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Fofana, 21, has signed a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge, the London outfit said. The transfer fee is undisclosed but reports in the UK said Chelsea would pay their Premier League rivals £70 million plus bonuses for the former Saint-Etienne player.

"Wesley is a hugely promising defender who has already proven his quality in the Premier League at a young age," said Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly. "We are delighted we were able to bring one of Europe's most exciting talents to Chelsea and further strengthen that area of our squad, both for this season and many more to come."

Fofana is the latest player signed in this transfer window to bolster Chelsea's defence, following the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and Marc Cucurella from Brighton and Hove Albion. Thomas Tuchel's side have also added England forward Raheem Sterling from Manchester City in the transfer window, which closes on Thursday. "I trained this morning with the team and it's a dream for me. I'm very excited to start playing games for the fans and the club," Fofana said.

Fofana made 52 appearances for Leicester after moving to the Foxes in October 2020 for a reported £32 million from Saint-Etienne, winning the FA Cup in 2021 when they beat Chelsea. He made his Saint-Etienne debut as an 18-year-old and played alongside current Arsenal and France centre-back William Saliba for Les Verts.

Fofana follows goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in leaving Leicester this summer, with the Foxes yet to make any major new signings. "He departs with the thanks of everyone at Leicester City and the Club's best wishes for the next phase of his career," Leicester said in a statement.

With his medical still pending his arrival in the UK, Manchester United have announced the huge signing of Ajax star Antony, who will play at Old Trafford for a fee of 100 million euros.

Erik ten Hag will once again have the Brazilian under his orders after their time together at Ajax. He is the fifth reinforcement for the Red Devils' new project, who are going all out.

In an official statement, the Dutch champions confirmed that the deal has been concluded for a price of 95 million, which could go up to 100 million depending on the variables and add-ons of the operation.

Another great deal for Ajax, who signed Antony for just over 15 million euros in July 2020, just two years ago. After his good performance, the economic benefit is huge.

It was on 13th September 2020 that Antony made his official debut for the Amsterdam first team against Sparta Rotterdam. The Brazilian striker scored the only goal that day in a 1-0 win.

His arrival in Manchester, where he will coincide with his coach at Ajax, Erik ten Hag, follows that of his compatriot Casemiro, who came from Real Madrid and already had the opportunity to make his debut last weekend.

He is the fourth most expensive Premier League signing behind France's Paul Pogba to United, Belgium's Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea and Jack Grealish to Manchester City.

At just 22 years of age, Antony has made 82 official appearances for Ajax, scoring 24 goals. In addition, he is a two-time Eredivisie champion (in 2021 and 2022). He also won the Dutch Cup in 2021.

The Brazil player will join Lisandro Martinez, a former Ajax defender who joined United for 54 million. The Dutch club has also suffered the departures of Schuurs, Tagliafico, Sebastian Haller, Onana, Gravenberch and Mazraoui. A new era is beginning in Amsterdam... with a lot of work to do.

After De Jong himself got game time in the thumping over Valladolid, the Dutchman has been spotted before getting on a plane. According to 'El Chiringuito', his destination is London.

In recent says, there was talk of the possibility of De Jong continuing after having reportedly accepted a pay cut in order to balance Barca's books. However, everything could change in the coming hours.

The Premier League is the only likely destination for De Jong after Bayern pulled out of the race to sign him. Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea are the clubs interested.

It is a strange situation for the Dutch footballer as if this journey had been planned to complete his move away from Barcelona, Xavi would have probably not played him against Valladolid.

Liverpool were the latest club who asked about De Jong and rumours talked about an offer of 70 million euros plus add-ons. Barcelona, in that case, will try as hard as possible to try and get as much money as they can.

Nevertheless, if Barcelona end up selling the former Ajax man, getting Bernardo Silva seems impossible, especially because of Man City's

Atletico Madrid will not use up the option to buy Griezmann off Barcelona in a year's time. In England, they are talking about Arsenal's interest in the player and 'Sport' reports they will put in an offer in January.

'Los Rojiblancos' will have to pay 40 million euros if the striker plays more than 30 minutes in 50% of Atletico's matches. If he does not do that, they will not have to make the loan deal permanent.

