Liverpool open talks with Bayern over Shaqiri transfer

Frank Lampard said there would be home truths at Chelsea after two losses in a week.

Chelsea suffered losses to West Ham (1-0) and Everton (3-1) either side of their victory at home to Aston Villa.

They remain in the top four in the Premier League, sitting five points clear of Manchester United and Wolves, while Tottenham are a point further adrift.

But head coach Lampard is eager for Chelsea to learn from their defeats to teams sitting in the bottom half.

There are home truths all the time, whatever game you play. The players need to consistently hear that, he told reporters, via Football.London.

It ends in disappointment on Merseyside.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)

We have got a good bunch and good group in there. In the Premie…

French defender Modibo Diakite is set to join Cagliari on a free transfer, .

The Isolani have agreed a six-month contract with the former Lazio defender with an option for another year and the deal should be wrapped up later today.

Modibo Diakite has been a free agent since leaving Deportivo La Coruna in December and he has decided to return to Italian Serie A.

The 27-year-old has spent the majority of his career in Italy, having come through the youth ranks at Sampdoria, Pescara and Lazio.

It was at Pescara that he played his first professional game, but he quickly moved to Lazio and went on to spend next seven years at Stadio Olimpico.

Diakite joined Sunderland on a free transfer in the summer of 2013, before being loaned to Fiorentina the fol…

Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has told both Harry Maguire and Mason Greenwood to leave Old Trafford.

Maguire was stripped of the captaincy last week in seemingly another move by manager Erik ten Hag that shows the England defender is not central to his set-up moving forward.

The 30-year-old started just eight Premier League games last season and may feel he needs to land a move away from United if he is to stay at the forefront of Gareth Southgate’s plans ahead of Euro 2024.

West Ham have reportedly shown an interest in signing Maguire, with Rooney of the belief the ex-Leicester player should consider calling time on his days at United, telling The Athletic: “To have the armband taken off you, how does he move forward with the club?

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Police arrested a young male on Sunday after Groningen defender Jetro Willems was punched by a fan of his own team during an Eredivisie derby against Heerenveen.

Former PSV and Newcastle United player Willems was attempting to calm the home supporters at pitchside as tensions ran high when he was attacked, with the shocking incident caught by TV cameras.

Groningen were trailing 2-0 at the time, going into the closing stages, and the game was briefly paused as referee Serdar Gozubuyuk took the players off the field.

They later returned to complete the match, with no further goals scored.

The local police force, Politie Groningen, announced on Twitter: A minor-age boy has just been arrested in #Groningen on suspicion of beating a @fcgroningen player during …

Virgil van Dijk acknowledged he has had to step up his game since leaving Southampton for Liverpool in a move he hopes will allow him to win everything possible .

Netherlands international Van Dijk had long been linked with a move to Liverpool before eventually sealing a transfer at the end of December, officially moving to the club once the January transfer window opened.

The Reds had reportedly been keen on the centre-back before he suffered a serious ankle injury in January 2017 and pushed hard for his signature during pre-season.

Although they failed on that occasion, Liverpool eventually got their man for £75million – a world-record fee for a defender – and he revealed it has not been an easy transition.

I am getting used to how we play. The i…

Slaven Bilic has called on his West Ham players to shape the club s future as they get set to play their first competitive game inside their new stadium. 

West Ham said goodbye to Upton Park a place they called home for 112 years following the end of the 2015-16 Premier League season, electing to move into the bigger-capacity Olympic Stadium.

Ahead of the first game at the new ground the second leg of their Europa League qualifier with Slovenian side Domzale on Thursday Bilic has urged caution with the move. 

Yes this is an opportunity for West Ham to establish themselves but as well [to think like] this is dangerous, the manager said.

I am an optimistic person but somebody has mentioned it that we experienced some bad examples of stadium moves. …

Belgium international striker Kevin Mirallas is reportedly close to completing a £6 million move from Olympiakos to Everton, .

The Olympiakos forward has been on scintillating form since joining the Greek Superleague giants from Ligue 1 outfit Saint Etienne in 2010, netting 34 goals in just 52 matches.

Earlier this week, Mirallas revealed that his agent was in talks with Arsenal regarding a potential move to the English Premier League.

There is still a chance I will move to the Premier League, Mirallas told Het Nieuwsblad.

My agent is having talks with Arsenal, those rumours are true.

Only Olympiakos is in the way. They want €8 million [£6m] and not a penny less. But if the move doesn t come through, I am happy to stay in Athe…

Fulham F.C. have confirmed the signings of Athletic Bilbao centre-back Fernando Amorebieta and Dnipro midfielder Derek Boateng, .

Both Amorebieta and Boateng will arrive at Craven Cottage on free transfer, with the former putting pen to paper on a four-year deal and the latter signing a one-year contract with the option of another year.

Since 2005-06, Amorebieta, 28, has scored four goals in 195 league appearances for Athletic. He has also been yellow carded 77 times and sent off on 11 occasions.

I m delighted to have signed a four-year deal with Fulham and I m looking forward to competing in the Premier League next season, the Venezuela international told Fulham s official website.

I m impressed with the talent already at the club and I …

Lionel Messi is believed to have dropped a hint that he might renew his contract with Barcelona after all.

The Argentine superstar was extremely keen on departure from the Catalan club in the summer, but he was forced to stay put in the end with Barcelona adamant the clause which allowed him to leave on a free transfer had expired and demanding the full amount of the standard release clause €700 million.

Nonetheless, the 33-year-old will be out of contract at the end of the season as things stand right now, and he has already been linked with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, especially the Ligue 1 champions who have reportedly instructed their official shops to prepare for Messi s arrival.

In an interview with RAC1 (via ), Messi spoke about his feeling…

Andrew Robertson warned Liverpool team-mates they cannot afford to make any more mistakes if they are to meet their minimum expectation of Champions League qualification.

The Reds have endured a disappointing season, with Jurgen Klopp s efforts not helped by a string of significant injuries to key players.

Last season, Liverpool won an EFL Cup and FA Cup double, reached the Champions League final, and finished just one point behind Premier League winners Manchester City.

However, this term has seen them fail to defend either cup crown, they were eliminated from the Champions League at the last-16 stage, and are facing an uphill battle to finish in the top four domestically.

Sixth-placed Liverpool are seven points behind Tottenham in fourth, and although t…