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The Juventus midfielder will return to Old Trafford in a world-record, €110 million deal after the European champions decided against making their own move to acquire him Manchester United are set to seal the signing of Paul Pogba from Juventus for €110 million after Real Madrid dropped out of the race for the Frenchman. Goal  sources in Spain and Italy have confirmed a report by Spanish radio station Cadena SER  claiming Madrid had ended their interest, with Juventus hoping to conclude a deal with United before the end of the week. Zinedine Zidane is an admirer of his compatriot but Madrid are unwilling to match the world-record fee United, who have been in pole position for some time, will pay as well as meeting Pogba's salary demands.   The 23-year-old will earn upwards of €12 million a year at Old Trafford - a figure which would have put him above every Madrid player apart from Cristiano Ronaldo. Pogba left United for Juventus in July 2012 at the

The Serie A title holders expect the striker to fire them to European glory, but history suggests there's no guarantee of goals from the Argentine when it matters most.   How has it come to pass that Juventus signed Gonzalo Higuain thinking that he’s the man to win them the Champions League? What has happened in Higuain’s career to convince Juventus that he is the right man for this particular job? Juve have paid the €90 million buyout clause in Higuain’s Napoli contract. President Aurelio De Laurentiis said only a “madman” would pay it. Now it’s been done, what does that say about Juventus and this hugely risky move? Higuain ends Juve’s search for a Serie A top goalscorer – they have not had the league’s leading marksman in their squad for about a decade – but there is no indication whatsoever that the Argentine will deliver them that which he has been signed to do. Juventus are out on their own in Italy – signing Higuain and Roma’s Miralem Pjanic were power mov

New Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius has been ruled out for eight to 10 weeks with a broken hand. German Karius, 22, suffered the injury in Liverpool's friendly defeat against Chelsea in America on Wednesday and will return to England for surgery. Karius joined the Anfield side from manager Jurgen Klopp's former club Mainz for £4.7m in May. The Reds are left with two fit senior goalkeepers in Simon Mignolet and 39-year-old Alex Manninger. Veteran goalkeeper Manninger, who played for Arsenal from 1997 to 2002, signed a short-term deal after being released by FC Augsburg last month.

German World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger's future at Manchester United is in doubt following Jose Mourinho's appointment as manager. Mourinho has already made three big summer signings and is closing in on Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba. Schweinsteiger, 31, looks like being one of nine players who may leave. The midfielder, who has announced his international retirement, trained on his own as United's full squad trained together for the first time. Forwards Adnan Januzaj, Will Keane and James Wilson, midfielder Andreas Pereira and defenders Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair are also reportedly set to be made available, though some may only leave on loan. None of those players have been selected in a 23-man squad for Saturday's friendly against Galatasaray in Gothenburg. With all the other senior players who were absent from the recent tour of China present, Schweinsteiger's absence from Thursday's

Atletico Madrid have signed French forward Kevin Gameiro from fellow La Liga side Sevilla for an undisclosed fee, reported to be about £28m. The 29-year-old has signed a four-year-deal and will have a medical at the club on Saturday. Gameiro scored 29 goals in all competitions last season, but was not selected in France's Euro 2016 squad. He joined Sevilla from Paris St-Germain in 2013, helping the Spanish side to three successive Europa League titles.

  John Stones joined Everton from Barnsley for £3m in January 2013 Manchester City are in talks with Everton over the possible signing of England defender John Stones. A deal is yet to be agreed but it is thought the two Premier League clubs are not far apart in their valuations. It is thought Everton want £50m for the 22-year-old former Barnsley player, who came close to joining Chelsea last summer. Stones was part of the England squad at Euro 2016 but did not feature as they were knocked out in the last 16. He made his debut for Barnsley in March 2012, 10 months before joining Everton for £3m. City boss Pep Guardiola has identified the Yorkshireman as the kind of central defender who fits his approach to the game. "Normally central defenders are strong in the air and aggressive," said Guardiola on Wednesday. "But we need to have a good build-up to create easy passes in the midfield so they can create goo

View photos PASADENA, Calif. — Chelsea ’s back line did most of the work in Thursday’s International Champions Cup opener against Liverpool . It even scored the only goal. Gary Cahill ’s early header stood up as Chelsea weathered Liverpool’s attack and a second-half red card to Cesc Fabregas in a contentious 1-0 win at the Rose Bowl. Seven cards total were issued, including the straight red to Fabregas in the 70th minute for a horrific challenge on Liverpool’s Ragnar Klavan : Klavan left the match momentarily before returning and appears lucky to not have escaped a more serious injury to his left foot. “I’m sorry for the Liverpool player,” said new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. Five of the cards, however, were shown to Liverpool players, and Fabregas shifted the blame afterward. “I do think the ref, for us and for them, was giving cards all over the place,” he said, “so that’s why sometimes when you do that as a ref you lose feeling of what’s happening. B

  Pep Guardiola won 14 trophies in four years as Barcelona coach, before winning the Bundesliga every season in his three years as Bayern Munich boss Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has exiled some of his players from first-team training until they meet certain weight targets. Defender Gael Clichy says the Spaniard has told his squad to avoid pizza, some juice and certain "heavy food". "They are not overweight, but I want my players fit," said the new City boss. "The weight is so important. When you are not fit, danger is coming. You're not fast enough or quick enough in the head. That's why you need to be fit." French full-back Clichy says he is fully behind Guardiola's approach. "For my part, it's the first time any manager has really done it," added the 31-year-old. "And we have a few players who are not training with the team yet. "If you

