Gideon Sports Ng

  Raphinha has sent a defiant message that Barcelona do not need any additions to their squad after scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 thumping of Valladolid. Raphinha scored a treble as Barcelona beat Real Valladolid 7-0 in a superb performance. The Camp Nou side  spent the summer chasing a deal to sign Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao , but were unable to agree a deal. Barca's main acquisition of the summer came in the form of Dani Olmo, but Raphinha is confident the squad has more than enough talent to seriously challenge this season. Hansi Flick's side have won all four of their opening four games, beating Valencia, Bilbao, and Rayo Vallecano prior to their thrashing of Valladolid. Raphinha now has three goals and three assists as he bids to become indispensable to the new manager. Raphinha told reporters: "Today's game has taught us that there is no need for other players to arrive. We are in very good shape. The team is giving its best in the games and in the trainin

  Akor Adams opened his goal-scoring account for the season, and Moses Simon scored for the second consecutive game in Montpellier HSC's 3-1 loss to FC Nantes in the Ligue 1 fixture played on Saturday evening at the Stade de la Mosson. Matthis Abline opened the scoring in the 24th minute, whipping a powerful shot into the bottom left corner after receiving a clever pass from Tino Kadewere. Adams restored parity in the 30th minute, riffling the ball home from a rebound to score his first goal of the campaign and bag his second goal involvement this term. Seven minutes into the first-half stoppage time, a Montpellier player was spotted to have committed a handball by the VAR and a penalty was awarded to the away side. Simon stepped up to convert from the spot, blasting his effort past Montpellier goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte to hand the Yellow Canaries the lead heading into halftime. After scoring his first league goal in 2024 last weekend, the Super Eagles forward made it two consecu

  ENGLAND: Premier League 12:30 Arsenal  - Brighton  1:1 15:00 Brentford - Southampton  3:1 15:00 Everton - Bournemouth  2:3 15:00 Ipswich - Fulham  1:1 15:00 Leicester - Aston Villa  1:2 15:00 Nottingham - Wolves  1:1 74' West Ham - Manchester City  1:2

  Through a press release on Friday night, the Nigeria Football Federation have announced that the agreement with Bruno Labbadia to take over as Super Eagles coach has fallen through.  The NFF had earlier announced that Labbadia would be the new boss of the three-time African champions and will resume his duty ahead of the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda. However, the Nigerian football governing body have now stated the former Bayern Munich striker will be unable to take charge of Nigeria due to circumstances beyond their control. If Labbadia were to become the coach of the Super Eagles, the NFF would have to cover the tax on his salary as mandated by German tax laws, a burden the federation is unwilling to bear. The Nigerian Federation underlined that the tax details were never part of their discussions with Labbadia, and the German had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up.  Therefore, Augustine Eguavoen, who is the Techni

Super Eagles midfielder John Ogu has backed Victor Osimhen's decision not to take a pay cut to seal a move to Chelsea on transfer deadline day. The six-time English champions failed in their pursuit to sign the Napoli star before the end of the transfer window, having failed to agree personal terms with him. As reported all summer, Osimhen has been reluctant to reduce his wages, which could have facilitated him moving to the Premier League to play for Chelsea, and the west London club were adamant about not breaking their wage structure to get his signature. The Stamford Bridge outfit have coughed out a lot of money on player acquisition and salaries in recent years, which informed their decision to move on big earners Romelu Lukaku to Napoli and Raheem Sterling who has joined Arsenal on loan this summer Thus, it wasn't surprising that they couldn't match Osimhen's demand despite their determined last-ditch attempt to convince the striker to join the club. Reacting on X

