Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed football s worst kept secret that star forward Sergio Aguero is set to join Barcelona this off-season.
It had widely been reported that Aguero had agreed to a two-year deal with LaLiga giants Barca on a free transfer, with his City exit confirmed two months ago.
Guardiola revealed a secret after City s 5-0 final-day win over Everton where Aguero signed off with a double as the club lifted the Premier League title on Sunday.
I m pretty sure, maybe I ll reveal a secret, maybe he is close to a agreeing a deal for the club of my heart, from Barcelona, Guardiola told BBC.
He s going to play alongside the best player of all time, Lionel Messi. I m pretty sure he s going to enjoy it and make my club Barcelona str…
Barcelona and Bayern Munich have struck a deal for the transfer of Robert Lewandowski in one of the biggest moves of the window so far.
Lewandowski scored 50 goals across all competitions last season but announced at the end of the campaign that he wished to leave Bayern and would not be signing a new contract with the Bundesliga champions.
With Bayern facing the prospect of keeping an unhappy player and then losing the Poland captain on a free transfer next year, they have elected to cash in and grant Lewandowski s wish to join Barca.
Lewandowski returned to Munich for pre-season training on July 12 but all parties were said to want an agreement to have been made prior to Bayern s tour of the United States.
The Catalan club have been hampered by financia…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer compared Cristiano Ronaldo to NBA great Michael Jordan after the forward single-handedly dragged Manchester United to a 2-2 draw against Atalanta.
Ronaldo twice inspired United to come from behind, cancelling out strikes from Josep Ilicic and then Duvan Zapata as the Red Devils earned a 2-2 draw.
The Portugal international s brace prevented United from falling to a fourth successive away defeat in the European Cup/Champions League for the first time ever and keeps his side top of their group, level with Villarreal and two points better off than Tuesday s opponents.
Ronaldo also became the second-oldest player to have netted a Champions League double after Filippo Inzaghi (37 years and 86 days) in November 2010, and Solskjaer likened his forw…
Thomas Partey has an aura about him that helps make Arsenal better, according to manager Mikel Arteta.
Partey provided his first Premier League assist as Arsenal recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday.
Injuries have limited the midfielder to just eight appearances in all competitions since his arrival for a reported £45million (€50m) from Atletico Madrid in October.
Arteta was delighted with the Ghana international, who had two interceptions and two key passes before being substituted in the 67th minute against Newcastle.
We ve been missing Tommy. He has this freshness, this aura that makes him a special player for us, he told a news conference.
Hopefully he can keep fit because we can see the difference he makes on th…
Milan manager Stefano Pioli rued his side s poor play in Wednesday s 3-0 loss against Chelsea, saying the kind of mistakes made by his team cannot be committed in the Champions League .
The scoring was opened by Chelsea s big-money signing in the middle of defence, with Wesley Fofana scrapping home a loose ball in the box following a corner in the 24th minute.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James then put the game to bed in the second half with goals in the 56th and 61st minutes respectively, and they were able to restrict the visiting Italians to one shot on target for the entire game.
Pioli lamented his side s mistakes, saying teams in the Champions League will always punish you.
Errors? It is true that they cannot be committed in the Champions Le…
Pep Guardiola has braced Manchester City for an assault by Liverpool on their Premier League supremacy.
City s lead stands at nine points after 24 matches, although second-placed Liverpool have a game in hand, and the manner of the Reds 2-0 win over Leicester City on Thursday spoke of their continuing belief.
A dip over the Christmas and New Year period cost Liverpool substantial ground in the title race, but they are looking sharp again for Jurgen Klopp, setting up the prospect of a tantalising final few months of the season.
City and Liverpool are due to meet on April 9 at the Etihad Stadium, and that could yet be a pivotal moment in the title race.
If we want to fight to win the Premier League, we will have to win an incredible amount of points agai…
Mauricio Pochettino believes Lionel Messi needs to win the World Cup with Argentina to confirm his status as the best player in the world.
Messi has won 11 league titles and four Champions League trophies over an illustrious club career.
However, international success has largely eluded Messi, having lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and finishing as Copa America runner-up three times.
Though Messi finally did win the Copa America in 2021, Pochettino feels the 35-year-old needs to win international football s premier prize to certify him as the greatest player in the world.
Like [Diego] Maradona or Pele, you need to confirm with the trophy, Pochettino told The Athletic. When you lift the trophy, it s like, okay, he is the best in the world.
Newcastle United are interested in signing Jonathan David from Lille in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Premier League club have already held talks David’s agents, with the Canada international forward increasingly likely to leave Lille this summer.
TEAMtalk has claimed that the Newcastle bosses consider David a top target and have held talks over his potential interest to move to St. James’ Park. The Magpies, though, will face competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea for the services of the Lille star. West Ham United have also been linked.
David has been on the books of Lille since 2020 when he joined after leaving Gent. The Canada international scored 19 goals and provided four assists in 30 starts and four substit…
“I was surprised that VAR didn’t tell Simon to review it better because honestly with all my respects, Maddison loses his composure and it is a punch in the stomach of Yates.
“It should have been reviewed and a different decision. It is not a shirt with players that looks like nothing happens, no. No, it’s without the ball.
“So, there are two moments we mention (Chris Wood’s miss) in the first half that can change the game.
“I didn’t ask (Hooper), but I saw it. There is no problem in telling I didn’t see it the same way. We didn’t agree, me and VAR.”
Forest could have been ahead by this point but Wood, after he scored for a fourth consecutive match, hit the post from a matter of yards after Guglielmo Vicario had denied Yates in the 3…
England legend John Barnes has warned Manchester United that their issues stem deeper than the squad at their disposal, as the club enters the Erik Ten Hag era.
United axed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer midway through last season and drafted in Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis until the end of the 2021-22 season – which ended with disappointment as the club failed to secure a top-four finish and Champions League football.
Ten Hag was lured to Old Trafford from Ajax to take the club into a new direction, becoming the fifth permanent managerial appointment at United since Sir Alex Ferguson s retirement in 2013.
The arrival of the Dutchman comes amid further changes in the United hierarchy, with Ed Woodward departing and Richard Arnold coming in as chief executive office…