Mousa Dembele on Juventus radar

Erling Haaland has been backed to get even better ahead of Borussia Dortmund s DFL-Supercup showdown with Bayern Munich.

Haaland is Dortmund s outstanding star, having scored 62 goals in 61 games in all competitions since his debut for the club in January 2020.

Of players in Europe s top five leagues, only Bayern s Robert Lewandowski (74 in 63) has scored more in that time, while Haaland s shot conversion rate of 33.3 per cent is the best among those with 20 goals or more.

After a cup hat-trick at Wehen Wiesbaden and then a league double against Eintracht Frankfurt, Haaland s 2021-22 tally of five in two games already leads the way. His 15 shots represent another high, as does their expected goals value of 4.6.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann praised Ha…

Darren Bent believes that Bournemouth striker Joshua King would be a good signing for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window.

The former Tottenham striker has outlined the attributes of the Norway international that would make him perfect for Spurs.

According to , Spurs are interested in signing the 28-year-old striker this summer.

Bent said on , as relayed by : Someone like a Josh King would be a perfect signing because he can play left, right or down the middle. But it [the lack of a second striker] has been an issue for a while.

Joshua King stats

According to , King has played 23 minutes in the Championship for Bournemouth so far this season, while during the 2019-20 campaign, he made 24 starts and two starts in the Premier League fo…

Memphis Depay was frustrated to be restricted to the role of a substitute in the Netherlands World Cup opener, but he is confident of having a greater impact in coming matches.

Depay had been ruled out of Monday s match against Senegal in Louis van Gaal s pre-match news conference.

But the Barcelona forward appeared on the bench and was introduced in the final half an hour with the game still goalless.

Although Depay did not get on the scoresheet, he was involved in the build-up to both Oranje goals in a 2-0 win, with Cody Gakpo scoring the first before Davy Klaassen tucked away the rebound from the Netherlands number 10 s shot.

Speaking afterwards, Depay said: I feel good, I feel good, I feel fit. Obviously a player like me always wants to start from the…

Fred scored the only goal of the game as Manchester United started Ralf Rangnick s reign with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

United made a blistering start to their first game under interim manager Rangnick, but they were frustrated by a well-drilled Palace side for much of the game.

Alex Telles struck the crossbar before Fred s clinical finish secured all three points for the Red Devils on Sunday.

Victory for United boosted their bid to secure a Champions League spot as Palace suffered their first defeat at Old Trafford for over four years.

United showed the intensity Rangnick demands from the start with a high-press approach and Telles flashed an early shot narrowly wide.

The Red Devils were relentless as they continued to pe…

Real Madrid will be out to close the gap on leaders Barcelona, who host Valencia in a tantalising La Liga clash on the weekend.

Barcelona, on top of the table with two wins, lead champions Real by five points after two matches.

A draw at home to Valencia and a loss away to Getafe has seen Real make their worst start to a season in 39 years.

Barcelona, on the other hand, thumped Real Sociedad at home before pinching an away win over Osasuna.

Real will take on Granada at the Bernabeu on Sunday, followed by Barcelona s clash against Valencia at Camp Nou.

Jose Mourinho s side will be buoyed by their Spanish Super Cup success over Barcelona midweek, while Granada, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, aim to somehow defy the odds.

Valen…

Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.

The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.

Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.

With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.

“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it s a graft. Not man…

Leeds United are closing in on the signing of Leicester City striker Chris Wood, .

Both the Yorkshire club and their Championship rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers have had bids for the New Zealand international, though it is the former who are leading the chase.

The 23 year old signed for the Foxes, initially on loan from West Bromwich Albion in 2013, while previously he had had temporary spells with no less than five English league clubs.

Last season he spent two months with Ipswich Town, for whom he made eight appearances without scoring.

In total, he turned out fifty-nine times for Leicester, scoring twenty goals while he also has thirty-nine caps for his country – three of which were won at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

Leed…

Porto close on Joao Moutinho

Portuguese giants FC Porto are set to wrap up a deal for Monaco star Joao Moutinho, .

It is no secret that the Principality club aim to offload their highest earning player and former club FC Porto have emerged as favourites for the midfielder s signature.

After initially pondering a loan move, the Dragons are on the verge of signing the Portugal hotshot on permanent basis seeing as they have all but agreed a transfer fee with Monaco.

Moutinho, who had come through the youth ranks at Sporting Lisbon, surprised everyone when he signed for rivals Porto in the summer of 2010.

Fast forward five years and the 28-year-old seem ready to return to Estadio do Dragao, having enjoyed two successful seasons with Monaco.

…

Manuel Pellegrini urged Manchester City to rediscover the swagger of their previous Champions League performance and put Saturday s thrashing against Liverpool behind them when they take on Juventus in Turin.

City turned in an irresistible performance to dispatch Sevilla 3-1 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan earlier this month, a victory that secured a place in the last 16 with two matches remaining.

A further win at Juventus Stadium would seal top spot in Group D but City head into the match under a cloud, having been dismantled 4-1 by Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.

Pellegrini told a pre-match news conference that the hand-wringing over that humiliation was completed by the following morning and the manager believes his players are focused on the task at ha…

Jakub Blaszczykowski has moved from Borussia Dortmund to Fiorentina on a season-long loan.

The Poland international moved to Signal Iduna Park from Wisla Krakow in 2007 and was part of the Dortmund teams that won the Bundesliga in 2010-11 and 2011-12 as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2012-13.

However, injuries restricted the winger to just 20 appearances in all competitions last season and he has yet to
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play for Dortmund under new coach Thomas Tuchel this campaign.

Kuba is not only a great football player, but also a wonderful person, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said. 

For him it is important to gather a lot of match practice ahead of the 2016 European Championship. We wish him well in his sporting future …