Celtic F.C. manager Neil Lennon admits it is unlikely Georgios Samaras will sign a new deal with the Scottish Premier League champions in the summer.

The Greece international, whose current contract at Parkhead will expire at the end of the season, joined Celtic from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be between £1 million and £3 million in July 2008.

Since arriving in Glasgow, Samaras has helped Celtic win six trophies (Scottish Premier League: 2007/08, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, Scottish League Cup: 2009, Scottish Cup: 2011, 2013), while bagging 73 goals in 249 appearances in all competitions for the club.

The Greek ace also played a pivotal role in the club s Cinderella run in the UEFA Champions League in 2012/13, which came to an e…

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman admits that it will be difficult to keep star midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin at the club.

The France international is reportedly a target for Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United, and there is a chance he could be leaving in January after missing out on a summer move.

And the interested sides have now received a major boost as Saints boss Ronald Koeman confirmed that Schneiderlin might not remain at St Mary s for much longer.

Keeping Morgan here will not be easy. We will have to see what happens, the Dutch coach said at a press conference ahead of the Monday s clash with Aston Villa.

Morgan Schneiderlin, 25, has been with the Saints from 2008 and he helped the club climb from League One to the Premier Lea…

Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has paid tribute to the departing Arsene Wenger, thanking him for making his childhood dream come true .

The 68-year-old announced on Friday that he will depart the Gunners at the end of the season, having won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups in almost 22 years with the London club.

Giroud was signed by Wenger in 2012 and enjoyed five-and-a-half fruitful years under his compatriot before joining Chelsea earlier this year.

And the 31-year-old took to Twitter on Saturday to thank his former manager for improving him as a player.

Giroud said: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my childhood dream come true.

A huge respect for your resilience and your full commitment to the Arsenal over t…

Luciano Spalletti retains belief that Roma can overturn their first-leg deficit against Lyon to progress to the Europa League quarter-finals.

Roma have stuttered in recent weeks with four defeats in their last six games in all competitions, including a 4-2 defeat in France last week.

Spalletti bemoaned some lapses in concentration in that loss and acknowledged they must be better if they are to qualify for the last eight.

However, he remains confident Roma have the quality to complete an aggregate win.

We can t afford to make bad decisions, he told a media conference ahead of Thursday s clash at the Stadio Olimpico.

Qualification is there for us to reach out and grasp. We cannot be afraid. I m absolutely convinced that our players will want to b…

Middlesbrough have raided Championship rivals Bristol City to sign defender Aden Flint.

The 28-year-old was linked with a move to Brighton and Hove Albion in the January transfer window, but will now remain in English football s second tier.

A centre-back with an eye for goal, Flint joined City in 2013 and only signed a contract extension with the club in March.

He becomes Middlesbrough s second new addition in the transfer window, following on from the arrival of Paddy McNair from Sunderland, after penning a four-year deal to become part of manager Tony Pulis squad.

On a personal level, it s fantastic to have seen Aden mature and grow to become one of the best centre-halves in the division, Bristol City boss Lee Johnson told the club s website.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi celebrates his 30th birthday on Saturday, another milestone for the record breaker.

Since making his Barca debut aged 17 Messi has been the scourge of defenders in Spain and across the globe, racking up 568 goals for club and country.

In the process the forward has collected 29 trophies but international honours with Argentina still elude him.

To celebrate Messi s milestone birthday, we take a look at 10 of his best goals throughout a sensational career that still has plenty more to come.

Albacete (H): May 1, 2005

Even at 17, Messi had the confidence of a veteran. Having already had one goal wrongly ruled out for offside an audacious chip from the edge of the box Messi s confidence was far from knocked …

Hakan Calhanoglu will move to AC Milan once the Italian giants reach an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen, according to the midfielder s agent.

Turkey international Calhanoglu has not played since January due to a FIFA ban relating to contract dispute with Trabzonspor, whom he is said to have agreed to join before pulling out in 2011, being upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 23-year-old waived his wages for the duration of his four-month suspension and reportedly opted against an appeal in order to be available for a transfer in the off-season.

It appears that Milan could well offer him that move, with Calhanoglu s representative Bektas Demirtas suggesting the player has agreed personal terms with the Serie A club.

We held good talks with A…

Chris Smalling says Manchester United s never-say-die attitude is reminiscent of life under Alex Ferguson.

The Reds latest last-gasp win came at Bournemouth on Saturday, where Marcus Rashford’s stoppage-time goal was enough to secure a 2-1 win.

That followed last month s dramatic 3-2 win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford, which saw Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez score second-half goals to overturn a two-goal deficit.

United have endured a poor start to the season and were outplayed in the first half against the Cherries, but Smalling believes the club are again starting to show the fighting spirit made so famous during the Ferguson era.

Asked if such comebacks reminded him of playing for the Scot, who retired in 2013 after 26 years i…

Barcelona defender Jordi Alba has described the club s silence over a potential new deal as strange .

The 29-year-old s contract ends in 2020 but he has yet to speak to the LaLiga champions about an extension.

Alba – who joined the club from Valencia in 2012 – wants to end his career at Camp Nou but is unclear whether the club shares his enthusiasm.

Speaking after Barca s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday, Alba said: I have no news.

I don t know what the club think of me and it s strange because there s not much more of my contract left.

My intentions are to finish my career here but we ll see as I don t know what their intentions are or when they think it will be convenient to call me.

 All over in the Wanda Metropolitano…

Romelu Lukaku made a swift impact from the bench for a second consecutive match as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 at St James Park.

The Belgium international was on the pitch for two minutes before rounding out Sunday s 4-1 win over Bournemouth and had only been on for 38 seconds when Martin Dubravka spilled Marcus Rashford s free-kick in his direction.

Rashford continued a purple patch in front of goal 10 minutes from time, meaning a fourth win in as many outings at the start of his reign for caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a feat only previously achieved by club great Matt Busby.

Phil Jones, into the Manchester United defence for the suspended Eric Bailly, made a last-ditch tackle on Salomon Rondon to atone for his own absent-minded play…