Chelsea sign Bronze on a free transfer after Barcelona departure

Cesena forward Gregoire Defrel is believed to be on the radar of Italian champions Juventus, Corriere di Romagna has suggested.

The Bianconeri were largely impressed with the Frenchman s performance in the weekend s 2-2 draw with Cesena, and they are expected to keep monitoring his showings.

Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta had a talk with Cesena sporting director Rino Foschi after the game and asked his counterpart to inform him if Defrel becomes available for sale.

The 23-year-old began his professional career at Parma in 2009, but he left I Ducali for Cesena after making just one league appearance for the club.

A successful loan spell with Foggia helped Defrel earn a switch to Cesena, where he went on to score 12 goals in 91 league matches.

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Having gone down to an 18th-minute own-goal from Robin Le Normand, Spain scored four to beat Georgia in the round of 16 at the Euros and set the stage for a showdown with Germany in the quarterfinals. Rodri (39 ), Fabian Ruiz (51 ), Nico Williams (75 ) and substitute Dani Olmo (83 ) were all on the scoresheet.

The game took place on Sunday evening at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.

The teams

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente paired Robin Le Normand with Aymeric Laporte in the heart of defence, in front of Unai Simon in goal, with Dani Carvajal on the right and Marc Cucurella on the left. Rodri anchored the midfield, with Pedri and Fabian Ruiz there as well. Upfront, Alvaro Morata was flanked by Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.

Meanwhile, Georgia coach Willy Sagno…

Raheem Sterling was Manchester City s saviour once again as his desperately late winner spared their blushes at the Vitality Stadium, securing a 2-1 win over Bournemouth before also getting sent off.

Pep Guardiola s men were on top for much of the match and looked destined to once again drop points due to their wastefulness in front of goal, but Sterling popped up just as he did to help City draw 1-1 with Everton last time out, this time netting the decisive winner, before receiving a second booking for a celebration which saw him incite fan encroachment.

Even from the early stages it looked as though City were going to have to dig deep if they wanted to take all three points, with Charlie Daniels wonderful volley finally getting them off the mark in the Premier League …

Verdict: Draw

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After losing three consecutive games prior to the international break, Watford boss Marco Silva will be desperate to find the same form that saw Watford flirting with the top four last month. On Sunday afternoon, Vicarage Road will be playing host to a West Ham side who will begin life under former Manchester United boss David Moyes.

Watford

Despite suffering a 6-0 hammering at the hands of runaway league leaders Manchester City in the middle of September. Watford were a side flirting with the top four after a stellar start to their campaign. In their first eight games of the season, minus their blip against the Sky Blues, The Hornets had not lost another game during Marco Silva s honeymoon period. A 2-1 win over …

Celtic could see their lead at the Scottish Premiership summit cut to six points after being held to a 0-0 draw by arch-rivals Rangers in an enthralling Old Firm derby.

The reigning champions had plenty of chances to head into the mid-season break on the back of a win, but their inability to do so left them clinging on to a result that gives Aberdeen a chance to close in on them with victory at home to Hearts later on Saturday.

Rangers pressed well in the opening stages and broke for a chance that Alfredo Morelos fired wide, but they had to rely upon goalkeeper Wes Foderingham to avoid falling out of contention in the first period.

After pushing James Forrest s shot wide, Foderingham clawed a header from Moussa Dembele away and held onto Scott Sinclair s foll…

Leeds United are close to signing Ismaila Sarr from Watford in the summer transfer window, . The report in the French news outlet has claimed that Premier League club Leeds are close to reaching an agreement with Championship outfit Watford for the transfer of Senegal international winger Sarr.

have added that Leeds are also close to reaching personal terms with Sarr. However, for the transfer to be completed, Leeds will have to sell one of their players. The report does not say which player the West Yorkshire club will offload to accommodate Sarr.

Sarr has scored  in 50 appearances in the Premier League so far in his career. During the 2021-22 season, the winger made 21 starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League, scring five goals and providing two as…

Cristiano Ronaldo revealed he was petrified to take the number seven shirt at Manchester United when he joined the club in 2003.

Alex Ferguson purchased the winger from Sporting CP for just £12.2million, urging him to take the number vacated by David Beckham who was sold to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo was initially unconvinced about taking the number, wanting 28 instead, but Ferguson persuaded the Portugal international to take on the responsibility of the number seven.

When I arrived at United, I asked for 28 but the coach said, No, you will wear seven,’ he said.

I was petrified as I knew Beckham wore that shirt. But I took on the challenge and since then it has been my lucky number.

I have won everything in football with that shirt.

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Spain have been rocked by the shock sacking of Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup but Brazil midfielder Paulinho believes the 2010 champions remain one of the favourites in Russia.

With Spain due to kick off their Group B campaign against Portugal in Sochi on Friday, Lopetegui was sensationally relieved of his duties by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Wednesday after agreeing to replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid following the tournament.

Former Spain captain Fernando Hierro was appointed just hours after Lopetegui s dismissal.

Asked about Lopetegui s exit, Paulinho – who helped Barcelona win the 2017-18 LaLiga title and is set to come up against the Madrid-bound boss next season – told reporters: The issue of Spain being one of t…

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has nothing but praise for Pep Guardiola ahead of Wednesday s Champions League encounter and believes the current Manchester City boss will go down in history as one of the greatest ever.

Guardiola enjoyed a hugely successful spell in charge of Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, before guiding Bayer Munich to three consecutive Bundesliga titles between 2013 and 2016.

He left Bayern for City during the off-season and Luis Enrique already sees his compatriot s impact at the Etihad.

I take it as a habit to value my friends more than enemies. Pep is a good friend. It is easy to value him. I think he is the best coach, Luis Enrique said at a news conference.

When you coach at this level if you win everything it is easy. When you lo…

Arne Slot is bringing an elegant style of play to Liverpool, and Harvey Elliott is relishing a fresh start under the Dutchman.

Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp at the start of July, with the latter having called time on his near nine-year stint at Anfield.

Klopp led Liverpool to great success during his time at the club, and Slot acknowledged he has big shoes to fill.

But Elliott, who was a regular under Klopp last season, playing 34 times in the Premier League and scoring three goals, says former Feyenoord boss Slot has hit the ground running.

It s [a] very elegant, Dutch style, it s very nice, Elliott said, as reported by BBC Sport.

The style of play is a lot different. It s more about in possession now.

The players are excited, we play cer…