Man Utd ‘brutal final offer’ given Ratcliffe ‘go-ahead’ as Van Nistelrooy ‘works to entice’ signing

West Bromwich Albion are considering a move for Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner,.

Black Cats manager Paolo Di Canio has already brought in nine new players, and sold eight this summer, and the Baggies are ready to pounce if the 26 year old is told that he is not part of the Italian’s plans for the new season.

The versatile midfielder, who can also play at full-back, made thirty-three appearances for the North East club last season, scoring six goals, but his campaign ended prematurely as he was sent-off in the against Stoke City in the clubs final home game.

He began his career with Aston Villa, where he spent five years before moving to local rivals Birmingham City; winning the League Cup in 2011.

West Brom’s only signing of the summer so…

Winger Marco Marchionni returned from a three-year absence when he was named in the Italy squad on Sunday for World Cup qualifiers in Georgia and at home to Bulgaria.

The Fiorentina player, who switched from Juventus during the close season, picked up his last of three caps in a 1-1 draw with Lithaunia in Euro 2008 qualifying in Sept. 2006.

Otherwise coach Marcello Lippi, whose side top Group Eight, has resisted making major changes for the match in Tbilisi next Saturday and the home meeting with Bulgaria in Turin on Sept. 9.

However, notable absentee s are midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has been ruled out of both matches after picking up an ankle injury in AC Milan’s 4-0 defeat by Inter Milan on Saturday, while fellow World Cup winner Luca Toni als…

Mario Mandzukic said Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Gotze is capable of playing in any team amid reports the pair could be reunited at Juventus.

Gotze has emerged as a transfer target for the Serie A champions, who are reportedly set to sell midfielder Arturo Vidal to Bayern.

The Germany international s link to Turin comes after Gotze s agent criticised Bayern coach Pep Guardiola for showing a lack of support to the 23-year-old.

Mandzukic and Gotze were team-mates for one season in 2013-14, and the former told reporters during his Juve presentation on Thursday: He [Gotze] could play in any team.

He s a player of great quality, and a good guy.

As for [Andrea] Pirlo and [Carlos] Tevez [who have left], they re great players, who any team would miss…

Aurelio De Laurentiis has insisted he never considered selling Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain despite reports linking him with a move to the Premier League.

Higuain has flourished at San Paolo since arriving from Real Madrid in 2013, scoring 53 goals in all competitions, leading to speculation that the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal want to sign him.

But Napoli president De Laurentiis told Corriere della Sera:  I never, ever considered selling Higuain.

It wasn t by chance that I put a very high clause in his contract, which makes it difficult to sustain for any buyer.

I expect that he s respectful of the commitment and work of the team.

…

Liverpool cannot afford to take their foot off the gas in pursuit of a maiden Premier League title, according to midfielder Adam Lallana.

Jurgen Klopp s side restored their 13-point lead at the top of the table, with a game in hand still to play, courtesy of a slender 1-0 win over Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

Sadio Mane scored the only goal of the game, the 42nd-minute strike awarded by the Video Assistant Referee after match official Anthony Taylor initially blew for handball against Lallana in the build-up.

Wolves then had a goal ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside against Jonny after Pedro Neto had fired home, while Diogo Jota had two good chances to score in the second half.

Lallana conceded Liverpool had to ride their luck to pick up a 10th leag…

Thiago Alcantara is a rather unique breed of footballer, the type of player who will be almost universally enjoyed such are his breath-taking technical attributes.

It s like he rolls the passing talents of Juan Roman Riquelme and first touch of Ronaldinho into a single player and saunters around the pitch ensuring the game is played at a pace dictated by him.

His Liverpool career feels a lot shorter than it actually has been because of his absence through injury, and he ll be hoping his recent return is the catalyst to kick-starting what is resembling a fairly meek title defence.

But while Thiago has shown flashes of his immense ability in his fledgling Liverpool career, it appears not all are entirely convinced.

Former Reds midfielder Dietmar Hamann ex…

Paris Saint Germain skipper Claude Makelele hit out Friday at his one-match ban saying it was unacceptable, after French football s disciplinary body turned a yellow card into a suspension.

Makelele said he feared that referees would go after him following a squabble between his coach Antoine Kombouare and a rival over the ability of the 36-year-old former French international midfielder.

It s a shame this ban comes now. It s unacceptable. I just hope there won t be a Makelele case.

I ask refs to referee me the same as anyone. It s a bit tiring all this, he added.

Makelele ended up at the disciplinary hearing on Thursday in the aftermath of the spat between Kombouare and Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff.

Kombouare said Gourcuff deserves a smac…

Barcelona came from behind to beat Unionistas da Salamanca 3-1 and reach the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

The third-tier team threatened an upset when Alvaro Gomez’s first-half goal gave them the lead.

However, Ferran Torres levelled in the closing seconds of the first half, before Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde netted in the space of four second-half minutes to complete the turnaround.

FULL TIME!!!

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Unionistas were quickly on the front foot at Campo de Futbol Reina Sofia and Mario Losada shot wide in the first minute.

Marc Guiu had a shot blocked for the visitors, 31-time winners of the competition, before bringing a good save out of home goalkeeper Ivan Martinez.

Torres responded with a shot …

Rafael van der Vaart is ready to make his Real Betis debut after missing the first two La Liga matches with an ankle sprain.

The veteran midfielder joined Betis from Hamburg in June and could make his debut against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Betis have yet to win this season, drawing 1-1 with Villarreal at home to begin the La Liga campaign before going down 5-0 away to Real Madrid.

The injury is much better, it didn t give me any problems in training this morning, Van der Vaart said on Monday, according to AS.

I feel ready to play.

Van der Vaart was pleased with what he saw from his new team-mates against Villarreal and having not played a competitive match since helping Hamburg avoid relegation from the Bundesliga on June 1, the 32-year-old D…

The first Old Firm derby in nearly three years was taken by favourites Celtic, who eased to a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the League Cup.

Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons gave Celtic the bragging rights in Glasgow on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the first Old Firm clash since 2012.

Rangers financial meltdown and subsequent re-emergence in the bottom tier had robbed Scottish football of its biggest fixture for nearly three years.

Since then the Ibrox club have risen back to the Championship and the League Cup finally brought the fierce rivals together again at Hampden Park.

Played in a typically white-hot atmosphere, it was Ronny Deila s side who prevailed as their top-flight quality showed through in a hard-fought battle to set up a mee…