Chelsea lead race for AC Milan’s Rafael Leao

Arsenal forward Beth Mead hopes she did enough in her long-anticipated comeback to show Sarina Wiegman she is fit to play for England this month.

The Euro 2022 Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament winner, who ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last November, was greeted with thunderous applause on her return in the 88th minute at the Emirates on Sunday, where two stoppage-time goals completed a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory against Aston Villa.

Mead looked sharp from the moment she stepped onto the pitch – observed by England boss Wiegman from the stands – and provided the assist to set up Alessia Russo’s winner, which came moments after Katie McCabe had cancelled out Maz Pacheco’s opener.

‘Meado! Meado! Meado!’

— Arsenal Wo…

Chelsea seem to have resigned themselves to making a major loss on Romelu Lukaku, who has only netted five times on loan at Inter this term.

According to a Football Insider report, the Blues are ready to move him on in at the end of the season, with Inter unlikely to try to extend his stay in Milan.

Chelsea spent £97.5milion to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in August 2021, but they are unlikely to get anywhere near that now.

TOP STORY – GERMAN CHAMPIONS LINE UP SHOCK LUKAKU MOVE

Bayern Munich are lining up a shock move for Chelsea s Romelu Lukaku to bolster their attacking options, claims Fichajes.

The report claims Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is an admirer of the Belgium striker, who he believes is one of the world s best forwards if…

We need to talk about Aaron Ramsey.

Out of contract at the end of the season, the midfielder s future shifted back into the spotlight with the start of a new year. There appears only one certainty when it comes to the Wales international – he will not be remaining at Arsenal beyond the 2018-19 campaign.

The Gunners seemed certain to hand the player an extension at one stage, only to then change their minds as talks collapsed.

We all know that the contract was taken away off the table. I m not sure exactly why because a few weeks before we sort of agreed and I was ready to sign, a confused Ramsey said in October. Now it is January 2019 and he is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a team from outside of England.

Unsurprisingly, a number …

Under-fire Erik ten Hag is convinced he retains the backing of Manchester United’s players after the club were angered by reports he had lost some of the dressing room.

The Dutchman’s challenging second campaign in charge continued on Saturday night, when a lifeless display saw the Red Devils fall to a meek 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.

A 10th defeat of the season led to some reports that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of up to half of his players, with concerns over his style, tactics and signings mentioned.

Those reports led to the club banning four media outlets shortly before Tuesday’s press conference nominally set up to preview the midweek Premier League clash against Chelsea.

The boss continues: [We have] showed great character, great determinat…

Livingston manager David Martindale is delighted to have signed “ultimate professional” Andrew Shinnie to a new contract for next season as he attempts to deal with the impending loss of some key personnel from his squad this summer.

The 33-year-old former Inverness, Birmingham and Luton midfielder joined the Lions in 2021 and the West Lothian club announced on Wednesday that he had extended his deal until the end of next term.

Martindale is thrilled to have retained Shinnie as he prepares for his “toughest” rebuild yet, with the manager expecting Joel Nouble to be sold and Stephane Omeonga, Nicky Devlin and Jack Fitzwater to leave under freedom of contract.

“I’m going to lose a lot of quality from the squad this year and probably a bit of quantity at…

Liverpool produced yet another late show to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and maintain their six-point lead at the Premier League summit.

That margin could have been greater were it not for Manchester City s own fightback at home to Southampton, with Kyle Walker s goal four minutes from time sealing all three points for Pep Guardiola s side.

Manchester United reverted to type after a recent mini revival, slipping to an insipid 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth, while Chelsea were 2-1 winners over Watford at Vicarage Road.

Our Premier League Data Diary sheds some light on the detail behind the major stories from this weekend s big games.

LIVERPOOL LEAVE IT LATE AGAIN

Liverpool s stunning start to the season continued with a last-gasp win over Aston Vil…

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has firmly denied an accusation of rape and says it is an abominable crime .

The Portugal star was accused by Kathryn Mayorga of sexually assaulting her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

Ronaldo initially described the claims, first reported by German publication Der Spiegel last Friday, as fake news via an Instagram video.

The 33-year-old has now published a statement on social media in which he denies the allegations against him and hits out at a media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense .

I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media s…

Aleksander Ceferin is set to be re-elected unopposed for a third term as UEFA president.

The governing body on Friday announced that Ceferin is the only candidate for the role for the elections that will be held in Lisbon on April 5.

Ceferin took over as UEFA president in September 2016 and started a new four-year term in February 2019.

The Slovenian s tenure will be extended to 2027, with the deadline for candidates to oppose him having passed on Thursday.

Noel Le Graet, the president of the French Football Federation, faces a challenge to keep his seat on the FIFA Council.

Portugal FA chief Fernando Gomes will be hoping to secure the votes to take Le Graet s place.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the submission of candidatures for seats on t…

Uruguay made sure it was anything but a friendly for Neymar.

The Selecao captain shouldered the responsibility as Brazil snatched a narrow win over an undermanned Uruguay, who displayed their trademark fight despite having almost a whole team out through injury.

It was a far from vintage performance from Brazil and their talisman on a dreary night at Emirates Stadium Oscar Tabarez s side made sure of it with Neymar s second-half penalty proving the difference.

La Celeste s lengthy absentee list included goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and centre-back duo Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, as well as midfield pair Nahitan Nandez and Camilo Mayada due to their impending Copa Libertadores final duties for Boca Juniors and River Plate respectively.

But Tabarez s team …

Caoimhin Kelleher has proven himself as a very good goalkeeper in a Liverpool shirt many times. However, not only is he firmly behind Alisson Becker in the pecking order, but the Merseyside club have also completed the signing of Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia, before sending him back to the La Liga side on loan for the season.

With Mamardashvili set to arrive to Anfield next summer, Kelleher will be expected to leave, being clear that there s very little chance of him becoming Liverpool s No. 1 ever.

Here s what the Ireland international has to say on the matter.

Sometimes from the outside looking in, it looks like that s 100% my decision but at times it s not always in my hands

Caoimhín Kelleher confirms he was keen to leave Liverpool this summe…