desben

Neymar Jnr insists leaving Barcelona for Paris St Germain will not be the end of his football career after scoring a goal at his debut game. The Brazil international made an impact in his first game since completing a world-record 222million euro (£200.6million) move with a goal and an assist as PSG cruised to a 3-0 win at Guingamp. Critics argued that leaving Barcelona for Ligue 1 is a set back, but the 25-year-old is happy to prove them wrong and his content at the moment. “I knew it would be very difficult to leave Barca but I am very happy to be here,” he said in quotes reported by L’equipe, “People think that you die after leaving Barca, but no, it’s the opposite. I’m more alive than ever, I play, I’m very happy. The country, the city and the team change, but football is the same.” After Jordan Ikoko’s own goal gave PSG a 52nd-minute lead, Neymar brilliantly set up Edinson Cavani to make it 2-0 before opening his account for the club with a simple close-range finish with eight min...

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has expressed his disapproval concerning the club's treatment of him this summer and said he is “not a criminal” as he hope for a move to Atletico Madrid. Costa claims he was told he was not wanted by the Italian manager Antonio Conte via text message in the summer, has yet to exit Stamford Bridge but did not return from his post-season break. The 28-year-old said he was happy at the club until Conte made it clear he had no future in his team, and now wants to return to his former club he left in 2014 before joining Chelsea. Costa said he is yet to report for training as he does not want to train with the Chelsea's reserves, and is enjoying his stay in Brazil and paying club fines until his future is decided.  “I am waiting for Chelsea to set me free. I didn’t want to leave. I was happy. When the manager does not want you, you have to go,” he told the Daily Mail. “In January, things happened with the coach. I was on the brink of renewing my contract ...

Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann is reportedly still considering an offer to join Manchester United this summer. The offer has been connected with a move to Old Trafford since the beginning of the summer and a possible twist at Atletico could provoke him to leave for the Premier League. A report in  Don Balon  claims the Frenchman would be willing to join United if Atletico decided to sell goalkeeper Jan Oblak to PSG. The 26-year-old was a target for United when David De Gea’s future was gloomy, is being tipped to move to the big-spending French giants and Griezmann believes that would show a lack of ambition on Atletico’s part and would proboke him to quit. The forward had previously stated that there was a ‘6 out of 10’ chances  that he would be playing in England this season while he also felt that he would be letting Atletico down by leaving now, given their current transfer ban. However, Oblak’s potential exit could then emit a bidding war for Griezmann, wh...

Liverpool have given the name of the player they want to replace Philippe Coutinho, while Newcastle have stepped up their efforts to swoop an Arsenal star, according to Sunday’s papers. So here's the gist.  LIVERPOOL TARGET NAPOLI PLAYMAKER Jurgen Klopp reportedly wants £60m-rated Lorenzo Insigne if he has to replace Barcelona target Philippe Coutinho. The Reds chief is said to have been a long time admirer of the 26-year-old attacker, who scored 20 goals for a Napoli side that finished third in Serie A last season. The Italian outfit, however, insist the player is not for sale, according to report in the  Sunday People . But with Liverpool poised to net around £100m, if they decide to sell Coutinho to Barca, they would be in a very strong position to try and lure the Italy international to Anfield. Should they fail with an offer for Insigne then 21-year-old Germany wonderkid Max Meyer is tipped to be the next man on Klopp’s list. TOON STEP UP CHASE FOR ARSENAL STAR Rafa Benit...

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley opened up that his naivety made him make some "unacceptable" decisions when he first took over the club.  In an exclusive interview with  Sky Sports , which will be aired on Sunday evening’s ‘Mike Ashley: Speaks Direct’ special on Sky Sports Premier League at 7pm, the 52-year-old directly disclosed all, following the marking of his 10 years at St James’ Park. Ashley declared that he was too fast to sever all ties Allardyce had with the players in 2008 after buying the club, and also should not have renamed the stadium to the Sports Direct Arena, but that all his wrong actions were in hindsight. When asked to give a description of himself throughout his 10-year work, Ashley told David Craig: “Very naïve in the beginning. In the middle I thought I was just about beginning to get my arms around it a little bit, we had a manager on an eight-year contract [Alan Pardew]. “We had the finance right, talked about investing in the training ground and ...

Pep Guardiola reveals Manchester City “are a strong club” and has made known his pleasure with the new set of players following the club’s 2-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday night.  Brighton did great as they carry on to keep City out until the 70th-minute when David Silva played Sergio Aguero in to open the scoring. And Lewis Dunk own goal just five minutes later put the game beyond the Seagulls and gave Guardiola’s men a good beginning to the new Premier League season. “We had chances in the first minutes,” Guardiola told BBC. “We have controlled the counter-attacks and we didn’t concede one chance. We are going to improve the way we attack. “I was very happy with the new players. I want to say thank you to the club. We have huge players with lots of talent. Big congratulations to all the people in Manchester City – we are a strong club. “I want to continue with what we did in the last three games of pre-season. We were stable but we have to try to improve. The most important ...