Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid on a long-term contact.
The Germany international has reportedly cost the Premier League club over £40million, smashing their previous record for a transfer the £15m signing of Andrey Arshavin in February 2009.
And he has expressed excitement over the prospect of playing in the English top flight.
I am thrilled to be joining a club of the stature of Arsenal and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League, he said.
It will be great for my own personal development as a player and I am particularly looking forward to working with Arsene Wenger. From our negotiations it is clear the club has huge ambition and I look forward to being part of an exciting future.
Manager Arsene Wenger als…
After a breakthrough win on Sunday, Porto will look to take another step forward against Napoli in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Porto s players should have a spring in their collective step when they host Napoli in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie with a new head coach, an in-form forward and the taste of victory on their tongues.
Interim head coach Luis Castro led Porto to a 4-1 win over lowly Arouca in the Primeira Liga on Sunday with Ricardo Quaresma who only signed for the club in January scoring twice to reach seven goals in 13 games for the reigning Portuguese champions.
Porto sacked former head coach Paulo Fonseca last week after their winless streak in all competitions stretched to four matches with Castro installed on a temporary basis .
Fon…
Lars Lagerback hopes restricting the amount of space afforded to Cristiano Ronaldo can help Iceland get off to a winning start against Portugal at Euro 2016.
Iceland s coach faced Ronaldo during his time as Sweden s national team manager, with his side earning two draws during their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup.
Ronaldo failed to score in either of those games, and Lagerback hopes strong pressing from Iceland can shut the Real Madrid attacker out of Tuesday s encounter.
He s one of the best players in the world, you can never be confident that you can stop him, Lagerback told Omnisport.
He has such a lot of skills, he s dangerous near the penalty box with his speed both with and without the ball. Inside the box he is good in…
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola admits he is overwhelmed by his achievements in a relatively short coaching career.
Guardiola watched on as his side defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to clinch the DFB-Pokal on Saturday, after also securing the Bundesliga title in his first season with the club.
The 43-year-old has now won 18 pieces of silverware since replacing Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona ahead of the 2008-09 season, although the Spaniard insisted it has not been easy for him in Bavaria.
It s my fifth year as a trainer of a professional football team, my sixth year overall as a coach, said Guardiola.
One year I was coaching the second team of Barcelona. After four years working with the first team of Barcelona, this has been the most important and challenging s…
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al owner John W Henry believes Luis Suarez s new deal illustrates the progress being made by the club.
The Premier League s top scorer has agreed a long-term contract at Liverpool, ending speculation over his future at the end of a year in which he expressed a desire to leave and was the subject of a rejected bid from Arsenal.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has been steadfast in his desire to keep the striker and rewarded with a prolific start to the season from Suarez, who has scored 17 times in 11 league outings.
Under Rodgers, Liverpool are second in the Premier League, two points adrift of leaders Arsenal, and aiming to return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
And Henry believes the evolution of the club both on and off…
Sweden joined Spain’s players in a show of solidarity before Mariona Caldentey’s stoppage-time penalty gave the world champions a 3-2 Women’s Nations League victory as the scandal surrounding Spanish football rumbled on.
The two sets of players held a banner carrying the phrase “Se acabo” – meaning “it’s over” in English – as well as “our fight is the global fight” before the game in Gothenburg.
The game, a rematch of the World Cup semi-final, was Spain’s first outing since they beat England 1-0 to become world champions in August.
After the final, then president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales kissed forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the post-match celebrations. Hermoso said the kiss was not consensual, su…
Wilfried Zaha has ended persistent transfer speculation by signing a new contract at Crystal Palace through to the end of the 2022-23 season.
Though he was heavily linked with Chelsea and Tottenham throughout the off-season, the Ivory Coast winger remained at Selhurst Park beyond deadline day and has now made a long-term commitment to his boyhood club.
Zaha, 25, originally joined the Eagles as a 12-year-old and emerged as a prodigious talent in the Championship, earning a move to Manchester United following his first three full seasons of senior football.
He eventually returned to Palace for a second loan spell in 2014 and, after signing permanently the following February, has gone on to become the club s joint-highest scorer in Premier League history on 23 along…
A rare error from Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea allowed Stoke City to snatch a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Wales international midfielder Joe Allen, who was earlier on the receiving end of a dreadful high tackle from Ander Herrera, was the beneficiary from De Gea s blunder eight minutes from time.
Stoke edge up to second bottom ahead of Sunderland with their share of the spoils, for which they are largely indebted to their own keeper Lee Grant.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jesse Lingard were improbably denied by Grant during a first half when United played with far greater fluency than in Thursday s laboured 1-0 Europa League win over Zorya. Captain Wayne Rooney was a second-half substitute once more.
France internation…
Jermain Defoe s penalty ended 10-man Sunderland s winless start to the season as the Black Cats came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Bournemouth on Saturday.
A familiar story looked set to unfold after the visitors – with under-fire manager David Moyes serving a touchline ban following a misconduct charge – fell behind to Dan Gosling s 11th-minute goal.
But Victor Anichebe marked his first start for the club by breaking his 546-day top-flight goal drought before the break before playing a pivotal role in Sunderland s unlikely winner.
With Steven Pienaar having seen red for a second booking, Sunderland were firmly on the back foot when Anichebe was fouled in the box by Adam Smith and Defoe made no mistake from 12 yards.
Eddie Howe s side had already …
Sven-Goran Eriksson has no issue with Neil Etheridge s decision to prioritise Cardiff City s bid for Premier League survival over an Asian Cup campaign with the Philippines.
Etheridge has been a star performer for Cardiff this term and elected to stay with the Bluebirds this month rather than join up with his national team.
That has left Eriksson, who took charge of the Philippines in October, without his first-choice goalkeeper, but the former England boss sympathises with Etheridge s dilemma.
Of course it s a pity, but I understand, he wants to concentrate totally on his job with Cardiff, he told BBC News ahead of Monday s Group C clash with tournament favourites South Korea.
Cardiff is not on safe ground, so it s very important that he plays well, ot…