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…

Manuel Pellegrini should be given another season at Manchester City, according to former striker Darius Vassell.

The Chilean enjoyed a superb debut campaign as manager at the Etihad Stadium leading City to a Premier League and League Cup double.

However, the former Real Madrid boss has suffered from the dreaded second-season syndrome with City eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.

And a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday left them with an uphill task to defend their Premier League title, sitting nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea having played a game more.

Vassell, who spent four years at City between 2005 and 2009, believes Pellegrini has earned the chance for another crack at success, but says the large sums of money…

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…

Ollie Watkins revealed that his celebration in England s semi-final victory over the Netherlands was dedicated to both Lewis Dunk and Dean Henderson.

Watkins scored late to book England s place in the Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday as the Three Lions came back from Xavi Simons opener.

Harry Kane had levelled the scores from the penalty spot having been caught by Denzel Dumfries inside the box.

The Aston Villa striker netted only the second ever 90th-minute winning goal in a European Championship knockout tie, sparking wild scenes in Dortmund.

Watkins raced away after squeezing the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, running towards the England bench to celebrate his fourth and most important international goal.

Both Dunk and Henderson, who …

Prediction: Cristiano Ronaldo to score first

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The Netherlands round off their international commitments on Monday evening as they take on Portugal at the Stade de Genève in Switzerland in an international friendly.

Ronald Koeman s men will be aiming to better their 1-0 defeat to England from Friday evening, whilst Portugal will be in a buoyant mood following their late victory over Mo Salah s Egypt.

Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo was the catalyst for Fernando Santos men s victory over the Egyptians. The Real Madrid superstar netted twice in the closing minutes to overturn the deficit of Salah s opening goal. The result means that the current reigning European champions have won three out of their last four international friendlies…

The Newcastle Jets have bolstered their striking stocks with the addition of former Denmark international Morten Nordstrand until the end of the season.

The striker-cum-attacking-midfielder has spent the majority of his career in the top-tier of Danish football, with the exception of his early years with Lungby BK and the 2009-10 season, in which he was on loan at Eredivisie outfit Groningen.

He last played for Danish club AGF, where his contract expired this month, and scored three goals in 24 appearances over the last 12 months.

While not a prolific scorer, he did manage to win the golden boot in Denmark when he scored 15 goals for Copenhagen in their title-winning campaign of 2008-09.

It is goals his new club will want from him, with the Jets having sc…