Justin Kluivert has great memories from his time at Roma, but believes he made the right decision by leaving the Italian giants in search of first-team football.

Kluivert joined Bournemouth earlier this transfer window for a reported £9.6million, ending a five-year stint as a Roma player.

However, the winger had spent the last three seasons out on loan, at RB Leipzig, Nice and Valencia respectively. Kluivert had been close to joining Fulham prior to his switch to Spain.

The 24-year-old joined Roma from Ajax in 2018, but never quite managed to live up to his potential in Serie A.

Asked if he was disappointed at how his move to Roma played out, Kluivert told Stats Perform: I came from Ajax as a young kid, very young.

I came to a new environment th…

Pep Guardiola says he would not have signed his new deal at Manchester City if he felt the players were not showing enough desire and hunger.

The former Barcelona head coach penned a two-year contract extension in November, keeping him at the Etihad Stadium until 2025.

Guardiola has lifted the Premier League four times, as well as five domestic cups, since arriving at the club in 2016, though the Champions League has so far eluded him with the Citizens, including a final defeat to Chelsea in 2021.

However, the signing of Erling Haaland has given Guardiola s side renewed vigour, with many feeling the Norway international could be the final piece of the puzzle as City bid to win European football s top prize for the first time.

Guardiola s new deal put an …

Barcelona have released Kays Ruiz-Atil just a year after re-signing the teenager from Paris Saint-Germain.

The 19-year-old returned to Barca last May and was expected to challenge for a first-team place this season.

But Ruiz-Atil, who spent six years in Barcelona s La Masia academy prior to joining PSG in 2015, will depart the club having failed to so much as make a matchday squad.

The Catalan giants confirmed his exit on their official website on Wednesday and wished him luck for the future.

France Under-20 international Ruiz-Atil featured seven times for PSG in Ligue 1 last season, with all but one of those outings coming from the substitutes bench.

…

Luis Suarez has appeared 67 times at Anfield. On Wednesday, with Atletico Madrid, that will become 68. The former Liverpool favourite will hope this is nothing like his last visit.

Anfield outing #67 – Suarez s first not in Liverpool colours – saw the striker s Barcelona side sensationally beaten 4-0 in 2019, crashing out of the Champions League despite a 3-0 home win in the first leg of their semi-final.

Suarez, who had passionately celebrated his Camp Nou goal, was jeered with each of his 31 touches on Merseyside, starting from the very first second when he took the kick-off.

The Uruguay great later described himself as so sad to get such a reaction, but he will surely again this week be greeted with a hostile reception entirely out of keeping with the ador…

Luis Suarez led Atletico Madrid to another stunning turnaround on the road in LaLiga as they won 2-1 again at Getafe on Tuesday.

Champions Atleti had scored a 99th-minute winner in their previous away match at Espanyol having trailed at half-time and required a repeat against their latest hosts.

Stefan Mitrovic s fortuitous first-half header ended Getafe s long drought in this fixture going back to 2011 and kept them in front until a foolish red card for Carles Alena.

Suarez capitalised in typically clinical fashion, scoring twice in the closing stages to continue this remarkable trend of late heroics.

The Uruguay forward had been involved in Atleti s best chance of the opening period when they looked certain to take the lead after his volley was parri…

Luis Diaz is determined to help Liverpool turn their miserable season around when he returns from a knee injury.

However, the winger is unsure whether he will be ready for the Reds Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

Diaz missed Liverpool s last 10 games prior to the World Cup after sustaining the issue in October s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal, and he suffered a setback upon his return to training in December.

Liverpool have endured a dreadful run in his absence, failing to win a Premier League game in 2023 (D1 L3) to leave them well adrift of a top-four place.

Reports had suggested Diaz could feature in the second leg of Liverpool s last-16 tie against Champions League holders Madrid next month, but the Colombia international is unable to put a timeframe o…

Antonio Conte accepts he could be dismissed by Tottenham after his team s Champions League exit.

Spurs have lost seven of their 15 games in 2023 and their trophy hopes have been vanquished, with a top-four finish in the Premier League their last remaining target.

They hold down fourth place for now, but Liverpool and Newcastle United are in close pursuit.

The European campaign ended with a 1-0 loss on aggregate to Milan at the last-16 stage, after a bleak 0-0 draw at home on Wednesday in which Tottenham barely threatened their visitors, managing just two shots on target.

147 Tottenham 0-0 Milan has ended Spurs run of 147 consecutive home games in all competitions without a goalless draw, since a 0-0 against Swansea at Wembley in the Premier League in Sept…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says it is  unthinkable that Euro 2016 would take place without him.

The Sweden striker will have to help his country negotiate the play-offs if they are to secure a place in France after they could only manage a third-place finish in their pool.

Paris-Saint Germain star Ibrahimovic is confident the Swedes can still progress and suggested the tournament would be weaker without his presence.

He told Voetbal International:  I don t want to miss the European Championship. It s unthinkable for me to see this tournament going on without me. We didn t go in the standard way, so we will find another one.

The draw for the play-offs takes place on Sunday with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia and…

Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti said the Serie A champions have serious financial problems amid ongoing uncertainty over their ownership.

Atalanta s 1-1 draw with Sassuolo last week meant Inter were crowned champions of Italy for the first time since Jose Mourinho s treble-winning side in 2009-10, ending Juventus run of nine consecutive Scudetti.

Despite leading Inter to glory, head coach Antonio Conte s future remains uncertain due to the Nerazzurri s financial situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic as owners Suning Holdings Group reportedly consider selling the team.

Reports of a possible sale first emerged in the middle of the season and rumours regarding the Chinese owners – who acquired a majority stake in 2016 – persist amid the COVID-19 crisi…

Another Premier League season has come to an end and Sergio Aguero added another top-flight record to his collection.

Manchester City s all-time leading goalscorer was already the top-scoring overseas player in Premier League history and his farewell brace from the bench in a celebratory 5-0 win over Everton made him the top one-club scorer in the division with 184.

Impressive, yes, but those are conventionally impressive numbers.

For the final time in 2020-21, Stats Perform takes a look through the more unusual figures to have emerged over the course of an action-packed round of games.

The year of the penalty

Anwar Al Ghazi s second-half penalty ultimately proved decisive as Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 and it was also a landmark goal …