Griezmann's performances have dipped in recent months, up to the point that he has become a secondary figure in the Atletico Madrid attack, led now by Morata and Joao Felix.

Arteta believes that the former Real Sociedad man could make them even better in an attack which has been bolstered significantly by Gabriel Jesus' move to Arsenal.

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All going to plan, the journey will end back in the Turkish city on June 10 next year for the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the same venue where Liverpool defeated AC Milan on penalties in 2005.

Istanbul was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, but on each occasion UEFA moved the game to Portugal due to pandemic-related restrictions.

Another late change was required last season, with Saint-Petersburg being stripped of the final after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Paris instead stepping in to host Madrid's 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

The Spanish giants have now been crowned kings of Europe 14 times, twice as many times as the competition's next most successful club, AC Milan, and they started this season by defeating Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki to lift the UEFA Super Cup.

"The joy and satisfaction you get after such wins tends to stick around, making you feel like no one should ever take your place. And that's a pretty strong motivation to keep winning," coach Carlo Ancelotti told UEFA.com in a recent interview when asked about the chances of a repeat triumph for his side.

Their success is likely to be recognised elsewhere on Thursday, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Karim Benzema nominated alongside Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne for the UEFA Men's Player of the Year prize for last season.

Ancelotti is nominated alongside City's Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp for the coaching gong.

As for the draw itself, Real are in Pot One along with the champions of Europe's other leading leagues in the shape of City, Bayern Munich, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax, as well as Europa League winners Frankfurt

Man City's 100% record in the Premier League ended after drawing 3-3 in a superb Premier League fixture. Gundogan had given Man City a fifth minute lead, but Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson scored to give Newcastle a 2-1 advantage at the interval. Trippier, who later had a red card rescinded, had put Newcastle 3-1 ahead, but Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva struck to draw City level. The match was end to end, played at breakneck speed and a draw was the right outcome.

Pep Guardiola's men started strongly and after Rodri had an early sight of goal, Gundogan put Man City ahead. De Bruyne picked him out with a lovely pass and he headed past Nick Pope to silence St James' Park. De Bruyne nearly made it two after 10 minutes when he was one on one with the keeper, but Pope denied him. Foden also called Pope into action, but then Newcastle fought back.

Saint-Maximin was a thorn in Man City's side all half with his runs and he squared a ball for Miguel Almiron who somehow failed to keep his shot down. That was the start of what proved to be an end to end contest played at a tremendous tempo. De Bruyne forced a fine stop out of Pope from a free-kick while Ederson prevented Saint-Maximin from equalising for the hosts. Then, after 28 minutes, Newcastle were on level terms.

Saint-Maximin went one way and then the other on the near side and then crossed for Willock and Almiron in the middle. The former missed it, but the ball struck the Paraguayan's thigh and went in. The linesman erroneously flagged for offside and the VAR corrected it to give the home side their equaliser. Almiron nearly made it 2-1 after 37 minutes when Ederson came out of his goal, but Joao Cancelo got back to cover. However, Newcastle went in leading at half-time as Wilson scored after being given the ball by Saint-Maximin in the box and then beating Ederson with a lovely finish.

The 75-year-old, who ended Australia's 32-year World Cup exile by steering them to the 2006 tournament where they reached the last 16, will work alongside coach Graham Arnold for their clash against New Zealand at Brisbane on September 22.

"I am very delighted to go there (to Australia) because every now and then when I talk about my career with people, I always highlight my experience with the Socceroos," said Hiddink, who will come out of retirement.

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"This is one chapter in my career which gave me a lot of energy. I met very kind people and very open-minded people, which I liked very much."

He will help out in the absence of Arnold's regular right-hand man Rene Meulensteen, who will be in Europe to scout two of Australia's Group D opponents, France and Denmark.

Arnold, who was one of Hiddink's assistants at the 2006 World Cup, said he believed his presence would inspire and motivate the squad.

"Guus is a great storyteller, so I can't wait to see the effect he has on this current generation of Australian players," he said.

"Many of our boys know of his feats and achievements internationally but have never had the opportunity to meet him."

In addition to two interim stints as Chelsea manager, Hiddink also coached Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia, along with the Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey.

But he is perhaps best-known for inspiring co-hosts South Korea to a shock semi-final spot at the 2002 World Cup. The World Cup begins in Qatar on November 20.

