Ander Herrera and Adnan Januzaj have returned to training with Manchester United but remain doubtful for the trip to Stoke City.
Spaniard Herrera has been out of action since mid December through injury but is closing in on a return, while Januzaj is also back in action after illness.
Herrera trained today [Tuesday] for the first time with us but, yes, they don t have match rhythm, boss Louis van Gaal told a media conference.
Januzaj has also trained two training sessions with us, but he was ill and you have to recover from your illness, not from your tiredness.
Maybe it s worse to recover from illness.
The duo s return is a boost for United, who have been hit by absences in key positions in recent weeks.
However, when asked if …
Chris Hughton has been confirmed as the new Norwich City manager and says he intends to retain the services of club captain Grant Holt.
The 53-year-old has signed a contract with the club after a compensation package was agreed with Birmingham City, who he led to the Championship play-offs last season.
Hughton replaces Paul Lambert, who resigned from the Norwich post to take over the managerial reigns at Aston Villa.
At his unveiling on Thursday, Hughton said securing the services of club captain and top scorer Holt was his first priority.
Holt has signalled his intention to leave Carrow Road in the off-season.
To score the goals that he (Holt) did last season, I don t think there would be any manager coming in here who wouldn t want to keep a…
FA chief executive Brian Barwick believes he will leave English football in rude health after announcing he is set to step down at the end of the year.
Barwick, who appointed Fabio Capello as England coach, released a statement confirming his decision to quit after his country s 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic on Wednesday
It is believed Barwick s exit has come as a result of disagreements with FA chairman Lord Triesman on how the English game s governing body should be developed.
Barwick is said to have disagreed with Triesman over the FA s strategic policies and the appointment of key figures in the 2018 World Cup bid team.
Triesman, a former Government minister, appears to have won the dispute and is likely to take a more hands-on role at the …
Former Arsenal and Crystal Palace midfielder Mathieu Flamini has joined Getafe until the end of the season on a free transfer.
Flamini, 33, had been without a club since being released by Palace at the end of last season.
The Frenchman brings with him a wealth of experience, having enjoyed spells at Marseille and AC Milan, as well as two stints with Arsenal.
Getafe have been one of the surprise packages of the 2017-18 Liga season so far and sit ninth with 28 points, despite being one of the sides promoted to the top flight only last season.
OFICIAL | Mathieu Flamini nuevo futbolista azulon. ¡Bienvenido !
— Getafe C.F. (@GetafeCF)
Flamini will link up with former Arsenal team-mate Emiliano Martinez and fellow Frenchman Loic Remy at the…
Fiorentina
After finishing in eighth place last season, Fiorentina currently find themselves flirting with mid-table. Having beaten Bologna 2-1 away in their last outing, Stefano Pioli s side currently sit in 11th position and are hoping that a late push in the second half of the season could secure them a Europa League spot come May. Already chasing down a seven-point deficit on sixth place Sampdoria, Viola s win last weekend ended their five-match winless run. Only winning one of their last seven matchups against the defending champions, Pioli s Fiorentina side will be looking to shore up their defensive issues, they have now failed to keep a single clean sheet in their last seven matches.
Team News
Viola manager Stefano Pioli will be without Simone Lo Faso, who is out with…
The director of Italy s FIFA World Cup base labelled Parma striker Antonio Cassano not normal in the head on Wednesday.
Cassano s career has been pockmarked by controversy with the Bari-born forward having regularly clashed with coaches and club presidents, while at Euro 2012 he argued he would prefer no gay players to be in Italy s squad.
According to the director of the Portobello Safari Resort in Mangaratiba, Italy s base just outside Rio de Janeiro, Cassano maintained his reputation for crazy outbursts at the World Cup in Brazil.
Cassano was out of control, he told Sport Mediaset.
The cleaning lady went up there to clean the room, which is necessary, and he shouted in her face.
He s not normal in the head.
Cassano came off the benc…
Bayer Leverkusen s Rudi Voller has fired a warning shot to Chelsea about their chances of signing Andre Schurrle over the off-season.
The 22-year-old, who has scored nine times this season for Leverkusen, is reported to be on the radar of the west London outfit and could join the European champions in the next transfer window.
But sporting director Voller said his side will not be losing their prized possession cheaply and has even hinted at a possible swap deal including Chelsea s Kevin de Bruyne.
De Bruyne has impressed while on loan with Werder Bremen and has attracted interest from Leverkusen and last season s Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund.
In an interview with Bild, Voller said: It s normal for such a good player to get requests from (clubs …
James Maddison was turned into a YouTube star by his father and now the Tottenham man is hoping his next highlight reel can compare to those of the likes of Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney as he targets success with England.
As Maddison rose up through the Coventry academy his story was documented by his dad Gary – who launched his own YouTube channel in 2006 to showcase his son’s burgeoning ability.
The five videos available on the channel – @gazmaddy – have amassed over 175,000 views in total.
Gary had earlier put together compilations of his favourite players, with Maddison glued to the screen as a boy watching edited clips of Gascoigne.
Maddison, 26, admits he is not old enough to remember Gascoigne in his pomp, but his father made up for that…
Market: Under 3.5 goals
Odds: 1/2 @
With this weekend s MLS fixtures opening up at the New Crew Stadium on Saturday night, Columbus will host New England in a matchup that is famously a cagey affair.
Starting with the hosts, while Columbus might have thought they had turned a real corner with their three consecutive wins on either side of the international break, The Crew have shown some recent issues once again. Despite being handed what looked like a golden chance away at Austin earlier in the week, Caleb Porter s men had to settle for a sluggish 0-0 stalemate on the road. Failing to bounce back from that 1-0 loss against Philadelphia Union on June 24th, the Eastern Conference outfit have also drawn a blank in back-to-back contests across all formats for the t…
Albania boss Gianni De Biasi is adamant France will not underestimate his side in Marseille on Wednesday despite suggestions the hosts will rest a host of key players.
Having won their opening match against Romania, France will be expected to brush aside De Biaisi s men before facing Switzerland in a clash that could decide which team tops Group A.
In their last two friendly meetings, however, Albania have emerged with a win and a draw and De Biasi is anticipating Deschamps to play his big guns.
He said: I don t think they will [underestimate us], because I think we are well known now. We played against them twice, in November 2014 and June last year, I think they know us pretty well.
They won t underestimate us and will go on the pitch with great determ…