Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are the final three nominees for UEFA s Player of the Year award.
The trio were the last three standing following a vote by a jury comprising the coaches of the 80 clubs from last season s Champions League and Europa League, as well as 55 journalists representing UEFA s member associations.
Modric and Ronaldo – who has taken the honour in the last two years – won the Champions League for the third season in a row with Real Madrid last term, with the Portugal star, now at Juventus, finishing as top scorer in the competition for the sixth year running.
Croatia star Modric then went on to claim the Golden Ball at the World Cup after inspiring his nation to the final, where they lost to France.
Salah, a…
Carlos Bacca wants to return to Sevilla, according to the AC Milan forward s agent.
The Colombia international is expected to leave San Siro this transfer window, having been left out of a friendly win over Bayern Munich and both legs of their Europa League tie with CSU Craiova.
Bacca left Sevilla for Milan in 2015 and has scored 31 Serie A goals.
He won the Europa League twice at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and Bacca s representative Sergio Barila told AS: It is now well known that Carlos wants to return to Sevilla.
He had a splendid personal and sporting experience in that city, which is why he wants to return. This is an important year for players, that of the World Cup, so he needs to play in order to take part.
He is in good shape physically …
Peru striker Claudio Pizarro believes his team are ready for greater things as they prepare for a crucial Copa America clash with Colombia.
The final round of Group C matches will take place on Sunday with all four teams holding three points and control of their own destiny.
Brazil take on Venezuela in Santiago, while Peru and Colombia will do battle in Temuco all four sides knowing they can guarantee a place in the last eight with victory.
Pizarro scored the winner for Peru last time out as they edged out Venezuela in Valparaiso.
And ahead of the Colombia fixture, the veteran striker said: The team is really great.
Match by match we re getting into the competition, getting to know each other better and I think we re ready for greater things. <…
Sampdoria is reported to be keen on two players that Napoli have overlooked in striker and defender Lorenzo Tonelli, according to Marca.
Currently not getting enough playing time with the Naples-based team, is reportedly looking to bring both players to Genoa to give them consistent minutes.
Napoli currently set the fee for the 26-year-old Zapata at €20 million, and have not yet stated if they are willing to part ways with .
Zapata, a Colombian international player, joined the in 2013, but was promptly sent out on a two-year loan to Udinese. There he appeared in 65 matches and tallied 19 goals for the
Udine club.
Italian-born Tonelli hasn t fared better since joining Napoli last year, making only three total appearances in his debut …
When Roberto Mancini watched Manchester City slump to a 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday, he might have rued how his former club have frittered away their inheritance.
The sight of Yaya Toure s raking pass for Sergio Aguero to give City a second-half lead would have been familiar – two towering figures of the Mancini era stepping up on the big stage as they did when Manchester was, briefly, the only battleground that mattered in the fight for English footballing supremacy.
During Alex Ferguson s record-breaking tenure at Manchester United, City were rarely more than, at best, a minor irritant. He witheringly upgraded them to noisy neighbours after Sheikh Mansour s cash-splashing takeover drastically altered their horizons.
NOISY N…
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United has obtained Premier League approval.
Confirmation that the league had given its backing to the deal was contained within an update to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday evening.
The club are still awaiting Football Association approval.
The period in which holders of Class A shares can tender them for sale has been extended from February 14 until 23:59pm on February 16.
So far 36.7 per cent of Class A shares have been tendered, already enough to complete the 25 per cent acquisition. Ratcliffe’s offer is capped at 25 per cent, so even though more shares are available, that is the most which will be purchased.
The Premier League announced on Tuesday aft…
Former England manager Graham Taylor has died at the age of 72.
Taylor s death was confirmed on Thursday, prompting an outpouring of grief in the game, especially in England.
He managed his country between 1990 and 1993, taking over from Bobby Robson after semi-final glory at Italia 90, although he was not able to replicate such success as the Three Lions exited Euro 92 at the group stage and failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup under Taylor s leadership.
A fly-on-the-wall documentary entitled An Impossible Job wrote Taylor into English football folklore, his utterances of Do I not like that! and Can we not knock it? as England drew 1-1 in Poland going down in history.
Regardless, Taylor will go down as one of the greatest managers in the history of…