Rennes coach Bruno Genesio has not played down reports suggesting a move for Barcelona s Samuel Umtiti, adding the star is a high-level player .

The Ligue 1 outfit have been linked for a move for the France international, who endured a torrid 2021-22 campaign at Camp Nou rocked by injury.

A Europa League qualifying finish for Rennes has left Genesio seeking sports guarantees in regard to his transfer aims, and the World Cup winner whom he previously coached at Lyon would fit the bill.

Sam is a player I know perfectly well, he stated. I trained him as a youth player and then in the Lyon first team. That creates a bond.

You all know his history, his qualities [and] the setbacks he had last year. But he is still a high-level player, and we are interested …

Paris Saint-Germain are interested in signing Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona in the summer of 2022, according to . It has been reported by the Spanish news outlet that De Jong is unhappy at Barcelona, and that PSG are planning to make a move for the 24-year-old midfielder.

De Jong has been on the books of Barcelona since 2019 when he joined from Ajax. The Netherlands international midfielder has not been at his best and has failed to show the kind of form that he did at Ajax. Players such as Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi have left Barcelona, who recently sacked Ronald Koeman as their manager.

PSG signed a number of players in the summer transfer window, including Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos. De Jong would make Mauricio Pochettino’s side a better and stronger team in …

Argentina star Lionel Messi will not play at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, national team head coach Gerardo Martino has confirmed.

Barcelona forward Messi, who is being widely tipped to win a fifth Ballon d Or crown on Monday, will focus on the Copa America in June before getting a break ahead of the 2016-17 season, rather than turn out in Brazil at the Games which take place in August.

Messi was part of the Argentina team that won a gold medal in Beijing in 2008, but Martino does not feel it would be wise to select him as one of the country s three over-23 players later this year.

Exposing Leo by using him in another competition after all the football he has played would be overkill, in my opinion, the former Barcelona boss told Clarin.

It …

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has backed David Alaba to become a club legend at the Allianz Arena over the next decade.

The Austria international joined Bayern from Austria Vienna in 2008 at the tender age of 16 and has since developed into a key figure at the reigning Bundesliga champions, making close to 200 appearances in all competitions.

Alaba featured mainly at left-back in the early stages of his career, but has also played in midfield and as a centre-back in recent seasons and Guardiola is a keen admirer of the 23-year-old s versatility.

Recent reports suggested the Spanish coach could try to take Alaba with him to Manchester City at the end of the season, but Guardiola believes the defender s future lies at Bayern.

Alaba will enter the his…

Luis Enrique had no plan B and Spain suffered a premature World Cup exit as a consequence, according to Iago Aspas.

Veteran striker Aspas missed out on the squad for Qatar 2022 but has been recalled by Luis Enrique s successor, Luis de la Fuente, for Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Scotland.

The 35-year-old Celta Vigo player was powerless to prevent Spain losing to Morocco on penalties after a goalless stalemate at the last-16 stage of the World Cup.

I was wishing Spain to score, Aspas said on Thursday, looking back at that game.

With Luis Enrique we had a very defined game style. For me, who in future could become a coach, we did not have plan B, and when plan A was stuck there wasn t plan B or other types of footballers to try to revert that s…

Roberto Martinez believes Everton and Watford s progress to the FA Cup semi-finals might have hindered their respective Premier League form.

Martinez s men travel to Vicarage Road on Saturday having lost their past three league matches – a run punctuated by the stirring FA Cup quarter-final win over Chelsea last month.

Everton failed to find the net in subsequent losses to Arsenal and Manchester United, increasing murmurings of discontent from their fanbase as a season that promised so much ahead of the opening-day draw with Saturday s opponents continues to be dogged by frustrating inconsistency.

They re in a similar situation. If you look at each team that has got through to the FA Cup semi-finals, they haven t won a game in the league since, Martinez told a…

Thomas Tuchel does not intend to give in to Cesar Azpilicueta s demand for a cut-price exit to Barcelona. 

Azpilicueta has reportedly asked to leave Stamford Bridge for Barca, who have already signed Andreas Christensen after his Blues contract expired.

It has been suggested that a £55million move for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde could pave the way for the Spaniard to leave for Camp Nou. 

However, Tuchel is standing firm and does not want to let Azpilicueta leave on the cheap, saying he was maybe a little bit annoyed by Barca s pursuit of the player. 

It s a tough question because I m not sure if I want to give Azpi what he wants, said Tuchel, as quoted by Standard Sport. 

At some point it is about what we want. I just made the compari…

Alexandre Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were on target as Arsenal coasted past struggling Southampton 2-0 to move back into the Premier League s top four.

It took just six minutes for Lacazette to convert from Mkhitaryan s attempted shot and the latter turned home the dangerous Alex Iwobi s assist at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Lacazette wasted a couple of golden opportunities to stretch the lead before half-time and, while Arsenal s tempo noticeably dropped after the break, Unai Emery s side were in complete control.

Manchester United s goalless draw with rivals Liverpool consequently sends Arsenal back into the Champions League places, while Southampton remain mired in relegation trouble.

FULL-TIME Arsenal 2-0 Southampton

Two first-half goals…

Real Madrid want to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that last season’s La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners are keen on signing the Argentina international forward and are going all out to get him from defending Premier League champions City.

Alvarez is one of the best young players in the world who helped Argentina win the 2022 Qatar World Cup. However, the striker is not guaranteed a place in the City starting lineup due to the form of Erling Haaland. The 23-year-old has made eight starts and 17 substitute appearances in the Premier League for City this season, scoring eight goals in the process.

City are second in the Premier League table at the moment with 76 points from 32 matches,…

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was hailed as a very special talent as the latest English star to dazzle for Borussia Dortmund signed a new long-term contract.

England Under-19 star Bynoe-Gittens has committed to the German club until June 30, 2025, with the news emerging swiftly in the wake of his first Bundesliga goal.

The 18-year-old scored an equaliser as Dortmund went on to beat Freiburg 3-1 last Friday, following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham in becoming another exciting young English player to emerge at the club.

Bynoe-Gittens was acquired from Manchester City in September 2020 and played for Dortmund s age-group sides until recently breaking into the first-team ranks.

He has played just 159 minutes in the Bundesliga, spread across one s…