..::Football IV::..

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Neymar says he is 'happy' at Barcelona despite PSG transfer talk

Barcelona superstar Neymar is being heavily linked to a move to Paris Saint-Germain, but the Brazilian is making it clear he is enjoying his time with the Catalan club.Goal understands Neymar is ready to leave Barcelona for PSG in a deal worth €222 million after growing frustrated at Camp Nou.

Les Parisiens are looking to make a marquee signing this summer following the arrival of Dani Alves, and are also being linked with Kylian Mbappe and Alexis Sanchez.

Neymar, however, has moved to quash such reports and insists he is "happy" at Camp Nou and said he is looking forward to next season during an email exchange with Goal.

"The last one was my best season in Barcelona. I am very adapted to the city, the club and I am happy here. That is reflected on the performance of an athlete," Neymar told Goal on Tuesday in response to a question initially sent to him last week.

"It was the season where I felt more comfortable, even though we did not win the titles we would have wanted. We played great games and lived incredible moments. Now, we need to work for the 2017-18 season so it will be even more positive individually and as a group."

Neymar signed a new deal until 2021 in October of last year and Barcelona stressed earlier on Tuesday that he would be "200 per cent" certain stay this summer.

 

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Mourinho wants 15 more years at United

Jose Mourinho would like to remain Manchester United manager for another 15 years, but believes emulating Alex Ferguson is impossible.

The Portuguese tactician arrived at Old Trafford last season and led United to three trophies – the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield – in his first campaign.

Mourinho, 54, is prepared for 15 more years at the helm at United, but accepts success is a must."I am ready for this. I am ready for the next 15, I would say. Here? Yes, why not?" he told ESPN FC.

"I have to admit that it is very difficult because of the pressure around our jobs, everybody putting pressure on managers and things that people say – that we have to win, but in reality only one can win and every year it is getting more difficult.

"But what I try to do in the club is show that my work goes further than the football results, that it goes to areas that people don't think of as a manager's job. In my vision, my job is much more than what I do on the pitch and the results that my team gets at the weekend."
Mourinho's arrival came in the wake of unsuccessful spells in charge by David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, who had the unenviable task of following on from Ferguson's trophy-laden 27 years at the club.But the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss believes there is little chance of matching the Scot.

"I think Sir Alex's career is unique. I don't think it is possible to emulate," Mourinho said."Nobody is going to be in the same club for so many years, be in the same league for so many years.

"I think [Arsene] Wenger will be the last with a similar story in terms of staying at a club for so many years, but I what I try to do in modern football nowadays is to try to deserve to stay in the club, because in this moment, it is about success."You have success, you stay in the club. You don't have success, you don't stay."

 

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Lukaku: Mourinho makes me a better player

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku believes manager Jose Mourinho makes him a better player.Lukaku, 24, only completed his move to United from Everton for a reported £75 million on July 10.

The Belgium international scored his first goal for the club on Monday, netting in a 2-1 friendly win over Real Salt Lake.Lukaku – who scored 25 Premier League goals last season – said Mourinho, his former boss at Chelsea, had already helped him improve.

"He knows what I can bring to the team and he's someone who is pushing me," he told UK newspapers.

"I push myself too but he makes me a better player. I think I learned a lot from him in the last week and I'm glad I can work with him."I'm happy for my goal. There is still a lot of work to do; as a team we know we need to be much better.

"But I'm glad I'm here because you really see it's a big club and that was the challenge I wanted."

Lukaku enjoyed a fine stay at Everton, scoring at least 10 league goals in each of his four seasons at Goodison Park.But he is ready to fire for United, saying: "I'm very happy now.

"I have to make sure I stay focused and have the same ambition I've always had and work hard – that's the key to success."United are next in action with a derby clash against Manchester City at the International Champions Cup on Thursday.

 

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Aubameyang can change the game in one sprint - Subotic

Borussia Dortmund downed AC Milan 3-1 in the opening fixture of 2017’s International Champions Cup at the Guangzhou University Town Sports Stadium on Tuesday evening.Pierre Aubameyang was the star of the game as the former Milan youth product scored a goal in each half, the first being from the spot.

