Celta Vigo and Spain forward Nolito highlighted his former coach Luis Enrique as a major influence on his success of late.
Nolito worked under Luis Enrique for Barcelona s reserve side, before a season with Celta Vigo in 2013-14 that saw him score 14 goals in 35 La Liga appearances.
Luis Enrique subsequently departed for the top job at Barca, where he won the treble of Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in his maiden season.
Nolito s strong performances for Celta he scored 25 league goals over the past two seasons saw him earn a place in Spain s squad for Euro 2016, and the 29-year-old is grateful to his former boss amid continued speculation that a return to Camp Nou may be on the cards.
Firstly, at the tactical level. When I get ther…
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric would be a perfect fit at Barcelona, former Camp Nou playmaker Deco has claimed.
Modric, who moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Tottenham in 2012, will line up for Madrid against Barca in Saturday s Clasico.
Deco believes Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic would be boosted by the addition of Modric, but the former Portugal international was less complimentary about Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
I would sign Modric for Barcelona, Deco told Diario Ara.
His style of play would be a perfect fit for Barcelona. He is a player like Xavi and Iniesta, their style of play is similar.
There would be no room for Madrid s attackers at Barca.
Deco also had his say on Lionel Messi …
Bernardo Silva insists his Manchester City team-mates are motivated by Pep Guardiola s claims they are not ready to win the Champions League.
City made an emphatic statement of intent in the last 16, demolishing Bundesliga strugglers Schalke 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium to wrap up a 10-2 aggregate triumph – the second biggest knockout-stage win in the history of the competition.
Guardiola was fulsome in his praise of City s efforts afterwards but returned to a familiar theme of marvelling at the Champions League pedigree of others – most notably Juventus after Cristiano Ronaldo s hat-trick heroics ransacked Atletico Madrid.
The Premier League champions found themselves 2-1 behind during the first leg against Schalke and down to 10 men after Nicolas Otamendi s re…
Germany head coach Joachim Low said Leroy Sane escaped injury after a dangerous tackle from Serbia striker Milan Pavkov.
Manchester City s Sane hobbled off in worrying scenes as Germany salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Serbia in an international friendly on Wednesday.
Sane, who starred with 15 touches in the opposition box – the same amount as the entire Serbia side, was substituted in stoppage time following a crude challenge from Pavkov, who was shown a red card.
Low, however, allayed injury concerns ahead of Sunday s Euro 2020 qualifier away to Netherlands in Amsterdam.
15 Touches in the opposition box today: 15
Serbia 15
Difference.
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz)
It was a very, very bad foul for such a test match, in the midfield, Lo…
Jack Grealish knows Gareth Southgate has a tough time picking his England XI, describing the Three Lions attacking options – of which he is one – as scary .
Aston Villa captain Grealish has been the subject of much attention at Euro 2020, but Southgate has so far only started the winger once – against the Czech Republic.
Grealish laid on an assist in that game and had another as a substitute against Germany, making him the only England player to create multiple goals so far in the tournament.
Unsurprisingly, the most-fouled player in the Premier League in 2020-21 (110) has also earned the most free-kicks in this Three Lions side (seven).
This is despite Grealish being limited to just 116 minutes of action, although that is still considerably more th…
Donny van de Beek has been underwhelming since his £35million (€40m) move to Manchester United from Ajax.
The Netherlands international only scored once in 19 league appearances in 2020-21.
He only managed four Premier League starts and, if reports are to be believed, could be used as a pawn in United s transfer activity.
TOP STORY – REAL WANTS DONNY IN VARANE DEAL
Real Madrid want United flop Donny van de Beek as part of a deal for Raphael Varane, claim The Sun.
The Red Devils have chased the French defender this off-season and Los Blancos are open to a switch which could include midfielder Van de Beek joining Madrid on a season-long loan.
Madrid have reportedly asked for €50m ($42.9m) for Varane, after the two cl…
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says has no problem with AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of their Champions League reunion.
Ibrahimovic arrived at Barca from Inter Milan in July 2009, part of a 46 million-euro deal that saw Samuel Eto o join the Serie A club.
Despite helping Barca defend their La Liga title, the Sweden international struggled to fit in at Camp Nou, and returned to Italy with AC Milan after just one season.
In his autobiography, Ibrahimovic criticised Guardiola, claiming the 40-year-old was scared of the threat posed by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.
Ibrahimovic also wrote that by the end of the 2009/10 campaign, Guardiola avoided being in the same room as his star signing.
The two men are set to meet when Barca travel…
England manager Sarina Wiegman insisted she has not waded into a rumoured row surrounding World Cup bonuses.
Wiegman’s side open their campaign in earnest on July 22 when they face Haiti in Brisbane, but they will first take on FIFA world number-seven ranked Olympic champions Canada behind closed doors on Friday at Queensland’s Sunshine Coast stadium.
Some reports ahead of England’s arrival Down Under claimed the Lionesses were unhappy with the Football Association about performance-based payments, but Wiegman was adamant it has not been a topic of discussion in camp.
“Players haven’t spoken to me about it,” she told Sky Sports. “We’ve been focusing on football and that is what I have seen.
“They’re focused on football in meetings. I d…
Milan close in on Barcelona’s Keita
Milan have agreed to sign Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, according to Catalan daily Sport.
The Malian midfielder has a contract until June 2014 at Camp Nou, but he could leave the club at the end of the season.
Namely, Keita has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave the club two years before the end of his deal.
The clause will be activated if the Malian doesn’t feature in a set number of games during the season.
According to Catalan daily Sport, Milan chiefs have agreement in place with Keita’s representatives.
This basically means that the 31-year-old will be allowed to join Milan on a free transfer next June.
Keita has featured in 14 La Liga games this season, but only star…
Arsene Wenger has refused to rule out extending Thierry Henry s loan spell at Arsenal from New York Red Bulls.
The former France international has rejoined the Gunners on a two-month loan and is currently scheduled to return to the US ahead of the new MLS season on March 10.
The signing of Henry provides valuable cover in attack as Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh are set to travel to the Africa Cup of Nations, representing Ivory Coast and Morocco respectively.
Park Chu-Young, new to the Premier League, would otherwise be the only striker available to cover for Robin van Persie.
When asked if Henry might stay until the end of the season in a manner similar to David Beckham’s loan spell at AC Milan in 2009 from LA Galaxy, Wenger told reporters: Let s hope…