Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the return of Cristiano Ronaldo will provide everybody around the club with a timely boost.
United announced on Friday that a deal had been agreed to bring the Portugal captain back to the club for a second spell.
Five-time Ballon d Or winner Ronaldo will reportedly move from Juventus in a deal worth £12.8m (€15m) plus £6.9m (€8m) in add-ons.
The 36-year-old enjoyed a hugely successful first stint with the Red Devils between 2003 and 2009.
The forward scored 118 goals in 292 appearances while winning three Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup before his world-record transfer to Real Madrid.
And Solskjaer is excited by the potential impact of his former team-mate,…
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Newtown AFC and FC Spartak Trnava will face each other in the second leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League this week. The match will be held at Park Hall in Oswestry and is scheduled to kick off at 6pm UK time on Thursday. FC Spartak Trnava won the first leg of the tie 4-1 against Newtown AFC at home.
Newtown AFC
Newtown AFC are a big club in Welsh football. Although they have not won the league title in Wales, they did win the Welsh Cup twice once in 1879 and again in 1895. Newtown AFC also finished runners-up in the 2011-12 League Cup as as well in the League of Wales in 1996 and 1998. They have never competed beyond the qualifying stages of any Europea…
Jules Kounde warned Barcelona are ready to strike a brutal blow to at least one European titan in the Champions League after landing in this season s group of death .
Drawn to face Bayern Munich, Inter and Viktoria Plzen in Group C, it is the German and Italian giants that Barcelona will be most worried about.
The Catalans start their campaign against Czech side Plzen on Wednesday, when nothing but a home victory at Camp Nou will be an acceptable result, given the challenges to come.
Barcelona, Inter and Bayern all begin as trophy hopefuls, but one or even two of the trio will have been eliminated by the time the World Cup comes around in November.
Kounde, recruited from Sevilla to fortify Xavi s defence, is determined Barcelona will not be among the earl…
Vanni Sartini has no problem with Vancouver Whitecaps fans who wish to cheer Lionel Messi when Inter Miami visit BC Place on Saturday, but he wants his players to ignore the Argentine s presence and focus on themselves.
Miami are currently leading the way in the Eastern Conference and the Supporters Shield race, with last week s 1-0 win over D.C. United lifting them to 31 points from 15 games.
Messi has contributed 10 goals and nine assists in MLS play this year, and he is expected to feature in Canada despite sustaining a knock in a training session earlier this week.
Supporters desire to see the eight-time Ballon d Or winner play has led to some bizarre atmospheres since he arrived in MLS, but Sartini will not tell Vancouver s fans who to applaud.
It …
Barcelona are set to re-sign Ansu Fati until 2024, while Real Madrid are eyeing the new Raphael Varane .
Fati, 17, has been linked with a stunning move to Manchester United after a breakthrough season at Barca.
But the teenage forward seems to be going nowhere.
TOP STORY – BARCA TO EXTEND FATI STAY UNTIL 2024
Barcelona are set to renew Fati s contract until 2024, according to the cover of Sport.
Out of contract in 2022, Fati has scored eight goals in 32 games this season, leading to links to Manchester United.
Sport also reports Barcelona are prepared to listen to offers for attacker Ousmane Dembele.
Cumbre por Ansu
Escucharán ofertas por Dembélé
— Diario SPORT (@sport)
ROU…
Qatar 2022 is a World Cup like no other, and the host nation performed like no other.
Theirs was the worst group-stage record of any home side at a World Cup, becoming the first to lose all three matches and conceding a landmark seven goals. Only South Africa, in 2010, had previously failed to make it out of the first round.
Controversially awarded the tournament months after Spain s Barcelona-inspired success at South Africa 2010, Qatar had plenty of time to prepare and soon put its faith in Catalan coach Felix Sanchez.
He worked first with the nation s youth teams before taking the top job five years out from the World Cup.
Although Sanchez led Qatar to Asian Cup success in 2019, he never considered a World Cup run a serious possibility – or so he sai…
Joshua King scored a 94th-minute penalty to earn Norway a 1-1 Euro 2020 qualifier draw at home to Spain, who would have sealed their place at the finals with victory.
Saul Niguez s goal 62 seconds into the second half looked to have extended Spain s perfect record to seven wins from seven in Group F at Ullevaal Stadion on Saturday.
But Kepa Arrizabalaga s foul on Omar Elabdellaoui in stoppage time handed Norway a golden chance to deny Robert Moreno s men the points they needed.
King stepped up to beat the Chelsea goalkeeper from the spot on the day Spain captain Sergio Ramos broke Iker Casillas appearance record for La Roja.
Sergio Ramos becomes Spain s most-capped player ever
168 games
EURO 2008
World Cup 2010
EURO 2012
— UE…
Rodri has no chance of featuring for Manchester City in their opening Premier League fixture against Chelsea.
The midfielder was integral to City winning an unprecedented fourth Premier League title last season, playing a team-high 2,937 minutes in the top flight.
He scored eight goals and set up a further nine before then playing a key role in Spain s success at Euro 2024.
However, Rodri who returned to training late following an extended break after his exploits with La Roja in Germany will not be ready to play for City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
No chance, replied Pep Guardiola when asked if Rodri would feature, with City s manager having also said: He is in training. He feels good.
While Rodri s absence has not prevented City from loaning…
Barcelona have announced Deco as their new sporting director on a three-year contract.The appointment of the former Barca and Portugal playmaker comes after director of football Mateu Alemany agreed to be released from his role once the summer transfer window closes on September 2.
Alemany’s scheduled departure from Barcelona was announced in May and he will now work alongside Deco until early next month.
Deco, new FC Barcelona sporting director
The first team player between 2004 and 2008 signs a contract as sporting director at the Club for the next three seasons
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Deco, who played for the Catalan club between 2004 and 2008, will work closely with the coaches in heading the footballing department at the Nou Camp…
England have responded to criticism of their bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals by announcing a reduced management team.
Bid chiefs held a crisis meeting Thursday and announced a new executive board which included Geoff Thompson, a vice-president of world football governing body FIFA, who was omitted from the original line-up.
After starting the bidding process as favourites ahead of Russia, Australia and the joint-venture by Spain and Portugal, England s 2018 campaign has come under fire in recent weeks.
The bid has been severely criticised by Jack Warner, one of FIFA s executive committee members, and Football Association chairman Lord David Triesman, also England s 2018 chairman, has come under pressure over his inability to devote more than two days a wee…