Unless Barcelona make a quick deal in a matter of hours, Jules Kounde will not be in the match against Real Sociedad on the second day of La Liga. The club published Xavi Hernandez's squad list for the game and the defender is not on it, so he is not expected to be in San Sebastian.

The board has not yet registered him and it is likely that they will not do so this weekend. He will have to focus on his presence in the line-ups for the third round of the domestic championship. There is a friendly match against Manchester City in the middle of the weekend in which he might be able to play some minutes.

A look at the defender's social networks reveals that he didn't get up early this Sunday to travel to the Reale Arena. He was commenting on his Twitter profile about a boxing match that started at 23:30 in Spain. In fact, his message on the matter was posted after one o'clock in the morning, so he probably knew that he would not be able to face Imanol Alguacil's team.



August 20, 2022
Otherwise, Xavi has Aubameyang and Memphis Depay, despite the fact that they are close to leaving the club as well as the young Pablo Torre. Sergino Dest, who is in the process of leaving Barcelona, and Umtiti, who is in the same situation, are out. The priority is to get the first win of the season.

West Ham, who made the Europa League semi-finals last season, went into the game after back-to-back losses in the Premier League to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

But Italian international Scamacca, signed for £30 million from Sassuolo, eased the nerves by finding the target in the 23rd minute after being teed up by another new signing, Maxwel Cornet.

Jarrod Bowen added a second in the 64th minute before Viborg pulled one back through Jakob Bonde five minutes later.

Twelve minutes from time, substitute Michail Antonio scored a third for West Ham to put the Londoners on course for a place in the group stage.

Villarreal, who were Europa League champions in 2021, overcame an early shock to defeat Hajduk Split 4-2.

Stipe Biuk gave Hajduk a second-minute lead but the Spanish side quickly recovered and were 4-1 ahead by the break.

Jose Luis Morales, with a brace, a Marko Livaja own goal and a Gerard Moreno strike in first-half stoppage time put Villarreal in charge.

A Marco Fossati penalty five minutes from time, however, gave Hajduk a glimmer of hope of overturning the deficit in next week's second leg.

Anderlecht, 32-time Belgian champions, came away from Young Boys in Switzerland with a 1-0 win secured by a Hannes Delcroix goal just before the hour mark.

Former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil was left on the bench as his Turkish side Basaksehir were held 1-1 by Antwerp in Istanbul.

Robert Lewandowski's Thursday was a bit more eventful than he would have liked. The striker was robbed of his watch while he was signing autographs before training.

As 'COPE' reported, these individuals took advantage of him signing autographs to quickly flee from the scene on a scooter. Lewandowski, when he realised, started running after them.

The footballer was helped by the Catalan police who were patrolling the area and they arrested the thieves later on. They managed to recover the watch which had been dumped in a tree.

The Catalan police went to the training ground to talk to Lewandowski and, in addition, they took statements from two witnesses.

On the watch, it was not because of its price, but because of the sentimental value that it had for the Pole, who was finally able to recover it.

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Mauricio Pochettino, ex-PSG manager, has not forgotten about that fateful night at the Santiago Bernabeu. The French side were leading 0-1 in the second leg, 2-0 on aggregate, but, in the closing stages of the match, a Karim Benzema hat-trick flipped the tie on its head and PSG crashed out of the tournament.

During an interview with 'Infobae', the Argentine looked back on Benzema's first goal which, according to Pochettino, should have been disallowed: "I think the foul, if it were reviewed by VAR, we would be talking about something else: Madrid's elimination".

Pochettino wanted to avoid using the word "failure" about only his spell at PSG. Rather, he used the word to describe how things have panned out at the club over the last 50 years. He was also questioned about Leo Messi, Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe. He was full of praise for his ex-players.

"Messi is the best in the world. Then, it's clear that Mbappe is a candidate to receive this title next. For me, Neymar is also one of the best players in the world. One of the most positive things has been being able to know them and competing in these situations", appreciated the manager.

Moreover, he wanted to finish by defending PSG's number 7 on his influence on the new project: "I don't think Kylian has been the one to design the new plan. The ones who manage, in this case, the president, are the ones who will have thought that a new project at the club was the most convenient thing".

