Aston Villa announce permanent deal for Olsen

Aston Villa have announced the permanent signing of goalkeeper Robin Olsen from Roma for an undisclosed fee.

Olsen spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at Villa Park, making just one appearance, the 3-2 defeat on the final day at Manchester City.

The Sweden international joined Roma from FC Copenhagen in 2018 as the replacement for Alisson, who left for Liverpool, though he was unable to properly establish himself at the Giallorossi, also being loaned out to Cagliari, Everton and Sheffield United.

He becomes the latest signing for Steven Gerrard s Villa, who have also agreed deals to add Boubacar Kamara from Marseille and Diego Carlos from Sevilla in recent weeks, as well as making Philippe Coutinho s loan move from Barcelona permanent.

Leipzig star Konate responds to big Liverpool ´rumours´

Ibrahima Konate has cast fresh doubt on suggestions he will leave RB Leipzig to join Liverpool at the end of the season.

The 21-year-old French defender is said to have a €40million (£34.8m) release clause in his contract and reports have claimed the Reds may activate that.

However, Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche last month told Stats Perform News the move was not an option for Konate to consider.

Now, Konate has spoken on the matter, telling German newspaper Bild: I have a contract until 2023. And contracts are there to be fulfilled.

There are often rumours in football and many believe them immediately. I or my agents did not get a call from Liverpool.

I also have big goals with RB Leipzig: to get the best possible result in the …

West Ham confirm Nasri

West Ham United have the signing of former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri.

Nasri spent four years with Olympique Marseille and the same amount of time at Arsenal, before joining Manchester City in 2011. He played a total of 171 games and scored 26 goals, and won the Premier League both in 2011/12 and 2013/14 with the current title holders. Following a loan spell at Sevilla and five games for Turkish side Antalyaspor, the 31-year-old was found guilty of using illegal substances and banned from football activities by UEFA.

With the ban set to expire with the arrival of 2019, Nasri has been training with the Hammers recently, hoping to prove his fitness to his former boss at City, Manuel Pellegrini, now in charge at West Ham. And it seems his endeavor …

There Is A Clear Reasoning Behind The Arrival of Odion Ighalo To Manchester United

Manchester United have made a shocking move just minutes before the end of the January transfer window with the signing of Nigeria international Odion Ighalo on loan until the remainder of the season.

The 30-year-old striker, who was playing in the Chinese Super League, will join the Old Trafford side on a season-long deal with no option to buy. This will be a short-lived four-month stretch where he will have one task, and one task only: to replace Marcus Rashford as the club’s main scoring threat.

Sure, Ighalo does not profile as a striker who will turn heads with his resume or his play. But we can’t deny he joins Manchester United in good form. He was the CSL’s second-highest scorer with 21 goals in 2018. Even though he was limited to 17 appearances in 2019, he …

Man City CAS appeal against Champions League ban begins this week

Manchester City s appeal against their two-year ban from UEFA competitions will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week.

The reigning Premier League champions were hit with the punishment in February after they were found to have committed serious breaches of UEFA s club licensing and financial fair play (FFP) regulations.

UEFA s independent Adjudicatory Chamber of its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) also fined City €30million (£27.2m) after finding they had overstated sponsorship revenues in accounts submitted to European football s governing body between 2012 and 2016.

City have persistently denied wrongdoing in relation to the matter, which stemmed from a series of articles published by Der Spiegel in November 2018, drawing on informatio…

Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool: Five things to take as champions march over Stamford Bridge victorious again

Following the controversies caused by some statements from the two managers, the match between Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday was much anticipated among the admirers of Premier League football. The two of them had a spat during Liverpool s 5-3 win at Anfield towards the end of last season, and the media sought to reignite that flame after Jurgen Klopp described Liverpool as a club different to those owned by states and oligarchs. Frank Lampard responded by naming a number of the significant transfers Liverpool have made since Klopp took over in 2015.

Both coaches played the whole business down in their pre-match press conferences, but it did nothing to lessen the interest in seeing this new star-studded Chelsea team take on the well-drilled machine that the defending champions…

Bayern Munich 6-1 Werder Bremen: Hat-trick hero Coutinho gets champions back on track

Philippe Coutinho turned in a dazzling display as Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Werder Bremen 6-1 in the Bundesliga.

On-loan Barcelona playmaker Coutinho scored a hat-trick and laid on another for Robert Lewandowski, who continued his prolific campaign with a brace.

Bayern headed into the match on the back of consecutive league losses to Bayern Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach and Bremen deservedly led at the Allianz Arena through a fabulous Milot Rashica strike.

But those struggles felt a lifetime ago by the time Coutinho set up substitute Thomas Muller for the fifth, while the former completed the rout with a brilliant finish from the edge of the area.

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Does Southgate pick his England squads on form or formula?

Everyone is presumably looking forward to more talk of football coming home  when the World Cup kicks off in November, with England among the favourites to win the tournament for the first time since 1966.

However, the Three Lions have had a stinker of a Nations League campaign in 2022, having failed to win any of their four games in June.

A 1-0 defeat in Hungary was followed by a draw in Germany thanks to a late Harry Kane penalty, before a dull 0-0 at Molineux against Italy and an abysmal performance in their 4-0 defeat to Hungary at the same venue.

Three months on from that chastening loss in Wolverhampton, manager Gareth Southgate picked his squad for the final two Nations League games against Italy and Germany, and while there was a new face in Brentford …

Man Utd players must prove we deserve silverware, says Eriksen

Manchester United s players must prove they deserve silverware as they continue to battle on multiple fronts under Erik ten Hag, according to midfielder Christian Eriksen.

The Red Devils defeated Burnley 2-0 on their return to action on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, where third-tier Charlton Athletic await.

Ten Hag s side are also still in the Europa League, albeit with Barcelona up next in the knockout round play-offs, while their FA Cup campaign begins against Everton next month.

Having not won a trophy since their Europa League success in the 2016-17 campaign, Eriksen accepts United are not in a position to prioritise certain competitions.

It s been a few years since winning a trophy the last time, Eriksen, who arrived at Unite…

Prediction: Stuttgart vs Hamburger SV

Best Odds: 4/7

Bookmaker:

Desperate to claim what would be a crucial first-leg advantage in their bid to avoid the drop, Stuttgart will welcome Hamburger to the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Thursday night.

Stuttgart

Starting with the hosts, missing out on the chance to automatically extend on their Bundesliga status last weekend, Stuttgart know that they must go about things the hard way. Once again spending the whole of the 2022/23 campaign battling it out at the foot of the table, Sebastian Hoeneb’s men have continued to show some extended inconstancies. Despite laying down what was a real marker on May 21st as they stormed their way to a stunning 4-1 romp away at Mainz, that is the only win that Stuttgart have claimed from their last five appearances. Opening Ma…