  Championship club   Sunderland completed the signing of former Nigeria U20 international  Ahmed Abdullahi from KAA Gent before the close of the summer transfer window on Friday night. The 20-year-old was snapped up on a four-year deal, with a club option for the 2028-2029 season, subject to international clearance. Abdullaihi put himself in the shop window last season by scoring  21 goals in 28 1ste Nationale appearances. He is the fourth attack-minded player signed by the Black Cats in the summer, following in the footsteps of winger Ian Poveda, striker Wilson Isidor, and attacking midfielder Milan Aleksic. KAA Gent decided to cash in on the forward who was in the final year of his contract with the Jupiler Pro League club. Abdullahi made two senior appearances off the bench during his time at Gent but could not force his way into first team reckoning due to injuries. His transfer to Sunderland proved highly profitable for Gent as they are receiving at least three million euros. Acc

The German tactician was set to become the Super Eagles' 37th coach but the deal collapsed following unforeseen matters between the two parties.  WHAT HAPPENED? Former VfL Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia has reportedly rejected an offer to become Nigeria's next head coach.  Without giving any details of the contract duration, the Nigeria Football Federation announced the German coach as their new mentor on Tuesday.  It is understood that the 58-year-old tactician was ready to take the job as the two parties were just still polishing up minor details before the coach could hit the ground running.  However, in a surprising turn of events, Labbadia had turned down the offer to lead the Super Eagles apparently due to the premature announcement of his appointment by the association. WHAT THE NFF SAID The Nigeria Football Federation had announced Labbadia's appointment on Tuesday. "The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technic

  Arsenal agree loan deal to sign Raheem Sterling from Chelsea 🔴⚪️🤝🏻 Chelsea accept final conditions and the player wanted the move as also spoke to Mikel Arteta during the day. Agreement done, documents expected to be ok soon while Reiss Nelson is joining Fulham and not Ipswich. 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎! ⚡️

🚨🔵 Chelsea delegates are currently in Italy working very hard on the Victor Osimhen deal. He's the absolute priority now for the CF position. It's not easy because Chelsea have a strict wage policy at the club and they are contesting against giants from Saudi. Former Chelsea director Michael Emenalo is trying to get Osimhen to Saudi. Chelsea are throwing all the energy into Osimhen and if by morning/afternoon they are not confident, Chelsea will turn to other names. Ivan Toney one of the names on Chelsea's list. Chelsea are trying to be creative with the salary offer for Victor Osimhen. On Sancho, Chelsea are still working on that possiblity. There was contact between Sancho's camp and Chelsea today. (Fabrizio Romano via YT)  

🚨🇸🇦 Al Ahli have total agreement with Ivan Toney and his agents. Three year deal in place. Medical tests also booked for English striker and £40m to Brentford. ↪️ Al Ahli have still no green light from Victor Osimhen despite club to club deal done with Napoli.  

 BREAKING: Napoli reach total agreement with Al Ahli for Victor Osimhen! Club to club deal done for €75/80m total package, Al Ahli have already booked a medical. Four year contract worth €25/30m per season net to Osimhen + RELEASE clause. Final green light up to Victor.

 Arsenal and Bournemouth have reached verbal agreement for Neto as backup goalkeeper. Deal will happen only if Arsenal will not be able to sign Joan García as Espanyol have rejected TWO bids today. Espanyol insist on release clause or nothing.

  La Liga champions Real Madrid were held to a frustrating draw by Las Palmas. The Canary Islands hosts took an early lead when Scotland striker Oli McBurnie picked out youngster Alberto Moleiro, who skipped into the box before firing a low shot into the bottom corner. But Madrid levelled when Vinicius Jr scored a penalty after Alex Suarez was penalised for handball. It extends their club-record unbeaten run to 35 games in La Liga. Madrid, who were far from their best, had chances to win with Endrick and Kylian Mbappe going close. Mbappe has yet to score in his three La Liga games since moving from Paris St-Germain. Las Palmas had a late goal ruled out for a Jaime Mata offside.