"I'm very happy, very proud. I'm coming to a big club, an ambitious club, and I'm also coming with ambition," the 23-year-old said at his first press conference as a Barcelona player on Monday afternoon at the Catalan club's training centre. According to the Spanish press, Barca paid Sevilla 50 million euros, with 10 million in bonuses, for Kounde who has signed a five-year contract.

He had also been linked to Premier League club Chelsea. "It's true that I had another offer but I made the effort to wait for Barca to reach an agreement with Sevilla," said Kounde. "When I saw that it was possible, I chose Barca because I knew very clearly where I wanted to go. It wasn't a big decision, because I wanted to come here."

Kounde joined Sevilla from Bordeaux in 2019 and said his "knowledge of La Liga will make it easier to adapt". "The most important thing will be to adapt to the Barca style," he added.

Kounde said he had been talking to Barcelona coach Xavi for several weeks.

"From the start I felt the kindness of the coach, I felt that he wanted me to come. That was one of the keys, because it's one of the most important steps in my career," he said. "He asked me to continue doing what I was doing at Sevilla: being aggressive, getting the ball out of our own half."

The Frenchman faces competition for a starting place from Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, and Danish recruit Andreas Christensen. "It's true that there is competition, but it's good for the team," he said. "The coach will decide, I'm not worried about that. Here I will have to grow up, because I am still young, and help the team at all times. I will take the competition as a challenge."

Bernardo Silva is one of the best attacking midfielders on the planet and Manchester City want to keep him in their ranks. However, this has not been a consideration of Jorge Mendes, his representative. The agent has been making movements in the market recently. After weeks of rumours linking the Portuguese with Barcelona, 'L'Equipe' now reports that Mendes has also offered his client to Real Madrid.

Currently, there has been no movement from either club in regards to this. 'Los Cules' have been focusing their recent attention on closing a deal with Sevilla for Jules Kounde. The Frenchman's transfer has been made official and is now pending the completion of his medical and the signing of his contract.

In terms of where the club from the capital stand, they are not planning on signing another player during this window. This is no secret. Carlo Ancelotti, head coach, openly admitted during a press conference on their tour of the US that his squad is complete and preparing to kick off the new campaigin at 100%.

Bernardo Silva is currently working under the watchful eye of Pep Guardiola, proving to him why he should continue to be one of the key members of the Spaniard's squad. If Bernardo does not leave Manchester City this summer, he will be guaranteed to be in and amongst the fight for glory in world football. The Sky Blues will be battling for the Champions League, Premier League, and any other title put in front of them.

Jules Kounde has undoubtedly been one of the most important names of this transfer window. The French centre-back has been one of the most sought after players this summer and has attracted the interest of many teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. However, in the end the Catalan club and the London club were the ones to be the most serious bidders for the player.

Xavi wanted to strengthen the squad for next season and once the attacking and midfield reinforcements were signed, the Spanish coach asked the board to go for Kounde as a major priority to bolster the defence. Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Tuchel was interested in the Frenchman, especially due to the departures of both Christensen and Rudiger, so the Blues' main task was to sign Koulibaly and Kounde.

Barça started with a certain disadvantage in the bidding as the club had a worse financial situation than that of the English club. However, although Chelsea could offer better financial terms to the centre-back and make a better proposal to Sevilla, the 'Cules' had something that the London club did not: Kounde had a great desire to play for the Catalan club and would be willing to accept any offer they made.

Despite all this, for a moment, according to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea were very close to signing the player but, when the English club were closest to reaching an agreement with Sevilla, the Catalan giants reached an agreement in principle with him. This news was reported by journalist Gerard Romero, who also reportedly gave important news during the signing of Lewandowski. This agreement has now been confirmed by Barcelona themselves.

Finally, after three seasons and having scored nine goals and provided three assists in 136 official matches, Jules Kounde leaves Sevilla to start a new journey as a 'Cule'.

Intentionally or not, Kounde has been the undisputed protagonist of Sevilla. At first, the player did not travel to Portugal with his teammates for the pre-season, but according to the latest information, the Frenchman has changed his mind and has asked the coaching staff to take him with the rest of the squad.

