Miralem Pjanic does not want to move to Chelsea and wants to return to Juventus, according to , as relayed by . Chelsea are interested in signing the 31-year-old midfielder, but the Bosnia and Herzegovina star does not fancy a switch to the European champions.
Instead, Pjanic wants to return to Italy and move back to his former club Juventus. The 31-year-old was on the books of the Bianconeri from 2016 until 2020 when he moved to Barcelona. Pjanic won the Serie A title four times, the Coppa Italia twice, and the Supercoppa Italiana once.
Massimiliano Allegri is back as the Juventus manager, and Pjanic worked with the Italian tactician at the Turn outfit. Pjanic made six starts and 13 substitute appearances in La Liga for Barcelona this past season, and he also made six …
Louis van Gaal believes Wayne Rooney was over the hill by the time he had taken over as Manchester United manager.
United s record goalscorer Rooney was skipper under Van Gaal at Old Trafford and scored 29 goals across all competitions in the Dutchman s two seasons in charge.
However, Van Gaal felt he did not see the best of Rooney during his time at United and seemingly questioned his approach away from football.
Speaking to the Guardian, he said: I m sorry but he was over the hill. But in spite of that he was one of my best players.
You can say nothing about his professionalism as a player in the training sessions or on a pitch.
Outside the environment of the training pitch and the stadium is different. I made him my captain because I want t…
Sergio Aguero became the joint-highest scorer in Manchester City history as Pep Guardiola s side stretched their advantage at the top of the Premier League to five points with a 3-0 win over Burnley.
Guardiola s men failed to scale the dazzling heights of recent performances, with a tenacious and disciplined Burnley display causing them moments of discomfort before quickfire goals from Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane made victory safe inside the final 20 minutes.
The undefeated league leaders move on to eight wins from nine and Manchester United s surprise 2-1 reverse at Huddersfield Town means an increase in their early control of the title race.
Aguero opened the scoring with a 30th-minute penalty after Bernardo Silva went down under a challenge from Nick Pope,…
Riyad Mahrez is happy to be a leader for Algeria, but insists team unity will be crucial if Djamel Belmadi s side are to impress in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Algeria AFCON winners in 1990 start their campaign against Kenya on Sunday and will also face Senegal and Tanzania in Group C.
Mahrez captains the squad, which also includes Porto s Yacine Brahimi and Fenerbahce striker Islam Slimani.
And though Mahrez is proud to shoulder the responsibility of leading Algeria in the competition, the 28-year-old who was awarded the African Footballer of the Year award in 2016 believes team spirit, and not individual quality, will be key to success.
It is a responsibility that I am proud to assume, Manchester City forward Mahrez said when asked about the …
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge insists he would love to see former team-mate Raheem Sterling make a success of his move to Manchester City.
Sterling faced a barrage of criticism from Liverpool fans when he completed his big-money close-season switch to the Etihad Stadium, with many accusing the England international of being motivated by money.
Sturridge suffered similar negative attention when he swapped City for Chelsea back in 2009, but says he only left in search of first-team football.
The striker served as a mentor to Sterling during his time at Liverpool and has since taken on a similar role to help rising Anfield star Jordon Ibe.
Jordon is my brother and I take him under my wing, Sturridge told Sky Sports ahead of Saturday s match between …
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Barcelona will play host to Real Betis at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening within the 32nd round of the 2022/23 season in La Liga. The points waiting to be distributed according to the outcome would surely come in very handy to both sides, and a highly competitive contest is to be expected.
Barcelona
Having opened a significant gap between themselves and arch-rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga table, Barcelona are currently struggling to get across the finish line and kill the race off. They could ve obviously been far more comfortable by now in that aspect, but they failed to win three of their last four matches in the Spanish top flight, which speaks volumes about their current form.
The Blaugrana s last six matches in all co…
The death of former Manchester United youth coach Eric Harrison was confirmed on Thursday, prompting Alex Ferguson to pay tribute to his incredible contribution to the club s success.
Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the Champions League twice during his 27-year stint at the helm.
But he owed at least some of that glory to the work of Harrison, who produced a group of young players who would go on to become iconic in the history of English domestic football the Class of 92.
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Phil Neville all came through the system under Harrison and went on to become key components of Ferguson s dominant United side of the 1990s and 2000s.
The six racked up 2,329 league appearan…
Verdict: Half-Time/Full-Time Manchester City
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Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester United travel to St. Jakob Park on Tuesday night, looking to confirm their Champions League ambitions in a two-leg tie against Swiss giants Basel.
Basel
The Swiss outfit has had its fair share of Champions League duels with English rivals over the past couple of years. Having beaten Chelsea in 2013 and United in 2011, Basel were once again pitted against the Red Devils in this year’s group phase. The Switzerland behemoths maintained their tough nut moniker by beating Manchester United again at St. Jakob Park which is why Pep Guardiola and his Citizens will need to stay alert.
Despite their favourable record against Engli…
Everton captain Phil Jagielka is keen for the club to turn promise into silverware and end the club s 21-year wait for a trophy.
The club s last success came in the FA Cup in 1995, and despite underwhelming in the Premier League this season, Jagielka and his team-mates are through to the quarter-finals of the Cup, where they will face Chelsea, after beating Bournemouth 2-0 on Saturday.
But Jagielka has played in enough quarter and semi-finals in his time at the club to know that it is only the team that lifts the trophy that is remembered.
The quarter-finals are nice to have and it means you are doing well in cup competitions but nobody remembers who has been in quarter-finals and semi-finals, he said.
It’s all about getting to the final and giving yo…
Jese Rodriguez must clean up his image in order to become a success at Sporting CP, according to the club s former winger Simao.
After a disappointing three-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain, Jese joined Sporting on loan in a deadline-day deal with a purchase option included for the Portuguese club.
Simao, who began his career at Sporting and went on to become one of his country s finest players, compared Jese to Benfica s Moroccan attacking midfielder Adel Taarabt, who arrived in Portugal with his reputation at a low ebb in 2015.
Jese must change, Simao told AS.
Primer día
— JeseRodriguez10 (@JeseRodriguez10)
Taarabt, for example, had a second chance. He has to want to change. He will have another chance and he must wash his image.…