Atletico Madrid are planning a shock move for Manchester United’s Juan Mata, .
Despite hitting eight goals in just twenty-one appearances since signing from Chelsea for a then club record fee of £37.1m back in January, his place in Louis van Gaal’s squad has been the subject of constant speculation.
Valencia, who Mata played for four seasons before switching to the Premier League in 2011, have also been linked with a move for the forward, who was left out of the Spain squad for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.
United beat Everton on Sunday afternoon to secure back-to-back league victories under Van Gaal for the first time, and move in to the top four of the division.
They host West Bromwich Albion next, and c…
Roma and Bayern vying for Kurzawa
Sport Mediaset is reporting that AS Roma and Bayern Munich are locked in the battle for Monaco defender Layvin Kurzawa.
The two sides met last night in a Champions League match, with the Bavarians recording a 7-1 triumph at Stadio Olimpico, but the Giallorossi will have a chance to get revenge on the Bundesliga side.
Namely, the two clubs are showing interest in Monaco left-back Layvin Kurzawa and could make their moves as early as January.
The Giallorossi have been disappointed by the performances of summer signing Ashley Cole and they plan to sign the French defender as a long-term replacement.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich aim to increase competition for places at the back by adding Kurzawa to their ranks, with a …
Former Everton striker Kevin Campbell believes Romelu Lukaku will need to improve his all-round game at Manchester United.
The Belgium international is expected to finalise a move to the Red Devils in the coming days after the club confirmed that a reported £75million fee had been agreed with Everton.
Lukaku, who underwent a medical in Los Angeles on Sunday, scored 87 goals in 166 appearances for the Merseyside club in all competitions after being sold by Jose Mourinho when he was Chelsea manager in 2014.
Campbell, who spent six years at Goodison Park, thinks Lukaku is the right fit for United s style but he expects Mourinho to demand certain improvements once he takes to the pitch at Old Trafford.
His attributes will suit the style of play and the pla…
Everton are holding out for £50m from Tottenham Hotspur for Ross Barkley, according to the Mirror.
The England international has been continuously linked with a move to the North London outfit, though the club are reluctant to meet the midfielders wage demands.
Barkley wants £150,000-per-week, which is twenty percent more than both captain Hugo Lloris and back to back Golden Boot winner Harry Kane.
Also, the Toffee’s valuation of the player is causing an issue, not least because he is entering the final year of his current deal.
Aside from brief loan spells with both Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United Barkley has spent his entire career so far at Goodison Park, racking up one hundred and seventy-nine appearances in all competitions, scoring twe…
As relayed by the club s , Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti would like Leighton Baines to stay at the club for what would be the left-back s 14th season at Goodison Park.
Once considered indispensable, Baines lost his place in the starting XI with the arrival of Lucas Digne from Barcelona in 2018. Last summer he signed a 12-month contract extension, and after his fine performances in Everton s last two Premier League games, Ancelotti wants him to do it again this year.
The manager revealed that despite being 35 years old, Baines has no physical problems. The message both Ancelotti and the club are trying to imprint on him is ‘don’t stop playing, stay with us for the next year’. Ancelotti also said that both he and the club are going to talk to the player and try to…
Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has warned lights could go out for a number of clubs in Germany if the Bundesliga season is halted.
The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on football has been such that clubs face losses due to the absence of significant revenue streams, such as gate receipts.
Dortmund recorded a €43.9million loss for the 2019-20 financial year, pinning the cause for that outcome on the coronavirus outbreak.
Since posting those results in August, the new season has begun in Germany, with small numbers of supporters allowed back into stadiums.
Should the league have to be paused again, however, as it was from March until May this year, then Watzke fears the impact could see some clubs in danger of c…
The J.League will kick off on March 10, nearly a year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands.
Matches featuring teams with mid-week Asian Champions League fixtures are expected to take place on March 11, the anniversary of the disaster.
Former manager Mihailo Petrovic and star defender Tomoaki Makino will return to their former home when Urawa Reds travel to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
In their first top-flight match since 2008, Consadole Sapporo will host Jubilo Iwata in a match featuring the present and former clubs of Consadole veteran Masashi Gon Nakayama.
The 44-year-old is staying fit in the off-season by playing professional futsal.
In a match between two teams deeply affected by the disasters, Kashima Antlers will tra…
Hansi Flick became the first Germany head coach to win his first six matches in charge after his side crushed Liechtenstein 9-0 in World Cup qualifying Group J on Thursday.
The former Bayern Munich boss kicked off his reign with a 2-0 win over these opponents in September and always looked like taking the outright record from Joachim Low following Ilkay Gundogan s early penalty, given for a foul which saw a red card issued to Jens Hofer.
Die Mannschaft, whose progress to next year s World Cup in Qatar had already been secured before the game in Wolfsburg, took full advantage of their numerical superiority, racing into a 4-0 half-time lead thanks to a Daniel Kaufmann own goal and strikes from Leroy Sane and Marco Reus.
Sane added a fifth early in the second…
The form of AZ Alkmaar midfielder Rasmus Elm has reportedly attracted has attracted the attention of Serie A club Lazio.
La Gazzetta dello Sport claim Lazio are eager to add some fresh faces to their midfield in the January transfer window, and they are said to see Elm as the perfect addition to their squad.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined AZ from hometown Swedish club Kalmar in 2009 and has since developed into a key player at the AFAS Stadion.
The Sweden international has already scored eight goals in 17 Eredivisie appearances this term and is a key element to league-leading AZ s title charge.
Elm is tied to the club until the end of the 2012/13 season and has previously been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Valencia.
…
Brazilian club Internacional have revealed Espanyol s Jesus Datolo is one of the club s current transfer targets.
Internacional are looking for an improvement in the coming season after their Brazilian Serie A campaign ended in mid-table obscurity, and have set their sights on the 27-year-old winger as a possible reinforcement.
Argentine Datolo was previously on loan at Espanyol from Napoli, before completing a permanent switch in January 2011.
Speaking on Friday, Internacional director Fernandao affirmed the interest, although he was still uncertain about what form the transfer would take.
Datolo s name has been seriously mentioned around here, he would be an extraordinary signing, Fernandao told Globoesporte.
The details are not very clear ye…