Diaz resigns as Paraguay coach

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has declared Lionel Messi wants to stay at Camp Nou as talks over a new contract continue.

The Argentine forward wanted to leave last August before agreeing to stay and reconsider at the end of his existing deal, which expires on June 30.

The captain and record scorer s public show of discontent at Barcelona s leadership led to links with the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, who hoped to sign him on a free transfer.

However, the election of a new president in Laporta appears to have salvaged the 33-year-old s relationship with the club where he has spent the entirety of his professional career.

Amid reports a two-year contract extension is close to being agreed, Laporta has offered his most optimistic u…

Gabriel Martinelli can maintain his excellent form at Bournemouth s expense on Saturday after capitalising on Everton s defensive frailties.

Martinelli scored twice as the Gunners thrashed the sorry Toffees on Wednesday to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League – and hopefully earned you a healthy haul of fantasy points.

If the Brazil winger is not in your team, then it ll perhaps be better late than never, with struggling Bournemouth travelling to Emirates Stadium on the back of a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.

Danny Ings can make his mark in West Ham s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, while Harry Kane and Antonee Robinson can also rack up the points.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform highlights why that quartet deserve to …

Gary Neville branded Manchester United s players an embarrassment after Everton s 4-0 demolition of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side at Goodison Park.

United never looked up to scratch in Sunday s Premier League encounter, with Everton taking a 2-0 lead into half-time thanks to Richarlison s acrobatic effort and a wicked strike from Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Lucas Digne s effort and a cute Theo Walcott finish piled further misery on United – who face Manchester City and Chelsea in their next two outings – after the interval, as the Red Devils top-four hopes took a blow.

A raging Neville insisted the blame sits firmly with the players and not Solskjaer, who went over to apologise to United s travelling support after the final whistle.

I m furious, the fact that …

Marcus Rashford is keen to ensure Manchester United s 7-0 loss to Liverpool does not define their season, calling on his team-mates to trust the process .

A week on from ending their six-year wait for silverware in the EFL Cup final, Erik ten Hag s men were dismantled in brutal fashion at Anfield.

Liverpool dealt United their biggest ever defeat in this fixture, with the nature of the collapse harking back to the woeful displays of last season.

Prior to Sunday s match, Rashford had played a key role in leading a United resurgence, and he now wants to ensure their campaign is not derailed.

I wish we could play a game today to try and put things right, Rashford wrote on Twitter. The result is the result, and we can’t see past that!

We must not l…

​Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has insisted that Gareth Bale is not for sale and rubbished talk of a bid from Manchester United.

Bale, who joined Real from Tottenham for a world-record fee thought to be around £85million in September 2013, has been linked with a return to the Premier League.

United are said to be keen to lure the Wales international to Old Trafford, but Perez is adamant the 25-year-old will not be leaving the Santiago Bernabeu.

Perez told Marca: We haven t received any offer for Gareth Bale, not from Manchester United or any other club. 

We ll never listen to any offer for Bale regardless of how important it is.

Bale has enjoyed great success since making the move to the Spanish capital, forming an intimidating a…

Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom has taken a swipe at Group D Euro 2012 opponents France as he believes they do not have a natural leader.

Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was selected as the team captain for the European Championship and his team-mate at the Stade Gerland Kallstrom thinks his appointment suggests a lack of leadership in Les Bleus camp ahead of the tournament.

They must have chosen him due to the lack of a better captain, the Sweden ace told reporters.

They don t have an obvious choice for that role, so instead they have chosen Lloris as he has been part of the squad for a while and he has been fairly level in his performances. But he is certainly not a leader. He is not going to be the one that starts shouting in the dressing room. He is a calm gu…

A new-look France team beat Sweden 3-2 in a friendly international here on Wednesday but their deficient defensive qualities did not augur well for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The international retirements of Lilian Thuram and tough-tackling Claude Makelele looked to have affected France s rearguard effectiveness less than three weeks before they play in Austria in their first 2010 World Cup qualifier on September 6. France then host Serbia four days later.

The back four of right back Bacary Sagna, central defenders Philippe Mexes and William Gallas, plus left back Patrice Evra, were far from the high standard of French teams over the last decade.

Steve Mandanda was in goal, Thierry Henry was captain in place of Patrick Vieira, playing up front with Karim …

Antonio Conte does not understand continual speculation over his position at Chelsea and remains adamant he will see out the remainder of his contract at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian led Chelsea to the Premier League crown in his first year in charge but has cut an unhappy figure for most of 2017-18, with suggestions he is not satisfied with the club s transfer policy adding to an underwhelming title defence.

This has inevitably led to suggestions he will leave Chelsea at the end of the season, 12 months before his deal expires either of his own accord or following the sack, but Conte insists that is not the case.

Speaking ahead of Monday s trip to Watford, he said: I don t know why [there is so much speculation].

My intention, my will is to respect my c…

Prediction: Sergio Aguero to score first
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Leicester City will hope the focus is on the football this weekend as they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.

Claude Puel will reportedly be without star man Riyad Mahrez for the trip to Eastlands, with the Algerian being denied a move to the Premier League leaders during the January transfer window.

With the task already being monumental against the Citizens, it will surely be even more difficult against Pep Guardiola’s troops without the skilful winger.

Manchester City

The current Premier League leaders welcome the former champions in fine form. Since their 4-3 defeat at the hands of Liverpool, City have gone five games without defeat, winning four of those clashes. The…

Kwesi Appiah will continue as Ghana head coach after he received the full backing of their Football Association.

Appiah s future with the African nation was brought under question following their elimination from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Ghana lost two of their three matches at the Brazil showpiece, drawing the other against Germany, as they were knocked out following the group stages.

The 54-year-old coach insisted he was keen to stay in the role he has occupied since 2012 and the Ghana Football Association have given him their vote of confidence despite the disappointment.

Earlier on Wednesday the Ghana FA officially apologised to their fans for the side s early exit and the organisation s chairman, Kwesi Nyantakyi, followed that up with news about Appi…