Barzagli to retire from Italy after Euro 2016

Sheffield United are in talks with Slavisa Jokanovic over the club s current managerial vacancy, according to the .

The Blades had a great first season back in the Premier League in 2019-20 under Chris Wilder, but this term they ve been glued to the bottom of the table practically from the start. Tensions rose inside the club, and Wilder was relieved of duty in mid-March to be replaced by Paul Heckingbottom on an interim basis. 

Meanwhile, Jokanovic, who led Watford and Fulham to Premier League promotion in 2015 and  2018, respectively, is currently at Qatar Stars League side Al-Gharafa SC. However, his contract there expires at the end of the season, and Sheffield United are determined not to stay in the Championship longer than one season. They ve already held discu…

Liverpool could not have known the incredible journey that awaited them when the club hired Jurgen Klopp on this day five years ago.

Brendan Rodgers had recently been sacked with the Reds 10th in the Premier League, a far cry from their title challenge a year and a half earlier.

That bid for Premier League success in 2013-14 was something of an outlier, though. Despite their illustrious history, prior to 2014 Liverpool had only finished in the top two three times since winning their previous league championship in 1990.

Klopp came in with the goal of waking a proverbial sleeping giant, something he had managed to do at Borussia Dortmund, whom he guided to back-to-back Bundesliga titles after seven years outside of Germany s top four.

Liverpool fans yearn…

Ollie Watkins felt he should have scored more than a hat-trick in Aston Villa s scarcely believable 7-2 victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

Villa spent a club-record fee reported to be £28million to sign Watkins from Championship side Brentford in September and he opened his Premier League account with a first-half treble in a remarkable triumph over the reigning champions.

John McGinn was also on target as Dean Smith s team took a 4-1 lead into the break and there was no let-up after half-time, with Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish scoring either side of Mohamed Salah netting his second of the game.

Watkins was denied by Adrian and rattled the crossbar after Grealish doubled his tally as Liverpool s high line and persistent attempts to play an offside trap were pu…

With another stacked schedule from across Europe’s elite on the cards for this weekend, Friday offers a string of intriguing affairs.

Watching PSG make their return to Ligue 1 action and with a heavyweight showdown at the top of the Championship table, we have found a pair of interesting markets that are worth keeping an eye out for.

20:00 PSG vs Montpellier

Although PSG might have suffered an infamous 4-1 drumming at the hands of Newcastle last month while on Champions League duties, the French icons have come roaring back in some style. In the midst of a recent purple patch and impressing on either side of October’s international break, Friday’s hosts will be confident of making another Ligue 1 statement this weekend.

Already tipped as a landsl…

Gerard Pique has put Lionel Messi s imminent departure from Barcelona down to the former board s poor running of the club.

The Catalan giants announced in a shock statement on Thursday that Messi will not be extending his 21-year stay at Camp Nou due to the club s dire financial situation.

Messi, who scored 672 times in 778 appearances for the LaLiga side, is now expected to complete a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite the Argentina international agreeing to take a 50 per cent pay cut, Barcelona were unable to honour the new contract agreed with him due to LaLiga s salary cap limit.

Barca are estimated to be in around €1.2billion of debt, a hangover from the previous Josep Maria Bartomeu regime which spanned from 2014 until 2020 when he was …

Lionel Messi plays football as though he is not from this planet while Cristiano Ronaldo is an incredible worker who was born to win trophies, according to Miralem Pjanic. 

Midfielder Pjanic swapped Juventus for Barcelona ahead of the 2020-21 campaign and is among a small group to have played alongside both superstars. 

Messi and Ronaldo have won six and five Ballons d Or respectively and may face each other next Wednesday when Juve host Barcelona in the Champions League, though the Portuguese must first be cleared for action after being diagnosed with coronavirus. 

The pair have previously met in five Champions League encounters, with Messi 3-0 up on Ronaldo in terms of goals scored. 

Asked to outline the differences between the two players a…

Leeds climbed back into the automatic promotion places after winning 2-0 at Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Patrick Bamford struck in first-half stoppage time and Willy Gnonto added a second after the break as Leeds extended their unbeaten league run in 2024 to 12 matches.

Daniel Farke’s side are two points behind Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester after leap-frogging Ipswich, with their promotion rivals, including Southampton, due to play on Saturday.

Wednesday missed the chance to climb out of the bottom three for the first time since August, having won five of their previous six league matches, and their four-game winning run was halted.

The Owls were eight points adrift of safety after losing 4-0 at Huddersfield at the start of February, w…

The Well Society is pressing ahead with plans for a new supporter-driven era at Motherwell despite uncertainty over the ownership model.

American TV executive Erik Barmack outlined his vision for the Steelmen on Thursday after arriving in Scotland to hold further talks with the club board over proposed investment.

Barmack, a former Netflix vice president who runs his own film production company, is aiming to take a majority shareholding over time, despite saying he does not want to “disempower” the Well Society.

The fan group has only had a majority of representatives on the club board for the past few weeks despite assuming its 71 per cent stake in 2016.

The club are at a major crossroads, with chief executive Brian Caldwell in his second week in the…

Germany manager Hansi Flick’s position looks uncertain after an embarrassing 4-1 home friendly defeat to Japan on Saturday.

The former Bayern Munich boss has now overseen four defeats in the last five games, which comes on the back of a group-stage exit at last year’s World Cup.

The pressure is increasing on the 58-year-old, with director of the Germany national team Rudi Voller noticeably evasive when asked about his manager’s future.

Voller said in a television interview, reported by German newspaper De Bild: “We should collect ourselves first. There will be a bit of training tomorrow. Then we play against France. Afterwards, we should first reflect and think about what happens next. Let’s see.”

Japan, whose 2-1 victory in Qatar sent Germany…

Celtic should bring Brendan Rodgers back “in a heartbeat” if their old manager is keen on a return to Glasgow, according to former Hoops full-back Mark Wilson.

Rodgers is favourite to replace Ange Postecoglou as Celtic boss following the Greek-born Australian’s departure to Tottenham.

The former Liverpool manager has previously stated he would be open to a return to Celtic Park if the timing was right, but accepted he might not be welcomed by fans who were hurt by the manner of his sudden exit to Leicester in February 2019 after winning seven domestic trophies out of seven.

There are reports that Rodgers would prefer a longer break after losing his job as Foxes manager in early April but talk of a return is lingering.

“If Celtic have got the optio…