Wigan Athletic have yet to receive offers for James McCarthy or any of the current squad, manager Owen Coyle has revealed.

McCarthy was part of the Wigan side that romped to a 4-0 victory at Barnsley on Saturday as Coyle’s opened the Championship season in some style.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who joined from Scottish club Hamilton Academical in 2009, is held in high regard and has been linked with a move to Newcastle United, but Coyle is keen to play down speculation he is set to leave the DW Stadium.

The Scot said: I ve not had any inquiries, let alone offers, for any of my players.

But ultimately good players attract attention and there s no getting away from it, James McCarthy is such a hugely talented player.

And if there is any interest, he ll be …

Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio are very likely to leave Manchester United at the end of the season, according to their agent.

The 23-year-old defenders have failed to establish themselves as first-team regulars under both Alex Ferguson and David Moyes since arriving at Old Trafford in 2008.

While Rafael has featured far more often than his brother, manager Moyes is reportedly happy to let them both leave the club.

Fabio was sent to QPR on loan last season and is the subject of transfer rumours linking him with a switch to Cardiff City in the January transfer window, but the agent for both players, Cassiano Pereira, said no moves will happen until the season s end.

I do not know anything about these (Cardiff) rumours, Pereira told Calciomercato.

I think th…

Leicester City vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha believes former managers Nigel Pearson and Sven-Goran Eriksson deserve credit for the club s Premier League title success.

An incredible campaign in Claudio Ranieri s first season in charge was capped with a title win on Monday as Tottenham s 2-2 draw at Chelsea gave Leicester an unassailable seven-point lead at the top of the table.

Their triumph comes a season after Pearson – who was sacked before the start of the campaign with the club saying a relationship between him and the board was no longer viable – guided Leicester to safety with a stunning run of seven wins from their last nine games in the previous term.

Eriksson led Leicester to 10th in the Championship in 2010-11 and was dismissed just…

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said he is thinking positively, ahead of a daunting trip to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

The north-German club have been the picture of inconsistency this league season, alternating defeats with victories in their six matches so far; most recently beating Hoffenheim 2-1 at home.

Hecking is hoping they can break their trend at one of the toughest places to play in world football, although their most recent clash with Bayern ended 6-1 in the latter s favour in the DFP Pokal semi-finals in April.

I think every coach has to try to seem confident before a game in Munich against Bayern, Hecking said ahead of Saturday s fixture.

You have to believe you can play successful football.

But they are unbelievably dominant; in their …

Chesterfield have signed former Wales striker Ched Evans on a one-year contract.

Evans was jailed for rape in 2012, serving half of a five-year sentence, but had his conviction quashed earlier this year and faces a retrial in October.

The 27-year-old last played professionally for Sheffield United in the 2011-12 season when current Chesterfield boss Danny Wilson was his manager.

Since his release from prison in October 2014, Sheffield United, Hartlepool United and Oldham Athletic have all pulled out of deals to sign the striker over fan backlashes.

Chesterfield Football Club have given a great deal of thought to this signing and following the court s decision, we are in no doubt that Ched Evans should be welcomed back into his profession as a professiona…

Spain will return to the scene of their 2010 FIFA World Cup triumph when they face South Africa on Tuesday.

Vicente del Bosque s men, who became world champions with a 1-0 extra-time victory over Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg, will be looking to end 2013 on a high after the year produced their first loss in a competitive match since that tournament.

It was Brazil, hosts of the 2014 competition, who inflicted that defeat in the final of the Confederations Cup, but Spain have since won five of the last six matches, qualifying for next year s tournament as winners of their group.

But while the return to the stage of their greatest success will invoke happy memories among the Spain squad, the reigning world and European champions will hope to produce a better …

Kevin Davies believes Sam Allardyce s man management skills and attention to detail will help him to be a success as England manager.

The Football Association confirmed Allardyce as the successor to Roy Hodgson on Friday, with the outgoing Sunderland boss agreeing a two-year deal running until the end of the 2018 World Cup.

Davies played under Allardyce for four seasons at Bolton Wanderers and the centre-forward spoke in glowing terms as his former boss, who takes on a post he missed out on a decade ago when Steve McClaren was appointed for an ill-fated tenure.

He s one of those managers that you want to play for, Davies told Sky Sports News.

He s a big personality. He knows exactly when to push you, when to give you the carrot, when you crack the whip…

Switzerland goalkeeper Diego Benaglio hailed coach Ottmar Hitzfeld as one of the most decorated in the world.

Hitzfeld s two substitutes – Admir Mehmedi and Haris Seferovic – came on to score and lead Switzerland to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Ecuador in their Group E opener on Sunday.

Benaglio paid tribute to former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund coach Hitzfeld, who has been in charge since 2008, and the way he has developed the European nation.

When you see how this team has developed with him coaching then you don t need many words, he said.

What makes him special is how he speaks with his teams, something we could see during half-time against Ecuador. Then he made smart substitutions, that s because of his big experience.

That s nothing new…

CONMEBOL has confirmed the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final will not be hosted by River Plate after an attack on the Boca Juniors team bus.

The second leg of the final was due to be played at El Monumental on Saturday but, after windows of the Boca bus were smashed on approach to the stadium, the kick-off was initially delayed and then postponed 24 hours.

But the match was not played on Sunday either amid protests from Boca, whose players also suffered injuries after pepper spray got inside the bus during the attack.

CONMEBOL held a meeting on Tuesday attended by River and Boca s presidents, after which South America s governing body said the final will be played on either December 8 or 9.

In a statement, CONMEBOL said it intends to play the fina…

Former Manchester United and Arsenal forward Robin van Persie scored his first goal for Feyenoord since leaving the Eredivisie club 14 years ago.

Van Persie scored within 50 seconds of his introduction on Thursday as reigning Dutch champions Feyenoord defeated Groningen 3-0.

The 34-year-old returned to his boyhood club last month, having initially left Feyenoord in 2004 for Arsenal before moving on to United and Fenerbahce.

And Van Persie gave fans at De Kuip plenty to smile about after he produced a powerful strike from inside the box to put Feyenoord 3-0 ahead with 11 minutes remaining.

50 – Robin van Persie scored 50 seconds after coming on against FC Groningen. Lightning.

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan)

Feyenoord are fourth in Eredivisi…