Southampton keen on permanent Alderweireld deal

Chelsea midfielder N Golo Kante capped a fine 2017 by being named France Football s French Player of the Year.

Kante beat Paris Saint-Germain star and fellow France international Kylian Mbappe to the award on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old, who succeeded last year s winner Antoine Griezmann, edged Mbappe by five votes, while Real Madrid s Karim Benzema finished third.

Kante, who led Leicester City to a remarkable Premier League title success two seasons ago, helped Chelsea to the top-flight crown in 2016-17.

Le sommaire du nouveau numéro de France Football avec N Golo Kanté élu joueur français de l année

— France Football (@francefootball)

His exploits for Chelsea saw him crowned Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players Player o…

Competition: Serie A

Market: Sampdoria to beat Benevento

Odds:

The new year brings a glut of games in Italy s top league as the footballing action continues. The top and the bottom of the table has remained incredibly tight, with a win often able to propel a team up a number of places. With all of this in mind, Sampdoria travel to play Benevento on Saturday.

Benevento have been awful this season and they need to embark upon a run of good form or they will face relegation very early in the season. After 19 games they have won just once, drawing one game and losing 17 times, while they have scored just 10 goals and conceded 41 times. In their last five they have picked up just four points, however, their last game ended in a victory, which has at…

Chelsea striker Diego Costa would be welcomed back to Atletico Madrid with open arms, according to club president Enrique Cerezo.

Costa left Atletico for Chelsea in 2014, but is said to be keen on an exit in the close-season, with the Stamford Bridge club on course for a mid-table finish after a dismal start to their Premier League title defence.

And Atletico, who will look to overcome a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona on Wednesday, are keen on a reunion.

I think it’s difficult, but, as far as we are concerned, we would love it if he came back here, Cerezo told The Daily Mail. 

Atletico are no strangers to re-signing former players – coach Diego Simeone had two spells at the club as a player…

Virgil van Dijk s protracted move to Liverpool left Southampton off balance and under a cloud , according to Saints chairman Ralph Krueger.

Van Dijk had been the subject of Liverpool s interest ahead of the 2017-18 season with Southampton reporting the Reds for making an illegal approach.

That forced Liverpool into an apology, Jurgen Klopp s side withdrawing their interest despite Van Dijk handing in a transfer request to force the move.

Southampton dug their heels in and refused to sell the Netherlands international but it left both club and player in limbo Van Dijk left out at certain times by Mauricio Pellegrino and limited to just 12 Premier League appearances.

A move to Anfield finally materialised, the 26-year-old completing his move to Liverpool f…

The Korea Football Association (KFA) have given a lifetime ban to 41 players after a match-fixing scandal.

The enquiry by the K-League and Korean FA dates back to the summer of 2011, with over three dozen players being found to have been involved in the fixing.

The world governing body FIFA has also extended the ban to apply worldwide, meaning no player caught up in the scandal can transfer overseas.

However, as many as 21 of the players turned themselves in to officials during the investigation, and they have now been offered the chance to return to the game following a probation that is believed to be between two and five years.

The voluntary probation means that any player wishing to return to football must inform the K-League of their intentions befo…

Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez has reportedly rejected a contract extension from the club, fueling speculation that the Argentina international is set to return to his former club Boca Juniors next summer, .

Earlier this week, Tevez revealed that he would contemplate signing a new deal with the English Premier League champions, but recent reports are suggesting the 28-year-old will stay at the club until 2014, when his current contract expires, and then return to Argentina.

Tevez has re-established himself in the first-team at Manchester City after following out-of-favour with manager Roberto Mancini in 2011.

The following-out was, somewhat infamously, a result of the Argentina international allegedly refusing to enter a UEFA Champions League mat…

Germany captain Alexandra Popp had to be withdrawn from the starting XI for Sunday s Euro 2022 final after suffering a muscular injury prior to the clash with hosts England.

Popp went into the final as joint-top goalscorer in the tournament with six (with England s Beth Mead).

She was aiming to become just the second player to score in every match from the group stages to the final at a single edition of a European Championship (men s and women s), after Michel Platini in 1984.

However, she was denied a chance to do so and was replaced by Lea Schuller in the starting line-up, while Svenja Huth took over as captain.

 Alex Popp muss kurzfristig aufgrund muskulärer Probleme passen. Dafür beginnt Lea Schüller von Beginn an. Svenja Huth übernimmt als Sp…

In what was often a cagey affair at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday night, Monaco and PSV played out a 1-1 draw as they opened their Champions League qualifying adventure.

While the Dutch giants might have taken a shock first-half lead on foreign soil as Joey Veerman produced a smart finish six minutes before the break, the Monegasques managed to avoid what would have been an upset in France.

With central defender Axel Disasi powering home from close range in the final 10 minutes, a showdown against either Rangers or Saint Union is still hanging in the balance.

In a battle between two European powerhouses on Tuesday night, we have taken a look at the main talking points.

Summer struggles for Monaco

After impressing many across France last season as they c…

Udinese duo Luis Muriel and Andrea Coda have completed their moves to Serie A rivals Sampdoria.

Sampdoria have raided Udinese to complete the signings of Luis Muriel and Andrea Coda.

The duo have moved to Stadio Luigi Ferraris on initial loan deals, with Sampdoria set to make the transfers permanent at the end of of the season.

Head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic could hand the pair a debut in Sunday s encounter with Palermo.

President Massimo Ferrero and Sampdoria officially welcome Luis Fernando Muriel Fruto and Andrea Coda, who, from a few minutes ago, are finally Blucerchiati players, Sampdoria said in a statement on their official website on Thursday.

The striker and defender have chosen squad number 24 and 25 respectively and come to Genoa from …

Despite a 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa on Sunday, Arsene Wenger does not believe his Arsenal side are Premier League title contenders.

Arsene Wenger believes it is too early to consider Arsenal Premier League title challengers after his side thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal are 11 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, despite easing past Paul Lambert s men to record three straight Premier League wins for the first time this season.

Wenger had predicted that the top two Chelsea and Manchester City  would draw on Saturday, yet although both teams did drop points, he does not envisage them slipping up to allow Arsenal into the race.

It s too early to say that, said Wenger when asked whether his team were now in the title race.

We ar…