Claudio Pizarro has confirmed his departure from Werder Bremen but refused to disclose which club he will be joining next.

The Peru international had been offered a new contract by the club but has decided against accepting it in order to continue his career elsewhere.

That was a very difficult decision for me because I feel a great love for the team and this club, Pizarro told Bremen s official website.

But I would like to end my career by doing something different. What that is, I cannot say yet. I have some offers that I have yet to evaluate.

Pizarro has been linked with Bremen s Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Schalke in recent weeks, while there has also been talk of lucrative offers from Qatar an…

Gareth Bale has suggested he could retire at Real Madrid after inking a new deal until 2022.

The Wales international, 27, joined Madrid from Tottenham in 2013 and has developed into a key figure for the club after a difficult start.

Bale has won two Champions League titles since his move to the Spanish capital and he is determined to secure even more silverware before potentially hanging up his boots at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Incredible feeling to sign at the biggest club in the world for another 6 years!!

— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11)

When asked if he could imagine seeing out his career at Madrid, Bale said at a news conference on Monday:  Yeah, I can see that. I am very happy here, getting more comfortable every year. My family is …

Nathan Ake s first goal for Bournemouth helped the Cherries end a three-match winless run by beating Stoke City 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

The on-loan Chelsea defender, making his first league start of the season, rose unmarked to head the visitors into a deserved lead with what proved to be the winner midway through the first half at the bet365 stadium, where Bojan missed a penalty for Stoke soon after the break.

Wilfried Bony could well have been sent off for the hosts, as referee Roger East invited criticism for making a series of dubious decisions, while Jack Wilshere hit the post late on as Bournemouth tried to make sure of the result.

The narrow win was Bournemouth s first since thrashing Hull City 6-1 in October and keeping a clean sheet away f…

AC Milan are interested in signing Davinson Sanchez from Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, according to . The Colombia international central defender has fallen down the pecking order at Spurs and is now on the radar of Italian giants Milan.

Milan are on the hunt for a new centre-back, as they plan to win the Scudetto ahead of Juventus this campaign. The Rossoneri are alert to the potential that Premier League club Tottenham would be open to cashing in on Sanchez in the middle of the season.

According to , Sanchez has made four appearances in the Premier League and four appearances in the Europa League for Tottenham so far this season. During the 2019-20 campaign, the centre-back made 27 starts and two substitute appearances in the league and played fiv…

Manuel Pellegrini says Jack Wilshere s imminent return from injury can provide West Ham with a welcome boost before the end of the season.

The former Arsenal midfielder moved to the London Stadium at the end of 2017-18 but has endured another injury-plagued campaign, with an ankle problem affecting him since September.

However, Pellegrini has confirmed that Wilshere is set to return to the fold for the run-in, starting with the Premier League clash against Leicester City on Saturday.

Jack Wilshere is OK, Pellegrini said at his media conference on Thursday. He worked without problems.

Step by step  

— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere)

We ll see tomorrow how he feels. He played already one game for the Under-23s. We will talk with him but …

Japan coach Norio Sasaki believes his team s counter-attacking is their best chance to hurt United States in the Women s World Cup final.

In a repeat of the 2011 final – which Japan won in a penalty shoot-out – the teams meet again on Sunday.

USA enter the clash at BC Place in Vancouver as favourites to claim their third world title and first since 1999.

Sasaki said both teams had their particular strengths, and he plans to have Japan playing on the break.

The strength of the US team is their power and also their organised way of playing, the structure and the strong desire to win. They are highly motivated, he told a media conference.

We don t really have as much power but we have the skills, the technique and the network among the players.…

Sydney FC have released Mark Bridge three days after new coach Ian Crook indicated the striker was part of his plans for the team s future.

Bridge, 26, had a year of his contract at the club still to run, but has now been granted an early release.

The two-cap Australia international, together with fellow forward Dimitri Petratos, had been linked with a move to the A-League s new Western Sydney franchise, only for Crook to dismiss the rumours on Tuesday.

As far as I m concerned, Bridge has been training with us constantly, and he is part of Sydney FC, Crook said.

Certainly on the playing side he s been training well, and certainly as far as I m concerned he and Petratos, nobody has spoken to me about them going.

Contrary to Crook s comments, Sy…

Wayne Rooney watched from the Manchester United bench as Paul Pogba inspired a 4-1 dismantling of champions Leicester City in Saturday s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

The world s most expensive player headed in his first goal for the club after Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford had all found the net in United s first-half rout to help banish thoughts of back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Watford.

Jose Mourinho caused a stir by dropping out-of-sorts captain Rooney to the bench, though he stuck with the same 4-2-3-1 system, with Pogba who has also faced criticism excelling in a deeper role alongside Ander Herrera.

Any concerns over a repeat of the turgid performance away to Watford were soon dispelled, as United s pace and power pinned …

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said the club have held talks with second-choice goalkeeper Brad Jones regarding a new contract.

Jones is a free agent at the end of the season and the Australian shot-stopper has not played for Liverpool since Boxing Day after suffering a thigh injury.

But the 33-year-old could extend his stay at Anfield as backup for Simon Mignolet, after Rodgers told reporters: There have been discussions.

Obviously, Brad is in his last year but nothing has been resolved on that.

Jones, who arrived from Middlesbrough in 2010, stepped in for the embattled Mignolet and played four consecutive fixtures in all competitions before injuring himself in Liverpool s 1-0 win at Burnley on December 26.

…

Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a controversial last-minute equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw for Watford as Southampton s Premier League winless run was extended to 10 matches.

A first-half double from James Ward-Prowse had put the Saints in the driving seat, but Andre Gray cut the deficit early in the second half and Doucoure got the leveller at the death, appearing to use his hand to do so.

It added to Mauricio Pellegrino s misery as his side s poor form continued, though Watford themselves have won just once over same period of Saints top-flight winless streak.

Having opened his account for the season in last weekend s FA Cup win over Fulham – setting up a fourth-round clash with the Hornets – Ward-Prowse picked up where he left off.

The midfielder …