.

The visitors had a perfect record throughout December and January but could not find a way through in Saturday s clash with City, who remain two points better off in second place.

Goals were expected in Melbourne, but it proved to be a tense affair, with City marksman Jamie MacLaren and visiting skipper Diego Castro wasting good first-half opportunities.

City dodged a bullet just before the hour as Joshua Brillante brought down Bruno Fornaroli in the box, but the initial decision to award a penalty was overruled by VAR for an offside infringement.

Erick Mombaerts men survived anothe…