Inter Milan have left the negotiations with Chelsea over the proposed permanent transfer of Romelu Lukaku, according to Fabrizio Romano. Apparently, the trigger that made the Nerazzurri react in such a way was the fact that talks had also been held with Juventus, their fierce Serie A rivals.
The 30-year-old striker is now set to return to London on Monday, but Chelsea s plans for him have not changed, he will not be a part of the squad that travels to the USA. There have been no talks between him and manager Mauricio Pochettino; the club want him to leave.
With Inter now out of the picture, the options remaining are a move to the Saudi Pro League, which Lukaku himself rejected recently, and of course, Juventus. But Juventus will only take serious steps in that direction…
Darwin Nunez scored Liverpool’s 1,000th goal of the Jurgen Klopp era as they beat Sparta Prague 5-1 in the Europa League.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the Reds’ scoring record under their long-serving manager.
Overall record
Liverpool have scored 1,003 goals in 476 games since Klopp’s appointment in October 2015, 691 of those in 323 Premier League matches peaking with 85 in their 2019-20 title-winning season.
Liverpool have scored a further 150 in 67 Champions League games, winning the competition in 2019, and 39 in 20 now in the Europa League.
They have 50 goals in 28 FA Cup games and 62 in 32 in the League Cup, winning the former in 2022 and the latter on two occasions including this season.
Six outings in the Community Shield, UEFA …
Philippe Clement railed against the notion that his side could be extra motivated by the prospect of winning a trophy ahead of their Viaplay Cup semi-final against Hearts.
The Light Blues have not won the competition since March 2011 and if they get past the Jambos at Hampden Park on Sunday they will face either Aberdeen or Hibernian in the December final, where the first piece of silverware of the season will be up for grabs.
Clement, unbeaten in three games since taking over as boss from Michael Beale last month, had no time for the idea that his players will have additional hunger when they come up against a side that, coincidentally, they beat 2-1 in the cinch Premiership at Ibrox last weekend.
Philippe Clement spoke to the media ahead of Sunday s Semi-Fina…
LA Galaxy maintained the pace at the top of MLS Western Conference as Gabriel Pec s double earned a 2-1 win over Minnesota United.
Having opened the scoring in the 25th minute, Pec was on hand to tuck home the winner from close range in the 90th minute.
Teemu Pukki had come off the bench to restore parity for Minnesota, who looked set to snap a five-game losing streak.
But it was not to be for the Loons, as Pec s late show ensured the Galaxy returned to winning ways on the back of their defeat to Los Angeles FC in El Trafico.
The Galaxy are level on 43 points with LAFC and Real Salt Lake at the top of the West, while Minnesota are 10th.
+3 AT HOME x
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy)
Data Debrief: Loons losing run rolls on
It is…
Andy Robertson challenged Scotland to make history as they prepare for their Euro 2024 opener against hosts Germany on Friday.
Scotland qualified for their second consecutive European championships after a strong qualifying campaign saw them finish second in their group behind Spain.
In Euro 2020, Scotland were knocked out at the end of the group stage having earned just one point from their three games.
Now, Robertson has urged the Tartan Army to become the first side in the nation s history to make the knockout stages of the competition, despite the tough test ahead of them.
We know that s what s at stake, said Robertson in a press conference. We ve got a lot of incentives, but one is becoming that legendary squad that has to drive us forward.
…
Atletico Madrid s new stadium could host the Champions League final in 2019 after the Spanish capital was revealed as one of two cities to have declared an interest in staging the showpiece fixture.
Atleti will move from the Vicente Calderon to Wanda Metropolitano next season and could be given added incentive to go all the way in Europe s premier club competition in 2018-19 if the city s potential bid is successful.
Madrid faces competition from Baku s Olympic Stadium to welcome the Champions League decider, and the venue in Azerbaijan s capital is also in the running for the Europa League final.
Frankfurt, Glasgow, Seville and Stuttgart are also among the cities to have declared an interest in that event.
The Super Cup is the match to have generated the…
Italy conceded inside 12 seconds but recovered to stun France in their Nations League opener, fighting back for a memorable 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes.
France hit the front almost straight from Italy kicking off as Giovanni Di Lorenzo took too long on the ball, allowing Bradley Barcola to steal possession before driving into the box and side-footing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Italy should have levelled just five minutes later, but Davide Frattesi could only rattle the crossbar with his header with the goal gaping, then Mateo Retegui diverted the rebound over the top.
The Azzurri were back on terms through a magnificent goal on the half-hour mark, though. Sandro Tonali played a sumptuous flick over the top of the France backline, and Federico Dimarco hamm…
Former Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is set to complete a permanent transfer to Greek Super League side AEK Athens.
Martial, who left United earlier this year following the expiry of his contract, will arrive in Greece later on Wednesday and sign a deal reportedly worth £2.5million per season.
The Frenchman s contract will see him become the Greek side s top earner and surpass former Tottenham man Erik Lamela, who joined the club in July.
Martial arrived at Old Trafford in 2015 for £36m, with his move the highest transfer fee paid for a teenager.
He marked his debut with a goal in a 3-1 victory over Liverpool, and went on to score 17 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions during his debut year with the Red Devils.
Martial enjo…
The second week of the World Cup in Rostov-on-Don began with the city s feverish support for their adopted team, Iceland.
Having three Iceland internationals on the books of FC Rostov ensured the locals would be backing Heimir Hallgrimsson s men against Croatia, but the Nordic underdogs were unable to progress to the round of 16.
Omnisport s team on the ground took the opportunity of a break ahead of the knockout stages to visit Volgograd by sleeper, where the city s tragic history proved a fascinating prelude to Poland s 1-0 win over Japan.
That result ensured the Samurai Blue would be heading to Rostov for the round of 16, and Belgium were later confirmed as their opponents, with the two teams now set to do battle on Monday.
Along with the football, we …
A Bassam Al-Hurayji own goal in the 100th minute of the match handed Al-Nassr a 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli and denied Ivan Toney a winning start to life in Saudi Arabia.
Franck Kessie looked to have won all three points for Al-Ahli with a wonderful effort from the outside of the box after 57 minutes, but Al-Nassr s pressure was rewarded late on when Al-Hurayji diverted Sultan Alghannam s cross into his own net.
The home side started the match well, with Sadio Mane seeing an early effort cleared off the line and Marcelo Brozovic testing Edouard Mendy from distance, but they were unable to find a way through in the first half.
Kessie had gone close just after the break, dragging his shot wide of the far post, but he was not to be denied a second time. He met a pullba…