Football
Odion Ighalo would like to end his career at Manchester United – trainer
According to Odion Ighalo’s personal trainer, the former Super Eagles of Nigeria star would like to remain at Manchester United for the rest of his career. The striker’s future is an uncertain one: he is officially on loan at United until May 31, but the Red Devils are keen to extend this period to allow him to feature if and when the season resumes in the coming weeks. However, Igahlo’s parent club, Shanghai Shenhua, want the player to return to their stable for the start of the next Chinese Super League season. United are also not seeking a permanent deal for the former Super Eagles spearhead. Despite being in this awkward situation, Ighalo’s has remained focused on keeping himself fight and ready for action while under lockdown in Lagos. “He’s a wonderful athlete, I’ve never seen someon...
Club Brugge finally crowned Belgian league champions
Emmanuel Dennis’ Club Brugge have been finally crowned Belgian champions, with Gent joining them in the Champions League, while Charleroi, Antwerp and Standard Liege go into the Europa League. Waasland-Beveren are relegated to the second tier, while Beerschot VA and OH Leuven will play for promotion to the top flight in a playoff. If the playoff is not fulfilled before the start of 20-21 then KVC Westerlo will replace Waasland-Beveren as they already have a valid licence to play in the Pro League. Meanwhile in Germany, Werder Bremen, have announced just one day before the Bundesliga resumes that one of their players were quarantined. As per a club tweet, it comes as the result of ‘somebody in their personal circle’ testing positive for coronavirus. However, unlike the now-scrapped Italian ...
German Bundesliga restarts with ‘ghost’ derby
Borussia Dortmund host Schalke 04 in Germany’s fiercest derby on Saturday but no more than 300 people will be in and around the 80,000 capacity arena due to COVID-19 restrictions as the Bundesliga gets back to business after a two-month break. The Bundesliga is the first major sports league to resume since world sport was brought to a standstill by the pandemic, and players will have to abide by a strict set of health guidelines aimed at minimizing the risk of infection. Fans will not be able to attend the matches as part of the safety regulations, leaving it up to the players to provide the spark for what are being called “ghost” games. “It will most certainly be the most unusual derby in history,” Dortmund’s head of pro players Sebastian Kehl said this week. “This game lives off fans, th...
Farah feels Tokyo delay could help 10,000m title defence
Multiple Olympic champion Mo Farah says the postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021 could work to his advantage as the Briton will now have around 20 months to train for the defence of his 10,000m title having switched his focus back to the track. The 37-year-old retired from track athletics in 2017 to focus on road marathons but announced in November last year that he was returning for one more tilt at 10,000m gold. The target then was only a matter of months away but the year’s postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything. Farah, who must still qualify, will be 38 by the time of the Games in July and August next year but is looking on the bright side. “Having postponed it actually helps me a bit more,” he told Reuters while training in isolation in London’s Richmon...
Premier League players ‘offered incentives’ by clubs
Premier League stars feel that their clubs are trying to influence them with unethical behaviour as teams gear up for the crucial Project Restart vote next week. Top-flight chiefs have desperately been trying to find a way to return to action, despite hundreds of people still being killed by coronavirus every day in the United Kingdom. And according to the Mail, Premier League stars are growing increasingly “wary of their employers’ motives”. This is a crucial week for the league, as it tries desperately to get the show back on the road in order to avoid devastating financial consequences. But while Premier League officials are all hoping to get things back up and running, not every club feels the same way. In fact, different clubs appear to hold different party lines, with a divide openin...
Tottenham’s Dele Alli injured in knifepoint robbery
Tottenham star Dele Alli was held at knifepoint during a robbery at his London home in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The property in north London has been housing the England international and his brother along with their partners and another friend throughout isolation. According to a report in the Daily Mail, the house was broken into just after midnight on Wednesday by two thieves wielding knives. Alli sustained ‘minor facial injuries’ after a scuffle broke out, having been punched several times in the face. The story states that the culprits made off with watches and various other items of jewellery before making their escape. Given that the house in Barnet has CCTV footage, that has now been passed on to the police, although no arrests have been made as yet. The local authorit...
