Silva one of the best – Aguero buoyed by old ally´s Manchester City return

Sergio Aguero paid a warm tribute to David Silva after his Manchester City team-mate made a man-of-the-match return to action for the Premier League leaders.

Silva missed three of City s previous four top-flight matches due to personal reasons but captained Pep Guardiola s side against Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, receiving a hero s reception from the home faithful.

And the Spain playmaker made an instant impact as his perfectly weighted pass released Leroy Sane to set up Raheem Sterling s opener inside the first minute of a 3-1 win.

Guardiola told a news conference afterwards that he faces being without Silva once more over the coming weeks because family is the most important thing in life .

Aguero rounded off the scoring for City with his …

Dortmund hold talks with Schulz over domestic abuse allegations

Borussia Dortmund on Sunday revealed they have held talks with defender Nico Schulz over the domestic abuse allegations that have been levelled against him by a former girlfriend.

The 29-year-old s ex-partner has reportedly filed a criminal complaint against him over an incident she alleged took place in 2020.

Schulz says he is not guilty of any wrongdoing and Bundesliga club Dortmund will not be taking any action, with the case pending and in its early stages.

Borussia Dortmund has responded to yesterday s media coverage of the criminal allegations concerning Nico Schulz s private life by immediately holding talks with the player and his advisors, read an official club statement.

The player contests the criminal allegations that have been made agai…

Real Madrid to join Saliba race

Real Madrid are set to join the race to acquire the services of William Saliba in the summer, according to Calciomercato, and they ve apparently made contact with Arsenal to enquire about the availability of the defender.

Saliba joined Arsenal from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019 for a reported fee of €30 million. Two and a half years later, he is still to make a senior appearance for the Gunners, and he s expressed his frustration with the lack of opportunity on several occasions. The 20-year-old is now on his third loan spell, playing for Olympique Marseille after Saint-Etienne and OGC Nice.

Saliba s performances in France have obviously been impressive enough to attract attention of the biggest clubs around Europe. Apart from Real, both AC Milan and Inter are k…

Northern Ireland 0-0 Switzerland: Three Things We Learned

The international break is slowly but surely coming to an end as the masses prepare for the return of the domestic game in a matter of days. Before that, though, we ve still got plenty of intriguing World Cup qualifiers to discuss from the past week and that includes last night s goalless encounter between Northern Ireland and Switzerland at Windsor Park.

From a lively crowd to a missed penalty and beyond, this was the kind of game that had just about everything which is always welcome news for club fans looking for their slice of drama.

Swiss struggle

For whatever reason Switzerland, who recently made it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, couldn t quite break down Northern Ireland despite seemingly having a far superior starting XI out there in Belfast. It was the ki…

Benjamin Pavard wants to leave Bayern

Benjamin Pavard has decided not to sign a new contract with Bayern, according to several sources, and with his current contract expiring in 2024, he has already informed the club of his desire to leave the Allianz Arena this summer.

With several top clubs interested in his services, Bayern now face a choice between yielding to his wishes and selling this summer, and forcing the defender to stay put by the power of contract, which would most likely mean losing him without compensation 12 months later.

Throughout the season, Bayern were said to be keen to extend Pavard s contract, and for a while it seemed the likeliest outcome. However, things have obviously changed, possibly due to Julian Nagelsmann, who was reportedly adamant about having the France international in hi…

´Nice kick about with the boys´ – Gabriel taunts Toney after Arsenal ease past Brentford

Gabriel Magalhaes took aim at Ivan Toney on social media after Arsenal eased to a 3-0 win at Brentford to move back into top spot in the Premier League.

Brazilian centre-back Gabriel played a full part in Sunday s routine victory in west London as Arsenal made is six wins from seven league matches this term.

William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira, making his first start in the competition, were all on target as Brentford suffered their heaviest home top-flight loss since 1947.

Arsenal s performance was a far cry from 13 months ago on their last trip to Brentford when losing 2-0 on the opening day of the 2021-22 campaign.

Shortly after that match finished, Brentford striker Toney – called up by England for the first time this week – tweeted: Ni…

December is the month for dreaming – Raiola not ruling out Pogba Juve return

Mino Raiola has not ruled out a return to Juventus for Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, declaring December is the month for dreaming.

Pogba s contract expires at the end of this season and the France international will be free to talk to other clubs in January.

The 28-year-old won eight trophies during his time at Juve before returning for a second spell with United in 2016.

Raiola, Pogba s agent, did not dismiss the prospect of the World Cup winner heading back to Turin when asked about his future on Wednesday.

He told reporters: Dreaming is free, those who do not dream are dead. I do not forbid dreams to anyone, I do them too every day so let s dream, it s good for you. Then let s see if they become reality.

Raiola also took a swipe at…

Cancelo v Alexander-Arnold: Man City and Liverpool stars changing the game from full-back

It is set to be the biggest match the Premier League has seen since, well, since the last time these two met during a fierce title race.

In 2019, Manchester City and Liverpool were slugging it out at the top of the table when they met at the Etihad Stadium, with Pep Guardiola s men edging a tight encounter 2-1, ultimately winning the league by a single point, 98 to 97.

That clash came in the January, though. This time, with both teams again separated by just one point, and with only eight games to go, it feels like it could be all or nothing when they meet on Sunday.

Both behemoths have numerous players who could play a crucial role, with match winners all over the pitch in either sky blue or red shirts.

However, two players in particular could arguably …

Correa to stay at Atletico Madrid

According to a recent report from AS, Angel Correa is set to remain at Atletico Madrid as opposed to completing a move to AC Milan. The Italian side failed to meet the asking price that was believed to be set at around €40 million, and after plenty of negotiations back and forth, they weren’t willing to budge on it.

AC Milan have been busy during the summer transfer window and were hoping to keep that activity going all the way up until Deadline Day. Alas, if they’re going to bring in one or two more big names, they’ll have to start looking elsewhere as Atletico don’t appear to be all too interested.

Correa first joined the Spanish giants back in 2014 from San Lorenzo, and has made a handful of appearances for the Argentine national team over the years, althou…

Boateng trains with Bayern amid PSG and Manchester United links

Jerome Boateng trained with Bayern Munich on Thursday as speculation continued to swirl around the Germany defender s future.

Boateng was linked with a move to Manchester United over recent days, but Old Trafford boss Jose Mourinho has told reporters he does not expect any incomings as Premier League clubs prepare to conclude business ahead of a 17:00 BST deadline.

Paris Saint-Germain has also been touted as a possible destination for Boateng, with new head coach Thomas Tuchel keen to bolster his options at centre-back.

Last month, Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the 29-year-old s representatives had been in touch with the Ligue 1 champions.

Boateng joined Bayern from Manchester City in 2011 and has won six Bundesliga titles and three …