The18’s Prodigal Son returns. Five years, two months and 19 days since Norway’s mischievous sprite sent Cristiano Ronaldo to the substitutes’ bench with a tender hug, Martin Ødegaard is set to the return to the Bernabéu with Zinedine Zidane ready to hand him his second LaLiga appearance for Los Blancos.
Inter Miami’s historically awful start to Major League Soccer might have reached its turning point with the signing of Blaise Matuidi from Juventus.
Blaise Matuidi to Inter Miami is a done deal. Total agreement reached today with Juventus. Medicals scheduled. Here we go @SkySport #transfers
Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Napoli on Saturday was a throwback to Barça’s more controlled days with Ivan Rakitić deputizing smartly for the suspended Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong going from strength to strength in midfield.
Napoli couldn’t get close to the 23-year-old Dutch maestro, who hardly put a foot wrong while completing 94% of his passes in the attacking third and going three-for-three in take-ons. He also had a would-be assist contemptuously chalked off after the ball grazed Lionel Messi’s upper arm.
Manchester City midfielder David Silva will return to the Etihad Stadium for a proper send-off after making his final Premier League appearance for the club in Sunday's 5-0 thrashing of Norwich City, manager Pep Guardiola said.
Silva, who joined City a decade ago, will leave the club at the end of the season and made his 309th league appearance against Norwich, going off to a standing ovation from the City bench in the 85th minute.
The forwards and strikers of the world receive almost all the glory in the beautiful game. Soccer fans rave and rant about Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and other star forwards. This time around, the midfielders shall receive some love — somebody has to get the ball to those forwards and still help in defense. This list ranks the best midfielders in soccer as of right now in the men's game.
With all due respect to Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mané, there’s no way that Kevin De Bruyne doesn’t succeed Virgil van Dijk as the recipient of the Premier League Player of the Season award.
On Wednesday, De Bruyne recorded his 18th assist of the campaign in Manchester City’s routine 5-0 victory over Newcastle United. He’s now the only player in the history of the EPL to post 18+ assists in multiple seasons (he also recorded 18 in 2016-17) and only Mesut Özil (19 in 2015-16) and Thierry Henry (20 in 2002-03) have recorded more in a single season.
Wayne Rooney's move to MLS was declared a farewell tour, a career death sentence for a 30-something ex-Premier League star. After moderate success during his single season with Everton, Rooney was seen as a shell of his former self when he left his boyhood club for D.C. United in 2018.
Despite this criticism, Rooney flourished in the U.S., notching 23 goals in 48 games and leaving a highlight real in his wake.
With Wayne Rooney leaving MLS at the end of the year, let's enjoy this one more time!
Juventus are set to sign Brazil international Arthur Melo from Barcelona after the midfielder agreed a five-year contract with the Italian champions and passed a medical, according to Spanish media reports on Sunday.
The move is part of a twin negotiation between the clubs which involves Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanić moving to Barça, said reports in sports dailies Mundo Deportivo and Marca.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is set to miss the team's next match against Athletic Bilbao after the club said in a statement on Sunday he had injured the calf muscle in his right leg.
Dutch international De Jong missed Friday's 0-0 draw away to Sevilla which dented Barca's hopes of winning the Spanish title, with coach Quique Setien saying before the game he was leaving the player out as a precaution.
With the Bundesliga taking center stage around the planet this past weekend, millions tuned in on Sunday to watch league-leader Bayern Munich go through the paces in a 2-0 win over Union Berlin. While the two-month break obviously took its toll on the standard of play, Bayern relied on the unshakeable midfield brilliance of Thiago Alcântara to establish the rhythm of play and control 62 percent of possession.