The Gabon international was heavily linked with a move to the Rossoneri after their CEO Marco Fassone announced their interest.However, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc categorically stated that they wouldn’t sell the 28-year-old striker no matter how massive any offer that comes for him is.

Unstoppable Aubameyang shows AC Milan what their summer revolution is missingDortmund central defender Neven Subotic went on to point out how important Aubameyang is for the team after the game.

“I don’t mind rumours and if I listen to rumours, I would be a very sad man! We are very happy because he has been a very important player for us. He has probably been one of the key players in the last few years because he is able to change the game with one sprint, one goal,” he told Goal.

“He has been a very good team player. He also works defensively which is also one of the key aspects for a player in our club,” he added.
Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga for a historic five consecutive seasons now and the question remains whether Dortmund can end the dominance of the Bavarian club.

“There is a possibility in football and tons of possibilities in everything. But we know that Bayern has different (financial) capacity than us. They will, as always in the last few years, be the favourites. We are going to do the best. (The idea is) not to decide to challenge them but to challenge ourselves and then we will see where we end up,” he signed off.

Dortmund are in action this Saturday against Bochum at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion.

 

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Mourinho not happy with Man Utd transfer business

Jose Mourinho is yet to be satisfied by Manchester United's dealings in the transfer window, despite the arrivals of Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof.

United missed out on signing Antoine Griezmann and have decided against bringing in Alvaro Morata up to now, while a reported chase of Eric Dier is expected to fall short due to Tottenham's demands.

United beat Chelsea to the signing of Lukaku, who netted his first goal against Real Salt Lake on Monday, but Mourinho is targeting two more signings - with Ivan Perisic and Nemanja Matic thought to be top of his wishlist."We always want more," Mourinho told ESPN. "We always feel there is room to improve, and I cannot say that I am happy with our transfer window.

"What I can also say is that it is a difficult transfer window and I don't blame anyone - it is just a reality of things. The market is going in such a direction that many players are difficult to get, not to say impossible."Every club is powerful and they don't want to sell or their demands are really high, so the market is difficult.
"What I will say is that, a long time ago, we thought about four players to strengthen our squad, but it is really hard to do it. If we do the third and forget the fourth, I would be quite happy with that because I know it is difficult.

"At the moment we have Lukaku and Lindelof, two players I know well. I worked with one before and the other is from the Portuguese championship, which I follow every weekend.

"I am happy with them and I know that they will succeed at the club."The market ends on August 31, so there is plenty of time, but obviously, the objective for me as manager is always to have the players as soon as possible and try to coach them in the team and develop the team with them and Lukaku and Lindelof arrived to train in time for day one."

 

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De Sciglio finalising Juventus move

Mattia De Sciglio has landed in Turin to finalise a move from AC Milan to Juventus.The Italy international defender has entered the final year of his Milan deal, and will not be part of the Rossoneri's revolution under Vincenzo Montella.

The right-back will be expected to replace Dani Alves, after the Brazilian left for Paris Saint-Germain, with terms between Juventus and De Sciglio to be agreed after undergoing a medical.

Milan have been among Serie A's busiest clubs in the market thus far, signing the likes of Franck Kessie, Hakan Calhanoglu and Ricardo Rodriguez, but Montella's men, boosted by many of their new faces, were beaten 3-1 by Borussia Dortmund in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday.
De Sciglio's arrival in Turin comes a day after Wojciech Szczesny landed to complete a reported £10million switch from Arsenal.

 

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Roma eye Mahrez as Salah replacement

Roma have signalled their interest in Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez, with head coach Eusebio Di Francesco suggesting the Algerian could replace Mohamed Salah at the Giallorossi.

Mahrez has made clear his desire to leave the King Power Stadium in this transfer window, having shunned reported interest from Barcelona and Arsenal to help Leicester in their maiden Champions League campaign, in which they reached the quarter-finals.

Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare claimed on Tuesday that the club was yet to field a bid for the winger, who scored just six Premier League goals last term, having hit 17 the previous campaign to fire the Foxes to the most remarkable of title triumphs.

