Barcelona interest is ´flattering´ – Lacazette

Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette said he was flattered by rumoured interest from Barcelona as he added to mounting speculation a transfer away from Emirates Stadium could be in the offing.

Reports in Spain suggest Barcelona see the 27-year-old as an ideal alternative should their attempts to sign Antoine Griezmann continue to prove fruitless, and Lacazette indicated he would be open to a move to Camp Nou.

When asked about the Catalan club s apparent interest by French broadcaster Telefoot, he said: It s flattering.

Lacazette joined Arsenal from Lyon in July 2017 for a reported fee of £52.7million.

His Premier League goal tally stood at 13 in 35 appearances ahead of Arsenal s final-day clash with Burnley his lowest domestic return in a single season…

Manchester United 1 Aston Villa 0: Rashford nets again to relegate visitors

Aston Villa s Premier League relegation was confirmed as a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, again inspired by Marcus Rashford, sealed their fate.

Villa s drop to the Championship has looked inevitable for much of the season but United s triumph finally ended any chances of a miraculous escape, comfortably dispatching Eric Black s men and keeping the pressure on fourth-placed Manchester City.

Wayne Rooney – one of five changes to the United team – started for the first time in two months following a knee injury and played a pivotal role in the opener, picking out Antonio Valencia who in turn set up the lively Rashford for his fourth Premier League goal.

The 19-year-old, whose wondrous effort secured an FA Cup semi-final spot at West Ham in midweek, could have …

Mexico 1 Paraguay 0: Guardado extends unbeaten streak

A first-half goal from Andres Guardado saw Mexico extend their unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win in their Copa America Centenario warm-up game against Paraguay on Saturday.

Guardado found the net in the 32nd minute at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to extend Mexico s unbeaten run to 18 games, which includes an eight-match winning record.

It was Guardado s 24th goal for Mexico, who face Chile on Wednesday in their final warm-up game for the special-edition Copa America, held in the United States, where they will take on Uruguay, Jamaica and Venezuela in Group C.

Paraguay, meanwhile, have no more friendlies before they kick off their tournament against Costa Rica, with matches against Colombia and hosts USA to follow in Group A.

¡La para jugar , es presentad…

Fulham open to lowering Palhinha price amid Bayern interest

Having failed to sign Joao Palhinha from Fulham towards the end of the summer transfer window, Bayern Munich are reportedly still interested in the services of the Portugal international. It seems their pursuit has been given a boost, with Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg claiming Fulham are open to allowing Palhinha to leave for significantly less than their demand from a few months ago, which is believed to have stood at more than €60 million.

When his move to the Bundesliga champions fell through, Palhinha insisted he remained focused on Fulham for the 2023/24 season. He was left out of the squad for his team s 5-1 defeat to Manchester City in early September, and having already missed the first-round win away to Everton, he came off the bench as a second-half su…

Uncapped Hrustic named in Socceroos squad

Groningen winger Ajdin Hrustic is the freshest face in the Socceroos latest squad, with coach Ange Postecoglou having named a preliminary 30-man group for the busy month of June.

Hrustic, 20, is one of six uncapped players in the group announced on Monday and the only player to have never previously been selected for an Australian squad at any level.

The Melbourne-born winger, who is also reportedly being courted by Bosnia-Herzegovina – the country of his father s birth – has had a breakthrough season with Groningen.

Hrustic made his senior debut for the Eredivisie club at the start of April and finished the 2016-17 season with seven league appearances and one goal.

Australia will host Saudi Arabia in a World Cup qualifier in Adelaide on June 8 before…

Shakhtar set Mudryk price amid reported interest

Shakhtar Donetsk expect to get at least €100 million for the services of Mykhaylo Mudryk, as reported by journalist Adam Crafton.

The 21-year-old winger, who prefers to attack from the left flank but is perfectly capable of doing a good job on the right too, is reportedly of interest to a number of top clubs; the likes of Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle and Manchester City are all keeping a close eye on the situation.

Shakhtar Director of Football Darijo Srna believes Mudryk should not cost less than players like Antony or Jack Grealish, and claims it s actually the market that sets the price, not him.

The market decides price — not me, Srna said. Antony, Grealish are more than €100m Mudryk does not have less quality.

Mudryk was promoted…

Prediction: Germany vs England

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker:

In what is a showdown between two European heavyweights on Tuesday night, England will make the trip to Munich when they meet their old enemy Germany.

Germany

Starting with the hosts, while Germany might have put in a largely rugged display away at defending European champions Italy last weekend, Hansi Flick s side would have been disappointed to have had to settle for just a single point. Eventually coming from behind and opening their Nations League with a 1-1 draw on foreign soil, the former Bayern Munich boss still finds his squad in the midst of a transition. Cruising their way to this year s World Cup finals out in Qatar after clinching top spot in Group J, Die Mannschaft are enjoying an extended purple patch. In fact, on a run …

Muller thinking about leaving Bayern

Thomas Muller is thinking about leaving Bayern Munich in the near future, according to .

The 30-year-old has started only three Bundesliga games this season so far, making further four appearances off the bench. The same trend is seen in the Champions League, where he played only seven minutes in a 3-0 win against Red Star Belgrade (and scored), and he spent the entire game on the bench when the Bavarians thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 2-7 in north London.

And while head coach Niko Kovac is happy with having Muller as an option to impact games from the bench, the player, who has been with the club for 19 years now, is very reluctant to continue in that role. The forward believes himself to be too ambitious for that.

Muller has so far worn the famous red shirt 530 ti…

BREAKING NEWS: Roma sign Dybala on free transfer after Juventus exit

Roma have completed the signing of free agent Paulo Dybala following the expiration of his contract with Juventus.

The Argentina international spent seven trophy-laden years in Turin, winning Serie A five times and being part of the side that were runners-up in the Champions League in 2016-17.

Dybala s departure was confirmed earlier this year and, despite links with a move to the Premier League, Inter appeared the frontrunners for the 28-year-old s services.

But Simone Inzaghi s side brought Romelu Lukaku back on loan from Chelsea, with their move for Dybala seemingly stalling as a result as Napoli and Roma began to show interest in the striker.

Head coach Jose Mourinho reportedly played a significant role in convincing Dybala to choose the Gialloross…

Salah dismisses Liverpool exit suggestions

Liverpool have mostly won their battle to shake off the selling club tag that the sales of Luis Suarez in 2014, Raheem Sterling in 2015 and Philippe Coutinho in January 2018 had earned them. After winning the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in the last 12 months, players certainly don t feel they need to move elsewhere to win major trophies.

However, media outlets still occasionally try to get clicks by linking their stars with departure, and Sky Sports recently made such an attempt with an article entitled Should Liverpool sell Salah? . They also posted a photo of the Egyptian on Instagram, asking the same question.

To put it mildly, their attempt to raise dust backfired in a glorious way as Salah himself responded with three laughing e…