Obasi handed Sunderland trial

Sunderland A.F.C. have handed a trial to former Schalke 04 forward Chinedu Obasi, according to manager Sam Allardyce.

The Nigeria international, who was released by Schalke in the summer, is carrying an injury, but Allardyce will still continue to assess him over the next week or so.

There s a triallist in at the moment. He used to play for Schalke but he s been injured, Allardyce said. He s a Nigerian international and we are just seeing because he s got a reasonably good CV, in terms of where he s played before.

He has been fraught with a bad injury, which is why he s not been fixed up with a club yet, but we d like to see him for this week and perhaps next week.

But I need someone who has an impact now, not in three weeks time, so it wil…

Premier League trio in for Dzeko

Southampton, Crystal Palace and Cardiff City are all interested in signing Roma forward Edin Dzeko, according to the Mirror.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international recently revealed his ambition to return to England’s top flight having spent four-and-a-half years at Manchester City prior to his switch to Serie A.

Now the Saints, the Eagles and the Bluebirds have all thrown their hats into the ring as they all look to bolster their attack following a goal-shy start to the campaign.

Since moving to the Italian capital, Dzeko has been in prolific goalscoring form netting seventy-eight goals in one hundred and forty-eight appearances while he was named the Player of the Season for the 2017/18 campaign.

He scored his fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth int…

Sainsbury enjoying Chinese adventure alongside Ramires

Amid the astronomical sums used to lure the likes of Alex Teixeira, Jackson Martinez, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Ramires which dwarfed the Premier League s spending by more than $100million between January 1 and February 26 there was another international to swap Europe for the Chinese Super League.

Australia defender Trent Sainsbury quit Eredivisie outfit PEC Zwolle to play under former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu at Jiangsu Suning, the same team who forked out around $60m to sign Brazilian duo Teixeira and Ramires.

Sainsbury said leaving the Netherlands after two years and a KNVB Cup was the most difficult decision of his career, but the 24-year-old centre-back has hit the ground running at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre.

While the CSL season only kicked off last …

D.C. United head coach Rooney says addition of Messi is ´going to be great´ for MLS

Count D.C. United head coach Wayne Rooney among the many who are excited about Lionel Messi coming to Major League Soccer.

After Messi announced on Wednesday that he would be joining Inter Miami CF after his exit from Paris Saint-Germain, Rooney said the move is a major win for MLS.

I think it s great, to bring Messi into the league, Rooney said on Thursday. We ve all seen, over the years, the impact of (Inter Miami co-owner) David Beckham coming in, (former Los Angeles Galaxy striker) Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) coming in.

Different players from overseas. To get Messi in the league, arguably the greatest player of all time, and still – he’s a little bit older – but not long ago he won the World Cup almost single handed.

It s going to be great for the l…

Allegri allows Juve players to go home to ´hug families´ after derby win

Massimiliano Allegri freed his Juventus players to go home and hug their families after they lifted the gloom with a 1-0 Derby della Mole win over Torino.

Dusan Vlahovic scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute to settle the derby at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino on Saturday.

Under-pressure head coach Allegri had ordered his players to report for a training retreat after a 2-0 midweek Champions League defeat at Maccabi Haifa, which came on the back of a Serie A loss at Milan.

The Juve squad were put through their paces in double training sessions before facing their city rivals.

Allegri, who was given the backing of president Andrea Agnelli following a loss to Maccabi that left the Bianconeri facing a Champions League exit, says his players…

Newcastle´s Barton charged over Pedersen ´punch´

Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton was charged on Thursday with violent conduct by the Football Association (FA) after appearing to punch Blackburn Rovers Morten Gamst Perdersen.

The 28-year-old was charged by the FA after referee Mike Jones viewed video evidence of the incident, which he did not see when it took place in the 50th minute of Rovers 2-1 Premier League win at St James Park on Wednesday.

An FA statement said: Newcastle United FC midfielder Joey Barton has today (Thursday) been charged with violent conduct by the FA following an incident in his side s fixture with Blackburn Rovers FC on Wednesday, 10 November.

Barton has until 6pm (1800GMT) on Friday 12 November to reply to the charge and under the FA s fast-track regulations, may admit the cha…

Mourinho still a great, despite el Clasico defeat

Barcelona players may have dominated the Ballon d’Or award but for me there was only one man who could win the Coach of the Year last year that was Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho.

The self proclaimed ‘Special One’ had a truly special year in 2009, despite his Real sides 5-0 mauling at Barcelona’s hands.

Treble

Last season under Jose Mourinho’s management Inter scooped the treble of Serie A title, Champions League crown and Coppa Italia.

The league title victory was expected and the cup win could have been predicted but winning the Champions League was a truly special achievement.

Special

Their 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich was a routine victory but it was in the semi-finals against the competition favourites Barcelona that Mour…

Zaha unconcerned by Manchester United boo-boys

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has no qualms if the boo-boys are out in force at former club Manchester United on Wednesday.

The England international agreed to join United from Palace in January 2013 and remained on loan at Selhurst Park for the rest of that term before linking up with United ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.

It proved an unhappy spell in Manchester for Zaha, who failed to nail down a regular starting berth and he was shipped out on a six-month loan to Cardiff City in January 2014.

Zaha then returned to boyhood club Palace initially on loan for the 2014-15 campaign, before making a permanent return.

The 23-year-old is unsure what sort of reception he will receive at Old Trafford, but is unconcerned either way.

My time at U…

Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich 11/5 to draw tonight’s Champions League clash

Competition: Champions League
Market: Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich to draw
Odds:

Atletico Madrid welcome Bayern Munich to the Vicente Calderon for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash, in a game that may well end up a stalemate. The hosts are notoriously difficult to beat in their own backyard, while Bayern are likely to settle for less in the away leg, so it may be hard to separate the two sides tonight.

Atleti are deemed underdogs over the two legs, but the manner in which they disposed of the holders Barcelona should be taken into consideration. Diego Simeone’s men reached the final of this competition in 2013/14 against all odds, and they’re in good enough form to threaten a repeat.

As for Bayern, the German Bundeslig…

Gerrard: Rangers close to perfect after kick-starting Europa League campaign

Steven Gerrard says Rangers were close to perfect as they claimed an important victory over Brondby in the Europa League.

First-half goals from Leon Balogun and Kemar Roofe sealed a 2-0 win at Ibrox – and the hosts first points of this season s competition.

That helped Gerrard s team move off the bottom of Group A at the halfway stage, while closing the gap on second-placed Sparta Prague to just a single point.

The Rangers boss admitted the pressure was on his side, who began their campaign with defeats against Sparta and runaway leaders Lyon.

But he was ultimately delighted with the way his players rose to the occasion on Thursday.

I thought it was a strong home performance in Europe, Gerrard told BT Sport.

We ve kick-started our Euro…