Kounde is very close to leaving the club. The unknown is what his next destination will be, as he has been linked with Chelsea and Barça. The Blues, in principle, would be the best positioned to sign the centre-back.

Joan Laporta, the 'Cule' president, has practically ruled him out. In a video published by 'Relevo' on its social networks, a fan asks him about the defender.

"How do you see Kounde's situation?" the fan asks. "Kounde? No... He's signed for Chelsea," Laporta replied.

And it seems that it is not only Laporta who sees it as complicated. 'Sport' adds to this information that in the heart of the club they consider "very difficult" the arrival of Kounde, although they promise to fight until the moment when it is announced that Kounde will become a Chelsea player.

For the time being, Barça have secured the signings of Kessie, Christensen, Raphinha and Lewandowski. In addition, the club has secured the continuity of Ousmane Dembele.

The 'Cules' consider that the attack is more than well covered, now they are working on the defence. Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Kounde are the favourites, although there are other options such as Pau Torres in case one of them gets complicated.

Sevilla are licking their lips and eagerly awaiting the resolution of Kounde's future. Sevilla need some money in their coffers and the defender will be involved in a transfer in which lots of money will be involved. That is regardless of whether Chelsea or Barcelona sign him. This Wednesday, he trained in the gym while he waits for one of the two clubs to sign him.

'The Sun' takes for granted that the Blues have signed him for 55 million pounds and that his salary would be around five or six million pounds. In fact, the English press see him passing his medical in the coming hours. This is a serious problem for Barca, who still have hopes of getting him.

'Sport' reports that Joan Laporta will try and pip the English side to his signing with a last minute bid for the defender. They will not get close to the salary Chelsea will offer him because the La Liga side have to look after their finances, but the fact Kounde wants to play for Barca could play a key role.

In summary, the situation is the following: Kounde is training at the moment at Sevilla, recovering from the operation he had at the start of his holidays. He is also waiting for Chelsea or Barcelona to sign him. He prefers Barcelona, but Chelsea are the ones who have more chance of signing him and he does not dislike Chelsea's offer either. It remains to be seen who Kounde signs for.

Georgia Stanway powered home a stunning extra-time strike to send England into the Euro 2022 semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Spain in Brighton on Wednesday.

The Lionesses had not lost in 17 games under coach Sarina Wiegman but fell behind to Esther Gonzalez's second-half finish before substitute Ella Toone equalised with six minutes to go.

Stanway smashed in the decisive goal in the 96th minute and England will next face either Sweden or Belgium, who meet in Leigh on Friday, after making the last four at a major tournament for the fourth successive time.

Ellen White thought she had opened the scoring in a cagey first half but was denied by the offside flag, before Gonzalez finished into the bottom-left corner after Athenea del Castillo's cutback in the 54th minute.

Mary Earps kept England in the game with a smart save from Del Castillo's deflected cross and the Lionesses capitalised as Toone volleyed home from Alessia Russo's cushioned header to send the match to extra time.

Stanway then delivered the decisive moment, receiving the ball from Keira Walsh before driving forward and arrowing into the top-left corner to keep England's Euro 2022 hopes alive.

The Polish striker, signed from Bayern Munich for around 50 million euros, was formally introduced as a Barca player alongside club president Joan Laporta. The unveiling came a day after the La Liga side started their four match tour of the United States with a 6-0 win over David Beckham's Inter Miami.

Lewandowski, 33, who left the German champions under a cloud after a dispute over a new contract as well as clashing with coach Julian Nagelsmann over tactical choices, cannot wait to get started.

Lewandowski joined Bayern in 2014, scoring 344 goals in 375 competitive matches and broke the Bundesliga's single-season scoring record. But he could make his Barca debut in Las Vegas this weekend against arch-rivals Real Madrid and said: "We worked hard to get to this moment but we got there in the end."

"I am always hungry to succeed and have the winning mentality. This is a new challenge for me and I have already seen this is a squad with huge potential. There is a lot of quality and I want to do my best for the club. I am ready."

Lewandowski joins Barcelona in the midst of a financial crisis yet although the club have racked up debts of almost one billion euros, the striker becomes the club's fourth summer transfer after the signings of Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie from AC Milan, Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen on a free transfer, and Brazil winger Raphinha.

