Barcelona president Joan Laporta believes Ousmane Dembele already has an agreement to join another club when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Speaking on Tuesday, Laporta gave details of the negotiations that took place to renew the winger s contract.

The 24-year-old was then told to find another club in the January transfer window after those talks broke down – he had been linked with a number of Premier League teams, as well as Paris Saint-Germain – but a move never materialised.

Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany told Dembele last week he must leave immediately , which prompted the player to issue an angry riposte on social media.

Speaking at a news conference where Barca were outlining the details of the forensic revi…

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde paid tribute to Lionel Messi for his innate ability to make a decisive impact following a wonderful goal in Saturday s 4-1 win over Deportivo Alaves.

Other than having an early goal disallowed, Messi had been unusually subdued by his standards at Camp Nou.

Although Barca went into half-time 2-0 up, Alaves scored early in the second period and grew in confidence until Messi struck his 50th goal for club and country this year.

Seemingly surrounded by players, Messi managed to unleashed a fierce strike into the left side of the net from 25 yards and Barca cruised from there, with Luis Suarez – who set up the first three goals – adding a late fourth from the penalty spot.

Despite Suarez arguably being the star of the show,…

There is undoubtedly a perception the World Cup s third-place play-off is little more than an exhibition match – compared to the final, anyway.

But for Croatia and Morocco, Saturday s clash at the Khalifa International Stadium holds a great deal of significance regardless of what others might think.

Croatia were denied the chance to reach successive World Cup finals by Argentina, while Morocco put up an admirable fight against defending champions France in their 2-0 defeat.

But the fact Croatia – who clinched bronze at the 1998 World Cup – were in the 2018 final does not diminish the achievement of potentially finishing third here for coach Zlatko Dalic.

We are sad and disappointed, but we have to gather energy to come back and be ready for the nex…

Didier Deschamps said Karim Benzema is free to open up about the talks that led to his surprise France recall in the future, but the head coach said details of such discussions will not come from him.

Benzema was last week named in France s squad for the delayed European Championship following an absence of nearly six years.

He had been frozen out by Deschamps since 2015 having been embroiled in a blackmail scandal involving international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.

The 33-year-old has denied the claims and is due to stand trial on the charge of complicity in attempted blackmail in October.

His recall followed another hugely impressive season for Madrid in which he scored 30 goals in all competitions, with 23 of those in LaLiga, trailing o…

While the Premier League may have finally entered a well-deserved summer break, that doesn t mean that we re short of action from North of the border.

With all eyes falling on the Scottish Premiership s return from behind closed doors this weekend, one of Europe s most historic rivalries will start a new chapter, and the chance to make history is on the line this year.

Ahead of defending champions Celtic hosting Hamilton in Glasgow and Rangers making a tough season-opening trip to Pittodrie on Saturday lunchtime, we have taken a look at what are the big talking points ahead of Scottish football s return to action.

Celtic eyeing 10-in-a-row

While their bitter rivals might have been disappointed to see last year s campaign brought to an early halt, were awarded …

Bayern Munich were pegged back by RB Leipzig as the Bundesliga returned with an entertaining 1-1 draw on Friday.

Marcel Halstenberg struck in the 52nd minute at Red Bull Arena to draw third-placed Leipzig level against the league leaders.

Julian Nagelsmann had seen his team take the lead against his former club eight minutes before half-time, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting picking up where he left off before the World Cup break.

Bayern were lucky ex-Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano stayed on the pitch after a rash challenge on Dominik Szoboszlai, but the visitors run of 10 successive wins in all competitions came to a halt regardless.

Jamal Musiala was a rare bright spot for Germany in Qatar, and the teenager teed up the first chance when he played in Serg…

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero is on the verge of joining Granada as a free agent, according to .

Romero joined United from Sampdoria in 2015, also as a free agent, but he was never able to establish himself as the first choice between the posts, not under Louis van Gaal, nor under Jose Mourinho, nor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, due to the presence and for a long time excellent form of David De Gea. His status at the club was diminished further after Dean Henderson s return to the club from his loan with Sheffield United last summer, and he was looking for a way out ever since.

Solskjaer confirmed the 34-year-old s contract would not be extended back in January, and now it has expired. He was previously linked with Valencia and Chelsea.

The talks bet…

Mesut Ozil s Arsenal career looks set to end in the next few days , with a decision on his future expected soon, according to Mikel Arteta.

Reports emerged this week claiming Ozil was in talks with MLS franchise DC United and Turkish side Fenerbahce, whom the former Real Madrid star is said to have supported as a child.

Ozil joined Arsenal from Los Blancos in 2013 and provided 54 assists in 184 Premier League appearances for the club – in the same period, only Kevin De Bruyne (74), David Silva (63) and Christian Eriksen (62) have created more goals than the German World Cup winner.

However, he has laid on just two since the start of 2019-20, as he fell out of favour again under Arteta despite the Spaniard initially appearing set on building the team around Ozil…

Tottenham s players have offered to refund fans who made the trip to St James Park to see their side lose 6-1 to Newcastle United on Sunday.

Spurs hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took a blow as they were swept aside by top-four rivals Newcastle.

Newcastle were 5-0 up after just 21 minutes, the second-earliest a side has done so in Premier League history, after Manchester City against Watford in September 2019.

The fallout to the defeat saw acting head coach Cristian Stellini dismissed on Monday, with Ryan Mason appointed until the end of the season.

On Tuesday, Spurs released a statement from the squad, with the players electing to reimburse their away supporters.

The players have a message for our fans who went to Newcastle on Sunday…

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke once about the difficulties of facing Liverpool at a charged Anfield, and he felt them keenly again on Sunday, when his team failed to win the game at the iconic ground by surrendering a two-goal lead. It was Gabriel Martinelli who needed a little bit of luck and all his illustrious talent to break the deadlock within eight minutes, and it was the young Brazilian winger again who found Gabriel Jesus with a perfect cross to set him up for a free header in the 28th.

Then it was time for a Liverpool winger to take the central stage, and with just over three minutes of the first half remaining, Mohamed Salah halved Arsenal s advantage. He also wasted a great opportunity to equalize by shooting just wide of the post from the penalty spot in the 53r…