Manchester United linked with Raphael Varane

Manchester United are interested in signing Real Madrid central defender Raphael Varane in the summer of 2021, according to . It has been reported that Varane may not be willing to extend his current deal at Madrid which runs out in 2022, which could force the defending Spanish champions to sell the France international at the end of the season.

Premier League and European giants United always have had an interest in Varane, and the Red Devils could reportedly get the chance to sign the 27-year-old in the summer of 2021. Varane has been on the books of Madrid since 2011 and is one of the best centre-backs in the world.

During his time at Madrid so far, Varane has won the La Liga title thrice, the Champions League on four occasions, and the Copa del Rey once. The 27-year…

Ings wants Champions League football again

Southampton striker Danny Ings is reportedly keen on playing in the Champions League again.

The 28-year-old will be heading into the final year of his contract with the Saints this summer, and he has so far delayed signing a new deal at St. Mary s.

Ings was initially snubbed at the age of 10 by Southampton, the club he supported as a boy, and he subsequently made his way through the youth ranks at Bournemouth. He left the Cherries for Burnley in 2011 and made his name there by scoring 43 goals in 130 appearances in all competitions for the Clarets, before moving on to Liverpool four years later.

The atmosphere there was crazy, he said, as quoted by the . I have never experienced an atmosphere like Anfield on a Champions League night.

Ings suffered a ni…

Prediction: Switzerland U21 vs France U21

Prediction: France U21 to win 2-0

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Switzerland and France will face each other in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship this week. The Group D match between Patrick Rahmen’s side and Sylvain Ripoll’s team will be held at Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Wednesday.

Switzerland

Switzerland have emerged as a major force in senior competitive football in recent years and are now expected to at least qualify for the World Cup and European Championship. They now have some brilliant players in their senior ranks, such as Granit Xhaka, and it seems that the youth team are following in the senior side’s footsteps.

The Switzerland Under-21 tea…

Arsenal gunning for glory as Aubameyang endures torrid reunion

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal would focus on ourselves ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, when asked how his team planned to handle Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Striker Aubameyang spent four years at Emirates Stadium, before his time at the club ended with him being shuffled off to Barcelona in February.

Having propelled Arsenal to FA Cup success in Arteta s first half-season at the helm in 2020, club captain Aubameyang was rewarded with a new contract. Yet the following campaign brought just 14 goals and, by December last year, Aubameyang was out of the picture having fallen out with, and out of the favour of, Arsenal s manager.

After his short-lived, but successful, spell at Barcelona, Aubameyang is back in the Premier League with Chelsea, and the focus …

Guardiola rues finishing as Man City frustrated at St James´ Park

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola rued his side s finishing after their 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on Saturday.

City had taken the lead in the first half through Josko Gvardiol, after neat play from Jack Grealish helped create the goal, but were pegged back when Anthony Gordon won and converted a penalty after the break.

Despite having 16 shots, and six efforts on target, City only registered 0.87 expected goals (xG), suggesting those chances were not of a high quality.

Erling Haaland failed to extend his scoring run, while Nick Pope made a fine save from Bernardo Silva late on, as City saw a run of 14 successive Premier League matches in which they had scored multiple goals come to an end.

A frustrated Guardiola told TNT Sports: We made bad decision…

Arteta: Arsenal see light at end of the tunnel

Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal s response to their poor start and warned there must be no let-up as they travel to Burnley on Saturday.

Arsenal avoided an unwanted club record of four defeats in their first four Premier League games thanks to a 1-0 win over Norwich City last weekend, scoring their first top-flight goal of the season.

Arteta s side now look ahead to Burnley, who they are unbeaten against in their last nine away league games, their last defeat at Turf Moor coming in 1973.

The Gunners manager is full of confidence following the learning curve that he has experienced at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.

The boys were happy because we experienced a reaction of the fans towards the team and winning the first match, getting out of the blocks …

Busquets gets Spain reassurance as Luis Enrique speaks out on vaccines

Spain boss Luis Enrique has assured captain Sergio Busquets he has a major role to play at Euro 2020 once he returns from a COVID-19 absence.

The Barcelona midfielder is said to be well in himself and able to train in isolation despite testing positive for the virus last week.

Busquets will miss Spain s opening game against Sweden in Seville on Monday; however, he may be available for the second group game on June 19, when Poland are the opposition, and there is no prospect of him being cut from Spain s squad.

I m going to wait for him. We are all going to wait for him, Luis Enrique said in a news conference on Thursday.

There is plenty of time for him to come back. He will be certainly on the list.

What Busquets brings is something impressive…

Erik ten Hag opens up on ‘very positive’ first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Erik ten Hag described his first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe as “very positive” but admitted he still has much to learn about the billionaire’s plans for Manchester United.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group will assume control of footballing operations once his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club has been ratified in the coming weeks, and he has been in Manchester this week for a series of meetings with club staff.

The meetings have been described as an opportunity for Ratcliffe, as well as senior INEOS officials Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, to get to know the club before they start work in earnest.

“It was very positive, I have to say,” Ten Hag said. “We had a long meeting, many hours we sit together and on many issues we are on the …

Prediction: Ivory Coast vs Egypt

Best odds: 13/10

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The groups of the African Cup of Nations have been played out, and it s time for the knockout stages to begin. In the round of 16, Ivory Coast will take on Egypt at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.

Ivory Coast

Drawn in Group E of the tournament, Ivory Coast first faced Equatorial Guinea and won by a single goal, courtesy of Sivasspor forward Max-Alain Gardel. It was a bit harder when they took on Sierra Leone in the second round, with goals from Ajax striker Sebastian Haller and Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe only enough for a 2-2 draw. Finally, they beat Algeria by 3-1 to secure the top spot in the group, with AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Sangare and Pepe all on target to settle the outcome…

Qatar World Cup chief executive questions Southgate´s concerns

England manager Gareth Southgate has come under criticism from Nasser Al Khater for questioning Qatar s human rights record.

Southgate confirmed earlier this month that his side intend to use the World Cup in Qatar to highlight concerns around the host country.

However, he also stressed that they must be realistic as any demonstration will be complicated .

Qatar s stance towards women and the LGBTQ+ community was widely pointed to as a problem before FIFA awarded it the tournament in 2010. 

Meanwhile, the deaths of thousands of migrant workers have been reported during preparation for the finals, although Qatar s organising committee disputed what it called inaccurate claims around the number of fatalities.

Al Khater – the chief executive …