Zamparini: No Kjaer offers

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has confirmed that he has not been contacted by any Premier League club over the availability of Simon Kjaer.

The 20-year-old defender has gained a string of admirers as a result of some stand-out displays in Serie A following his €4million move from Danish side FC Midtjylland in July 2008.

But Zamparini insists that Palermo will be looking to do all they can to keep hold of the Dane with the likes of Inter Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and, more recently Manchester United, being linked with Kjaer.

A €12m release clause is unlikely to be a stumbling block but Zamparini admits that he is looking to have the clause removed.

Neither Manchester United or other teams hav…

City fans can be extra man in Europe – Gundogan

Ilkay Gundogan has echoed his manager s call for Manchester City fans to end their feud with UEFA and back the club in the Champions League.

Only 32,000 City supporters attended Gundogan s debut for the club – a 4-0 thumping of Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday – and Pep Guardiola told fans to forget their gripes with UEFA and get behind his team.

UEFA punished the club under Financial Fair Play rules in 2014, and City fans were angered further when CSKA Moscow supporters were allowed to attend a match that was supposed to be played behind closed doors as a sanction for racist behaviour at the Russian club s previous matches.

Plans to alter the way coefficient points are distributed could lead to the dispute deepening, but City s £21million midfielder…

Cape Verde 0 Zambia 0: Stalemate sends both sides out

A goalless draw was no good for Cape Verde and Zambia, who are both out of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Cape Verde and Zambia crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations following a goalless draw in their final Group B game at Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín on Monday.

A victory would have been enough for either nation to progress to the quarter-finals, but they lacked the quality to reach the last eight and Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia progressed following their 1-1 draw.

Cape Verde went into the game in second place, but bow out after drawing all three games, with Democratic Republic of Congo leapfrogging them on goals scored.

Zambia, the 2012 AFCON winners, entered the game knowing they had to win to have any chance of going through.

Eva…

A Beginner’s Guide to Art of Football Destruction

Carlos Tevez the highest-paid footballer in the world?

I don’t expect things would go down differently for Argentine striker Carlos Tevez, who is the last in line of big-names to be linked with a move to the same club.

Former West Ham, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus forward is an emotional football player, but it seems that I have mistaken Tevez for a football romantic which he obviously is not.

During his European escapades, Carlos Tevez was never too shy to talk about his boyhood club Boca Juniors. The 32-year-old Argentina international started his career at the Argentina heavyweights but failed to lift the title during his three years at the club, from 2001 to 2004.

Having helped Juventus to consecutive Serie A titles, Carlos Tevez finally…

Passionate Pogba driven by love of football

Paul Pogba gave an impassioned response to his critics after helping France into the World Cup final.

Pogba put in his latest assured display of a quietly impressive tournament at Russia 2018 as Samuel Umtiti s header downed Belgium 1-0 in St Petersburg on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was the world s most expensive player when he rejoined Manchester United from Juventus in 2016 but his performances at Old Trafford have often polarised opinion.

As the biggest game of his decorated career awaits, Pogba is willing to take the barbs in his stride so long as his desire to compete and love for the game is not up for debate.

I don t want to prove nothing to nobody, he said. I came from I wouldn t exactly say nothing [but] obviously I had no trophies.

I cou…

Unai Emery eager to keep ‘very important’ Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insists he wants to keep hold of “very important” Jacob Ramsey amid speculation over the midfielder’s future.

It has been reported that Villa need to sell before strengthening their squad due to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

Ramsey, 22, who has been linked with Newcastle, Tottenham and Bayern Munich, is currently recovering from a hamstring injury and remains doubtful for Tuesday night’s home league game against Eddie Howe’s Magpies.

Unai Emery joined the media this afternoon ahead of our return to action tomorrow.

It’s a very exciting match, [we want] to feel comfortable on the pitch and transmit our full energy to the supporters.

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)

Emery …

Is Benitez clutching at straws?

Out of contention already?

I predicted that Liverpool would win the Premier League this season. I was pretty confident that they would learn from some of their mistakes last season and build on what was their best season in the league for ages. I thought they would go on to do well.

Defeat

They still might, of course, although Sunday’s defeat at Chelsea was their third defeat already in the first eight games. Apparently you have to go back to 1967 to find a team who won the top division after losing three of their first eight.

Whilst I am beginning to lose faith in my prediction Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has told the BBC that his team are very much still in it despite already being six points behind the leaders.

It is too earl…

Manchester City v Sevilla: De Bruyne relishing Sterling link

Kevin De Bruyne is enjoying his flourishing on-field relationship with Raheem Sterling ahead of Manchester City s Champions League Group D meeting with Sevilla.

De Bruyne and Sterling were City s two marquee close-season signings, with the Belgium international s purchase from Wolfsburg quickly surpassing what was a club-record outlay when the England forward swapped Anfield for the Etihad Stadium.

Four goals in his first six senior starts for City has quickly established De Bruyne as a favourite with the club s supporters, while Sterling struck a maiden senior hat-trick in the 5-1 win over AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

Striker Wilfried Bony helped himself to a brace, with Sterling playing behind him and De Bruyne supplying the ammunition from a wide-left attackin…

Prediction: Southampton v Leicester City

Verdict: Draw

Best Odds:

Bookmaker:

Southampton host Leicester City at St Mary s on January 22nd in what should be an exciting game. Southampton are favourites for the game, but reigning Premier League Champions, Leicester City, can once again upset the odds. Leicester are priced at 4/1 with William Hill, while Southampton can be got at odds of 17/20 with the same firm. There is little between the sides in terms of placings in the Premier League with Southampton currently 13th and their opponents in 15th.

Southampton

Southampton are strong favourites coming into the game considering Leicester City have failed to win an away game so far this season. However, they are currently in poor form having lost last weekend to Burnley they are now on a 4-game los…

Tony Mowbray prepared for tough challenge in play-off clash with Luton

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray is keen not to underestimate Luton as the two teams prepare to meet in the Championship play-off semi-final.

Helped by Blackburn’s victory against Millwall, the Black Cats sneaked into sixth place in the table while the Hatters finished third.

Both sides have recent play-off experience, with Sunderland promoted into the second tier with a win against Wycombe in last year’s League One play-offs.

However, Luton missed out on the chance to earn Premier League promotion after being beaten in last season’s semi-finals by Huddersfield, but Mowbray insisted the Hatters will be aiming to “put that right”.

The Lads

, |

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC)

He said: “(Luton) had (a play-off run) l…