Juventus president Andrea Agnelli feels Andrea Barzagli is at the same level as defenders such as Thiago Silva, Gerard Pique and John Terry and deserves more credit for his fine performances.
Barzagli joined Juventus from Wolfsburg in 2011 and has since developed into a key figure at the Turin giants, making close to 200 appearances in all competitions.
I ve often joked with Andrea that he s been the best signing we ve made. I can only emphasise that once again, Agnelli said at a news conference after the Italy international signed a new contract with the Serie A champions until June 2018.
Andrea is another great professional and a reserved character who deserves way more credit than he gets, partly because of his position and partly due to his character.
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Southampton striker Danny Ings is a guy who I have admired since his days with Burnley when he inspired the Clarets to promotion to the Premier League.
In his debut Premier League campaign, he scored a respectable 11 goals in a team that was simply out of its depth. The Clarets suffered relegation, but Ings’ individual performances impressed enough for Liverpool to snap him up as a free agent.
Injuries fatal to his time on Merseyside
Ings spent a frustrating three seasons with the Reds, making just 14 top-flight appearances, and scoring just three goals in the process. In truth, he was always going to struggle for first-team football simply due to the quality of strikers in the Reds squad.
However, the quality of his competitors for a starting place was not t…
Ilkay Gundogan has allayed fears over another injury blow after revealing he was suffering from cramp during the closing stages of Manchester City s EFL Cup clash with Wolves.
Pep Guardiola s free-scoring Premier League leaders drew a blank across 120 minutes against the Championship table-toppers but prevailed 4-1 on penalties, with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo their shoot-out hero.
Gundogan joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2016 but his maiden season in England was curtailed by cruciate knee ligament damage last December.
The Germany international suffered a minor setback during a 2-1 win at West Brom in the EFL Cup third round this term and has been limited to substitute cameos in the Premier League and Champions League.
After booking a quarter-fin…
Shane Duffy said he has fulfilled a childhood dream after completing a season-long loan move to Celtic from Brighton and Hove Albion.
The centre-back will link up with the Scottish champions for the 2020-21 campaign after international duty, where he is preparing for Nations League fixtures against Bulgaria and Finland with the Republic of Ireland.
I m delighted, it s something that I ve always dreamed of doing and I m just excited to get up there now and get going. Hopefully I can do my best for the club. I m over the moon, it s been a long time coming! Duffy told Celtic s official website.
People will know the connection with Derry in Ireland and Celtic, and it s all we knew, really.
Growing up, I was lucky enough to get over to a few games and exp…
Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid s 2-0 win against Roma on Wednesday has improved the mood throughout the club.
Atleti remain unbeaten in LaLiga, but they trail leaders Barcelona by 10 points and their Champions League campaign looked to have been derailed by consecutive draws against Qarabag.
However, Simeone s men saw off Roma at the Wanda Metropolitano to move within two points of their opponents in Group C and the head coach feels the result has lifted the club.
The goals make you see the improvement, Simeone told a news conference ahead of Saturday s league trip to Levante. If, the other day, we had not scored two goals, all these things would be meaningless.
Everything seems much better when you win. In football, the only things that count a…
FIFA has hit back at reports claiming its president Gianni Infantino worked to weaken the code of ethics, accusing the media of trying to undermine the governing body s leadership.
German publication Der Spiegel alleged Infantino was in August personally involved in amendments to the FIFA regulations, based on documents it claims to have attained from whistleblowers Football Leaks . Infantino did not address the accusations directly in a statement issued on Friday.
FIFA was criticised for removing the word corruption from its code of ethics, while also introducing a statute of limitation and defamation clause.
The defence for replacing bribery and corruption with just bribery in Article 27 was for reasons of language clarity in the English, Spanish and German ver…
Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has accepted Jupp Heynckes assertion that he will not remain as head coach beyond the end of the season.
The 72-year-old replaced Carlo Ancelotti until the end of the 2017-18 campaign in October, and president Uli Hoeness recently suggested his fourth spell in charge of the club could be extended.
Heynckes in response to Hoeness said Bayern would have no trouble finding an adequate permanent coach to replace him before next season, and Rummenigge is prepared to lose the veteran coach.
Jupp declared it, then that s the case, Rummenigge told reporters.
Uli Hoeness did not fuel the discussions about the coach. The mood was very good and harmonic on Friday. He only showed his appreciation for Jupp Heynckes…
Kevin De Bruyne showed he is unstoppable when playing with this fire inside in Manchester City s 3-2 EFL Cup win over Liverpool, Pep Guardiola said.
De Bruyne was well below his brilliant best as Belgium were eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage earlier this month.
But his first match back in City colours on Thursday provided a reminder of the midfielder s remarkable talents.
De Bruyne supplied assists for Erling Haaland and Nathan Ake in a gripping cup tie, creating a game-high five chances in all as he ran the show at the Etihad Stadium.
As well as excelling with the ball, De Bruyne led the City press out of possession, winning four turnovers in the final third. Rico Lewis (two) was the only other player on the pitch to manage more than one.…
Tottenham have confirmed the appointment of Fabio Paratici as their new managing director following his departure from Juventus.
Paratici spent 11 years with the Serie A giants and took up a number of boardroom positions before exiting the Allianz Stadium earlier this month.
The 48-year-old, who has also previously worked behind the scenes at Sampdoria, arrives at Tottenham ahead of the expected appointment of new head coach Paulo Fonseca.
I am thrilled by this fantastic opportunity and I thank the club and the chairman for the trust in me, Paratici told Tottenham s official website on Saturday.
Tottenham are one of the top clubs in the UK and in Europe with an ambitious long-term plan.
I will dedicate all myself to this new venture and look…
Belgium and reigning champions France head Europe s list of top-seeded teams for World Cup qualifying and they may have to face a Sweden side featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
World governing body FIFA confirmed the six pots of teams on Friday, based on its new list of world rankings, ahead of the December 7 draw in Zurich.
Belgium are the world s number one team while France sit second in FIFA s rankings, having triumphed at the 2018 World Cup.
The European qualifiers begin with three match days in March, meaning World Cup preliminaries begin before the delayed Euro 2020 finals.
Dangerous teams in Pot Two include the likes of Poland, who boast Bayern Munich s Robert Lewandowski, and Sweden, who could by then have Ibrahimovic back in their ranks.
Ibr…