Roma are on the hunt for a player in Mahrez's mould after selling Salah to Liverpool in a deal that could be worth €50million to the Serie A club.

"Riyad Mahrez is definitely a great and interesting player," De Francesco said."[He is] one of those who maybe Roma is following. A left-footer playing on the right-hand side, which could be of great help to the team."Roma have been busy in the transfer market since hiring Di Francesco, with new sporting director Monchi making his mark with nine permanent signings, including Hector Moreno, Rick Karsdorp and bringing Lorenzo Pellegrini back to the Stadio Olimpico.

 

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Man Utd and Inter target Matic left out of Chelsea tour squad

Antonio Conte's fresh revolution at Chelsea appears to have no room for Nemanja Matic, who moved closer to a move away from the club after being left off the Blues' pre-season tour squad.

Goal revealed that Matic, along with new signings Tiemoue Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger, would not be part of the travelling party to Beijing for the friendly meeting with Arsenal, which Chelsea have now officially confirmed.

Serbia international Matic has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United, although Goal understands the Blues are reluctant to sell to their rivals after the Romelu Lukaku transfer saga.

Inter, who have also been mooted as a potential destination, appears a more favourable option for selling club Chelsea, with the midfielder's days at Stamford Bridge seemingly numbered.

Bakayoko has been drafted in from Monaco to add competition in midfield, although the Frenchman is also absent from the selection to travel to China and Singapore.

Rudiger will, however, return for the matches against Bayern and Inter, although Eden Hazard misses the tour as he recovers from a broken ankle.
French defender Kurt Zouma, meanwhile, also stays at home, with the Frenchman expected to secure a loan departure from the champions.Diego Costa is, less surprisingly, not involved. The Spain international has not reported back to pre-season training after being told he was surplus to requirements by Conte.

His former employers Atletico Madrid are reportedly keen on an estimated £40 million deal, but their FIFA-imposed transfer ban means Costa would be unable to play for Diego Simeone until January.After missing out on Romelu Lukaku to United, Chelsea have been linked with the likes of Alvaro Morata, Andrea Belotti and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Chelsea tour squad in full: Thibaut Courtois, Willy Caballero, Eduardo, Marcin Bulka, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen, Tomas Kalas, Jake Clarke-Salter, Fikayo Tomori, Marcos Alonso, Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Mario Pasalic, Lewis Baker, Kyle Scott, Pedro, Willian, Kenedy, Charly Musonda Jr, Jeremie Boga, Michy Batshuayi, Loic Remy.

 

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Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 1 (2-3 pens): Cech and Martinez the heroes in shoot-out win

Arsenal enjoyed a rare victory against Bayern Munich after securing a penalty shoot-out triumph over the Bundesliga champions in Shanghai.

Wednesday's International Champions Cup fixture followed the pattern of many of their Champions League meetings as Bayern were utterly dominant, but Robert Lewandowski's eighth-minute penalty was all they had to show with Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech turning in a wonderful display.

James Rodriguez saw five chances at a first Bayern goal repelled by the veteran goalkeeper, whose efforts were rewarded in the 94th minute when Alex Iwobi headed home after a fine Arsenal move.

There was no repeat of the pair of 5-1 thrashings that Bayern dealt the Gunners last term, but Carlo Ancelotti's men still looked a cut above, although they somehow came up short.

As the game entered a shoot-out, Renato Sanches hit the crossbar before Cech's replacement Emiliano Martinez continued the hero act with saves from David Alaba and Juan Bernat.

Bayern were quickly into their rhythm, with James displaying early signs of a sound understanding with Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, who conspired to waste a chance in the third minute from the Colombian's scooped throughball.

Arsenal's defence featured 19-year-old Krystian Bielik and was helmed by Mohamed Elneny in the middle following Per Mertesacker's withdrawal prior to kick-off.

