Crystal Palace open new contract talks with Andros Townsend

Former Brazil striker Giovane Elber says his country has no chance of winning Olympic gold because they have no heart .

Brazil will seek to atone for the humiliation of their 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-final on home soil by winning a first Olympic title in Rio next month.

Barcelona superstar Neymar sat out the Copa America Centenario to make himself available for the Games, but ex-Bayern Munich forward Elber is far from optimistic.

Asked whether he thought Brazil could win gold, he said: No, no, no. I think the players of the Brazil national team, they have no heart. In my eyes they have no heart.

Compared to this generation, the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, they stayed hungry, they were really hungry about the titles.

I think t…

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has defended Luis Suarez after he picked up a one-game suspension for what appeared a deliberate handball.

The Uruguayan was sent off at the quarter-final stage of World Cup 2010 in South Africa against Ghana for the same offence and he appeared to repeat the trick during Saturday s 1-0 win over Southampton, in which he handled the ball in the area.

Suarez attempted to convert a Steven Gerrard cross with his hand rather than his head picking up his fifth booking of the season and subsequent suspension.

But Rodgers does not believe that Suarez did anything out of the ordinary before admitting that his side will miss him in their next game against West Ham.

I didn t see it and don t know what he was booked for but it mos…

Julio Baptista is to leave Malaga after the Spanish club agreed to terminate his contract.

The Brazilian striker joined Malaga from Roma in January 2011 and enjoyed success in the early stages of his career at La Rosaleda, but his second season with the club was marred by injury.

The 31-year-old struggled to make an impact after returning to action in the second half of last term and has been strongly with a return to his homeland.

Cruzeiro are expected to sign the former Arsenal and Real Madrid forward, who won the Spanish title during his time at the Bernabeu.

Julio Cesar Baptista and Malaga reached an amicable agreement on Friday 19th July to terminate the striker s contract, a statement on the club s official website read.

The club and the player came t…

A double from Serbian striker Luka Jovic helped AC Milan to a 4-1 win over Cagliari and a place in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Jovic struck twice in the first half of the contest at San Siro, while 19-year-old Chaka Traore was delighted to score his first Milan goal on his full debut early in the second half.

Paulo Azzi grabbed a consolation for Cagliari in the 87th minute but there was still time for substitute Rafael Leao to score a fourth for Milan, who have not won the competition for 20 years.

Milan boss Stefano Pioli retained only two players from the starting line-up for Saturday’s Serie A win over Sassuolo – Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders.

Sheer joy

— AC Milan (@acmilan)

Cagliari are sitting in the relegat…

Leon Osman is set to be offered a one-year contract with Everton,.

Aside from brief loan spells with Carlisle United and Derby County over a decade ago, the midfielder has spent his entire career at Goodison Park and he is expected to pass the four hundred appearance mark for the Toffee’s in the coming weeks.

Internationally, he won the first of two caps for England in a 4-2 friendly defeat to Sweden back in November 2012, with his second appearance coming in the 2014 World Cup qualifying victory over San Marino four months later.

He was handed a testimonial with Everton in the summer, while this season, he has made nine appearances in all competitions, and will hope to be involved as they take on Lille in the Europa League on Thursday evening.

Wit…

Manchester City winger Scott Sinclair will consider bringing an end to his Manchester City career when the transfer window reopens next month, .

The 25 year old has been limited to just two brief cameo appearances so far this season, neither of which have come in either the Premier League or the Champions League.

He spent last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion, but only made eleven appearances in all competitions for the club before returning to the Etihad Stadium in the summer.

Sinclair has turned out for no less than eleven clubs in his career, though he has managed no more than eighteen league appearances for all but one of them, Swansea City, in a two year spell prior to his move to Manchester.

Internationally, he has represented England at…

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool are still working on making new signings but are unable to spend crazy money on arrivals.

Liverpool invested heavily in their squad during 2018 by signing Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.

Ahead of the 2019-20 season, though, the Reds have only brought in teenage defender Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle.

Lille forward Nicolas Pepe is reportedly a transfer target for the Anfield club as they seek reinforcements after winning last season s Champions League but Klopp indicated it might not be possible to strengthen his squad.

It s not easy, Klopp told the Liverpool Echo. I said last year that to improve the team is not easy with reasonable money. With crazy money, you always can do it – okay…

Roy Hodgson is confident nobody at Crystal Palace is looking to sell star winger Wilfried Zaha in January, but he recognises serious bids would have to be considered.

Zaha was widely linked with moves to both Everton and Arsenal in the previous transfer window, with Hodgson acknowledging the player was unhappy when no transfer materialised.

Palace reportedly set a £100million asking price, which neither club would go to, with fellow suitors Chelsea serving a transfer ban at the time.

However, Chelsea s suspension has since been reduced, meaning they can make signings next month, and Zaha continues to be mooted as an option.

Earlier in December, agent Federico Pastorello told Sky Sports News the Ivory Coast international deserves a new challenge and a top…

Concern surrounding Rangers financial plight intensified after the British Government held talks with the club s bankers in a bid to allay fears of the Scottish champions entering administration.

Last week Rangers manager Walter Smith said Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), part of the Lloyds group, were in charge at Ibrox since chairman David Murray stepped down at the beginning of the season.

Rangers have debts of around 30 million pounds and the club announced in January that every player on their books was up for sale.

And, with no new players having been bought by Rangers since August 2008, Smith says a new owner needs to be found as soon as possible.

Jim Murphy, the Secretary of State for Scotland a post in the UK government led by Prime Minister Gor…

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has admitted his side must strengthen in the January transfer window if they are to chase down leading duo Inter Milan and Juventus in Serie A.

Milan head to struggling Udinese on Saturday looking to close a seven-point deficit to second-placed Juve, and with Pioli eyeing reinforcements in defence and midfield.

“Our decisions don’t change and the club are working on it. There are two weeks remaining,” he said.

Pioli pointed out the need for a “complete” defender, saying any new recruit would need to be able to help with build-up play from the back.

Setting sights on ? Brought to you by

— AC Milan (@acmilan)

Milan have improved defensively since Simon Kjaer returned from injury, but the Denmark …