A move to Stamford Bridge looked all but guaranteed, but concerns over playing time has swayed the attacking midfielder's mind Chelsea have been handed a blow in the transfer market as Aleksandr Golovin has opted to move to Monaco rather than Stamford Bridge, with the Russia international set to put pen to paper on Friday. Golovin's transfer will cost the Ligue 1 outfit €30 million (£26.5m/$35m) up front, Goal understands, with CSKA Moscow in line to receive a percentage of any future sale of the 22-year-old star. The player will undergo a medical on Thursday and will sign a five-year deal with the Ligue 1 side, with his presentation likely to be on Friday. Golovin, tipped to be a future star ahead of the World Cup, had been linked with The Blues for some time, with the London club's Russian links making the move seem all the more achievable. Russia performed well above expectations as they hosted football's biggest tournament this summer, with Golovin playing a key rol

Manchester United have welcomed two key men onto their pre-season tour as both Fred and David De Gea were spotted in training yesterday. Fred has been sidelined with an ankle injury picked up in Brazil training ahead of the World Cup but has now finally joined up with his new team-mates. The 25-year-old, who will wear No 17 after Daley Blind’s exit, completed his move to Old Trafford from Shakhtar Donetsk for £52million earlier this summer. De Gea was back in action following his post-World Cup holiday, although Spain failed to impress in Russia as they were knocked out by the hosts in the last 16. Meanwhile, United welcomed yet another celebrity guest to pre-season as WWE star Rey Mysterio posed for pictures alongside Jose Mourinho and his players. Take a look through the gallery above to see the best pictures from Manchester United’s latest pre-season training session.

It is the joy of every couple to welcome their bundle of joy months or few years after their wedding ceremony. This has been the trend for many years especially in Africa. Popular Nigerian footballer who made his country proud at the just concluded World Cup 2018 held in Russia, Ahmed Musa, and his beautiful wife, Juliet Ejue, just welcomed their first baby. The football star on Thursday, July 26, took to his social media handle to announce and share a picture of his bouncing baby boy. Musa’s post reads: “I would like to announce to you all that moments ago Allah blessed me with a beautiful baby boy! Words cannot describe this feeling! ” The footballer has received loads of congratulatory messages from family, friends and fans worldwide. it was  earlier reported that on Sunday, July 1, the Super Eagles striker celebrated his first wedding anniversary with Juliet. He shared their picture on Instagram as he penned down sweet words to his sweetheart. It could also be recalled that Juliet

Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, has put a timeline on his goal of buying Arsenal, following a report that Alisher Usmanov is exploring a sale of his 30 percent stake. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources close to the Russian billionaire, that Usmanov has grown frustrated that the club's majority owner, Stan Kroenke, is unwilling to engage in takeover talks and has given up all hope of acquiring the club outright. Asked about the report later in the day, Dangote, who has held an interest in buying Arsenal since 2010, confirmed he would pursue a takeover in two years. "We will go after Arsenal from 2020 ... even if somebody buys, we will still go after it," Dangote told Reuters. Dangote added that the need for healthy cash flow until completion of his oil refinery project rules out a move for Arsenal before then. Usmanov had previously made a $1.3 billion offer to buy out Kroenke, but KSE (Kroenke Sports & Entertainment) UK Inc said its shar

Everton have signed Brazilian winger Richarlison from fellow Premier League side Watford in a potential £50m deal on a five-year deal. Everton are believed to have paid an initial £35m for the 21-year-old, with further clauses taking it to £50m. Manager Marco Silva signed Richarlison for £11.5m from Fluminense in August 2017 when he was in charge at Vicarage Road, after the Under-20 World Cup. "I want to have a lot of success with Everton," said Richarlison. "I think it is going to be important for me to be with Marco Silva again. I will learn more because I am still learning as a player and I aim to develop and grow here. "I developed really well with him while he was with me at Watford. It was really good working with him and one day I believe he can help me to be selected for Brazil in the full national team. "Everton have put their faith in me and I intend to honour this shirt and demonstrate on the pitch why I came here. I want my dreams to become a reali

Bayer Leverkusen winger Karim Bellarabi collapsed from exhaustion in a pre-season friendly and will remain in hospital overnight for observation. The 28-year-old, who has won 11 caps for Germany, was replaced at half-time in Leverkusen's 2-0 friendly win over Wuppertal. Bellarabi was assessed in hospital before being given the all-clear by medical staff. Leverkusen said on social media that Bellarabi "is doing well".

