Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of Southampton defender Danny Fox on an initial loan deal.
The 27-year-old had been at St Mary s Stadium since 2011 and will move to the Championship side on loan until the end of the season.
Once the current campaign has finished, the former Celtic and Burnley left-back will be contracted to Forest for the next three years.
Fox made 69 appearances for Southampton, scoring once, and will join a side fifth in the Championship under Billy Davies.
Danny was an extremely popular member of the dressing room, and leaves with the club s best wishes for his future career, Southampton said on their official website.
He will be fondly remembered for the role he played in helping Southampton return to the Premier League, an…
Mateo Kovacic is likely to make his Chelsea debut off the bench when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Croatia midfielder was not involved in last weekend s 3-0 win at Huddersfield Town after signing on loan from Real Madrid on deadline day.
Cesc Fabregas also sat out the opening weekend and will miss the Arsenal match with a minor, unusual injury close to his knee.
His unavailability coupled with the midweek loan departure of Tiemoue Bakayoko to AC Milan means Maurizio Sarri is set to call on Kovacic.
I think Mateo will be very useful for us. He s a very technical player, Sarri told reporters.
In this moment he has to work. I think he s not ready now for 90 minutes, but maybe tomorrow for 30 minutes he could b…
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The Champions League is back in our lives, as the best clubs from around Europe aim to compete for the right to be called the Champions of the continent. The current champions Real Madrid, who have held the crown since May 2016, will be back in action this week when they go head to head with Roma. Both teams are no strangers to one another, but in terms of their respective expectations this season, many fans are anticipating a one sided affair but we think it ll be anything but.
Real Madrid
There s been an odd aura around the club since Real Madrid lost Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in the summer, as if the heart of their squad had been torn out. Of course, they ve still got a handful of world class super…
Rodri wants Manchester City to move on quickly from the frustration of Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
The champions dropped two points in the Premier League title race after spurning a succession of opportunities in the second half of a compelling encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
It might even have been worse had Rodri not finally made a chance count by cancelling out Raheem Sterling’s first-half opener with a deflected strike in the 83rd minute.
A Rodrigo rocket to share the spoils!
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
The result ended City’s six-game winning league run and left them third in the table, four points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, which they play on Tuesday against Brentford.
Midfielder Rodri said: �…
Ghana s amazing run in the World Cup may be a source of inspiration for Africa, but it s also providing a wake-up call for African nations to lay more emphasis on improving their football standards.
In Ethiopia, thousands of fans have turned up in droves to watch the African teams make their mark in the World Cup, providing rapturous support for Ghana when they beat the United States to reach the quarter-finals.
Ghana is the pride of Africa, vuvuzela-blowing Estifanos Tadesse told AFP.
We are Africans so we support them. And of course, they re performing very, very well.
The team s solid performance has spurred unanimous support behind Africa s only remaining team, but that feat has also provided a painful reminder of the gulf that exists between thei…
Udinese have confirmed the signing of former Spain international Albert Riera for next season on a free transfer.
The 31-year-old winger has been without a club since agreeing a mutual termination of his Galatasaray contract in January, and will officially become a Udinese player on July 1.
He began his career in his homeland with Mallorca and has gone on to play for Bordeaux, Espanyol, Manchester City, Liverpool and Olympiacos.
Riera moved to Galatasaray in 2011, but made just four league starts for the Turkish champions this season.
A lack of first-team opportunities under Roberto Mancini will have contributed to his desire to seek game time elsewhere.
Udinese currently sit 14th in Serie A, 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
…
Benatia set for big club move
The agent of AS Roma defender Mehdi Benatia has all but suggested that his client could leave Stadio Olimpico at the end of the season.
The Moroccan has been in scintillating form since joining the club from Udinese, catching the eye of Europe s top clubs in the process.
And his official representative has confirmed that AS Roma could be ready to entertain offers at the end of the season.
“The future of Benatia? Soon we will have a meeting with Roma,” agent Moussa Sissoko confessed to L Equipe.
“The leaders are aware that big clubs are interested. Following the meeting with Roma, we will see what the decision will be on Mehdi.”
Mehdi Benatia, 26, has made a total of 30 Serie A appearances since arri…
Barcelona are keen on bringing winger Gerard Deulofeu back to Camp Nou.
Deulofeu, a product of the club s famed La Masia academy, made six senior appearances for Barca – all as a substitute – before season-long loan stints at Everton and Sevilla.
He joined the Premier League side permanently in 2015, with Barcelona inserting a buy-back option that appeared unlikely to be activated when he fell out of favour under Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park and joined AC Milan for the rest of this season.
But Deulofeu has been a revelation for the Rossoneri in Serie A and his form earned an international recall – one the 23-year-old grasped by scoring a maiden Spain goal in last month s 2-0 friendly win in France.
His progress has not gone unnoticed at Barca, wi…
Luis Enrique has dismissed suggestions he no longer has the backing of the Barcelona players and stressed the team has always been united ever since his arrival in 2014.
The 46-year-old has come under pressure following Barcelona s heavy Champions League defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, with the Catalans on the brink of European elimination after their 4-0 loss at the Parc des Princes.
Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba were among the players to come out in support of their coach in the aftermath, but their backing has failed to end speculation that some key figures have lost belief in Luis Enrique.
The team has always been united, Luis Enrique said at a media conference.
The players are happier when things go well and less happy when they go�…
Mikel Arteta described Arsenal s form in the last six months as an incredible run after a 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace kept their hopes of qualifying for Europe alive.
West Ham s win at West Brom means that the highest Arsenal can finish, should they beat Brighton and Hove Albion on the final day of the season and both Tottenham and Everton fail to win, is seventh.
That would earn them a place in the Europa Conference League play-off round, with West Ham s result ruling Arsenal out of both major European club competitions for the first time since 1995-96.
But Arteta recalled a run of seven winless Premier League matches towards the end of 2020 as he reflected on the improvement in their season.
If somebody would have said to us in November or Decemb…