Chelsea are considering a £50m swoop for Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, .

After a below par start to their title defence, Blues boss Jose Mourinho is eyeing possible candidates to bolster his attacking options.

A number of clubs have been linked with a move for Alcacer, who boosted his ever-growing reputation with five goals for Spain in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

At club level he has netted twenty-nine times in eight-two appearances for Valencia, with his one and only goal so far this season came in last month’s 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon.

He spent the 2012/13 campaign on loan with Getafe, and scored four goals in twenty-four outings.

The reigning Premier League champions ended their three game winless run with victory over lowly Aston V…

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka believes he is in the best form of his Gunners career and he attributes that improvement to the arrival of freak Unai Emery.

Xhaka joined Arsenal in 2016 in a deal which could reportedly reach £40million having enjoyed four years in the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach.

But in his first two seasons in the Premier League, Xhaka struggled to convince fans, often looking awkward and overly aggressive in a defensive midfield role.

He toiled in defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea at the start of this season, but Xhaka has steadily improved since, particularly when played alongside the more naturally defensive-minded Lucas Torreira.

And Xhaka is putting his elevated performances down to Emery, who succeeded Arsene…

Julian Brandt s father and agent Jurgen has dismissed claims the Bayer Leverkusen attacker has already reached an agreement with Bayern Munich for a transfer.

Brandt has long been linked with a move to the Allianz Arena and recent reports suggested he will join Bayern at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, when a clause in his contract will allegedly make him available for a fee of €12.5 million.

Nevertheless, the 20-year-old s representative has made it clear no decision has been made on his long-term future just yet.

It is fake news that Julian has agreed terms with Bayern, Jurgen Brandt told Kicker.

Julian has never been in the situation where he had to or wanted to  make a decision on his future.

Brandt joined Leverkusen from Wolfsburg in …

Manchester City take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at their route to the Ataturk Stadium.

Group stage (Manchester City 14pts, Borussia Dortmund 9, Sevilla 5, Copenhagen 3)

City dominated Group G to ease into the knockout stages for a 10th consecutive season with two matches to spare. The game that saw them clinch their spot was actually a forgettable goalless draw in Copenhagen in which Sergio Gomez was sent off, but the job had been largely done with victories in their first three games. They opened with a 4-0 victory over Sevilla, came from behind to beat Dortmund 2-1 with Erling Haaland grabbing the late winner against his former club and thrashed the Danes first time round 5-0. They were then hel…

Reece James is set to see a specialist this weekend to assess the injury he suffered in Chelsea s midweek victory over Milan, amid reports he could miss the upcoming World Cup.

James was forced off in the victory at San Siro and the Daily Mail has subsequently reported he sustained ligament damage, which could rule him out for between six and eight weeks.

Chelsea boss Graham Potter was questioned on James situation ahead of Sunday s meeting with Aston Villa, but was unable to provide a definitive timeframe for the defender s recovery.

Reece is due to see a specialist over the weekend so until we get that information there s not too much I can add. We will wait and see, Potter said in Friday s news conference.

There s discomfort so we just need to check …

The grandson of Myanmar s junta chief wanted the military regime to make a one billion dollar bid to buy football giants Manchester United, US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks revealed.

Unsure how the move would be received, Senior General Than Shwe said to be a keen fan of the Red Devils instead set up a national football league, reported the cable from Yangon to Washington dated June 2009.

One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer one billion (dollars) for Manchester United, said the cable released by the whistle-blowing website.

The Senior General thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own, it added, using Myanmar s former name.

In January 2009, Than…

Jonathan Woodgate is set to leave Tottenham on-loan in a bid to regain full fitness, with a return to former club Leeds a possibility.

The ex-England defender has struggled to overcome a long-standing groin injury and has not played first-team football for Spurs since November 2009.

With the 30-year-old not eligible to feature for Spurs in the English Premier League, manager Harry Redknapp appears keen for him to build up his match fitness with a view to perhaps adding Woodgate to his 25-man squad at the end of the January transfer window.

Leeds boss Simon Grayson publicly revealed his interest on Thursday in bringing Woodgate back to the club where he began his Premier League career, but he could have competition from fellow Championship club Queens Park Ranger…

Claudio Ranieri said he is proud to pass the Premier League title onto compatriot Antonio Conte after the Italian guided Chelsea to glory in his first season in England.

Conte restored Chelsea s championship status with Friday s 1-0 win at West Brom, after the Blues finished 10th last term in defence of their 2014-15 crown.

Chelsea s triumph saw Conte become the fourth Italian to win the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Roberto Mancini, Carlo Ancelotti and Ranieri, who stunned the sporting world when he sensationally guided Leicester City to the title last season before being sacked in February.

I am proud to pass the torch of the Premier League to Antonio Conte: from one Italian to another, a great recognition of our school of management,  Ranieri…

Hertha Berlin have laughed off suggestions Marvin Plattenhardt will leave the club for Bayern Munich during the close-season.

A report from German publication Welt claimed the 25-year-old is set to join Bayern ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, with the Bundesliga champions reportedly willing to pay €14 million to lure the left-back away from his club.

Hertha insist there is no truth in talk Plattenhardt is on his way to the Allianz Arena.

Yeah right, and Philipp Lahm will continue his career with us in return, the Berlin side replied to Welt s report on Twitter, referring to the retiring Bayern great.

We are sorry, but this is nonsense. Platte is staying.

Genau, und im Gegenzug setzt seine Karriere bei uns fort. Sorry, aber das ist Unsinn! <…

Austria kicked off their Euro 2020 campaign with a against North Macedonia on Sunday evening.

The match was held at Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.

Austria took the lead in the 18th minute when Stefan Lainer found the back of the net.

Goran Pandev restored parity for North Macedonia on 28 minutes when the 37-year-old Genoa forward took advantage of a defensive mix-up.

However, the Austrians came back strongly and scored twice thereafter to pick up all three points from the encounter.

Michael Gregoritsch turned in Austria captain David Alaba s sublime cross in the 78th minute.

Then on 89 minutes, former West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic scored after rounding goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

The result means that Aust…