🎙Enzo Maresca's Full Post-Servette Press Conference: 🔹Enzo Maresca on the game: "I think the first half an hour was comfortable and we had three or four chances to make it 2-0. Then we concede the goal and it's normal to suffer a little bit. I was very worried about this game. For them, it's probably their biggest game of the season. This kind of game, you have many things to lose and not many things to win. This is why I was so worried yesterday and before the game." 🔹Enzo Maresca on the Conference League: "It's a competition that we are going to try and do our best. The team, the way we started, the team was there and then we conceded, they had some chances and then we lost a little bit of confidence. " 🔹Enzo Maresca on George: "He was good. He was not shy. He had personality. We also had Josh Acheampong on the bench. Unfortunately Harrison was not on the bench. It's important to build something with the academy players." 🔹Enzo M

  Full Champions League draw Real Madrid:  Borussia Dortmund H, Liverpool A, Milan H, Atalanta A, RB Salzburg H, Lille A, Stuttgart H, Brest A   Manchester City:  Inter H, PSG A, Club Brugge H, Juventus A, Feyenoord H, Sporting CP A, Sparta P   Bayern Munich:  PSG H, Barcelona A, Benfica H, Shakhtar Donetsk A, Dinamo Zagreb H, Feyenoord A, Slovan Bratislava H, Aston Villa, A PSG:  Manchester City H, Bayern Munich A, Atletico Madrid H, Arsenal A, PSV Eindhoven H, RB Salzburg A, Girona H, Stuttgart A   Liverpool:  Real Madrid H, RB Leipzig A, Bayer Leverkusen H, Milan A, Lille H, PSV Eindhoven A, Bologna H, Girona A   Inter:  RB Leipzig H, Manchester City A, Arsenal H, Bayer Leverkusen A, Crvena Zvezda H, Young Boys A, Monaco H, Sparta Prague A.   Borussia Dortmund:  Barcelona H, Real Madrid A, Shakhtar Donetsk H, Club Brugge A, Celtic H, Dinamo Zagreb A, Sturm Graz H, Bologna A   RB Leipzig:  Liverpool H, Inter A, Juventus H, Atletico Madrid A, Sporting CP H, Celtic A, Aston Villa H, St

 🚨 For the first time since the Copa America final, Leo Messi is back in training with Inter Miami 🔙🇺🇸🐐

 🚨 Enzo Maresca on the game: "I think the first half an hour was comfortable and we had three or four chances to make it 2-0. Then we concede the goal and it's normal to suffer a little bit. I was very worried about this game. For them, it's probably their biggest game of the season."

  Liverpool will face Champions League holders Real Madrid on their return to the competition following the draw for the new-look format. Manchester City and Arsenal both play last season's semi-finalists Paris St-Germain in their fixtures, while Aston Villa take on Scottish champions Celtic. Each team plays eight fixtures in the 'league phase', with this year's men's tournament seeing a radical change, including the end of a group stage. The high-tech draw took place in Monaco on Thursday, with Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo pressing the all-important button to make a computer algorithm determine the fixtures. A Uefa video shown before the draw used stars from across the game showing their confusion at the new format, before former Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic praised it for "more football" in a comical interaction with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin. Who will British teams play? The order of matches will be confirmed on Saturday, after the Euro

  The summer transfer window closes on Friday with business still to be done as clubs look to finalise their squads for the rest of the year. According to analysis from  Football Transfers, , external  Premier League clubs have spent more than £1.7bn so far, £600m less than in 2023. Here is everything you need to know for Friday's transfer deadline day. What time does the window close? The transfer window will close at 23:00 BST on Friday for the Premier League, English Football League and in Scotland. Across Europe, the Bundesliga window will close at 19:00, Ligue 1 22:00 and in Serie A and La Liga it is 23:00 BST. The Women's Super League transfer window remains open until 23:00 BST on 13 September. What happens if deals are not confirmed before the deadline? As ever, deals are rarely straightforward and might not be completed until the very last minute. If that ends up being the case then it can be difficult to get everything finalised and sent over by the deadline. Clubs so

  FT’ Servette 2-1 Chelsea (AGG 2-3) The blues advance into the conference league proper, thoughts on that performance blues 👀