Chelsea have completed the signing of midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton for a reported £53million, possibly rising to £58m, taking their total number of first-team acquisitions this summer to eight.
The 19-year-old, who has played just 29 times in the Premier League, has signed a seven-year deal having made clear earlier this week his desire to move to Stamford Bridge over Liverpool, who also had a bid accepted.
Chelsea have now spent more than £350m during this transfer window once performance-related add-ons are taken into account, though that has been significantly offset by fees received for player sales.
Introducing a new Blue!
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Lavia told the club’s website: “I can’t wait to meet all my new team-ma…
Best odds: 13/20
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Manchester City will play host to Newcastle United at the Etihad on Saturday evening, in a match within the second round of the 2023/24 Premier League season. It will be an interesting contest between the reigning English champions and Champions League winners on one hand, and a team on the rise, set to play in the Champions League this term after a long absence from UEFA s elite club competition.
Manchester City
There isn t much that can be said about Manchester City that isn t widely known by the football public. A team that has finally crowned its fascinating domination on any football pitch with the Champions League trophy, they are widely regarded as the best team on the planet. Even their fierce rivals admit as much.
Ha…
Best odds: 4/7
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The second round of the 2023/24 Premier League season comes to a close on Monday evening, when Crystal Palace welcome Arsenal to Selhurst Park. It should be an interesting contest, with the Eagles looking to hold off the Gunners who will be hoping to mount another title challenge after the disappointment of the previous campaign.
Crystal Palace
Palace started the season rather well, returning victorious from their trip to Bramall Lane where they got the better of newly promoted Sheffield United. Even without players like Wilfried Zaha or Michael Olise, they picked up the three points thanks to a 49th-minute strike from Odsonne Edouard, the only goal of the game.
While it might be a stretch to expect Palace to maintain a Europea…
Jack Warner has suggested his lifetime ban from football-related activities has been used as a way to distract attention away from criminal proceedings being opened against FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Warner formerly president of CONCACAF and a FIFA vice-president – was sanctioned on Tuesday after an investigation was opened following the Ethics Committee s report on the inquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Warner, one of a number of FIFA officials arrested earlier this year amid allegations of corruption, was found by the Committee to have committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly .
It comes days after criminal proceedings were opened into Blatter who is alleged to have made a disloyal payment to U…
Fulham have completed the signing of Eyong Enoh from Ajax until the end of the season.
The midfielder, a Cameroon international, has made over 130 appearances for the Amsterdam giants since joining the club in 2008.
Ajax technical director Marc Overmars confirmed earlier on Thursday there had been an enquiry for Enoh from the Cottagers.
Enoh has previously played under Craven Cottage boss Martin Jol when the former Spurs manager was in charge of Ajax during the 2009-10 season.
The signing of the central midfielder was Fulham s third of transfer deadline day, having also wrapped up loan moves for right-back Stanislav Manolev and AC Milan s versatile Dutchman Urby Emanuelson.
The London side had previously completed the loan signing of Arsenal midf…
Robert Huth will leave Leicester City at the end of the season, the Premier League club have confirmed.
The 33-year-old has not made a senior appearance since having surgery on an ankle injury last July.
The centre-back will be given a special farewell by the Leicester fans during Wednesday s Premier League game against Arsenal at King Power Stadium.
Leicester vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha told the club s website: Players like Robert have been so important to our club in the last three years, not just for his qualities as a footballer, but for his qualities as a character.
He s a leader, a winner and a player whose commitment to the team has made him equally popular among our players and our supporters. His status as a Leicester City great is …
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp slammed suggestions his team were inflexible and lack a plan B.
The German has been questioned over his tactics during the season, with his side having fallen out of Premier League title contention after a poor start to 2017.
Klopp, whose team are on a six-match unbeaten run and sit third ahead of a trip to West Brom on Sunday, said he was tired of those querying whether he had alternative plans for his side.
If somebody speaks to me about plan A or plan B, I don t really understand this. It was never the case – actually I lose a bit of respect if people say things like this, he told UK newspapers.
In this season we had a lot of possession and won games against teams like Hull and Leicester. Brilliant football, was not …
Shambolic Manchester United come up against another side who inflicted a thrashing on them last season as they attempt to respond from a Liverpool mauling this weekend.
United were thumped 5-0 by their fierce rivals at Old Trafford on Sunday and travel to Tottenham six days later with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under massive pressure.
Premier League leaders Chelsea travel to struggling Newcastle United, while Liverpool take on Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield and Arsenal are on the road at Leicester City.
Why not test your knowledge by tackling our Opta-powered quiz? The answers are at the bottom. Can you repeat Liverpool s five-star showing?
1. Spurs inflicted a 6-1 drubbing on United at Old Trafford last season. Who scored the London club s fi…
Joao Cancelo to Man City: Portugal star the latest man entrusted with Guardiola´s full-back obsessio
Joao Cancelo s move to Manchester City marks Pep Guardiola s latest upgrade to a position that has become pivotal to his all-conquering tactical approach.
Dani Alves and Eric Abidal starred in Guardiola s celebrated Barcelona side but he truly began to experiment and innovate with full-backs during his time at Bayern Munich.
In order to offset the counter-attacking threat of Bundesliga opponents, he began to deploy Philipp Lahm and David Alaba tucked-in alongside their defensive midfielder – a tactic that also aided the control of possession Guardiola so greatly craves. A source close to the Catalan tactician told Omnisport the internal positioning of full-backs is probably his biggest innovation.
Upon his arrival at City in 2016, the Bayern approach was br…
Best Odds: 6/4
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In what is a real showdown between two Italian heavyweights on Thursday night, Juventus will welcome Napoli to Turin for their first contest of 2022.
Juventus
Starting with the hosts, while Juventus might have endured what was a hugely worrying start to the 2021/22 campaign, the Old Lady do appear to have found a boost. Last seen heading into Italy s festive break with back-to-back 2-0 victories against Cagliari and Bologna, Massimiliano Allegri s men are also enjoying an extended six-match unbeaten run across all formats. Winning five of those outings and also booking their spot in the knockout stage of this year s Champions League, their return boss will be calling on his side to keep up that momentum here. While Juve might know that…