List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

All the latest Real Madrid transfer rumours including news of Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba's potential departures.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed Eduardo Camavinga will be mainly utilised as a midfielder in the future despite impressed at left-back last season.

Harry Maguire has confirmed he is no longer Manchester United captain following talks with manager Erik ten Hag. It was reported earlier this month that Ten Hag was ready to remove Maguire from the role after the England defender’s limited appearances under the Dutchman last season. The central defender made just eight Premier League starts, leading to ongoing speculation over his future at Old Trafford. Maguire wrote on Twitter: “After discussions with the manager today he has informed me he is changing captain. “He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt. “So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband. “Since the day I took on the role, three and half years ago, it’s been a huge privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date. “It’s one of the greatest honours in club football. I’ve done everything I possibly could to help United be successful – on and off the field. “I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for first giving me the responsibility and I wish whoever now takes it on every success and they will have my full support. Harry.” In Maguire’s absence from the side last season, Bruno Fernandes was most frequently appointed captain and the Portugal midfielder is expected to be given the permanent role. Maguire has made over 170 appearances for United since being signed from Leicester for £80million in 2019. The England regular has been linked with a move to West Ham in recent days.

Harry Maguire has been dropped as Manchester United captain, the defender announced on Twitter. The 30-year-old defender has been left with an uncertain future at the club, but is under contract until 2025. Maguire arrived from Leicester back in 2019 for £80 million, but has found himself out of the starting XI, with Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane as the preferred first choice centre-back pairing. He could be enticed away from Old Trafford, and will want to be a part of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 in Germany next summer. “After discussions with the manager (Erik ten Hag) today he has informed me he is changing captain. He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt,” Maguire said on Twitter. “So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband. “Since the day I took on the role, three and half years ago, it’s been a huge privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date. It’s one of the greatest honours in club football. I’ve done everything I possibly could to help United be successful - on and off the field. “I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for first giving me the responsibility and I wish whoever now takes it on every success and they will have my full support.” Read More Football rumours: Manchester United set £50million price tag for Harry Maguire Harry Maguire edges closer to Manchester United exit with four players set for moves David de Gea confirms Manchester United exit with ‘farewell message’ to fans

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson laughing at his own jokes at the Turning Point Conference.

Mikel Arteta explains Arsenal's decision to sanction Granit Xhaka's move to German side Bayer Leverkusen.

England have no concerns about their attacking ability despite failing to score in each of their last two matches, midfielder Ella Toone insists. The Lionesses, fourth in the FIFA world rankings, kick off their World Cup quest on Saturday against Haiti in Brisbane, just over a week after playing out a goalless draw in a behind-closed-doors training fixture with Canada on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. It was the same result as their pre-tournament home send-off against Portugal in Milton Keynes on July 1, but Toone has barely heard the subject raised during team training sessions in Australia. She said: “I don’t think it’s been spoken about as much as other people have. We’ve had a lot of games under Sarina (Wiegman), we’ve had a lot of different goalscorers who have scored so many goals, so I don’t think it’s anything that we’re worried about. “Like I say, we’ve had time off, we’ve come back together, we’re learning how to play with each other again, we’re finding those connections on the pitch and we’re having those chances. “I think I’d be more worried if the chances weren’t coming. It’s now about us putting them away, but I don’t think that’s had a massive effect on us. I don’t think that we’re dwelling on that. “We’re very confident and we know we’ve got a lot of goalscorers in the group as well, so we’re definitely creating those chances. It’s now about making sure we put them in the back of the net.” Friday’s match-up against seventh-ranked Canada was not for official records and not a formal fixture. Almost all of Wiegman’s 23-woman squad saw some action, save goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck and forward Bethany England. The decision not to play England, who was in Wiegman’s European Championship-winning squad but did not see any game time – started the social media rumour mill swirling, but the Tottenham striker appeared to be in good health as she fully trained with the squad on Saturday. A total of 19 Lionesses were out on the pitch at the Sunshine Coast Stadium session, while Millie Bright, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Lauren James, Rachel Daly, Esme Morgan and Keira Walsh had a recovery day. On Monday the team will swap seaside for city when they move into their Brisbane hotel ahead of their meeting with Haiti, who sit 53rd in the world rankings. It seems Toone, who scored the first of England’s two goals in the 2-1 Euro 2022 final, will be especially sorry to say goodbye to the Sunshine Coast after a personally transformative time here. I've actually started reading so that's nice. I'm reading Jamie Vardy's autobiography at the minute Ella Toone She added: “I’ve been doing amazing things in Australia. I’ve really found myself here. I never normally wake up early, I’m a proper sleeper. “But I woke up early the other day – six o’clock – I went and saw the sunrise. I absolutely love walking along the beach. And the other day I went into the sea as well. Luckily the girls got me some goggles as I can’t go in with my eyelashes (on). “I was under the waves every single day and I thought, ‘Wow, this is me’. Going in the sea has definitely, really made me a changed woman. It’s got me trying different things. “I always say (I’d do) it, but I’ve actually started reading so that’s nice. I’m reading Jamie Vardy’s autobiography at the minute. I don’t actually read novels, just autobiographies and they’ve got a few pictures in, so that helps!”

