Lyon agree deal to sign former Arsenal attacker Reine-Adelaide

Jurgen Klopp defended his decision to rest players and not take charge of Liverpool s upcoming FA Cup fourth-round replay with Shrewsbury Town, insisting he is taking a stand for the good of English football.

Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Shrewsbury at the New Meadow on Sunday, meaning the League One side will play a lucrative replay at Anfield next week.

But that match is due to fall within the Premier League s inaugural mid-season break, when Klopp had promised his senior players they would be afforded time off to recover before the campaign s final push.

Klopp received criticism for his decision, with some suggesting he was disrespecting the FA Cup and others calling him lazy , but the German will not renege on his promises.

Speaking ahead of We…

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto o is demanding three million euros from Barcelona after his transfer from the Spanish club to Inter Milan, the Spanish club said Tuesday.

The amount represents 15 percent of the 20 million euro (29 million dollar) fee which the Italian side paid Barcelona during the summer, a club official told AFP.

The deal also saw Inter s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic join European champions Barcelona for 46 million euros.

If the two parties fail to reach a settlement the matter could end up in court.

Eto o bases his demand on a Spanish footballer s association rule that a player has the right to 15 percent of the amount of his transfer fee to another Spanish club, the official said.

But Barcelona argues it does not owe Eto o a…

Ukraine are on the verge of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup after a surprise 2-0 win in their play-off first leg against France.

Mikhail Fomenko s men went into the game having never beaten France before, but having secured their place in the play-offs after finishing just a point behind England in Group H.

Only world and European champions Spain prevented France from automatically qualifying for next year s showpiece in Brazil.

However, it was the supposed underdogs Ukraine who dictated play in a tight encounter, with striker Roman Zozulya giving them the lead midway through the second half.

And the hosts wrapped up the win with a penalty from Andriy Yarmolenko seven minutes from time, before Laurent Koscielny and Olexandr Kucher both saw red as the two s…

The unfortunate Rudy Gestede set an unwanted Premier League record during his Middlesbrough debut on Saturday, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 0-0 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road.

Replacing Cristhian Stuani in the 65th minute, the former Aston Villa and Cardiff City forward never threatened to make his mark on proceedings.

And although Aitor Karanka s side managed to hold on for a share of the spoils, with Watford s latest signing Tom Cleverley hitting the post late on, the draw marks a remarkable, unhappy milestone for Gestede.

The French-born Benin striker joined Villa in July 2015 in a reported £6million move from Blackburn Rovers, but Gestede managed just five league goals as his side were relegated from the Premier League.

One of tho…

Kevin De Bruyne accepts it will be a blow for Manchester City if Aymeric Laporte s knee injury is serious.

The defender was carried off on a stretcher during Saturday s 4-0 Premier League win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion after hurting his right knee in a challenge with Adam Webster.

Laporte was booked for the tackle to add insult to injury, with City boss Pep Guardiola saying after the game the centre-back  does not look good .

The 25-year-old has already been replaced in the France squad by Barcelona s Samuel Umtiti for upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra having received a long-awaited call-up by Didier Deschamps this week.

Fernandinho filled in for City against Brighton but Guardiola s options are limited after no centra…

The scale of the hangover from Chelsea s traumatic defeat by Manchester City will become apparent when the FA Cup holders entertain Stoke in the last eight of this season s competition this weekend.

Carlo Ancelotti s squad remain on track for a league, cup and Champions League treble but the 4-2 home defeat by City has been interpreted by some as heralding the imminent collapse of their challenge on all three fronts.

Ill-discipline, ragged defending and poor goalkeeping all contributed to Chelsea s first home defeat since November 2008 and Ancelotti will expect an immediate response from his players when Stoke visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday in the last of the quarter-final ties.

Reading, the only survivors from outside the Premier League, entertain Aston Villa …

(GSM) Owen Hargreaves still holds the dream of making England s World Cup squad but the Manchester United midfielder admits he needs to make quick progress if he is to achieve his dream.

Hargreaves has not played a first-team game since September 2008, but he is nearing a return from a long-term knee problem.

The former Bayern München man had to pull out of a match with the reserves last week, but may feature for United s second string against their Burnley counterparts on Thursday.

And, with time running out to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup in June, the 29-year-old accepts he must soon be back in the United first team to have any chance of being picked by Fabio Capello.

The World Cup is an incentive. Absolutely, Hargreaves told the Daily T…

Didier Drogba was behind Eden Hazard s big-money transfer to Chelsea almost three years ago, according to the Belgium international midfielder.

Hazard left Lille for Chelsea in a deal reportedly worth £32 million in 2012 and Rudi Garcia, who was coach of the Ligue 1 outfit at the time, claimed a phone call from owner Roman Abramovich persuaded the player to relocate to England.

However, the PFA Players Player of the Year recipient insisted that was not the case, instead telling The Mirror that Chelsea icon Drogba convinced him to join the London club.

I didn t want to go to Chelsea because I wanted to play the Champions League and they were sixth in the league, said 24-year-old, who has won the Premier League, League Cup and UEFA Europa League since arriving at…

Bayern Munich moved to the top of the Bundesliga in ominous fashion as Thomas Muller netted his first league goal of the season in a 5-0 win over Wolfsburg.

Carlo Ancelotti s side have now won four matches in a row in all competitions since their three-game November blip, securing victory at the Allianz Arena through Arjen Robben, a Robert Lewandowski brace, Muller and a late Douglas Costa effort.

With RB Leipzig falling to defeat for the first time this season at lowly Ingolstadt, Bayern put this game to bed before half-time as Robben s stunning opener was followed by a Lewandowski tap-in.

Lewandowski, who scored five goals in nine minutes as a substitute in this fixture last season, then added a third, before Muller finally hit the net after 999 minutes witho…

Leandro Trossard and Hans Vanaken scored twice as Belgium eased past Belarus 8-0 to move to the top of their World Cup 2022 qualifying group in style.

Belgium fell behind in their first two Group E games a 3-1 win comeback win over Wales and 1-1 draw with Czech Republic but were four goals ahead at half-time on Tuesday.

Michy Batshuayi opened the scoring for Belgium after 14 minutes at Den Dreef in Leuven in the absence of the rested Romelu Lukaku and Vanaken added a quickfire second for the home side.

Trossard and Jeremy Doku were also on the scoresheet before half-time and further strikes followed after the interval from Dennis Praet and Christian Benteke, before Trossard and Vanaken completed the rout  Belarus  heaviest-ever loss.

See you in Jun…