Republic of Ireland and Burnley striker Jonathan Walters has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect.

The 35-year-old has been out injured since September after suffering an Achilles injury while on loan with Championship club Ipswich Town, and he revealed on Twitter that the problem had prompted him to call it a day.

Isn t it ironic my Achilles heel has literally been my Achilles heel and finished me off, he wrote.

I am now retired form playing football. It s been epic.

Isn’t it ironic my Achilles heel has literally been my Achilles heel and finished me off!

I am now retired from playing football

It’s been epic

Veni vidi vici

— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19)

Walters won 54 Irelan…

Former Barcelona midfielder Edmilson wouldn t be too surprised if Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain to join Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old, who returned to Paris this weekend to begin his final recovery phase from foot surgery, has been heavily linked with a move to the European champions.

Neymar has spent less than a year in the French capital, having left Barca for a world-record €222million fee last August, but is reportedly less than satisfied with life at Parc des Princes.

Edmilson thinks his compatriot left Barca in not a very good way and a move to Madrid after the World Cup is perfectly possible, regardless of any remaining allegiance to the Catalans.

I was surprised Neymar left Barca, but he and his team have their things, Edmilson told El Largu…

Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn has pledged to maintain his attacking approach in the wake of consecutive heavy defeats in the Women’s Super League.

Vilahamn’s side were thrashed 7-0 by Manchester City and 4-0 by Manchester United and now face high-flying Arsenal in the north London derby, just three days after losing on penalties to the same opponents in the Continental Tyres League Cup.

Tottenham have failed to win any of their last 11 games against the Gunners, who are behind WSL leaders Chelsea on goal difference only after beating the Blues 4-1 last week.

Final preparations ahead of the weekend

— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen)

“It’s always tricky when you want to be a team that dictates the game and want to show that we h…

Juventus will soon begin the search for a new coach for the first time in five years after it was announced Massimiliano Allegri is set to depart.

Allegri had been linked with an exit ever since Juve were eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Ajax in March and the news he will leave at the end of the season was confirmed on Friday.

The Old Lady had been considered strong favourites for Europe s elite competition following the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the season, with many suggesting he was the final piece of the jigsaw.

But going down to Ajax will be Allegri s last act in Europe for Juve, with the outcome of his meeting with president Andrea Agnelli this week being that the coach will look for a new challenge.

Juve ha…

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he has handed control of all sporting decisions to Leonardo amid reports Neymar is for sale.

France s leading sports newspaper L Equipe reported on Sunday that Ligue 1 champions PSG will entertain offers for the Brazil superstar if a large enough bid comes in.

Neymar, ruled out of the Copa America by an ankle injury, was brought in from Barcelona two years ago for a world record €222million fee.

A return to Camp Nou has been mooted for the 27-year-old, who is also a long-time reported target of Barcelona s LaLiga rivals Real Madrid.

PSG this week brought back Leonardo in the role of sporting director after he left a similar post at AC Milan, with the Brazilian replacing Antero Henrique in the role.

Borussia Dortmund were able to start Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle together for the first time in the Bundesliga on Sunday and were rewarded with a 1-0 victory at Borussia Monchengladbach, but it was goalkeeper Roman Burki who proved to be the hero for the visitors. 

Dortmund have enjoyed an upturn in form of late and extended their winning run to four matches in succession thanks to a stunning goal from Reus in the 32nd minute.

The forward, having finally regained full fitness after suffering a torn cruciate knee ligament in May, partnered his fellow Germany stars in attacking midfield against his former team.

Reus starred for Gladbach between 2009 and 2012 before moving to Signal Iduna Park, and his brilliant effort would have come as no surprise …

Virgil van Dijk is on track to be fit for the European Championship later this year, according to Netherlands head coach Frank de Boer.

Liverpool centre-back Van Dijk has been out since a 2-2 draw with Everton in October, when he sustained a serious knee ligament injury following a heavy challenge from Jordan Pickford.

Van Dijk s influence has since been notable in its absence for the Reds, for whom he played an integral role in ending their 30-year wait to win the English top-flight title in 2019-20.

Last season Van Dijk attempted more passes (3,255) than any other defender in the Premier League, while only two other defenders with more than 1,500 had a better completion rate than him (89.2 per cent).

On top of that, Trent Alexander-Arnold (3,664) was t…

Paris Saint-Germain failed to capitalise on Lille dropping points as they suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat against relegation-threatened Nantes.

Lille were held by Monaco earlier on Sunday and PSG looked set to replace them at the Ligue 1 summit once they found the breakthrough, but remarkably Nantes hit back in the second half to salvage a potentially massive win.

Alban Lafont produced a number of smart saves to keep PSG at bay before he was eventually beaten by Julian Draxler in the 42nd minute.

Given Nantes lack of attacking threat in the first half, Draxler s goal looked as though it would be enough until Randal Kolo Muani pounced on Kylian Mbappe s mistake to restore parity and subsequently teed up Moses Simon to complete an unlikely turnaround.

…

Shakhtar Donetsk stole a stunning last-gasp 2-1 win at San Siro to continue Atalanta s miserable start to their debut Champions League campaign.

The visitors to Atalanta s makeshift European home looked to be clinging on for a point after surviving a late barrage, but substitute Manor Solomon tucked in a 95th-minute winner to break Italian hearts.

Atalanta, who were thrashed 4-0 by Dinamo Zagreb in their Group C opener, started brightly and missed a penalty through Josip Ilicic before Duvan Zapata broke the deadlock.

But Moraes equalised and then Solomon struck at the death to leave Gian Piero Gasperini s men facing a tall order to reach the last 16, with Manchester City still to play home and away.

 YES, WE’VE DONE IT! WE BEAT ATALANTA 2-1 IN MILAN! …

Roberto Martinez insists this is Belgium s golden generation and does not see any similarities with England s flops of the mid-2000s.

This group of Belgium players has long been lauded, but the Red Devils best performance of recent years saw them finish only third at the 2018 World Cup.

As pressure builds on the side at the 2022 finals, where there have been reports of veteran stars quarrelling, coach Martinez has come to their defence.

He sought to highlight the contributions of Belgium s leading men off the pitch, as well as on it, and suggested the England team given the same label under Sven-Goran Eriksson were not comparable.

It s interesting, because when I arrived in 2016, there was talk of a golden generation , Martinez said on Wednesday.