Real Madrid great Guti takes charge of Almeria

Almeria have appointed Real Madrid great Guti as head coach, the Segunda club confirmed on Monday.

Spanish second-tier side Almeria announced Guti s arrival in a series of tweets after the departure of Pedro Emanuel.

It is Guti s first senior coaching role, having previously coached Madrid s youth team and served as an assistant at Turkish giants Besiktas.

Guti joins Almeria, who are second in the Segunda table but 10 points adrift of leaders Cadiz after 14 rounds in the race for LaLiga promotion.

We ve got ourselves a galactico The pride lands have a new king! #14

— UD Almería (@UDAlmeria_Eng)

Almeria – who last featured in LaLiga in 2014-15 – have only lost twice this season and are five games unbeaten.

The 43-year-old…

Ryan Giggs resigns as Wales manager ahead of court date

Ryan Giggs has resigned as manager of the Wales national team.

Giggs stepped back from his role as Wales boss, which he assumed in 2018, in November 2020 after being arrested of suspicion of assault. He was charged with assaulting two women by Greater Manchester Police in April 2021.

The former Manchester United winger was replaced by Robert Page for Wales campaign at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, with the caretaker boss since leading the team to qualification for the World Cup later this year.

Giggs was originally due to face trial on January 24 this year after being charged with causing actual bodily harm to a woman in her 30s and common assault of a woman in her 20s, but his case was adjourned until August 8 due to a lack of court space.

The 48-ye…

The big Friday Premier League quiz

Liverpool will seek to extend their run of Premier League wins this weekend, but to do so they will have to record a first triumph away to Sheffield United in the competition.

The Reds have made a perfect start to the 2019-20 season and kick off the action at Bramall Lane, with the last of the 10 games arguably the pick as Arsenal go to Manchester United on Monday.

But while you wait for the football to get started, why not test out your knowledge with this week s Opta-powered big Friday Premier League quiz?

Answers are at the bottom of the page no peeking!

 

1.  The first game of the weekend sees leaders Liverpool go to Sheffield United. Bramall Lane is one of only three grounds the Reds have played at without winning in the Premier League. C…

Marseille keen on Bas Dost

Portuguese media outlet that Marseille are hot on the trail of Sporting CP striker Bas Dost.

L’OM have made signing a proven goalscorer their priority in the summer transfer window and it would appear as though the Netherlands international has emerged as their top target.

That is hardly surprising considering that Dost scored amazing 28 goals in 26 league outings this season, making former club Wolfsburg regret for selling him last summer.

After recruiting several high-profile footballers of late, Marseille plan to continue reinforcing the squad and they reportedly have €100 million to spend on new players.

Bas Dost has been bagging goals for fun ever since the 2009/2010 season at Heracles, subsequently enjoying successful spells with Heerenveen an…

Haaland targets Champions League glory with Manchester City as next step on ´perfect´ career path

Erling Haaland believes he can play a key role in delivering the Champions League title that Manchester City are craving.

The Etihad Stadium giants have scooped the Premier League title in four of the past five seasons, but they have yet to be crowned kings of Europe.

That rankles, as City believe they are ideally equipped to challenge the continent s best, and the arrival of a clinical striker of Haaland s ilk should only strengthen their hand.

By bringing in the 21-year-old from Borussia Dortmund, City have made a statement signing, landing a player the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have also admired.

When it was put to Haaland that he might be a big piece in the jigsaw  when it comes to City s Champions League aspirations, Haaland gave a strong…

Prediction: Valencia vs Atletico Madrid

Best odds: 2/5

Bookmaker:

Valencia are set to welcome Atletico Madrid to the Mestalla Stadium on Friday evening when the two sides will line up against each other to fight for points in the 24th round of this seasons La Liga roller coaster. As things stand at the moment, the outcome is very likely to affect the success of the campaign for both teams.

Valencia

It s been a reasonably good season for Valencia so far. Last time around, they beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and won a major trophy for the first time after an 11-year barren patch, and it clearly showed that they are now perfectly capable of beating the best in important games. However, they lost the opportunity to defend the trophy when they suffered defeat at the hands of Granada earlier this…

PSG interested in Oblak?

According to a recent report from Marca, Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi is interested in bringing Jan Oblak to the club. The 26 year old goalkeeper has been with Atletico Madrid since back in 2014, and since then he’s been able to establish himself as one of the very best goalkeepers in Europe. In the last few transfer windows it has seemed like he was interested in a move away from the Spanish club, and if that’s still the case, then PSG could be in luck.

The Slovenian international has a release clause of £85 million, and if PSG are able to overcome their current transfer issues, then the fee shouldn’t pose much of a problem for them.

Oblak made the jump over to Atletico from Benfica, where he had spent four years of his career between 2010 and…

Redmond to leave Southampton amid interest from Turkey

Nathan Redmond is set to leave Southampton, according to David Ornstein of .

The Saints have received three offers for the services of the winger, all coming from the Turkish Super Lig where the transfer window won t close before Thursday. All three offers have come from Istanbul, from the three giants of Turkish football, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas.

The 28-year-old was a subject of interest from the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton and Bournemouth during the summer window in England, but as no move materialized, the Turkish suitors felt encouraged to make their own moves.

Redmond has entered the final year of contract at St. Mary s which obviously means Southampton are set to receive some kind of a modest fee to let him go early. They ve alre…

Koulibaly and Milik will leave Napoli for right price – De Laurentiis

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed Kalidou Koulibaly and Arkadiusz Milik would leave if the right offers came in.

Koulibaly has been linked with a move to Manchester City, while Roma are reportedly the frontrunners to sign Milik.

Speaking on Wednesday, De Laurentiis said the duo would depart Napoli for the right price.

Koulibaly and Milik are both leaving, market permitting, he told Canale 21.

So, if the market allows these two talented players to leave, we will know how to replace them.

Otherwise, we will talk about them next year.

Koulibaly, 29, has developed into one of Europe s leading centre-backs since arriving at Napoli from Genk in 2014.

The Senegal international is contracted until 2023, but has been link…

Messi´s father dismisses PSG links

Lionel Messi s father, Jorge, rubbished reports he had been contacted by Paris Saint-Germain about the Barcelona star.

Messi, 33, continues to be linked with a move away from the LaLiga giants with his contract expiring at season s end and having requested to leave during the close season.

PSG, Manchester City and Inter have previously been most strongly connected with the six-time Ballon d Or winner.

But after a report claimed Jorge was contacted by PSG to start negotiations in January, Messi s father denied the suggestion.

Stop inventing!!! #fakenews, he wrote on Instagram.

Messi has spent his entire professional career at Barcelona, where he has won 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues among numerous other trophies.

He sensati…