Harry Kane has “clearly signalled” his decision to leave Tottenham and join Bayern Munich, according to the German club’s honorary president Uli Hoeness. Kane has attracted interest from Bayern amid reports the Bundesliga champions have lodged a formal bid, with Hoeness insisting Spurs will “buckle” over selling the England captain should he “keep to his word” about leaving. “Harry Kane has clearly signalled in all conversations that his decision stands – and if he keeps to his word then we’ll get him, because then Tottenham will have to buckle,” Hoeness told German TV channel Sport1. “Kane wants to play internationally and luckily for us Tottenham will not be active internationally next year. “He now has another opportunity to come to a top club in Europe. “Up to now, the father and the brother have always stood by what they promised. If it stays that way, that’s OK.” Record Tottenham scorer Kane, who turns 30 later this month, is currently in Australia on the club’s pre-season Asia-Pacific tour. Kane wants to play internationally and luckily for us Tottenham will not be active internationally next year Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness On Kane’s future, new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglu said at his first press conference this week: “I haven’t had any assurances and I wouldn’t expect any assurances. “What I know right now is that Harry is part of this squad. He’s a very important part. He’s one of the premier strikers in the world and I want him involved.” Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen reportedly met in London on Thursday, with Kane now in the final year of his Tottenham contract. Hoeness said: “Levy is clever, he doesn’t name a number. First we have to get him to name a number. “Of course he plays for time. I think he’s a savvy, super professional, I appreciate him a lot – but I don’t think there are people on the other side who have been doing it since yesterday.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kim Clijsters offers Ons Jabeur advice after third grand slam final defeat England not worried about lack of goals ahead of World Cup, says Ella Toone Republic of Ireland defender Louise Quinn confident they can shut down Sam Kerr

Republic of Ireland defender Louise Quinn is confident the Girls in Green have a plan in place to shut down prolific Australia striker Sam Kerr when they face the hosts in their World Cup opener. Quinn’s side, after all, have done it before, spoiling the Chelsea forward’s 100th appearance for the Matildas with a 3-2 victory when they met for the first time in history at Tallaght Stadium in September 2021. Dublin native Quinn powered in a second-half header to break the deadlock and memorably hand the Republic their biggest win over a higher-ranked opponent in over two decades. “It’s rare but I felt like I got one up on her with the Irish team in Tallaght and that is something that I will carry forward with me,” said Quinn, speaking during a team training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park. “But she’s very impressive, she’s very strong, easily one of the best strikers in the world now. For me, you concentrate on the whole thing but I definitely have an individual battle on my hands that is essentially what I want. “What I want to so is to not let her score essentially. Keep her out of the game. She really creates moments out of nothing but it has to be 100 per cent for the 90 minutes. “Yeah, she runs off the back shoulders a lot. She is so nippy that she can come around the front and come off your blindside and make runs in behind. I can’t wait for the challenge to be honest, this is what you play for, to play against the very best in the world. And she is one of the best. “We’ve proved before against Australia that we can put something up against her and she was on the pitch that day and had her chances.” Matildas captain Kerr, Australia’s top goal-scorer of either gender with 63 from 121 caps, was named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Footballer of the Year for a second straight season after a 2022/23 campaign that saw her score 17 goals and pick up six assists across the Women’s Super League and Champions League. She was largely shut down at Tallaght, where Mary Fowler netted two to keep Australia in a game Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson would later tell media he felt was “some kind of record” for the number of technical mistakes he observed in his side. They will have to do better to impress the 80,000-plus crowd who have sold out Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Thursday night, the second contest on a two-match opening day beginning with co-hosts New Zealand’s meeting with Norway in Auckland. Sunday was a recovery day for the Republic, who are hoping midfielder Denise O’Sullivan will be fit in time for the biggest day in team history after she was injured in their aborted friendly with Colombia. An initial X-ray and CT scan encouragingly showed no fracture to O’Sullivan’s shin, and she will be assessed again on Monday afternoon. Quinn’s name will forever go down in history as one of 23 selected to represent her country in their first World Cup. It is an astonishing accomplishment that has struck her sharply and sporadically, often when she has least expected it. She said: “I had a really random one after the Zambia game and we had a weekend off. “I was just chatting to my girlfriend about something, and I was saying ‘I’ll do that after I get back from the World Cup.’ And I actually stopped for a second and realised that yes, I am going to a World Cup. “And I had to stop for a moment. I got emotional. Because we’ve been talking about this all along but now it’s really confirmed. It hit me. We were just getting the dinner ready and chatting, ‘We’ll do this after the World Cup. It was really bizarre, a really emotional moment and I didn’t think that was going to happen.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2016: N’Golo Kante swaps Leicester for Chelsea Carlos Alcaraz out to end Novak Djokovic’s reign in Wimbledon final for the ages Somerset’s Lewis Gregory relieved to shed ‘nearly men’ tag after Blast title win

Phoenix Mercury superstar Brittney Griner marked a successful return to the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, her first since being released from a Russian penal colony last December.

France midfielder N’Golo Kante joined Chelsea from Premier League champions Leicester for a reported £32million, on this day in 2016. Kante’s only season with the Foxes, following his arrival from Caen the previous summer, saw him play a pivotal role in their title-winning campaign. He was offered a bumper new contract at the King Power Stadium but opted to leave for Chelsea. “Despite the offer of a substantially-improved, long-term contract, it became apparent that N’Golo’s wish was to join Chelsea,” said a Leicester statement. Kante cited the opportunity to work under then-Blues boss Antonio Conte as a major reason for moving to Stamford Bridge. “I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s adream come true for me,” he said. “The opportunity to work with a brilliant coach and some of the best players in the world was simply too good to turn down.” Chelsea won the Premier League during Kante’s first season in London as the now 32-year-old became the first player since Eric Cantona in 1993 to win back-to-back top-flight titles in England with two clubs. Kante also won the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League before leaving Stamford Bridge this summer for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Chiefs Twitter has had enough with fans hating on Patrick Mahomes' wife Brittany Mahomes after a clip Netflix's "Quarterback" went viral.Patrick Mahomes is the most beloved man in Kansas City. His wife, Brittany Mahomes, doesn't get to feel the love from NFL fans in quit...