Anelka pledges future to Chelsea

Nice coach Claude Puel signed a one-year contract extension to remain at the Allianz Riviera until 2016.

Puel, 53, originally had a three-year contract when he took the reins of the Ligue 1 club in 2012, but is assured of another season in charge.

Nice only survived relegation to Ligue 2 by two points in 2013-14, with Puel s best season at the helm coming in his first year as he steered them to fourth spot.

After nine games in 2014-15, Nice sit in 11th spot on 14 points just one point behind third-placed PSG.

Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere was quoted as saying he would extend Puel s contract amid the club s seven-game losing streak last season, and he has come through with his promise.

Claude Puel, whose accomplishments in training have marked…

Germany will pay tribute to the international careers of former captain Bastian Schweinsteiger and forward Lukas Podolski with farewell matches in their honour.

After 120 and 129 appearances for their country respectively, 2014 World Cup winners Schweinsteiger and Podolski have called time on playing at the highest level in the aftermath of Euro 2016.

Germany s friendly match against Finland in Monchengladbach on August 31 will be played under the banner Servus, Basti  (Goodbye, Basti), with the Manchester United midfielder set to make a final international appearance.

It will be a special evening for me in Monchengladbach and I have a lot to thank DFB [German Football Federation] and the Germany fans for, Schweinsteiger said on the DFB s official website.

…

Shinji Kagawa helped himself to a first-half brace and Andre Schurrle scored a maiden Borussia Dortmund goal as Thomas Tuchel s side eased to a 3-0 DFB-Pokal win at Eintracht Trier.

Dortmund s fourth-tier opponents famously subjected them to a 2-1 defeat in this competition back in 1997, but there was never the slightest hint of a repeat after Tuchel named a strong line-up and was rewarded by a dominant display.

Kagawa could find his place under threat from Mario Gotze this season following the latter s return from Bayern Munich, but, with the 2014 World Cup winner sidelined due to a minor thigh complaint, the Japanese took the opportunity to impress.

Gotze s compatriot Schurrle, a close-season recruit from Wolfsburg, was involved in much of Dortmund s impress…

Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Premier League on Monday evening, as they got the better of Newcastle United 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

Mikel Arteta’s side headed into the match against Newcastle on the back of a goalless draw with Crystal Palace at home in the league.

After a goalless first half on Monday evening, Thomas Partey found Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a long ball, and the 31-year-old striker did not make any mistake in finding the back of the net.

Bukayo Saka doubled the advantage for the Gunners 10 minutes later after being teed up by attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe.

Aubameyang doubled his tally and secured the three points for the home team on 77 minutes after turning in a low cross from Cedric Soares.<…

Erling Haaland was decisive once again with two goals as Manchester City comfortably saw off Sevilla 4-0 in Spain to open their Champions League campaign.

Haaland has enjoyed a devastating start to life at City and was on fire again as he became only the fourth player to score in his first appearance for three different teams in the Champions League.

The only surprising aspect of the game was City and Haaland only managed a single goal in the first half as Sevilla looked every inch a team desperately short on confidence.

As the hosts became more forward-thinking in the second half, City picked them off.

Phil Foden capped a fine display with a goal and Haaland took his season s tally to 12 in seven games, before Ruben Dias put the finishing touches on i…

Just three right out of ten last week. I think I’m beginning to realise why I haven’t made my fortune on the football pools or in the betting shops!

Saturday 7th February 2009

Blackburn v Aston Villa

Here we have a Blackburn side unbeaten in eight, but with only three wins in there and no wins in the last three, against a Villa side, unbeaten in fourteen in domestic competitions. That suggests that both teams are very hard to beat.

Blackburn have developed a steely edge under Sam Allardyce and their comeback a couple of weeks ago to get a draw after being 2-0 down to Bolton wouldn’t have happened before Big Sam’s arrival. Having said that, being 2-0 down to Bolton and only drawing 0-0 at Middle…

Kaka believes Fabio Capello has transformed England into a team capable of wrecking Brazil s hopes of claiming a sixth World Cup in South Africa next year.

The Real Madrid playmaker is a keen student of the English game and he has been impressed by the way Capello has resurrected the national squad from the ashes of their failure to reach Euro 2008, guiding Wayne Rooney and co. to the finals with nine wins in ten qualifiers.

I think the character of Capello is the key to understanding this England team, Kaka said ahead of Saturday s friendly clash between the two countries.

We always knew that they had good individual players capable of deciding games but they look more of a team now. They are much sharper collectively, which is what you would expect from a Ca…

Ahead of Arsenal s EFL Cup tie with Nottingham Forest, Arsene Wenger says he was surprised to see Nicklas Bendtner sign a two-year deal at the City Ground.

Bendtner spent nine years at Arsenal, making 171 appearances without ever doing enough to fulfil his self-proclaimed wish to be the best striker in the world.

Released in 2014, Bendtner had a brief spell in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg, before arriving at Forest earlier this month.

And with the 28-year-old set for a showdown with his former employers on Tuesday, Wenger admits Forest s capture of the Denmark international raised an eyebrow.

It was a surprise to me that Nicklas signed for Nottingham Forest, but at some stage Nicklas needs to restart his career, Wenger said.

Of course he has …

Arsenal are eyeing a shock move for Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris,.

Having already brought in Colombia shot stopper David Ospina in the summer, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is eyeing further competition for first choice keeper Wojciech Szczesny, who has frustrated through his inconsistent performances and is ready to raid his fierce North London rivals.

Since arriving at White Hart Lane in the summer of 2012, France number one Lloris has become one of the best goalkeepers in the English top flight, and would command a fee of around £25m.

However, just fifteen players have played for both North London clubs since 1913, with Sol Campbell the last to move from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2001.

Both Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain have also be…

Jose Mourinho says he will not stand in the way of Morgan Schneiderlin s transfer away from Manchester United if the club receive a suitable offer.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis confirmed on Friday that they had launched a bid for the France international, which is reportedly worth close to £13million.

Everton have also been linked with a bid for the midfielder, who has only played 11 minutes of Premier League football this term, having signed from Southampton in 2015.

Mourinho has admitted that Schneiderlin has made his frustrations clear and that he will not deny him an exit if United s board accept an offer.

He s a great professional, a fantastic boy. Very honest, very open, and he s opened his heart a couple of times, said the Portuguese.

My an…