Lars Bender has extended his contract at Bayer Leverkusen until 2017, the club revealed on their official website.
The midfielder, who signed for the North Rhine-Westphalian outfit in 2009 from 1860 Munich, recently was said to have taken the option to prolong his five-year stay for an extra season. But now, the 22-year-old has taken a further step in his commitment to Bayer.
I am happy and satisfied. Bayer Leverkusen are the right club for my further sporting development, he said.
Coach Robin Dutt was thrilled to announce the Germany international s extension, and praised his star midfielder.
Lars Bender is a model professional with great potential. At his young age he is already a top performer and leader among the Bayer players, he said.
Ben…
Chelsea released a lengthy statement on Saturday issuing a profuse apology to former player Gary Johnson, after claims he was sexually abused as a child in the 1970s by a former Blues chief scout.
It came as an 18th police force confirmed they were investigating historical abuse claims in British football.
Here is Chelsea s statement in full:
Everyone at Chelsea Football Club has been profoundly shocked by news of historical child sex abuse across British football and our heart goes out to all the victims.
We pay tribute to the enormous courage of the people who have spoken out about the horrific abuse which they endured, including former Chelsea player Gary Johnson. We recognise that to do so, after carrying the burden of those events for …
Manchester City have finalised the signing of Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig on a five-year deal.
The 21-year-old completed his medical with City on Friday afternoon after the Premier League champions agreed a fee of 90million euros (£77.6m) with Leipzig.
City announced on their official website: “Manchester City are delighted to confirm the signing of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig on a five-year deal.
“The 21-year-old becomes the second signing of the summer transfer window ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, following in the footsteps of fellow Croatian international Mateo Kovacic.”
We re delighted to announce the signing of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig!
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Gvardiol has spent the last t…
Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic has admitted his interest in a move to England.
The Serbia international still has two years to run on his contract with the German champions and insists that he is happy at Signal Iduna Park.
However, Subotic, who was heavily linked with Chelsea during the January transfer window, said he would relish the opportunity to ply his trade in the English Premier League one day.
It s just a thought, if it fits at some point, he told Kicker. I want to compete where it s hardest. I think the way they play there is cool.
Dortmund have lost Shinji Kagawa but they have been bolstered by the arrivals of Marco Reus, Leonardo Bittencourt, Julian Schieber and Oliver Kirch, while Mario Goetze and Mats Hummels have both committ…
Premier League new boys Reading, Southampton and West Ham have been busy strengthening their squad ahead of the new season.
All three have recognised the importance of adding quality to their squad in order to be competitive in the top flight next season.
Signings
Southampton
Southampton have came along way in the last few years having languished in League One just a few seasons ago. The Saints have been busy in the transfer market already.
They broke their transfer record by signing Burnley’s highly-rated young striker Jay Rodriguez for a fee in the region of £7million.
They also signed ex-Rangers captain Steven Davis on a free transfer and secured the signature of another highly-rated youngster in Nathaniel Clyde from Crystal Palace,…
Having been given a run at centre-back due to Ryan Shawcross injury, Geoff Cameron is relishing his chance to impress for Stoke City, who host Watford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Captain Shawcross is yet to feature this season due to a persistent back problem and United States international Cameron has recently been paired with Philipp Wollscheid at the heart of the Stoke backline.
After a shaky start to the campaign, results of late have been impressive for Mark Hughes men, with four successive wins in all competitions, including three clean sheets.
The latest of those came in Monday s hard-fought 1-0 victory at Swansea City, and Cameron may feel confident of another shut out on Saturday against Watford, whose tally of six goals scored is the lowest in t…
Lionel Messi broke yet another Barcelona record on Saturday, becoming the most prolific free-kick goalscorer in the history of the club surpassing Ronald Koeman s 26 set-piece strikes.
Barcelona already led 1-0 against Athletic Bilbao through Paco Alcacer when five-time Ballon d Or winner Messi stepped up to take a set-piece from close to the byline on the right of the penalty area.
The Argentine s low shot was on target but Gorka Iraizoz should have kept it out after getting a hand to the effort, the Athletic goalkeeper s failure to do so handing Messi a club record 27th free-kick goal for Barcelona.
Messi had drawn level with Koeman s mark with another free-kick special against Athletic in the Copa Del Rey in January that made it three set-piece goals in thre…
Aaron Wan-Bissaka s move from Crystal Palace to Manchester United is complete following the announcement of the reported £50million switch and the Red Devils are getting a fine defender for their money.
The 21-year-old broke into the Palace first-team squad when United-owned defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah was on loan at Selhurst Park in 2017-18, with the two battling it out for a starting spot in the second half of the campaign.
With Fosu-Mensah returning to United and then heading out to Fulham, Wan-Bissaka had a free run at the right-back position the following campaign and swiftly made it his own, establishing himself as one of the most promising defenders in England.
Right-back was highlighted as a problem area throughout last season for United; converted wing…
Erik ten Hag was delighted by his players’ response to their “horror start” as Manchester United overcame a two-goal deficit to beat 10-man Nottingham Forest.
After stumbling to victory against Wolves in their Premier League opener and seeing a fine start fade in last weekend’s defeat at Tottenham, things unravelled in the opening four minutes at Old Trafford.
Taiwo Awoniyi scored a decent opener on the break just 86 seconds after kick-off and Willy Boly added another in the fourth minute – the earliest United have ever trailed by two in a Premier League game.
But they dug deep and pulled one back through Christian Eriksen, with Casemiro equalising after the break and Bruno Fernandes scoring a spot-kick to decide the contest shortly after Forest’s Joe…
Manchester United striker Federico Macheda is hoping to seal a permanent switch to VfB Stuttgart this summer, .
Macheda, 21, joined Die Roten on loan in January for the remainder of the season.
The Italy Under-21 international has failed to establish himself as a first-team regular for Manchester United, resulting in three loan spells at Unione Calcio Sampdoria (2010-11), Queens Park Rangers (2011-12) and now VfB Stuttgart 1893 eV.
Macheda has been utilised as a regular substitute by Stuttgart manager Bruno Labbadia since his arrival at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in January.
The 21-year-old is both focused and happy with life in Stuttgart, but did express interest in returning to the English Premier League to play for Manchester United in t…