Revered sporting director Antonio Cordon was frustrated at Monaco in 2017.
Having just seen the club win Ligue 1, it was becoming apparent he had less control over player sales than he previously believed. He quit almost exactly a year after he had joined.
Although the Spaniard had no shortage of offers after departing Stade Louis II, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea among his admirers, he opted for a rather more curious option.
Had a Granada fan been told at the time the highly regarded former Villarreal transfer guru was about to become an influential figure in the second-tier side s future, they d have assumed you d just fallen head-first from a Sierra Nevada peak.
Yet two years on, Cordon has again displayed his brilliance with Granada not on…
Everton picked up their first Premier League win since August after seeing off Fulham 3-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Cenk Tosun secured only a second victory of the league season for the Toffees and ended a run of back-to-back defeats.
The win, which leaves Fulham three points outside the relegation zone, extended Everton s record run of wins at home against Slavisa Jokanovic s side to 22.
Fulham s bright start was not affected by the loss of Timothy Fosu-Mensah to a serious-looking injury eight minutes in, and Andre Schurrle wasted a great chance to put the visitors ahead when he blazed over the bar after being teed up by Ryan Sessegnon.
There was another huge let-off for Everton before half-time, with Sesse…
On Thursday evening at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar, Germany booked a sour-tasting victory over Costa Rica a result which knocked both these teams out of the World Cup.
Going into the clash, Germany had hoped a victory would be enough to see them through to the next round, and that would ve been the case if Spain had managed to beat Japan, or at least get a point. However, it wasn t to be as Japan took the three points from that game and ended up winning the group.
German domination and Costa Rican hope
Throughout the first half, Hansi Flick s men expectedly dominated the match, creating chance after chance while Costa Rica barely managed to hoof the ball off their half of the pitch. Serge Gnabry s perfect header in the 10th minute broke the deadlock, and by that time,…
Diego Costa will end his stand-off with Chelsea and Antonio Conte by returning to Atletico Madrid in January.
The Spain striker helped Atleti to a remarkable LaLiga triumph in 2013-14, having scooped the Copa del Rey the previous season.
His success continued in England, with two Premier League winners medals in three seasons but there has been an inevitability regarding the end of his time at Chelsea for some months after the 28-year-old s relationship with head coach Conte broke down.
Costa is far from the first player to have succumbed to the lure of their old club, with plenty of stars having felt it irresistible to go back to what they know.
But how did they fare in their second spells? Here, we take a look at seven notable stars who were happy to g…
Louis van Gaal says he leaves a Netherlands squad with close bonds but not enough wingers after he retired in the aftermath of their World Cup exit.
The Oranje went unbeaten throughout regulation time at Qatar 2022 and were only eliminated on penalties by Argentina in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Van Gaal s side boasted an array of defensive and offensive talent, with Cody Gakpo finishing the tournament with three goals to his name up front in attack and Wout Weghorst snatching a dramatic brace versus La Albiceleste.
But though the veteran coach feels he departs a team that can rely on each other, he acknowledges they lack the crucial players out wide to exploit the full breadth of the pitch.
What do I leave behind with the Oranje? he told AD. I leave a…
Miroslav Klose has secured his first senior job as a head coach after taking over as boss of Austrian Bundesliga team SCR Altach.
The appointment of the Germany great, whose career haul of 16 World Cup goals remains a competition record, was announced on Friday.
The news was portrayed as a surprise appointment in Austria. Altach said Klose will sign his contract on Sunday and be presented on Monday.
Klose, the 44-year-old former striker, retired from playing in 2016 after five years with Serie A side Lazio and has since had spells working as an assistant with the Germany national team, and at Bayern Munich.
He was head coach of the Bayern under-17 team for two seasons and served as first-team assistant to Hansi Flick in the 2020-21 campaign.
Alt…
Burnley’s survival hopes have suffered a significant blow with winger Luca Koleosho facing several months out with a knee injury.
The 19-year-old summer signing from Espanyol has been one of Burnley’s brightest lights so far this term and scored his first goal for the club in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Sheffield United.
But the Italy under-21 international was hurt in the first half of Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Wolves and, after initially trying to carry on, was forced off with 36 minutes gone.
“It’s bad news for us,” manager Vincent Kompany said. “He’s going to be out for a while apparently…I’d like to think he’ll still play this season but it might be towards the end of the season.”
Kompany would not disclose the precise nature of K…
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte is questioning his long-term future after a traumatic period following the deaths of three close friends, Gian Piero Ventrone, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli.
The 53-year-old Italian hinted that his stint as Spurs boss, where he has a year-long extension on his deal that expires at the end of this season, could be drawing to a close.
Conte worked closely with Ventrone as Spurs fitness coach, before his passing in October. Mihajlovic and Vialli are former club and country teammates who passed away in December and January respectively too.
This season is a difficult season under personal aspect because to lose three people I knew very well, first Giampiero, then Sinisa and now Gianluca, it was not simple, Conte told report…
Chelsea defensive midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko wants to join AC Milan in the summer transfer window, according to , as relayed by. Bakayoko spent the 2018-19 season on loan at AC Milan from Chelsea and wants to return to the Italian giants for the 2021-22 campaign.
It has been reported that Chelsea have triggered a unilateral clause which has allowed them to extend the contract of Bakayoko for another season. This will let the 26-year-old move to Milan, who themselves are keen on signing the France international defensive midfielder this summer.
Bakayoko joined Chelsea from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017. The France international was on loan at Milan in 2018-19, on loan at Monaco in 2019-20 and on loan at Napoli last season. During his spell at the Naples club, the 26-y…
Lothar Matthaus is confident that former club Bayern Munich can reclaim their Bundesliga crown this season under the guidance of new head coach Vincent Kompany.
Kompany, who endured a difficult campaign with Burnley in the Premier League, was appointed as Thoms Tuchel s successor at the German club in May.
The 38-year-old won 41 of his 96 games in charge of the Clarets (D24 L31), although only five of those victories came in English football s top flight.
Bayern kick off their Bundesliga campaign away to Wolfsburg on Sunday, hopeful of avenging their first season without a trophy in 12 years.
The 33-time Bundesliga champions were upstaged by Xabi Alonso s Bayer Leverkusen, who stormed to a domestic league and cup double without defeat.
However,…