Al-Ittihad winger Jota eyes Premier League transfer

Albert Rusnak s hat-trick propelled the Seattle Sounders to a shock 4-0 win over the 10-man Columbus Crew.

The short-handed Crew were dealt a huge blow when, in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, goalkeeper Abraham Romero saw red for a foul on Jordan Morris.

With regular goalkeepers Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen on international duty, Crew coach Wilfried Nancy had to turn to centre-back Sean Zawadzki.

But it took Seattle just four minutes to get the better of the stand-in, with Rusnak converting the resulting free-kick following Romero s foul.

Morris doubled Seattle s tally on the hour mark, with Rusnak then completing his hat-trick with a quickfire double.

Columbus are third in the Eastern Conference, while Seattle are fifth in t…

A new year may bring fresh hope, but the same old problems were clear to see for Chelsea in their 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

A team seemingly stuck in transition and unable to fully adapt to the methods of head coach Graham Potter, Chelsea face a huge battle to even finish in the Premier League top four this season – their absolute minimum target.

Amid all the talk of a struggling attack (only eight other teams have scored fewer goals per game than Chelsea this season), and the need for further freshening up in other areas, the situation regarding the goalkeeping position has all of a sudden gone very quiet.

The opening of the transfer window in recent years, whether prior to the start of a new season or midway through, would lead to strong specul…

River Plate entertain arch-rivals Boca Juniors in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final on Tuesday, but the defending champions have hardly set the tournament alight in 2019.

Marcelo Gallardo has already led River to two Libertadores titles last year s coming after a Superclasico final against Boca and is hoping to make them the first team to successfully defend their crown since a Boca side inspired by Juan Roman Riquelme in 2001.

However, Los Millonarios have won just three of their 10 matches en route to the final four – the joint-fewest of any semi-finalist to have taken part in the group stage.

With the help of Opta, we look at the teams that reached the penultimate round with the same amount of victories.

Cerro Porteno (19…

Leah Williamson has withdrawn from her first England squad since last April due to injury, with Millie Turner called up in place of the Euro 2022-winning captain.

Arsenal described the 26-year-old’s problem as a “minor hamstring injury” ahead of Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United, less than a month after Williamson returned to action for the Gunners following a nine-month recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

World Cup runners-up England travel to Spain on Monday ahead of two friendlies against Austria and Italy, with Manchester United defender Turner replacing Williamson in Sarina Wiegman’s squad.

Millie Turner has been called up to the England squad, replacing Leah Williamson who has withdrawn with an injury.

Wishing …

Tottenham have hired former City Football Group executive Scott Munn as their new chief football officer.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had been leading a thorough review of the club s footballing activities over the past six months in a bid to ensure future progress and competitiveness .

The appointment of a chief football officer is considered a major step in that process, with Munn set to take charge of all football-related operations.

Munn s arrival is unrelated to Fabio Paratici s situation, with the Italian managing director of football having taken a step back pending his appeal against a 30-month worldwide ban for his alleged role in Juventus being found guilty of transfer irregularities.

If Paratici wins his appeal, which is due to be heard on April…

Paul Pogba intends to remain at Manchester United and win trophies but the club must form a clear identity, according to the midfielder s agent Mino Raiola.

France international Pogba is into the final 18 months of his contract and has been strongly linked with a move away from Old Trafford ahead of the January transfer window.

The 26-year-old attracted interest from Real Madrid earlier this year, but Raiola insists his client who returned to United from Juventus in 2016 will not force through an exit.

I think that Paul really went home, Raiola told The Telegraph. Paul could have gone elsewhere [in 2016], but he really chose with his heart, to go home.

Paul wants to be successful and happy and wants to win prizes and he would love to do that with Manche…

Verdict: Real Madrid win to nil

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Finding a route back to the top of the La Liga table, Real Madrid will look to extend on their recent purple patch when they welcome Mallorca to the capital on Wednesday night.

Real Madrid

Starting with the hosts, watching Barcelona drop what could be two crucial points against Sevilla last week, Los Blancos have found a route back to the top of the table and the mood in their camp should be at a high. Putting in an eye-catching display away at Champions League chasers Real Sociedad on Sunday night, Los Blancos have won each of their three contests since returning from the enforced break. With that run highlighted by a 3-0 romp against Valencia at their new temporary home in the form of the Estad…

Alexandre Lacazette has played his final match for Arsenal, the north London giants confirmed on Thursday.

Arsenal announced the striker s time with the club will come to an end by the end of June, when his contract expires.

Lacazette moved from Lyon to Arsenal in 2017 for an initial €53million (£46.5m) but made his intentions to depart Emirates Stadium clear during the 2021-22 campaign.

The 30-year-old suggested he wanted to play in the Champions League, where he has never featured for Arsenal, but admitted he would be open to re-signing for boyhood club Lyon.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas and director of football Vincent Ponsot responded by outlining their desire to bring the forward to the Groupama Stadium.

The Ligue 1 side, who wil…

Ralf Rangnick will not be taking up the consultancy role that Manchester United had planned for him, it was revealed on Sunday.

After a disappointing spell as interim manager, the prospect of Rangnick remaining part of United s plans had appeared to fade.

He was appointed Austria s new coach last month, and that only heightened the likelihood he would move on.

Now United have confirmed Rangnick, who was considered an outstanding strategist when he joined the club, would not be part of their plans in the future.

It means Erik ten Hag, the manager brought in from Ajax on a three-year deal, will not be working with the man he has succeeded.

United, announcing the clean break, said: We would like to thank Ralf Rangnick for his efforts as interim manag…

Pep Guardiola insists he trusts Manchester City to take the next step in the Champions League, adamant he would be crazy not to have that belief ahead of Wednesday s quarter-final second leg.

City go to Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 lead from last week s home leg, meaning the Germans will be quietly confident of pulling off an upset given they managed an away goal.

While City have progressed from 13 of their 15 knockout ties in European competition when winning the first leg, in the Champions League the side that won the first leg 2-1 at home has been eliminated more often (15) than they have progressed (12).

The tie is in the balance and Guardiola knows too well to take anything for granted given City have been eliminated at this stage of the competition in each …