Former Liverpool defender Matip confirms retirement after Anfield exit

Carlo Ancelotti has declared that he has no intention of leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season.

Ancelotti has enjoyed a glorious second spell as Los Blancos head coach after returning to the club in July 2021, winning the Champions League and LaLiga last season.

The wily Italian has also masterminded Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup glory, with Madrid in the hunt to lift the Champions League trophy once again this season and the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona are 13 points clear of Madrid at the top of La Liga, so it appears to be only a matter of time before the reigning champions are dethroned.

Ancelotti has just over a year remaining on his contract and the 63-year-old has been linked with the Brazil job, but he has no plans to bring his tenure in the…

Kylian Mbappe produced a magnificent individual display as he and Lionel Messi both scored twice to steer Paris Saint-Germain to a crushing 4-1 win over Club Brugge at the Parc des Princes.

The 22-year-old Mbappe netted the opener with less than two minutes played before adding to his tally with a thumping volley just five minutes later as PSG came out of the blocks flying.

Mbappe added an assist later in the first half, nutmegging his marker on the left flank before switching the play to Messi in the centre and the Ballon d Or winner lashed home from the edge of the box.

The visitors scored a consolation through Mats Rits in the 68th minute, but PSG regained their three-goal advantage just eight minutes after conceding as Messi rifled home a penalty.

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Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is capable of continuing his goalscoring form long into his career similarly to Cristiano Ronaldo, regardless of where he is plying his trade from next season.

That is according to Louis Saha, who also told Stats Perform that he expects Lionel Messi to blow Ligue 1 opponents away once he regains full fitness in the new year.

Mbappe is into the final six months of his existing contract at the Parc des Princes and is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of Ligue 1 from January.

Real Madrid had two bids turned down for the France international in the previous transfer window and remain the strong favourites to land the superstar in 2022.

Mbappe has scored 15 goals and assisted 12 more in 24 outing…

Kevin De Bruyne has said he has not held any talks over leaving Manchester City.

De Bruyne has helped City make a perfect start in their quest to win a fifth straight Premier League title.

However, the Belgium playmaker was linked with a move away from the club over the summer, amid reported interest from Saudi Arabia.

De Bruyne had previously claimed he was open to anything ahead of his 10th season with City.

But speaking to BBC Radio Manchester after City s 3-1 win over West Ham, De Bruyne said: I haven t spoken to anyone, to be honest.

There has been a lot of noise and news. I expected a quiet summer and that s actually what happened.

I went on holiday for four weeks, came back and started training. That was it. Nothing to tell.

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West Brom boss Carlos Corberan saluted the returning Daryl Dike after the striker ended his eight-month injury nightmare.

The United States international, out since April with a serious Achilles injury, scored as the Baggies cruised past Aldershot 4-1 in the FA Cup third round.

First-half goals from Nathaniel Chalobah Jovan Malcolm also made it a Sunday stroll for the hosts before Tom Fellows’ late fourth and Ollie Bray’s consolation.

It was a perfect comeback for Dike as he looks to finally shake off the injury issues which have restricted him to just 28 appearances in two years.

A hamstring injury on his full debut in January 2022 sidelined him for six months and a thigh problem at the start of last season kept the 23-year-old out for three months.<…

Allan is keen to make his spell with Everton as long as possible.

The 30-year-old midfielder played for Vasco da Gama in his native Brazil and for Uruguayan side Maldonado, before making his way across the Atlantic in 2012. He joined Granada, but never made an appearance for the La Liga side; he was immediately shipped out on a two-year loan to Udinese which was then made permanent, and in 2015, he joined Napoli. Carlo Ancelotti, who had worked with him in Naples, took the opportunity to take him to Everton last summer for a reported fee of €25 million.

Allan has so far made 20 appearances for the Toffees in all competitions, missing just under two months of action through a muscle issue.

My thoughts are to remain at Everton for as long as possible, he told t…

Nottingham Forest and Brighton made early moves in an otherwise sedate start to transfer deadline day.

Forest have been one of the most active clubs in the transfer market in recent times and continued that trend with the signing of Rodrigo Ribeiro from Sporting Lisbon.

The 18-year-old striker has joined on loan until the end of the season in a deal which could become permanent.

Ribeiro came through the ranks in Lisbon and made his professional debut for the club as a late substitute in a Champions League tie against Manchester City in March 2022.

We re delighted to announce the loan signing of Rodrigo Ribeiro from

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC)

There was an exit rather than an arrival at Brighton, with midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud moving t…

“First half we wanted to score too much, we thought we would score a lot of goals, but we have got to stay calm always and wait for the game to come to us.”

Tottenham’s late show ensured Postecoglou kept his lengthy unbeaten home league record, which now stands at 50 matches across spells with Yokohama, Celtic and Spurs.

The 58-year-old has not tasted defeat in a league fixture on home turf in almost three years since Yokohama lost to Kashima in November, 2020.

Postecoglou said: “I do put a big emphasis on that wherever I’ve been because ultimately for your supporters, as much as you enjoy the away wins because you’ve got to earn every one of them, it’s when they come to their home ground that you want to really reward them.

“I’ve been v…

Raheem Sterling s first goal at a major tournament saw England get their Euro 2020 campaign off to a winning start, as they beat Croatia 1-0 at Wembley.

Having never won their opening game at a European Championship, England ended the wait to take a big step towards progression from Group D.

In stark contrast to their World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia in 2018, Gareth Southgate s side enjoyed a measure of control throughout, albeit Phil Foden s early strike against the upright was the closest they came until the 57th minute when Sterling broke his tournament duck.

Harry Kane squandered a great chance to double England s lead, but the Three Lions were not made to pay by an ineffective Croatia attack.

19 Raheem Sterling has been directly involved in 19 …

Putting in what was a professional performance on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United claimed a thumping 3-0 victory against West Ham at Old Trafford.

With the red-hot Rasmus Hojlund opening the scoring midway through the first half and notching his fourth strike in as many appearances, Erik ten Hag’s side will take plenty of positives away from a gritty display on home soil.

Although the Hammers might have dominated possession over large spells, United were at their clinical best as Argentina ace Alejandro Garnacho bagged a second half brace.

Now collecting seven points from their previous three Premier League outings, Sunday’s 3-0 win also helped the former champions skyrocket their way back into the top-six.

Although West Ham might have secured an…