Crystal Palace have confirmed that winger Bakary Sako has rejoined the Premier League club on a short-term deal.

Sako spent three seasons at Crystal Palace, scoring eight goals across 50 appearances from 2015 through to 2018, leaving the club at the end of last season.

The former Wolves forward joined West Brom in October, but played just six times for the Championship club, and Sako has now secured a return to Selhurst Park until the end of the campaign.

Sako, 30, becomes Palace s second signing of the January window, following on from goalkeeper Lucas Perri, who arrived on loan from Brazilian side Sao Paulo.

s ready.

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC)

I m so happy to be back at Palace, said the Mali international. 

I felt lik…

Lucas Vazquez will again play at right-back for Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg with Bayern Munich in place of the injured Dani Carvajal.

Carvajal was forced off in Madrid s 2-1 victory in the first leg last week because of a hamstring issue, meaning winger Vazquez had to drop back into an unfamiliar defensive role.

He will occupy that position once more at the Santiago Bernabeu as Madrid look to move a step closer to a third successive Champions League triumph.

Marco Asensio, who scored the winner at the Allianz Arena after replacing Isco at half-time, also starts. Isco misses out with a shoulder injury despite training with his team-mates on Monday.

Wales forward Gareth Bale is on the bench, as he was in the first leg, wit…

Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin admits it is special to hear about reported interest from former club Barcelona.

The 22-year-old has regularly been linked with a potential move back to Camp Nou, despite having extended his Gunners contract   reportedly until 2023 last November.

Bellerin stated towards the end of last year that he had no interest in rejoining Barca but, despite repeating that he felt underappreciated at the club, he has conceded that the latest rumours are flattering.

It s nice there are a lot of big clubs that are interested in me, but if one of those is Barcelona, that s special, he told Sport. I don t forget I grew up in that home and I will never forget my stay at Barcelona.

Of his frustrations at Barca prior to joining Arsenal in…

According to a recent report from Bild, Liverpool are close to completing the signing of RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner however, there are plans in place for him to be loaned back to the German club for the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign.

Back in 2017 a similar deal was struck regarding Naby Keita, with the belief being that the Reds are happy to wait in order to get their man. Liverpool are close to making an announcement that a deal has been reached, with there being a €60 million exit clause in his current contract that must be activated in order for things to proceed.

It was recently noted that Barcelona and Inter Milan are both interested in entering the race to try and sign Werner, but if a deal is as close as this report indicates, they may as well turn their…

Having lost Andres Iniesta and Paulinho this summer, are in need of fresh midfield signings, and claim they are ready to act on their interest in Lazio s Sergej Milinković-Savić.

The Serbian international is in high demand at the moment, despite his team not doing particularly well in the World Cup in Russia. Serbia beat Costa Rica in their opening game of the tournament before losing to both Switzerland and Brazil and subsequently failing to qualify for the knockout stages.

Manchester United and Real Madrid have been reported to have a strong interest in signing Milinković-Savić, but Barcelona are ready to battle it out with them to bring the midfielder to Camp Nou and it seems at this point that the need of the Catalan club is greater.

Milinković-Savić…

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes Diego Costa will have benefited from his midweek exertions ahead of Saturday s visit of Hull City.

Costa played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday as Chelsea eased to a 3-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League.

The Spain international has featured in four games without scoring since claiming his 11th Premier League goal of the season against West Brom on November 22.

Yet Mourinho declared himself pleased with the 26-year-old s contribution in the clash with Sporting, as Costa seeks to return to peak fitness and form after persistent hamstring trouble this term.

He wants to improve his condition, explained Mourinho. The confidence is not high, the condition is not the best but he wants to use the g…

Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid will grow after finally ending their misery at the hands of city rivals Real Madrid in European finals.

Atleti were bested in extra-time and on penalties respectively by Los Blanco in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals.

An additional period was also required during Wednesday s UEFA Super Cup clash in Tallinn, but a spectacular strike by Saul Niguez and a game-sealing effort from Koke shortly afterwards gave Simeone s men a 4-2 victory.

Real hadn t lost an international final since 2000, he said, having watched Diego Costa s earlier brace from the stands due to a UEFA touchline ban.

In the previous finals against them the little details were against us, so that s why we could not win the finals.

We h…

Xherdan Shaqiri thinks Liverpool need to develop a similar type of mentality to dominant Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich if they want to win titles.

Liverpool reached the Champions League final last term, but ultimately went on to lose 3-1 to Real Madrid in that showpiece clash in Kiev.

It was their third defeat in a final since Jurgen Klopp took charge in 2015, after the Reds lost out in both the Europa League and EFL Cup in 2015-16. Liverpool s League Cup triumph in 2012 remains their most recent trophy of any kind.

Although for many last term went down as an impressive one, as Liverpool produced some stunning football and Mohamed Salah broke records, they only managed to secure a fourth-placed finish on the final day of the Premier League campaign, finish…

Prediction: Strasbourg to Win

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OGC Nice will be aiming to build on their positive start to the Ligue 1 season as they travel to take on Strasbourg on Saturday evening.

Patrick Vieira s troops kicked their season off in the best possible way last time out and will be looking to continue that against a Strasbourg side who didn t quite enjoy the same fortune.

Strasbourg

The hosts may have considered themselves slightly unfortunate following to the curtailment of Ligue 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time of the cancellation, Thierry Laurey s men sat tenth but just three points behind fifth-placed Nice. It remains to be seen whether they would be able to challenge for Europe but extra matches would not have gone amiss. As…

An investigation into Manchester City for potential breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations has been launched by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), the governing body has announced.

The move follows allegations made against the club and their owners by German publication Der Spiegel, which drew upon documents purportedly obtained by whistleblowers Football Leaks.

The articles include claims of City circumventing FFP laws, making an illegal payment to the agent of their former youth player Jadon Sancho and the City Football Group engaging in third-party ownership practices.

City have offered an unwavering response to the allegations, issuing the following statement on several occasions.

We will not be providing any comment on out-of-co…