Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed Dries Mertens nine-year stay with the club is officially over after the forward rejected the offer of a new contract.
The Belgium international s previous deal expired at the end of last month, but the Serie A side had been hoping to persuade him to agree fresh terms.
However, De Laurentiis says Mertens was not willing to accept the offer tabled by the club and he is now on the lookout for a new team.
I feel the love for the club, but I must never forget that football is also an industry as well as pure passion, he told Radio Kiss Kiss.
Unfortunately, that means sometimes going against what the fans want.
When a supporter asks me, why don t you keep Mertens? I can only reply that he offe…
Graham Potter says Joao Felix s red card was the turning point in Chelsea s 2-1 defeat to Fulham, but the under-fire Blues boss understands why the debutant was dismissed.
Chelsea had levelled Thursday s contest at Craven Cottage when Joao Felix was sent off by referee David Coote for a studs-up challenge on Kenny Tete.
Carlos Vinicius went on to head home a winner for Fulham as they beat their west London rivals for only the fourth time in 53 top-flight matches, and the first time since 2006.
Potter was left to rue a sloppy challenge from Joao Felix, who was thrust straight into the starting XI after arriving on a short-term loan deal from Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
He is the first Chelsea player to be sent off on his Premier League debut, and the fir…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to the departing quartet of James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita.
All four will leave when their contracts expire next month and are guaranteed an emotional send-off at Anfield against Aston Villa.
All leave as Champions League and Premier League winners and while Firmino and Milner, who arrived in the summer of 2015 a few months before Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers, have played a greater role, the manager insisted all four had made significant contributions.
We can confirm Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will leave the club upon the expiry of their contracts this summer.
Special acknowledgements will be paid to the quartet at Anfield, w…
The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed it will bid to host Euro 2024.
A DFB proposal, featuring 10 stadiums to be announced later this year, was outlined in January, and a declaration of interest has now been submitted ahead of Friday s deadline.
DFB president Reinhard Grindel presented the declaration to UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis and said: It was important to me to tell UEFA in person that we stand behind this application determined and united.
We are aware of the huge challenges a tournament of this size has. But we are confident to say that we can host a first-class and not too expensive tournament due to our great experience, infrastructure and the framework conditions we already have.
Euro 2016 in France was the fi…
Harry Kane will change will nothing about his penalty routine if he has to take a spot-kick against Tottenham team-mate Hugo Lloris during England s World Cup quarter-final with France.
England captain Kane will lead the Three Lions against a Les Bleus team skippered by goalkeeper Lloris at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday.
Gareth Southgate s men will be underdogs against the defending world champions in a knockout game that predictably brings questions around penalties.
Though Kane and Lloris have played together at domestic level since 2011, when the England striker made his Spurs debut, lining up for a penalty against his club captain represents a largely unfamiliar experience for the 2018 Golden Boot winner.
Surprisingly, I haven t practiced too much agai…
Market: Alan Pulido to score anytime
Odds: 6/4 @
Two sides who are looking to find a route into the play-off places in the early hours of Sunday, Sporting Kansas will welcome Chicago to Children’s Mercy Park.
Starting with the hosts, managing to snatch what was a stunning last-gasp equaliser away at LA Galaxy earlier in the week, Sporting Kansas are enjoying an eye-catching run of form. Suffering just a single defeat from any of their last six domestic appearances, Peter Vermes’ men will be looking to make a statement here. With their recent flurry highlighted by a thumping 4-1 romp against Austin on June 11th, the Wizards are enjoying a fine free-scoring run in the final third. Knowing that they can break into the play-off places here, Vermes will be callin…
Northern Ireland will hope the visit of San Marino to Windsor Park on Saturday is the opportunity they need to end their long losing run in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the game.
Back to the start
Northern Ireland’s win away to San Marino in the opening fixture of this qualifying campaign back in March feels a long, long time ago now. Back then optimism was high that the return of Michael O’Neill as manager and what was seen as a favourable draw, certainly from pot five, in Group H could offer Northern Ireland a chance of challenging for qualification. But since their 2-0 win in Serravalle, nothing has gone right for O’Neill and his players, as a seemingly never-ending injury list and a string of na…
Southampton are interested in signing James Garner from Premier League rivals Manchester United in the summer transfer window, according to . The report in the British tabloid has claimed that the Red Devils are looking for £14 million as transfer fee for the 21-year-old midfielder.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is willing to let Garner leave, although the report has claimed that they had earlier turned down interest in the England Under-21 international. Garner has been on the books of Manchester United since 2009 and has come through the ranks, but he has never started a Premier League game for them.
Garner spent the second half of the 2020-21 season and the entire 2021-22 campaign on loan at Nottingham Forest from Manchester United. The youngster helped the…
Preparations for Euro 2012 are right on schedule, tournament co-hosts Poland and Ukraine said on Thursday.
Taking full responsibility, we can say that everything is going according to UEFA s plans, and that the matches will take place in eight cities, four in Poland and four in Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a visit by his Ukrainian opposite number Mykola Azarov.
We can congratulate each other, with a clear conscience, he told reporters.
The two leaders said that they had approved a road map for the remaining preparations for the European football championships, which are set to kick off in Poland s brand new national stadium in Warsaw in June 8, 2012
In April 2007, European football s governing body UEFA caught the pundits napp…
Verdict: Home win
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Leverkusen versus Leipzig brings up a legendary match and a fierce Bundesliga rivalry. The unbeaten champion from 2024 will square off against the 2023 Cup winners in what seems to be the headline of the second Bundesliga round. The game will be played at BayArena on Saturday afternoon where the hosts will aim to continue their home invincibility run.
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen picked up where they left off the previous term. Although failing to record a historic treble after losing the Europa League title to Atalanta a couple of months back was a disappointment, the hosts had their best season ever after winning the Bundesliga title and the German Cup. A new season with the same story appears to unravel…