Thibaut Courtois has suggested he could leave Chelsea for a return to Spain amid claims Real Madrid are keeping a close eye on his situation.
The Belgium international, 24, previously enjoyed a successful spell in LaLiga on loan at Atletico Madrid between 2011 and 2014, lifting the title in his final campaign before returning to Stamford Bridge.
Courtois replaced Petr Cech as Chelsea s number one in 2014-15, winning the Premier League under Jose Mourinho, but his future may lie away from west London.
I still love Spain, for the way Madrid is and the entire country. I loved Spain right from the start because of the people, the way of life, the food. I still have a siesta every day, Courtois told Marca.
When I left Spain, I knew that I would return one …
Zenit began life without Luciano Spalletti in a 1-0 defeat at CSKA Moscow while Anzhi s unlikely bid for survival gathered pace.
Spalletti – who led Zenit to two league titles after joining the club in December 2009 – was sacked last week after a goalless draw against strugglers Tom Tomsk.
That saw Zenit drop to second in the table, with Spalletti s departure coming after a run of one win in six league matches.
The club were unable to improve their form as interim head coach Sergei Semak took charge on Saturday.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham coach Andre Villas-Boas has been tipped to take over at Zenit soon, but that may come too late to secure another title if their poor form continues.
CSKA Moscow, who sit fifth, won on Saturday thanks to a first-half …
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been confirmed as the Player of the Year finalists at the 2018 CAF Awards.
The prestigious honour, set to be awarded at a gala in Dakar, Senegal, next week will go to one of three Premier League stars after sparkling in 2018.
Salah was last year s winner and he followed up his 2017 achievements with another fine 12 months, breaking the Premier League s 38-game season goals record, while leading Liverpool to the Champions League final, before ending the year on top of the league table.
Team-mate Mane second in 2017 has been similarly influential in the Reds success, forming a devastating forward line along with Salah and Roberto Firmino, and netted in the Kiev final defeat to Real Madrid.
Salah a…
Competition: Scotish Premiership
Market: Both teams to score at Rangers vs Celtic
Odds:
Undoubtedly the biggest game in the entirety of Scotish football, on Sunday afternoon, Ibrox will play host to this years much-anticipated Old Firm showdown. Brendan Rodgers defending champions will travel to Rangers looking to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
For the hosts on Sunday afternoon, Graeme Murty s revitalized Rangers side will be desperate to make a statement against their oldest foe. Having not beaten Celtic since 2012, Rangers have drastically improved of late and while they may sit six points adrift of Celtic at the head of the table, a win on Sunday will really start to heat things up. With their own six-point buffer over third plac…
Ben Davies first Tottenham goal provided the spark for Spurs as they claimed a 2-0 victory in what threatened to be a frustrating FA Cup third-round clash with Aston Villa on Sunday.
With Dele Alli on the bench and Harry Kane given the day off – two of nine changes to the Tottenham side who beat Premier League leaders Chelsea in midweek – the hosts struggled for goalscoring opportunities for long periods at White Hart Lane.
After a first half in which they failed to get a shot on target, it was left to an unlikely source to finally break the deadlock inside the final 20 minutes.
Davies had not scored since netting for Swansea City against Arsenal September 2013, but demonstrated his contortion skills to head home on his 69th Spurs appearance.
And Son…
Market: Shamrock Rovers win
Odds: 4/6 @
Hoping to make up some ground at the top of the Premier Division table on Friday night, Shamrock Rovers will make the trip to Tolka Park when they meet Shelbourne.
Starting with the hosts, managing to mark their return to action with a shock 1-0 win away at Sligo Rovers last weekend, Shelbourne will be desperate to keep up that momentum here. However, while former Chelsea star Damien Duff might find his side sat within touching distance of breaking into the top-half, they have shown some extended inconsistencies since making their Premier Division return. With that victory last week their only win from any of their previous six matchups, the Reds have gained a reputation for their extended problems at Tolka Park. Last seen…
Chelsea have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism and the organisation s executive secretary hopes other football clubs follow suit.
The decision comes as part of Chelsea s Say No to anti-Semitism campaign, which was launched in January 2018, and follows the official presentation of a commemorative mural of Jewish footballers and British prisoners of war on a wall outside Stamford Bridge s West Stand on Wednesday.
The IHRA definition is: Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilit…
Barcelona slumped to a fourth draw in five matches across all competitions as they were held to a 0-0 stalemate away to Lyon in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.
Ernesto Valverde s men were far from their intense best and were particularly wasteful in front of goal, as Lionel Messi struggled to produce the kind of match-winning display many have come to expect every time he takes to the pitch.
Barca generally controlled the entertaining first half and created some promising opportunities, but were it not for two excellent early saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen they could have found themselves trailing.
The second half was lacking in intensity, as opportunities became more infrequent and Barca had to be content with returning to Camp Nou for…
Burnley striker Wout Weghorst is about to undergo a medical with Manchester United after Besiktas gave permission for him to terminate his loan deal, according to . Former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners United are now sorting out the final details of the contract of Weghorst and could confirm the signing of the 30-year-old Netherlands international midfielder by the weekend.
Weghorst joined Turkish giants Besiktas on loan from Championship club Burnley in the summer of 2022. Besiktas has accepted that the 30-year-old wants to leave them and go back to England, and they have decided not to make it any difficult.
Manchester United are fourth in the Premier League table at the moment with 35 points from 17 matches, nine points behind leaders Arsenal. Mean…
The future of Martin Odegaard is in the hands of Real Madrid but he is ready to play for the 13-time European champions. That at least is what Leonid Slutsky, the man who managed him on loan at Vitesse Arnheim in 2018/19 thinks.
Since he was promoted from Real s Castilla outfit to the first team in January 2017, the 21-year-old Norwegian has had three different loans apart from Vitesse, he also played for Heerenven, and this season he s been sent to Real Sociedad. The steps he has taken so far seem to have been spot on and his stock has grown significantly, but it remains to be seen whether Real coach Zinedine Zidane agrees with Slutsky.
Speaking to Norwegian outlet Netavissen, the former Hull City boss revealed that during his time at Vitesse, Odegaard had offers not o…