James Milner believes that Roy Hodgson s young England side will benefit from a lack of fear at Euro 2012.

Milner, 26, believes Hodgson has struck a fine balance between experience and youth in his 23-man squad for Euro 2012, including 11 players making their debut at a major international tournament with the national side.

There is a different feel around the squad than before, Milner said.

The squad in South Africa (for the 2010 World Cup) had a lot of players who had been to a lot of major tournaments and had the expectations and the disappointments.

This time, we have a good mix of experienced players but also the younger players who haven t been to a major tournament.

The mix of youth and experience will help us do well.

Youngs…

Thiago Silva says he never seriously thought about leaving AC Milan for Paris Saint-Germain.

The Brazil international appeared set to join the Ligue 1 outfit, after Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi admitted the cash-strapped Italian club were simply not in a position to turn down the French side s offer of 46 million euros for the player.

However, the former Italian Prime Minister ultimately had a change of heart and Silva, who has subsequently signed a new contract with Milan, is delighted his proposed move to the Parc des Princes collapsed.

To be honest, I never thought about leaving Milan, he told reporters at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.

In all the interviews I gave I said I wanted to stay and continue my career at Milan. But becaus…

Massimiliano Allegri says it make take time for Juventus to find their rhythm as the Serie A champions prepare to start the new season against Udinese on Sunday.

Allegri s men are seeking a fifth successive Scudetto following a superb 2014-15 campaign in which they also won the Coppa Italia and reached the UEFA Champions League final.

And Juve have been extremely busy in the transfer market during the close-season.

Pablo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Roberto Pereyra and Sami Khedira are among those to join the Turin club in the transfer window, with Alex Sandro becoming their latest recruit on Friday.

But the title holders have also seen a number of players leave for pastures new, such as Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo.

All that activity…

Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg have expressed an interest in signing Hannover striker Didier Ya Konan, according to a report.

The Ivory Coast international has developed into an important first-team player at the AWD Arena since joining the Bundesliga club from Rosenborg in 2009.

Hannover president Martin Kind does not want to part company with any of his players, but he admitted that Ya Konan may be an exception.

Bild have reported that a fee of eight million euros will be enough to secure the services of the 28-year-old, who is a product of the famous ASEC Mimosas youth academy that has also produced international talents like Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure.

Red Bull Salzburg finished at the top of the Austrian top-flight in 2011-12, and recently m…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang marked his return to the Borussia Dortmund line-up in emphatic fashion by scoring four goals in an impressive 5-2 victory over Bundesliga strugglers Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion.

It was a fine response from Aubameyang, who was left out of the 1-0 Champions League win against Sporting CP on Wednesday due to internal reasons  having reportedly attended a party in Italy without permission.

Concerns over any lingering discord were dispelled when the striker ran to the dugout and embraced coach Thomas Tuchel after opening the scoring with his quickest Bundesliga goal in the fourth minute.

The imperious Aubameyang was unrelenting and made the most of shoddy Hamburg defending to complete his third hat-trick in the German top flight by the …

Spain and Real Madrid great Raul will retire from football after completing his current season with New York Cosmos next month, the North American Soccer League team has confirmed.

Raul made his debut for Real Madrid in 1994, embarking on a trophy laden 16-year spell with the club that included six La Liga titles and three Champions League crowns.

He became the club s all-time record goalscorer with 323 during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu – a mark that Cristiano Ronaldo drew level with when he netted a double in last month s Champions League game against Malmo.

The 38-year-old s 44 goals in 102 appearances for the Spanish national team was also a record until it was surpassed by David Villa in 2011.

After leaving Madrid, Raul spent two years apiece…

AC Milan are ready to move for out-of-favour Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera, according to the Mail Online.

The Serie A outfit, who spent big last summer are again looking to splash out with it set to take around £30m to prise him away from the Red Devils.

The Spain international has made just a handful of league appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side so far this season with most of his game time coming in other competitions.

In total, Herrera has racked up one hundred and fifty-one appearances in all competitions since signing from Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2014, scoring sixteen goals.

During that time he has helped the club to success in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the Europa League while he has been capped twice for his country…

Thierry Henry has urged Mesut Ozil to sign a new contract at Arsenal and become a club legend by leading them to their first Premier League title since 2004.

The Germany international has 18 months to run on his deal, with negotiations ongoing as the player looks for assurances over the long-term future of manager Arsene Wegner, who is only contracted until the end of 2016-17.

Henry believes Ozil s is telling the truth over the reasons for the delay in signing, despite reports claiming he and Alexis Sanchez – who is also out of contract in 2018 – are demanding huge wages.

The club s iconic former striker pleaded with Ozil, 28, to commit to Arsenal and feels the team can be built around him if he opts to stay.

He has said he wants to know if Arsene is…

It seems that everybody is more likely to be in charge of Arsenal next season than current boss Arsene Wenger, well according to the British media anyway. The Frenchman will still have a year left on his two-year contract in north London this summer. However, highly disappointing Premier League and FA Cup campaigns has put Wenger’s position in doubt, once again.

Rebuilt his reputation in Scotland

One of the bosses linked with the hot seat at Arsenal is Celtic’s former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, who has rebuilt his reputation in the SPL. Judging by the social media and message boards, Rodgers would be an unpopular appointment amongst Arsenal fans.

However, it is hard to argue with the fact that Rodgers has been a success at Celtic. His hoops team managed to rem…

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has admitted his team are “one or two players short” and might add to the squad in the January transfer window should a good opportunity come knocking, is reportedly interested in longtime Liverpool target and RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner, .

The German international joined Leipzig in June 2016 and has only recently signed a new four-year contract. Despite the fact, however, a move has not been ruled out, especially since the fairly reasonable release clause of €30m. Still, it is not expected Werner will switch clubs before the end of the season.

The 23-year-old has been linked with Bayern Munich and Liverpool in the past, and in the summer Sport Bild reported Werner would only be interested in going to Liverpool, …