"We are doing our best to restructure," said Laporta. "We did a lot of work to make this happen. There is a big expectation for you (Lewandowski). You are a football star."

In England they take for granted Kounde will join the Premier League briefly. Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea awaits him. Barcelona can forget about their sought after central defender.

'The Sun' reports that Kounde is a step away from London. In 48 hours, they add that he is expected to pass his medical at the Blues.

The deal could have been closed for 55 million pounds (51 million pounds fixed plus 4 in variables). That is the price that Sevilla asked for Kounde and finally, Chelsea have promised to pay it.

'The Sun' says that Kounde now has the opportunity of speaking to Thomas Tuchel. He is hoping to soon be able to play under him in the team's tour of the USA.

The paper is convinced that the central defender will end up at Stamford Bridge. The club's experts have said that the agreement is "99% done."

If this news is confirmed, Xavi will suffer a major setback. Barcelona's boss needs defenders and Kounde was for the favourite for the centre of defence.

At the Camp Nou they are waiting rto complete the departures to fulfil 'Financial Fair Play' rules. They now have Kessie, Christensen, Raphinha and Lewandowski, but in England they are saying that they are going to miss out on Jules Kounde.

At the moment, the defender is still in Spain. 'Marca' reports that at 8am on Wednesday, the player was arriving at Sevilla's training complex. He did not train with the rest, but he stayed in the gym, training on his own.

Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to leave Man Utd in search of a team who are playing in the Champions League. The Portuguese has still not returned to training at Man Utd while he resolves his future.

This decision has led to many teams being linked with the Portuguese. Some of those clubs included Chelsea, PSG, Bayern and now Atletico Madrid. However, Brazilian side Flamengo were also briefly linked with him.

The president of the 2019 Copa Libertadores champions explained the rumour: "I'd really like to sign Cristiano, but that's unthinkable. We didn't think about it at any moment."

"We didn't talk to him at all, I didn't even think about it. When I was in Europe, I met his mother in a restaurant which my family were in. I was in Madeira, his home, that's what happened," the Flamengo president said.

Alex Morgan scored from the penalty spot in the 78th minute to seal victory as the reigning world champions avenged their upset loss to the Canadians in last year's Olympic semi-finals.

Morgan rifled a left-footed spot-kick into the bottomr right corner of the goal after Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, Morgan's club teammate on the San Diego Wave, dove the opposite way.

It was Morgan's 118th career goal for the US national squad.

The US won the penalty when Canada's Allysha Chapman fouled American Rose Lavelle in the area.

The Americans captured a third consecutive CONCACAF crown to secure their ticket to France while Canada was denied a bid for a third North American regional title after 1998 and 2010.

Despite the defeat, the Canadians can still earn a 2024 berth in Paris. They will meet Jamaica next year in a playoff to determine another Paris slot.

Earlier, Kalyssa van Zanten scored in the 102nd minute to give the "Reggae Girlz" a 1-0 extra-time triumph over Costa Rica in the third-place match to advance to that Olympic playoff.

The eight-team North American regional tournament also served as a qualifier for the 2023 Women's World Cup, with the four semi-finalists -- the United States, Costa Rica, Canada and Jamaica -- all securing berths at next year's showdown in Australia and New Zealand.

The Polish superstar has arrived in Miami to complete his move to the La Liga giants from Bayern Munich ahead of Tuesday's friendly with David Beckham's Inter Miami.

Lewandowski, 33, joins with Barcelona struggling on and off the pitch after seeing arch-rivals Real Madrid win the title and well documented financial problems causing problems behind the scenes.

But Danish international Christensen is adamant the striker, who scored 348 goals in eight seasons in the Bundesliga, will light up Spanish football following his move.

"It's been easy for him to integrate into the squad," the defender told AFP ahead of a Barca training session in south Florida which was attended by around 1,000 fans.

"The team has been good at making players feel welcome but he has the qualities and the winning mentality we need.

"His qualities are obvious. Everyone is happy that he is here and he can push us and share his experiences. It's great for the team to have him."

Tuesday's game is the start of a four-match tour of the United States with a clash against Real in Las Vegas followed by a meeting with Juventus in Dallas before finishing up against the New York Red Bulls on July 30th.