Chelsea still keen on signing RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner
Chelsea are maintaining their interest in RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner despite the fact that Liverpool are leading the race to sign the Germany international, 90min reports. The 24-year-old has enjoyed a superb season with Leipzig where he has scored 27 goals and registered 12 assists across all competitions. Out of those, 25 goals and seven assists have come in the Bundesliga, where he has helped his team keep up with Bayern Munich in the race for the Bundesliga title. In recent months, Jurgen Klopp’s side have been touted as the favourites to sign the German forward but they have yet to make an official approach to land his signature. Werner currently has a £52m release clause on his contract but the Reds are yet to trigger the value, given they are assessing the financial impact of th...
Arsenal make transfer decision on Dani Ceballos
Arsenal are understood to have no plans of extending the stay of midfielder Dani Ceballos beyond the current campaign, a report from El Confidencial claims. The Spain international joined the north London club on a season-long loan from Real Madrid last summer and he made a lively beginning to the season with two assists on his home league debut against Burnley. However, he could not sustain the same level of performance thereafter and picked up a hamstring injury in November which kept him out of action until the turn of the year. In that period, the Gunners opted to dismiss Unai Emery from the head coach position and his successor Mikel Arteta was initially reluctant to play him in January. Ceballos managed to change the manager’s opinion of him during the warm-weather training camp in D...
Finidi George offers advice to Odion Ighalo amid uncertain Manchester United future
Former Super Eagles and Ajax Amsterdam forward Finidi George has offered some advice to ex Watford striker Odion Ighalo as his United future remains uncertain. Finidi was reacting to comments credited to a former Manchester United captain Gary Neville who believes the club management should not spend a £20m transfer fee for Ighalo at this time. In a chat, the former Ajax winger said Ighalo has a decision to make concerning his future as the entire footballing lifespan is short. “If he wants to be in the limelight, he has to stay with the Premier League but if he is going for the money he should go back to China,” Finidi said. “It all depends on what he wants at this stage of his career, he is thirty now so, he should look at what is before him and make a decision fast. The experienced Nige...
Coronavirus: Two football games in Belarus postponed due to coronavirus fears
Two games in the top two tiers of Belarusian football have been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. The Premier League match between FC Minsk and Neman Grodno – scheduled for May 15 – has been called off, as has the second-division meeting between Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and leaders Lokomotiv Gomel. The country’s football federation confirmed it was because of suspected cases of COVID-19 among the Minsk and Lokomotiv players. No new dates have yet been arranged. Belarus is one of the few European nations in which major sporting competitions have continued despite the spread of the virus. Premier League games have been played, often in front of spectators, while the rest of the continent has largely been forced to suspend all football. All grounds are required to have several sanitiser statio...
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City interested in Kingsley Coman
Getty Images Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are interested in signing Bayern Munich attacker Kingsley Coman, according to Sky Germany. The Bundesliga club want to keep hold of the France international however, should Leroy Sané join Bayern, Coman will rethink his situation at the club should Sané take his place in the starting XI. Bayern Munich remain hopeful of signing Sané in the summer, with a preference to sign the Germany international over compatriot Timo Werner (RB Leipzig). Get more stories like this on Twitter
Lyon women awarded French title for 14th consecutive season
French women’s football giants Lyon will be declared league champions for the 2019-20 campaign, collecting the title for the 14th consecutive year after the season was ended by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was confirmed to AFP by a source close to talks held Monday by the French football federation as well as a source at Lyon, backing up an earlier report from RMC Sport. Lyon, winners of the past four Women’s Champions League finals, have claimed the French title every year since 2007. The women’s top flight in France was halted in mid-March when Lyon held a three-point lead over Paris Saint-Germain. Last month, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that professional sport could not return until September. The men’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 divisions were ended, with PSG na...
