Tottenham have signed midfielder Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon in a deal worth £62.8million (€70m), smashing their previous transfer record.
The big-money move makes Ndombele who has signed a six-year contract Tottenham s most expensive player, eclipsing the £42m spent on Davinson Sanchez in 2017.
Spurs will pay £53.8m (€60m) up front and a further £9m (€10m) in bonuses if certain requirements are met.
The France international becomes the Premier League club s second addition of the close season following the capture of teenage winger Jack Clarke, who immediately returned to Leeds United on loan.
A host of top European sides had been credited with an interest in Ndombele, but the 22-year-old has opted to join the Champions League runners-up as…
Maynor Figueroa will miss Wigan s crucial Premier League run-in after being ruled out with a groin injury.
The Honduras defender sustained the injury in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Saturday and will also miss the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Wigan have four games remaining and a five-point gap between themselves and safety, but Figueroa will play no further part in their bid to secure a ninth season in the top flight.
Manager Roberto Martinez confirmed the news on Thursday, ahead of Saturday s visit of fellow strugglers Newcastle.
We have had real negative news with Maynor Figueroa, he said.
He came off in the game really early and the scans have confirmed our worst fears.
He is going to be out for the rest of the season and probably a longer period.
The 30-ye…
Arda Guler was once again on target for Real Madrid against Granada and an excited Carlo Ancelotti believes Los Blancos can expect more to come from the teenager.
Chances to impress in a first-team environment have been limited for Guler, who chose Madrid over Barcelona to join from Fenerbahce last July, owing to the quality of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
Yet the Turkey youngster has scored twice in his last three LaLiga starts, finding the net in Saturday s 4-0 thrashing of Granada after also striking against Real Sociedad on April 26.
We still don t know what his potential is because he is very young, the Madrid head coach said of Guler.
But he is showing incredible talent, he is very effective in front of goal and has speed.
I don t know wh…
Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim 2-0 to reopen their eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
The Pole broke the deadlock for the home side just after the half-hour mark and added his 19th league goal of the season after half-time to secure Pep Guardiola s men a sixth consecutive win in all competitions.
Bayern, who maintained their 100 per cent record at the Allianz Arena in 2015-16, never looked threatened by a Hoffenheim side who arrived in Bavaria having collected just six points on their travels all term.
The scoreline could have become embarrassing for the visitors but for the efforts of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, who made fine saves from Lewandoswki, Xabi Alonso and Thomas Muller, while Andrej Kramaric fluffed t…
Jonny Howson s expert volley and Dieumerci Mbokani s second-half header inflicted more misery on rock-bottom Aston Villa and handed Norwich City a crucial three points in a 2-0 victory.
Manager Alex Neil underlined the importance of Monday s fixture at Carrow Road with Norwich languishing just above the Premier League relegation zone having won just once in their previous six outings.
And the message was heeded as Howson showed brilliant technique to fire past Brad Guzan in the first half much to the delight of the home supporters.
The goal was a sucker punch for Villa, who remain winless under boss Remi Garde, with the visitors having started brightly and seen good chances through Micah Richards and Jordan Ayew go begging.
But Norwich ensured they signe…
Luis Enrique conceded Barcelona were not consistent enough to win LaLiga after surrendering the title to arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Barca came from behind to beat Eibar 4-2, but their victory was immaterial as Madrid claimed a 2-0 win at Malaga to clinch the trophy for the first time since 2012.
The Copa del Rey final on Saturday is now Barca s only chance of success in Luis Enrique s final season in charge, with the Catalan club having been knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
Luis Enrique told reporters: We have recovered fast after a difficult opening few minutes and the truth is we haven t been consistent enough to win LaLiga, especially in our home matches and in the end we have paid the price.
I think the team has done a lot of…
Is Serge Aurier worth all the risk for Manchester United?
Manchester United and Serge Aurier is not a new love story.
The Red Devils fans will not have first heard about the rumour this summer. Ivorian full-back has already been linked with a move to Old Trafford. Highly respectable news outlet L’Equipe first broke the news as early as April when the 24-year-old first emerged as a target for Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese clearly nurtures a long-standing interest in out-of-sorts defender and will be well-aware with both Aurier’s qualities and the liability he represents.
So the logical question remains – Is Serge Aurier really worth the risk?
Jose Mourinho will have based his decision upon a thorough research on the French defender and if he gave …
Chelsea have confirmed that Victorien Angban has signed a one-year contract extension, but on top of that, that he ll be moving to French side Metz on a season-long loan. The 21-year-old has been shipped out on loan a handful of times since joining Chelsea back in 2015, and it seems as if he won t be entering the Blues first-team picture anytime soon.
Many pundits have noted how much Chelsea love to send their youngsters out on loan without really fully utilising them, and with that in mind, it ll be interesting to see where Angban s career goes from here. The French leagues serve as a good proving ground for young talent, in that the quality is lower on a game-by-game basis, meaning that you should be able to excel at a pretty high level.
Chelsea, on the other hand, co…
Talksport understand that Chelsea have rejected an approach from Arsenal for defender David Luiz.
The Gunners have been looking to strengthen their squad following the appointment of Unai Emery as manager with a deal for Switzerland international Stephan Lichtsteiner already concluded.
Luiz played a key role under Antonio Conte during their title-winning 2016/17 campaign though was used more sparingly last term.
He played just seventeen times in all competitions, scoring twice though he hasn’t played in the league since his involvement in the 4-1 defeat to Watford back in February.
In total, he has racked up one hundred and eighty-seven appearances for the Blues across two spells, scoring fifteen goals.
Internationally he has been capped f…
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La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid will travel to the Basque Country to face Athletic in Bilbao at San Mames on Sunday as they strive to stay ahead of the nearest rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Athletic Bilbao
April 2021 hasn t been too kind to Athletic Bilbao. As strange as it may seem to you if you haven t been following football in Spain over the last 12 months, they lost two Copa del Rey finals, both this month. withing two weeks they were beaten by Real Sociedad in the delayed 2019-20 final, and got steamrolled by Barcelona in the one from this season.
Interestingly enough, looking at their recent league form, they were beaten 2-1 in the reverse fixture, by Atletico in Madrid. Then they played a goalless draw away to Cel…