Month: December 2024

Diego Costa is heading back to Atletico Madrid, with Chelsea confirming the Spain international is to return to the club where he made his name after a three-year spell at Stamford Bridge.

Costa developed into one of the best strikers in European football during his first stint in the Spanish capital, and he is not alone in having emerged while playing with Atleti.

Here we look at a collection of strikers who have flourished during their time with the Rojiblancos.

Fernando Torres

After initially struggling as Atletico gained promotion back to LaLiga in 2002, Torres soon burst onto the scene in the top flight and established himself as one of the best strikers in Spain, enjoying a 20-goal season in 2003-04. He moved to Liverpool in 2007 and…

Phil Foden is grateful for Pep Guardiola s patient approach with him at Manchester City as he prepares to potentially make his senior England bow.

Foden, 20, has been highly rated in both the England and City setups for years, but particularly since 2017 when he was awarded the Golden Ball at the Under-17 World Cup, which the Three Lions won.

He was given his City debut the same year and has steadily seen more first-team football, playing 10 games across all competitions in 2017-18, 26 the following campaign and then 38 in 2019-20.

The majority of those appearances have been as a substitute and Guardiola has, on occasion, fielded criticism for perhaps seeming cautious about playing Foden, particularly after seeing Jadon Sancho leave for Borussia Dortmund due …

Austria finally registered a first European Championship win at the seventh attempt as they ruined North Macedonia s first outing at a major tournament with a 3-1 triumph in Bucharest.

Substitutes Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic both scored in the final 12 minutes to make sure Franco Foda s side claimed all three points from the Group C tussle.

After fellow debutants Finland recorded a 1-0 triumph over Denmark on Saturday, North Macedonia had appeared on course to mark their maiden appearance with a point against opponents who beat them twice in qualifying.

Having struck in the second leg to see off Georgia in the play-offs and secure a spot at Euro 2020, Goran Pandev became the second oldest scorer in the competition s history when he capitalised o…

The Independent understands that Mark Noble will see out the rest of his career with West Ham United, after he penned a new one-year-deal with the club.

Bar two brief loan spells earlier in his career, the thirty-one-year old has spent his entire career with the Hammers, racking up close to four hundred and fifty appearances in all competitions so far and scoring fifty-one goals.

Despite an influx of new signings in the summer, Noble has managed to retain his first team place and has started the last three league games which have all ended in victory for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.

The midfielder has twice been named West Ham’s Player of the Year, while in 2012 he was selecting in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

Internationally, he has …

Brazil head coach Tite slammed the inadmissible pitch at Estadio Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, despite Wednesday s controversial 2-1 Copa America win over Colombia.

Tite s Brazil were forced to come from behind for their 10th consecutive win, needing a last-gasp Casemiro header 10 minutes into stoppage time to secure a dramatic victory midweek.

Luis Diaz s stunning and acrobatic volley had given Colombia a 10th-minute lead and defending champions Brazil struggled to create any chances until the second half, with substitute Roberto Firmino equalising with 12 minutes of regulation remaining.

Colombia were left seething when Firmino s 78th-minute equaliser came after the ball deflected off referee Nestor Pitana in the build-up – the official allowing play to co…

The Champions League returns this week and the tie of the round sees Real Madrid host Paris Saint-Germain in the opening leg of their last-16 clash on Wednesday.

Well off the pace in LaLiga, Madrid s sole remaining hope of capturing significant silverware this season comes in Europe, as Zinedine Zidane s side look to lift the famous trophy for the third time in succession.

But PSG, runaway leaders in Ligue 1, have Neymar in their ranks and the Brazilian, alongside the lethal Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, would love to get one over on Barcelona s fierce old foes.

Wednesday s other tie sees Liverpool travel to Porto. The two clubs tasted Champions League glory midway through the previous decade but have found success harder to come by since those heady days.<…

Phil Neville in talks to return to football five months on from Inter Miami sacking

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Players to watch

Ben White: Arsenal are reportedly set to offer the English defender a large pay rise as they look to secure his future at the club, Football Insider reports.

Piotr Zielinski: Liverpool and West Ham are interested in Napoli’s 29-year-old Polish midfielder, according to Teamtalk. His contract expires in summer.

…

Eintracht Frankfurt have exercised their option to complete the permanent signing of influential wing-back Filip Kostic from Hamburg.

Serbia international Kostic s superb performances on the left side of Adi Hutter s top-four hopefuls have convinced the club to commit him to a four-year contract through to June 2023.

The 26-year-old initially joined on a two-season loan deal following Hamburg s relegation at the end of last term and has flourished in a team featuring Ante Rebic and in-demand striker Luka Jovic, who is reportedly set to join Real Madrid.

Kostic starred in Frankfurt s run to the Europa League semi-finals, scoring four times, and has added a further six goals and 10 assists in a Bundesliga campaign that could end with Champions League qualification.…

Eden Hazard has insisted that his only focus is on the coming month at Chelsea, despite mounting speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid.

Come the end of the season, the Belgian will have just one year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge, with returning Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane reportedly keen to get the player to the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, the 28-year-old is only thinking about finishing the current campaign on a high, with Maurizio Sarri s side chasing a top-four finish and also into the last eight of the Europa League.

When asked in an interview with Sky Sports News about his future, Hazard explained: I don t want to talk about that to be fair. I m focused on the last month at Chelsea and then we ll see what happens.

Ha…

Market: Atletico Madrid to beat Marseille

Odds: 

Atletico Madrid and Marseille face off in the Europa League final on Wednesday with both boasting notable European pedigree.

Just making the journey cross country to Lyon, Rudi Garcia s Marseille side has enjoyed a far more productive season after the former European powerhouses only secured a 13th place finish two years ago. With Champions League football and a fourth-place finish in Ligue 1 now confirmed, Marseille will know that they must drastically turn around their away record in Europe this year. They have only managed one win all season away from home in the Europa League. If the Blues are going to cause an upset on Wednesday night then the 1993 Champions League winners will be needing former West Ham tal…