The makeshift air was only heightened as Bayern ran through time after time, James firing into the sidenetting before Ainsley Maitland-Niles was pulled up for felling Bernat in the box and Lewandowski sent Cech the wrong way.Mesut Ozil volleyed straight at the retirement-reneging Tom Starke, before Alexandre Lacazette fired at the goalkeeper when one-on-one in Arsenal's only concerted spell of pressure in the first half.

Those efforts bookended Corentin Tolisso being denied by an incorrect offside flag after a brilliant move and Arsenal had no answer as Muller and Bernat had deflected efforts saved sharply by Cech, who reacted quicker than any of his defenders to close down James one-on-one as Bayern ran rampant without reward.

Granit Xhaka's last-ditch tackle denied James on the stroke of half-time and he was once again frustrated by Cech early in the second half after Lewandowski allowed Kingsley Coman's cross to run through.

Maitland-Niles' reaction to a chastening outing at the hands of Franck Ribery was to clatter him and further Arsenal irritation was evident as Elneny left Tolisso writhing in pain.But after the sting was quickly extracted from the game by a procession of substitutions from both sides, Arsenal suddenly found a second wind and Iwobi started and finished a sweeping stoppage-time move to force spot-kicks.

Alaba's opening effort was saved by Martinez, but the scores were levelled out after two efforts each when Elneny's shot was saved by 17-year-old Christian Fruchtl.


Sanches slamming his effort against the woodwork turned the tide, though, and Iwobi scored to make Bernat's turn a must-score, only for Martinez to come up big again.

 

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Liverpool 2 Crystal Palace 0: Solanke and Origi on target in Hong Kong

Dominic Solanke announced himself as a Liverpool player with the opening goal as Jurgen Klopp's side overcame Crystal Palace 2-0 in the Premier League Asia Trophy.

The 19-year-old joined Liverpool from Chelsea in May before being named player of the tournament in England's triumphant Under-20 World Cup campaign.

Solanke came on as a second-half substitute against Ronald de Boer's Palace and offered a suggestion he can transfer that form to senior football with an excellent finish before fellow replacement Divock Origi made sure of victory.

Daniel Sturridge led the Liverpool attack, flanked by record signing Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino as Klopp's men made most of the early running, pressing Palace high up the field.

Sturridge might have opened the scoring in the 13th minute after Ben Woodburn and Trent Alexander-Arnold linked impressively down the right, but the England striker did not make a clean contact and Scott Dann blocked his effort behind.

Salah's pace caused Palace persistent problems and Dann was booked for a cynical foul on the Egypt star, whose lay-off was lifted wide by Adam Lallana on the stroke of the interval.

A raft of substitutions early in the second period interrupted the game's flow but it was two of the new arrivals who combined to break the deadlock with an hour played.Origi's instinctive flick was collected by Solanke, who engineered space and lashed past Wayne Hennessey from 20 yards.


Not to be denied, Origi also got on the scoresheet 13 minutes from time, when Palace failed to deal with James Milner's ball in from the left and the Belgium forward scrambled home the loose ball at the far post.

 

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Guardiola confirms Man City interest in Danilo

Manchester City have reignited their interest in Real Madrid right-back Danilo, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.

As revealed by Goal in June, City were among a number of clubs to have made an enquiry regarding the Brazilian earlier this year, but were told the player had no desire to leave the Santiago Bernabeu.

City established Kyle Walker and Dani Alves as their top right-back targets after that, only for Alves to perform a shock u-turn and back out of his agreement with the club to join Paris Saint-Germain, forcing them to reassess their options.Reports in Italy have suggested that City have agreed a deal for Danilo, though Guardiola was unwilling to shine too much light on the progress of the deal.

"We have many options for players who are coming, but Danilo is not done so until it is done I cannot say absolutely anything out of respect for other clubs, but he is an option that we have," Guardiola told a press conference.

"I said he’s a player from Real Madrid, we are talking with not too much players, with three or four players to come and join us. Not just for next season but the next three, four, five years, because they are all young players."Danilo's situation at Madrid also changed while City pursued Alves.

The 26-year-old had his head turned by serious interest from Juventus throughout June and was ready to make the move, but the Italian champions could only sign one non-EU player this summer and after agreeing terms with both Danilo and Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa, they elected to sign the latter.

