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 …

Juventus knew exactly what they were getting when hiring Andrea Pirlo and would be wrong twice if they decided to make a change now, according to Fabio Cannavaro.

Despite winning Serie A for a ninth successive season, Juve reacted to the team s shock Champions League exit to Lyon last year by sacking head coach Maurizio Sarri.

Pirlo was promoted from within to the top job, the former Italy international who had only just been appointed as the club s new under-23 boss signing a two-year deal to take charge of the first team.

His debut campaign has been tough, both at home and abroad. Juve s dominance in the league looks set to come to an end, while their hopes of European glory were dashed again at the last-16 stage, this time unexpectedly losing over two legs t…

Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second-tier Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the DFB-Pokal and secure the club s first domestic double.

Leverkusen missed out on a treble after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday, in what was astonishingly their first defeat of the season in all competitions, after a European record 51-game unbeaten run.

But at Berlin s Olympic stadium, which will host the Euro 2024 final in July, Xabi Alonso s side ensured they capped off a remarkable campaign with another piece of silverware thanks to Granit Xhaka s stunning 16th-minute strike.

The ball rolled out to the former Arsenal man around 25 yards out, and he planted an unstoppable first-time effort into the left-hand side of the net.