A sliding doors moment kept Mauricio Pochettino and Lionel Messi apart in 2005. But 15 years later, their paths could well realign at Paris Saint-Germain.
Back when Messi was in the embryonic stages of a Barcelona career that has seen him win six Ballons d Or, 34 trophies and score a world record 644 goals for a single club, a temporary switch to cross-town rivals Espanyol was mooted.
There he would have linked up with an uncompromising defender by the name of Pochettino, and the subsequent decade and a half could have turned out very differently.
I remember that summer, he was so close to moving to Espanyol, Pochettino said ahead of Tottenham facing Messi s Barcelona at Wembley in a Champions League clash in October 2018.
If he did, maybe he could have…
Marko Grujic has set himself a target of playing 34 very good games while on loan at Hertha Berlin this season in order win a place in Jurgen Klopp s Liverpool team.
Serbia international Grujic agreed to spend a second season with the Bundesliga club after meeting with Klopp to discuss his future prospects, but he has not given up hope of becoming a star at Anfield.
The 23-year-old midfielder made five Premier League appearances in his first season at Liverpool after his reported €7million transfer from Red Star Belgrade, followed by three more in 2017-18 before spells on loan at Cardiff City and Hertha.
He started 20 of Hertha s Bundesliga matches last season as the club finished 11th, despite spells out due to injury, and he believes another successful campa…
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr faces a spell on the sidelines after damaging a hamstring.
Vinicius came off injured after 18 minutes of Real’s 1-0 LaLiga win at Celta Vigo on Friday.
“After the tests carried out on our player Vini. Jr, by the Real Madrid medical services, (he) has been diagnosed with an injury to the right biceps femoris muscle,” read a club statement.
Vini Jr. medical report.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)
“His progress will be monitored.”
The 23-year-old Brazilian is set to miss Real’s final game before the international break at home to Getafe.
There also fears Vinicius could now be absent for Real’s league games against Real Sociedad and city rivals Atletico after the international break,…
Phil Foden s first-half strike was enough as Manchester City beat Brentford 1-0 to extend their winning Premier League run to 10 matches and move eight points clear at the top.
The Citizens had scored 17 goals in their previous three league games but were made to work hard at the Brentford Community Stadium in their final game of 2021.
Kevin De Bruyne played in a teasing delivery for Foden to drill in the game s only goal after 16 minutes, with that match-winning moment arriving 56 seconds after Yoane Wissa had a header cleared off the line at the other end.
City had a couple of goals disallowed in the second half but moved further clear at the summit following Liverpool s loss to Leicester City on Tuesday and Chelsea s home draw with Brighton and Hove Albion …
Fulham are on the verge of completing a deal for completing a loan deal for Queens Park Rangers midfielder Adel Taarabt, .
Hoops’ manager Harry Redknapp will not stand in the way of the Morocco international, who was one of a number of want-away players left out the match day squad for the season opener against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.
The 24 year old has a reputation of being a trouble maker, and was reportedly fine for refusing to take part in a weight check and turning up late for training back in May though his ability on the pitch has caught the attention of Cottagers manager Martin Jol.
He moved to Loftus Road on loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the end of the 2008/09 season and then again for the entirety of the following campaign before ma…
Newcastle United earned their first point of the new Premier League season as they were held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham.
Alan Pardew who enjoyed a three-year spell as West Ham boss headed into the game under significant pressure following Newcastle s 4-0 loss to Manchester City, while Sam Allardyce sacked by Newcastle in 2008 was hoping to guide his side to a second successive win.
It was the latter who will have been the happier of the two managers, though, as his charges produced a professional defensive display to claim a point.
Newcastle made four changes to the team that was dismantled by City on Monday, Davide Santon, Vurnon Anita, Sylvain Marveaux and Shola Ameobi coming into the side, with Yohan Cabaye again left out as speculation over his future at the club co…
Barcelona left it late to set a new club record unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw at Valencia, which saw them into the Copa del Rey final with an 8-1 aggregate victory.
Defending champions Barca subjected Gary Neville s men to a humiliating drubbing last week, with Luis Suarez scoring four and Lionel Messi netting a hat-trick.
Only five players remained from the 22 who took to the field at Camp Nou and the match had the feel of a dead rubber – not even the most committed Valencia fan could argue with any great conviction that their side would turn this tie around.
And the hosts efforts amounted to a single Alvaro Negredo strike before half-time, although their attacking endeavour arguably merited more.
There were plenty of positives for Neville, who is yet t…
Yaya Toure wants to work with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City next season despite reports to the contrary, according to the midfielder s brother Kolo.
Rumours have been rife that Yaya Toure will depart the Etihad Stadium since news broke this month that Bayern Munich coach Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign.
The Ivory Coast star played under Guardiola at Barcelona, but he was sold to City by the Spaniard ahead of the 2010-11 campaign.
However, former City defender Kolo Toure who was on the losing Liverpool side against his brother in Sunday s League Cup final does not believe that necessarily means the end for his younger sibling in Manchester.
Everybody wants to play for Pep, he is quoted as saying by the Manchester Ev…
Swansea defender Angel Rangel was delighted to have been reunited with Wilfried Bony after the Ivorian signed a two-year-contract on the same day that Fernando Llorente left the club.
Paul Clement s squad was depleted by the sales of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton, Jack Cork to Burnley and Modou Barrow to Reading, but Rangel was pleased to see Bony, who scored 26 goals in 54 Premier League appearances for the Swans between 2013 and 2015, return to Liberty Stadium from Manchester City.
Bony is reported to have cost Swansea £12 million – the same fee they paid Vitesse Arnhem for his services in July 2013 – but Rangel insisted the 28-year-old forward is worth it.
When you lose important players you always want to replace them with the same quality, if not better,…
Borussia Dortmund are hoping to extend the Bundesliga title race until the final week of the season when they travel to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Victory for Thomas Tuchel s men, combined with a defeat for leaders Bayern Munich at Ingolstadt, would mean the battle for top spot goes on after Pep Guardiola s men were made to wait by a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach last week.
Dortmund kept up their side of the bargain with an impressive 5-1 demolition of Wolfsburg, meaning they sit five points behind Bayern with two matches left to play.
BVB have won four consecutive matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding just once as they display fine form in recovering from their Europa League exit to Liverpool as they also build up to the DFB-Pokal final …