Middlesbrough have completed the signing of goalkeeper Brad Guzan from Aston Villa on a two-year-deal, the club have confirmed.
The United States goalkeeper moved to Villa Park in July 2008, but the club were relegated from the Premier League last season while the signing of Pierluigi Gollini left his position under threat.
Guzan consequently seals an immediate return to the top flight with Premier League new boys Boro.
He will face stiff competition for the gloves at the Riverside Stadium, though, with Boro having already snapped up former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes during a busy recruitment drive with manager Aitor Karanka having made eight senior signings during the transfer window.
As well as Valdes and Guzan, the likes of Alvaro Negredo, Mart…
In a battle between the team and the manager that had never lost a European final, Sevilla proved too much for Jose Mourinho at the Ferenc Puskas Arena in Budapest on Wednesday evening.
The regular match-time ended without a winner as Paulo Dybala broke the deadlock in the 35th minute and saw an unfortunate deflection off Gianluca Mancini pull the Spanish side back level in the 55th. The 30 minutes of extra-time yielded no change on the scoreboard, and in the end, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou proved a hero for his team as he saved the spot-kick shots from Mancini and Roger Ibanez, while Lucas Ocampos, Erik Lamela, Ivan Rakitic and Gabriel Montielo all converted theirs.
The game
The contest started the way most would ve expected it to, with Sevilla not having much …
´He wants to finish on a high note´ – Ancelotti says Gareth Bale deserves a big Real Madrid farewell
Carlo Ancelotti wants Gareth Bale to leave Real Madrid in a blaze of glory rather than with his reputation sullied, hailing the Welsh winger as a history maker.
Bale was a €100million (£85.3m) signing from Tottenham nine years ago during Ancelotti s first stint as Los Blancos coach, and with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema he formed part of a thrilling front three.
The 32-year-old has already won the Champions League four times in Madrid, as well as two LaLiga titles, but in recent seasons Bale has been nudged towards the fringes of the squad.
Injuries have been a factor, and while Bale has been reliably brilliant for the Wales national team, opportunities in Madrid have become sporadic. He spent last season on loan at Tottenham.
His contract exp…
Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from professional football on Thursday, bringing to a close a long and decorated career with Liverpool and England.
A Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup winner with a unique record in finals, he is one of his country s most-capped players, behind only David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Peter Shilton.
The former Liverpool captain also boasts one of the proudest records as a one-club man in the Premier League era.
With the help of Opta, we look at the numbers that matter most to the hero of Istanbul.
504 Steven Gerrard is one of only 12 players to have made 500 or more appearances in the Premier League, making 504 in total.
2 All those 504 appearances came for Liverpool – only two pl…
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Two sides who are looking to open 2022 with a statement in north London, Arsenal will host defending champions Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime.
Arsenal
Starting with the hosts, although Arsenal might have opened the 2021/22 campaign in the midst of a very public nightmare, the Gunners have certainly put those issues behind them. With the mood in their camp at a red-hot high, Mikel Arteta s men were last seen landing a thumping 5-0 romp away at leading relegation scrappers Norwich. Handed an extra few days off since Boxing Day, the north London outfit have now won each of their last five matchups across all formats. Skyrocketing their way back into the top-four and with their sights firmly set on securing a European return this s…
Lazar Markovic s time in England has been far from good. After a really good season at Benfica, he joined Brendan Rodgers Liverpool in 2014, but has failed to make any impact. Most of his time while he was a Red, Markovic spent on numerous loans, to Hull City, Anderlecht, Fenerbahce and other clubs. Earlier this year he moved as a free agent to Fulham, but that did not work either.
Markovic was therefore without the club for a couple of months and on the last day of the transfer window, he returned to his native Serbia. He signed a three-year contract with his former club, at which he started his senior career.
The 25-year-old will want to kickstart his career once again, especially now that Partizan are back in Europa League group stages. They are in the same group as …
Having agreed the transfer of Declan Rice from West Ham, Arsenal have given the green light for Granit Xhaka to join Bayer Leverkusen, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Bundesliga club will pay a fee of €25 million for the services of the experienced Switzerland international. A five-year contract awaits Xhaka s signature at the BayArena.
Xhaka spent seven seasons with the Gunners. His form and significance for the team hasn t always been of the same level, but he played a vital role in Arsenal s ultimately doomed Premier League title charge in 2022/23 as manager Mikel Arteta put his tactical flexibility to good use. In all competitions, Xhaka made a total of 297 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 23 goals and producing 29 assists, and won two FA Cups along with two Community S…
Harry Kane is hoping to break Wayne Rooney s England goalscoring record at the World Cup later this year, as he looks to help the Three Lions improve on their 2018 semi-final appearance.
Kane has scored 49 goals in 69 appearances for England after moving level with Bobby Charlton s international tally in a 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland at Wembley in March.
The Tottenham striker is now just four goals behind Rooney s Three Lions record, despite playing 50 international games fewer than the Manchester United legend.
Indeed, Kane has averaged 0.71 goals per game for his country, compared to Rooney s 0.45, and it looks to be a matter of time before Gareth Southgate s captain establishes himself as the greatest goalscorer in the national team s history.
…
Robert Lewandowski scored twice and set up the other as 10-man Bayern Munich eased the pressure on Niko Kovac with a much-needed 3-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Arjen Robben s second-half dismissal for two needless bookings the first a dive on the edge of the area gave Kovac some unnecessary concern, but James Rodriguez popped up in the 72nd minute to curtail a four-game competitive winless run.
Lewandowski had earlier struck either side of half-time to establish a two-goal buffer that was reduced through Wout Weghorst soon after Robben s departure.
But, a day after Bayern president Uli Hoeness labelled press treatment of the club a joke , the headlines are kinder for Kovac thanks to Colombia star James, a player with whom he has reportedly shared a tense…
Diego Simeone dismissed talk of winning the LaLiga title after Atletico Madrid preserved their 100 per cent record with a last-gasp comeback against Eibar.
Atletico rallied from 2-0 down to dramatically prevail 3-2 over Eibar thanks to substitute Thomas Partey s 90th-minute winner in Madrid on Sunday.
Eibar threatened a sensational upset at Wanda Metropolitano, where goals from Charles and Anaitz Arbilla put the visitors in control after 19 minutes.
However, Joao Felix and Vitolo helped restore parity by the 52nd minute before Thomas came off the bench to complete the fightback at the death.
Atletico are the only team with three wins from three LaLiga matches heading into the international break but head coach Simeone is not getting carried away.
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