Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman has urged Xavi Simons to stay at PSV for another season amid strong suggestions he could be on his way back to Paris Saint-Germain.
Simons swapped PSG for PSV last August after being restricted to just 11 first-team appearances for the Ligue 1 giants, whom he joined from Barcelona two years earlier.
The 20-year-old has started all 30 Eredivisie games for second-placed PSV this season, but he recently hinted he would be open to a return to PSG in the future.
Barca have also been tipped to move for their former youth player, yet Koeman believes the young attacking midfielder is better off staying in the Netherlands for the time being.
I think it would be very good for him to stay one more year at PSV, Koeman told Studio…
Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig.
Upamecano, 22, had long been linked with a move away from Leipzig after developing into one of Europe s most-promising centre-backs.
While Liverpool and Chelsea were both thought to have designs on purchasing the France international, Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic signalled his imminent capture on Friday.
Salihamidzic claimed Bayern had committed to paying Upamecano s €42.5million release clause, with the defender agreeing a five-year contract.
Bayern have now made that official with a club statement.
It read: Dayot Upamecano (22, RB Leipzig) will play for FC Bayern Munich from July 1, 2021.
The defensive player and the record German champions agr…
Hong Kong-based millionaire Carson Yeung moved closer to taking over Birmingham City after paying a three million pounds (3.4 million euros) deposit with a view to making an offer for the Premier League club.
Yeung s Grandtop International Holdings, which holds a 29.9 percent stake in Birmingham, has entered into an agreement with City by placing a substantial deposit which could lead to a takeover worth around 81.5 million pounds (94.4 million euros).
Yeung had looked set to bid for the club two years ago but an offer failed to materialise, prompting the current owners to challenge him to prove he had the financial muscle to make a firm approach.
However a statement from Birmingham to the Stock Exchange on Thursday said: The board of Birmingham announces that o…
The Los Angeles Galaxy s MLS Cup defence is over after a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake in their play-off second leg on Thursday.
Sebastian Velasquez levelled the Western Conference semi-final tie at 1-1 with his first-half goal at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The Galaxy, who won the first leg 1-0 at home, were fortunate not to lose in regulation time after a Real Salt Lake goal was disallowed.
But Chris Schuler scored the winner on 102 minutes to see Real Salt Lake to their first post-season win since 2011.
Jason Kreis men will face Portland in their conference final after the Timbers beat the Seattle Sounders 3-2 in the second leg and 5-3 on aggregate.
Velasquez s opener against the Galaxy ended a run of 370 minutes without a play-off goal for Real Salt Lak…
Romelu Lukaku scored on his Inter debut as Antonio Conte s reign began with an impressive 4-0 victory over Lecce at San Siro.
Club-record signing Lukaku started up front on Monday with former captain Mauro Icardi left out of Conte s squad amid continued uncertainty over his future at the club.
Marcelo Brozovic and Stefano Sensi struck excellent goals in the space of four first-half minutes then Lukaku snaffled a rebound for his maiden Inter goal.
Promoted Lecce s day went from bad to worse when substitute Diego Farias rightly saw red for a terrible tackle on another new Inter arrival Nicolo Barella, before Antonio Candreva s 84th-minute stunner from range.
Inter, who had to replace Stefan de Vrij with Andrea Ranocchia after the Dutchman s injury in the…
Josip Ilicic smashed a couple of records as Atalanta surged into their first Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
Ilicic became the first player to score four goals in a Champions League knockout away game as high-flying Atalanta defeated Valencia 4-3.
The 32-year-old attacker also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick away from home in the Champions League – his stunning haul of five goals across two legs helping Atalanta complete an 8-4 aggregate triumph.
Ilicic – the jewel in Atalanta s crown – continues to take Italy and Europe by storm this season, but how does he stack up against Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona s Lionel Messi domestically and abroad?
We take a look at his 2019-20 Serie A and Champions League nu…
Can Keane be the man for Ireland?
The Republic of Ireland take on France later today in the first leg of their battle to see who will earn the right to travel to South Africa in the summer and take their place at the top table.
History
On paper, the Irish shouldn’t have a chance but history has shown that you should never right off the Irish team.
With the possible exception of Portugal, France are the toughest team Ireland could have drawn in the play-offs, but FIFA’s late and controversial decision to seed the teams meant that they knew it would be tough whoever they played.
Overawed
One thing you can be sure of is that Ireland won’t be overawed by or frightened of France. Their manager Giovanni Trapattoni has ‘…
Barcelona showed why they are the current Champions of Europe producing a football masterclass to defeat Italian leaders Inter Milan 2-0 at Camp Nou on Tuesday and move within touching distance of qualification for the knockout phase.
Holders Barcelona were under pressure before the game but, even without the injured Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they were too strong for Inter as Gerard Pique netted in the 10th minute before a wonderful team goal was finished by Pedro Rodriguez with less than half an hour gone.
Barca have not yet qualified, needing a point from the final group match at Dynamo Kiev, but now lead the group on eight points from Inter and Rubin Kazan on six and head into Sunday s El Clasico against Real Madrid in high spirits.
We came though…
Uli Hoeness has been re-elected as Bayern Munich president at Friday s annual general meeting.
The 64-year-old was forced to step down from the role in 2014 when he served jail time for tax evasion but he remains a popular figure at the club and an overwhelming majority of the members who voted were in favour of Hoeness return.
I would like to thank you and I promise that I will not disappoint you, Hoeness after getting the backing from Bayern s fans.
I want to be a link between the members and the club, between the supervisory board and the general board. And I want to be there for all our employees, for the players and for the coach.
I am looking forward to working with [outgoing president] Karl-Heinz Hopfner. If we stick together, it is up to our ri…
Manchester United will meet a familiar face in the third round of the FA Cup when Jaap Stam s Reading visit Old Trafford.
Stam represented United for three years between 1998 and 2001, helping the club to a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble in 1999.
He was then sold to Lazio with reports at the time suggesting the decision was taken due to Stam criticising manager Alex Ferguson and some of his United team-mates in his book, although the Scot later clarified it was due to sporting reasons.
The Dutchman has made a good start to life as Reading manager and his side sit third in the Championship, although they were beaten 5-0 by Fulham at the weekend.
United, whose 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Wembley in May saw them tie with Arsenal …