Chelsea are also reported to have shown an interest in the right-back but City are now hopeful of securing his signature by the time they fly to Los Angeles on Friday.

Reports in Italy claim a deal worth as much as €35 million has been agreed with Madrid.

City are in the United States for the International Champions Cup and after meeting Manchester United in Houston they will travel to LA to play Madrid, Danilo's current club.Madrid are currently training in LA, which would help smooth the final stages of the deal.

City boss Pep Guardiola has been an admirer of Danilo since coming up against the Brazilian while in charge of Bayern Munich.


Should Danilo join City in the next week, he could make his debut against his former club. City signed Walker from Tottenham for £45m last week, meaning he will also face his former club in Nashville.

 

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Chelsea agree £70m deal to sign Morata

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, the club have announced.

Reports suggest the Premier League champions will pay £70 million for the Spain international, who is yet to agree personal terms or undergo a medical.Manchester United had previously held an interest in the forward, but instead opted for Romelu Lukaku.

Morata will arrive at Stamford Bridge and will be tasked with replacing Diego Costa, who is set to join Atletico Madrid after being told he is surplus to requirements by Antonio Conte.
He will become the Blues's fourth signing of the summer, with Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko already secured.The 24-year-old leaves Santiago Bernabeu just a year after returning to the Spanish capital from Juventus.

He scored 20 goals in all competitions for Zinedine Zidane's side, but struggled to hold down a regular starting berth with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo acting as competition.

Morata has made 21 appearances for Spain, scoring nine goals in the process.

 

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Ibrahimovic makes everything better, says Man Utd's Blind

Manchester United utility man Daley Blind has said that Zlatan Ibrahimovic "makes everything better" amid rumours the Swede might sign a short-term deal with the club once he recovers from injury.

The 35-year-old striker picked up a cruciate injury whilst playing in the club's Europa League clash with Anderlecht in April, and such an injury would generally be a career ending one at such an advanced age.Ibra, however, appears determined to return to the pitch after a stellar season with the Old Trafford outfit, and has been allowed to continue his recovery at Man Utd's Carrington training ground.

The Red Devils have since signed Romelu Lukaku to lead the line, with the big Belgian having already found the net in a pre-season clash with Real Salt Lake.In spite of Lukaku's high-profile arrival, the reports that suggested Ibra could yet play again for Man Utd have pleased Dutch defender Blind."He would again be another big signing," Blind told NBC Sports. "Last year he gave a big boost to the team.

“He is still a great player and great person and he makes everything better.”
Should Ibrahimovic opt for a move elsewhere, however, Blind is confident that Lukaku will be able to fill the Zlatan-shaped void.

“[Lukaku] is a great signing, a great player and a great person as well, now that I have met him for a while,” the Netherlands international said.“He works very hard, he is very eager to score goals and very eager to help his team-mates and create chances, so I am very happy he scored his first goal and I think there are many more to come.”

 

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Szczesny signs with Juventus from Arsenal for €12.2m

Juventus have completed the signing of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny from Arsenal for an initial fee of €12.2million.The Poland international has signed a four-year contract with the Serie A champions after undergoing a medical on Tuesday.

The value of Szczesny's transfer could eventually rise to €15.3m depending on certain conditions being met over the course of his contract.Szczesny has spent the past two seasons in Serie A on loan at Roma.

He joined Arsenal from Legia Warsaw as a youngster and went on to make 181 appearances in all competitions before the arrivals of David Ospina and Petr Cech left him looking elsewhere for first-team opportunities.

Szczesny's path to the starting XI at Juve is likely to be blocked by an all-time great, with Gianluigi Buffon preparing for a career swansong in 2017-18.
"I'm delighted to be at Juventus," he told a news conference. "I've spoken to Gigi Buffon – a true legend of the game."When you join Juve, it's because you've been chosen. I didn't hesitate one moment before coming here.

"I'm ready to take on this challenge. Juventus is the best possible choice for my career. I'm 27 years old and I want to win. At this club there's the right mentality to do so."

