Juventus will make a move to sign Glen Johnson from Liverpool in January, .
Massimiliano Allegri, who took charge of the Serie A champions in the summer, is keen to bolster his squad’s defensive options as they look to secure a fourth straight Scudetto, and he has identified Johnson as one of his top transfer targets.
The England international, who is currently nursing a thigh injury and was so left of the squad to face Norway and Switzerland, has been in talks over a new deal at Anfield but has so far not put pen to paper.
Fellow English defenders Micah Richards and Ashley Cole have secured moves to the Italian top flight this summer, and Johnson could follow suit when the transfer window reopens.
Since moving to Merseyside from Portsmouth, the 30 …
Athletic Bilbao will hope to kick-start their underwhelming start to the season in Tuesday s UEFA Champions League clash at BATE.
Since beating Napoli 3-1 at the end of August to secure a 4-2 aggregate play-off win and subsequently book their place in Group H, Athletic have played six games in all competitions and managed to win only once.
After six league matches, Ernesto Valverde s men are languishing in La Liga with just four points, while the 0-0 home draw against Shakhtar Donetsk ensured an unspectacular return to Europe s elite club competition for the first time since 1998-99.
Athletic enjoyed a fine 2013-14 to finish fourth domestically, seven points ahead of nearest challengers Sevilla.
Despite their current poor form, Valverde is adamant that no…
Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb, unhappy at being loaned to Inter Milan as part of the Samuel Eto o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic deal, has instead secured a one year loan to Stuttgart.
The German side will pay the 28-year-old Belarus international s estimated four million euros in its entirety, according to Barcelona.
Hleb, who joined the European and Spanish champions from Arsenal in 2008, has not travelled with the rest of the Barcelona squad on their pre-season tour of the United States, the Catalan side said Thursday.
His switch from an intended loan to Inter means the cost for Barcelona of getting Swedish striker Ibrahimovic is now put at 68 million euros: 45m for Ibrahimovic, 20m the price Eto o is valued at, and three million euros in place of Hleb.
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Former world champions Italy and Argentina face off for the first time in 12 years in the pick of Wednesday s international friendly action.
The match in Rome will give Cesare Prandelli s men an opportunity to continue to strengthen against tough opposition after finishing third in the FIFA Confederations Cup in June.
But with their last international outing going to penalties after ending 2-2 against Uruguay, Italy will be hoping for a more convincing result against Argentina and have a strong squad to achieve it.
Among the players returning to the Italy set-up are controversial strikers Pablo Osvaldo and Mario Balotelli, with the former netting 16 goals in 29 Serie A appearances for Roma last season.
Two more eye-catching friendlies scheduled for midweek will s…
Raphael Guerreiro has revealed that he rejected the chance to join Barcelona in favour of a move to Borussia Dortmund.
Barcelona were reportedly keen to lure the wing-back away from Lorient ahead of the 2016-17 campaign.
However, Guerreiro opted for a move to the Bundesliga as he felt there would be more first-team opportunities at Signal Iduna Park.
It was a very difficult decision to say no to Barcelona, the Portugal international told Canal+.
But there came a moment where I had to make a decision and Borussia Dortmund s offer convinced me the most.
I need to play regularly this season and get minutes under my belt in order to keep developing. And I have been fortunate that things have been going very well for me in Germany.
The 22-y…
Karim Benzema is a doubt for Real Madrid s upcoming showdown with Atletico Madrid as a result of the thigh injury sustained against Celtic.
The France international hobbled off midway through the first half in Madrid s 3-0 Champions League win in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Benzema, who was considered a doubt before the game, appeared to sustain the damage – originally thought to be to his knee – when playing a pass.
Speaking after the match, Carlo Ancelotti said the injury does not seem like anything serious , but added Madrid would await the results of a second scan.
That second scan took place at Real s Valdebebas training base on Wednesday, and it was confirmed the 34-year-old has sustained a minor muscular problem.
Benzema medical report.
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Sporting director Marc Overmars has made it clear Ajax are keen to hold on to Frank de Boer.
Overmars said they will soon open contract talks with the successful coach to keep him at the club.
De Boer has guided the Godenzonen to two Eredivisie titles since taking charge of them in December 2010, and is on the verge of landing his third, following their 3-2 win over rivals PSV at the weekend.
Ajax s good performances under De Boer have not gone unnoticed elsewhere and Manchester City supposedly see the former Netherlands defender as a good option if Roberto Mancini was to leave.
However, the Amsterdam giants have no intention of letting go of their coach any time soon.
We will sit down with a few other people from within the organisation first, b…
Esteban Becker was quick to help his Equatorial Guinea side move on from the farcical finish to their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.
Equatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker said his side were trying to move on quickly from their riot-marred semi-final in the Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament hosts were beaten 3-0 by Ghana, not before the home fans caused play to be halted in the dying stages in Malabo on Thursday.
The Equatorial Guinea fans reportedly hounded the Ghanaian supporters, so much so that some of the latter filtered onto the arena to escape causing a farcical ending to the contest.
Becker was not drawn on the controversy, claiming his side were quickly redirecting their focus to the third place play-off against Democratic Republic of Cong…
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Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley will face each other in the Premier League this coming weekend. The game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London is slated to kick off at 2pm UK time on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur are not having the best of times in the Premier League at the moment and are in danger of missing out on a place in the top four. Jose Mourinho’s side are as low as ninth in the league table at the moment with 36 points from 24 matches, as many as nine points behind London rivals and fourth-placed West Ham United.
Although Spurs have a game in hand, the way the North London outfit are playing at the moment suggests that they could easily lose that mat…
West Ham striker Andy Carroll hopes being reunited with Sam Allardyce will help to rekindle his England career.
The 24-year-old brought an end to a disappointing two-and-a-half-year spell at Liverpool by signing a six-year deal with the London club on Wednesday, having spent the vast majority of last season on loan at Upton Park.
And the former Newcastle forward is hopeful that playing regular first-team football under Allardyce can help him impress England boss Roy Hodgson.
Sam is a great manager and a great man, he told the club s officiaI website.
I enjoyed working under him at Newcastle and here too, so speaking to him over the summer, he was happy with the way I was last season and I m looking forward to working with him again.
It s always good when yo…