Plaudits premature, says Milan star Piatek

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a great player but Stefano Pioli is unsure if the striker will return to AC Milan.

The 38-year-old s contract with MLS side LA Galaxy expires at the end of the year and he has been linked with a move back to European football.

MLS commissioner Don Garber claimed this week Ibrahimovic is being recruited by Milan, where he spent two seasons before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012.

Milan have been tipped to strengthen their squad in January following a poor start to the campaign, but Pioli was unwilling to confirm Ibrahimovic is a target.

Ibra is a great player, he told a news conference on Saturday. But the January market is far away. There will be time to make assessments.

Here’s the squad travelling to Turin for  …

If Arsenal supporters thought it could not get any worse than suffering a 5-1 thrashing away to Bayern Munich last month, they were proved wrong on Tuesday, as the Bundesliga champions romped to victory by the same embarrassing scoreline in the Gunners backyard.

The hosts opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium to offer hope of a stirring comeback attempt, but Laurent Koscielny s sending off proved the catalyst for another horror show, this time at what is supposed to be Arsenal s north London stronghold.

Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa all hit the back of the net in the second half, before Arturo Vidal s late brace completed a miserable night for the home team. 

Such was the extent of Arsenal s demise, only one Champions League tie has produc…

Plans to honour the Lionesses with a statue outside Wembley Stadium have progressed, Football Association chief Mark Bullingham says.

Bullingham was speaking down the road from the team’s tournament base in Terrigal, New South Wales, three nights before first-time World Cup finalists England will play Spain for the title.

The Lionesses secured their first major trophy at last summer’s European Championships and could add another 13 months later with victory in Sydney on Sunday.

Bullingham said: “In terms of statues it’s something we are looking at post Euros (2022), we’ve made progress on that, and it would be right to have something to commemorate that success outside Wembley.

“We’ve made progress with the discussions but I don’t think we…

Everton Football Club have today denied reports that they have received a transfer request from defensive midfielder Idrissa Gueye. The 29 year old has been with the Toffees since back in 2016, when he made the move over from Aston Villa who currently reside in the Championship. Gueye is also a Senegal international, making his debut way back in 2011. Last night sources from Sky Sports indicated that he was begging the club to allow him to make the move to Paris Saint-Germain, which is believed to be a dream of his. Alas, both the manager and the director of football have reportedly spoken with the French champions, reiterating that they do not want to sell him.

PSG seem to be hell bent on adding to their squad in an attempt to make a push for the Champions League title, but th…

Girona moved back to the top of LaLiga as they shocked Catalan rivals Barcelona with a 4-2 win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

With Real Madrid having only been able to draw at Real Betis on Saturday, Michel’s well-drilled side made the most of their opportunity with a brilliant display after taking an early lead through Artem Dovbyk.

Although Robert Lewandowski soon headed in an equaliser, left-back Miguel Gutierrez fired the visitors back in front before half-time and substitute Valery added a late third.

FT 2-4

Just wow. |

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN)

Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back for Barca in stoppage time, but Cristhian Stuani knocked in Girona’s fourth to seal a memorable victory.

Following a 13th league win …

Referee Mike Dean reached an unlikely milestone on Tuesday as he showed a red card to Ashley Young in the match between Wolves and Manchester United.

The dismissal was the 100th in the Premier League in Dean s career, having become a top-flight official in 2000.

The 50-year-old leads the way for red cards in the Premier League era, well clear of second-placed Phil Dowd s 67 as he brought up his century at Molineux.

United captain Young had already been booked when he launched into a rash challenge on Diogo Jota, catching the ball but following through with his studs into the striker s leg.

Newcastle United s Nolberto Solano was the first to see red from Dean for a handball in April 2001, while Tuesday s was the official s 10th dismissal of the 2018-19 se…

Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi stretched Arsenal s winning run to four consecutive games in all competitions as Alexis Sanchez dazzled in the 2-0 Premier League victory over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Monreal s opening goal arrived after Alexandre Lacazette was denied by the post during the early stages for Arsene Wenger s side, although Solly March was similarly close to a Brighton equaliser before half-time.

Sanchez took centre stage after the break and set up Iwobi to double the Gunners advantage with a sublime backheel.

The 28-year-old forward was unable was unable to claim a maiden Premier League goal of the season but his performance offered a vindication of Wenger s hardball transfer window tactics, which left Sanchez unable to complete a deadline-day move to…

Former Manchester Untied defender Fabio da Silva has signed for Nantes from Middlesbrough, bringing his 10-year spell in English football to an end.

After starting his career at Fluminense, the 28-year-old full-back broke through at Old Trafford in 2008-09 under Alex Ferguson but made only 23 Premier League appearances for United before signing for Cardiff City in January 2014.

Cardiff were relegated to the Championship at the end of that season and Fabio went on to be a regular in the Bluebirds back four until he secured a move back to the Premier League with Middlesbrough in 2016.

Another relegation followed, but the two-time Brazil international will play top-flight football again after signing a three-year contract at Nantes.

After 11 years in the…

Juan Mata had an extremely lucrative offer to leave Manchester United this summer but decided to turn it down and stay put, according to .

The 32-year-old Spaniard joined United from Chelsea back in January 2014 for a reported fee of around £40 million, but it s now been a long time since he was a regular member of the starting XI at Old Trafford. Last season, despite being fit and in the matchday squad for all 38 Premier League games, he started only eight and made 11 more appearances off the bench. This term, he has played only twice so far, both in the Carabao Cup.

Apparently, he was targeted by an unnamed club from Saudi Arabia, which initially offered him €16m per year to leave Old Trafford, and later raised the offer to €20m. However, Mata feels he still has …

According to a recent report from Marca, Tottenham Hotspur will pay €30 million in order to secure the permanent signing of Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis during the January transfer window. Spurs had made it clear to Betis that this was the direction they wanted to take this deal in, and it doesn’t seem as if the Spanish side are going to be all too opposed to the idea. 

Lo Celso has certainly had a mixed start to life in North London, because while he has provided the club with a few bright sparks in an otherwise poor season thus far, he’s also had some moments where you’d have to question whether or not spending €30 million on him is the right way to go. 

Still, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho clearly sees something in him, and it’ll be interesting to…