England Under-21s striker Lukas Nmecha has joined Preston North End on loan after scoring 15 goals for Manchester City Under-23s in 2017-18.
The 19-year-old made two Premier League appearances for the champions last season and is highly rated at the club but he said North End manager Alex Neil played a key role in convincing him to spend a season at Deepdale.
The German-born attacker, who has spent more than a decade moving up through the youth ranks at Eastlands, could feature for Preston when they play Swansea City on Saturday.
He told Preston s official website: Alex Neil has been a big part of my decision to sign.
He is very passionate about the game and I am excited by the style of play that the club have been playing.
This season we can go…
Cameroon international Samuel Eto o claims his transfer to Anzhi Makhachkala was motivated by more than his reportedly enormous salary.
Eto o, 30, finalised his move to Russian Premier League club Anzhi from Serie A side Inter Milan after passing a medical on Wednesday, with the fee involved estimated to be 18.4 million pounds.
Details of the striker s salary have not been confirmed, but some reports claim he is set to earn as much as 21.8 million pounds per season, making his base salary one of the highest of any professional sportsperson.
Wages aside, the transfer appears an unusual move for a player at arguably the peak of his career and widely regarded to be among the best centre-forwards in Europe.
Eto o joins an Anzhi squad that do not reside in M…
Erling Haaland is a great player who is joining a great club in Manchester City, but Carlo Ancelotti suggested he is not overly upset at missing out on the much-coveted striker.
City confirmed on Tuesday they have reached an agreement to sign Haaland, who had been linked with an array of clubs across Europe – Ancelotti s Real Madrid among them.
Haaland s 85 goals in 88 games since joining Dortmund in January 2020 is bettered only by Robert Lewandowski (122) and Kylian Mbappe (89) across Europe s top five leagues.
But Madrid already boast a prolific striker of their own in Karim Benzema, whose 57 direct goal involvements in all competitions is unmatched in the continent s major divisions.
While Ancelotti has made no secret that he is a fan of Haaland, he…
Barcelona without Messi – Opta data sheds light on what it would mean to replace the greatest of all
Even when you consider the well-reported exit clause in his contract, until recently the idea of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona for another club was virtually unthinkable.
But this week friction has started to appear, with Messi publicly calling out Barca director of football Eric Abidal for bad-mouthing players in an interview, saying that many players weren t satisfied nor working hard and there was also an internal communication problem before Ernesto Valverde s sacking.
Messi s forthright response on Instagram said the sports management must also assume their responsibilities and suggested Abidal should name specific players if he is willing to criticise them, otherwise we are all getting dirtied and feeding things that are said but aren t true .
Barca have …
Dusan Vlahovic netted a stoppage-time equaliser as Juventus rescued a 1-1 draw against nine-man Bologna in Turin, though the result still dealt a severe blow to their slender title hopes.
Juve failed to create clear-cut chances during a dismal first-half display before Marko Arnautovic s goal put Bologna ahead.
Yet the match sparked into life in the final stages when Adama Soumaoro and Gary Medel both received red cards amid remarkable scenes.
Juve made their numerical advantage count when Vlahovic nodded in on the line from Alvaro Morata s acrobatic attempt to salvage a point that leaves them eight behind Serie A leaders Milan.
90+4’ | | GOOOOAAALLLLLLL!! LEVELS IT UP! C MONNNN LADS!!!
[1-1]
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
Carlo Ancelotti is hoping to make history by landing a fourth Champions League title this season but is unsure where his Real Madrid rank among the favourites to win the competition.
The experienced Italian coach is level with Liverpool great Bob Paisley and former Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane with three triumphs in the competition previously known as the European Cup.
Ancelotti famously ended Madrid s 12-year wait for La Decima – a 10th European crown – when beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the 2013-14 final in Lisbon.
Los Blancos went on to win the competition in three successive seasons under Zidane, during which time Ancelotti was boss of Bayern Munich and Napoli, before a spell with Everton.
Back at the Santiago Bernabeu since June, Ancelotti is …
The New Orleans Saints finally get to play at home after Hurricane Ida sent them packing to open the season. Sean Payton’s club will welcome a struggling and injured New York Giants team that has been held to 14 points or fewer twice to open the year.
The Saints head into their Week 4 matchup as 8-point home favorites which is more indicative of the state of the Giants than it is of how well the New Orleans offense is playing. Despite the hefty chalk, this game has one of the lowest totals on the board at 43.
Check out our free NFL betting picks and predictions for Giants vs. Saints on October 3.
…
Though 25-year-old youngins like myself didn't get to see much of him in his heyday, seeing only swatches of memorable moments like his work at the 1972 Munich Olympics and on the Wide World of Sports, it's been nice reading through the various tributes to the man, further tinged with sadness that he passed away on one of the biggest days of the horse racing calendar, a sport for which he has a clear passion. "Jim would have been is his glory here today," said racing journalist Bill Nack, among the more than 100,000 people at Belmont Park. "To see a dominant 3-year-old run for the Triple Crown would have been something he would have savored."
McKay's first TV broadcast assignment was a horse race at Pimlico in 1947, and it was the start of a love a…