Nottingham Forest are closing in on the signing of former Chelsea youngster Michael Mancienne, .
The versatile defender has spent the last three years in Germany with Bundesliga side Hamburg, for whom he has made fifty-five appearances in all competitions.
He began his career with Chelsea, though he made only a handful of appearances for the club before enjoying extended loan spells with both Queens Park Rangers and Wolverhampton Wanders before moving abroad in 2011.
Mancienne knows Forest boss Stuart Pearce well after featuring regularly under him for England’s Under 21 side while in 2008 he received a senior call up for a friendly against Germany.
Should a deal for the 26 year old be completed, he will become the third defender to sign for the E…
Skipper Millie Bright said England “gifted” the Netherlands their goals and were “not ruthless enough” after the Lionesses were beaten 2-1 in Utrecht in their second Nations League group game.
The hosts took the lead in the 34th minute when Georgia Stanway was closed down near her own box, the ball went to Danielle van de Donk and she teed up a Lieke Martens finish, which it appeared would have been ruled out for offside if VAR had been in operation.
After Alessia Russo’s 64th-minute equaliser, England were then punished after losing possession again in the 90th minute as Alex Greenwood gave the ball away and Martens fed substitute Renate Jansen, who rifled past Mary Earps.
Defeat in Utrecht.
— Lionesses (@Lionesses)
Bright told ITV:…
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…
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…