Emre joins Fenerbahce

Kai Havertz takes the glory and Timo Werner did everything but score, running Manchester City ragged for over an hour, rewriting the narrative surrounding Chelsea s spending spree of last year.

But perhaps the smartest move by those pulling the strings at Chelsea has been to keep N Golo Kante, a colossus of this Champions League final; crowding, cramping City s style, always lurking and looking, Kante was absolutely pivotal to the dark blues bossing this match.

The talk was, going back 12 months, that Chelsea were thinking about selling Kante.

Billy Gilmour was emerging, Mason Mount was everything Frank Lampard has ever looked for in a midfielder, and with a big-money Havertz deal in the pipeline it seemed the face of Chelsea s midfield would be a young one.

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini denied wanting out of Old Trafford, after their disastrous season under David Moyes.

Moyes one and only term in charge at United saw him sacked before the season was out, as the 20-time English champions slumped to a seventh-place finish in 2013-14.

The former Everton man refuted the suggestion he wanted out after the man who took him to Manchester from Goodison Park departed the club in April, with Moyes coincidentally appointed Real Sociedad boss on Monday.

Fellaini was strongly linked with a move to Napoli, after coach Rafa Benitez expressed interest.

No. It was all speculation. In football it is like this, the Belgian said.

That s what happens there is always speculation.

But I signed…

Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery insists he has not been told he must beat Real Madrid in the Champions League if he wants to keep his job.

The Ligue 1 leaders face the tournament s back-to-back winners in arguably the most tantalising of the last-16 ties, which begin next month.

Emery, twice a Europa League winner with Sevilla, was seen as the ideal coach to guide PSG to their first Champions League trophy when he was appointed in 2016, but their remarkable 6-5 aggregate defeat to Barcelona last season – coupled with Monaco s Ligue 1 triumph – led to speculation over his future.

PSG have a nine-point lead at the top of the table this season and marched into the knockout phase in Europe in impressive style, winning five games and scoring 25 goals, but r…

Massimiliano Allegri knows Juventus will have to be fully prepared in order to avoid a repeat of last season s loss at Fiorentina.

Juve suffered the first of only two league losses in the 2013-14 campaign at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in last term s corresponding fixture, throwing away a two-goal lead in a 4-2 defeat in Florence.

And the Serie A leaders should be sternly tested again on Friday by a Fiorentina side that has earned back-to-back wins away from home against Verona and Cagliari respectively in their last two Serie A outings.

Juve were fortunate to come away with a 2-1 triumph over city rivals Torino last weekend, but Allegri feels that success should have given his players the confidence to cope with a tricky away fixture in Tuscany.

He sa…

Spain s Euro 2016 preparations were dealt an unexpected blow as they fell 1-0 at home to Georgia in Getafe s stadium on Tuesday.
Confidence would have been high following comfortable wins over Bosnia-Herzegovina and South Korea in Spain s two prior warm-up fixtures, but Tornike Okriashvili consigned them to an unlikely defeat.
Aritz Aduriz failed to stake his claim for a starting spot in France, turning in a disappointing display in response to Alvaro Morata s double against Korea.
Thiago Alcantara rattled the post shortly before the half-hour mark, but Spain found themselves behind when Okriashvili punished some slack defending to tap beyond David de Gea, picked ahead of Iker Casillas with Vicente del Bosque s first-choice goalkeeper still unclear.
It was a rare attack from the …

Celtic head into the new Scottish Premier League campaign as firm favourites to retain the title despite a close-season scarred by discontent over the club s lack of transfer activity.

Gordon Strachan s side clinched their third championship in a row on the final day of last season 0and, although they have been unable to significantly strengthen the squad, the Parkhead outfit remain the bookmakers choice to finish top again.

There is only one new face around the Celtic changing room with low-key signing Paddy McCourt joining from Derry City.

Greek striker Georgios Samaras, who spent the end of last season on loan at Parkhead, has also joined the club on a permanent deal from Manchester City.

But the squad could soon be strengthened by the potential s…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking for a strong work ethic in his new Manchester United signings.

With the Premier League s transfer window now open, Solskjaer is able to add to a squad that ended the season limply.

Solskjaer initially inspired an incredible turnaround after Jose Mourinho s December departure, but they finished 2018-19 winless in six games in all competitions.

United s 2-0 defeat at home to relegated Cardiff City on the final day of the campaign demonstrated the size of the task facing Solskjaer.

And as his side prepare for another gruelling Europa League slog, Solskjaer named academy products Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford as two players who have the character he wants in his squad.

We ve touched upon it [before], Solskjaer sa…

Juventus centre-back Benedikt Howedes defended former Schalke team-mate Leon Goretzka for agreeing a controversial switch to Bayern Munich, saying every player needs to follow their own interests and goals .

Goretzka had long been the subject of speculation after entering the final year of his Schalke contract in July 2017, with Bayern, Barcelona, Liverpool and Howedes Juve all said to be interested.

Schalke attempted to convince Goretzka to sign a new deal with them, but ultimately the pull of Bayern proved too strong and it was confirmed he will join them on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Goretzka has since come in for criticism from some Schalke fans, who are not happy about the prospect of him playing for them having committed his future to Bayern.…

Queens Park Rangers latest financial report shows the club s wage bill doubled from May 2011 to 2012, before their last transfer spree.

The west London side are bottom of the English Premier League table despite spending heavily and twice breaking their own transfer record in January, signing Loic Remy and then Christopher Samba.

And the latest report, for the year ending 31 May 2012, a period before those deals as well as others for Park Ji-Sung, Julio Cesar and Jose Bosingwa took place, shows a huge increase in their spending.

The club s turnover rose from 34.6 million pounds to 74 million pounds, however, their expenditure on wages also soared from 27.6 million pounds to a massive 56 million pounds in a season in which they escaped relegation on the final day …

Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp still believes his side can escape relegation despite falling deeper into trouble on Saturday.

Redknapp s lowly side slumped to a 3-2 loss at Aston Villa as Christian Benteke scored what proved to be the winner in the 81st minute.

The loss leaves QPR seven points from safety with eight Premier League games remaining, but Redknapp feels survival is still possible.

We ve got to keep going. We can t go home and feel sorry, Redknapp said.

It s going to be hard but there are still eight games to go. If we keep playing well, we can win four or five games.

We re probably looking at four wins and two draws. It s going to be hard but it s not impossible.

I m not giving up. We ve still got to keep going…