Lyon complete Kone signing

German football great Uwe Seeler has died at the age of 85.

Seeler spent his 19-year playing career, spanning from 1953 to 1972, with Hamburg and is considered the greatest player in the German club s history.

He also earned 72 caps for West Germany and played in their 1966 World Cup final defeat to England.

The news of Seeler s death was confirmed by Hamburg, where he also worked as president for three years in the 1990s, in a statement on their official website.

Uwe stands for everything that characterises a good person: down-to-earthness, loyalty, joie de vivre, plus he was always approachable, said HSV board member Jonas Boldt.

He is the epitome of HSV. I personally have special memories of our get-together on his last birthday. He talked sh…

Declan Rice s West Ham contract is due to expire next year and he has rejected fresh terms, prompting interest from rival English clubs.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have all been linked with the 24-year-old England international midfielder.

But the Hammers have rated Rice at £100million, which would be close to a British-record transfer fee.

TOP STORY – CITY TAKE POLE POSITION FOR RICE

Manchester City are leading the pursuit to sign West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, reports TEAMtalk.

The report claims City have come into contention with a probable trio of off-season departures paving the way for the English champions to afford the move.

Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are all potentially on the way …

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed a dominant first-half performance from Manchester United against Tottenham, describing it as his side s best display for a long time .

United were winless in three in all competitions coming into a first meeting with Jose Mourinho since his sacking as their manager at Old Trafford.

But Solskjaer s men ended Mourinho s winning start at Spurs with a 2-1 success, scoring early in both halves through the inspired Marcus Rashford.

Dele Alli scored a wonderful equaliser six minutes before half-time, which Solskjaer acknowledged was tough to take after controlling the game to that point.

Especially first half, that s probably the best we ve played for a long time, he told Prime Video. We dominated the game and could have, should have…

Didier Deschamps insisted pleasing Kylian Mbappe played no part in his decision to make the Paris Saint-Germain star France captain.

Hugo Lloris retirement vacated the France captaincy, with Mbappe named as the new skipper earlier this week ahead of Euro 2024 qualifiers against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.

Mbappe revealed on Thursday that Antoine Griezmann, one of France s longest-serving players, was disappointed by the decision, though Deschamps refuted the suggestion he made the call to appease the 24-year-old, who won the Golden Boot at last year s World Cup.

It s not a choice to make him happy, but because I am convinced that he has all the qualities to do so, Deschamps said in a press conference.

I m not going to go into details. Y…

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea claims he is unaware of reported interest from Real Madrid, insisting he is very happy  at Old Trafford.

De Gea was poised to return home to the Spanish capital last year until his proposed contract was reportedly eaten by a faulty fax machine on deadline day, with the Spain international going on to sign a four-year extension and help United to FA Cup glory.

Madrid have been linked with another bid for De Gea, despite Keylor Navas helping the club to Champions League glory in 2015-16, however, the 25-year-old has no plans to depart Manchester.

I know nothing about Madrid wanting to sign me. I m calm. I have three more years in Manchester, De Gea told Cadena Ser as prepares for Euro 2016, which kicks off in France on Fr…

Chelsea midfielder Jon Obi Mikel has turned down the chance to move to Fenerbache, .

The Nigeria international is currently playing in his tenth season with the Blues, having signed from Norwegian side Lyn in 2006.

Fenerbache were keen on signing the twenty-nine year old, and fellow Turkish side Galatasarary have also been linked though he has no desire to move on.

During his decade in England, Mikel has racked up over three hundred-seventy appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals and winning a host of trophies along the way.

He has two Premier League winners medals to his name and has also tasted success in the FA Cup on four occasions, the League Cup twice and in both the Champions League and Europa League.

Internationally, he ha…

Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon says a knee injury may force him to retire at the age of 30.

Gordon was signed by Sunderland for nine million pounds in 2007 at the time the highest fee ever paid by a British club for a goalkeeper but was released at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.

A 40-cap Scotland international, Gordan has been without a club since his departure from the Stadium of Light and, while he is not prepared to give up on making a return to playing just yet, Gordon has already begun planning for his future by taking up a coaching role with Dumbarton.

I m not ruling out playing again but as it goes on, increasingly it gets harder, Gordon told the Daily Record.

I ve had a couple of surgeries on it, but it s definitely not back to 100 percent…

Netherlands attacker Arjen Robben says his team s clash against Germany is make or break for their Euro 2012 campaign.

Having lost their opening Group B game to Denmark 1-0 on Saturday, the Dutch need a positive result from their second match or risk suffering elimination.

Robben, 28, is well aware of the seriousness of the game but is remaining optimistic about his side s chances against Joachim Loew s men.

Against Germany it is make or break, he told AD.nl.

But we are still confident. We will, can and should win. If that happens, everything will be good and we can rise again.

In a separate interview with De Telegraaf, Robben praised Wednesday s opponents: They were third at the World Cup and the team are still young, fresh and fit. The Germa…

The Premier League s muddled priorities on an action-packed deadline day were borne out at the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City introduced their brand-new signing amid the dismal distraction of a 0-0 draw against Watford.

Badou N Diaye is the new man for the Potters, having signed in a €16million deal from Galatasaray, and it may be hoped that the midfielder can provide a spark after this soporific contest.

The Hornets sacked Marco Silva, accusing him of being distracted by interest from Everton, but Javi Gracia s arrival does not appear to have inspired them on the evidence of their FA Cup elimination to Southampton and this match, in which they created next to nothing.

Not that Stoke were any more free-flowing. The introduction of Peter Crouch briefly sent pangs…

All eyes will be on Wembley Stadium Saturday lunchtime as matchday twenty-seven in the Premier League kicks off with the North London derby.

Both sides aims are to finish the season in the top four though they are currently in fifth and sixth place, with Tottenham Hotspur four points ahead of Arsenal.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side can move, if only temporarily up to third place with the win while victory would see Arsene Wenger’s men move to within a point of their rivals and two of the Champions League qualification places ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.

Spurs are favourites ahead of the game and they are set to welcome back Harry Kane, after the divisions top scorer was rested for the 2-0 FA Cup fourth round replay win over Newport County on We…