Former Real Madrid player Zinedine Zidane will succeed Jorge Valdano as director of football at the La Liga giants.

Frenchman Zidane, a three-time world player of the year, retired in 2006 after spending the last five seasons of his career in the Spanish capital.

The 39-year-old won the La Liga title and the Champions League during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu and has been serving as a special advisor to Real president Florentino Perez since June 2009.

Zidane is set to take over at least some of the duties of Valdano, another former player who worked as director of football in two spells between 2000-2005 and 2009-2011.

The 55-year-old Argentine, formally a close ally of Perez, was removed by the president in May this year.

The move was seen…

Tottenham have agreed terms in principle on a deal worth 11.5 million euros to sign midfielder Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid.

The London club made the breakthrough in negotiations on Thursday but the France international will not make his debut against Manchester United on Monday because the deadline to register players for this weekend s matches has now passed.

Real Madrid have indicated that they will accept a bid in the region of 11.5 million euros and have given Spurs permission to talk to Diarra, who is close to agreeing personal terms.

Diarra, 26, has been offered a salary package worth 115,000 euros a week once bonuses and signing-on fees are taken into account.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea man has made it clear that he would like to leave th…

Mauro Icardi has hit out at Inter supporters who jeered the team during Wednesday s Serie A victory over Sampdoria.

The Argentina international scored a 90th-minute penalty to secure a 1-0 win for the Milan-based side, the second match in succession that an Icardi spot-kick has proved decisive for Inter after Sunday s 1-0 success over Cesena.

Some fans voiced their disapproval with Inter s struggle to break down previously unbeaten Sampdoria during the game by booing and whistling.

Icardi stressed his appreciation to those that back the club, but stated that those who whistle the team are not true supporters.

We don t feel the criticism, Icardi told the Gazzetta dello Sport. We go out on to the pitch to win, and we have to continue like this.

Th…

Chile s Alexis Sanchez has caused a stir ahead of their FIFA World Cup last-16 match with Brazil, claiming he is worried about the referee.

The Barcelona forward is preparing to face club team-mates Neymar and Dani Alves, however, Sanchez made his concerns public about how the game would be refereed with the implications being favouritism to the hosts may be a factor.

Brazil were awarded a soft penalty in the tournament opener against Croatia with the score at 1-1 heading towards the final 20 minutes.

English referee Howard Webb has been appointed to the fixture in Belo Horizonte on Saturday, but prior to the distribution of refs for the last 16, Sanchez said he doubted whether Chile would get a fair go.

I think Brazil is the team with the best defence, …

The son of Brazil great Pele has returned to prison after his appeal against a sentence on drug trafficking and money laundering charges was rejected.

Edinho, a former Santos goalkeeper, handed himself in to police on Friday after a Brazilian court ordered his return to prison.

His solicitor said they would take their appeal to the Supreme Court following the latest failed attempt to quash the conviction.

As he always did, Edson showed up when the arrest warrant was issued, Eugenio Malavasi was quoted as saying by A Tribuna.

In quotes reported by UOL, he said: We re discussing the sentences and interposing extraordinary appeals.

I obtained two injunctions at the High Court of Justice and the appeals have been rejected, but there are still appeal…

Sunderland are eyeing a loan move for Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj, .

The North East club recently appointed David Moyes as Sam Allardyce’s replacement, and it was the Scotsman who handed Januzaj while he was in charge at Old Trafford and is keen on being reunited with the twenty-one year old.

The Belgium international scored both of United’s goals in his first senior outing, a 2-1 win against Sundeland back in October 2013.

Since then he has racked up sixty-three appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions, scoring five times while he also had a loan spell at Borussia Dortmund last season.

He has been capped six times for Belgium though wasn’t included in their squad for the European Champions with his last international …

Gareth Southgate and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are benefiting from Jose Mourinho s hard-line approach to managing Luke Shaw at Manchester United.

That is according to former England boss Steve McClaren, who believes the United full-back s strong recent form owes much to the lessons he learned under his former manager.

Shaw started just 17 Premier League games out of a possible 76 during Mourinho s two full seasons at Old Trafford and was a regular target for criticism from his boss throughout.

Disagreements between the pair have not subsided since the latter s departure from United, either, with his punditry during Euro 2020 prompting their most recent war of words.

However, McClaren is convinced that Shaw s improved performances for club and country over …

Ilkay Gundogan has given Manchester City fans a thing or two to worry about by stating he was in no rush to sign a new deal at the club.

The 28-year-old s current deal with the Premier League champions runs until the end of next season, and he believes he needs to think hard before putting pen to paper on a new one.

The German international arrived to the Etihad in the summer of 2016, and his start to life in England was riddled with injuries, allowing him to play only 16 games in all competitions in his first season there. He played a far more significant part in the title-winning 2017/18, and recently he has enjoyed his best spell since joining the club. Injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and the need for manager Pep Guardiola to rotate his midfielders have given him a very …

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic is excited by the prospect of facing former BVB heroes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic after they drew Chelsea in the Champions League.

Dortmund finished second to Manchester City in Group G of the Champions League, and were subsequently handed a tie against Graham Potter s Blues in Monday s last-16 draw.

The first leg – set for February 15 at Signal Iduna Park – will see Aubameyang and Pulisic return to their old club, for whom the Gabon striker scored 98 Bundesliga goals in a prolific five-year stint.

Asked about the draw at a press conference on Monday, Terzic said: With Chelsea, a top team from England awaits us.

With Aubameyang and Pulisic, they have players that were with us up until a few yea…

Jadon Sancho has broken his silence following the Euro 2020 final penalty miss that saw him become the subject of racist abuse.

The England winger was introduced in the final moments of extra time against Italy on Sunday with the game level at 1-1.

Sancho and fellow substitute Marcus Rashford were seemingly introduced with a shoot-out in mind and both were included among England s first five takers.

But after Rashford hit the post with the third kick, cancelling out the Three Lions early advantage, Sancho s spot-kick was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The Italy goalkeeper also denied Bukayo Saka to complete a 3-2 Azzurri win and condemn England to another shoot-out failure – their seventh in nine attempts at major tournaments.

Racist abuse was d…