Metal plate no concern for injured Neuer

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been playing with a metal plate in his right foot since 2008.

Neuer had an operation to repair a hairline metatarsal fracture in his left-foot last week.

The injury was a repeat of the one that sidelined him during the closing weeks of last season and he is expected to remain out until early 2018.

Nevertheless, the 31-year-old is not daunted by the setback, having suffered a similar injury to the other foot during his time with Schalke.

To this day, he still carries around a reminder of that surgery, which he views in somewhat pragmatic terms.

the mascot goes sightseeing in Paris! We can bear-ly wait for kick-off

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)

I had the same injury while at Schal…

Minamino ends Liverpool stay with Monaco switch

Takumi Minamino has brought his Liverpool stay to an end by completing a move to Monaco.

The Japan international signed for the Reds in January 2020 but was unable to establish himself as a first-team regular.

During a two-and-a-half-year period at Anfield, Minamino scored 14 goals in 55 appearances.

He helped Liverpool win their first Premier League title in the 2019-20 season, before playing his part in an FA Cup and EFL Cup double in his final campaign on Merseyside.

ようこそ、南野選手 !

Welcome

— AS Monaco  (@AS_Monaco)

While the fee for his move to France has not been confirmed by either club, Monaco are reported to be paying €15million (£12.9m), with an extra €3m (£2.6m) potentially forked out in bo…

Managers mustn’t be criticised for making wholesale changes to their line-up

Huddersfield boss David Wagner

Huddersfield Town of the Championship are facing a fine from the EFL after making 10 changes for their league game against Birmingham City.

The Terriers had already achieved a play-off position and manager David Wagner felt his players needed a rest after a hard-fought season in which they had already played 44 games.

However, Birmingham were firmly in a relegation scrap and sat just one place above the drop zone before the game had taken place.

The Blues won the game 2-0, much to the annoyance of their rivals Nottingham Forest who lodged a complaint and believed that Huddersfield were wrong in fielding an unusual starting eleven.

But was Wagner in his own right to play whatever team he felt would be beneficial to t…

Oh Hyeon-gyu pleased to grasp opportunity on rare Celtic start with Hibs brace

Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu feels he reaped rewards for carrying out his instructions as he capitalised on a rare start.

The South Korea international netted twice in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Hibernian in only his second start under Brendan Rodgers.

The 22-year-old now has five goals for the season.

“I was very happy to get the opportunity to be in the starting XI and personally I was very happy to score two goals,” he said.

“I just tried not to be too lazy, to do what the manager told me, so it was important for me to play aggressively.

OH! | |

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC)

“I think I managed to do that. It’s important for me to take these opportunities whenever I am in the starting line-up.

“I d…

Prediction: Liverpool vs Chelsea

Best odds: 20/23

Bookmaker:

A weekend of highly interesting Premier League matches awaits, starting with a clash of the season s arguably greatest underachievers, the last two English teams to have won the Champions League, when Liverpool host Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday. Both sides obviously have a lot of lost ground to make up and a big point to prove.

Liverpool

Having missed out on the Premier League title by a single point last season, as well as finishing the Champions League campaign with a defeat to Real Madrid in the final, and all that on top of lifting both domestic cups in England, Liverpool s drop-off this term has been especially painful for their supporters.

Their ability to avoid conceding big chances has particularly fallen off the cl…

Former Liverpool star Pennant joins non-league Billericay Town

Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has joined Billericay Town in the seventh tier of English football.

The 34-year-old, who became the most expensive trainee in history when he joined Arsenal from Notts County for £2million in 1999, has lived a nomadic existence since leaving Anfield in 2009.

Having made 55 Premier League appearances in three years at Liverpool, Pennant has since taken in stints at Real Zaragoza, Stoke City, Wolves, FC Pune City, Wigan Athletic, Tampines Rovers and Bury.

Pennant played in Liverpool s 2007 UEFA Champions League final defeat to AC Milan but will this season line up against the likes of Dorking Wanderers, Folkestone Invicta and the Metropolitan Police in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Welcome to Jermaine Pen…

Brentford sign Van den Berg from Liverpool

Brentford have confirmed the arrival of centre-back Sepp van den Berg from Liverpool, in a deal worth an initial £20million.

Van den Berg joined Liverpool from PEC Zwolle as a 17-year-old but never made a Premier League appearance for the Reds, his four outings for the club coming in cup competitions.

He has enjoyed loan spells at Preston North End, Schalke and Mainz in the last four seasons, but was always deemed likely to pursue a permanent move this year, with Virgil van Djik, Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah ahead of him in the pecking order.

Brentford – who also signed attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool earlier this month – have now won the race for his signature, reportedly seeing off competition from Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverk…

Jarrod Bowen ‘in a good place’ on England return

Jarrod Bowen feels like he has returned to the England set-up in the form of his life as the West Ham forward prepares to fulfil a childhood dream of playing at Wembley.

Having come through at Hereford and flourished at Hull, the 26-year-old is well on the way to club great status at the London Stadium.

Bowen fired the Hammers to Europa Conference League glory in June’s unforgettable final against Fiorentina and has shone in the early stages of this season, scoring five in nine appearances.

That form helped the forward to earn his first England call-up since September 2022, shortly before signing a new deal until 2030 at the London Stadium.

“A really special week,” Bowen said. “Obviously got the call on Thursday before our European game so had tha…

Atletico Madrid´s Juanfran “leaves as an Indian” with emotional speech

Juanfran said an emotional goodbye to Atletico Madrid as he prepares to leave when his contract expires in June, claiming he came a Viking and I leave as an Indian.

Atleti arranged a ceremony where the experienced right-back made a departing speech and was hailed by president Enrique Cerezo before being gifted a signed shirt.

These are my last few days at Atletico, I hope to return soon, this is my home. They have been wonderful years, the best of my career, Juanfran said.

It is an honour to be considered a legend of this club and it is incredible that people think I m one of them.

The Spain international has made 355 appearances for Los Rojiblancos since joining from Osasuna in 2011 and has won seven trophies, famously including LaLiga in 2013-14, on…

Ghana v Benin: Black Stars present united front before opener

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah believes the team s captaincy issue is behind them, believing they are now well prepared for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Stars begin their campaign against Benin on Tuesday, but their build-up to the tournament was marred by Asamoah Gyan s retirement, a decision he backtracked on, as he was removed as captain.

Andre Ayew was instead named skipper, with the returning Gyan given the role of general captain .

But Appiah insists there is unity within his Ghana team.

The captaincy is nothing, he said, appearing alongside Ayew. The most important thing is to have unity in camp.

I think this is the best camp I have ever witnessed in my six or eight camps with the national team.

Coach Kwesi Appiah and Black S…