Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas insists Barcelona are the only club who can take care of superstar Lionel Messi.
Fabregas and Messi played together for three seasons, when the Spaniard was with the LaLiga giants from 2011-14.
The 29-year-old has no doubt Barca are the only outfit capable of caring for Messi, who is now sidelined with a groin injury.
Messi is the best in the world without any doubt, Fabregas told Cadena COPE.
I think the club are the only club in the world who can take care of Messi. They have done so in recent years.
They have always taken care of him. It s the best club for him.
Messi is expected to miss three weeks after suffering a groin injury in his side s LaLiga draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Fa…
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is delighted to see his side in the Premier League title hunt late in the campaign.
Jose Mourinho s men are title favourites despite a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa last time out in the league, with Chelsea four points clear at the top.
Lampard, 35, is pleased to see his side, who last won the league in 2009/10, back fighting for top spot instead of battling for a European place.
For me, it s very simple – worry about yourselves, look after your own game, he said.
If we do that in as many games as possible between now and the end of the season, we ll give ourselves a great chance.
I m confident we can do it. We ve had two or three years of being off the pace now, and coming up short in terms of our league position, and it s grea…
Marco Asensio said he never thought about leaving Real Madrid following his starring display for Spain in Tuesday s demolition of Croatia.
It was the Asensio show in Elche, where the forward scored once and set up four more as Spain condemned World Cup finalists Croatia to the biggest defeat of their history – a 6-0 rout in the Nations League.
Asensio was linked with a move away from Champions League holders Madrid amid reports of a potential switch to Liverpool.
However, Asensio – who has five years remaining on his contract – told reporters: I ve never had the intention to go anywhere.
¡Gran noche con un ambiente espectacular!
— Marco Asensio (@marcoasensio10)
The 22-year-old has flourished at Madrid, winning eight trophies…
Alessandro Nesta believes David Beckham s Miami MLS franchise will be a welcome addition to United States football should the team ever get clearance to join the league.
Beckham, a former team-mate of Nesta s at AC Milan, exercised his option to create an MLS franchise in February 2014, with the club provisionally called Miami Beckham United.
However, with reported financing issues and no agreement with the Miami-Dade County in order to complete a deal for a prospective area of land for a new stadium, Beckham s franchise is some way off joining MLS.
Miami FC joined the North American Soccer League and they have just finished their maiden season in the division since Beckham s franchise deal was announced.
And Nesta, who is head coach at Miami FC, is conv…
Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain spent the most on transfers during the 2015 financial year, while Barcelona and Real Madrid had the game s highest wage-bills.
UEFA s annual club licensing benchmarking report, released on Thursday, provided a wealth of information on the state of clubs finances.
It highlighted net transfer spending from Spain s big two that was beaten by clubs on Italy and England as they splash out on high wage costs to maintain their star-studded squads.
UNITED AND PSG THE BIGGEST SPENDERS
UEFA s report ranked the top 20 clubs by net transfer costs, calculating player acquisitions and sales and spreading the values over the length of each player s contract.
United s net total transfer spend was €100million…
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on veteran English goalkeeper Joe Hart after keeping back-to-back clean sheets for his new club.
The 34-year-old former England international signed with Celtic last week from Tottenham on a three-year deal.
Hart had a scratchy debut in a 4-2 Europa League win at Jablonec last week but has since kept clean sheets as the Hoops recorded 6-0 and 3-0 wins over Dundee and the Czech outfit respectively.
Postecoglou had utilised Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain in goal in games earlier this season but Hart now appears first choice.
Celtic s victory over Jablonec on Thursday saw them progress into the Europa League playoff round with a 7-2 aggregate win, with Hart making a few key saves.
He’s a top quality goa…
Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho was unwilling to discuss links to Edinson Cavani but joked his friends at Paris Saint-Germain could send him Kylian Mbappe on loan.
Cavani s contract expires at the end of the season and the striker has informed PSG sporting director Leonardo of his desire to leave the Parc des Princes.
The Uruguay international is the club s all-time leading goalscorer but has struggled with injuries in 2019-20 and fallen out of favour since the arrival of Mauro Icardi.
Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid have all been credited with an interest in Cavani, but the Spurs boss refrained from fuelling the reports at a news conference ahead of their game against Norwich City on Wednesday.
However, Mourinho playfully sug…
Sami Khedira will be out of action for a month after undergoing treatment on a heart problem, Juventus have confirmed.
The midfielder withdrew from the squad to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League after the detection of an irregular heartbeat.
Khedira is not expected to return until late March after Juve confirmed he had been treated successfully.
Today in the morning the player Sami Khedira underwent electrophysiological study and successful interventional therapy with ablation of an arrhythmogenic atrial focus, performed by Prof. Fiorenzo Gaita, JM cardiologist consultant for Juventus, the club said in a statement.
After a short period of convalescence the player will be able to resume his activity approximately within one month.
Kh…
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The 2021/22 domestic football campaign is officially behind us and while we may have to wait until November for the World Cup to kick off, that doesn t mean we re short on international action. The UEFA Nations League is back in our lives with a parade of nations attempting to make some noise including Wales and Belgium, who will meet in Cardiff this weekend.
Wales
The dragons have roared once again. For the first time in 64 years, Wales will play at the World Cup after defeating Ukraine to qualify just a matter of days ago. The fact that they ve made it to this point is an achievement in itself but now, they need to shift their focus back to the Nations League and realise how much of a platform they ve got to…
After months and months of speculation, Jadon Sancho s future could be resolved.
The 20-year-old attacker has been tipped to return to England, having left Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
And City s neighbours are reportedly set to snap up the in-demand sensation.
TOP STORY – UNITED THI
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NK THEY VE WON SANCHO RACE
Borussia Dortmund s Sancho to Manchester United is a done deal, according to The Sun.
England star Sancho has been heavily linked to United, as well as Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid following his exploits for Dortmund.
However, United believe they have won the race for Sancho after months of secret talks, with just an agreement of a fee with Dortmund remaining.
Man United belie…