Antonio Conte is determined to ensure Chelsea avoid a Mourinho season in their defence of the Premier League title this season.
The Blues won the title under the Portuguese in 2015, but Jose Mourinho was sacked the following December with the club having endured a nightmare start and languishing in 16th.
Chelsea regained the trophy in Conte s maiden campaign, with Tottenham seven points adrift in second.
Conte, whose side head back from a pre-season trip to China and Singapore following back-to-back defeats to Bayern Munich and Inter, knows the pressure is on to avoid a similar fate.
Antonio Conte makes time to sign some shirts on his way to the team coach
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
We know the difficulty of the next season and for su…
Matthias Ginter s decision to join Borussia Monchengladbach came from the heart after the Germany defender was won over by the club s continued pursuit of his services.
The 23-year-old completed his switch from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund for a reported €20million on Tuesday, having been courted by the club before.
And the sustained interest shown in him was pivotal to the move, which comes hot on the heels of Ginter s success with his country at the Confederations Cup in Russia.
It was the third time Borussia had tried to sign me and the second time [coach] Dieter Hecking showed interest in me, Ginter told the club s official website. This support and faith blew me away and speaks for itself.
When a sporting director [Max Eberl] and a coach a…
Yannick Carrasco is reportedly set to return from Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang to Atletico Madrid, with today (Friday) being the deadline day for the winter transfer window. According to , the winger is already in Madrid, looking to finalize a loan move back to his former club.
Having left the Rojiblancos in January 2018, the 26-year-old Belgian has been looking to leave China since this time last year. Back then he was linked heavily with Arsenal, as Unai Emery, then the Gunners boss, sought to sign a wide attacking player. In the end, he settled for taking Denis Suarez from Barcelona in a loan move which eventually turned out a complete fiasco. Last summer it was Manchester United who were considering Carrasco, but they signed Daniel James instead.
Atletico…
Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for €80 million, a world-record transfer fee for a goalkeeper, in 2018. However, manager Frank Lampard, a club legend who took his job a year later, says the amount the club paid for a player doesn t come into his thinking when he picks his lineup.
https://twitter.com/footballdaily/status/1228331198398828546
…
Pep Guardiola hailed Manchester City s record-breaker Rico Lewis after he became the youngest player to score on his first Champions League start in Wednesday s 3-1 win over Sevilla.
A much-changed City team initially fell behind to Rafa Mir s header in their final Group G fixture, but at the age of 17 years and 346 days old, Lewis hammered home to beat Karim Benzema s 2005 record and level the scores.
Lewis effort kick-started a City comeback, as Julian Alvarez put Guardiola s team in the ascendancy before teeing up Riyad Mahrez to complete the scoring late on.
Speaking to BT Sport after the victory, Guardiola credited Lewis for his intelligence and said City s win showed the future is bright at the Etihad Stadium.
What a goal, he s a fantastic player. …
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 8/11 @
In what could be a lively affair from the Bundesliga this weekend, Mainz will welcome Wolfsburg to the MEWA Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Mainz might have been hit with an action-packed 6-2 loss away at defending champions Bayern Munich last weekend, Christian Heidel s men still enjoyed a largely impressive October run. Opening this weekend s fixtures battling it out in the top-half of the Bundesliga table, the Reds could have their sights set on clinching a shock European spot this season. Landing a thumping 5-0 romp at home against Koln last month, Mainz have lost just one of their previous five top-flight contests. Likewise, extending on their DFP Pokal adventure with a routine 3-0 victory…
Crystal Palace are set to sign Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland on free transfer, .
The 33 year old has been with Fulham for the last six and a half years, but left at the end of his contract after not being given assurances about the future direction of the club.
Hull City had also been linked with a move for the towering centre-back as Steve Bruce looked to add experience to play alongside Curtis Davies and new signing Harry Maguire.
However, Palace are winning the race to secure his services, with Eagles manager Tony Pulis planning to partner him with Scott Dann.
During his time at Craven Cottage, Hangeland racked up two hundred and sixty-seven appearances, scoring twelve goals , and was part of the squad that got to the 2010 Europa League.
…
Just six days away from the chance to claim his fourth Super Bowl, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady knows he is a marked man.
The 34-year-old, who was taken with the 199th selection in the 2000 NFL draft, already has a hat-trick of Super Bowl rings after leading his team to victories over St Louis (2002), Carolina (2004) and Philadelphia (2005).
But Sunday s clash with the New York Giants will be a monumental clash for Brady, giving him the chance to gain revenge over his opposite number Eli Manning, who was instrumental in the Giants 17-14 win over the Pats in 2008.
In their only other meeting this season, the Giants defeated the Patriots 24-20 on the road on November 6, and Brady knows his team will have to do it the hard way on Sunday at Lucas Oil …
Paris Saint-Germain have agreed a one-year extension with reserve goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez that will see him stay at the club until 2016.
Nicolas Douchez hopes to win more silverware with Paris Saint-Germain after agreeing a one-year extension to his current deal with the Ligue 1 champions.
The 34-year-old has played a back-up role at the Parc des Princes since his arrival in 2011 as the Parisian giants have established themselves as a force once again.
First-team opportunities have been few and far between for Douchez due to the form of Salvatore Sirigu, but the former Rennes man has won Ligue 1 twice, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Tophees des Champions on two occasions during his time at the club.
Douchez has his sights set on more success aft…
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino has made three surprise inclusions in his squad for the upcoming friendlies with El Salvador and Ecuador in Washington and New Jersey respectively.
Having named the foreign-based players for his final squad before the Copa announcement, Martino could hand a debut to Real Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
The 22-year-old has impressed for David Moyes side in La Liga this term and is joined by two other surprise inclusions Mateo Musacchio and Lucas Orban.
Villarreal defender Musacchio has not featured for his national side since 2011, while Orban s last Argentina appearance came in November 2013.
There is no space, however, for highly-rated trio Pablo Vietto, Paulo Dybala or Mauro Icardi, with domestic players due to …