Rumour Has It: Chelsea´s initial £86m Lukaku bid rejected by Inter

Chelsea are in the market for a striker and are seemingly keen on one of their former players.

Romelu Lukaku helped Inter to the Serie A title last term and is seemingly in Chelsea s sights.

The Belgium international scored four goals at Euro 2020 after netting 24 times in Serie A.

TOP STORY CHELSEA REBUFFED IN LUKAKU BID

Chelsea have had their initial bid worth approximately £86 million (€100m) for Lukaku rejected by Inter, reports The Sun.

The Blues made their transfer offer with defender Marcos Alonso also involved, but the Italian champions are demanding a £100m (€117m) fee.

Lukaku is said to be Chelsea s number one target after failing in their bid to lure Erling Haaland away from Borussia Dortmund.

EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea …

Herrera denies involvement in match-fixing

Ander Herrera has denied being involved in match-fixing after the Manchester United man was named in a Spanish corruption investigation.

The 25-year-old was one of 41 players and coaches named in connection with a case relating to a clash between Levante and Real Zaragoza at the end of La Liga s 2010-11 season.

It is alleged that Levante players were paid to lose the match, which Zaragoza featuring Herrera  won 2-1.

Herrera, along with Swansea City s Jefferson Montero who was in the Levante side have been named, and the United man took to his official Facebook account to protest his innocence.

I have never had and will never have anything to do with manipulating match results, he said.

If I am ever called to testify in any judicial hearing, I …

Ex-Arsenal recruitment chief Mislintat takes Stuttgart post

Sven Mislintat has been hired as Stuttgart s new sporting director, two months after he left his job as head of recruitment with Premier League club Arsenal.

The Gunners hired Mislintat in December 2017 and he was viewed as one of the key figures in their rebuild following long-serving manager Arsene Wenger s exit after the 2017-18 season.

Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all joined the club in Mislintat s time in charge, yet it was announced in January that he would be vacating his position in February.

Having formerly held a post with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, Mislintat has returned to Germany to take a job with Stuttgart.

Stuttgart, for whom former Germany international Tho…

Martino: I tried to prevent Tevez from taking a penalty

Gerardo Martino said he doubted whether Argentina match-winner Carlos Tevez would handle the pressure of another Copa America penalty shoot-out against Colombia on Friday.

Martino s men eventually reached the semi-finals by winning 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in Vina del Mar, with Tevez stepping up to clinch victory with his side s seventh kick.

Tevez s coach later confessed that he had held back the striker in case he could not cope with the memories of his vital mistake in Argentina s shoot-out exit to Uruguay in 2011.

Fernando Muslera saved Tevez s penalty in the Santa Fe quarter-final, and it was the only penalty missed as the then-hosts bowed out.

Football is like that sometimes. I didn t put Tevez in among the first five penalties because he …

Khadija Shaw brace helps Man City move three points clear at top of WSL table

Khadija Shaw scored two goals to help Manchester City move three points clear at the top of the Women’s Super League with an emphatic 5-0 victory over West Ham.

City made their breakthrough in the very first minute when Leila Ouahabi placed in Jess Park’s low cross and Shaw got herself on the scoresheet by picking out the top corner inside the box just a couple of minutes later.

Shaw rocketed a header in for their third to take her WSL goal tally past 50 and City sealed the rout with two goals in the final 10 minutes courtesy of Laura Blindkilde and Park.

Beth Mead scored in each half as Arsenal secured their third successive league win with a convincing 3-0 victory over Leicester at the Emirates Stadium.

Mead opened the scoring in the 28th minute whe…

Odds Checker: Where Could Cristiano Ronaldo End Up During The January Transfer Window?

While the 2022 World Cup might have got underway on Sunday as Ecuador picked up a 2-0 victory against Qatar, it is a certain Cristiano Ronaldo who has stolen plenty of the pre-tournament headlines.

Releasing what was a jaw-dropping interview with last week as he criticized both and Erik ten Hag, it appears almost certain that the five-time Ballon d Or winner will be making a second exit from Old Trafford.

While Ronaldo might have his sights firmly focused on this winter s World Cup adventure with Portugal, moves will certainly be being prepared behind the scenes ahead of a switch during January s transfer window.

At the heart of a messy divorce with the former Premier League champions, we have taken a look at a few possible destinations for the 37-year-old.

Sandro wants Olympic gold

Tottenham midfielder Sandro is proud to be named in the Brazil squad for the Olympic Games and is targeting a dream gold medal.

Brazil, who won bronze at the Beijing 2008 edition of the Games, are favourites for the London 2012 tournament which will be held at venues throughout England.

And the 23-year-old, who made his name at Brazilian club Internacional before his move to Spurs, believes Mano Menezes side have the quality to win the competition.

I feel so proud, so happy, Sandro told reporters.

Brazil have never won this competition and I know we have a great opportunity this time and to make history in our country.

We have a fantastic squad with Neymar, Pato, Leandro Damiao, Oscar – every player in the squad is a great player.

I…

‘We can’t control the Opta supercomputer’ – Eidevall says Arsenal’s destiny is in their own hands

Jonas Eidevall insists Arsenal are still focused on their title push despite being given a 0 per cent chance of winning the Women’s Super League by the Opta supercomputer.

The Gunners sit in third place ahead of Sunday’s match against Everton and are six points behind leaders Manchester City.

Chelsea occupy second place, three points ahead of Arsenal, but with a game in hand on the teams around them.

Asked if he thought his side could do something special despite the Opta supercomputer’s prediction, Eidevall did not rule his team out of the race.

He said: “It s about for us focusing on what we can control.

The Opta supercomputer is definitely one of the things that we can t control. So, they can make their calculations, but we have to foc…

Real Madrid back in for Aguero

Real Madrid are eyeing a move for Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero,.

The La Liga giants, who are on the verge of appointing Rafael Benitiez as their new manager, have regularly been linked with a move for the Argentina international who won the Premier League’s golden boot last season.

In thirty-three league outings, the striker scored twenty-six goals, five more than nearest rivals Harry Kane, while he bagged a further six in other competitions.

Since arriving at Eastlands in 2011, Aguero has helped City win two Premier League titles, while he was also part of the squad that won the League Cup in 2014.

Internationally, he has twenty-three goals in sixty appearances for his country and played at both the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as well …

Bertrand targets England place

Ryan Bertrand is hoping that a run of good performances for Chelsea will see Roy Hodgson award him more senior England games in the future.

The full-back broke into the Blues first team at the end of last season, making his European debut in the Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich.

He has enjoyed a run in the side at the start of this campaign, scoring in the Community Shield defeat and also starting against Wigan in the opening game of the Premier League.

The 23-year-old received his first senior England call-up for the friendly match against Italy last week, replacing Leighton Baines in the second half.

I managed to get on the pitch for 15 minutes the other night in the senior England team so I just have to concentrate on my club footbal…