Ecuador international Enner Valencia has broken his silence in the row over alleged unpaid child maintenance to protect the image of my family and myself .

The Everton striker, on loan from West Ham, was accused of failing to pay a significant sum to his former partner, Sinthyia Pinargote Chumo, for the upkeep of their daughter.

Valencia was chased by police after he left the pitch on a stretcher during Ecuador s 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chile last week, although the warrant for his arrest has since been withdrawn.

The 26-year-old has now released a statement via his official Twitter and Instagram accounts in order to offer his side of events.

His message reads: In relation to the events of the past few days, regarding the alleged breach of my …

Brazilian defender Felipe Lopes hopes to return to action with Wolfsburg after revealing he had a mini-stroke in July.

The 27-year-old suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) while at home watching Brazil take on Netherlands in the World Cup but was initially unaware of what the problem was.

Lopes, who has been with the Bundesliga club since 2012, contacted Wolfsburg s physio Michele Putaro and he was able to alert an emergency physician before the player was admitted to a local hospital.

The former Nacional man is hopeful of returning to action, having revealed the initial symptoms of the problem.

I felt dizzy and knew something wasn t right, he told Bild.

One can perhaps say that Michele has saved my life. I had no idea what was wrong with…

Leroy Fer fired home an 82nd-minute winner as Swansea City opened the new Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory at newly promoted Burnley

Fer pounced from close range after Tom Heaton palmed away a Fernando Llorente header to ensure the Clarets were left to rue a series of missed chances at Turf Moor. 

Sean Dyche put his trust in the players that won the Championship last term, with sole outfield signing Johann Berg Gudmundsson starting on the bench, but Andre Gray – the top scorer in the second tier in 2015-16 was not his clinical self.

Lukasz Fabianski also made several outstanding saves including denying Dean Marney excellently following Fer s opener – as the Swans departed Lancashire with all three points. 

The hosts fired the first warning…

Thomas Muller has decided to stop taking penalties for Bayern Munich after his latest miss from 12 yards against Augsburg on Wednesday.

The Germany international had already withdrawn himself from spot-kick duties for his country after missing one at Euro 2016, but now, after five failures at club level since August 2015, Bayern will also have to look elsewhere.

Muller expressed his frustration following the midweek DFB-Pokal miss, although it would not prove costly as the Bundesliga champions ran out 3-1 winners.

[The misses] are very annoying and they bother me, he was quoted by Bild. 

I will focus on the football matches in the future instead and my colleagues can take the penalties.

Despite scoring 20 league goals last season, Muller has y…

On Saturday at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea suffered their third defeat since appointing Frank Lampard as caretaker manager until the end of the season. They were beaten by Brighton and Hove Albion, despite Conor Gallagher breaking the deadlock in their favour the 13th minute. Former Manchester United and Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck equalized three minutes before the break, and 19-year-old Julio Enciso scored the winner for the Seagulls in the 69th.

Needless to say, Lampard was very disappointed by the performance of his team.

The better team won Not good enough.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says Brighton could ve won by more following his third consecutive defeat

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews)

…

Real Madrid are interested in signing Reece James from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that defending La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners Madrid are willing to pay more than €100 million for the right-back. However, the 23-year-old England international is not in a hurry to leave Chelsea.

James is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League, but he has had injury problems so far this season. The England international has made 14 starts and two substitute appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea so far this campaign, scoring one goal and providing one assist in the process.

Chelsea are 11th in the Premier League table at the moment with 39 points from 31 matches. Meanwhile, Madrid currently find themselves s…

OK, there is no doubt that football is a man’s world and there is very little place within that world for women. It is sad, but that is how it is. Football is one of the last truly sexist areas of our society in 2009. Women’s football is getting bigger, but other than in America, it still fails to really take off.

So against that backdrop, I wonder how we all feel about women managers?

Successful

Many people say that only men who have played the game at the highest level can go on to be successful managers. I think Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, for example, may beg to differ. So if you don’t have to have played the game at the highest level to be a manager, what is there to say you have to be a man?

I…

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola issued a rallying call to the club s supporters to get over their Champions League hang-ups after the resounding 4-0 Group C victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.

Sergio Aguero netted his second hat-trick in as many European appearances this season and Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench to complete the scoring in stoppage time, crowning the type of serene victory City have seldom enjoyed in the continent s premier competition.

The match was put back 24 hours after a torrential downpour in Manchester forced a postponement on Tuesday and a crowd of 30,270 lapped up the latest thrilling display of Guardiola s tenure.

However, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach was disappointed to see so many spaces in the 55,000-capaci…

The Italian Football Federation has banned former Parma executives Tommaso Ghirardi and Pietro Leonardi for five years for their mismanagement of the club.

Ghirardi was owner of the club between 2007 and 2014, when he sold up to businessman Rezart Taci, while Leonardi was sporting director until March last year.

Parma s debts spiralled to beyond €200million during Ghirardi s time in charge, prompting the club to be sold on for €1, but they remained in financial turmoil and were ultimately relegated to Serie D.

The FIGC s Federal National Court has opted to ban Ghirardi and Leonardi for the same length of time, as well as fine each man €150,000, while former director Silvia Serena was given a four-month ban and €4,000 fine.

A statement from the org…

Divock Origi is confident he still has more to offer Liverpool, having been boosted by a new contract following his Champions League heroics last season.

Belgium striker Origi started the last campaign on the fringes of the first team at Anfield but made crucial contributions to the team s success in 2018-19.

After Premier League winners against Everton and Newcastle United, Origi scored twice to down Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals and then netted in the final against Tottenham in Madrid.

Rewarded with a new long-term contract last month, the forward carried his form into the new season by scoring in the Premier League opener against Norwich City.

Origi hopes he can continue to improve, with Liverpool eager for more success.

For…