Lionel Messi has little doubt Barcelona team-mate Neymar will win the FIFA Ballon d’Or at some point in the future. The former Santos star had to settle for third place behind Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015, but the Argentina international is convinced his team-mate is destined to become the best player in the world. “I believe Neymar will win the Ballon d’Or one day,” Messi told France Football. “He possesses all the qualities you need and is a player of extraordinary class. “He will one day be what he wants to be. Everything is possible for him. He is quick, has great technique and is excellent in one-on-ones. He really has it all.” Neymar and Messi have formed a lethal attacking trident at Barcelona alongside Luis Suarez after the latter’s arrival in 2014 and the Argentina international is thoroughly enjoying life at Camp Nou. Advertisement “Every time I get the ball, Neymar and Suarez are making themselves available, which gives me more sp

The new laws officially came into force on June 1 A number of new laws will come into force for the first time in the Premier League when the season kicks off on August 13… The International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced more than 95 alterations to the laws of the game last season after 18 months of consultation, with many of the changes trialled at Euro 2016. Here's an overview of some of the major amendments… UEFA Champions League, Today, 15:00pm FC Astana v Celtic £10 Free Bet, No Deposit Needed CHANGE 1: Kick-off The kick-off restart can now go backwards As seen at Euro 2016, the ball no longer has to go forward at kick-off . The previous law stated the ball had t

The Premier League giants are getting closer to agreeing a fee with Schalke for the Germany international, while the move for the Brazilian is further along Manchester City are getting close to completing the signings of Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus,  Goal  understands. The Premier League side are looking to bolster their squad ahead of their first season under Pep Guardiola, having already signed Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito and Oleksandr Zinchenko this summer. City have long been chasing Schalke's promising youngster Leroy Sane and the Germany international has already requested a transfer from the Bundesliga side . Guardiola admitted this week that his club are interested in signing him, though he admitted it will be tough to convince the Gelsenkirchen team to sell .

The Premier League outfit suffered a poor start in the game, with a mistake from young defender Dominic Ball being capitalised on by Paulo Dybala Medhi Benatia scored his first goal for Juventus as the Serie A champions ran out 2-1 winners against Tottenham in the International Champions Cup in Melbourne. The centre-back looped home a header after Paulo Dybala had put Juve in front with just six minutes played against a youthful Spurs side at the MCG. Mauricio Pochettino's team enjoyed plenty of possession, particularly in the second half, but struggled to make any headway against an inexperienced Juve defence who did well to keep debutant Vincent Janssen quiet. Miralem Pjanic impressed for Massimiliano Allegri's side but missed a superb chance for a third goal, and Erik Lamela gave Spurs hope of a comeback when he halved the deficit with 23 minutes left. But Juve held on and looked largely in good shape, despite still missing the players involved at

Big Sam has had a volatile relationship with the Arsenal boss over the years 4201 shares Comments Reuters / Phil Noble Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce have never seen eye to eye Sam Allardyce admitted Arsene Wenger is among the bosses with whom he will build bridges to ensure players are released for England. Big Sam has had a volatile relationship with the Arsenal boss over the years but he said: “We’ve got to try to help each other if we possibly can. It won’t always be the case. Daily Mirror Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce square up to each other and have to be pulled apart by the 4th official “The demands on Premier League managers and demand on me as England manager is bound to cause some conflict down the line because the pressures are far greater than ever before. “I think we suffered more sackings than ever before. I think 56 managers left the clubs out of 92. One hundred coache

Zlatan Ibrahimovic spotted in Manchester as he prepares for United pre-season debut 11:42, 26 Jul 2016 Updated 12:37, 26 Jul 2016 By Natalie Evans , Joe Mewis , Ben Burrows The Swede's new teammates returned home today following their disastrous trip to China and Ibrahimovic could join up with them on Thursday 3851 shares 1 comment XPOSURE Zlat's it! Ibrahimovic will join up with his new teammates on Thursday Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in Manchester ahead of his first appearance for United. The Swedish superstar, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of the month on a free transfer, was given an extended break following Euro 2016. But he's back now and could feature for his new side in a friendly against Galatasaray in Gothenburg on Saturday. Boss Jose Mourinho confirmed in China that the 34-year-old was due to start dialling up his pre-s

Sky Italia reporter Valentina Fass says Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is in advanced talks with Manchester United but negotiations over agent's fees are holding up the deal Paul Pogba's move to Manchester United is stalling over a stand-off regarding who pays his agent's fee, according to Sky in Italy. The France midfielder is understood to be in advanced talks with Jose Mourinho's side about a return to Old Trafford, four years after he left to play in Serie A. While agreement on his personal terms has been reached, neither United nor Pogba's current club Juventus seem willing to pay the 20m euros fee Pogba's agent Mino Raiola wants for brokering the deal. UEFA Champions League, Today, 11

Sky Italia reporter Valentina Fass says Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is in advanced talks with Manchester United but negotiations over agent's fees are holding up the deal Sky Italia reporter Valentina Fass says Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is in advanced talks with Manchester United but negotiations over agent's fees are holding up the deal Paul Pogba's move to Manchester United is stalling over a stand-off regarding who pays his agent's fee, according to Sky in Italy. The France midfielder is understood to be in advanced talks with Jose Mourinho's side about a return to Old Trafford, four years after he left to play in Serie A. While agreement on his personal terms has been reached, neither United nor Pogba's current club Juventus seem willing to pay the 20m euros fee Pogba's agent Mino Raiola wants for brokering the deal.