Football Briefs: No problem with Chelsea despite Conte row, sa...

IMAGE: Aymeric Laporte poses with his jersey after signing for Manchester City. Photograph: Manchester City/Twitter Manchester City have signed French central defender Aymeric Laporte from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, the Premier League leaders said on Tuesday.British newspapers reported that City paid a club-record 57 million pounds ($81 million) for the 23-year-old Laporte who has signed a contract until 2023.   The club's previous record fee was 55 million pounds paid to Wolfsburg for ...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced on Friday that he will step down from his role at the Premier League club at the end of the season after almost 22 years at the helm. Wenger led the club to three Premier League titles, including going unbeaten for an entire season, seven FA Cups and took Arsenal into the Champions League for 20 years in a row. The following is reaction to his departure:   IMAGE: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger waves as he walks onto the pitch before an English Premier ...

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field   IMAGE: Cristiano Ronaldo. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters With the score poised at 1-1 in Sunday's Madrid derby in La Liga between Real and Atletico, Cristiano Ronaldo's number appeared on the fourth official's electronic board in red and the crowd in the Santiago Bernabeu fell silent.   Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane took off the Portuguese forward for Karim Benzema in the 64th minute. Even though his careful ...

Following is a match by match look at the English Premier League's weekend fixtures: Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Sunday, April 1 (08:30 PM) IMAGE:  Antonio Conte, manager of Chelsea, centre, watches his players during a training session. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images Chelsea know they must beat London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to keep alive realistic hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League and recent history offers them encouragement.   Fourth-placed ...

Chelsea know they must beat London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to keep alive realistic hopes of qualifying for next seasons Champions League and recent history offers them encouragement. Fourth-placed Spurs are five points clear of Chelsea and with ...

GERMANY 1 SPAIN 1PORTUGAL 2 EGYPT 1BRAZIL 3 RUSSIA 0ENGLAND 1 THE NETHERLANDS 0FRANCE 2 COLOMBIA 3 Images from the football friendlies on Friday night. Germany draw 1-1 with Spain IMAGE: Germany's Thomas Mueller, left, celebrates with Jerome Boateng after scoring their first goal against Spain. Photograph: Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters World champions Germany drew 1-1 with Spain in a high tempo friendly on Friday as they launched their preparations for a title defence in Russia while their ...

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has said he wanted to avoid meeting Chelsea in the first knockout stage of this season's Champions League and wished the London side had won their group. "The Premier League teams are having a great Champions League and we ...

Manchester Citys Premier League procession heaps the pressure on their rivals in the FA Cup fifth round this weekend as Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham scramble for the seasons remaining silverware. Jose Mourinhos United travel to Huddersfield, where ...

Roma know the threat posed by Mohamed Salah more than most having sold the free-scoring Egyptian to Liverpool for an initial 42 million euros (USD 52 million) just 10 months ago.But that may not help the Italians much as they become the latest side to face ...