Mutu´s appeal against Chelsea compensation rejected

Everton striker Louis Saha has pulled out of France s friendly match against Spain in Paris on Wednesday due to a thigh strain, the French Football Federation said.

In-form Saha picked up the injury in training and was absent from his club s 2-1 Premier League defeat at the hands of Tottenham on Sunday.

He had been set to earn his first international cap since November 2006 when he appeared for France against Greece in a friendly.

Les Bleus coach Raymond Domenech has called in Panathinaikos frontman Djibril Cisse as Saha s replacement.

Cisse, who had spells in England with Liverpool and Sunderland, has not played for the national side since May 2008 when he played in a 2-0 friendly victory over Ecuador.

…

Mark Halsey

Nobody likes the referee do they?

Determined

Both teams think that the man in the middle is biased towards the opposition, both managers think that the man in the middle is determined to lose them their job and all fans everywhere think the man in the middle is at best, short-sighted and at worse, incompetent.

That is just how it is for the refs I’m afraid. Don’t feel too sorry for them, nobody made them do it!

I just wanted to get that off my chest before I pass on a really good news story about one of the top refs in English football.

Battle

Last night Mark Halsey refereed his first game since overcoming the latest stage of his on going battle against cancer. Forty-eight year old Halsey, who comes from Bolton, off…

Former Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha has revealed that he was forced to keep his trickery to a minimum during his time at Old Trafford as then-manager David Moyes wanted him to keep things simple.

Zaha joined United from Crystal Palace in 2013, but failed to secure regular first-team football and was shipped out on loan to Cardiff City halfway through his first season.

He eventually left the club on a permanent basis for Palace again and has now taken aim at Moyes following his unsuccessful spell with United.

Under Moyes I had to adjust my game, Zaha told Soccer AM. 

Certain managers want a trustworthy player, someone that will always keep the ball. 

But he was the only one who told me to stop some of the tricks and keep the ball in …

Sergio Aguero believes Manchester City have what it takes to mount a Champions League challenge as they look forward to a third consecutive last-16 tie.

City are already assured of a spot in the round of 16 ahead of Wednesday s trip to last season s finalists Juventus.

Aguero and Co. secured qualification with two matches to spare in Group D.

City have bad memories of the last 16, and Barcelona in particular, following back-to-back exits at the hands of the Champions League holders in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

However, Aguero feels City who will be looking to cement top spot in the group now have sufficient experience not to fear Europe s best.

Since I arrived here, the draw in the Champions League has been very tough on City, and we have always drawn…

Chelsea are one of the three teams topping the Premier League table with 10 points after four matchdays, though Everton could still join them as a fourth on Monday evening.

Here s what manager Thomas Tuchel had to say after his men dispatched Aston Villa by 3-0 on Saturday.

Nothing is quite like winning. When you take that step it changes something inside. We are hungry for more though, it’s like an addiction.”

Thomas Tuchel demands hunger and desire from himself and the team

— Football Daily (@footballdaily)

…

Brazil s Richarlison has urged for strong punishments to be issued to those found guilty of racial abuse, after having a banana thrown at him while on international duty.

The Tottenham forward scored the second of the game in Brazil s 5-1 victory over Tunisia in Paris but a comfortable win, the last international game before Brazil s World Cup campaign commences, was marred by the incident.

A banana was thrown as Richarlison celebrated his goal, his ninth in 20 appearances for the national side, which became the latest racist incident to impact Brazilian footballers.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr had suffered abuse from Atletico Madrid fans in his side s recent derby triumph, following on from quotes from a Spanish agent who told him to stop playing the monkey …

Crystal Palace have announced the signing of midfielder Barry Bannan from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.

The Scot, who played under Palace manager Ian Holloway at Blackpool, has signed a three-year deal with the Premier League new-boys after ending his lengthy association with Villa, which began when he joined the club s youth academy as a 14-year-old.

Bannan has since made 83 appearances, but has moved on after struggling for regular first-team football since the arrival of Paul Lambert.

And he has expressed delight after being handed a new opportunity by Palace.

I went back home to Scotland over the weekend ahead of meeting up with the international squad so I ve had to travel back down but it s a great bit of news for me, he told the club s official websi…

Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo says he can t bear to watch the Champions League since his side was eliminated from the competition at the last 16 stage for the sixth successive season.

I don t like to watch the Champions League matches because it leaves me a bit annoyed because I know that our team was good enough to remain in the competition and we are not because of our own fault, he said Friday during an interview with public television TVE.

We made mistakes, me, the other players, we have to learn our lessons from this. We lost, now we have to raise our heads and think that we have to do better next year, which is possible, the Portuguese international added.

I consider myself to be a winner, I try to always move ahead. I know it is very difficult, …

Borussia Dortmund have handed midfielder Gonzalo Castro a new three-year contract that will keep him at the club until 2020.

The 29-year-old joined Dortmund from Bayer Leverkusen for €11million in 2015 and has become a key part of head coach Thomas Tuchel s plans at Signal Iduna Park.

Castro has made 31 appearances across all competitions this season and follows star duo Julian Weigl and Christian Pulisic in signing new deals.

I m really happy about the trust the club has placed in me and I can honestly say that it makes me proud to pull on the Black and Yellow jersey and play football in front of such amazing fans, Castro told the club s official website.

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB)

The renewal of Castro, whose previous deal ran u…

Alex Morgan has slammed the National Women s Soccer League for its handling of sexual harassment allegations which have rocked the league.

An independent investigation into the scandal found sexual misconduct was systematic across the league, according to a report released on Monday.

Morgan, a former team-mate of Mana Shim, one of the whistleblowers at the heart of the scandal, has criticised the NWSL and believes the league failed Shim, who lodged her complaints against former Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley.

The 198-cap United States star helped to encourage Shim to come forward with her allegations, but the league s lack of effective protocols left her frustrated.

She went through all the right steps, and she was failed. She was failed by the system,…