Watford complete Pereyra deal

Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed Manchester United have made an improved offer for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian netted 23 goals for Dortmund in 2015-16 and was voted the Bundesliga Players Player of the Season.

Watzke told Kicker on Monday that he wanted the situation to be clarified by the time pre-season training began on Monday, a point he has reiterated.

An agreement over a £26.3million fee to take Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford was thought to have been agreed.

However, the Dortmund CEO admitted United have raised their bid, with a £33m offer now reportedly on the table.

We have to evaluate this as we start our pre-season training on Monday, and we will do that at the weekend, Watzke told WAZ.

The…

Stephen Kenny has insisted he does not feel under any pressure to select teenage sensation Evan Ferguson for the Republic of Ireland.

The 18-year-old has emerged from the Brighton ranks in thrilling fashion this season and his Premier League form was rewarded with a first senior Ireland cap in November before a goal in his maiden start for his country against Latvia in March.

Ferguson’s blossoming talent has prompted excitement back at home and he will hope for a role in Friday night’s key Euro 2024 qualifier against Greece in Athens.

But asked if the clamour to pick him was a problem, Kenny replied: “No, not at all. At the moment on recent form, he’s in the team on merit. He’s been our best forward, for sure.

“To score a goal in his first gam…

Aaron Hickey welcomed the test that Georgia superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will provide Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

The 22-year-old attacker helped Napoli to their Serie A title win last season, the Italian club’s first in 33 years, and is considered one of the top players in the world at the moment.

Hickey and the Scots are still on a high from Saturday’s stunning 2-1 away win over a Norway side which included Manchester City goal-machine Erling Haaland and Arsenal star midfielder Martin Odegaard.

Haaland netted from the spot but late goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean made it three 2024 European Championship qualifying wins out of three for Steve Clarke’s side who top Group A.

The 21-year-old Brentford full-back, who won his …

Real Madrid face a stern test in their defence of the Champions League, facing Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 this week.

PSG and Madrid are two of European football s superpowers and one of them will be heading out before the quarter-final stage.

But who would feature in a combined XI made up of the respective squads? Is there room for Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Edinson Cavani in the same team?

Here s our selection, using a 4-3-3 formation, but which club boast more representatives and whose head coach will be in charge?

Goalkeeper

In truth there is not a great deal of choice here, with PSG and Madrid both likely to attempt to upgrade their goalkeepers at the end of the season. Manchester United s David de Gea is…

The name of Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo would ring not too many bells but the simple mention of – as this man is more commonly known – will see it resonate loudly through the football community.

The former Sevilla transfer guru moved to Rome in 2017 when he signed a four-year contract with AS Roma where he took over as director of football with the Serie A giants.

Monchi Metamorphosis

Having created a scouting network of well over 700 scouts around the globe Monchi reaped rewards from his remarkable setup which produced the likes of Jesus Navas, Sergio Ramos and Jose Antonio Ramos and discovered a solid number of profitable bargain deals Sevilla would later go on to cash in on, such as Ivan Rakitic, Dani Alves, Julio Baptista, Frederic Kanoute or Carlos Bacca among ma…

PSG agree deal for Aurier

French daily newspaper that Paris Saint-Germain have reached an agreement to sign Ivorian defender Serge Aurier from Toulouse.

The Saints emerged as favourites for the player s signature as Arsenal and Monaco cooled off their interest and they seem to be winning the race.

According to L Equipe, PSG have agreed to pay €9 million for the highly rated full-back plus send midfielder Clement Chantome to Stade Municipal.

Chantome, 26, spent last season on loan with le Tefece, and he will now be joining them on permanent basis.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain have secured the signature of one of world s hottest prospects, who has proved his credentials with some strong performances at the 2014 World Cup.

Aurier, 21, h…

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has claimed he was bribed in order to support Sepp Blatter s bid for presidency in 1998.

Warner – who was caught up in allegations of bribery when opposing Blatter s latest election, in 2011 – said he made a deal with then-FIFA president Joao Havelange of Brazil to support the controversial Swiss administrator.
Warner said he was given four million pounds, put towards a training centre in Trinidad, to give Blatter backing in the CONCACAF region.
The 70-year-old, of Trinidad and Tobago, stepped down from his country s government earlier this week after being accused of fraud.
And without any association, he made true on his vow to expose FIFA after he lost his role with football s world governing body, sending the accusations in a speech…

Speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ruled out the possibility of the Bunesliga champions signing Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe is arguably the hottest young prospect in world football at the moment, having won the World Cup, the Ligue 1 title four times (three with PSG, one with AS Monaco), two Coupe de France and two Coupe de la Ligue trophies, and reached the Champions League final, all before turning 22 in a few days.

His contract with PSG expires in 2022, and a big tussle for his signature is going on at the moment with PSG working hard on getting him to recommit, while Real Madrid are reportedly doing whatever they can to choose the Santiago Bernabeu as the next step in his career.

His future …

Prediction: Sevilla to win 3-0

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Sevilla and Real Valladolid will face each other in La Liga this week. The match will be held at Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and is scheduled to kick off at 9pm UK time on Friday.Sevilla

Sevilla kicked off their 2022-23 La Liga campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Osasuna away from home at El Sadar last week. It was a disappointing start for a team who are aiming to finish in the top four of the La Liga table this season and possibly challenge defending champions Real Madrid for the title.Julen Lopetegui’s side will be determined to bounce back from the defeat and win against Real Valladolid this weekend. Sevilla finished fourth in the La Liga table last season, and given their home form and the fans…

Antonio Conte has urged Diego Costa to focus on his football and not let the criticism of him affect his impressive start to the 2016-17 campaign.

Costa netted his second goal of the Premier League season on Saturday as Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Watford 2-1, the Spain international slotting home the decisive goal with three minutes to play.

However, his performance attracted criticism with some suggesting the striker should not have even been on the pitch to convert Cesc Fabregas throughball.

Having already been booked Costa appeared to dive to try and win a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, but he was given the benefit of the doubt by referee Jon Moss.

Not all onlookers were so forgiving, though, with some pundits and voices within f…