Rafinha gets loan switch to Celta after Barca renewal

One of the transfers that might have gone under the radar on has definitely been Lazar Markovic’s move to Fulham.

The Serbian winger ended his Liverpool nightmare as he moves to London where he’ll hope to get his career back on track and help Cottagers stay up.

The 24-year-old has been with Liverpool since 2014 after joining from Benfica but he only made 34 appearances in more than four years. Markovic spent most of time at Anfield out on loan never quite managing to reach the expectations.

He joins Cottagers on a permanent transfer and arrives on ‘good recommendations’ from Aleksandar Mitrovic who played with Markovic at Partizan Belgrade.

Markovic arrives as a direct replacement for Aboubakar Kamara who joins Yeni Malatyaspor on loan.

M…

Cesar Azpilicueta is adamant his Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard has the capability to the best player in the world if he learns to be more aggressive in the penalty area.

Ever since joining from Lille in 2012, Hazard has consistently been regarded as one of the Premier League s elite players.

The Belgium star has reached double figures for Premier League goals in four of the last five seasons, while he has also impressed as a creative force.

Hazard s start to the new season has attracted plenty of praise, with the 27-year-old netting five times in as many games, despite making just three starts.

Azpilicueta is confident Hazard can maintain such form ahead of Sunday s away clash with West Ham, and feels the tricky attacker has not hit his ceiling yet.

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Slaven Bilic challenged injury-plagued striker Andy Carroll to stay fit if he is to earn a new deal at West Ham.

Carroll has struggled with injuries throughout his career and the nine-time England international last made at least 20 league starts in 2012-13.

The 28-year-old last struck at least 10 times in the Premier League in 2010-11, but is contracted until mid-2019.

However, Bilic said Carroll needed to prove he could stay healthy if he wanted a long-term future at West Ham.

Andy has got two years left, and this is to be fair is his season to be fit, to stay fit, the Croatian said.

If we are talking about his contract, the question mark about him is his fitness, how much he is available during the season.

— West Ham Unite…

Alexis Sanchez wanted to leave Manchester United following his first training session after an agreement with Manchester City failed to come to fruition.

City were expected to sign Sanchez in January 2018 but he ended up joining their rivals United from Arsenal in a swap deal that sent Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the opposite direction.

The Chile international, who was reportedly being paid £390,000 per week, failed to find the form he displayed at Arsenal, where he had become one of the Premier League s leading attackers.

He scored just five goals in 45 appearances in all competitions before spending the 2019-20 season on loan at Inter, who signed him permanently last month.

Injuries also limited Sanchez s impact at United, but he confirmed City had been his …

Stefan Tarkovic praised his Slovakia side for their efforts in neutralising Robert Lewandowski during a shock 2-1 Euro 2020 win over Poland.

Slovakia claimed only their second European Championship victory as an independent nation thanks to Milan Skriniar s 69th-minute winner in St Petersburg on Monday.

An own goal from Wojciech Szczesny, which followed great work from Robert Mak, gave Slovakia a first-half lead that was cancelled out 32 seconds into the second half by Karol Linetty.

But Grzegorz Krychowiak s red card turned the game back in Slovakia s favour and Skriniar s third goal in his last four games for Slovakia secured the three points.

Key to Slovakia s success was Lewandowski s lack of influence. He had the fewest touches of any Poland outfield…

Olivier Giroud came off the bench to salvage an under-strength Chelsea a laboured 2-2 draw at Vidi in the Europa League on Thursday.

With the Blues already confirmed as Group L winners, Maurizio Sarri made 10 changes to the side that beat Manchester City last weekend and was almost made to endure an embarrassing defeat.

The visitors made life difficult for themselves as an Ethan Ampadu own goal quickly erased Willian s 30th-minute opener, before Loic Nego fired the unheralded Hungarians into the lead 11 minutes after the restart.

But the loss of Alvaro Morata to a first-half knee problem proved an unlikely blessing in disguise for Chelsea as Giroud stroked in their second free-kick late in the match to ensure the Premier League side enter the knockout rounds un…

Mexico continued their flawless run under Gerardo Martino after overcoming Canada 3-1 at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Canada impressed in Denver but Mexico s class was telling as an Andres Guardado brace and Roberto Alvarado strike led Martino s men to back-to-back Group A wins.

Alvarado smashed home the opener in the 40th minute before Guardado – a first-half replacement for injured team-mate Erick Gutierrez – made it 2-0 with a stunning long-range effort nine minutes into the second half on Wednesday.

Lucas Cavallini gave Canada some hope with 15 minutes remaining, however, Guardado s second two minutes later sealed a sixth successive victory for Mexico.

Our  with a banger! | |

— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN)

Canada – …

Gary Neville has cautioned Manchester United not to sign Real Madrid s Cristiano Ronaldo, instead urging his former club to move for team-mate Gareth Bale.

United manager Louis van Gaal is reportedly interested in bringing one of the Real attackers to Old Trafford next off-season.

Ronaldo left the Premier League for Spain in 2009 for a then-world record £80million fee before Bale smashed that figure four years later.

Retired defender Neville is hesitant for United to make a move for Ronaldo and doubts whether the Portuguese forward s return would be a success.

I am not sure it is such a good thing for Cristiano to come back, Neville told The Mirror.

I’d prefer us to get Gareth Bale and that’s no disrespect to Cristiano who I think is poss…

Missing out on the chance to claim Madrid bragging rights on Sunday night, Los Blancos eventually had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate against Rayo Vallecano.

While Carlo Ancelotti’s side might have been tipped as a landslide contender when they returned to the Bernabeu this weekend, Real Madrid put in a largely toothless performance on home soil.

Dethroned at the top of the La Liga table by a record-breaking Girona, Madrid were clearly frustrated after drawing their first domestic blank of the season.

Although Ancelotti’s camp might have missed out on the chance to get one over on their local rivals, Vallecano deserve an abundance of praise for a gritty display across the capital.

Still dreaming of the chance to mount a genuine European charge this tim…

Juventus are contemplating a double swoop into the playing personnel of Real Madrid, as reported by Tuttosport. The Turin-based newspaper claims that both James Rodriguez and Isco Alarcon might soon find their way to the Allianz Stadium in the north of Italy.

Having dominated Serie A for a while now, the Old Lady are aiming to boost their team as the competition in Italy grows, as well as constantly keeping an eye on the long-elusive Champions League trophy.

James is still at Bayern Munich on loan from Real in a deal which expires this summer. He didn t start on the best of terms with Niko Kovač who was appointed Bayern manager at the start of the season, and his future with the Bavarians seems to be furthering away. Meanwhile, Isco has been enduring a torrid time at…