(GSM) South African midfielder Elrio van Heerden has left Blackburn and joined Turkish outfit Sivasspor.

The 26-year-old joined Rovers as a free agent in June 2009, penning a two-year contract at Ewood Park.

He has, however, made just two substitute appearances for the club, with both of them coming in the Carling Cup.

Unsurprisingly, Van Heerden has recently expressed a desire to move on, keen to find regular first-team football away from Blackburn.

He is desperate to be involved in this summer s World Cup, with football s premier tournament heading to his homeland, and knows he must be playing in order to make the cut.

Van Heerden has therefore snapped up the opportunity to head to Turkey, with Sivasspor coach Muhsin Ertugral revealing that his…

German daily that Werder Bremen are set to wrap up the deal for Argentine full-back Santiago Garcia.

The 25-year-old defender, who spent the last season at Palermo, is a free agent and he looks set to join the Bundesliga outfit.

General manager Thomas Eichin has confirmed that the Weserstadion outfit is in talks with the highly rated footballer.

“We have interest in him, but the deal has not been concluded,” Eichin explained to Bild.

Werder have already signed one player on a free transfer this summer, having snatched forward Franco Di Santo from Wigan Athletic, and they look ready to boost their ranks with another Argentine footballer.

Santiago Garcia began his career at Rosario Central and went on to join Palermo in the summer of 2010.

…

Paul Pogba has been labelled a show off by Abdoulaye Doucoure, but the Watford midfielder insists that is a good thing.

The World Cup winner has come in for criticism from some quarters for his form since returning to Manchester United in 2016, despite winning the Europa League and helping Jose Mourinho s team to a second-place finish last season.

A lack of consistency and tendency to resort to apparent showboating has frustrated some United fans, but Doucoure says his former France youth international team-mate has always played that way, and it is what has enabled him to get to the top of the game.

Since under-16 I played with him, said the Watford midfielder. And he was, physically, the same today. He was in advance of everyone. He had his technique.

…

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says he fully expected striker Marcus Rashford to endure a difficult season.

The 19-year-old enjoyed a sensational breakthrough campaign under Louis van Gaal in 2015-16 but has struggled to build on those impressive displays since Mourinho took charge at Old Trafford.

Rashford has scored just seven goals in all competitions, making only 10 starts in the Premier League, and the forward is a doubt to feature in the FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea on Monday after reportedly being struck down by illness.

Mourinho, however, says Rashford was always likely to find his second season more difficult and insists he will be a better player by next year.

I knew that it would be a very difficult season for him, after the sea…

Kevin van Veen has his sights firmly set on reaching the 30-goal mark and securing seventh place for Motherwell in the cinch Premiership.

The Dutchman took his season tally to 27 by scoring the winner against Ross County on Saturday, finding the net in a ninth consecutive game, a post-war record for Motherwell.

The striker has more milestones in his grasp.

Van Veen will equal a club record set by local hero Hugh Ferguson more than 100 years ago if he scores in his 10th match in row when Motherwell face Livingston on Wednesday night.

The 31-year-old is still in the running for the Premiership top goalscorer, sitting on 23, two behind Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi along with Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland.

The record breaker. The history maker. The …

Atletico Madrid squandered a three-goal lead in a remarkable 3-3 draw at Espanyol, as Vinicius Souza s equaliser ensured Los Colchoneros missed the chance to go second in LaLiga.

After seeing rivals Real Madrid leapfrog them with a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano, Atleti appeared set to move one point clear in the battle to finish as runners-up when they raced into a 3-0 lead.

Saul Niguez struck first with a left-footed finish from a tight angle 21 minutes in, and Antoine Griezmann s 14th league goal of the season put Diego Simeone s men in control on the stroke of half-time.

Atleti further extended their lead within 14 seconds of the restart, Yannick Carrasco converting the rebound when Angel Correa s drive was palmed away by Fernando Pacheco.

But Espanyol, …

Inter head into their fixture with Atalanta looking for a first victory over Stefano Colantuono s side since April 2010.

The Milan outfit suffered two defeats to Atalanta last season, including a thrilling 4-3 reverse at San Siro in April, and drew both meetings in the 2011-12 campaign.

Their last success came in a 3-1 home win more than three years ago, with goals from Diego Milito, Sulley Muntari and Christian Chivu securing the points on that occasion.

Inter go into Tuesday s game at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d Italia on the back of a 4-2 home victory over Verona.

That triumph ended a run of three Serie A matches without a win for Walter Mazzarri s side, and left them fourth with 18 points from nine games.

Mazzarri is looking forward to the challenge Ata…

Veteran German international centreback Arne Friedrich signed for 2009 Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg for 2.5million euros from relegated Hertha Berlin on Friday, the buying club announced.

The 31-year-old, capped 76 times and one of the more experienced members of the German side that will play Argentina in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, signed a three year contract and will earn 4million euros a year according to SID, an affiliate of AFP.

Friedrich, who along with his fellow defenders have only conceded two goals in their four matches so far at the finals, played 231 games for Hertha over eight seasons having joined them from Arminia Bielefeld.

…

Hertha Berlin coach Pal Dardai claims Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich benefited from the Bayern bonus in rescuing a 1-1 draw in the German capital on Saturday.

Robert Lewandowski levelled with the last kick of the game to earn a point following a below-par display from the defending champions.

However, that goal came after the allotted five minutes of stoppage time had elapsed, prompting angry clashes between the two sets of players.

And Dardai says his team had every right to feel aggrieved.

First of all, I have to say that my team were outstanding, he told Sky. We also had plenty of opportunities to score the second goal, but we did not manage to do it.

Unfortunately there was so much stoppage time. That is the Bayern bonus.

It s n…

Former Barcelona right-back Juliano Belletti has hailed Neymar s finishing and believes the Brazil international will only get better playing alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Neymar has developed into a key figure at Camp Nou since joining the club from Santos in 2013 and made the FIFA Ballon d Or podium for the first time in his career following some fine performances in 2015.

Belletti is impressed with his compatriot s efforts for Barca over the past two-and-a-half seasons, but has stressed the presence of Suarez and Messi in the Blaugrana s final third has also played a big role in the 23-year-old s success.

Neymar can improve even more. At the moment, apart from his great individual performances, Suarez and Messi are helping him a lot, Belletti told …