Aston Villa have further bolstered their defensive stocks with the signing of England Under-21 international Ezri Konsa from Championship side Brentford.
Villa reportedly triggered the centre-back s £12million release clause to make him their seventh signing since winning promotion to the Premier League.
The Charlton Athletic product briefly played under Dean Smith at Brentford, for whom he made 42 league appearances in 2018/19.
Konsa joins Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause, both now committed to permanent deals, among Villa s defensive reinforcements and will fly out to the United States with his new team-mates on Thursday.
Ezri fits the profile of the type of player we were searching for, manager Smith said.
It helps that [assistant coach] Rich…
Kylian Mbappe has no excuse to leave Paris Saint-Germain following Lionel Messi s arrival, according to club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Messi was unveiled at a press conference at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday while thousands of fans gathered outside the stadium to welcome the superstar forward.
The Argentina captain signed a two-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months, after Barcelona were unable follow through on the terms they agreed with the 34-year-old due to financial problems.
Mbappe has less than year remaining on his contract with the Ligue 1 club but PSG president Al-Khelaifi believes the France forward has no option but to stay and play alongside Messi and Neymar.
Everyone knows the future of Kylian, said Al-Khelaifi. …
The AFC Champions League received a huge boost Tuesday with prize money for next season s revamped tournament massively increased to 14 million dollars.
Asia s top club competition will be expanded from 28 to 32 teams in 2009, but with stricter criteria for participation in an effort to raise standards.
Tokuaki Suzuki, deputy chief of the AFC s Professional League Project, said the extra money on offer would provide clubs with the motivation to meet the new requirements to compete.
The new budget means there is much, much more revenue for clubs participating in the tournament, Suzuki said at an AFC managers seminar here.
This will give clubs the incentive to be more professional so they meet the requirements to take part in the competition.
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Argentina icon Diego Maradona says he always knew Barcelona star Lionel Messi would captain his country.
Argentina icon Diego Maradona says he always knew Barcelona star Lionel Messi would captain his country.
The Barcelona forward was handed the armband in 2011 by coach Alejandro Sabella.
The team has flourished under the 25-year-old s leadership, having lost just one 90-minute match during the past 12 months.
Maradona, a former skipper of the national side himself, said he foresaw the leadership qualities Messi possessed during his time as coach of the team in 2010.
Speaking in an interview with DeporTV, he said: I saw him in that position, as a leader, not just because a charlatan cannot be captain. I was right.
What will they say n…
Stoke City have completed the loan signing of Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony, .
The Ivory Coast international had been strongly linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium following the arrival of manager Pep Guardiola and will join up with the Potters on a season-long deal.
Bony signed for the Citizens from Swansea City in January 2015, racking up forty-six appearances for them in all competitions, scoring ten goals.
However, he was left out of the match-day squads for all five of the clubs games so far this season with Sergio Aguero, Nolito and Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of him in the pecking order.
He has been capped forty-four times for his country, scoring thirteen goals, two of which came at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil while he …
York City manager Russ Wilcox has cooled expectations around his side s League Cup trip to Swansea City, insisting that League Two remains their top priority.
Victory over 2013 finalists Bradford City on penalties took York into the second round of the competition for the first time since the 1997-98 season.
Garry Monk s side, who won the competition two years ago with a 5-0 victory at Wembley, are unbeaten so far in their league campaign, but were left disappointed by Saturday s draw at Sunderland.
York, having lost their opening two games, have taken four points from six and will relish the chance to pit their wits against Monk s men.
However, Wilcox is set to rotate his squad following a hectic fixture schedule, which continued with a trip to Exeter…
Ronny Deila has been named the new head coach of New York City.
The former Celtic boss has signed a three-year deal to take charge of the MLS club, who have been seeking a new coach since the departure of Domenec Torrent last November.
When the opportunity came up to join New York City FC as their new head coach, it was a dream come true for me to manage an amazing club in a great city, Deila told the club s website.
I m ready to see our supporters and hopefully we ll have a wonderful relationship. I m going to do everything I can to play good football the City way and I ll give everything from myself to the club and I m sure we re going to achieve fantastic things in the future.
Deila won two league titles and the League Cup in Scotland with Celtic an…
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As millions around the world continue to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, one slice of normality has remained the same sport. We re now in February and that means we re going to be experiencing a whole lost of games coming at us thick and fast between now and May, which is especially true in the English Premier League. Today, we re going to take a look at a fixture that has the potential to produce some real fireworks Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Leicester City.
Wolves
The win over Arsenal seems to have eased some of the pressure currently on the shoulders of Nuno Espirito Santo, but if they want to ensure they aren t going to be in the depths of a relegation battle, they need to keep on picki…
Paris St Germain have signed Brazilian teenager Gabriel Moscardo from Corinthians for an initial £17million.
The 18-year-old midfielder has put pen to paper on deal which ties him to the French champions until 2028 but will return to Corinthians on loan for the remainder of this season.
Corinthians announced on their official website that PSG would pay an initial 20 million euros (£17m) for their home-grown player, with a possible extra two million euros in performance-related bonuses.
| Having just signed for the capital club, Paris Saint-Germain’s new midfielder Gabriel Moscardo gave his first impressions, with the young Brazilian expressing his joy at joining Les Rouge et Bleu
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)
Moscardo, a Brazil Un…
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho says the dismissal of Thomas Tuchel came as a surprise , revealing the Blues players feel partly responsible for his exit.
The German coach was axed last week in the aftermath of a surprise defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, which followed on from Premier League losses against Southampton and Leeds United during an underwhelming start to the season.
Chelsea moved quickly to appoint Graham Potter as Tuchel s successor at Stamford Bridge, with their first game under his guidance coming on Wednesday against Salzburg.
With last week s Premier League action postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Tuesday s pre-match news conference represented the first opportunity for questions on the managerial change.
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