Stewart Downing has completed his move to Liverpool from English Premier League rivals Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.
The 26-year-old midfielder, capped 27 times for England, was the subject of two failed bids from the Anfield club before a fee reported to be 20 million pounds was settled on earlier this week.
Having agreed personal terms and completed a medical, the 26-year-old becomes Liverpool’s fourth signing alongside Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Alexander Doni, who arrived at Anfield earlier on Friday.
It s a great feeling and I m very happy to be here. It s been a long time coming and I ve had to wait a few weeks, but I m really pleased to be here, Downing told Liverpool’s official website.
With the tradition, the manager and the…
Olympique Lyon have completed the signing of defender Bakary Kone from Guingamp.
The French giants have announced their latest capture on the club’s official website.
It has been revealed that the 23-year-old defender signed a five-year deal with les Gones.
The talented defender spent last five years at Guingamp, and even won Coupe de France title with the Ligue 2 side in 2009.
The player, who already has 16 Burkina Faso caps to his name, has now decided to take on a new challenge and joined his new teammates for his first training this morning.
Lyon boss Remi Garde has welcomed the new signing and hinted that Kone will be in contention for Lyon’s home game with Ajaccio this weekend.
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A Luiz Adriano-inspired Shakhtar Donetsk thrashed 10-man BATE 5-0 to move onto the cusp of a place in the UEFA Champions League s last 16.
The result left Mircea Lucescu s side five points clear of their visitors, who are now the only team who can deny them Group H s final ticket to the knockout phase after Porto qualified with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Luiz Adriano, whose record-equalling five-goal haul inspired Shakhtar to a 7-0 victory in Borisov in the sides meeting two weeks ago, celebrated his maiden Brazil call-up with a hand in all five goals.
Darijo Srna s deflected strike gave the Ukrainians the lead and, after BATE defender Anri Khagush was sent off en route to the dressing room at half-time, Alex Teixera s dink made it 2-0.
Having played…
Crystal Palace go into Saturday s Premier League trip to Newcastle United in a similar shape to when they won the reverse fixture 5-1, according to Alan Pardew.
Pardew will return to St James Park for the first time since leaving Newcastle to take over at Palace in January of last year and does so on the back of an FA Cup semi-final win over Watford.
His team take on a Newcastle side desperate for points as they bid to avoid relegation to the Championship. The Magpies are second from bottom and a point behind 17th-placed Sunderland with three games to play.
Rafael Benitez s men have taken five points from their previous three matches a run of results that has included creditable draws with Manchester City and Liverpool but were thrashed by Palace at Selhurst Park…
Manchester City are ready to offer Raheem Sterling to Arsenal in an attempt to secure a deal for Alexis Sanchez, according to the Mirror.
The Chile international has been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium all summer though the Gunners have insisted that he is not for sale despite him having just one year remaining on his deal.
Sterling has had an impressive start to the campaign scoring in two of his sides three games so far though he was dismissed at the weekend after receiving a second yellow card for an over exuberant celebration to his injury-time winner against Bournemouth.
The twenty-two year old is closing in on a century of appearances for City since signing from Liverpool in the summer of 2015.
He helped them with the League Cup in 20…
It looks like Islam Slimani s time in Premier League is coming to an end. The Leicester City striker on loan at Fenerbahce is not enjoying a good period in recent years and no wonder the Foxes are ready to move on. According to Daily Star, the club from the King Power Stadium does not see place for him in this team and it seems like Brendan Rogers feels that way too.
The Algerian striker was signed for a club record fee of £20m on the last day of the summer transfer window back in 2016. This buy did not resonate as much as the club had hoped for and the player himself has been on couple of loans since. His time at Newcastle was not very productive and that is the case again, now at Fenerbahce.
Leicester, due to all those reasons above, expected to suffer a �…
Market: Brackley Town win
Odds: 11/10 @
Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways in midweek, Brackley Town will welcome Spennymoor to St. James Park on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Brackley would have been disappointed to have had to settle for a single point away at Farsley Celtic over the weekend, the Northamptonshire-based outfit should be smelling a chance again here. Still firmly battling it out at the top of the National League North table, Kevin Wilkin s men have their sights set on mounting a real title charge this season. Although the Reds might have seen Guiseley end their FA Cup adventure earlier in the month, Brackley are enjoying a sixth-tier purple patch. Managing to muster 10 points from their last four league outings, …
Daniel James and Bersant Celina inspired Swansea City s second-half comeback as Graham Potter s side defeated 10-man Brentford 4-1 to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Only just over 11,000 were in attendance at Liberty Stadium on Sunday as a section of Swans fans boycotted the fifth-round tie in protest against the club s board.
But those present were treated to an entertaining clash that was turned on its head inside 17 second-half minutes as the home side recovered from falling behind to Ollie Watkins strike in the opening period.
Bees goalkeeper Luke Daniels unfortunate own goal levelled the scores before James produced a sensational solo run to put Swansea in front.
52 | GOOAAALLL! What a turnaround! picks up the ball on the edge of the box followi…
Best Odds: 7/4
Bookmaker:
Desperate to make a return to winning ways on Wednesday night, Inter Milan will welcome Bologna to the San Siro.
Inter Milan
Starting with the hosts, while Inter Milan might have booked their spot in the knockout stage of this year s Champions League, the Italian giants are enduring a recent wobble. Last seen over the weekend putting in another toothless display as they were hit with a 2-0 loss away at a struggling Juventus, Simone Inzaghi s are still seeking some recent stability. Opening the midweek fixtures sat down in seventh and already 11 points adrift in the title chase, there is no doubt that Inter will be glad to make a return to the San Siro on Wednesday night. Looking to find a much-welcomed boost before heading into the Wor…
Xavi has revealed he was planning to call on Gerard Pique from the bench, had the retiring defender not seen red at half-time in Barcelona s clash with Osasuna.
Pique s glittering career ended on a low note on Tuesday, with the 35-year-old receiving his marching orders from referee Jesus Gil Manzano without even leaving the bench.
With Barca 1-0 down and a man down at half-time, having seen star striker Robert Lewandowski sent off, substitute Pique was shown a red card for dissent during the interval.
After an emotional send-off at Camp Nou at the weekend, an eighth LaLiga dismissal brought an end to his career.
Xavi was hoping to rely on his former team-mate, but instead had to struggle through with a makeshift backline after Andreas Christensen went off…