25/1 Betting Odds on France to Win 2018 World Cup

Gonzalo Higuain will not sign a new deal at Napoli, with his agent insisting the in-demand striker will leave the club at the end of his contract.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentis claimed Higuain had committed to the Serie A side beyond the expiry of his contract in 2018.

But amid reported interest from some of Europe s biggest clubs, including Atletico Madrid, after scoring 36 goals in 35 Serie A appearances in 2015-16, agent and brother Nicolas Higuain revealed the 28-year-old Argentina international has no intention to renew.

We arrived with the hope of Champions League football, to be Italian champions and to grow, Nicolas told Radio Continental.

It is your right to request the termination clause, but we opt for the path not to renew the contra…

Sami Khedira believes it is only a matter of time before Mesut Oezil shows his class for Germany at Euro 2012.

Manager Joachim Loew backed the 23-year-old to explode in the coming fixtures, and his Real Madrid team-mate is in no doubt he will make an impact sooner rather than later.

Mesut has taken another step in the past one or two years. We players value him, he works a lot for the team, Khedira said.

Now he knows how to create space by running.

His genius moments will come, simply because he has the quality for that to happen.

Khedira discussed his understanding with fellow defensive midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, and feels their good relationship has made Germany a stronger team.

In 2010, we played only one game together be…

Real Madrid star Mesut Oezil believes Germany coach Joachim Loew is qualified to take charge of the Spanish champions.

The 52-year-old coach has been mooted as a possible replacement for Jose Mourinho when the Portuguese trainer decides to leave the Santiago Bernabeu.

Earlier in the week, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said Loew was ready to take the reins of the likes of Madrid and Barcelona, and Oezil had nothing but praise for the Germany boss.

He is a very good coach, one of the best in the world, Ozil told Express. If he could coach Real Madrid? Of course, why not?

He has the quality to do it.

Oezil then came out in defence of Madrid and Germany team-mate Sami Khedira, saying: I do not understand the criticism targeted at him.

He…

Dani Carvajal would like Kylian Mbappe to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid as he believes the world s best players should be at the Santiago Bernabeu.

France star Mbappe continues to be linked with a future move to Madrid and has reportedly stalled on the idea of a new PSG contract in order to make a transfer more likely.

Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has repeatedly expressed his admiration for the 20-year-old forward, whose relationship with PSG boss Thomas Tuchel has shown signs of strain lately, not least when Mbappe ignored him after being substituted against Montpellier last weekend.

Carvajal would certainly not be against Mbappe moving to the Spanish capital, telling reporters on Thursday:  What we ve seen is obvious. He s one of the greats an…

In the second half, Mauricio Pochettino was in and out of his technical area, prowling, barking orders, bothering officials. Twenty yards away stood Jurgen Klopp: arms behind his back, impassive, considered.

It wasn t what you would have expected, just as a final between Tottenham and Liverpool being distinctly low on quality and excitement was not a prediction many had made.

But that s what Klopp gave us, and it got him the Champions League a first trophy with Liverpool, a sixth in this competition in their history. And with it, he banished both the haunting memories of last season s loss to Real Madrid and the nagging doubts about his reluctance to adapt.

This was Klopp 2.0. Guarded, patient, unflinching, and victorious.

01:48 – Mohamed Salah’s open…

Ray Parlour hopes England have a real go at Euro 2016 and welcomed the competition for places in Roy Hodgson s starting XI.

England face Russia, Wales and Slovakia in Group B of the European Championship, a tournament they are fourth favourites to win with the bookmakers.

Speaking at the launch of his autobiography The Romford Pele , former Arsenal midfielder Parlour urged manager Hodgson to take an attacking approach in France.

I m excited about England, he told Omnisport. Hopefully they will have a good tournament. They have got good young players. 

I just hope Roy goes there and has a real go the players he s got are fantastic. It s great that you are going to the tournament not really knowing the personnel to put in the team.

That means th…

Schalke winger Jefferson Farfan claimed he was overwhelmed by the reception he received from fans when he ended what was effectively a year-long injury hiatus at the weekend.

Apart from five minutes off the bench against Eintracht Frankfurt on April 11, 2014, Farfan was out of action for almost 13 months with a knee injury until he was subbed on in Schalke s 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Farfan made his first appearance this term when he replaced Max Meyer at the Veltins Arena, and the Peru international conceded it was an intense moment for him mentally.

I was a bit nervous, which is probably normal after being sidelined for so long, Farfan told Schalke s website.

The reception I received when I came onto the pitch was overwhelming. I quick…

Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun is keeping all options open with regards to his future after starring on loan at Reims.

Balogun has scored 18 goals in 29 appearances for the French side, making him the highest-scoring player aged 21 or under across Europe s top five leagues this season.

The Arsenal academy product has made just two Premier League appearances for his parent club, who already have strikers Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah on their books.

He still has two years to run on his contract at Emirates Stadium, but Balogun is unsure where he will be playing his football in the 2023-24 campaign.

Contractually I have to go back. The loan was for one year so that was always the agreement, he told Ligue 1 s website. I m not sure what s going to happe…

Chelsea flirted with FA Cup humiliation before coming from behind to beat Southend 4-1 in a third round replay that epitomised the best traditions of the world s oldest knockout competition.

Having been braced for a backlash from Chelsea s 3-0 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday, League One s Southend stunned the visitors by taking the lead through captain Adam Barrett s 16th-minute header.

Michael Ballack s first goal since Euro 2008 got Luiz Felipe Scolari s side back on level terms just before the break and strikers Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka found the net before Frank Lampard put a flattering gloss on the scoreline with a last-minute effort.

Scolari had reacted to Sunday s 3-0 defeat by Manchester United by announcing that he would ditch man-to-man m…

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is a phenomenon who is better as a coach than he ever was as a player, according to his former Juventus team-mate Alessio Tacchinardi.

Zidane enjoyed a seamless transition to coaching after being promoted from Real Madrid s youth side in January 2016, replacing the dismissed Rafael Benitez and guiding the club to Champions League success the same season.

He then presided over another Champions League-winning campaign the following year, making Madrid the first club to retain their crown, while they also added a LaLiga title.

Things have been a little more difficult for them this season and they sit third in the league, 13 points adrift of rivals Barcelona, with Zidane – who won the Ballon d Or as a player – under pressure a…