France v Germany: Draxler delighted to be back in the fold

Julian Draxler is pleased to be back in the Germany set-up ahead of their friendly against France on Friday.

The 22-year-old made just 15 Bundesliga appearances  seven of which came from the bench  for Schalke in a 2014-15 season that was riddled with injury, but has played well since joining Wolfsburg in August.

Joachim Low has therefore recalled Draxler into his squad, and the playmaker who was part of Germany s World Cup-winning set-up last year  is eager to repay the coach s faith.

I was very pleased to be selected. The faces largely remained the same, he said. It s been a long time since I was here and I am pleased to be able to play again.

I couldn t show good performances for quite a time, which had to do with my injury. You have to play on t…

Minnesota United 1-3 Colorado Rapids: Barrios comes off bench to inspire 10-man rally

Colorado Rapids produced a second-half comeback as the 10-man visitors shocked Minnesota United 3-1 in MLS on Sunday.

Everything seemed to be going Minnesota s way, with the home side taking the lead through an Adrien Hunou goal in the eighth minute. 

Colorado then went down a man as Danny Wilson was shown a red card for a foul on Hunou approaching the hour mark in Minnesota, where the team had boasted the best home defence in MLS having conceded just seven times in 13 games at Allianz Field prior to this fixture.

The Rapids – who had their second-longest unbeaten run in franchise history ended by Seattle Sounders last time out – made a series of substitutions a few minutes later and they paid off, with Michael Barrios producing a scintillating performance o…

Lucas Vazquez signs new Real deal

After much speculation about his future, Lucas Vazquez has signed a new contract with Real Madrid, set to keep him at the Santiago Bernabeu until the summer of 2024.

The 29-year-old winger, mostly used on as a right-back during the 2020-21 season under Zinedine Zidane, seemed very close to ending his long association with Real. He was reportedly unhappy with the change in his role after the club sold Achraf Hakimi to Inter Milan last summer and Dani Carvajal spent a large part of the campaign sidelined with injury. In the end, Vazquez himself suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in the El Clasico win in April and hasn t played since.

AC Milan were reportedly keeping an eye on developments, and Bayern Munich had made him an offer of a place at the Allianz Arena which he…

Magath: Farfán is not for sale

(GSM) Schalke 04 boss Felix Magath has ruled out any possible idea of selling Jefferson Farfán in the January transfer window.

Farfán, who joined Die Königsblauen from PSV in June 2008, has been in impressive form despite the club s poor start to the Bundesliga season.

Such inspired form has seen him reportedly attract the interest of Valencia, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla.

But Magath insists that the Peruvian is not for sale.

The Schalke boss told BILD: Selling Jefferson is not an issue. And I can t imagine that he wants to change clubs.

There is still room for improvement in the 26-year-old s game, according to the former Bayern München and Wolfsburg boss.

He is a class player who works hard, said Magath. But he also must make mor…

Harvey Elliott wants Liverpool to focus on game plan not Manchester City threats

Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott admits they cannot afford to focus too much on the multiple threats Manchester City pose or their own game plan will “go out the window”.

The two title rivals go head to head at Anfield on Sunday with Pep Guardiola’s side having hit top form with 18 wins and two draws in their last 20 matches.

Liverpool’s record over the last 19 fixtures has seen them lose just once and draw three times without, at times, coming close to playing at their best.

Harvey with the assists tonight

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

The attacking options City have at their disposal can be dizzying for opponents but Elliott said they will not be thinking about that.

“Look at the players and the squad depth they have, just Man C…

Norwich will spend Grabban cash – Neil

Norwich City manager Alex Neil insists the club will reinvest the funds they received for selling forward Lewis Grabban to AFC Bournemouth.

The 28-year-old returned to his former side on Monday in a deal reportedly worth over £7million after scoring 35 league goals for Bournemouth in his first spell at the club between 2012 and 2014.

Grabban scored 12 times for Norwich in the Championship last season, but had been restricted to six appearances and one goal – against Arsenal – in the Premier League during this campaign.

He had been forced to issue an apology after going AWOL before a League Cup tie at Rotherham United in September after a move back to Bournemouth initially did not materialise. That prompted him to be fined and suspended, with Neil calling him…

Bayern Munich v Hoffenheim: Guardiola confident champions can cope without Boateng

Pep Guardiola is confident Bayern Munich have what it takes to cope with the absence of Jerome Boateng when they take on Hoffenheim at the weekend.

The Germany international sustained a ruptured groin muscle in Bayern s 2-1 win over Hamburg last week and faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines as a result.

Boateng s injury leaves Guardiola with a selection headache at the back, but the former Barcelona boss believes he has a number of adequate alternatives.

We will miss Boateng, but other players will fill the void, Guardiola said at a news conference. 

We have [Medhi] Benatia, [David] Alaba, [Javi] Martinez, Rafinha, there are plenty of options. Martinez and Benatia have qualities that Boateng doesn t have. But of course, there are some worries.

Arteta leaves Man City for top job at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta will bid to bring back the spark to Arsenal after being appointed head coach of the Premier League club on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Confirmation of his decision to leave Manchester City and return to the club where he ended his playing days came on Friday as Arsenal announced the widely expected move.

The Spaniard spent three and a half years as assistant to compatriot Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium, and City were keen for Arteta to stay with them.

He looked primed as a strong contender to one day succeed Guardiola, but Arteta was not prepared to wait for the chance to take charge of a Premier League club.

The 37-year-old will take up his new position on Sunday, the day after Arsenal face Everton another of his former clubs in …

Inter 1 PSV 1: Icardi header not enough for the Nerazzurri

Inter slipped out of the Champions League after they were held to a 1-1 draw by PSV, confirming Tottenham s place as Group B runnersup.

A run of three games without a win in the competition meant Luciano Spalletti s side went into Tuesday s encounter needing to better Tottenham s result against Barcelona, and Mauro Icardi s 73rd-minute header looked to have booked Inter s place in the last 16.

Icardi s effort cancelled out Hirving Lozano s opener after 13 minutes, but it proved insufficient after Lucas Moura earned Tottenham a late 1-1 draw at Camp Nou.

Lautaro Martinez could have salvaged progression for Inter but he headed over unmarked from six yards out in stoppage time as the Nerazzurri slipped into the Europa League.

3 Mauro is the first player…

Jorginho wants to stay at Arsenal amid Lazio transfer

Jorginho does not want to leave Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Lazio want to sign the former Chelsea midfielder, but the Italy international has no intention of leaving the Gunners.

The report has claimed that Arsenal are not planning to offload Jorginho. While the Gunners want to sell Ghana international defensive midfielder Thomas Partey, Switzerland international midfielder Granit Xhaka is expected to move to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023. Jorginho joined Chelsea from Arsenal in the January transfer window and has told friends that he is comfortable in London.

During the second half of last season for Arsenal, Jorginho made nine starts and five substitute appearances in the Premier League, providing one assi…