Manchester United close to re-signing Tom Heaton

Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Thor Halldorsson has secured a transfer to Qarabag in the Azerbaijan Premier League after saving a penalty from Lionel Messi at the World Cup.

Halldorsson shot to fame when he prevented Messi from finding the net in Iceland s 1-1 draw with Argentina in their World Cup Group D opener, despite that being the high point of his tournament.

The 34-year-old went on to concede five goals in three games as Iceland finished bottom of the group but Qarabag who twice held Atletico Madrid to a draw in the 2017-18 Champions League have added him to their squad.

The move brings to an end Halldorsson s two-year spell at Randers, for whom he played 65 games in the Danish Superliga.

Sabahınız xeyir böyük ailəsi!

— Qarabağ FK…

Milan edged into the last 16 of the Europa League on away goals after being held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Red Star Belgrade at San Siro.

Reeling from Red Star s last-gasp equaliser in the first leg and Sunday s 3-0 derby defeat to Serie A title rivals Inter, Milan just did enough to secure their progress on Thursday – and they had birthday boy Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank.

Franck Kessie s early penalty put Milan 3-2 up on aggregate, but Red Star hit back through El Fardou Ben.

With Milan profligate at the other end, 22-year-old Donnarumma had to pull off an outstanding stop to deny Sekou Sanogo, before Marko Gobeljic s red card dented Red Star s comeback hopes.

A penalty was the reward for Milan s bright start when VAR adjudged Gobeljic to have purpo…

PSV Eindhoven forward Jeremain Lens is set to complete his switch to Dynamo Kiev, .

The two clubs have been negotiating a transfer fee over the last few days and they appeared to have agreed a fee in the region of €9 million.

As a result, the striker is currently undergoing medical examinations in Ukraine and is expected to sign a long-term deal worth around €2 million per campaign in the coming days.

Jeremain Lens joined the Dutch giants in a €6.1 million deal from AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2010, and he immediately established himself as a first team regular at Philips Stadium.

The 25-year-old went on to make 96 Eredivisie appearances for PSV Eindhoven and scored 34 goals in the process.

Lens has, however, recently expressed his desire t…

Celtic manager Neil Lennon is hopeful that striker Gary Hooper will remain at Parkhead after an offer from Hull City was rejected.

Hooper, who scored 19 goals in 30 Scottish Premier League starts last term, has attracted the interest of the Premier League newcomers, who are looking to boost their attacking options.

However, Hull s bid was deemed insufficient to secure the 25-year-old s services.

We had a bid from Hull City which we rejected. Whether they come again, I don t know, Lennon told Sky Sports.

(There is) no set price. The offer made was well below our valuation of player. We would be very happy for him to stay and if he decides to stay on, contract negotiatoins may re-open again.

He will come to Germany on Monday and will be part of our plans fo…

Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli does not appear to regret missing out on the Chelsea job to Antonio Conte, as he aims to bring LaLiga glory to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Sampaoli, who won the Copa America in style with Chile in 2015, has previously claimed he was Chelsea s first choice to replace Jose Mourinho.

Giving an interview with Radio Vorterix in his native Argentina last year, the 56-year-old said his chances of taking over at Stamford Bridge suffered a fatal blow when it became apparent that former Juventus boss Conte, then in charge of Italy s national team, would be available following Euro 2016.

Chelsea are sure to be happy with their decision, Conte having steered the Blues to an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League. 

But Sampaoli …

Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid for Juventus will not stop the LaLiga giants from winning, according to club captain Sergio Ramos.

Ronaldo joined Juve in a deal worth €112million to end a nine-year spell at Madrid that concluded with a trio of consecutive Champions League titles.

Madrid are yet to bring in a Ronaldo replacement, with new coach Julen Lopetegui indicating he sees Gareth Bale playing a more important role.

Ronaldo raised eyebrows in Spain when he referred to Juve feeling like a family , the Portugal captain scoring on his first appearance in a game against the club s youth team.

But Ramos is bullish about Madrid s chances of maintaining their European dominance starting against Atletico Madrid in Wednesday s UEFA Super Cup despite R…

Manchester United are set to enter the race for West Ham star Declan Rice, according to , in which they ll hope to beat Arsenal. The Gunners, however, remain the likeliest destination for the England international at this point.

Rice s future has been a subject of much speculation for years now. At first, he was strongly linked with Chelsea, and though the London Blues are believed to be financially capable to swoop in, they re unlikely to do so.

As for West Ham, they would love to keep the 24-year-old midfielder for another season, though with his contract set to expire in 2024 and Rice believing he s ready to move on, manager David Moyes recently admitted the parting of ways between the player and the club might happen this summer. The Hammers are apparently waiting t…

Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has played down any injury concerns for Kylian Mbappe after the France forward did not take part in full training ahead of Saturday’s Ligue 1 match against Lille.

Mbappe, who continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer, picked up a minor issue during the Coupe de France win over Brest on Wednesday night.

Despite having not joined in with the rest of the squad for Friday’s final training session and instead worked in the gym, Enrique insists there are no concerns over his availability.

“Kylian will be fit tomorrow and available to play,” Enrique said.

“He didn’t train today because we didn’t want to take any risks, so he trained inside, but he will be available for the game.”

PS…

Jurgen Klopp has ruled out an immediate return to football after leaving Borussia Dortmund and confirmed he is to take an indefinite break.

Klopp bid an emotional farewell to Dortmund following a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Wolfsburg in Saturday s DFB-Pokal final.

Dortmund enjoyed great success under Klopp s stewardship  winning the Bundesliga twice and the DFB-Pokal in 2012, as well as reaching the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

Klopp confirmed in April that he would end his seven-season stay at Signal Iduna Park, and has since been linked with several top European jobs.

However, the 47-year-old believes it would be wrong to jump straight into a new challenge.

Klopp is quoted in the German media as saying: After seven intense and emotional y…

After cruising through the Champions League group stages, Philipp Lahm believes Bayern Munich will be favourites against anyone in the knockout phase.

Pep Guardiola s men qualified as comfortable winners of Group F, winning five out of their six games to finish six points clear of Arsenal in second place.

Bayern, winners of the competition in 2013, could face the likes of Paris Saint-Germain or Juventus in the last 16, but captain Lahm has no concerns over any of their potential opposition.

We will be favourites against each opponent, he told TZ.

Then we want to advance to the next round.

Striker Robert Lewandowski added:  You can only theoretically be favourite, and anyway, what does that mean? You re in the next round?

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