Miralem Pjanic revealed his desire to re-join Juventus last transfer window and encouraged Paulo Dybala to renew his contract in Turin.

Pjanic, 31, made 108 Serie A starts for Juve before departing to Barcelona in 2020, where he clashed with head coach Ronald Koeman and subsequently joined Besiktas on loan in September.

However, with former boss Massimiliano Allegri back in charge in Turin, the midfielder expressed his love for the Bianconeri and admitted he wanted to re-join.

With Juve there have been contacts and appointments with my agent, but the transfer market is never easy,  Pjanic told Tuttosport.

I would have liked to come back and I would have done everything to find [Massimiliano] Allegri, a guarantee.

No one is better than him i…

Forest Green boss David Horseman admitted the club’s first League Two away win for more than a year represented a “massive day” for the club.

A second-half Matt Stevens goal – his first since February – sealed a 1-0 triumph at Harrogate for the club that last won on the road on the opening day of last season at Bristol Rovers.

Forest Green ended that campaign comprehensively relegated from League One so new chief Horseman believes victory in North Yorkshire could prove a pivotal moment for the Gloucestershire outfit, who had lost their opening two fixtures to Salford and Portsmouth – the latter in the Carabao Cup.

The former Southampton B coach said: “It was a massive day for the club as a whole.

“When you’ve gone so long without an away…

Newport striker Will Evans has gone from milking cows on the family farm to scoring FA Cup goals – and now has boyhood heroes Manchester United in his sights.

United fan Evans meets the Red Devils on Sunday as Newport – 74 places below their visitors in the football pyramid and financial worlds apart – seek to produce one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 152-year history.

It will cap an extraordinary journey that has taken Evans from the Powys family farm, rejection at Shrewsbury, and European football at two Welsh Premiership clubs before he finally landed his EFL break at Newport.

“Most kids come home from school and play football in the garden,” Evans said of his formative years at the Llangedwyn farm on the English-Welsh border near Oswe…

Marcelo said Real Madrid s shock loss to Real Mallorca hurts as the LaLiga giants lost top spot to defending champions Barcelona.

Madrid crashed to their first LaLiga defeat of the season, with Zinedine Zidane s 10-man visitors succumbing to Lago Junior s early strike at Son Moix on Saturday.

Bitter rivals Barca leapfrogged Madrid into top spot thanks to their win over Eibar earlier in the day, and left-back Marcelo lamented the result away from home.

We lost but we must keep going, Marcelo said.  It hurts to lose because we played well, but we conceded early on and then looked to make our comeback but it was not possible.

We did not have time to think, they scored a goal and they defended and waited for the counter, that s no excuse though.

W…

If Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov needs any consolation, it had happened 699 times before.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th goal of a phenomenal career as Portugal suffered a setback in Euro 2020 qualifying on Tuesday.

Ronaldo reached his latest milestone when he converted a second-half penalty in Kiev, awarded after Taras Stepanenko handled the ball inside the box.

A hero at Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus, a fair few of Ronaldo s incredible haul have been stone-cold classics. Here, we look back at 10 of his best goals.

Manchester United v Portsmouth: January 30, 2008

Perhaps the finest free-kick Ronaldo struck in his career.

The Portuguese developed his reputation as a set-piece master at United and he …

Jonathan Rodriguez s stoppage-time header saw the Portland Timbers salvage a dramatic 3-3 draw at Real Salt Lake in MLS, after the hosts had inched ahead in the 89th minute.

Phil Neville s team, who are battling for an automatic playoff place in the Western Conference, twice appeared to be headed for defeat at America First Field.

They went 2-0 down within the first 22 minutes, Dominik Marczuk steering home at the far post before Diego Luna finished into an empty net.

Antony prodded home from a corner to half the arrears just after the hour mark, then Evander s stunning long-range free-kick levelled things at 2-2, but Real Salt Lake would inch ahead again late on.

Diogo Goncalves drilled home from the edge of the area to open his account in MLS, but that …

Erik ten Hag has asked people to trust his decision to drop Marcus Rashford to the bench against Crystal Palace after criticism over the move.

The Englishman made a slow start to the Premier League campaign but got on the scoresheet against Southampton with his first goal since March in their FA Cup victory over Liverpool.

He followed that up with a brace against Barnsley in the EFL Cup last Tuesday, also registering an assist, with Ten Hag claiming Rashford was returning to his best form.

However, Rashford unexpectedly started on the bench in their 0-0 draw at Palace, with Amad Diallo favoured on the wing, though the 26-year-old came off the bench in the 61st minute for Joshua Zirkzee.

Some pundits questioned Ten Hag s choice, but the Dutchman shrugged …

Thomas Tuchel confirmed Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga were involved in an altercation in the wake of Saturday s shocking 5-2 defeat to West Brom, a game that Chelsea s head coach still cannot get his head around.

Chelsea found themselves on the end of a humiliating loss to the Premier League s second-bottom team, conceding five goals in a home league game for the first time since October 2011.

Similarly, West Brom netted five times on the road for the first time in over nine years.

Thiago Silva s sending off when Chelsea were 1-0 up was deemed to be the turning point, with Matheus Pereira netting a brace just prior the break, before Callum Robinson repeated that feat in the second period. Mbaye Diagne got the other Baggies goal, with Mason Mount s strike …

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…