Fiorentina have confirmed the acquisition of Croatia international striker Nikola Kalinic.
Kalinic completed his move to Fiorentina on Friday, after Dnipro revealed the Croatian was bound for Florence to sign a contract two days earlier.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by Fiorentina, but the 27-year-old is believed to have agreed to a four-year contract with the Serie A outfit.
He s a good player, who will have to compete with the others, said coach Paolo Sousa following Fiorentina s 3-0 friendly win over Lucchese.
He ll bring us something different, and I m happy about that.
Kalinic, who opened the scoring in Dnipro s 3-2 loss to Sevilla in 2014-15 UEFA Europa League final, scored 37 goals in 86 league appearances for the Ukrainian club, …
Former Southampton captain Francis Benali has dismissed allegations of a spot-fixing culture during his time at the club.
Benali s ex team-mate Claus Lundekvam caused a stir this week with comments made to a Norwegian publication, in which he claimed Southampton players regularly turned a profit betting on minor incidents, such as throw-ins and corners, during their own matches.
Writing in an autobiography released in 2009, retired Southampton favourite Matthew Le Tissier also made references to his involvement with bookmakers during his time at the club.
Benali spent the vast majority of his professional career at Southampton, making 311 league appearances from 1988 to 2005.
The fullback played alongside Lundekvam in defence from 1996 onwards, and has s…
Blaise Matuidi described Paris Saint-Germain s demolition of Barcelona as the best performance the team have put in during his time at the club, but warned there is little time to bask in the win.
Barca, who knocked PSG out of the Champions League quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015, were left shell-shocked as Unai Emery s men ran riot in a 4-0 victory in the last-16 first-leg tie at Parc des Princes.
Angel di Maria scored twice in a sublime performance, while the impressive Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani were also on target during the rout.
Midfielder Matuidi had spoken before the game of his belief that PSG could end their hoodoo against Barca, but the France midfielder while praising the team s performance warned the team to be wary of a Camp Nou backlash in th…
Jurgen Klinsmann has no plans to walk away from United States, with the under-fire coach committed to turning around the nation s fortunes.
Pressure is mounting on Klinsmann after USA crashed to a 1-0 friendly defeat at home to Costa Rica on Tuesday.
The loss in New Jersey came just three days on from USA s 3-2 extra-time disappointment against Mexico in a 2017 Confederations Cup play-off.
Klinsmann, who replaced Bob Bradley in 2011, faces an uncertain future as calls grow for a change in coach after seven defeats in 2015, but the German has vowed to steer USA out of their rut.
We ve had a lot of sunshine, Klinsmann told reporters post-match. [In] 2012, 2013, 2014. Now it s raining a little bit, and you have to go through that. You have to go through a l…
Manchester City cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite falling to a 2-1 loss at home by Basel, Pep Guardiola s men progressing 5-2 on aggregate.
A comprehensive 4-0 win in Switzerland three weeks ago gave City a foot in the last eight and the chance of a Basel comeback was always extremely remote, but the hosts struggled for cohesion after nine changes and slipped to a first home defeat in any competition since December 2016.
Guardiola took the chance to rest stars including Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Ederson and David Silva, with Phil Foden starting to become the youngest English player to start a knockout game in the Champions League.
Teenager Foden featured alongside Yaya Toure 17 years his senior in midfield but the duo strugg…
Manchester United s top-four hopes took a hit as they were held to another 0-0 draw in the Premier League at Old Trafford, this time by West Brom.
Jose Mourinho s side dominated proceedings but were once again lifeless in attack as they had to settle for a draw for the eighth time in 15 home matches in the top flight this season.
Captain Wayne Rooney was fit enough to return to the bench but United, who were again missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic through suspension, offered little invention in the final third against a West Brom side who sat back and frustrated the hosts in impressive fashion.
Anthony Martial missed the only good chance of the first half and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was denied twice after the break, but Tony Pulis side 3-1 winners over Arsenal last time …
Manchester City have emerged as the favourites to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester City, according to the Star.
The England international has been long linked with a move to Manchester United, though it appears that city rivals could be to win the race to secure his services.
Maguire moved to the King Power Stadium in the summer of 2017 and has since played seventy-six times in all competitions, scoring five goals, while he was named the club’s Player of the Year at the end of his first season with the club.
He was also crowned player of the year during his time at Hull City, and three seasons in a row at Sheffield United – the club where he began his career.
He famously scored his one and only international so far in England’s 2-0 win over Sw…
Kepa Arrizabalaga will make his first Chelsea appearance since October when Krasnodar visit Stamford Bridge in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Hakim Ziyech will miss out.
The world s most expensive goalkeeper made an error resulting in a goal in each of his three Premier League appearances this season and has been usurped by new signing Edouard Mendy.
Mendy has proved a stellar signing for Chelsea, having kept nine clean sheets in his first 13 appearances for the club. He also has the best Champions League save percentage (93.8) among keepers to have featured at least three times this season.
With Chelsea guaranteed to advance from Group E in first place, Lampard will take the opportunity to give Kepa another chance in the first team.
Kepa starts.…
Wahbi Khazri conceded it was a bittersweet evening after his winning goal against France proved insufficient for Tunisia to qualify for the World Cup knockout stages.
Khazri was named man of the match after a wonderful display capped by a 58th-minute goal that handed Tunisia a 1-0 win at Education City Stadium.
Unfortunately for Jalel Kadri’s men it was not enough to secure a place in the round of 16 as Australia beat Denmark 1-0 to finish second in Group D behind Les Bleus.
Khazri, who plays his club football in France for Montpellier, said: It s a mixed feeling. We are happy to beat a team like France, we gave a very good performance and we leave with our heads held high but it s bittersweet as it would ve been perfect to win and go through.
Ultimate…
Luis Enrique reckons he would have had a heart-attack if he knew Spain were briefly heading out of the World Cup during Thursday s dramatic conclusion to Group E.
Spain were beaten 2-1 by Samurai Blue at the Khalifa International Stadium, with Japan coming from behind in the second half after Alvaro Morata s early opener.
La Roja went into the game top of the table but needed a point to absolutely make sure of progression.
They did not even manage that, but Germany s 4-2 win over Costa Rica elsewhere ensured Luis Enrique s men lived to fight another day at the expense of Die Nationalelf, finishing second behind Japan.
There were a few minutes, however, where Spain dropped out of the top two completely as Costa Rica led Germany.
Luis Enrique claime…