Chelsea are close to completing the signing of Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Premier League giants are on the verge of reaching an agreement with the Portuguese powerhouse over the 21-year-old Argentina international midfielder, who won the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Benfica had initially wanted Fernandez’s release clause of €120 million to be paid in full by Chelsea for a deal to be done. However, the Portuguese club will now accept payments over several instalments but totalling €130 million. If the transfer does go through, then Fernandez will become the fourth-most expensive footballer of all time and will end up as Chelsea’s most expensive signing.
Chelsea are ninth in the Premier Lea…
Ralf Rangnick has suggested incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag puts the Red Devils captaincy to a players vote, placing doubt over Harry Maguire s role as skipper.
Maguire was named captain following the departure of Ashley Young to Inter in January 2020, just five months after the centre-back s £80 million transfer from Leicester City – the world record fee for a defender.
England international Maguire has come under scrutiny for both his performances and captaincy, with United struggling in the Premier League and out of all cup competitions.
United are sixth in the league and unlikely to qualify for the Champions League, sitting six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal – who defeated Rangnick s side 3-1 on Saturday and have played a game fewe…
Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin said he never entertained the thought of leaving the club since his arrival in 2010.
Uruguay international Godin was an integral part of Atletico s breakthrough La Liga title success last season, and their run to the UEFA Champions League final.
The 28-year-old said he was always content to stay at the Vicente Calderon, due to his relationship with coach Diego Simeone.
From the first moment I got here I was told by the press I had offers, Godin told AS.
I never knew anything. This year it s true there were several enquiries but let me be very clear: with the confidence Cholo [Simeone] has in me and what he said about me, what the president and the fans have given me and the feeling I have for this club, it s very …
Best Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker:
Looking to lay down another marker on Wednesday night, Manchester United will make the trip to Selhurst Park when they meet Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace
Starting with the hosts, putting in another flat display over the weekend as they were hit with a 1-0 loss away at a struggling Chelsea, Crystal Palace are in the midst of an extended wobble. While Patrick Vieira s men might have signed off 2022 with a much-needed 2-0 victory away at relegation scrappers Bournemouth, it appears that was just a minor boost for the former Nice boss. Almost sat in Premier League limbo, the Eagles have now lost four of their last five top-flight matchups on either side of the World Cup break. With that run highlighted by a 3-0 drumming at the hands of Fu…
Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool to close the season with nine straight wins to smash the Premier League points record.
The Reds only need two more victories to wrap up a first top-flight title in 30 years, but Klopp is eager to do much more than the bare minimum.
Liverpool have 27 points left to play for and the German wants to take them all, which would mean a total of 107 – exceeding Manchester City s all-time best tally of 100 from the 2017-18 campaign.
With fixtures set to resume on June 17 following a lengthy coronavirus-enforced shutdown, Liverpool are tantalisingly close to glory, but Klopp knows there is work to be done.
Six minutes of pure, raw Jürgen Klopp emotion
— Liverpool FC (at ) (@LFC)
It s nice to think about it …
Liverpool are interested in signing Victor Osimhen from Napoli in the summer of 2024, according to . The report has claimed that former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool could have to pay as much as €120 million in transfer fees for the Nigeria international striker.
Osimhen is one of the best strikers in the world and has been brilliant for Napoli in recent years. The 24-year-old has scored six goals in seven Serie A starts for the Naples outfit this season. The Nigeria international scored 26 goals and gave four assists in 30 Serie A starts last season. Napoli won the Scudetto last campaign.
Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League table at the moment with 17 points from eight matches, three points behind Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, who…
Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan promised to support England and take the knee on Tuesday after Hungary fans jeered the action on Saturday.
England fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat in their Nations League Group A3 opener after Dominik Szoboszlai s second-half penalty at the Puskas Arena, the same Budapest venue where some England players were subjected to racial abuse in September.
Hungary were supposed to play the fixture behind closed doors after racist behaviour at Euro 2020 last year, but children accompanied by some adults were allowed to attend as a crowd of 35,000 watched on.
There were boos when England players took the knee prior to kick-off, with Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate subsequently expressing his confusion and dismay at the pre-match resp…
Best odds: 47/20
Bookmaker:
On of the most interesting matches of the third round of the Champions League group stages will be played on Tuesday evening at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, when Atletico welcome Liverpool. It ll be a clash between two teams that know each other well from their double feature in the round of 16 in 2019-20, when the current La Liga champions progressed past the holders at the time by winning the first leg in Madrid and staging a brave turnaround at Anfield in extra time.
Atletico Madrid
It can be said that Atletico completely took advantage of the financial issues and some questionable decisions at both Real Madrid and Barcelona last season and deservedly won the title in Spain. The joy was enlarged by the fact that it was none …
West Brom have wasted little time in kicking off preparations 2015-16 season as Youssouf Mulumbu was released shortly following the final game of the Premier League campaign after six years at The Hawthorns.
Tony Pulis men finished 13th after 4-1 last-day defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with club then announcing their retained list for next term.
Mulumbu was the most high-profile casualty. The midfielder joined from Paris Saint-Germain on an initial loan deal in February 2009 and has gone on to rack up 211 appearances for the club.
Chris Baird has also been released, while full-back Andre Wisdom is to return to parent club Liverpool after the completion of his loan.
Midfielder Claudio Yacob and goalkeeper Boaz Myhill will remai…
Liverpool supporters will have their Champions League final tickets refunded in full by UEFA following the chaos that marred last May s showpiece in Paris.
An independent report released last month held UEFA primarily responsible for the large number of near misses that nearly led to disaster at the Stade de France.
Liverpool fans were originally blamed by authorities amid shambolic scenes that saw tear gas used by police and others crushed in dangerous bottlenecks outside the ground.
Having accepted blame for a catalogue of organisational failures ahead of Liverpool s 1-0 loss to Real Madrid, UEFA has now agreed to refund all 19,618 Liverpool ticket holders.
UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said: We have taken into account a huge number of vie…