Gareth Southgate advises England players not be stressed by transfer talk

Gareth Southgate advised players not to be stressed by summer transfer talk after joking the England squad have been “tapping each other up” throughout this camp.

This mammoth, unprecedented season finally comes to a close with Monday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia at a sold-out Old Trafford.

England won 4-0 in Malta on Friday and are expected to take another step towards next summer’s tournament by winning a Group C clash played out against a backdrop of transfer talk.

Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Kyle Walker are subject of summer interest, while Harry Maguire, Conor Gallagher and Kalvin Phillips have decisions to make over their lack of game time at club level.

There is also speculation about Jordan Pickford and James Maddison, but…

Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham: Last-gasp Jota strike denies Spurs after dramatic Anfield fightback

Diogo Jota struck a stoppage-time winner as Liverpool clinched a dramatic 4-3 win over Tottenham, who had fought back from three goals down in a remarkable contest at Anfield.

A week on from their 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United, Spurs looked set for more of the same when Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah scored within the first 15 minutes.

Unlike on Tyneside, Spurs showed plenty of fight as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min teed up a grandstand finish, before Richarlison s first league goal for the club levelled things up at 3-3 in stoppage time.

However, as Tottenham prepared to celebrate clinching the unlikeliest of draws, Jota latched onto Lucas Moura s error to fire home, sending Anfield into raptures and moving the Reds above their visitors in the Premie…

Ronaldo drops retirement hint as he shifts focus away from individual records

Cristiano Ronaldo says his focus has shifted away from trying to break individual records as he does not have much time left on the pitch .

The 39-year-old scored what proved to be the match-winning goal in a 2-1 victory for Al-Nassr over Al-Rayyan of Qatar in their AFC Champions League Group B match on Monday.

It was his 904th career goal, having recently hit the 900-landmark during Portugal s Nations League opener against Croatia.

With Al-Nassr currently on a four-match winning streak in all competitions under new manager Stefano Pioli, Ronaldo insisted his aim was to help the team where he could instead of chasing personal achievements.

It was a strong and difficult match, like all the matches in the AFC Champions League, but the most important thing …

FIFA president calls for ‘full equality’ in football beyond Women’s World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino feels equal pay at the Men’s and Women’s World Cups would only be a “symbol” that would not “solve anything” if additional development targets for the women’s game are not achieved.

On Sunday, England will play Spain in the final for their share of an increased prize pot of 110 million US dollars (£86.1m) for this tournament, more than three times than what was on offer for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but still significantly less than the 440 million USD (£346m) awarded at the 2022 men’s competition in Qatar.

Infantino has previously outlined ambitions for prize parity by the 2026 and 2027 World Cups but two days before the conclusion of the ninth edition of the women’s showpiece, challenged stakeholders to …

Remember me? Harry Kane continues goalscoring spree against Arsenal

Harry Kane scored his 15th goal in 20 appearances against Arsenal as Bayern Munich drew 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.

The former Tottenham striker enjoyed a prolific record in north London derbies and a summer change of scenery made no difference.

Here, the PA news agency looks at his record against his long-time rivals.

Scourge of the Gunners

Kane, released from Arsenal as an eight-year-old written off by then-academy boss Liam Brady as “a bit chubby”, wasted little time in senior football in showing them the error of their ways.

He scored both Spurs goals in his first derby, a 2-1 win in February 2015, and five in his first four Premier League games against the Gunners.

He was finally kept at bay in Arsenal’s 2-0 wi…

‘It is nice’ – Man City boss Pep Guardiola relishing quieter schedule in January

Pep Guardiola is looking forward to a quieter January after his all-conquering Manchester City side brought a hectic December to a satisfactory conclusion.

City played nine games in the final month of 2023, including two during their successful trip to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup.

It ended with a comfortable 2-0 victory over struggling Sheffield United on Saturday, a result which, coming after their midweek win at Everton, put the champions firmly at the forefront of the title picture.

The intensity now slackens considerably in the coming weeks, with just two Premier League fixtures – and three games in total – scheduled for January.

They will face an extra FA Cup tie if they beat Huddersfield in the third round next week but, even so, it is a…

Gross joins Dortmund from Brighton

Borussia Dortmund have announced the signing of Pascal Gross from Brighton on a two-year contract.

The midfielder joins for a fee of £8million after seven years in the Premier League.

Gross established himself as one of Brighton s most dependable players, scoring 32 goals and providing 52 assists in 261 games in all competitions.

The German had one year left on his Brighton contract but said he could not turn down the chance to join Dortmund when they came to him.

I m really looking forward to BVB, Gross said. For me, this move is simply a huge thing, because I ve been a Dortmund fan since I was a little boy.

I will try to repay the club s trust with my style, and I can t wait to play in front of the BVB fans at the Signal Iduna Park with my ne…

Tottenham Hotspur want to sign Viktor Gyokeres

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon, according to . The report has claimed that Tottenham are determined to get a deal done for Gyokeres in the summer of 2025 and are the club most persistent in their quest for the striker.

Gyokeres has been on the books of Sporting since the summer of 2023 when he joined from Coventry City. The Sweden international striker has been superb for the Lisbon club and has established himself as one of the best players in his position in Europe.

The 26-year-old striker has scored 10 goals and given one assist in seven Liga Portugal for Sporting so far this season. Gyokeres has scored one goal in one UEFA Champions League game this campaign. Last season, Gyokeres scored 29 goals and provided 10 assi…

Griezmann and Benzema fit for France´s Euro 2020 opener against Germany

Didier Deschamps has confirmed Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema are fit to play a part in France s Euro 2020 opener against Germany.

Griezmann sustained a calf injury in France s 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Tuesday in their final warm-up match and Benzema left the pitch before half-time with a dead leg.

However, both players took part in full training on Saturday and Deschamps expects to have a fully-fit squad to choose from at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Asked if Griezmann and Benzema will be available against Germany, Deschamps told TF1: Yes, it looks like it. Everyone took part in yesterday s training session.

We have two sessions left before the game and there shouldn t be any problems.

This is how Karim and get into shape

— …

Pep Guardiola vows to stay at Man City even if they are relegated to League One

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists he would stay at the club even if they were relegated to League One should they be found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules.

City’s fate has been brought back into focus following Everton’s 10-point deduction last week, but Guardiola insists the two cases are completely separate.

The Toffees were docked 10 points for breaching rules over a three-year period, while City are awaiting a ruling after being charged in February with more than 100 alleged breaches of the competition’s financial fair play regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club denies all the charges.

Asked whether there could be any severity of punishment which would make him consider his position, Guardiola replied: “It’s a good qu…