France international defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has revealed that he is fully focused on Montpellier this season, despite turning down the chance to join Italian giants AC Milan during the summer transfer window, .
After championing the French Ligue 1 last term, Montpellier are currently in 16th place in the league table with a dismal 2-2-5 record.
Yanga-Mbiwa is drawing interest from a bevy of Europe s top football clubs, including the likes of AC Milan and Lille OSC, while FC Barcelona are also rumoured to be admirers of the Frenchman.
The 23-year-old s current contract expires at the end of the season, fueling speculation that Montpellier are preparing to offload him during the January transfer window.
I am not mad that I did not leave. I r…
Italian champions Inter Milan s Chilean international striker Luis Jimenez was snapped up on loan by English Premier League side West Ham on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old known as the Wizard and capped 20 times is the first signing for the Hammers Italian manager Gianfranco Zola this summer.
Jimenez who hasn t represented Chile for over a year joins on a season-long loan with a view to a possible permanent move.
I can t promise anything but I am going to do everything possible to do a good job for the club, Jimenez told West Ham s website.
Jimenez made his name in Italy at Serie B side Ternana, where he scored 25 goals in 88 league appearances between 2002 and 2007.
Short spells at Fiorentina and Lazio followed before Inter Milan opted to buy him on …
Market: Dallas win
Odds: 11/10 @
Looking to try and find a route into the Final Series spots this weekend, Dallas will welcome Austin to the Toyota Stadium in the early hours of Sunday.
Starting with the hosts, putting in what was a rugged display away at Western Conference title-chasers Seattle earlier in the week, some in Dallas camp would have been disappointed to have only left with a point. Snatching a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time, Luchi Gonzalez s men have continued on an eye-catching bounce over the past fortnight. Now sat within striking distance of jumping into the Final Series spots, The Toros have collected seven points from their last three MLS matchups. Including back-to-back 4-0 and 2-1 victories against LA Galaxy and Sporting KC, Dallas ha…
In his relatively short time in English football, Claudio Ranieri became pretty universally loved by English fans. He was always well mannered, polite, sporting and pleasant.
Tactically
Tactically he was pretty good too and people tend to forget how far he had taken Chelsea prior to the arrival of Jose Mourinho. Let us not forget that Ranieri took the Blues to a Champions League semi-final which equals anything the ‘Special One’ managed to achieve.
Unfortunately for Ranieri, he earned the nickname ‘the tinker man’ because he was forever fiddling around with formations and players’ positions. He did so to catastrophic effect in the afore-mentioned Champions League semi-final when his �…
Marc Muniesa has signed a four-year contract extension with Stoke City, keeping him at the Britannia Stadium until 2019.
The 23-year-old has chalked up nearly 40 first-team appearances for Mark Hughes s side since arriving on a free transfer from Barcelona in 2013, despite missing a large chunk of last season with a hamstring injury.
Muniesa is expected to start at centre-back for Stoke s first game of the new Premier League campaign, which sees them host Liverpool on Sunday, with captain Ryan Shawcross set to undergo back surgery.
…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds:
After months of anticipation, the World Cup finally gets underway on Thursday afternoon will this summers hosts Russia will face off against fellow Group A running mates Saudi Arabia.
For the 2018 World Cup hosts, although many would have tipped Russia to escape a group with Uraguay, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, The Russians have been desperately short of form entering the finals and Stanislav Cherchesov s side must improve things quickly if they want to give the home fans something to cheer about. Coming off the back of a 1-1 draw with Turkey last week, Russia have now failed to win any of their seven preparation matches and have failed to keep a single clean sheet since September 2017.
As for Juan Antonio Pizzi s Saudi Ar…
Avram Grant gets a second chance to help deliver the Premier League trophy to Chelsea on Saturday when Manchester United visit Fratton Park for the Israeli s first match in charge of Portsmouth.
Twenty-four hours before Chelsea have the chance to seriously dent Arsenal s title hopes at the Emirates, Grant is perfectly placed to do his former club a huge favour by inspiring his new charges to take something from their meeting with the defending champions.
Grant, whose first and last matches as manager of Chelsea ended in defeat by United, was installed as Portsmouth s new manager on Thursday with a brief to guide a squad that has secured only seven points from 13 matches this season off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.
It represents a tall …
Costa Rica are the third semi finalists at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, following a comfortable 4-1 win over Guadeloupe in the quarter finals.
A great overhead kick from Celso Borges put Costa Rica in the lead after just three minutes and Alvaro Saborio made it 2-0 in minute 16.
And things got worse for Guadeloupe as Andy Herron scored for 3-0 in the 47th minute.
Alphonse got one back for the Caribbeans on 64 minutes but Saborio s second after a long ball from Borges restored the gap seven minutes later. Herrera made it 5-1 with just one minute to go.
In the semi finals, Costa Rica face the winner of the match between Mexico and Haiti.
…
Bundesliga hot-shots RB Leipzig are ready to make certain moves during the January transfer moves in order to bolster their ranks and continue the title push in their first-ever season in Germany’s top flight.
Head coach Ralph Hasenhuttl is keen to add at least one defender to his ranks and has identified RB Salzburg’s Dayot Upamecano as the top January target, according to German media outlet .
The French youngster has excelled in Austrian league this season, having so far made 15 starts for his club.
The 18-year-old is a product of the youth team of Valenciennes FC where he attracted plenty of attention from the host of Europe’s top clubs including Manchester United.
Upamecano joined Red Bull Salzburg in July 2015 for a reported fee of €2.2 mil…
Hibernian signed two 20-year-old centre-backs on loan as the winter transfer window entered its final evening with their new relationship with Bournemouth quickly bearing fruit.
Hibs landed Nectarios Triantis from Sunderland and Owen Bevan from Bournemouth until the end of the season.
Australia Under-23 international Triantis was a regular under Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery during Central Coast Mariners’ A-League title-winning season before making three appearances for Sunderland this term.
Wales Under-21 international Bevan has played in the Premier League for the Cherries and spent time on loan with Cheltenham this season. Hibs this week received approval from the Scottish Football Association to progress with an investment in the club from Bournemouth’s…