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It’s almost time for another stacked international break, and while we don’t mean that in the competitive sense, there are certainly some blockbuster friendlies taking place over the next week or so – and this is one of them. Former world champions Argentina and Italy will do battle, as one prepares for the 2018 FIFA World Cup meanwhile the other attempts to make a statement following an extremely disappointing qualification campaign.

Argentina

After barely managing to scrape through the qualification phase, Argentina will be heading into the World Cup with virtually no pressure on their shoulders. They have many high profile stars who are set for hectic conclusions to the season across Europe, and because of …

Per Mertesacker has agreed a contract extension at Arsenal, the club have confirmed.

Manager Arsene Wenger stated early on Friday that an option had been taken up to extend the World Cup-winning defender s deal by an additional year.

The 32-year-old is now set to stay at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the 2017-18 season. His new deal follows contract extensions being handed to Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Francis Coquelin last week.

He is a leader of the team and he is also one of the four centre backs who has experience and can guide the team, Wenger told Arsenal Player.

There were no negotiations in fact, because he had an option for extension. So it s not really a new contract, it s just an extension of the old one. We had to take tha…

Manchester United great Denis Law has revealed that he has been diagnosed with dementia.

The former United forward, who scored 237 goals in 404 games for the Red Devils and is their third-highest all-time top scorer, released a statement on Thursday to announce a diagnosis of  mixed dementia – in his case, a combination of Alzheimer s and Vascular dementia.

After former team-mate Bobby Charlton s diagnosis in 2020, the ex-Scotland international becomes the latest former footballer associated with the illness.

Law, who won the Ballon d Or in 1964, wrote: I am at the point where I feel I want to be open about my condition. I have been diagnosed with mixed dementia .

It is an incredibly challenging and problematic disease and I have witnessed many frien…

Sevilla have completed the signing of highly rated youngster Ryan Johansson from Bayern Munich.

Johansson, 18, has signed a six-and-a-half-year contract with the Spanish side and is expected to feature for their second team – Sevilla Atletico – and the senior side before the end of the season.

A technically gifted midfielder comfortable in the middle and on the right flank, Johansson had been at Bayern since 2017 and was on the fringes of the first-team squad, having been involved in each of their past two pre-season camps.

But with the path to first-team football at Bayern blocked by a significant amount of talent, Johansson opted to make the move to LaLiga.

It is a dream come true. I think Sevilla is the perfect club for me at this point in my care…

Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 15 points after Angel Di Maria scored the pick of the goals in an emphatic 5-1 victory over Montpellier.

After Layvin Kurzawa s opener for the champions was cancelled out by Florent Mollet in some style, Di Maria struck a wonderful curling free-kick that crashed in off the crossbar and set the tone for the rest of the evening at Parc des Princes.

Thomas Tuchel s men were at their free-flowing best and Christopher Nkunku netted a header before Montpellier captain Hilton turned Kylian Mbappe s shot into his own net.

Mbappe got one himself as PSG showed no signs of missing the injured Neymar or Edinson Cavani on a night when they made their lead at the top of the table look all the more unassailable.<…

With all eyes from across the Premier League falling on Old Trafford, Manchester United mounted a stunning late comeback as they clinched a 2-1 victory on Saturday lunchtime.

Despite falling 1-0 behind as Jack Grealish opened the scoring 15 minutes after the interval, Erik ten Hag s side put in yet another stellar post-World Cup display on home soil.

With the red-hot Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes bagging both of United s late strikes in the space of just four minutes, the Red Devils now find themselves firmly sat in pole position to secure a Champions League return.

Along with widening their buffer in the top-four chase, Saturday s hosts also handed their bitter local rivals a major title blow.

With the defending Premier League champions enduring a…

Jose Mourinho will bring silverware to Tottenham and justify the club s decision to dismiss Mauricio Pochettino, according to Gustavo Poyet.

The Portuguese took the helm at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last November after Spurs sprung a surprise by ending Pochettino s five-year reign.

While Pochettino transformed the club into top-four regulars and reached the 2019 Champions League final, he failed to win a trophy.

Poyet, who finished his playing career with the London club, conceded it was a debatable call to get rid of Pochettino but is confident Mourinho – one of the most decorated managers in history – will bring success.

3 José Mourinho became just the second non-British manager to win the English top-flight title on three occasions (after Arsene…

Real Madrid have lodged an official complaint with FIFA over an alleged illegal approach by Inter for midfielder Luka Modric.

The Croatia star has been linked with a possible move to San Siro in recent weeks despite Madrid president Florentino Perez declaring they would not accept less than his €750million release clause.

Modric s agent even claimed the player was excited by the prospect of heading to Italy, even though he said he would retire at Madrid when he signed a new four-year contract in 2016.

A FIFA spokesperson has now confirmed to Omnisport that Madrid have reported Inter to FIFA for approaching Modric without their consent.

Despite Inter s interest, which includes suggestions they will try to make the move happen before Serie A s transfer de…

Is there a more reliable way of making sure a football team fails to live up to expectations than to label them the Golden Generation ?

Okay, maybe that s a little reductive as living up to expectations is of course entirely dependent on context – the Czech Republic s Golden Generation from 1996-2006 finished second and third at two out of three European Championship appearances. While not successful in the literal sense, most would agree it was a commendable achievement.

But for Belgium s plentiful crop, a lot more was expected than what they ve achieved. While perhaps less of a disappointment than England s own Golden Generation , third place at a World Cup isn t going to be much of a legacy given some of the talent the Red Devils have had.

Roberto Martinez s…

Lille winning Ligue 1 would be something huge for French football according to their former striker Eder.

Christophe Galtier s side could be crowned champions on Sunday when they host Saint-Etienne, if their result in that match betters Paris Saint-Germain s efforts against Reims.

Even if the race goes to the final weekend, a three-point lead with two games to play and the title race being in Lille s hands represents a phenomenal achievement.

PSG have won seven of the past eight top-flight titles in France, but Eder has observed a competition reborn this season – something he feels would be validated by Lille completing an unlikely march to glory.

I think it s amazing for the championship because a lot of people have been saying that the French champio…