Mateo Kovacic feels at home at Chelsea amid suggestions the Croatian could be targeted by Manchester City and Bayern Munich at the end of the season.
Kovacic is approaching the final 12 months of his contract with Chelsea, and his failure to put pen to paper on a new deal has led to suggestions he could seek an exit.
City could be in the market for midfield reinforcements in the upcoming transfer window, with club captain Ilkay Gundogan rumoured to be weighing up a contract offer from Barcelona.
Kovacic has also been linked with a reunion with former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who has endured a troubled start to life at Bayern since replacing Julian Nagelsmann last month.
The 28-year-old has been a regular under three different coaches during a season o…
RB Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann expects out-of-form Liverpool to come out fighting like an injured boxer in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
Nagelsmann believes Liverpool will be fully focused on European success after letting their Premier League title defence slip away following three consecutive league defeats as Manchester City dominate in England.
Premier League champions Liverpool have fallen 13 points adrift of City after being upstaged 3-1 by Leicester City on Saturday.
Despite Liverpool s woes, Nagelsmann believes the Reds class will shine through at Puskas Arena in Hungary.
I don t think that I have to warn my team about an injured boxer. I believe that my team knows that this is a world class team, Nagelsmann, who…
Hull registered their first Premier League win at the KC Stadium in 2009 after a Kamel Ghilas strike clinched a 1-0 victory over Bolton on Saturday.
The Algeria forward s second-half goal also gave the Tigers their first victory in all competitions in 14 attempts and consigned the visitors to their second defeat in their first two league games.
Although Phil Brown s team ended with all three points, their abysmal home form was nearly exposed in the second minute when England under-21 midfielder Fabrice Muamba released record signing Johan Elmander down the right channel.
The Sweden striker chose to shoot from a narrow angle but pulled the ball wide of the post with Matty Taylor free in the middle for the visitors.
Hull began to find their way into the ga…
Arsenal face a stern test of their title credentials as they target their first away win over Manchester United in seven years.
Arsene Wenger s men claimed a five-point lead at the Premier League s summit after the 2-0 home victory over Liverpool, but a trip to Old Trafford arguably represents a greater threat to their supremacy.
Not since September 2006 have Arsenal come away from United with a win a nine-match run across all competitions as Emmanuel Adebayor netted the winner on that occasion.
The nadir came in 2011, when the hosts dished out an 8-2 top-flight drubbing to their shell-shocked visitors.
But Wenger s charges are made of tougher stuff this season and will take huge confidence from their excellent 1-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Ch…
Alen Halilovic admits he struggled to live up to his billing as one of world football s hottest talents during his time at Barcelona but says his top-level experience since then will make him an asset to AC Milan.
The 22-year-old midfielder joined the Rossoneri from Hamburg on a three-year contract as part of an influx of signings at San Siro that included Nikola Kalinic, Fabio Borini, Ivan Strinic and Pepe Reina.
At his first Milan news conference, Halilovic was asked about his two-year spell at Camp Nou, where he failed to make a single first-team appearance.
I was very young two years ago, he told reporters. I went to Barcelona when I was 19. It s hard when you re young and don’t get the chance to play.
Run , run!
— AC Milan (@acm…
River Plate will face bitter rivals Boca Juniors in a rematch of last season s Copa Libertadores decider after the defending champions overcame Cerro Porteno in the quarter-finals.
Thursday s 1-1 draw away to Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno was enough for River to reach the semi-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
River – seeking back-to-back titles – carried a 2-0 lead into the second leg thanks to goals from Ignacio Fernandez and Rafael Borre in Buenos Aires.
Cerro Porteno sparked hope of a comeback in the eighth minute when former Borussia Dortmund forward Nelson Valdez put the home side ahead on the night.
Full Time! It finishes 1-1 in Asunción between , enough for River to take the final semifinal spot!
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@TheLibertadore…
Six years ago
Tonight sees Chelsea playing at the San Siro taking on Inter Milan in the last sixteen of the Champions League. In any season that would be an interesting game, but with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho in charge at Inter the game takes on another dimension.
Ignore
Mourinho shook up the Premier League during his time in England with quotes and behaviour that meant you either loved him or loathed him. The one thing you couldn’t do was ignore him.
Forty-seven year old Mourinho has been a huge success as a manager winning the Portuguese League twice, the Portuguese Cup, the UEFA Cup and the Champions League with Porto, the Premier League twice, the Carling Cup twice and the FA Cup with Chelsea and Serie A and the Supercoppa Italiana with Inte…
I have to admit I wasn t surprise when I heard that Portsmouth boss Paul Hart had been sacked. It had been coming for along time after a poor start to the season.
Out of his depth
Hart was clearly out of his depth as a Premier League manager. He is a good coach and is a decent Championship boss.
Everybody within football seems to have only good things to say about him. He also seems like an intelligent and honest guy.
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie even mentioned how Hart is a man of great dignity. Hart has now been offered a role as Technical Director working with youngsters but is expected to decline the position.
Hart is no stranger to youth teams and younger players having worked as a youth team coach in the past. I hope he decides …
Diego Godin, Kevin Gameiro and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco were all on target as Atletico Madrid ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at struggling Osasuna on Sunday.
Clinical finishes in the latter stages of the first half from Godin and Gameiro put Atleti in control and Carrasco s late effort ensured the points as Diego Simeone s side bounced back from consecutive LaLiga defeats to Real Sociedad and Real Madrid to move fourth in the table.
Atletico had won only two of their previous five games in the top flight and had goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for stopping them from going behind early on as he saved a penalty from Roberto Torres.
Osasuna who had won only once in their last nine meetings with the visitors prior to Sunday s clash at El Sadar were left to rue that m…
Christian Benteke claims he still has to fight for his place at Liverpool, despite revealing manager Jurgen Klopp is a confirmed admirer.
The Belgian striker was a transfer target for Klopp during the manager s spell with Borussia Dortmund following his debut campaign in the Premier League.
A deal never materialised in 2013 but the pair have been united at Anfield following Brendan Rodgers sacking.
Despite the previous interest, Benteke – who has four goals in nine league appearances this term – claims it does not affect his position.
It was after my first year at Aston Villa, the 24-year-old explained.
My agent and the manager had a meeting about maybe doing a transfer but nothing happened. But it doesn t matter that he tried to sign me bef…