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has heavily criticised Mesut Ozil after the Arsenal playmaker announced he was retiring from the Germany national team. Ozil announced his withdrawal from international football on Sunday at the age of 29, citing racism and lashing out at the president of the German football federation (DFB) for the reaction to him and Ilkay Gundogan posing for a photo with Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the Turkish President's visit to London in May. "I'm glad this nightmare is over," Hoeness told reporters at Munich airport. "He's been playing crap for years. "The last tackle he won was before the 2014 World Cup. And now he is hiding himself and his poor performances behind this photo." "His 35 million followers, that of course do not actually exist in the real world, ensure that Ozil has played exceptionally when he successfully finds his man with a square ball." Ozil was a key player for Germany's golden generation

Parma striker Emanuele Calaio has been banned for two years for match-fixing. Parma have also been deducted five points for the 2018-19 Serie A season and Calaio, 36, has been fined 20,000 euros (£17,800). Italy's National Federal Court (TFN) imposed the sanctions after Calaio sent "suspicious messages" to some of his former team-mates before Spezia played Parma on 18 May. Parma won the game 2-0 to secure promotion back to Italy's top flight. Calaio, who left Spezia to join Parma in 2016, contacted Spezia players Filippo de Col and Claudio Terzi before the game via messaging service WhatsApp. Prosecutors began investigating in June and Parma denied any wrongdoing, saying the messages "don't contain any sort of irregularity or malice". But Calaio was charged with match-fixing in July, when the Italian FA passed the case to the TFN, and the messages were deemed to influence the game by "eliciting a reduced effort" from De Col and Terzi. Parma we

JOE HART is a shock name on Chelsea’s shortlist to replace Thibaut Courtois. The Blues risk angering fans with a £5million raid for the out-of-favour Manchester City keeper, who has just spent a disastrous season on loan at West Ham.Belgium stopper Courtois is wanted by Real Madrid and has yet to agree new terms despite now entering the final year of his Stamford Bridge deal. The Chelsea hierarchy are admirers of Hart, 31, even though he was left out of England’s World Cup squad and was brutally axed by City boss Pep Guardiola. Hart is seen by Chelsea and new boss Maurizio Sarri as a good option due to his small price tag — and because he boosts their count of homegrown players. Yet any deal could rile Blues supporters after he could not even nail down the No 1 slot while on loan at bitter rivals West Ham.Blues could anger fans with move for Hart - who spent much of last season on the bench for rivals West Ham

FRANCE hero Olivier Giroud has revealed he will shave his head following his pre-World Cup promise after all... one on condition. The Chelsea man, 31, claimed he would lose his famous locks if Les Bleus won it all in Russia and has now promised to honour that.Prior to this summer's World Cup, a host of France players accepted a load of wacky "forfeits" should they win the tournament. Giroud promised to cut off all his hair and had come under pressure in recent days to get on with it - with one interviewer even pulling out some clippers live on air. Elsewhere, Nabil Fekir and Hugo Lloris are set to also shave their hair - with Lloris also enduring a pub-crawl in Nice - while Blaise Matuidi will cycle from Paris to Turin. Thomas Lemar must dye his hair, while Adil Rami has to fight Teddy Riner.Now Giroud has revealed he will shave his head after all - but only after his son's baptism on Sunday. Giroud revealed: "I only have one rule... so I will respect it. My wif

ARSENAL No1 Petr Cech has been spotted in pre-season training looking absolutely ripped... and Twitter can't believe it. The former Chelsea stopper, 36, appears to have added a massive amount of muscle mass to his upper-body this summer. Cech has been tipped for a move back to the Blues after Bernd Leno's arrival at the Gunners. Now fans on Twitter have had their say - and come up with some incredible reasons for Cech's late-career transformation. One social media user reckons Cech is going to fight Leno for the No1 jersey - while another claimed he must have been living in a gym. kindly subscribe to our blog to get football news as it happens 

Juventus have sold all their season tickets for the 2018-19 season following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. The Serie A champions said 95 percent of last season's ticket-holders had taken up their option to renew, with those tickets not renewed sold to club members on a shortlist within hours of going on sale on Thursday. The sellout comes despite a price hike earlier this summer, which had angered many fans. "Such is the demand for season tickets this year that there will not be any phase of general sale for season tickets," a statement on the Juventus website said. "So, just under a month until the start of the season, the goal of 25,300 season tickets has already been reached, which together with the 4,000 premiums bring the total season tickets to 29,300." The arrival of Ronaldo appears to have convinced those upset by the club's decision to increase prices in some parts of the stadium by up to 37 percent, with an average increase of

