Ronald Koeman insisted he was not the bad guy in Luis Suarez s transfer away from Barcelona, although he could understand Lionel Messi s anger at the move.
Suarez, third on the list of all-time Barcelona goal scorers, left Camp Nou this week for Atletico Madrid.
It was reported Suarez was one of a number of senior stars informed by new coach Koeman they would have to leave the club following an underwhelming 2019-20 season.
But Koeman suggested some portrayals of this conversation were not entirely accurate, saying Suarez could have stayed but would have had a reduced role.
It seemed that I had been the bad guy in this movie, but it is not like that, Koeman said ahead of the Blaugrana s LaLiga opener against Villarreal.
Since the call [regarding…
Bundesliga strugglers Fortuna Dusseldorf have sacked head coach Friedhelm Funkel.
Fortuna are languishing at the bottom of the table after winning just one of their last nine league matches and Funkel paid the price for that poor form on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old guided the club back into the top flight in 2018, two years after he landed the role, and kept them up last season.
Fortuna have only secured four Bundesliga victories in the current campaign, though, and a 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday proved to be the final straw.
Assistant coach Thomas Kleine took training on Wednesday amid reports that Uwe Rösler is set to replace Funkel.
Vorstand von Fortuna Düsseldorf stellt Friedhelm Funkel frei.
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— Fo…
In the days of social media, the tiniest spark could be enough to set transfer speculation ablaze. The latest player to prompt such an outburst is Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who has removed the club from his Instagram account.
Liverpool have already completed the signings of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig, and they re reportedly maintaining their interest in Nice s Khephren Thuram and Southampton s Romeo Lavia. Questions about accommodating four new midfielders into their ranks have been asked, even though three have already left the club and the team suffered greatly in that department last summer. Thiago was barely there to help, having missed a total of 21 games through injury.
According to Neil Jones, Fenerbahce …
Marco Silva believes the pressure on Rodrigo Muniz’s shoulders is a “privilege” after the Fulham striker extended his scoring form against Tottenham.
The Brazilian has starred for the west Londoners in recent weeks, scoring seven goals in his last seven appearances in the Premier League, including an impressive brace in the 3-0 win over Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs earlier this month.
Muniz’s rise to become the Cottagers’ main striker comes after he struggled for minutes at the start of the season, being out of favour and sitting behind Raul Jimenez and Carlos Vinicius in the pecking order up front.
Who s the s most in-form striker?
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC)
Speaking ahead of Fulham’s clash with Sheffield United on Saturday…
Lionel Messi will have the chance to cement his legacy as one of football s all-time greats when he lines up in the FIFA World Cup final.
The Argentina and Barcelona superstar has long been regarded by many as the best player on the planet, having helped the Catalan club to a plethora of honours.
Messi s honour roll at Barca, which includes six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League crowns and two FIFA Club World Cups, makes for impressive viewing, but statistics alone barely do justice to a player boasting rare ability.
A hugely accomplished dribbler, passer and finisher, the diminutive 27-year-old set a record for goals in a calendar year in 2012, netting 91 times to break the previous record set by Gerd Muller.
However, the one slight on his illus…
Rafael Marquez has urged former club Barcelona to look beyond signing centre-back Jeremy Mathieu, who he believes is overpriced.
French defender Mathieu has been tipped to join La Liga rivals Barca for much of the off-season but Valencia s valuation has proved a stumbling block.
Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta confirmed a bid had been submitted, while Mathieu has publicly pleaded with Valencia to sanction his transfer to Camp Nou.
But 35-year-old Mexico international defender Marquez winner of 12 trophies during his seven-year spell with Barca between 2003 and 2010 is adamant new coach Luis Enrique should turn his attention elsewhere following Carles Puyol s retirement last season.
I don t think he has the profile to play for Barcelona and eve…
Mesut Ozil is expecting Manchester City s German signings Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan to intensify the challenge facing Arsenal in the Premier League.
The Germany international said he was pleased to see his friends and compatriots Sane and Gundogan join City from Schalke and Borussia Dortmund respectively, and claimed the influx of new players and managers across the Premier League would make his fourth season in England his toughest yet.
Sane and Gundogan s arrivals in Manchester have coincided with those of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Old Trafford, while City manager Pep Guardiola has also added John Stones and Nolito to his squad.
Ozil who has finished fourth, third and second in the Premier League since arriving at Arsenal in 2013 …
Andreas Weimann scored the only goal as Aston Villa beat Stoke City to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start.
Villa, who kicked off last season with a 3-1 win at Arsenal, had to defend well in the early stages, but looked increasingly threatening as the match opened up.
And Weimann found the target five minutes into the second half, sweeping home a right-footed effort from inside the penalty area a
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mid some questionable Stoke defending to secure all three points.
New Stoke signings Bojan Krkic and Mame Biram Diouf failed to inspire a fightback for the home side at the Britannia Stadium, with Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan enjoying a relatively quiet second half.
Stoke lost just three times at home last season, and Saturday s …
will make his return to his boyhood club as Ajax announced that they have signed him to a three-year contract, according to a report from O Jogo.
The Amsterdam-based club reportedly spent £4 million to lure the 28-year-old forward back to his native Netherlands from Newcastle United.
De Jong played his youth football at for two years before notably breaking through into the senior squad in 2007.
He spent seven years at the Dutch club, amassing 244 total appearances and netting an amazing 78 goals during his time at Ajax.
In 2014, paid £6 million to bring the Dutchman to St. James Park hoping he would bring his scoring touch to Tyne and Wear.
Unfortunately, a string of injuries kept de Jong from featuring much for the Magpies as he made onl…
Aleksandar Kolarov’s early goal opened the scoring at the Aviva Stadium and turned out to be the winner for Serbia who will win Group D if they win in Austria in October.
On their own part, the Irish have dropped to third with Wales beating Moldova and will be forced to battle it out until the very end for a chance to grab Russian visa.
Here are the four things we learned from tonight’s match in Dublin:
Serbia Show Grit and Desire to Grab Three Vital Points
It wasn’t always the case with the Serbian national team, but the current side led by the experienced tactician Slavoljub Muslin is showing signs of great improvement.
Having missed out on last two major international competitions – the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and Euro 2016 in France – des…