Barcelona legend Xavi has urged the Camp Nou hierarchy to make a move for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti.

The Italy international has established himself as a pivotal figure since joining PSG from Pescara in 2012 and has been linked with a move to the Catalan giants on more than one occasion.

He impressed in PSG s 4-0 Champions League win over Barca at the Parc des Princes last month and Xavi has nothing but praise for the gifted midfielder, who has a contract with the Ligue 1 champions until June 2021.

Verratti would be the ideal signing for Barcelona in my opinion, Xavi told Le Parisien ahead of Wednesday s return leg at Camp Nou.

I think Verratti is a bit like me. He always goes in search of the ball quite deep on the pitch and then…

Bayern Munich rising star Jamal Musiala has chosen to play for Germany instead of England at international level.

The 17-year-old could make his senior debut as early as next month, with Germany head coach Joachim Low expected to name a large squad for their three World Cup qualifiers against Iceland, Romania and North Macedonia.

Musiala was born in Germany but moved to England when he was seven when his mother began a degree at Southampton University. He spent eight years in Chelsea s academy and played at youth level for England and Germany before returning to Bayern in 2019.

The 17-year-old has since broken into Hansi Flick s first-team plans and has already made 25 appearances in all competitions this season, mostly as a substitute. He scored in Bayern s 4-…

Chile have announced Reinaldo Rueda s tenure as coach has come to an end following an underwhelming start to World Cup qualification. 

Rueda had been in the post since early 2018, replacing Juan Antonio Pizzi after he failed to lead the team to the 2018 World Cup. 

Chile lost their Copa America crown under Rueda in 2019, having won each of the previous two editions, though they did get to the semi-finals. 

But Rueda s spell in charge has been largely unimpressive, with the team winning just nine of his 27 matches in charge, suffering 10 defeats. 

Rueda leaves Chile having only been able to accumulate four points from as many games at the start of qualification for the 2022 World Cup. 

His final game was the 2-1 defeat away to Venezuela on Nov…

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 7/10 @

Looking to extend on their EFL Cup adventure on Tuesday night, Bournemouth will travel to the Liberty when they meet Swansea.

Starting with the hosts, while Swansea might have extended on their EFL Cup run earlier in the month as they cruised their way to a routine 3-0 victory against Northampton, Michael Duff’s side have struggled to find any kind of Championship stability. Last seen over the weekend suffering a second-half collapse away at Preston as they eventually slumped to a 2-1 defeat, the Swans are yet to muster a single win from any of their opening four second-tier appearances. With their downbeat start to the 2023/24 campaign underlined by an action-packed 3-2 defeat against West Brom on August 12th, the form…

According to , Brazilian wonderkid Endrick is close to agreeing a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, when he turns 18. However, the Palmeiras youngster and his entourage are adamant that a clearly defined development path must be put in place for him, and that includes the 14-time European champions not making a move for Manchester City sensation, Erling Haaland. They believe the two strikers are extremely incompatible to play together, both being very keen on scoring goals.

The 21-year-old Norwegian striker was said to be on the radar of Real Madrid, among other clubs, until he decided to join the Premier League champions from Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season. But even though there is a release clause in his contract at the Etihad, Real currently have no int…

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has hailed the influence of new manager Manuel Pellegrini ahead of the new season.

Pellegrini, who was appointed on June 14, secured his first piece of silverware following City s 1-0 win over Sunderland in the Asia Trophy final on Saturday.

Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Fernandinho and Jesus Navas have all moved to Eastlands in the close-season as City ready themselves to try to claim back the Premier League title from rivals Manchester United.

And Kompany, 27, is excited by Pellegrini s vision for the club.

We’ve had a lot of good things in our team. Our organisation and discipline has been really good, Kompany told The Manchester Evening News.

(Pellegrini) has got his own vision and I think like every big ma…

Stoke City and Crystal Palace will each be out to clinch their first points of the term when they meet at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Both teams made a losing start to the new campaign, Stoke succumbing to a 1-0 loss at Liverpool in Mark Hughes first competitive game in charge, while newly promoted Palace were defeated by Tottenham at Selhurst Park by the same scoreline.

Stoke will have left Anfield feeling unfortunate not to have snatched a point after Jonathan Walters late penalty was saved by Simon Mignolet but, despite that disappointment, Hughes men should be confident of sealing victory at their home ground, where they lost just five times in the league last term.

Even with that impressive record, Stoke only avoided relegation by six points, and Hughes wil…

Bolivia and Colombia will hope to spark a turnaround in fortunes in their respective World Cup qualifying campaigns when they meet in La Paz on Thursday.

Julio Cesar Baldivieso s hosts and their Jose Pekerman s visitors have one win apiece so far to lie eighth and seventh respectively in the gruelling CONMEBOL grind for a place at Russia 2018.

Colombia are without a victory since beating Peru 2-0 on matchday one, with a 20th-minute goal from Lucas Biglia enough for Argentina to leave Barranquilla with the points last time out in November.

There was arguably greater disappointment for Bolivia, who took the lead against Paraguay through New York Cosmos striker Yasmani Duk five days on from a 4-2 triumph over Venezuela.

However, two goals within four minu…

A new FIFA president is set to be elected on Friday the latest chapter in a tumultuous nine months for world football s governing body.

With a corruption scandal engulfing the organisation, Sepp Blatter announced his planned resignation before being banned from all football-related activities for eight years after allegations of a disloyal payment made to Michel Platini.

UEFA president Platini, previously a contender to replace Blatter in the top job at FIFA, was also banned for eight years as the sport was shaken to its very core.

Here, we look at how events unfolded leading up to Friday s election.

May 27: Swiss authorities arrest seven top FIFA officials, including vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, as part of a Unite…

Croatia claimed pole position in Group D with a hard-fought 2-0 win against Nigeria thanks to an own goal from Oghenekaro Etebo and a Luka Modric penalty.

Midfielder Etebo, who joined Stoke City for €7.2million on Monday, turned a Modric corner into his own net after Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic both flicked the delivery on.

Nigeria s previous goal conceded at the World Cup in 2014 was also an own goal, defender Joseph Yobo the unfortunate player to put through his own net in a last-16 defeat to France.

And when William Troost-Ekong needlessly dragged Mandzukic down in the box, captain Modric coolly converted the 71st-minute penalty to give Croatia a winning start on their fifth appearance at the finals.

Croatia had the better of a close contest li…