Newcastle have completed their swoop for AC Milan star Sandro Tonali as they gear up for a return to Champions League football.
The 23-year-old Italy midfielder has signed for an undisclosed fee – understood to be in excess of £50million – on an initial deal which will keep him at St James’ Park until 2028.
Tonali, who has 14 senior caps, has captained his country at the European Under-21s Championship in Georgia and Romania in recent weeks and the announcement of his signing came a day after the Italians exited the competition.
Benvenuto, Sandro!
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC)
The former Brescia player said: “First of all, I want to thank Newcastle United because they are giving me a huge opportunity for my career.
“I want t…
The Africa Cup of Nations has reached the quarter-final stage and Saturday s matches promise the chance of history.
Host nation Cameroon will meet Gambia in the competition for the first time, their second successive game against tournament debutants, something they last experienced way back in 1972.
Tunisia meet Burkina Faso in the later match looking to end a fairly rotten recent record at this stage of the AFCON, although history favours their opponents.
Two of Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and Equatorial Guinea will lie in wait for winners
Gambia v Cameroon (16:00 GMT)
Cameroon have enjoyed facing AFCON debutants of late: including their 2-1 win over Comoros in the last round, they have won three consecutive matches against such opposit…
Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta surely departed Goodison Park on Saturday suspecting they had each arrived just in time.
Everton initially improved under Duncan Ferguson following Marco Silva s sacking, but new boss Ancelotti watching in the stands struggled to hide his frustration as they contributed to a dreadful Premier League encounter.
Arteta, a former Toffees favourite, was also in attendance and might even have been the more encouraged of the two coaches-in-waiting, yet his side Arsenal were only marginally better.
Freddie Ljungberg has failed to inspire Arsenal, and it was clear on Merseyside that both the Gunners and Everton were each in need of a lift.
MESUT MESS CONTRIBUTES TO CAPTAINCY CONCERN
Ljungberg s stint ends with one win in six …
Croatia forward Andrej Kramaric has dismissed the idea Saturday s third-place playoff with Morocco is an empty contest, suggesting the winner will become immortal .
The two teams will meet at Khalifa International Stadium following their respective semi-final defeats to Argentina and France.
For Zlatko Dalic s side, they fell short of a second successive final, having been beaten by Les Bleus at Russia 2018, while Walid Regragui s men saw their underdog story come up short of the showpiece game as well.
But Kramaric says there will be no short-changing their bronze-medal match despite their heartbreak, arguing the winner stakes a place in history and becomes entrenched in sporting folklore.
I think if you ask this question to Moroccan players, I don t th…
Paris Saint-Germain youngster Kays Ruiz-Atil has confirmed he will leave the club when his contract expires next month.
The 18-year-old featured seven times for PSG in Ligue 1 this season, all but one of those outings coming from the substitutes bench.
Ruiz-Atil joined the French giants in 2015 from Barcelona – where he spent six years in the famed La Masia academy – and made his senior debut in September s 1-0 loss to Lens.
A return to Barca has been touted for the teenager, while a reunion with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea is also reportedly being considered.
Announcing his departure on Instagram on Tuesday, Ruiz-Aril posted: Thanks from the bottom of my heart to the whole club, the president, the staff, the different coaches.
Each time y…
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino said his under construction team can count on Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe s individual talent after the pair starred in Tuesday s 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig.
Leipzig had six more shots (18-12) as they came from behind to grab a 2-1 lead early in the second half after Mbappe opened the scoring for PSG following a swift counter-attack in the ninth minute of the Group A fixture.
PSG regained control, with Mbappe setting up Messi for a 67th-minute equaliser, before the Argentine superstar coolly dinked home from the spot after the French forward was brought down.
The Parisians had more possession (64.5 per cent) but Pochettino acknowledged too much was in their own half, forcing them to play on the b…
Romelu Lukaku s future is shrouded in uncertainty after Inter director Beppe Marotta acknowledging the striker is not yet the same following a difficult second spell with the Nerazzurri.
The Belgium international enjoyed a prolific first stint with Inter between 2019 and 2021, scoring 64 goals in 95 appearances and helping them win the Scudetto in the latter year.
However, he has scored just five goals for Simone Inzaghi s side since returning from Chelsea on a season-long loan last June.
Although, three of those have come in his last five appearances, including a late winner in the first leg of Inter s Champions League last-16 clash with Porto.
It remains to be seen whether the 29-year-old will extend his stay at San Siro or returns to Chelsea following …
Sutton boss Matt Gray praised his side after they secured an FA Cup third-round tie for only the sixth time in their history with a 3-0 win over non-league Horsham.
Horsham were reinstated into the second round after it was found League One Barnsley had fielded an ineligible player in the replay.
But Luton loanee Dion Pereira bagged a second-half double in the space of 10 minutes before Omari Patrick’s late goal broke the seventh-tier side’s hearts.
Sutton sit bottom of the Football League but are in the third round for the first time since 2016 and Gray said: “I know we’re not going to go on and win the FA Cup so we just want a big pay day really.”
Sutton overcame a real banana skin with a poor start to the season and a long injury list to cont…
Southampton made Premier League history on Monday, as they became the first team to beat all seven winners of the competition in the season after they lifted the crown.
Ralph Hasenhuttl s men defeated Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary s, prevailing in the fixture for the first time since 2016 thanks to Danny Ings second-minute lob against his former club.
Southampton have now beaten Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in the campaign following a title triumph.
Here is a look back at the matches that make up that run.
7 Southampton are the first team in Premier League history to beat all seven winners of the competition in the season following a title win. Jubilant.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) …
Manchester United have beaten Brighton and Hove Albion in the semifinals of the FA Cup, producing a proper treat for the city of Manchester as they prepare to battle it out against Manchester City in the final.
The game ended goalless, after 90 as well as the additional 30 minutes, and luck favoured the 20-time English champions as Brighton s Solly March missed the target from the spot in the seventh round, before Victor Lindelof took advantage of that to end the shootout.
United defensively better without Maguire
Harry Maguire arrived to Old Trafford from Leicester City in 2019 for £80 million and became the world s most expensive defender, overshadowing Liverpool s purchase of Virgil van Dijk 18 months earlier. Maguire was supposed to be United s answer to their arc…