Chelsea striker Diego Costa insists there was nothing in his reported January row with head coach Antonio Conte and maintains he and his Stamford Bridge colleagues are on the same page .
Costa netted his 17th Premier League goal of the season in Monday s 2-1 victory at West Ham that moved Conte s men 10 points clear of Tottenham at the top of the table
Chelsea s dominance of the title race continued unchecked earlier in the year when Costa was linked with a mega-money move to Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian.
He missed the 3-0 win at Leicester City, with Conte citing a back injury amid rumours of a rift between himself and his top scorer, before the Spain international made a scoring return against Hull City.
On that occasion, Costa gesticulat…
Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed the sacking of head coach Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel s departure was reported on Christmas Eve, but there was no official word from the Ligue 1 champions until Tuesday morning.
PSG have now released a statement confirming Tuchel has departed after an in-depth analysis of its sporting situation.
Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is expected to replace Tuchel at the Parc des Princes.
PSG said in a short statement on Tuesday: After an in-depth analysis of its sporting situation, Paris Saint-Germain decided to terminate Thomas Tuchel s contract.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG president, said: I would like to thank Thomas Tuchel and his staff for everything they have given to the club. Thomas has put a lot of energ…
Ousmane Dembele s behaviour at Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona should put Bayern Munich off making a move for the France forward, according Die Roten great Lothar Matthaus.
Recent speculation has left Dembele s future looking uncertain, with Barca seemingly set to sign Antoine Griezmann and rumours over a move for Neymar refuse to go away.
Should either Griezmann or Neymar – or potentially both – come in, Dembele may well find himself further down the pecking order in Ernesto Valverde s squad.
Dembele joined Barca as Neymar s replacement in 2017, though he has struggled with injuries and inconsistent form since his move from Dortmund, who received an initial €105million fee after the player had gone on strike to push through a move.
8 Ousmane Dembé…
What the papers say
Manchester United are targeting Spanish full-backs as a replacement for the injured Luke Shaw. The Daily Express says Marcus Alonso, 32, has “made his decision” on a move from Barcelona while Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella is also on United’s shortlist according to the Daily Star.
Fellow Spaniard Sergio Reguilon is another potential target for United according to the Daily Telegraph. But Fulham are in prime position to take the 26-year-old from Tottenham.
Everton are close to agreeing a move for Portuguese striker Beto, 25, from Udinese ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline. The i says the move from Serie A would cost around £24 million.
Another Portuguese player could be on the move this week, according to the Daily Express. Manchester Ci…
Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have found his next club.
Marca reported on Monday the former Manchester United forward was set to join Al Nassr on January 1 after agreeing his exit from Old Trafford last month.
News of a lucrative contract offer from the Saudi Pro League club emerged last week, with Ronaldo said to be in line to earn more than £100million a year.
The 37-year-old, who is still in World Cup action with Portugal, appears destined to head outside of Europe for the first time in his storied career.
Al Nassr are not a renowned name in Europe but have enjoyed huge success in Saudi Arabia, so what can Ronaldo expect should he head to Riyadh?
|| Our stars continue their preparations in Abu Dhabi
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN)
…
Middlesbrough captain Rhys Williams believes lower expectations could suit his side ahead of their upcoming Championship campaign.
Boro have often been among the pre-season favourites since being relegated from the Premier League during the 2008/09 season.
But they have only finished in the top 10 in the Championship once in four seasons, with their awful run after Christmas last campaign costing them any chance of promotion.
Williams, 25, said not being fancied for promotion was just fine by Tony Mowbray s men.
Maybe it ll be to our advantage that people aren t really talking about our chances too much, Williams told The Northern Echo.
We know we re a big club, but maybe people have seen the dip after Christmas in the last couple of years and written us of…
that there is no truth in reports that the club have turned down a bid from Napoli for defender Martin Skrtel.
Napoli boss Rafael Benitez has been linked with a move for the defender, who he took to Anfield in 2008 having already been reunited with goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
The Slovakia defender has been linked with a move away from Anfield all summer, though the club now appear to be reluctant to let him go.
The Reds have brought in defenders Kolo Toure and Aly Cissokho in this transfer window following the retirement of Jamie Carragher, while Daniel Agger has this week quashed any fears that he could be set to move on after declaring his love for club.
However, with Rodgers also confirming that centre back Sebastian Coates is set to miss the majority…
Stuttgart s Kevin Grosskreutz is fired up as he prepares to face former club Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Germany international Grosskreutz won two Bundesliga titles and the Pokal during a six-year stay at Dortmund, and was also a runner-up to Bayern Munich in the 2012-13 Champions League final.
The 27-year-old left Dortmund for Galatasaray in September, but the Turkish champions failed to submit his registration in time for the versatile wide man to play during the first half of 2015-16.
After failing to settle in Turkey, he joined Stuttgart on loan last month, having not made a competitive appearance for Gala.
Grosskreutz now comes up against Dortmund for the first time since his exit as Stuttgart target a place in the l…
Gianni Infantino and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa are the favourites to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president at the extraordinary congress on Friday. Here, we examine the five candidates.
The Favourites
Gianni Infantino
The UEFA secretary general was put forward by Europe s governing body as an alternative to the banned Michel Platini, the 45-year-old receiving the unanimous backing of UEFA s Executive Committee.
Infantino, who has worked at UEFA since 2000, confirmed his bid to replace Blatter on the submission deadline day.
Infantino crucially appears to have the support of football s traditional European and South American heavyweights, but may need to secure votes from elsewhere, particularly the undeclared elements…
Brazil s squad will be considered failures should they not claim their sixth World Cup title in Russia, according to the legendary Rivaldo.
Tite s side, who breezed through qualifying, losing just once in 18 games, begin their campaign against Switzerland on Sunday.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar who was injured during Brazil s 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany on home turf in 2014, is expected to be fit to start at the Rostov Arena following his recovery from a fractured foot that saw him miss much of the second half of the 2017-18 season.
And former Barcelona star Rivaldo, who tasted World Cup glory in 2002 and scored 35 goals in 75 appearances for Brazil, believes anything less than victory is unacceptable.
55 Neymar is now the joint-third top …