Roberto Mancini vowed to start a new era with Italy as the Azzurri look to rediscover their Euro 2020 magic, but warned not to expect instant fixes as he cannot invent players .
Italy lifted the European Championship last July, their first since 1968, with a penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley.
The Azzurri followed that up by failing to make a second straight World Cup, following play-off defeat to North Macedonia in March, which led to questions over coach Mancini s tenure.
Development problems were also cited with the Italian system, which was bemoaned for struggling to produce younger players for the national team with Serie A coaches reluctant to trust the youth.
Italy were 3-0 losers to Argentina in the Finalissima on Wednesday, a meeti…
Ansu Fati dismissed suggestions that inheriting Lionel Messi s number 10 shirt at Barcelona has brought additional expectations after committing his long-term future to the Catalan club.
Fati signed a new six-year contract to keep him at the club until 2027, with a release clause of €1billion included a week after Pedri had penned a similar extension with the Blaugrana.
The Spain international burst onto the scene after making his debut in August 2019, becoming the club s youngest ever LaLiga goalscorer at the age of 16 years and 304 days.
He is also the youngest scorer in Champions League history, after netting against Inter in December 2019 a minute after his introduction from the bench.
The 18-year-old inherited the number 10 shirt after the departur…
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Hoping to move one step closer to securing a lucrative spot in this year s Champions League, Celtic will welcome Hungary s Ferencvárosi to Glasgow on Wednesday night.
Celtic
Starting with the hosts, while they might have left it late away at Premiership returners Dundee United over the weekend, Celtic managed to pick up a deserved 1-0 win and have bounced back from their stalemate at Kilmarnock earlier in the month. With a spot in the group stage of this year s Champions League at the top of their agenda, Neil Lennon s side really laid down a marker when the blew away Icelandic outfit KR Reykjavik in Glasgow last week. Putting in a rampant display on home soil and picking up a 6-0 romp, the defending Scottish champions also hold wha…
What the papers say
Newcastle could be set to revisit their interest in Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips. According to the i, the 27-year-old could be brought in as short-term cover for Sandro Tonali, who is facing a ban following investigations into alleged betting offences.
The Liverpool Echo reports the Reds are among several Premier League clubs interested in Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams. Citing website 90min, the paper says Liverpool, along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa, are all keeping tabs on the 21-year-old.
And the Birmingham Mail says Aston Villa and West Ham have been told by Real Madrid that the price tag for in-demand midfielder Brahim Diaz is about £17.8million.
Social media round-up
Kevin De Bruyne contacted by Cristi…
Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the Bundesliga season – including one from his own half – as 10-man Bayern Munich bounced back from a goalless first 45 minutes to beat nine-man Darmstadt 8-0 on a wild afternoon at the Allianz Arena.
Joshua Kimmich was sent off after just four minutes, but red cards for Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica ensured the hosts had the man advantage at the break, the first time three men have ever been sent off in the first half of a German top-flight encounter.
Kane broke the deadlock six minutes after the restart but it was his second goal, a magnificent effort from inside his own half, that was the highlight of a contest that also saw him pick up an assist on the first of two goals for Jamal Musiala before striking in his 12th goa…
Leeds United are interested in signing Blackburn Rovers forward Ben Brereton Diaz, according to . Diaz is out of contact at Championship club Blackburn at the end of the season, and Premier League outfit Leeds are keen on securing the services of the 22-year-old.
Brereton has been on the books of Blackburn since 2019 when he moved to Rovers after leaving Nottingham Forest. The 22-year-old striker has scored 16 goals and provided one assist in 19 Championship starts so far this season. The Blackburn no. 22 scored seven goals and gave four assists in 30 Championship starts last season.
Leeds will reportedly make a serious push to sign Brereton in the January transfer window. The striker is still in talks with Rovers over a new contract. However, an offer for the striker c…
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is taking a “careful” approach with captain Reece James, who started a match for just the second time this season in the Blues’ 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Blackburn.
James, who has been making his way back to full fitness after sustaining a hamstring issue in August, played 61 minutes of Wednesday’s tie before he was swapped for Malo Gusto.
Benoit Badiashile netted the opener in his first appearance this season, while Raheem Sterling added a second after the break to book the Blues a quarter-final clash with Newcastle.
Pochettino said: “The plan was to check at half-time how (James) was feeling, and after 15 minutes he starts to feel tired and we’re checking from the second half, and we need to be careful how we mana…
Roma forward Borja Mayoral has suggested Zinedine Zidane wanted him to stay at Real Madrid and for Luka Jovic to instead be sold.
Mayoral was a bit-part player for Zidane in 2017-18 and spent the following two LaLiga campaigns on loan with Levante, where he scored 14 goals in 69 appearances in all competitions.
He returned to Madrid for the start of this season and was brought on as a substitute in two league games but has since joined Roma on an initial two-year loan deal.
However, Mayoral has claimed things could have turned out differently as Zidane preferred him to Jovic, who has struggled to make an impact since arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
After doing pre-season with Real Madrid, I was going to leave the club qui…
At this point it is more a case of when, rather than if, the dynamic duo of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will be departing from Premier League giants Arsenal.
For two players with such differing styles and approaches on the pitch, there have been some eerie similarities off it. It seems almost fitting that they, who have undoubtedly been the Gunners’ two best players over the past few seasons, should depart in unison.
What’s worrying is that Arsene Wenger is taking little flak for this situation. If there was ever a sign that your manager is perhaps not up to the task anymore it was the fact that your two star players want to leave the club, but perhaps that is a debate for another day, and another article.
When tracking the career paths of Sanchez and Ozil…
Everton have bought themselves time while they pursue a successor to Rafael Benitez by appointing club legend Duncan Ferguson as caretaker manager.
A run of three defeats in four top-flight games resulted in former Liverpool boss Benitez being sacked at the weekend, with Everton plummeting worryingly close to the Premier League drop zone.
Reports have indicated 16th-placed Everton, who have never been relegated from the Premier League, could interview Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard as they hunt their next boss.
Lampard did well in his first management job at Derby County before experiencing mixed fortunes as Chelsea boss, while Rooney is catching the eye in difficult circumstances at Derby this season.
Former Everton manager Roberto Martinez has also been…