Barcelona spokesman Toni Freixa has claimed that the club still have money to spend following the expensive acquisition of Neymar.

The Catalan outfit agreed a €57 million deal to bring the Brazil international to the Camp Nou in May, breaking their transfer record in order to secure his services from Santos.

But, speaking on behalf of Barca s board of directors, Freixa insisted that the club still have the capacity to enter the transfer market.

Barca can afford all the transfers the technical staff deem necessary, as has always been the case, he said.

But we cannot of course tell the market how much we are prepared to spend.

Neymar s big-money arrival to La Liga champions surpassed the amount paid to bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic in from Inter in 2009.

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Manchester United go in search of just their second home Premier League victory of the season when they entertain Stoke City on Saturday.

Reigning champions United who sit eighth in the table have taken just five points from a possible 12 at Old Trafford this season, and conceded late to draw their last home encounter 1-1 with Southampton on Saturday.

That result means David Moyes men could go three games without a home victory in the Premier League for the first time since October 2005 should Stoke deny them three points this weekend.

Their only top-flight success at Old Trafford this term came in a 2-0 triumph over Crystal Palace in September, and Moyes will be desperate for his side to buck that trend against Mark Hughes team.

United will be buoyed by their 1-…

Massimiliano Allegri and Roberto Mancini have hailed Claudio Ranieri s achievements with Leicester City as their fellow Italian coach stands on the brink of an astonishing Premier League title triumph.

Leicester, 5,000-1 outsiders at the start of the season having recovered to a late escape from relegation last term, will be English champions for the first time in their history if they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Even if they fail to beat Louis van Gaal s men, defeat for nearest rivals Tottenham at Chelsea on Monday would hand glory to Leicester.

I offer my congratulations to Ranieri. I wish him good luck, because he deserves it, said Allegri, whose Juventus won Serie A for a fifth consecutive season earlier this week.

I think Leic…

Luiz Gustavo believes Wolfsburg can qualify for Europe this season after making his debut in Saturday s 4-0 win over Schalke.

Second-half goals from Robin Knoche, Vieirinha, Naldo and Stefan Kutschke sealed an emphatic triumph at the Volkswagen Arena, with Gustavo making his first appearance since a reported €17million move from Bayern Munich.

Gustavo rejected strong interest from Arsenal to remain in the Bundesliga, despite the English club competing in the UEFA Champions League.

And after defeating another side who will feature at Europe s top table this term, Gustavo sees no reason why Wolfsburg can t make it back to the Champions League for the first time since 2009.

Bayern and (Borussia) Dortmund are both leading the way, he told Bundesliga.com.

Behi…

Borussia Dortmund s unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season ended in dramatic fashion as RB Leipzig came from behind to snatch a heart-stopping 3-2 away win.

Both sides had players sent off in the second half but Leipzig held their nerve to inflict a first defeat in eight matches on Peter Bosz s men.

The visitors were forced to do it the hard way after falling behind to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang s early opener with Marcel Sabitzer and Yussuf Poulsen scoring to turn the contest on its head.

And Ralph Hasenhuttl s men looked on course for their fifth victory of the campaign when Sokratis Papastathopoulos was shown a straight red for conceding a penalty which Jean-Kevin Augustin converted.

Stefan Ilsanker also received his marching orders, though, and …

Napoli have completed a deal to sign Empoli defender Lorenzo Tonelli, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has announced.

De Laurentiis tweeted a photo of Tonelli signing his contract, writing: Welcome Lorenzo Tonelli to the world of Napoli.

The 26-year-old centre-back – who worked with Napoli head coach Maurizio Sarri at Empoli becomes the first signing of the close-season for the Serie A runners-up.

Tonelli has spent his entire senior career with Empoli, debuting in September 2010 and helping them rise up to the top flight from Serie B, but now progresses to Champions League football.

Un benvenuto a Lorenzo Tonelli nel mondo Napoli

— AurelioDeLaurentiis (@ADeLaurentiis)

Tonelli is yet to receive a senior Italy cap and was not in…

Juventus’ CEO Beppe Morrota has confirmed that the club will not be pursuing Liverpool’s Emre Can when the transfer window reopens in January, according to Talksport.

The Germany international has constantly been linked with a move to the Italian champions with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.

That means clubs may look to agree a cut-price deal for the twenty-three year old, while another option would be to attempt to secure his services by drawing up a pre-contract agreement an option available to any clubs overseas.

Bayern Munich are also keeping an eye on the situation having sold Can to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2013.

The midfielder joined Liverpool in the summer of 2014 and is closing in on one hundred and fift…

West Bromwich Albion are set to make a fresh bid for Leicester City’s Jeffrey Schlupp,.

The Baggies made a £9m approach for the Ghana international, who made twenty-four appearances in the Foxes’ Premier League winning 2015/16 campaign and scored in the 2-1 win over Norwich City last October.

However, he only started fourteen games and West Brom boss Tony Pulis is ready to offer him a more regular role.

Aside from a brief, yet impressive loan spell with Brentford in 2011, Schlupp has spent his entire career so far with Leicester.

In ten games for the Bees, he scored six times while he has racked up one hundred and forty-one games for his parent club, scoring fifteen goals.

He has been capped thirteen times with his one and only inter…

The football world was struck with the news of former Italy midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo announcing retirement from football after his last game for New York City and the entire football-loving community reacted accordingly.

“Not only [is it that] my adventure in New York comes to an end but my journey as a football player as well,” Pirlo said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.

Strength in Numbers

Andrea Pirlo won many titles during his 22-year-long career but numbers and accolades are not the (only) thing that made him one of the greatest footballers of all time.

A world champion with Italy, Andrea Pirlo had been an integral part of AC Milan’s side that won two Serie A titles, two Champions League trophies and a Club World Cup. His trophy cab…

La Liga reaches the midway point in spectacular fashion this weekend with a top-of-the-table clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.

The duo are currently level on points at the summit of the Spanish top flight Barca leading the way on goal difference and are yet to meet in the league this season.

They did, however, contest the Supercopa de Espana in August, with Barcelona emerging as champions on away goals after a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderon was followed by a goalless affair at Camp Nou.

Atletico have won just one of the last eight league clashes between the sides, scoring just eight goals compared to Barca s 24.

Barcelona could be boosted by the league return of Lionel Messi, who scored twice after coming on as a second-half substitute in Wednesday…