Barcelona linked with Arsenal forward Kai Havertz

Spanish media outlet Don Balon claims that Real Madrid are hot on the trail of Arsenal hotshot Alexis Sanchez.

It is no secret that the Chilean hopes to leave the Emirates for greener pastures, but Arsene Wenger doesn’t seem keen on selling this summer.

Nevertheless, latest reports suggest that Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez is prepared to offer €70 million for the former Barcelona forward.

While Arsenal were hoping to get Karim Benzema in exchange, los Blancos are not interested in such a deal, meaning the Gunners will need to consider a cash only offer.

It remains to be seen though whether Sanchez would be tempted by the prospect of joining Real Madrid having represented their bitter rivals between 2011 and 2014.

The Chilean has sinc…

England s friendly clash with Germany at Wembley on Friday will see a video assistant referee (VAR) used in an official match in the United Kingdom.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) agreed to a two-year test of VAR in 2016, making goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity cases reviewable by match officials.

VARs and other officials do not have the power to insist that the referee consults video evidence of an incident, but they are able to recommend that a decision is looked at.

Wembley has seen VAR used once before, with a charity match in October playing the role of testing ground for the system.

Fittingly, England and Germany matches have a history of controversial incidents which would have been avoided with VAR.<…

Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart believes Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will keep fighting to make his club the most successful in Spain despite Barca s incredible dominance in recent times.

Real Madrid have won just one La Liga title since 2008, while Barcelona have won five of the last seven and Atletico Madrid winning the other.

In that time, they also won their 10th Champions League title, completing the famous La Decima under Carlo Ancelotti.

This season, Madrid languish in third in the La Liga title race, 12 points behind leaders Barcelona, but remain in the Champions League having cruised past Roma to book their spot in the quarter finals.

Despite the club s fall from grace as the top dog in Spanish football, Gaspart believes Perez …

Sergio Aguero says there is no limit to what he can achieve at Manchester City after becoming the club s all-time record goalscorer.

The Argentina striker scored his side s third in their 4-2 Champions League win over Napoli at the San Paolo on Wednesday, surpassing Eric Brook s 78-year-old record of 177 for the club.

The achievement cemented the 29-year-old s place as one of the best players in City s history and helped Pep Guardiola s side secure their last-16 spot with two group games to spare.

And Aguero insists he is as ambitious as ever in his seventh season at the Etihad Stadium.

There s no limit, he said. For me, every game is important. Obviously when I score a goal I m very happy, but above all a player is happy if his team wins. The limit is …

Argentina captain Lionel Messi admitted he would have liked play at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after he was left out of the squad in favour of the Copa America Centenario.

Coach Gerardo Martino opted against making Messi who won gold at the Beijing Games in 2008 compete at both June s Copa America and the Olympics in August.

Martino stressed that the Barcelona star agreed with the decision, but Messi conceded he is disappointed not be involved for the campaign in Brazil.

I would have liked to go because it was a spectacular experience for me to play in the [2008] Olympics, just as it was for the [2005] U20 World Cup, Messi told ESPN.

Not just because we won, but for the experience I gained.

It was a great experience to stay in the Olym…

Paris Saint-Germain are interested in signing Paul Pogba from Manchester United in the summer transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the French giants are considering making a bid for the France international midfielder.

Pogba is out of contract at United at the end of next season. The 28-year-old returned to the Red Devils from Italian giants Juventus in 2016. No new deal is in place, and there is speculation that the midfielder himself wants to leave and is looking for a new challenge.

PSG are one of the richest clubs in the world and will be aiming to reclaim the Ligue 1 title next season. Mauricio Pochettino’s side will also be determined to win the Champions League in 2021-22. Pogba scored and gave three assists in 21 Premier League starts for…

Denis Cheryshev will be back in yellow next season after agreeing a deal to sign for Villarreal from Real Madrid.

The two La Liga clubs agreed a fee before the Russian star signed a five-year deal with the club he played for during the 2014-15 season.

During his previous stint, he featured in 40 games across all competitions, scoring seven goals and assisting 10.

| ¡Bienvenido de nuevo, ! / Welcome back Cheryshev! / Benvingut de nou, Cheryshev!

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF)

He returned to Madrid last season, but failed to work his way into coach Zinedine Zidane s plans, eventually being loaned out in January to Valencia.

Since signing for Madrid in 2008, Cheryshev made over 100 appearances for the club s second-string side, but…

Giorgio Chiellini was delighted to gain a measure of revenge after he opened the scoring in Italy s 2-0 Euro 2016 win over holders Spain.

The Juventus man turned in a typically robust defensive display and scrambled home a deserved opener for Italy in the 33rd minute of a superb first-half performance.

Spain came on strong as the clock ticked down, with Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli, man-of-the-match Leonardo Bonucci and their club goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon manning the fort before Graziano Pelle struck in stoppage time to spark delirious celebrations.

Italy were knocked out of Euro 2008 on penalties by Spain and were thrashed 4-0 in the final four years later.

A shoot-out loss at the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil then followed, leaving the 31-year-old…

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson insists he never thought his side would be in the fight for promotion as they prepare for their Sky Bet League Two play-off final with Stockport on Sunday.

The Blues qualified for the play-offs after finishing the regular campaign in fifth position and came from behind in the tie against Bradford to book their place at Wembley, with a 3-2 aggregate win.

Simpson took over at Brunton Park in February 2022 with the club battling against relegation to the National League and has gone on to lead them to within one game of promotion.

The 56-year-old is aiming for his third promotion with the Cumbrian club, having been player-manager from 2003 to 2006, but admitted a lot of work needed to be done when he walked through the door.

Simpso…

Eden Hazard is desperate for Belgium to live up to expectations at the World Cup and not underachieve like England s so-called golden generation .

The 2018 World Cup in Russia will be the third successive international tournament Belgium have qualified for after Brazil 2014 and Euro 2016, reaching the last eight on both occasions.

But Belgium went to each of those competitions with a formidable squad and, despite reaching the quarter-finals, they hardly made a lasting impression.

Parallels can be drawn with the England team which achieved little between the years of 2002 and 2010, even with a collection of players including Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, John Terry, Frank Lampard and more.

Hazard is fully aware of that England…