Gianluigi Buffon arrived at Juventus to undergo a medical ahead of a stunning return to the club he left 12 months ago.
Serie A champions Juve shared footage on social media of goalkeeper Buffon greeting fans and signing autographs outside their health facility.
The 41-year-old former Italy international is tipped to sign a one-year deal in Turin, where he enjoyed astonishing success from 2001 to 2018.
Buffon, who won nine Scudetti with Juve, moved to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2017-18 campaign but parted ways with the French outfit after just one season, having struggled to keep Alphonse Areola out of the line-up.
You are my love
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
Signed from Parma almost two decades ago, World Cup winner Buffo…
World Cup winner Alexia Putellas says the current situation in Spanish football is “unacceptable” after Luis Rubiales refused to resign as FA president amid strong criticism of his behaviour at last weekend’s final in Sydney.
The Spanish media had widely reported on Thursday evening that Rubiales was about to stand down at an extraordinary general assembly of the Spanish federation (RFEF) on Friday.
FIFA had opened disciplinary proceedings against him on Thursday, after he grabbed his crotch in celebration of Spain’s victory over England despite being just metres away from Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter in the stadium VIP area.
Esto es inaceptable. Se acabó. Contigo compañera
— Alexia Putellas (@alexiaputellas)
He t…
Brendan Rodgers faced dissent from the stands and apparent disquiet from within his squad following Saturday’s goalless home draw with St Johnstone.
Celtic followed their Viaplay Cup exit at Kilmarnock with another setback as they saw their early-season cinch Premiership advantage over Rangers cut to one point before travelling to Ibrox next Sunday.
Celtic were booed off the park after failing to break down a team who had lost their last four matches.
There was further acrimony as Rodgers joined his players as they walked round the stadium to show their appreciation to the fans who had stayed behind.
Many of those in the standing section, which had expressed opposition to Rodgers’ reappointment in June, reacted angrily when the group reached them.
…
Stuart Holden has finally conceded defeat to a succession of long-term injuries, announcing his retirement from football on Wednesday.
The former Bolton Wanderers and Houston Dynamo midfielder had an eight-year club career both in The United States and England, but his injury troubles began with a broken femur while playing for Bolton in March 2011 which sidelined him for six months.
Holden played in one game on his return but was then absent for six more months with torn cartilage in his knee. In his final senior outing, Holden tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the 2013 Gold Cup final against Panama.
While he attempted to make a comeback eight months later with an eye on the USA squad for the 2014 World Cup, he reinjured the same knee in a…
Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart have announced the triple capture of Marco Rojas, Konstantin Rausch and Daniel Schwaab.
Stuttgart have failed to build on last season s sixth-placed finish and lie 12th in the table with just two matches to play.
But they have already moved to bolster their squad ahead of next season, with the signings of Rojas, Rausch and Schwaab adding to the options available to coach Bruno Labbadia.
While Rausch and Schwaab – who are free transfer signings from Hannover and Bayer Leverkusen respectively – are known quantities, it is the potential of Rojas that will excite Stuttgart fans.
The 21-year-old winger from New Zealand is fresh off a dominant A-League season, in which he scored 15 goals in 27 appearances for the Melbourne Victory.
Rojas was awarded th…
Willy Caballero acknowledged he had suffered a hard week in the build-up to Manchester City s League Cup final success on Sunday, but thanked Manuel Pellegrini for sticking with him.
Caballero saved penalties from Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana as City claimed their first trophy of the season in a dramatic shoot-out at Wembley. Coutinho had earlier cancelled out Fernandinho s opener in normal time.
Pellegrini had come under pressure to play usual first-choice stopper Joe Hart during the build-up, but the Chilean s decision to stick with his number two after questionable recent form from Caballero came up trumps.
My intuition helped me, Caballero told Sky Sports. It s amazing, to win this cup is amazing. It was a hard week for me but w…
Cristiano Ronaldo believes he will go down in history at Real Madrid but says he does not consider himself to be a galactico .
The Portugal ace has scored 40 goals in all competitions to help Madrid to a second Champions League final in a row and claim their first LaLiga title since 2012.
Ronaldo netted the winning penalty in the shoot-out when Madrid won the Champions League against Atletico Madrid last season and scored from the spot when they beat their city rivals in the 2014 showpiece.
However, he says he has not considered any specific preparation for Saturday s match in Cardiff, when he will attempt to find a way past the imperious Juventus defence and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
I m not a typical player who likes to look at videos because I thi…
Nice have made Danilo Barbosa their first signing of the transfer window after finalising his transfer from Braga.
No details of defensive midfielder Danilo s contract were announced by Nice, who reportedly paid €8million for his signature.
The 22-year-old scored four goals in 31 league appearances for Braga in 2017-18, helping them to fourth place in the Primeira Liga. He also captained Brazil at the 2015 Under-20 World Cup.
After joining Braga from Vasco da Gama in 2014, Danilo spent time on loan at Valencia, Benfica and Standard Liege before returning to his parent club, where he broke into Abel Ferreira s first team.
Danilo Barbosa becomes the Aiglons’ first signing of the summer as the young defensive midfielder joins the club from Sporting Braga…
Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli says he called up Mauro Icardi over Gonzalo Higuain as he wants a more rounded attacking player against Uruguay and Venezuela.
Inter star Icardi has only one senior cap for his country, which came in 2013, despite registering 82 goals and 22 assists in 148 games for the San Siro club.
Juventus striker Higuain was the surprise omission from Sampaoli s squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers over the next 10 days, which Argentina are desperate to win to boost their chances of an automatic spot at the Russia 2018 finals.
Sampaoli says Icardi is better suited to his designs for the two matches than Higuain, but stressed that his international career is far from over.
It s to do with the analysis of what happened with the nati…
Julian Nagelsmann can keep the trophies coming for Bayern Munich, with Oliver Kahn forecasting a very successful future under the leadership of the incoming coach.
The 33-year-old Nagelsmann will leave RB Leipzig at the end of the season after agreeing a five-year contract with Bayern.
A world-record fee for a coach was reportedly agreed to secure the man who will take over from Hansi Flick, with Bayern expected to hand over at least €20million.
They may recoup some of that if Flick, who asked to be released from his contract, is appointed head coach of Germany.
By hiring such a young coach, Bayern are making a major statement about their intentions, seeing Nagelsmann as a long-term prospect.
Kahn, who will step up from his role on the board …