Juventus lost a second Champions League final in three seasons against Real Madrid in Cardiff last month and Szczesny wants to help get a side so dominant at home during the present era over that hurdle."I hope that we'll succeed in winning the Champions League," he added.

 

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Guardiola insists Aguero will not leave Man City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reiterated his stance that Sergio Aguero will not be allowed to leave the Premier League club this summer.The Argentina international has been linked with a move to Chelsea despite the Blues having agreed a fee for Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata.

But Guardiola has hit out at such reports, claiming he has never thought of selling the former Atletico Madrid man while also playing down reports of a deal for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez

"Alexis plays for Arsenal, so Arsene said that [Sanchez will stay]. He knows more than me," the Catalan told a press conference."We have two really good strikers in Sergio and Gabriel [Jesus] so, in those terms, we are good. It’s not about a striker.

"The problem was, last season, Gabriel was out for a long time and we would like to see both of them together.""You know my opinion about Sergio. I said many times last season and I have not changed a word of what I said."He is our player and he will remain here."

Alexis's international colleague Claudio Bravo appeared to face a less certain future following an error-strewn debut campaign in Manchester.He was the penalty shoot-out hero in his country's Confederations Cup semi-final triumph over Portugal last month but is set to begin the season as second choice behind new recruit Ederson at City.

Nevertheless, Guardiola is keen for the 34-year-old former Barcelona man to compete with Ederson and dismissed suggestions City were in the market for experienced Napoli keeper Pepe Reina."No, no – we will go with Ederson, Claudio and the young players [goalkeepers]," Guardiola added.

 

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Barcelona target Marco Verratti drops agent for Mino Raiola

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder and rumoured Barcelona target Marco Verratti has announced a switch in representation to Mina Raiola.

Taking to Instagram to make the change public, Verratti, who is on PSG's tour of the United States, thanked former agent Donato Di Campli for his work but said Raiola was the person responsible for representing his interests, starting immediately.

Verratti wrote: "I'm hereby stating with immediate effect that the sole person able to legitimately represent my interests is Mino Raiola. I'm thanking Di Campli for all the work done until today and presenting him with my renewed and unchanged esteem".

The midfielder has been linked to a move to Barcelona for much of the summer, but thus far has been unable to navigate his exit from the Ligue 1 giants.That had led Di Campli to criticise PSG, claiming the club kept his client as a "prisoner" and that he was trapped.

Verratti would later apologize for Di Campli's statements, saying those were not his words and that he was thrilled to be back with PSG.However, the switch to Raiola will likely fuel speculation that Verratti is looking for the exit.

Raiola has negotiated big money transfers for the likes of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United. He also pushed Italian teenager Gianluigi Donnarumma toward an exit from AC Milan, before the teen and club came to an agreement over a lucrative new deal.

The 24-year-old Verratti's contract with PSG runs through 2021.

 

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Roma 1 Paris Saint-Germain 1 (3-5 pens): Alves makes debut in win

Dani Alves made his debut for Paris Saint-Germain as the Ligue 1 giants edged Roma on penalties at the International Champions Cup on Wednesday.

Alves, who signed for PSG earlier this month despite being heavily linked with a move to Manchester City, started at right-back in the 1-1 draw at Comerica Park.
Marquinhos gave PSG a 36th-minute lead after a somewhat scrappy first half, but Roma were the better side in the second.

Umar Sadiq levelled proceedings on the hour-mark and Roma had two penalty shouts turned down in a lively second half before penalties were needed to separate the teams.Only Gerson failed to convert in the shoot-out, with Marquinhos scoring the decisive penalty in the 5-3 success.

While Alves made his debut for PSG, who are linked with Barcelona star Neymar, recruits Hector Moreno and Lorenzo Pellegrini started for Eusebio Di Francesco's Roma.

Both teams consistently broke down in the attacking third in the opening exchanges, although Jese Rodriguez had a great chance in the 21st minute.The forward was put through but was unable to get the ball under control and the opportunity was wasted.

