Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius is reportedly on the radar of quite a few high-profile clubs, according to his agent.

The 22-year-old was a member of Manchester City between 2009 and 2011 having joined from Stuttgart youth academy, but he was then allowed to join the Bundesliga side on a free transfer.

Karius needed a while to prove his worth at Coface Arena, but he has been club s first choice goalkeeper for some two years now.

And having largely impressed in Germany s top flight, he has been linked with clubs like Inter Milan, Liverpool and Aston Villa of late.

Karius  official representative Florian Goll is not at all surprised that his client has become a hot commodity in the transfer market.

It is obvious that a goalkeeper so young and senio…

Aston Villa have pulled off a significant coup by agreeing to sign Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho on loan for the rest of the season.

The Brazil playmaker returns to the Premier League four years after leaving Liverpool to join Barca in a big-money move.

Coutinho will be reunited with his former Reds team-mate Steven Gerrard, who was appointed as Villa boss in November.

The 29-year-old Coutinho, who is contracted to Catalan giants Barca until June 2023, spent a loan spell with Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season.

He has endured an injury-hit time at Camp Nou, with Barca attempting to cut him from their squad in the last off-season as they looked to clear room on the wage bill to not only register new signings, but also keep hold of Lionel Mess…

The FIFA Council has approved the voting regulations for the 2026 World Cup, which includes an open ballot, president Gianni Infantino has confirmed.

On June 13, the FIFA Congress will convene to vote on the host of football s showpiece event, with Morocco and a joint North American venture between the United States, Canada and Mexico the only bids in play.

Scrutiny over the 2010 vote that awarded this year s staging of the event and the 2022 tournament to Russia and Qatar respectively led to the FIFA corruption scandal and, ultimately, the ousting of long-term president Sepp Blatter.

The ramifications of that episode are still being felt by football s world governing body, and in an attempt to make the process more transparent the bidding regulations, published …

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick admits that he asked not to be selected for England after becoming depressed  when away with the national team.

The 36-year-old, who is retiring at the end of the season, has played 34 times for his country.

He cites the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as the moment when his love affair with international football ended, revealing he asked the FA to no longer pick him.

Carrick told BBC Two s Premier League Show: I d been in the squad a long time and I ll be honest, I was finding it hard going away with England.

I didn t mind going away with United in pre-season for three weeks and coming back, but going with England, it was almost depressing in a way.

It made me really down, so I came to the point af…

Alvaro Morata claims he has realised a dream by sealing a transfer back to Real Madrid from Juventus.

The Spain international, who left for the Serie A champions in 2014, moved back to the Santiago Bernabeu last month after Madrid activated their €30million buy-back option.

Reports continue to link Morata with a subsequent transfer to Chelsea, but the 23-year-old says he is relishing the prospect of working under Zinedine Zidane at the club he joined as a youth player in 2008.

It is incredible to be here again, he told Madrid s official website, ahead of his arrival for a pre-season training camp in Montreal. It is a dream come true and I can t wait to get started.

I can t wait for tomorrow to arrive so we can get to work. Zidane works hard and does …

Former Manchester United manager David Moyes thinks the club has shown little sign of progress since he was sacked in April 2014.

Moyes replaced Alex Ferguson after the latter retired at the end of the title-winning campaign of 2012-13, but the former Everton boss lasted barely 10 months at Old Trafford as he failed to win a major trophy or secure Champions League qualification.

United have struggled to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League in the five years since, though, with Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho both dismissed despite delivering three cup triumphs between them.

Significant money has been spent on the playing squad since Moyes exit, yet they sit 27 points behind league leaders Manchester City with two games left of 2018-19 and are unlikel…

Gerard Pique is remaining defiant in the wake of Spain s chaotic World Cup build-up, drawing on Michigan s 1989 NCAA Championship-winning side as proof La Roja can prosper in Russia.

The 2010 champions were rocked on Tuesday when it was announced head coach Julen Lopetegui would join Real Madrid after the finals.

Unwilling to let Lopetegui stay on for the tournament, the Royal Spanish Football Federation sacked the 51-year-old on Wednesday and placed former captain Fernando Hierro in temporary charge.

And Pique, a world and European champion with Spain, is taking inspiration from Michigan s title 29 years ago, when the Wolverines sacked Bill Frieder who had announced he would take up another coaching position after the Finals before his replacement Steve Fisher g…

Nolito dismissed any notion of wanting revenge over Barcelona when Manchester City host his former club in Champions League Group C on Tuesday.

Spain forward Nolito played for Barcelona B between 2008 and 2011 but only made two appearances for the senior side before moving to Benfica.

A superb campaign for Celta Vigo last time around booked a spot at Euro 2016 for the 30-year-old and preceded his move to City, despite being heavily linked to Barca during the January transfer window.

Speaking at a pre-match news conference, Nolito insisted he had no hard feelings over not winning a second opportunity to make his mark at Camp Nou.

I think there are a lot of other things to play for, he said. I don t know what team the manager will put out but I am quite re…

Andres Iniesta has extra motivation to bow out on top at his last World Cup, according to long-time Spain and Barcelona colleague Sergio Busquets.

Iniesta unforgettably fired Spain to World Cup glory in 2010 with an extra
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-time winner against Netherlands in Johannesburg.

The defending champions failed to make it past the group stage at Brazil 2014, meaning one of the greatest players of this generation has one more shot at global glory before beginning the next chapter of his career with J.League club Vissel Kobe even if he has not entirely ruled out continuing at international level.

Hastily-installed head coach Fernando Hierro has selected Iniesta from the start in both matches so far at Russia 2018 – the blockbusting 3-3 draw against Portugal and …

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In what looks set to be a heavyweight showdown on Saturday afternoon, Newcastle will welcome Chelsea to St. James’ Park.

Newcastle

Starting with the hosts, while Newcastle might have come flying out of the traps when opening up the 2023/24 campaign, it is fair to say that Eddie Howe’s side are in the midst of a recent struggle. Heading into November’s international break with a major missed opportunity as they eventually fell to a shock 2-0 loss at the hands of relegation scrappers Bournemouth, the Magpies do have the feel of a squad seeking a recent boost. Now knowing that they face a real uphill battle in their bid to punch a Champions League knockout stage ticket this season, Newcastle have won just a pair of their previous s…