West Ham United are interested in signing Rayan Cherki from Lyon, according to . Lyon are willing to sell Cherki for €30 million, and West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui is willing to pay that fee to bring the young attacker to London Stadium in the January transfer window.

Cherki is only 21 years of age and can operate as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. The French youngster has been superb for Lyon over the years and has established himself as one of the most important players in the first team.

The France Under-21 international scored one goal and gave six assists in 19 starts and 14 substitute appearances in Ligue 1 for Lyon last season. Cherki has scored one goal in seven minutes in Ligue 1 and has scored one goal in one UEFA Europa League match for Lyon so f…

Barcelona will face Manchester United in their return to the Europa League after the Blaugrana were drawn against the Premier League club in the knockout round play-offs.

Xavi s side dropped into Europe s second-tier competition for the second season running after failing to progress from the Champions League group stages, finishing behind Bayern Munich and Inter.

It sets up the outstanding tie of the play-off round with Erik ten Hag s United, who are looking to end a trophy drought stretching back to when they last won the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

United came second to Real Sociedad in the Europa League group stage, ultimately missing out to La Real by one goal.

They have paid the price for their failure in that regard, with Barca argua…

Best odds: 8/13

Bookmaker:

Both aiming to rebound from midweek friendly defeats, Sweden and Serbia meet at the Friends Arena in Solna on Saturday.

The Scandinavian hosts suffered a 2-1 defeat to Denmark in their previous match, while their visitors lost by the same scoreline against fellow Euro 2024 contenders Austria.

Sweden

Reflecting on Sweden s recent 2-1 defeat to Denmark, new head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson certainly has a few things to consider. It took just two minutes for Tomasson s native country to take the lead through Tottenham s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, testing Sweden s resolve early on Wednesday evening.

The Blue and Yellow showed resilience as Newcastle United s Alexander Isak quickly leveled the score. However, a late strike from Chr…

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker:

Hoping to briefly climb to the top of the La Liga table on Friday night, Atletico Madrid will make the trip to a high-flying Las Palmas.

Las Palmas

Starting with the hosts, while Las Palmas might have only made their La Liga return this season, Los Amarillos are enjoying a major top-flight flurry. Making an immediate return to winning ways last weekend as they secured a 2-1 victory away at Almeria, the mood in Garcia Pimienta’s side appears to be at a red-hot high. Gaining a string of praise and opening this weekend’s fixtures battling it out in the top-half of the table, the former Barcelona coach has seen his squad win three of their previous four La Liga showdowns. With that recent purple patch highlighted by a 2-1 win away at …

With the Community Shield up for grabs on Saturday evening, Liverpool picked up some perfect momentum before opening the 2022/23 Premier League campaign next weekend.

Eventually leaving Leicester s King Power with a 3-1 victory against title rivals Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp was filled with praise for his side s display.

While Saturday s showpiece event might have been billed as a glorified friendly, the Reds were a more than deserving winner here as goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez completed an eye-catching victory.

Laying down an early marker after watching the Sky Blues snatch away their Premier League crown last season, Klopp would have also been excited to see two of his attacking superstars open their accounts.

I…

Best Odds: 6/5

Bookmaker:

Looking to officially punch their EURO 24 knockout stage ticket on Tuesday night, Denmark will meet Serbia at the Allianz Arena.

Denmark

Starting with Denmark, while Kasper Hjulmand’s men might have failed to collect a victory from any of their opening two EURO 24 appearances this summer, the Danes are sat in the driving seat to punch a knockout stage ticket. Although the Reds might have eventually been forced to settle for a 1-1 stalemate against pre-tournament favourites England, they caused the European giants a string of issues and were unfortunate to have not left Frankfurt with maximum points. Signing off their pre-EURO 24 preparations with a routine 3-1 victory against historic rivals Norway, Denmark have suffered just a singl…

Omari Kellyman has signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa in a deal reportedly worth up to £19million.

Kellyman, an England youth international, has played six times for Villa s senior side.

He joined the Villans from Derby County in 2022.

However, the lofty fee Chelsea are paying for the 18-year-old has raised questions.

Both Chelsea and Villa are reportedly in risk of breaching the Premier League s Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), which could result in a points deduction.

But the sale of academy players represents pure profit for the selling club, and Kellyman s move comes a day on from Villa completing the acquisition of Ian Maatsen from Chelsea for a reported £37.5m.

Welcome to Chelsea, Omari Kellyman.

— Chelsea F…

Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool went top of the Premier League thanks to a resounding 4-0 victory over an abject Manchester United at Anfield on Tuesday. 

Luis Diaz and Salah were on target inside 22 minutes to put Jurgen Klopp s side on course to leapfrog defending champions Manchester City, who will hope to return to the summit when they face Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday. 

United failed to produce a single shot in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time in four years. On that occasion they came from 2-0 down to beat City 3-2, but there were scant signs of such a stirring fightback this time. 

Sadio Mane made sure of that by adding a fine finish to his exemplary assist for Salah, who sealed Liverpool s first Premier Le…

Paris Saint-Germain s Achraf Hakimi hailed team-mate Kylian Mbappe as one of the best in the world and hopes the forward will stay at the club.

However, the Morocco international said he will support Mbappe in whatever decision he makes at the end of the season, with the striker s contract set to expire in June.

Across all competitions, Mbappe has recorded 31 goals and 18 assists – both club-highs – in 39 appearances this season as PSG close on the Ligue 1 title.

The club suffered a disappointing Champions League exit to Real Madrid last month, however, furthering speculation that Mbappe could swap Paris for Los Blancos when his deal expires.

Hakimi is desperate to see Mbappe extend his five-year stay in the French capital.

Mbappe is one of t…

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he is likely to call time on his coaching career at club level once he leaves Real Madrid, but is open to staying in charge of Los Blancos for another 10 years.

The 62-year-old last week became the first ever coach to win each of Europe s top five leagues when guiding Madrid to LaLiga glory.

Ancelotti s legendary managerial career has spanned 26 years and across 11 jobs, including two stints with Spanish giants Madrid.

But the Italian is now thinking about the future and hopes to spend more time travelling and with his family.

After Real, yes, I ll probably stop, he told Amazon Prime. But if the club keeps me here for 10 years, I ll train for 10 years.

I d like to be with my grandchildren, go on vacation with my wi…