Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis appeared to rule out the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, insisting the club must start from scratch after Gennaro Gattuso replaced Carlo Ancelotti.
Ibrahimovic is a free agent after leaving MLS side LA Galaxy and the veteran striker has been linked with a return to Serie A via Napoli, former club Milan and Serie C outfit Monza.
Touted to re-join Milan, the arrival of ex-Rossoneri boss Gattuso in Naples has led to speculation Ibrahimovic could move to Napoli instead.
It comes after Napoli reportedly offered Ibrahimovic an 18-month contract before head coach Ancelotti was sacked following the club s Champions League victory on Tuesday.
Asked about Ibrahimovic, De Laurentiis told reporters: Zlatan is a great person with a st…
Espanyol have made their first move into the transfer market since hiring Quique Sanchez Flores as head coach, signing Olympiacos goalkeeper Roberto on a three-year deal.
Roberto, who began his career at Atletico Madrid and played under Flores at the Vicente Calderon, was signed by the Greek side in 2014 after impressing during an initial loan spell.
The goalkeeper made 28 Super League appearances as Olympiacos won a sixth straight top-flight title last season, winning all but two of their 30 league fixtures.
Roberto will challenge Pau Lopez to start between the posts, the 21-year-old who was elevated to first choice following Kiko Casilla s move to Real Madrid.
The 30-year-old will be presented at Estadi Cornella-El Prat on Wednesday evening pending a me…
Villarreal have announced the contract extensions of defensive pair Antonio Rukavina and Daniele Bonera, who will now be at the services of Marcelino for the 2016-17 campaign.
In the case of Rukavina, the 32-year-old has penned a two-year deal and has been a reliable option since joining in 2014, making 63 appearances for the club to date in all competitions.
Bonera, meanwhile, has agreed to stay at the Liga side for a further year, having joined last September as a free agent.
The 35-year-old played 16 times in all competitions last term, earning himself a further 12 months thanks to his similarly steady performances.
And with Eric Bailly – one of Villarreal s standout defenders last season – already having signed for Manchester United, Bone…
Cesc Fabregas has quashed rumours that he will be leaving Barcelona for the Premier League after being linked with Manchester United.
The 26-year-old has been a regular for Barcelona this season, making 47 appearances in all competitions and boasting a 14-goal return bettered only by Lionel Messi.
Fabregas came up through the youth ranks at the Catalan giants but left the club aged 16 to join Arsenal. After eight years in London he finally returned to Barcelona in 2011 and signed a five-year contract.
Reports had linked him with a return to England, with champions Manchester United named as potential suitors.
But Fabregas revealed that he has no intention to leave and will continue to fight for his place in the face of stiff competition from Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets…
Last season s beaten Capital One Cup finalists Bradford City will travel to Huddersfield Town in the first round of the 2013-14 competition.
Phil Parkinson s team were the surprise package of the tournament in 2012-13, overcoming Premier League sides Wigan, Aston Villa and Arsenal to reach the final before succumbing to a 5-0 defeat to Swansea.
The Valley Parade outfit went on to secure promotion to League One via the play-offs, but will go into the game against Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield as underdogs, as they take on a side that ensured survival on the final day of the Championship campaign.
Exeter will be eyeing a scalp when they welcome Harry Redknapp s QPR who were relegated from the Premier League last season to St James Park, and four-time winners Nottingham Fores…
West Ham cruised through to the Europa Conference League group stages after completing a commanding 6-1 aggregate victory over Danish side Viborg.
Gianluca Scamacca, Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek were all on target as the Hammers ran out 3-0 winners in the second leg at the Viborg Stadion.
New arrival Scamacca opened the scoring at the London Stadium last week and followed suit seven days later, steering home Soucek s near-post cross in the 22nd minute.
The former Sassuolo striker was involved again as David Moyes side extended their advantage after the restart, combining with Maxime Cornet to set up Benrahma, who drilled past Lucas Lund.
Soucek then put the tie beyond doubt just after the hour mark as he slotted home from close range following Thil…
England s top-flight clubs will buck the economic downturn by continuing to increase revenues next season but rising levels of debt could signal trouble ahead, according to the annual review of football finances from accountancy group Deloitte.
Dan Jones, one of the authors of the report, said the Premier League s global popularity would keep revenues rising but predicted that revenue growth would slow.
The new economic realities may lead to flat matchday revenues, Jones said. While attendances continue to hold up well, many clubs have frozen or reduced ticket prices.
However, the stepped increases in the current domestic broadcast deal and the new UEFA Champions League TV deal make it likely overall revenues will edge up.
The accountancy group s repo…
Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan has returned to Cagliari on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 Serie A campaign.
The 32-year-old has featured just five times for Inter in all competitions this term, each of those appearances coming from the bench.
He spent the duration of last season on loan at Cagliari, where he also played for four years earlier in his career, and has now returned to the Sardegna Arena.
In fact, since the start of the previous decade, no foreign player has played more times for the club in Serie A than the former Belgium international, who has made 157 appearances in Italy s top flight.
Cagliari confirmed the loan signing – which is not thought to contain the option of a permanent deal at the end of the campaign – on their o…
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Hoping to try and find a route into the European places this weekend, Wolfsburg will make the trip to a struggling Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday afternoon.
Borussia Monchengladbach
Starting with the hosts, marking their return from the international break with yet another downbeat display, Borussia Monchengladbach find themselves in the midst of a real Bundesliga struggle. Eventually having to settle for a 0-0 stalemate away at Koln, Daniel Farke’s have only continued to show a string of issues on either side of the fortnight interval. In fact, along with opening Sunday’s showdown at Borussia-Park in the midst of a five-match winless run, the former Norwich boss has also seen his side claim just a single top-flight victory fro…
The Mail Online understand that Stoke City are considering selling defender Kevin Wimmer just twelve months after signing him for £18m.
The twenty-five-year-old centre-back featured regularly during the first half of the season but was sidelined following the arrival of Paul Lambert, who had concerns over his fitness.
The Austria international is now set to be moved on for a fraction of the fee the Potters paid Tottenham Hotspur to secure his services last summer, with Hannover 96 leading the race to secure his services.
In total, Wimmer played nineteen times for Stoke in all competitions while he racked up thirty-one appearances in one-and-a-half years with Spurs.
Internationally, he has been capped eight times for his country with three of those …