Christensen, who left Chelsea at the end of last season and is poised to make his Barcelona debut against Miami, has been impressed with the growth in popularity of soccer in North America and added: "It's difficult to follow everything because the games are in the middle of the night but I've spoken about the growth of the game in the United States with Christian Pulisic when I was at Chelsea and it's really growing here.

"People know about Inter Miami because of David Beckham and certainly the training facilities here are top notch."

"We are all really excited," said Inter Miami coach Phil Neville who promised to send out a strong team despite this encounter coming in the middle of a crucial part of the MLS season for the former Manchester United and Everton midfielder.

"This is the biggest game in the club's history because we are playing a team in a sold out stadium who are an institution, one of the biggest sports teams in the whole world.

"That's why it's so big. We aren’t here to get autographs though, we want to compete."

Cristiano Ronaldo is determined to leave Man Utd for a team who are playing in the Champions League and, even though it may sound strange, Atletico Madrid are one of those in the best position to get him. Bayern Munich already ruled themselves out of the running in comments to Oliver Kahn and there are no other candidates at the moment even though he has offered himself to several clubs like PSG.

'AS' reports that he is very much to Diego Simeone's liking and he has him has a priority. The problem is that it is a difficult deal to do financially. In fact, it would be impossible unless Atletico make more than 40 million euros worth of sales as 40 million would need to be set aside for the Portuguese.

It is not known what the Portuguese thinks about this because he has only spoken publicly to deny rumours of him joining Sporting Lisbon. Atletico will be playing in the 2022-23 Champions League, so that suits Ronaldo nicely. The Portuguese wants to leave United as they are not in the Champions League this season.

What Cristiano wants is to stay in the elite and one of the many pieces of information that has been published in recent weeks helps to understand that. He turned down a huge offer from Saudi Arabia to keep on playing in the top leagues. At the age of 37, he does not feel old from a footballing point of view and he wants to keep on trying to win all the trophies he can.

He is now in Miami. Robert Lewandowski has arrived in the USA to meet his new Barcelona teammates and join them for pre-season. They are set for severan friendlies against Inter Miami, Real Madrid, Juventus and New York Red Bulls.

Barca's brand new signings has been able to say hello one by one to his new teammates and they will be in the USA until 31st July which when the club returns home.

And on his arrival in Miami, the new Barca star has given comments to the club's official media outlets: "Finally I'm here. I'm very happy to be at Barca. The last few days have been long, but, in the end, the agreement has come true."

"I'm prepared to face this new challenge in my career. I'm a guy who likes winning matches and trophies. I hope the season starts and ends well in this sense. I've always wanted to play in a big club in La Liga and this is a great opportunity for me. It's also a challenge for my private life," the 33 year-old Polish striker said.

In addition, Lewandowski has explained that the presence of Xavi Hernandez on the bench has been another reason to sign for Barcelona: "It was easy making the decision. I want to play and win titles and I know that with Xavi this will be very possible. He knows perfectly how to coach Barcal. He was an incredible player and now he's a great coach.

"I'm here to help the club return to the top and win as many as titles as possible. I'm a footballer who always wants to win. We have great players, with lots of quality, in the squad. I'm excited with what we can all achieve together," Lewandowski concluded.

Goals from Cristian Arango and Jose Cifuentes either side of a penalty by Nashville's Hany Mukhtar put LAFC 2-1 up before prized acquisition Bale, a five-time UEFA Champions League winner, came on in the 72nd minute. Even though LAFC were on the road, the former Real Madrid and Tottenham superstar was cheered by a sell-out crowd at Geodis Park, which included a vocal contingent of LAFC fans.

"I was itching, soon as I got on the bench I wanted to get off and help the team, play some minutes," Bale said. "Important also for me individually that I kind of get my fitness going. Good to get some minutes and more importantly got the three points -- yeah we're all happy."

It was Bale's first competitive club match since April 9. Since then Bale has helped Wales earn their first World Cup berth since 1958 with a victory over Ukraine in the intercontinental playoff in June. He signed with LAFC on June 27, two weeks after veteran Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini announced he was moving to the club. Chiellini also made his MLS debut on Sunday, playing the first 60 minutes. "It was really important for us to get him and Gareth a win in their first game," LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said.

