Football rumours: England eyes possible replacements for Gareth Southgate

Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl says the club will be forced to consider any sizeable bids for highly-rated midfielder Granit Xhaka.

The Switzerland international has been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool recently, having become a key part of Gladbach s plans since arriving from Basel in 2012.

Xhaka was also talked of as a possible long-term replacement for Bastian Schweinsteiger following his exit from Bayern Munich and was backed by former Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld to succeed at the Allianz Arena.

The 23-year-old agreed a new four-and-a-half-year deal in February 2015 but Eberl says the club could be tempted to sell for the right price.

It depends a bit on our own sporting success, it depends on Granit s …

Thibaut Courtois said Chelsea s playing group and fans had welcomed him to Stamford Bridge with open arms.

The Belgian goalkeeper signed for the Londoners in 2011 but only reported for club duty on Thursday after his three-year loan stint at Atletico Madrid ended last season.

Courtois, 22, already has a wealth of experience under his belt, with this year alone seeing him win the La Liga title, play in a UEFA Champions League final and feature at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

And after making his long-awaited return to West London, Courtois said he felt as much a part of the team as anyone, largely thanks to the club s players.

My new team-mates have been really great; they ve welcomed me and you really feel that you are a part of this team, Courtois told…

Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi is coming off from quite a night.

The 25-year-old completely dominated the Serie A yearly award ceremony by scooping up Player of the Year prize and claiming the Goal of the Year accolade as well.

Decided by members Italian Players’ Association (AIC) the prizes were awarded is last night’s Gran Gala’ del Calcio ceremony.

Icardi’s back heel flip was voted the best goal of the 2017/18 season…



…but Icardi feels there has been a better one.

“Personally, I think my goal against Milan was better, but thank you to everyone who voted for me.”, Icardi said.

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Sadio Mane has warned Premier League title rivals Manchester City that Liverpool are yet to hit top form.

Jurgen Klopp s side are four points clear of champions City having only lost once in the Premier League this season at the Etihad Stadium on January 3.

In theory, Liverpool also have a clearer run to the title as they are out of both domestic cups, whereas City are in the FA Cup fifth round and have booked an EFL Cup final clash with Chelsea.

And Mane feels Liverpool, who are at home to Leicester City on Wednesday, can still get even better.

We heard what some of the media were saying about us not starting off by playing as fast and exciting as last year, and we felt we weren t at our best ourselves at times, he told World Soccer.

The result…

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter believes his team as a whole must do better in attack following Saturday s drab draw with Manchester United.

The Blues had just six attempts and two on target in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, their goal coming from the penalty spot through Jorginho.

Raheem Sterling was quiet again as he waits on a first career goal against United. He has a sole goal involvement in his past six Chelsea matches in all competitions and none in his past four.

Speaking ahead of the midweek Champions League meeting with Salzburg, Potter deflected blame from Sterling, calling on the entire team to improve going forward.

I think it s more of a team thing. We have to try to do better as a team, improve our attacking play as a team, and then indiv…

England captain Harry Kane is to undergo surgery on his left hamstring and will be out of action until at least April, his club Tottenham have announced.

The striker suffered his injury on New Year s Day when scoring a goal against Southampton that was ruled out for offside.

Spurs have specified the setback as a ruptured tendon and it means Kane is set to miss most of the rest of the Premier League season.

For England, the news comes as a blow to boss Gareth Southgate given Kane will miss a significant chunk of the build-up to Euro 2020, being ruled out of March friendlies against Italy and Denmark.

However, provided that he returns to training on time, Kane should be able to build up his match fitness over the closing weeks of 2019-20.

Tottenham …

Tottenham Hotspur failed to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League when they faced Sporting Lisbon in North London on Thursday.

Antonio Conte s men needed to win to complete the task with a game to spare, and they thought they had managed it when Harry Kane scored what appeared to be a very late winner. However, the VAR conducted a long check on the legitimacy of the goal and eventually decided the England captain was offside. Conte protested his way into being sent off, but the scoreline remained 1-1 as the referee blew the final whistle.

The Italian tactician was obviously furious after the match, which he showed clearly when he answered one question in the post-match presser before storming out.

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte answered ONE…

Week one of the English Premier League was bitter-sweet for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. On the bright side, the Red Devils started their 2011-12 league campaign with a victory, after struggling to win matches away from home in the early stages of last season. On the contrary, United lost three of their first team defender to injury, with Rafael da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, and captain fantastic Nemanja Vidic all set to miss time in the coming weeks.

Luckily, Vidic s calf injury will only sideline him for two weeks. The Serbian s centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand was not as fortunate and he will miss approximately six weeks with a hamstring problem. Both Ferdinand and Vidic suffered their injuries during the Red Devils clash with West Bromwich Albion. Brazilia…

Boca Juniors coach Julio Cesar Falcioni has denied the club were behind the decision to leave Juan Roman Riquelme out of the Argentina team.

The 33-year-old has been in his best form for years with the Argentine giants, leading to a clamour for him to return to international duty for the first time since 2009.

But in the squad announced for the World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela, the veteran was a notable absence.

Responding to speculation that Boca asked for him to be left out due to his fragile physical state, Falcioni was at pains to argue that it was purely Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella s decision.

If Riquelme was not called up (on Monday) it is because Sabella did not want to do it, not because I have exercised some sort of press…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic could make a sensational return to AC Milan when his contract at Paris Saint-Germain comes to an end, according to his outspoken agent Mino Raiola.

Sweden international Ibrahimovic has not yet agreed a contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions and has been linked with a string of Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham.

There has also been reported interest from Qatar and MLS, with Ibrahimovic set to make a decision on his future at the end of the season.

But Raiola claims Ibrahimovic might be interested in re-joining the Rossoneri, with whom he won the Serie A title during a two-year stay before leaving for the French capital in July 2012.

In an extract from an interview in Italian GQ magazine publ…