Abe to join Barcelona from Kashima Antlers

Liverpool have parted company with their director of football Damien Comolli by mutual consent.

The decision coincides with a wretched run of Premier League form which has seen Kenny Dalglish s side fall way off the Champions League qualification pace, while the majority of signings who arrived at the club under Comolli s watch have failed to make significant impacts.

The Frenchman, who joined the club in November 2010 to work alongside Roy Hodgson, claimed his sudden departure, which was announced just two days before the FA Cup semi-final against Everton, was due to family reasons.

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the club and back to France for family reasons, he said.

I wish the clu…

Australian goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak is confident Borussia Dortmund can create more history in their record-breaking season.

Dortmund clinched their second straight Bundesliga title on Saturday with a 2-0 defeat of Borussia Moenchengladbach that left them eight points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich with two games remaining.

The German league triumph is Langerak s second in as many seasons with Dortmund, having joined the champions from Australian side Melbourne Victory in 2010.

With 75 points to date, Dortmund, who are undefeated in the Bundesliga since September, can surpass the mark of 79 in a single German league season set by Bayern in both 1971/72 and 1972/73.

Last year when we won the Bundesliga, we won it by seven points and that was an…

Lyon have signed Argentina full-back Nicolas Tagliafico from Ajax on a three-year deal.

The 29-year-old had been a regular for Ajax over the past four-and-a-half seasons, making 169 appearances for the Eredivisie champions and winning five major honours.

Following a protracted transfer saga, Lyon confirmed the arrival of Tagliafico on their official website on Saturday.

The Ligue 1 club agreed a fee of €4.2million for the left-back, who will fill the void left by loanee Emerson Palmieri s return to parent club Chelsea. 

Tagliafico has been capped 40 times by Argentina and is expected to be part of Lionel Scaloni s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Welcome

There s a new Gone in the house as the Argentine left back joins us through…

When did Russia forward Andrei Arshavin become worth £20million? That is the amount Zenit St Petersburg are allegedly expecting to receive for his sale.

Arshavin has dealt a blow to any Premier League clubs who may be after him, rumoured to be Arsenal and Chelsea, after a spokesman from his current club announced that he only wants to play for Barcelona.

The Zenit spokesman told the BBC, Arshavin wants to move to Barcelona. He doesn t want to play anywhere else. Barcelona have made an offer but we are still negotiating with them. I don t know when a decision will be made but I think Arshavin will leave the club.

It could be that Barca would like to take Arshavin but are not interested at the silly money that Zenit manager Dick Advocaat is looking for.…

Arsenal s dismal run of form rolled on as Neal Maupay s superb header earned Brighton and Hove Albion a 2-1 victory at Emirates Stadium.

Alexandre Lacazette s 50th-minute equaliser on his 100th appearance for the club looked set to pave the way for Arsenal to claim their first win under caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg.

Yet Brighton, who had deservedly taken the lead through Adam Webster in the first half, managed to wrest back control after David Luiz had a goal ruled out by VAR.

And it was Maupay who had the final say, as he brilliantly turned home Aaron Mooy s cross in the 80th minute to end Brighton s three-match losing streak and condemn Arsenal to their longest winless streak since 1977.

1 Tonight was Brighton s first ever Premier League away win …

Riqui Puig is refusing to give up on his dream of making it as a Barcelona regular – even if it means spending another season with the reserves.

The 19-year-old has started two of Barca s last five LaLiga matches, profiting from Ernesto Valverde s decision to rotate his squad over the past month as he seeks to secure the treble.

Puig was unable to prevent his side from falling to a 2-0 loss when given the full 90 minutes in Saturday s meeting with Celta Vigo, a week on from Barca wrapping up the title with a few games to spare.

But despite his limited playing time at senior level in 2018-19, the teenage midfielder – a regular for the Barcelona B side – is determined to make a name for himself at Camp Nou. 

Debutant and Captain 

— FC Ba…

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Steven Gerrard to thrive in a coaching role, if he opts to take that route after retiring.

Gerrard will leave Anfield at the end of the season after 17 years with the club, 12 of them as captain, and head for the USA to play in MLS.

That will likely take the former England skipper up to the end of his playing career.

Another Anfield favourite, Jamie Carragher, has carved out a reputable career as a television pundit after bowing out from the game in 2013.

But Rodgers believes the gold dust that Gerrard could pass on to the stars of tomorrow makes him an ideal coaching candidate.

I do genuinely believe that he is that type, he can offer great advice, Rodgers told the club s official website. It s whethe…

Ajax defender Joel Veltman is set to miss their return to Eredivisie action due to a hamstring injury.

Veltman sustained the blow in Ajax s 2-0 friendly win over Schalke last Saturday.

No timeframe has been set for for Veltman s return, although the Dutch champions confirmed that he would be on the sidelines for a few weeks.

In 21 appearances in all competitions this season, Veltman has found the net three times for an Ajax side that sits second in the Dutch top flight, four points behind PSV.

Veltman broke into the Netherlands national team in November 2013 and made two appearances at the World Cup. 

Ajax host Groningen at the Amsterdam Arena on Friday as they restart their bid for a fifth consecutive Eredivisie crown.

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Ralph Hasenhuttl has fended off talk of Chelsea being interested in Kyle Walker-Peters and refused to comment on the possibility of Southampton signing Timo Werner.

Blues head coach Thomas Tuchel is reported to have earmarked Walker-Peters as another wing-back option.

Hasenhuttl had no interest in engaging in transfer talk ahead of Saints first game of the Premier League at Tottenham on Saturday, with the window open for another four weeks.

The Southampton manager said when asked about Walker-Peters being a Chelsea target: Before we go now through every player who maybe has interest from someone else, we should maybe concentrate on the games ahead

The transfer window is now open still for a long time, and this is something that will definitely af…

Frank Lampard revealed Everton are very close to finalising the signing of Lille midfielder Amadou Onana, as he predicted the Belgium international will have a big impact at the club.

Everton suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in their Premier League opener on Saturday, with Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina sustaining injuries just three days after Dominic Calvert-Lewin was ruled out for up to six weeks. 

But Toffees supporters are set to receive some positive news after Onana travelled to Merseyside to finalise a transfer reportedly worth up to £33.7million (€40m), having made 43 appearances for Lille in all competitions last season.

And Lampard, who has already added James Tarkowski, Dwight McNeil and Ruben Vinagre to his squad since warding off the thr…