Both Bale and Chiellini said the heat and humidity in Nashville -- a feature in many MLS venues in a regular season played in the summer months -- was something they'll have to adjust to. "The humidity was very difficult even in the warm up," Bale said. "It's something I'm not used to. But these are the challenges that we all have to deal with and we have to push through and do what we have to for the team."

Chiellini said he expected his first match in nearly a month to be a physical challenge. "But I felt better minute by minute," he said.

Switched on
The victory pushed LAFC ahead of Austin atop the Western Conference standings with 42 points with a game in hand over the Texas club on 41. Cifuentes grabbed the go-ahead goal in the first minute of the second half.

LAFC's Ryan Hollingshead hit the post with a header from a pass of Carlos Vela. Cifuentes fired home the rebound for what proved the game winner, his sixth goal of the season and his third in two matches. Arango had scored his eighth of the season to put the visitors up 1-0 in the 27th minute. But Mukhtar converted from the spot in the 43rd after VAR determined Ilie Sanchez pulled down C.J. Sapong in the box.

With his first MLS action under his belt, Bale said, it's now a matter of gaining familiarity with his teammates and improving his own fitness. "It's going to take a little time to get used to everything but I'm quite switched on in terms of football so I'm able to get up to speed pretty quick. Now it's just important to try and get some minutes, try and get as fit as possible as quick as possible."

Man Utd have annnounced that midfielder Christian Eriksen has joined on a free from Brentford on a three year deal.

The 3'0 year-old Dane sadly collapsed on the pitch last summer in the Euros against Finland, but he has made a tremendous return to football. He joined Brentford in January and made 11 appearances for the Bees in the Premier League scoring one goal and providing four assists in the process.

Now, Eriksen has joined one of the biggest clubs in English football in Man Utd. "Manchester United is a special club, and I cannot wait to get started. I have had the privilege of playing at Old Trafford many times but to do it in the red shirt of United will be an amazing feeling," Eriksen told Man Utd's website.

The player was also full of praise for new manager Erik ten Hag: “I have seen Erik’s work at Ajax and know the level of detail and preparation that he and his staff put into every day. It is clear that he is a fantastic coach. Having spoken with him and learned more about his vision and the way he wants the team to play, I am even more excited for the future. I still have major ambitions in the game, there is a huge amount that I know I can achieve, and this is the perfect place to continue my journey," he added.

Man Utd football director John Murtough also expressed his delight at the signing: “Christian has been one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe throughout his career. It is no surprise that he had so many options this summer, so we are really happy that he was convinced that this is the right club for him. In addition to his outstanding technique, Christian will add valuable experience and leadership skills to the squad, and we are looking forward to seeing the benefits of these qualities on the pitch this coming season and beyond."

Eriksen's competitive debut could come when Man Utd take on Brighton on Sunday 6th August in the opening day of the Premier League season.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be involved in another transfer saga this summer. The same thing happened last year when he decided to leave Juventus to move back to Man Utd. However, now what he wants is to leave Old Trafford in search of a team who are playing in the Champions League.

The fact Man Utd have not qualified for the Champions League has been key to the Portuguese deciding to leave the Mancunian outfit. Not even Ten Hag's arrival has persuaded the Portuguese to stay and he is now looking for a new club. He has even offered himself to several teams. PSG and Bayern Munich have been linked the most with him.

Nevertheless, there could be a bombshell as previous reports had put Atletico Madrid in the equation. Atletico are one of his favourite victims and the fans, Diego Simeone and some of the players do not get on well with the former Real Madrid player.

Despite that, 'ESPN' has now confirmed that both Atletico and Bayern are after CR7. In the case of the Germans, everything depends on what happens with Lewandowski and whether he will finally move to Barcelona. If not, he would sign the Portuguese.

Atletico Madrid have it much more difficult. That is because Simeone has five strikers at his disposal after Morata's return. In addition, the state of the club's coffers does not allow them to make big signings or have players with large salaries. Their priority is to sign a right-back.

What is true is that a busy summer lies ahead for one of the best footballers in the world. At the moment, he has not gone with the rest of his teammates on the pre-season tour due to family reasons.

Barcelona announced on Wednesday just after 13:00 CEST that Raphinha had joined the club from Leeds United.

More to follow... http:///36IpM50