Lionel Messi is loving life under Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona and has praised the head coach s man-management skills.
Former Athletic Bilbao boss Valverde took over from Luis Enrique for the 2017-18 campaign and negotiated a turbulent start that included the shock sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain and a Supercopa de Espana thrashing at the hands of bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Inspired by Messi s relentless on-field brilliance, Barca shook off those setbacks and romped to a comfortable LaLiga triumph, also collecting the Copa del Rey thanks to a 5-0 demolition of Sevilla.
With Valverde I feel spectacular because of the way he is, Messi told Sport.
Because of the way he talks with the players. He is such a good person, sincere.
Fifth Golden…
Liverpool have rejected a third bid from Crystal Palace for defender Mamadou Sakho, according to Sky Sports.
The Eagles are keen to secure the France international’s services on a permanent basis having taken him on loan for the second half of last season, gaining rave reviews having just eight appearances for the London club.
Jurgen Klopp hasn’t named the twenty-seven year old in the squads for any of the five matches they have played so far this season.
However, the Merseyside club have deemed the latest bid of £25m for the centre-back as unacceptable as they hold out for their £30m valuation.
Sakho signed for Liverpool from Paris Saint Germain in the summer of 2013 and has since played for them eighty times in all competitions, scoring thre…
Bayern Munich have made a good habit of getting their house in order promptly, and 2021 would seem to be no different.
Having already agreed a deal to sign centre-back Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig, the Bundesliga leaders have followed up with an agreement to make Julian Nagelsmann their next head coach.
The Leipzig boss, a boyhood Bayern fan from Bavaria who is still attempting to stop his new club win the title this season, will take over from Hansi Flick on July 1.
A five-year contract and a reported fee of €20million – the most ever paid for a coach – represent a significant investment on Bayern s part and show just how highly they regard Nagelsmann.
The 33-year-old is not exactly taking the wheel of a sinking ship, either: Bayern won six tr…
Denmark have named John Jensen temporary first-team coach for Wednesday s friendly with Slovakia, as an unspecified squad of players heads to Bratislava.
Plans for Denmark s games with Slovakia and the UEFA Nations League clash with Wales have been thrown into disarray by a dispute between the Danish Football Association (DBU) and the senior players.
A row over commercial rights has led to concerns the squad will boycott the coming matches, meaning the DBU could risk a substantial UEFA fine and suspension from tournaments if the games are forfeited.
With head coach Age Hareide also involved in the dispute, Denmark have decided to place former midfielder Jensen in charge of the team for Wednesday s game, which could reportedly include uncapped players from lower l…
Rafinha is excited to be given the chance to get his career back on track at Real Sociedad after completing a loan move from Paris Saint-Germain for the remainder of the season.
The 28-year-old has featured just five times for PSG in all competitions this season and was not included in the club s Champions League squad for the group phase.
Rafinha will spend the next six months with Sociedad, who are sixth in the Spanish top flight and already have the likes of David Silva and Alexander Isak in their squad.
The twice-capped Brazil international has played 39 times for PSG since arriving from Barca in October 2020 on a three-year deal, with 21 of those being starts.
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Pep Guardiola has hailed Gabriel Jesus as an animal after the Brazil striker expressed frustration at his number of first-team starts for Manchester City.
Jesus made it three goals in as many starts this season when City began their EFL Cup defence with a 3-0 win at Preston North End in midweek, but he is likely to find himself back on the bench against Everton on Saturday.
Sergio Aguero has netted in every Premier League game this season and, although Jesus proclaimed his admiration and respect for City s all-time leading goalscorer in an interview with Esporte Interativo, the 2017 arrival from Palmeiras stated he was over the I have to wait phase at the Etihad Stadium.
He s passionate. I read that interview and it was perfect, Guardiola told a pre-match ne…
Market: Newcastle draw no bet
Odds: 1/1 @
Looking to extend on what has been a real purple patch, Newcastle will make the trip to a struggling Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Brentford might have impressed many when making their Premier League debut last year, Thomas Frank s men now find themselves in the midst of a real struggle. Last seen getting hit with a 2-1 defeat away at Champions League chasers Arsenal, the Bees have come tumbling down the table and are now looking over their shoulder at the drop zone. With many in their camp fearing that they are now in a real battle to extend on their top-flight status this season, Frank s men have remarkably picked up just a single point from their last eight Premier League matchups. Wi…
Paris Saint-Germain are working on a new contract for Kylian Mbappe, according to reports in France.
The sensational youngster exploded to the scene as a part of the AS Monaco team that managed to beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2017, the only team to do so in the last seven years. The Parisians then wasted no time to bring him in and they made him the second most expensive player in the world, after Neymar. Since then, the forward has played in 92 games in the PSG shirt and scored 62 goals.
During the summer he was linked most heavily with Real Madrid, but nothing happened with further reports claiming the Spanish giants have decided to make him their primary target, their Galactico , next year. More recently, fresh reports appeared claiming Manchester City might ente…
Leeds United are interested in signing Eljif Elmas from Napoli in the summer transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the Premier League club have the North Macedonia international midfielder on the radar ahead of their Euro 2020 finals.
Elmas has been on the books of Napoli since 2019. The 21-year-old made three starts and 30 substitute appearances in Serie A for Napoli this , scoring two goals and providing one assist in the process. The youngster also made four starts and two substitute appearances in the Europa League for the Italian club.
Leeds reportedly admire the North Macedonia, but Napoli will not sell him on the cheap. The West Yorkshire club will reportedly have to pay £14.5 million for the midfielder, who is an international teammate of Ez…
Marcus Rashford is relishing the opportunity to take on Manchester City again, revealing his 2016 derby winner for Manchester United was the highlight of his young career.
The England forward has won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League, as well as featuring for his country at two major tournaments, but Rashford harks back to the very start of his time in the United first team for a moment he treasures above all others.
In the 2015-16 season, less than a month on from his debut for the club, Rashford netted the only goal of the game at City to settle the derby and he reflected on that strike ahead of Sunday s latest clash.
For me, personally, to score the winner there was the biggest feeling in my career, the 21-year-old told United s official website.
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