Germany forward Lukas Podolski said on Monday that he intends to hold onto his starting place in the national team, despite Toni Kroos s stated ambition to displace him.
I know that when I ve rediscovered my optimal form, it will be difficult to get in front of me, Podolski said during a press conference.
A starting place is never guaranteed and I know that there are good players behind me, but I m convinced that as long as I m at my best level, it ll be hard to get in front of me.
I m aware that against Belgium it wasn t that great, Podolski added in reference to his subdued performance in Germany s 1-0 win in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier in Brussels last Friday.
Podolski put his under-par recent performances down to the long period of rest that…
World Cup winning defender Klaus Augenthaler believes Germany have the quality to defend their crown in 2018 a feat no side has achieved since Brazil in 1962.
Germany became the first European nation to win the World Cup on South American soil in 2014 as they beat Argentina 1-0 in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
A lot has changed since then following the retirements of captain Philipp Lahm and inspirational midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, while Lukas Podolski bowed out with a goal in Wednesday s 1-0 friendly win against England.
But the emergence of Leroy Sane, Julian Weigl, Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule and Timo Werner has former Bayern Munich captain Augenthaler who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990 believing Joachim Low s men can go back-to-back in Rus…
Tottenham Hotspur have joined the race to sign Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand, .
The England international, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, looks likely to be surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, despite the expected departure of veteran left-back Ashley Cole.
Liverpool are also in the running to secure the 24 year old’s services, though Spurs have thrown their hat into the ring.
New Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino had be considering Bertrand as a replacement for the Manchester United-bound Luke Shaw at Southampton and despite leaving St Mary’s, he remains interested.
Bertrand moved to Chelsea as a youth player from Gillingham, making his Premier League debut in 2011 having had loan spells with Bourn…
Manchester City are reportedly looking at signing Lionel Messi, while Barcelona s rebuild does not include Luis Suarez.
Messi, 33, has been linked with a move away from the LaLiga giants after a trophy-less 2019-20 season.
Barca are preparing for a rebuild and while Messi is part of their plans, Suarez is seemingly not.
TOP STORY – MAN CITY CONSIDER MESSI MOVE
Manchester City are working out if they would be able to sign Barcelona star Messi without breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, according to ESPN.
The report says the Premier League giants are preparing should Messi become available.
Messi is contracted at Barcelona until 2021, but has been linked with a move.
GAL OF THE DAY!
Absolute magic from t…
Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann wanted to leave Camp Nou before speaking to new head coach Ronald Koeman, claims former agent Eric Olhats.
Griezmann endured a difficult first season with Barca following his €120million arrival from LaLiga rivals Atletico Madrid, struggling for consistency despite scoring 15 goals across all competitions.
The 29-year-old s struggles prompted talk of an exit amid links to Paris Saint-Germain, while the front page of Friday s Marca reports Atletico rejected a proposed exchange deal from Barca that would have seen Griezmann and Joao Felix swap clubs.
Olhats, who previously represented Griezmann, claims the France international was eyeing a move away from Barca prior to Koeman replacing Quique Setien.
Before the [8-2] d…
Teenager Lamine Yamal struck a fine winner as Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to move into second place in the LaLiga table.
The 16-year-old beat Predrag Rajkovic with a delightful curling effort in the 73rd minute, having seen the Mallorca goalkeeper tip his shot against the crossbar earlier in the second half.
That was among a number of impressive saves made by Rajkovic, which also included keeping out Ilkay Gundogan’s first-half penalty.
Having avoided a second successive 0-0 draw, Xavi’s men leapfrog Girona into second place, lying two points in front of them and five behind leaders Real Madrid ahead of those sides hosting Osasuna on Saturday and Celta Vigo on Sunday respectively.
Barca’s starting line-up showed …
Kieran Trippier has backed young pretender Tino Livramento to establish himself as England’s right-back as he attempts to fend off his advances for both club and country.
Livramento, a £32million summer signing from Southampton, is likely to replace Trippier in Newcastle’s starting line-up for Monday night’s Premier League trip to Chelsea as the 33-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines with a minor calf injury.
However Trippier, who has been the standard-bearer for much of what the Magpies have achieved in the last two years, knows the 21-year-old is gunning for his places in both the Newcastle team and the England squad.
Eddie Howe on Tino Livramento:
It has been a brilliant start to his Newcastle career, Tino has handled himself well, played e…
Jores Okore has backed returning striker Darren Bent to find his goalscoring form and be a lethal asset to Aston Villa next season.
Bent has only scored six Premier League goals in the last two campaigns, marking a significant downturn in form from his 24-goal season at Sunderland, which came just before his big-money move to Villa Park in 2011.
The 13-cap England international was loaned to Fulham last season after falling out of favour with manager Paul Lambert, but managed just three league goals as the London club were relegated.
The 30-year-old is now back with Villa and team-mate Okore has seen enough in pre-season training to believe Bent can be an important part of Lambert s squad.
Darren is a great player, he told the club s official website. He…
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal to sign defender Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon, .
The 20 year old was born in England, but moved to Portugal at the age of ten, joining the Sporting academy before turning professional with the club.
He made thirty senior appearances over the past two seasons, scoring once, while he broke into the England U21 side last August in a 6-0 win over Scotland.
He had a loan spell with Everton back in 2011, but failed to make an appearance for the club.
He is set to become Maurico Pochettino’s third signing since taking charge of the North London side having already brought in Ben Davies and Michel Vorm from Swansea City.
Spurs begin the new season with a trip to West Ham United, and they can be backed to . …
Callum Wilson scored his eighth Premier League goal of the season, as well as assisting another, as Bournemouth ended a run of four straight defeats with a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town.
England striker Wilson headed Bournemouth into the lead when he connected with a free-kick from Ryan Fraser, who has provided more assists than any other Premier League player this season with seven.
Wilson then returned the favour, providing a pass that allowed the Scottish midfielder to drive home Bournemouth s second of a game that they did not have all their own way.
Terence Kongolo pulled a goal back for the visitors before half-time but for all their running and hopeful balls into the penalty area, Huddersfield lacked the sort of clinical finish that W…