Championship side Middlesbrough have signed Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas on loan.
Kalas spent the first half of the season on loan at Bundesliga outfit Cologne, but failed to make a single senior appearance.
The centre-back, who can also operate on the right side of the defence, will hope for regular first-team football with a Middlesbrough side pushing for a return to the Premier League.
Since joining from Sigma Olomouc, Kalas has made only two appearances for Chelsea, which came against Liverpool and Cardiff City last season.
But the 21-year-old does have a senior international cap, featuring in the Czech Republic s 3-0 friendly win over Slovakia in November 2012.
Kalas is available for selection for Middlesbrough s visit to Reading on Saturday.…
Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena has suggested he would be open to joining Real Madrid.
The 22-year-old agreed a deal last month to move to Real Betis for the rest of the season, having struggled for regular football under Ernesto Valverde at Camp Nou.
Alena will return to Barca at the end of 2019-20 but his long-term future remains in doubt.
And, while he accepts it would be a difficult decision to make, the player has refused to discount the idea of moving to arch-rivals Madrid.
Football has many turns, he told Cadena SER when asked if he would ever play for Los Blancos. I ve been a Barca fan all my life. It would be tough, but they ve always taught me never say never . But, for me, they are a rival team.
Alena started the LaLiga defeat to At…
Sebastian Rudy is a doubt for Germany s final World Cup group game after suffering a possible broken nose during the 2-1 victory over Sweden that put his side back on course to reach the last 16.
The Bayern Munich midfielder took a boot to the face after just over half an hour of the game, in which Germany fell behind to an Ola Toivonen goal before Marco Reus equalised following the interval.
Toni Kroos then scored a 95th-minute winner to complete a gripping comeback and move Germany up to second place in Group F with two games played.
Victory over South Korea on Wednesday would make sure of Germany s place in the knockout phase but head coach Joachim Low told reporters he could be without Rudy in central midfield.
1. sub for
Thanks and get well …
Best Odds: 19/20
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Looking to extend on their remarkable winning run, Manchester City will welcome Tottenham to an empty Etihad on Saturday evening.
Manchester City
Starting with the hosts, booking their spot in the quarter-finals of this year s FA Cup in midweek thanks to a 3-1 win away at Championship outfit Swansea, the mood in Manchester City s camp should be at a red-hot high. Continuing to build on the slip-ups around them, Pep Guardiola s side now find themselves sat in pole position to reclaim their Premier League crown this season. With a Champions League knockout tie against Borussia Mönchengladbach fast approaching, the former Bayern Munich boss has seen his side embark on a remarkable winning run. Opening up this weekend s fixtures holding…
This weekend s Premier League fixtures will be preceded by a minute s silence and a rendition of the UK s national anthem following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The passing of the UK s longest-reigning sovereign caused the Premier League to postpone a full fixture programme last weekend as a mark of respect .
While English top-flight football is to resume on Friday, two matches have been postponed due to policing concerns on the weekend of the Queen s funeral; Manchester United s clash with Leeds United and Liverpool s trip to Chelsea, while Brighton s clash with Crystal Palace was already postponed earlier this month.
The Premier League has now confirmed plans for tributes to take place across each of this weekend s seven fixtures, with fans also invited to…
Manchester City-bound Manuel Pellegrini has revealed he was almost hired by Barcelona instead of Pep Guardiola.
The La Liga champions went on to enjoy incredible success under the Spaniard – including winning two Champions League trophies – while Pellegrini spent a year in charge at Real Madrid before being ousted in favour of Jose Mourinho.
Pellegrini s reputation has grown since his move to Malaga in 2010 and ahead of his last game in charge of them against Tito Vilanova s Barca, the Chilean said the past few years could have turned out very differently for him and Guardiola.
Before Pep Guardiola took charge of Barcelona, I was very close to signing, he told Television Nacional de Chile.
I m very happy that it isn t currently possible for me to ma…
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Riyad Mahrez risked the wrath of Leicester City supporters by suggesting England defender Harry Maguire deserves to play at a club higher up than Claude Puel s side.
Algeria winger Mahrez became Manchester City s record signing when he joined from Leicester for a reported £60million and he used his first news conference at Etihad Stadium to encourage former team-mate Maguire to explore his options away from the Foxes.
Maguire joined Leicester from Hull City in 2017 and made 38 league appearances for the club last season before becoming one of England s stars of the World Cup.
Mahrez was asked whether he anticipated Maguire making such an impact on the world stage and he told reporters: Of course.
I always believed that H was a very good player since the…
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In a battle between two sides dreaming of a top-four finish, Chelsea will welcome Everton to an empty Stamford Bridge on Monday evening.
Chelsea
Starting with the hosts, managing to pile even more pressure onto Liverpool s shoulders last time out, the mood in Chelsea s camp should be at a real high. Eventually leaving Anfield with a 1-0 win to show for their troubles, the Blues have gained plenty of plaudits since bringing in Thomas Tuchel back in January. In fact, Since the German coach took charge of his first league game as Chelsea boss on January 27th, only Manchester City (24) have picked up more points. Finding a route back into the top-four and yet to taste defeat since the former PSG boss took charge in West London, they also…
Not good enough?
Everyone has an opinion about what players should be selected for England and a majority of the names would be picked by everyone. The likes of Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney would be on 99% of the lists. After those ‘certainties’ we would all have varying opinions on who should be added to the list.
Holiday
In order to make the decisions easier I wondered if I should look at those players who have been involved with England that should definitely be booking a holiday on the Costa del Sol next summer rather than waiting to see if they are on the plane to South Africa.
The goalkeeping position is the hardest one to rule anybody out of. Let’s face it, none of the candidates are great and any En…