Bayern Munich star ‘not active’ in contract talks amid Real Madrid, Man City links

Jamie Carragher has criticised Liverpool s performance after a 1-0 away loss to Southampton continued their recent slump.

The Premier League champions went down to defeat courtesy of an early goal from their former striker Danny Ings on Monday.

Liverpool had drawn their previous two games against West Brom and Newcastle United, while they also recently dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion and Fulham.

Manager Klopp felt the Southampton defeat was down to an early mistake by Trent Alexander-Arnold and a failure to award his side penalties.

But Carragher was baffled to see Liverpool not bombarding the Southampton goal in the latter stages.

Aside from their 7-0 win over Crystal Palace, the former Reds defender has been concerned by their la…

Gabriel Gabigol Barbosa and Matteo Politano have agreed permanent exits from Inter, joining Flamengo and Napoli respectively.

Flamengo are said to have paid €17million to sign Gabriel, while Politano has joined Napoli on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy.

After failing to make his mark upon arriving at San Siro for a reported €25m in August 2016, Gabigol shone on loan at Flamengo last year. He scored 43 goals in 60 games as Jorge Jesus led them to Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa Libertadores glory.

The 23-year-old striker was linked with a move to West Ham but signed a five-year deal to stay at Flamengo on Tuesday.

Se é para o bem da Nação..

— Gabriel Barbosa (@gabigol)

Inter also agreed to let Politano depart after he be…

According to a recent report from Mundo Deportivo, Getafe have opened up their doors and welcomed Barcelona in as the Spanish giants go after the signing of Getafe forward Angel Rodriguez. 

The striker will be an emergency replacement for Ousmane Dembele who doesn’t appear to be returning any time soon. Barca are in desperate need of a few game changers, and especially goalscorers, as they try and chase down bitter rivals Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table. 

The man known as Angel, 32, has been with Getafe since back in 2017 when he made the jump over from Zaragoza. The Spaniard has never played outside of Spanish football and while he may not be viewed as the most conventional signing Barca could make, he certainly appears to be at the top of their radar.…

Joao Felix appeared to take a swipe at Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone by stating conditions with Portugal are more favourable than with the LaLiga giants.

The Atleti forward has been linked with a move away from the Wanda Metropolitano, with Los Rojiblancos chief executive Gil Marin believing a January exit is reasonable to expect.

Joao Felix has scored 33 goals for Atleti since arriving from Benfica for €126million in 2019 a tally only bettered by Luis Suarez (34) during that span.

But the 23-year-old has a frosty relationship with Simeone, with the pair reportedly falling out earlier this season.

And he appeared to aim a dig at his club boss after Portugal booked their World Cup quarter-final place with a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Switzerla…

Wigan will start the League One season in August with minus-four points after the English Football League issued its latest sanction against the club for a failure to pay players’ wages.

The EFL said a further four-point deduction was suspended until the end of the 2023-24 season.

That suspended sanction will kick in if club owner Abdulrahman Al Jasmi fails to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the club’s forecast monthly wage bill into a designated account by May 24.

EFL Statement: Wigan Athletic

— EFL Communications (@EFL_Comms)

The additional four-point deduction would also be activated if the club fail to pay players on time at any point between now and June 2024.

The club’s 2022-23 season points tally has also been r…

Alvaro Romero scored one of the solo goals of the season against Real Madrid, and little Unionistas de Salamanca were in dreamland on the hour mark of this Copa del Rey culture clash.

Madrid, thanks to Gareth Bale, a Juan Gongora own goal and Brahim Diaz s late individual effort, eventually won 3-1 at the tiny Las Pistas stadium, where 4,000 supporters of a club that has only existed since 2013 saw their side go head to head with the 13-time European champions.

Yet Romero s stunning effort after 57 minutes will live far longer in the memory than the goals that won the day for Madrid.

The substitute had been on the field barely a minute when he ran from just inside Madrid s half to the edge of the penalty area before curling a fine left-footed finish out of the …

Bruno Fernandes started against Atletico Madrid on a big Champions League night for Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

The Portuguese playmaker missed Saturday s 3-2 win over Tottenham after a positive COVID-19 test. 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning hat-trick to snatch the points in that game, and United boss Ralf Rangnick confirmed the reason for Fernandes being absent afterwards. 

Rangnick said it would be a race against time for Fernandes to be back for duty in Europe; however, the former Sporting CP man was able to train on Monday. 

Fernandes was named in a midfield that also featured Fred, Jadon Sancho and Scott McTominay. The latter returned from an injury that caused him to miss the Spurs game, as Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic dropped to t…

Thomas Tuchel s transformation of Chelsea s defence was the key to their stunning turnaround in fortunes following Frank Lampard s dismissal, according to former Blues midfielder and assistant head coach Eddie Newton.

Lampard was sacked on January 25 after a run of just two wins in eight Premier League games left Chelsea ninth, 11 points off the summit. 

Former Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel was swiftly appointed and oversaw an impressive second half of the season, culminating in a stunning 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday, Kai Havertz scoring the decisive goal shortly before half-time. 

Tuchel also sealed a top-four finish for Chelsea and guided them to the FA Cup final, although they ultimately lost that to Leicest…

Brandon Williams has been perfect for Manchester United this season, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Sunday, as the teenage defender spoke out about his rapid rise.

Left-back Williams has shot to prominence, making his first-team debut in the EFL Cup against Rochdale last September and swiftly becoming a fixture in Solskjaer s plans.

He should start against Copenhagen in United s Europa League quarter-final on Monday, with Solskjaer having no doubt the 19-year-old is ready for such stages.

Williams was selected as United s player to face the media in a news conference and shed a little light on why there is a spark of aggression in his game.

I think it s from when I ve been a kid here from the age of eight, said the United academy graduate.

…

UEFA has confirmed format changes to both the Nations League and qualifiers for the European Championships and World Cup.

The changes to the Nations League, which began in 2018, include an additional knock-out element, with League A group winners and runners-up taking part in two-legged quarter-finals.

Teams that finish third in League A and League B will face off against the runners-up of League B and League C in two-legged promotion/relegation play-offs.

Changes to qualifying for European Championships and World Cups will now see 12 groups of either four or five teams drawn, with group winners qualifying and runners-up either also qualifying or entering play-offs.

The introduction of the UEFA Nations League was a success story, replacing friendly games…