AC Milan confident of signing Charles De Ketelaere

Didier Deschamps is not worried about Antoine Griezmann s lack of form ahead of France s Nations League Finals campaign this week.

The 30-year-old returned to Atletico Madrid from Barcelona in a high-profile transfer at the end of August following two largely underwhelming campaigns at Camp Nou.

Griezmann was expected to revive his career in the Spanish capital, but he has managed just one goal and no assists in seven appearances in his second spell with Atletico.

That solitary strike came in last week s 2-1 win over Milan in the Champions League, though he was again left out of Atletico s starting lineup for Saturday s showdown with Barcelona.

He has been named in Deschamps 23-man squad for this week s Nations League Finals, which will see France face …

Blaise Matuidi has left Juventus ahead of an expected move to MLS side Inter Miami.

Matuidi joined Juve from Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, with the 2018 World Cup winner going on to help the Turin giants to three successive Serie A titles and one Coppa Italia triumph.

The French midfielder had another season left to run on his deal with Juve, but the Italian champions have agreed to terminate the remainder of his contract in order for the 33-year-old to join Miami on a free contract.

Matuidi made over 130 appearances for Juve, scoring eight goals.

With our colours on his back, he fought and played his heart out in every single game; placing constant pressure on the opponents, tearing apart the run of play and ever so eloquently relaunchin…

Nemanja Vidic insisted he would not swap any of Manchester United s defenders for Virgil van Dijk or his Liverpool team-mates, while praising Victor Lindelof for displaying character to turn around his form.

United led the Premier League with 19 clean sheets in 2017-18 yet their goal has been breached in all but six of their 26 games to date this term.

Despite that, Sweden international Lindelof has received plaudits as one of United s better performers, the 24-year-old establishing himself at the heart of the club s defence after a difficult first season at Old Trafford.

Vidic, who spent eight years at United between 2006 and 2014, also took some time to find his feet in England before forming a formidable partnership with Rio Ferdinand.

The Serbian, wh…

FIFA president Gianni Infantino committed to avoiding conflict over OneLove armbands at the Women s World Cup, promising to have a position in place well before the tournament begins.

A number of national teams at the Qatar 2022 men s World Cup, including Denmark, England and Germany, were planning to support the campaign that promotes inclusivity and opposes all discrimination.

Their captains were intending to wear an armband bearing the OneLove logo, but the teams backed down when FIFA threatened sporting sanctions – expected to be a yellow card for the captains.

The decision to host the World Cup in Qatar attracted criticism due to the country s stance on same-sex relationships, as well as the treatment of migrant workers.

Australia and New Zealand w…

Pep Guardiola would love to stay at Manchester City beyond this season but believes he has work to do to earn a new contract.

Guardiola will begin a fifth consecutive campaign in charge of the same side for the first time in his career when he takes City to Molineux on Monday to face Wolves in their Premier League opener.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has won six major hours in four seasons at the Etihad Stadium, including back-to-back Premier League titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19 triumphs over the course of which they accrued a scarcely credible 198 points.

But Liverpool stormed to glory in England s top flight last term, finishing 18 points clear of City, who again fell short in the Champions League as Lyon punished a limp quarter-final showing in …

This weekend s Community Shield sees the new English domestic season begin as the last one ended, with Manchester City and Liverpool doing battle.

City pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title, but the Reds got the better of Pep Guardiola s men in their FA Cup semi-final, going on to beat Chelsea in the decider and book their place in Saturday s curtain-raiser.

These two are expected to lead the way once again in 2022-23, yet plenty has changed in their ranks since they were last in action – particularly in attack.

At the Etihad Stadium, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling have departed to be replaced by Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.

With Haaland s arrival perhaps the most notable in the Premier League during this close-season, Liverpool responde…

Ivory Coast defender Wilfried Kanon has urged his team-mates to banish the memory of defeat to Morocco as they look to seal qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations knockout stages against Namibia.

The 2015 winners fell to a 1-0 loss that handed the Group D leaders a last-16 berth, having beaten South Africa by the same margin in their tournament opener.

It means they are level on three points with Bafana Bafana heading into the final round of fixtures.

We have to forget the Morocco game and focus on tomorrow, ADO Den Haag centre-back Kanon told a news conference on the eve of Monday s match in Cairo.

We trained well and we ll give it everything to win.

Kanon is likely have a different right-back starting outside him after Mamadou Bagayoko c…

Chelsea fullback Branislav Ivanovic says he empathises with the club s fans after sections of the Stamford Bridge crowd voiced their displeasure at the recent performances of some players.

Jose Mourinho was relieved of his duties as manager on Thursday with the defending Premier League champions languishing just a point above the relegation zone, although some supporters maintain the players should shoulder more of the blame.

The names of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa were booed as they were read out prior to a 3-1 victory over Sunderland on Saturday and the duo were subjected to further heckling when they were substituted during the second half.

I can understand the frustration of the fans. This is normal, Ivanovic, who opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge, to…

Best Odds: 2/5

Bookmaker:

Hoping to extend their buffer at the top of the La Liga table this weekend, Real Madrid will make the trip to the Estadio de la Cerámica on Saturday afternoon when they meet Villarreal.

Villarreal

Starting with the hosts, while Villarreal might have opened the New Year in the midst of a sluggish run of form, the Yellow Submarine have managed to find a welcomed bounce. Heading into January s brief winter break with a thumping 3-0 win against Mallorca on home soil, the reigning Europa League champions were last seen laying down a real marker. Putting on a stellar display as they made the trip to Champions League contenders Real Betis last weekend, Head Coach Unai Emery saw his side claim an eye-catching 2-0 win on the road. Finding a ro…

Edin Dzeko has joined Inter as the Serie A champions have moved quickly to replace Romelu Lukaku.

Inter sold Lukaku to Chelsea for a reported £97.5million (€115m) last week, and a deal was swiftly completed to bring in Dzeko from Roma.

The 35-year-old has signed a two-year contract with Inter and, although the move was not officially announced until late on Saturday, he featured in a pre-season friendly against Dynamo Kiev.

Inter won the behind-closed-doors match 3-0, with Dzeko scoring and contributing to another goal.

The sensations are good, I m very happy. This is a great opportunity for me, I want to thank the management and the coach for their trust, because they think I can still make a difference, said Dzeko.

I arrive at Inter, a gr…