SPORTS

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs should dial down their approach when signing young players to their academies. That’s according to Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who says that the way English clubs deal with youngsters is ‘alarming’. Players in England are often at professional clubs from a very young age. Only a very small percentage ever progress to the first team, with ...

ROMELU LUKAKU thinks Jose Mourinho sees him as ‘his sergeant on the pitch’. Lukaku joined Manchester United for £75m from Everton in the summer. The Belgium ace has repaid Mourinho’s faith with 24 goals so far this term. Lukaku has missed just one Premier League game all season and has been an ever-present in the Champions League. His goal against ...

MANCHESTER UNITED are a bigger club than Liverpool. That is according to former England manager Steve McClaren. The Premier League giants are set to clash this weekend in a match which will go a long way in determining the battle for the top four. Liverpool travel to United on the back of their Champions League progression, while Jose Mourinho’s men ...

THIS is the moment Manchester United ace Anthony Martial announced himself to the Premier League. Martial was a surprise deadline day arrival to Manchester United back in September 2015 and it didn’t take long for the Frenchman to make a name for himself at Old Trafford. United paid a whopping £36million for the then 19-year-old forward, the highest fee paid ...

Stars from across Italian football and beyond are in Florence for the funeral of Davide Astori, the Fiorentina captain who was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday. The 31-year-old was discovered hours before his team were scheduled to play Udinese in a Serie A match. He is believed to have died from a cardiac arrest. His team-mates were ...

Ghana international Kwadwo Asamoah prominently featured in the post-match talks as Juventus beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Italians came into Wednesday’s fixture on the back of a 2-2 first leg home draw, and it had to take an overwhelming team effort to steal a 2-1 comeback victory at Wembley. With ...

Tottenham walked out at Wembley with sights set on the Champions League quarter-finals – but ended the night beaten by the greater experience and ruthlessness of old campaigners Juventus. Spurs controlled large portions of the last-16 tie but paid the price for switching off twice inside three minutes during the second leg to give last season’s beaten finalists the chance ...

Hearts of Oak have unveiled 11 players for the new season including Burkinabe striker Aboubacar Traore. The striker has been described as ‘a tireless fighter and a fox-in-the-box’ by the club’s official Twitter handle. Defender Radji Okemba from Congo has been registered after passing a trial with the capital club. The lanky midfielder Camara Nguessan is from Ivory Coast. Ex-Asante ...

Serena Williams says she frequently wondered how she would keep going after returning to the practice courts following the birth of her first child. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion will return to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells in California this week. In an interview with BBC Sport, the 36-year-old American said she is motivated by the thought of ...

Fiorentina have retired the shirt number worn by Davide Astori, the Italian defender who died on Sunday at the age of 31. Astori’s former club Cagliari, where he spent eight years from 2008, have also retired the number 13 shirt – which he wore at both teams. Capped 14 times by Italy, Astori joined Fiorentina from Cagliari in 2016. An ...