Veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss Milan s Serie A game with Empoli on Wednesday due to a knee injury.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli confirmed the 40-year-old Swedish forward s absence along with Rafael Leao leaving him short of attacking options.

Ibrahimovic has netted seven league goals this term for Milan, who have only managed one point from their past two games, slipping four points behind leaders Inter in the league

[Leao] won’t be there tomorrow, he’ll be back against Roma. Ibrahimovic won’t be there tomorrow because of an overload on his knee, Pioli told reporters.

Pioli was more positive about captain Alessio Romagnoli s prospects of playing, along with Theo Hernandez after illness amid an injury crisis at the club, without Simo…

Dutch newspaper that Twente are considering a move for Club Brugge midfielder Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe.

The Tukkers are bracing themselves for life without Leroy Fer, who is widely tipped to leave at the end of the season, and they believe the Belgian starlet would be a perfect replacement.

Fer, 23, missed out on a January switch to Everton after failing his medical at Goodison Park, but there is every chance that he will be joining the Toffees at the end of the campaign.

Interesting thing is Odjidja-Ofoe was also set to join the Toffees, on a loan deal last summer, but FIFA refused to ratify the deal, claiming the paperwork had not been submitted ahead of the transfer deadline.

Odjidja-Ofoe, 24, came through the youth ranks at Hamburger SV, before joining Cl…

Nicklas Bendtner has revealed that he expects to leave Arsenal within the next two weeks.

The 25-year-old striker joined the Gunners academy at the age of 16 and, after working his way up through the club s youth structure, cemented himself firmly in Arsene Wenger s first-team plans.
His best Premier League season for Arsenal came in 2008-09, as he scored nine league goals in just 17 starts for the London club.
However, Bendtner s form dropped off from that point onward, culminating in a disappointing season-long loan switch to Serie A with Juventus last term.
And the Denmark international is now concentrating on securing an end to his time at the Emirates Stadium.
I am talking with five or six clubs at the moment over a permanent transfer, Bendtner is quoted as saying by Metr…

Monaco and Nice s challenge to Paris Saint-Germain is good for both Ligue 1 and Unai Emery s side, according to defender Thomas Meunier.

PSG s chances of defending their title suffered a major blow on Sunday when they lost 3-1 away to Nice in a miserable outing that saw Angel Di Maria and Thiago Motta sent off in the final minutes.

The loss means Emery s men now sit three points behind leaders Monaco, who have played one game fewer, and only three matches remain for them to overturn the deficit.

Third-placed Nice are also in striking distance of PSG, with the gap cut to three after a victory given to them by goals from Mario Balotelli, Ricardo Pereira and Anastasios Donis, but Meunier thinks a competitive league will ultimately benefit his team.

There i…

Arsenal are considering a shock move for Watford captain Troy Deeney, .

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is on the lookout for a new forward, and is a big fan of the Hornets man who has scored six goals in his last eleven appearances.

Watford are desperate to keep hold of their skipper and of top scorer Odion Ighalo, with both set to be the subject of vast transfer speculation this month.

Deeney moved to Vicarage Road from Walsall in the summer of 2010, and has far racked up two hundred and thirty-nine outings in all competitions, scoring eighty- seven goals.

He was handed the club’s captaincy ahead of last season following the departure of ex-Arsenal shot stopper Manuel Almunia.

The North London side currently sit of top of the Premier League,…

Riyad Mahrez has completed a long-awaited move to Premier League champions Manchester City from top-flight rivals Leicester City.

Mahrez was strongly linked with a switch to the Etihad Stadium at the end of the January transfer window following an injury sustained by Leroy Sane, but the move fell through.

City have now broken the club s transfer record for the second time in 2018, the champions reported to have paid £60million for Mahrez, more than their previous landmark fee for Aymeric Laporte.

Laporte s £57m arrival from Athletic Bilbao eclipsed the £55m City paid to land Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg in 2015.

Riyad is a hugely talented player. He beats defenders and creates space, City s director of football Txiki Begiristain said.

Ov…

Just under four years ago, Brazil suffered the most humiliating defeat in the national team’s history, as Germany hammered Filipe Scolari’s team 7-1 in the World Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte.

No doubt the team of 2014 were not a vintage edition. In fact, star player and icon Neymar seemed to be their only hope of winning the tournament on home soil.

When the Selecao’s talisman picked up an injury in the quarter-final win over Colombia it was a devastating blow to Scolari’s team. Neymar’s absence was not the reason for that terrible capitulation against Germany. However, his presence will maybe have made the German’s play with slightly less confidence.

Brazil not dependent on Neymar anymore

Fast forward four years and Neymar is still the star of …

Sergio Ramos believes he can play at the highest level for five more years but admits there has been no breakthrough over a new contract at Real Madrid.

Reports in Spain have claimed Ramos will leave Madrid at the end of the season, when his current deal expires. A recent offer from Madrid was said by Spanish media to be worth 10 per cent less than his existing agreement.

The 34-year-old centre-back has been linked with Paris Saint-Germain and there appears to be a significant chance of him opting to move elsewhere after 16 seasons with the Bernabeu giants.

Whether he signs a new deal with Los Blancos or decides to depart, Ramos – who has not played since January after suffering a knee injury – is in no doubt he can perform on the biggest stage for ye…

Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina joined Galatasaray last night on a one year loan deal that will see an initial fee of €1 million being transferred between the two clubs. They also have the option to buy the player during next year’s summer transfer window for a fee believed to be worth around €16 million, which many would see as a bargain for someone of Lemina’s reputation and stature.

Not so long ago earlier on in the summer transfer window, Lemina was being heavily linked with a move to fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Alas, that deal apparently fell apart on the English Premier League’s deadline day, ensuring that other clubs around the continent could have a crack at him.

The 26 year old has been with the Saints since back in 2017 wh…

Xavi remains convinced qualification for the Champions League knockout phase is realistic for Barcelona despite their pivotal matchday six game being a trip to the mighty Bayern Munich.

Barca go to Munich second in Group E with seven points, just two more than a Benfica side that will expect to beat Dynamo Kiev.

If Benfica are victorious, only a win will take Barca through to the last 16, and that will not be a simple task – Bayern have won all five of their Champions League games this term and boast an excellent record at home.

Die Roten have lost just twice at the Allianz Arena all year, with Eintracht Frankfurt claiming a 2-1 victory just over two months ago and Paris Saint-Germain winning 3-2 back in April.

Bayern are already on the longest run …