If losing your manager was bad enough, imagine losing your star defender?

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and centre-back Virgil van Dijk are attracting some serious interest from across Europe.

Now, LaLiga s powerhouse duo are reportedly eyeing the Reds pair.

TOP STORY – BARCA AND MADRID WANT KLOPP AND VAN DIJK

According to AS, LaLiga champions Barcelona and rivals Real Madrid are set to go head-to-head to try to prise Klopp and Van Dijk from Liverpool.

Klopp and Van Dijk helped lead Liverpool to Champions League glory last season, while the Reds are challenging for Premier League honours this term having narrowly missed out to Manchester City in 2018-19.

With Barca head coach Ernesto Valverde and Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zi…

Pep Clotet will leave his role as Birmingham City head coach at the end of the Championship season.

Birmingham are 16th in the table and eight points clear of the bottom three ahead of the English second-tier s proposed restart on June 20.

The Blues announced on Monday that Clotet would step down from his position at the conclusion of the campaign in order to explore other coaching opportunities .

Clotet, 43, took over in June 2019, initially as an interim appointment, having previously served as assistant coach to Garry Monk.

It s been a really difficult decision to take because it s a privilege to be part of the Blues family, Clotet said.

But it s the best step for everyone and it allows the club to continue to move forward with their vision …

Portsmouth were condemned to relegation Friday after becoming the first Premier League team to enter administration in a move designed to avoid the 112-year-old club going out of business altogether.

The move means Portsmouth will automatically be docked nine points, a penalty which virtually guarantees the top flight s bottom club will drop to the second-tier Championship at the end of the season.

The entry into administration was confirmed at London s High Court following the failure of attempts by Portsmouth s Hong Kong-based owner Balram Chainrai to find a buyer willing to bail out a business with debts in excess of 60 million pounds (90 million dollars).

A fire-sale of the club s best players, who include England goalkeeper David James, is now inevitable as…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has rejected suggestions he has rushed back players in recent weeks after Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Dominik Szoboszlai all aggravated injuries early in their returns.

Alexander-Arnold will miss the Carabao Cup final later this month because a knee problem recurred in last week’s win over Burnley, Thiago’s comeback after nine months lasted just 10 minutes, while Szoboszlai played just over an hour over two matches before succumbing to the hamstring problem which forced him to miss most of January.

Mohamed Salah returned to training this week after a month out with a hamstring problem sustained on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt but Klopp is confident he is ready to play again.

Jürgen Klopp today offered …

Stoke City defender Erik Pieters has signed a three-year extension with the club.

Pieters new deal will see him remain at the Britannia Stadium until 2020.

The Dutch left-back joined Stoke from PSV in 2013 and is now an integral part of Mark Hughes team.

And the 27-year-old was quick to express his delight at committing his future to Stoke.

He told their official website: I can look forward to a bright future here now.

I love being here, I have enjoyed it from the moment I first arrived here and I think we will only continue to grow stronger together. 

From the moment we sat down to discuss a possible contract I really wanted to get it all sorted as soon as possible.

Chief executive Tony Scholes added: It s important for us…

David Moyes is not remembered fondly for many things by Manchester United fans, but signing Juan Mata from Chelsea is certainly one highlight.

The Spain international moved to Old Trafford from Stamford Bridge on January 25, 2014, for what was then a club-record fee of £37.1million.

Mata was highly regarded by Chelsea fans and has gone on to establish himself as a firm favourite among the United faithful, making 131 appearances in all competitions and winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield last year.

But to celebrate his third anniversary at the club, United posted a compilation of his finest moments away from the football pitch, entitled 11 times Juan Mata was just plain awesome .

Scenes in the below tribute include a no-look strike in bowling, a g…

Portugal and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo insisted he is not obsessed with breaking records as they come naturally for him after scoring his landmark 700th career goal.

Ronaldo bagged a consolation penalty in the second half of Portugal s 2-1 Euro 2020 qualifying defeat to Ukraine in Kiev on Monday.

The 34-year-old superstar made no mistake from 12 yards after Taras Stepanenko was penalised for handling the ball inside the box, but it was not enough for Portugal as they lost for the first time since the 2018 World Cup.

Defeat for Portugal at the Olympic Stadium made the occasion bittersweet for Ronaldo, who is now part of an elite list of players to have reached the milestone figure.

700 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 700th career goal for club a…

Saint-Etienne have confirmed the tragic death of 19-year-old defender William Gomis amid reports that the player was shot.

An official statement paid tribute to the former apprentice, who joined the club at the age of 15, describing him as solid and elusive .

AS Saint-Etienne had the immense sadness to learn of the tragic death of William Gomis, which occurred last night, read the statement, released on Monday.

Appreciated by his former team-mates and educators for his human qualities, the young player, who would have turned 20 in December, did all his training at the club where he had arrived at the age of 15.

 L profondément affectée par le décès tragique de son ancien joueur William

— AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel)

He …

English heavyweights Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have joined West Ham United in the race to sign Nice striker Loic Remy, the French club s CEO Patrick Governatori revealed on Thursday.

Governatori revealed that Nice were in talks with both Liverpool and Spurs and said they had submitted bids of between 14.5 million and 15.5 million euros for the 23-year-old former Lyon player.

Remy, who has one international cap for France, spoke about his future after a training session here and said he had never hidden (his) desire to play in England .

It will be a choice between two clubs with big futures, he said.

I have a slight preference for a prestige club like Liverpool, even though Tottenham are also very, very interesting.

Nothing has been decid…

Bordeaux have confirmed forward Alberth Elis remains hospitalised after undergoing emergency surgery for a “significant head impact” sustained after colliding with an opponent on Saturday night.

The incident took place 34 seconds into his side’s 1-0 Ligue 2 victory over Guingamp when the Honduras international clashed with defender Donatien Gomis.

He was removed from the action on a stretcher after eight minutes of on-pitch treatment and later placed into an induced coma.

Communiqué du Club

— FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins)

On Sunday the 28-year-old’s club issued an update, saying: “It is still impossible to comment on Alberth’s vital and functional prognosis” and called for “restraint” during the troubling …