Zlatan Ibrahimovic has urged his Milan team-mate Rafael Leao to reject interest from other clubs and stay at San Siro in order to realise his scary potential.
Leao played a key role as Milan ended an 11-year wait to win the Scudetto last term, while no other Rossoneri player can match his tallies of six goals and four assists in Serie A this season.
The winger, who scored in Portugal s World Cup wins against Ghana and Switzerland, has been linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool in recent months.
However, Ibrahimovic insists Milan is the best place for Leao to develop, highlighting the strides he has made since breaking into Stefano Pioli s team.
Of course, Milan is the right environment for him, Ibrahimovic told La Gazze…
Luke Shaw felt Manchester United were not all together in their defeat to Wolves, while he suggested his side having quality is not always enough to succeed.
United saw their undefeated start under interim manager Ralf Rangnick abruptly end on Monday as Joao Moutinho, aged 35 and 117 days, became the oldest player to score a winning Premier League goal at Old Trafford in a 1-0 victory for Wolves.
The defeat leaves United four points adrift of Arsenal in the final Champions League spot after failing to score in a fourth different home league game this season, already more than they did in the whole 2020-21 campaign (three).
And Shaw bemoaned his side s performance as he questioned the team s togetherness, explaining that the quality within the camp will only get …
Napoli grabbed two goals in the last 15 minutes to secure a 2-2 draw in their Serie A clash with Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Strikes from Mattia Bani and Mateo Retegui looked set to seal a memorable win for the home side against the reigning champions, who looked toothless for long periods of the game.
But substitute Giacomo Raspadori lashed home to halve the deficit on 76 minutes before Matteo Politano produced an exquisite finish from Piotr Zielinski’s lofted pass to snatch a point five minutes from time.
90+5 | finishes 2-2
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli)
Napoli started with none of the urgency expected of a side looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, to Lazio two weeks ago, and clear-cut c…
Fiorentina have demanded clarity from Dusan Vlahovic amid ongoing transfer speculation but Viola director Joe Barone reiterated that no offers have been made for the striker.
Several of Europe s biggest clubs, including Juventus, Manchester City and Arsenal, are said to be interested in the Serbia international.
Reports in Italy suggest Juve are the 21-year-old s preferred destination.
Vlahovic has scored 17 times in 21 Serie A appearances this season, finding the net every 109.5 minutes on average and outperforming his expected goals tally of 12.2.
He also ended 2021 in impressive fashion, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo s 21st-century record for the most goals in the Italian top flight in a calendar year (33), set in 2020 – only Gunnar Nordahl in 1950…
Lionel Messi is the reason behind Argentina s glory in the World Cup final against France, Alexis Mac Allister believes, as he expressed his view that the forward is the greatest player of all-time.
Messi struck twice in a six-goal thriller to become the first player to score in every round of a World Cup tournament, with Argentina emerging as victors following a penalty shoot-out.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward was announced as the Golden Ball winner after the final whistle, while his appearance gave him the honour of featuring in the most World Cup matches in history (26).
Having added a World Cup to his trophy haul, Mac Allister believes the debate around who the greatest of all time is has ended.
It s always Messi, he replied when asked by ITV what …
Prediction: Poland win
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The domestic season may be over but the summer has only just begun. Between the Summer Olympics and the Euros we ve got a whole lot to look forward to and as the countdown to kick-off for the latter continues, we thought we d take a look at a friendly game between two of the teams set to take part. Poland and Russia will both participate in this year s rescheduled European Championship and while they may be dark horses, underestimating them would be a huge mistake.
Poland
It feels like we ve been in the self-described golden generation of Polish football for a while now and even though that regularly comes down to their talisman, they do seem to have a solid overall squad to work with. However, when they…
Chelsea remain keen on securing a deal for Southampton defender Luke Shaw, .
The highly rated teenager, who has also been linked with both Manchester clubs, has been rated at £30m and such a deal would eclipsed the current record transfer for a defender, which currently stands at the £29.5m Barcelona paid for Dani Alves in 2009.
However Southampton chairman Katharina Liebherr, who last week replaced Nicola Cortese, is keen to keep hold of Saints’ star players this month, with Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert also linked with moves away from St Mary’s.
England U21 international Shaw is set to make his fiftieth club appearance, at the age of just eighteen, as Mauricio Pochettino’s men host Championship side Yeovil Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup o…
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of centre-back Brede Hangeland on a free transfer.
The Norway international was a free agent after leaving Fulham at the end of last season following the expiry of his contract.
Palace have subsequently swooped for the experienced 33-year-old and Hangeland is thrilled to have put pen to paper on a one-year contract.
I m delighted to be here. I look forward to helping out and doing the best I can for this club, he told the club s official website.
I m quite old school as a player, I just want to be part of a good group of players, working for a good manager, working really hard and driving something in the right direction.
All the people I spoke to told me that s what s going on at Crystal Palace and I …
Market: Leeds draw no bet
Odds: 4/5 @
Looking to extend on their recent Championship flurry this weekend, Leeds will travel to a struggling Southampton on Saturday lunchtime.
Starting with the hosts, while Southampton might have opened the 2023/24 campaign with their sights set on securing an immediate Premier League return, the Saints find themselves in the midst of a nightmare spell. Last seen putting in another worrying performance as they slipped to a 2-1 loss away at relegation scrappers Middlesbrough, it appears that there is mounting pressure on Russell Martin’s shoulders. Freefalling down the Championship standings and with the feel of a squad seeking a much-needed boost, the former Swansea boss has seen his side remarkably lose each of their previous …
Melbourne Victory have received a late boost ahead of their game against Western Sydney Wanderers, with Maxi Beister receiving clearance to play.
The German forward s visa came through on Friday, meaning Beister will be added to Victory s extended squad for Saturday s match although he will not start at Etihad Stadium.
Beister looked sharp at training on Friday as he prepared for his Victory debut.
He [Beister] has been working away, very hard and getting close to being involved in the team and having to wait, like we all were, Victory coach Kevin Muscat said after training.
Then this morning we got an email nice and early, so he had a decent spring in his step and he s looking forward to it.
Beister joined Victory on loan from Bundesliga c…