Benitez claims Manager of the Month for April

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba signed a new three-year contract with the Premier League club on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old is now tied to Chelsea until 2012 after extending his current deal, which had a year to run, by a further two years.

The Ivory Coast international looked on his way out of Stamford Bridge last season after being dropped by Luiz Felipe Scolari, but he played his way back into form under Guus Hiddink and scored in Chelsea s FA Cup final victory over Everton.

He was also involved in a controversial clash with referee Tom Henning Ovrebo following Chelsea s Champions League semi-final exit against Barcelona which earned the former Marseille star a three-match European ban.

But Drogba s new deal, which is reported to be have raised his wage…

South Africa coach Gordon Igesund said he will only reveal his squad for their Africa Cup of Nations clash with Cape Verde on matchday.

It has been evident that the pressure is on both the Bafana Bafana coach and the players to deliver, starting on Saturday in the first match of the 2013 AFCON.

However, Igesund believes that there is pressure on every national team to perform in this year s continental tournament in Africa. Unlike what former manager Carlos Parreira did during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Igesund said he won t name a starting XI until the last minute.

I won t reveal my starting line-up until match day because I like to do it that way. It might be a little bit nervous (for the players) right up until kickoff you know, once you pass the first ball a…

Dani Carvajal says he would sign his friend Koke from Atletico Madrid if he controlled the Real Madrid transfer budget.

Madrid face their arch-rivals after the international break and Carvajal singled out a fellow Spain international as a player he would like to see make the move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

I would sign Koke from Atletico, Carvajal told Cadena SER.

He is a tremendous player. He does well wherever you play him.

He is the type of player who can dictate play and keeps on running the entire game. I think he is a very interesting player.

Plus he is a good friend of mine as well.

Carvajal has thrived at Madrid under Zinedine Zidane despite the arrival of Danilo from Porto in 2015 for a transfer fee in the region of €30 mill…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexander Lacazette, Willian and Alex Runarsson have all been absent due to coronavirus, Arsenal have confirmed.

Head coach Mikel Arteta explained Aubameyang and Lacazette were feeling unwell prior to the Gunners lacklustre 2-0 defeat at new boys Brentford to begin their Premier League campaign last Friday.

It has now been confirmed the strike duo are part of a quartet who missed that game following a positive test for COVID-19, with each player at various stages of their recovery.

Aubameyang, who scored 10 goals in 29 Premier League outings last term, has now returned a negative result and could be in contention to feature against Chelsea on Sunday.

Willian s situation will be monitored ahead of the clash against his former cl…

Brendan Rodgers insists he has no qualms about Rafael Benitez s return to Anfield.

The Chelsea interim manager will be back at Anfield for the first time since his departure in 2010, having spent six years as Liverpool boss during which time he won the Champions League and FA Cup.

However, current Reds manager Rodgers believes that the reception Benitez will get is customary for any former manager or player at the club, despite the Spaniard admitting in the week that he would be open to an Anfield return.

Rafael Benitez is a fantastic manager, no question about that, Rodgers told reporters.

But I had the confidence from the owners and the board, when I came in here, that this was a process that was going to take time.

I only came here on the ¬…

Championship side Sheffield Wednesday have signed highly rated Arsenal goalkeeper Damian Martinez on a month long loan deal, .

The 21 year old has made just two appearances for the Gunners since turning professional, with both coming in last season’s League Cup, while his only league appearance to date came during an emergency loan spell at Oxford United at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.

The Owls are currently in the relegation zone having failed to win any of their opening ten games, and are one of only two sides in the division to have not kept a clean sheet.

Martinez, who has been capped at U17 and U20 levels by Argentina, is in line to make his debut against fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

Dave Jones men are , as the…

The rumours of Nikola Kalinic’s potential departure from Atletico Madrid go back as far as January 2019, but the Croatian striker closed the previous season at the club considering his future options. Tuttosport now report that Lazio are interested in signing the 31-year-old.

Although Kalinic signed a three year contract with Atletico in August 2018, he was a substitute most of the time during the previous season, starting in only seven games. He made altogether 17 appearances and scored four times for the club, but before long both the player and the team were looking to terminate their collaboration. the club wanted to make room for Alvaro Morata, who joined them on an 18-month loan from Chelsea in January 2019.

Back then several clubs, including Monaco, Schalke an…

Chelsea asked Thursday for the transfer ban imposed upon them by world football governing body FIFA to be suspended in a bid to sign new players during the January transfer window.

English Premier League side Chelsea have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against a ban which prevents the London club from signing any new players until January 2011.

They have also requested the ban be suspended until the outcome of the appeal is known, with a decision expected in November.

The ban was imposed by FIFA in August when its Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) concluded the Blues had induced promising French youngster Gael Kakuta to break his contract with his first club Lens.

A statement on the official CAS website said: Chelsea Foot…

Andre Gomes Barcelona nightmare is set to be put on hold for a year after the Catalan club confirmed they have reached an agreement for him to go on loan to Everton for the 2018-19 season.

Gomes joined Barca from Valencia in 2016, costing the club a reported €35million, but he has struggled to hold down a first-team place.

Many Barca fans were against Gomes signing even before he joined after a somewhat underwhelming second campaign at Valencia, and he has never been able to rediscover his best form at Camp Nou.

The Portugal international recently opened up about his battle with depression during his time at Barca.

[LATEST NEWS] Agreement with for the loan of

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The 25-year-old described his spell with Ba…

Manchester United are interested in signing Michael Olise from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that United are looking at young players for the future, and that Olise is on their radar.

Olise is one of the best young players in the Premier League and is able to play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. The 22-year-old has made eight starts and three substitute appearances in the Premier League so far this season, scoring six goals and providing three assists in those games. Olise scored two goals and provided 11 assists in 31 starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Eagles last season.

Manchester United are sixth in the Premier League table at the moment with 38 po…