TOTTENHAM fans have hit out at "lazy" Nike as their new away strip is EXACTLY the same as Barcelona's training kit. The Premier League side unveiled both their home and away shirts yesterday, much to the disappointment of supporters. Fans are up in arms over the latest design and claim it wasn't worth the wait. Not only that, it will cost a staggering £90 to buy the "elite" away jersey. Even the shorts appear identical to those of the Barcelona training kit. Fans took to Twitter to vent their frustrations over the lack of creativity, although rival supporters joked it could even help them win silverware. One said: "Nike have literally no creativity whatsoever. Tottenham's away kit is literally Barcelona's training kit." Another joked: "When you realise Nike didn't give a s * about Tottenham's new kit to the point that they just gave them Barcelona's training kit." A Spurs fan was trying to find the positives by claimi

Tottenham forward Son Heung-min has signed a new five-year contract to keep him at the club until 2023. The South Korea international, 26, agreed a five-year deal when he joined from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015, and has since gone on to score 47 goals in 140 appearances for the London side. He played in 53 of Spurs' 55 matches in all competitions last season. Son scored twice during this summer's World Cup, including one in South Korea's shock win over Germany. In 2017, he became the top Asian scorer in Premier League history, overtaking former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CROATIAN PRESIDENT. The Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, has created a storm by her beauty and selfless support of her national team. But do we know what lies beneath her beauty? Born on 29 April 1968, she is a graduate in  English and Spanish literature. She has done post-graduation in international relations. She is a Fulbright scholar, who studied at George Washington university, Harvard and John Hopkins university. At the age of 46, in the year 2015, she became president and started pursuing her doctorate in international relations. Don't get waylaid by her beauty because she is an ex army commando and an ace marksman too. From 2007 to 2011 she was the ambassador of Croatia to US. Then she became the first woman to be the NATO assistant secretary general for public diplomacy. In that capacity she visited Afghanistan number of times to raise the morale of NATO troops deployed there. In the NATO circle she is known as SWAMBO. That is she

Manchester United allayed Jose Mourinho's fears about how difficult they might find their tour of the United States by earning a 1-1 draw against Club America on their opening night. The Mexican side, further along in their summer preparation with the league season due to start on Sunday, took the lead through Henry Martin in the second half before Juan Mata got the equaliser after a terrific cross from 18-year-old debutant Tahith Chong. Mason Greenwood, 16, also came on in the second half to make his first senior appearance. Despite Mourinho's suggestion United could lose by "some not beautiful numbers" on this tour with a number of players absent following the World Cup, his team started brightly at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Demetri Mitchell, impressive on loan at Hearts last season, threatened on the left wing and Anthony Martial, starting as the centre-forward, fired over and then forced America goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin into a diving save. Mata came

Liverpool have completed the signing of Alisson on a six-year contract after agreeing with Roma on a world-record deal for a goalkeeper. Roma confirmed Liverpool will pay a €62.5 million (£56m) fee, surpassing the €40m (£34.7m) Manchester City paid Benfica for Ederson in 2017. Sources told ESPN FC that the deal could rise to as much as €72.6m (£65m), with a further £10m in add-ons, dependent on Liverpool's qualification for the Champions League and wins in various competitions in the future. "I'm really happy, it's a dream come true to wear such a prestigious shirt for a club of this size that is used to always winning," Alisson said in a club statement. "In terms of my life and my career, it's a huge step for me being part of this club and this family. You can be certain that I'll give my all." The 25-year-old had been a long-term target at Liverpool, whose goalkeeping situation has remained unclear after Loris Karius' errors in the Champio

New season, New Premier League home kits Favourite one? let us know in the comment section below as for me Manchester United apparel is Dope

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New Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri would like to sign two Juventus players - Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, 30, and Italian defender Daniele Rugani, 23 - but an unofficial "non-aggression transfer pact" means he will not be able to sign several Napoli players he would like. (Evening Standard journalist Tom Collomosse on BBC Radio 5 live) Liverpool have beaten Chelsea to the signing of Roma's Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, 25, and are expected to confirm the £66.8m signing before the weekend. (Liverpool Echo) Manchester United are considering moves for two Bayern Munich players - Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, 29, and Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara, 27 - while Tottenham's Belgian centre-back Toby Alderweireld, 29, is also an option. (Independent) Alcantara wants to move back to Barcelona, five years after leaving for Bayern Munich. The Spaniard has won five Bundesliga titles in five seasons at Bayern. (AS) Manchester United's Italy full-back Matteo Darmian

Juventus have revealed their third-kit design for the 2018-19 season - made entirely from recycled ocean plastic. Adidas designer Francesca Venturini, who created the dark grey shirt in partnership with Parley for the Oceans, said the jersey has "eco-innovation and longevity at its very heart". The Serie A champions are the latest high-profile club to support the campaign to cut plastic pollution. Manchester United and Real Madrid have also worn Parley Ocean Plastic kits.