PSG took a deserved lead nine minutes prior to half-time.Thiago Motta tried to play a one-two with Jese but went down under a challenge, the ball falling to Marquinhos to put away from inside the area.

The Ligue 1 giants continued to threaten to finish the half, Lucas Moura shooting straight at Roma goalkeeper Alisson after a smart Javier Pastore run.Both teams made changes at the break and it took time for the substitutes to settle in Detroit.

Alves was perhaps fortunate not to give away a penalty in the 57th minute, the Brazilian bringing down Diego Perotti with a slide tackle in the area, only to collect the ball afterwards.

Roma levelled on the hour-mark through 20-year-old forward Sadiq.A pass over the top from Gerson saw Sadiq put in behind and the Nigerian finished through Alphonse Areola's legs from an angle.

Daniele De Rossi, who came off the bench, was the next to go close, the midfielder's 25-yard free-kick tipped over by Areola in the 65th minute.

The lively Umar was then brought down by Presnel Kimpembe in the area, but penalty pleas were again dismissed.Blaise Matuidi had three late chances for PSG, including blazing over from close range and missing two one-on-ones as a shoot-out followed.

After the first five penalties were converted, Gerson failed to hit the target with his spot-kick as Roma were beaten.

 

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Messi a machine built for football – Xavi

Lionel Messi is a "machine built to play football", according to his former Barcelona team-mate Xavi.

Messi, 30, is considered among the all-time greats, having enjoyed a spectacular career that has included success at both a team and personal level.

The Argentina star has won eight La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns among numerous other trophies. Messi is also a record five-time Ballon d'Or winner and Xavi, the midfielder who was at Barca until 2015, lauded his former team-mate.

"Leo can do [what] Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and [Sergio] Busquets [do] at the same time and continue to do Messi," he told The Tactical Room."He seems a machine built to play football, with that rubber ankle that sticks to the ball."

In good news for Barca amid speculation over his future, Messi signed a new deal earlier this month to keep him at Camp Nou until 2021.

 

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Mourinho says rivalry was never personal with Guardiola

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho played down his rivalry with City boss Pep Guardiola.Mourinho and Guardiola had numerous battles during their time in Spain when in charge of bitter rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

Ahead of United's meeting with Manchester City at the International Champions Cup on Thursday, Mourinho said the competitiveness of the Premier League meant those clashes were never likely to be repeated."In Spain, it is two clubs fighting against each other. Now Atletico Madrid is also close, but in our time, it was just about us," he said.

"For three years, it was just about us. Champions League matches, La Liga titles, Copa del Rey finals, Super Cup finals. Everything was about Real and Barcelona.
"We were in a situation of it being not easy. In England, I knew before it happened that it would be completely different, because it's a completely different league."

Mourinho believes the timing in Spain led to the rivalry, with Madrid desperately trying to end Barcelona's dominance."I think the way we both behaved, I think make it also blow in that direction. Many people would think wrongly that we had a personal situation, to which we always told 'no'," he said.

"It was just the consequence of being in Barcelona and Real Madrid in a specific period of their history."Barcelona was in the top. Real Madrid was in the low and trying to come and break that Barcelona dominancy."

 

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Raiola visits Verratti, pushes Matuidi toward Juventus

Mino Raiola has been in Miami in recent days to meet with both his new client Marco Verratti and midfielder Blaise Matuidi, with the hopes of pushing the France international toward Juventus.Goal understands the agent visited the players at PSG’s hotel ahead of Wednesday's International Champions Cup match against Roma.

The primary reason for Raiola's visit was to finalise a deal to represent Verratti, who officially moved on from agent Donato Di Campli.Verratti made that switch official Wednesday, announcing on Instagram that Raiola would represent him going forward.

The 24-year-old midfielder, who is a rumoured target of Barcelona, was not on the bench of PSG's match against Roma as he battles a knee injury. Raiola also took the opportunity to meet with Matuidi about the possibility of a move to Juventus, encouraging him to push for the transfer.The 30-year-old Matuidi, whose contract with PSG runs through June 2018, was on the bench for the Roma match.