Martinez, Courtois and Bounou in contention for FIFA goalkeeper award

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said the Bundesliga side are targeting attacking players in the case Manchester United target Jadon Sancho leaves.

Sancho has been heavily tipped to join Premier League giants United, while the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid have also emerged as possible destinations.

Dortmund reportedly want around €120million (£108m) for the England international star, who arrived from Manchester City in 2017.

Asked about Sancho and a potential departure, Zorc told Kicker: If Jadon left, we would do something again in the offensive area.

There are certainly one or two players we are targeting.

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Sancho scored 17 …

“I hope I can continue next season, I want to and I’ve made it clear”.

Those are the words of Filipe Luis, who has reportedly made it known that he actually does want to stay at Atletico Madrid season. The Brazilian defender, who is set to turn 34 in August, is going to be out of a contract in the summer transfer window and Atletico have offered him a 12 month extension. Despite all of this seemingly indicating that he’d be staying without a doubt, he turned down the aforementioned extension. It seems as if he wasn’t pleased with the offer that was being made to him, which is why this situation still hasn’t been resolved.

Luis has been with Atletico since back in 2015, when he made a one-season move to Chelsea. In total he has now been with the club for almo…

Verdict: Draw

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Atletico Madrid will welcome Serie A leaders Juventus to the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday night, for the first leg of their intriguing Champions League last 16 encounter.

Atletico Madrid

Starting with the hosts, picking up a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano to bounce back from their pair of defeats against Real Betis and bitter-rivals Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid will be boosted by the news that Diego Simeone has extended his stay until 2022. While only their head-to-head record with Borussia Dortmund saw them fail to top Group A, Los Colchoneros have continued to shine in their European matches at the Wanda Metropolitano. Now winning their last four Champions League matches in the Spanish capital, it is unsurpris…

Brentford have completed the signing of Keane Lewis-Potter from Hull City for a reported £16million, a club-record fee.

The highly-rated youngster has penned an initial six-year deal at the Brentford Community Stadium, with reports suggesting the overall package could be worth £20m.

Lewis-Potter is the second purchase of pre-season for the Bees following Aaron Hickey, who was briefly Brentford s record signing when he joined from Bologna for £14m last week.

The versatile forward is an England Under-21 international and came through the youth ranks at Hull, with 2021-22 being a particularly productive season for him.

Lewis-Potter, 21, scored 13 goals and assisted a further four, which drew plenty of interest from the Premier League.

 We are …

Southampton are interested in signing West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the summer of 2022, according to . Johnstone is out of contract at Championship club West Brom at the end of the season, and Premier League outfit Southampton want to sign the goalkeeper on a free transfer then.

Alex McCarthy is the first-choice goalkeeper at Southampton at the moment, and Fraser Forster is his deputy. The Saints are 13th in the Premier League table at the moment with 14 points from 11 matches, six points above the relegation zone.

Johnstone has been on the books of West Brom since 2018 and is one of the best goalkeepers in England. The 28-year-old goalkeeper has earned three caps for the Three Lions. West Brom are third in the Championship table at the moment with 3…

Prediction: Manchester United to win 2-0

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Having been given a watching brief last weekend, Manchester United finally kick off their 2020/21 Premier League season this week as they host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils sat out last weekend as the league got back underway due to prior European commitments and take on a Palace side who begun the new campaign in the best possible way.

Manchester United

If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s Red Devils start this season in the same way the ended the last, then it is surely set to be a positive campaign for the Red Devils. The team did not lose a singe game in the league after January, leading to them finishing third in the Premier League and earning a spot back in the UEFA Champion…

Best Odds: 3/5

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Looking to finish off what would be a real upset on Thursday night, Sligo Rovers will welcome Motherwell to The Showgrounds for their second-leg showdown.

Sligo Rovers

Starting with the hosts, while Sligo might have opened last week s first-leg meeting in Scotland as a landslide underdog with many, the Rovers put in what was a famous display. Managing to leave Fir Park with an iconic 1-0 victory, the Irish outfit find themselves sat in pole position to pick up quite the qualifying scalp. Although John Russell s men might need a minor miracle if they re to claim another top-three finish in the Premier Division this season, they are enjoying quite the purple patch. Managing to prove that their downbeat 2-0 loss against UC Dublin earlier …

Gareth Southgate was keen to dismiss any relevance whatsoever surrounding his moment of personal despair 25 years ago, the last time England and Germany met at Wembley in a major tournament.

But his team-sheet felt like a nod towards the kit he wore as a young, accomplished defender who erred in an-era defining moment of Euro 96 penalty shoot-out heartache.

The England XI he sent out on Tuesday was grey. Very grey. Potentially and hopefully granite like, but definitely dull.

There was no great surprise. A line-up of five defenders and two sitting midfielders had been widely floated before kick-off and the approach was of a type with England s group-stage efforts of two goals scored and none conceded in three matches.

The clarity of Southgate s game plans…

Claude Robin is the new coach of Ligue 1 side Troyes the former academy director confirmed as Jean-Marc Furlan s successor on Tuesday.

Furlan s second spell in charge of the club came to an end last week following a difficult start to life back in the top flight, with Troyes bottom of Ligue 1 after 17 matches.

Robin takes over after Troyes picked up just their sixth point of the season on Saturday against Reims, having previously taken the reigns in Ligue 2 after Ludovic Batelli s departure in 2009.

The 55-year-old s first test comes against fellow strugglers Bastia on Saturday.

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Malcom s move from Barcelona to Russian Premier League side Zenit has been completed, with the deal worth a total of €45million.

The 22-year-old missed training on Thursday, with Barca announcing Malcom had been granted permission to resolve his future .

Malcom joined LaLiga giants Barca from Bordeaux in 2018 for a deal rising to €42m, after making a late decision to head to Camp Nou rather than Roma in Serie A.

However, he failed to find his feet in Spain, making only six starts in LaLiga, with the highlight of his time at Camp Nou coming when he scored in a 1-1 Clasico draw against Real Madrid.

In total, Malcom scored four goals in 24 appearances in all competitions, with Barca confirming they have retained an interest in the future sale of the Bra…