Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted that he regrets departing Fulham in 2011 as he prepares to travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Hughes spent just a season at the London club, leading them to eighth in the Premier League before resigning, citing a lack of ambition as he reportedly lined up the Aston Villa job following Gerard Houllier s departure from Villa Park.

He did not get the Villa job, however, ultimately taking over at QPR in January 2012 and leading them to top-flight survival on the last day of the season.

The following season began disastrously at Loftus Road, however, and Hughes was sacked after a winless run of 12 games from the start of the term.

His return to management has been solid, with Stoke having won two and drawn one of their op…

Werder Bremen are keen to battle Hannover in order to bring Per Mertesacker back to Germany from Arsenal.

The 32-year-old centre-back is in the final year of his contract at Emirates Stadium and has not featured this season due to a knee injury sustained in July.

Mertesacker, who won 104 caps for Germany before retiring soon after their World Cup triumph in 2014, has himself said he could be tempted to move back to his homeland.

Bremen general manager Frank Baumann, who played alongside Mertesacker at the Weser-Stadion, believes a return to the club is possible.

I could well imagine Per at Werder, he said to Bild.

Reports in Germany suggest that Mertesacker could be offered a managerial training programme as part of any deal with Werder, and Baum…

Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen have moved to confirm that talented winger Julian Brandt has caught the eye of quite a few top clubs.

The 20-year-old arrived from Wolfsburg in January 2014 as one of Germany’s hottest prospects, and he did well to realise his potential at Bay Arena.

Brandt has quickly become an important member of Roger Schmidt’s side and even managed to play himself into the first team plans of die Mannschaft boss Joachim Low.

that Bayern Munich are determined to bring the youngster to Allianz Arena at the end of the season, and Leverkusen chief Rudi Voller reveals that some foreign clubs are also keen.

“Foreign clubs are already interested, FC Bayern are of course as well,” Voller confessed to Sky Sport News HD.

Bran…

Serie A will look into the practicalities of staging an All-Star game, says league president Lorenzo Casini.

New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly raised it as a possibility for the English Premier League when speaking at the SALT conference this week.

Boehly said an All-Star fixture could pit players from the league s northern clubs against those from the south, with the additional revenue used to fund the wider football pyramid.

The idea was given short shrift by the likes of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and former Manchester United player Gary Neville.

I keep saying it but the quicker we get the Regulator in the better. US investment into English football is a clear and present danger to the pyramid and fabric of the game. They just don’t get it and think …

Cagliari s Massimiliano Allegri won the coach of the year award for the 2008/09 season on Monday easily beating quadruple defending Serie A champions Inter Milan s Jose Mourinho.

Allegri, 42, won the award with 40percent of the vote of his fellow coaches after guiding Sardinia-based Cagliari, who are regarded as one of the lesser lights in the league, into a respectable ninth place in last year s championship.

Mourinho, who refers to himself as the special one , received just 20percent of the vote.

Allegri arrived at Cagliari in 2008 after coaching lower division outfits Grosseto (2005-2007) and Sassuolo (2007-2008).

…

Lukas Podolski showed no sign of rustiness on Wednesday as he came off the bench to rescue a 2-2 draw for Germany against Australia in Kaiserslautern.
The Inter striker has not enjoyed the most prosperous of starts to life at San Siro, although Germany s general manager Oliver Bierhoff backed Podolski to continue to play a part for the national side this week.
And the Arsenal loanee once again showed his quality to steer home a cross from fellow substitute Andre Schurrle nine minutes from time.
Joachim Low started Holger Badstuber and Ilkay Gundogan following their lengthy injury lay-offs, but the world champions delivered a largely lacklustre performance, despite taking the lead after 17 minutes through Marco Reus.
James Troisi s header deservedly brought Australia level five min…

FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Brazil and Argentina after the suspended World Cup qualifier on Sunday.

The fixture came to a halt following an alleged breach of coronavirus regulations by Argentina relating to Premier League players.

Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso started the match, leading to Brazilian health officials to act by entering the pitch after the game had kicked off. A melee ensued before Argentina left the field and did not return.

Brazil restricts entry to travellers from the United Kingdom if they have spent time in the country within the previous two weeks. The Selecao had attempted to call up nine players from the English top flight, but none of those selected travelled as Premier League clubs united i…

Memphis Depay may be convinced to stay at Lyon especially if they can dethrone Paris Saint-Germain as Ligue 1 champions, president Jean-Michel Aulas believes.

The Dutch forward was heavily linked with a move to Barcelona prior to the 2020-21 season, speculation that mounted as Los Cules are coached by his ex-Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman.

With Depay out of contract at the end of June, rumours continue to circle that Barca may reignite their interest in the former Manchester United man.

Depay has been influential for Lyon this season, contributing 15 goals and nine assists from 30 appearances in all competitions. 

Another session of hard work!

— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL_English)

He has a big-chance conversion rate of 61.11 per cent, wh…

J.League table-toppers Sanfrecce Hiroshima will look to bounce back from their first defeat in seven matches when they host Jubilo Iwata on Saturday.

Sanfrecce – who are the defending champions and lead the league by one point – saw their six-match winning streak come to an end at Urawa Red Diamonds last week.

Hajime Moriyasu s side were outplayed in the 3-1 defeat and will be desperate to atone for their slip-up at the first opportunity.

With the third-placed Urawa just two points off the pace, and Omiya Ardija, who are fourth, a further point back, Sanfrecce can ill-afford another defeat.

They will be hopeful top scorer Hisato Sato – who has scored 13 goals in 19 league matches – can hit the back of the net against a poor Jubilo Iwata side who have won …

Dani Alves has criticised Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos for his behaviour towards Sevilla fans but the ex-Barcelona defender insists his personal rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo while in LaLiga was largely a media creation.

Alves left Barcelona after eight seasons and 23 titles last year to join Juventus and he returns to Champions League action when the Serie A leaders visit Porto for a last-16 clash on Wednesday.

Like Ramos, Alves also represented Sevilla earlier in his career and he felt the Spain defender could have handled back-to-back Copa del Rey and LaLiga games with his former employers last month in a more appropriate fashion.

Ramos gestured provocatively towards the home support at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan after he was subjected to jeers and other d…