Merson promises Tottenham tattoo as Arsenal hero reveals more important game than Spurs v City

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp labelled the £75million spent to buy Virgil van Dijk as not nice , but said his club was simply adapting to the market.

Van Dijk, 26, is set to join Liverpool from Southampton in January after the Premier League clubs agreed to a record fee for a defender.

Klopp, who questioned Manchester United for paying £89m for Paul Pogba last year, said his club had little choice in a market where Paris Saint-Germain bought Neymar from Barcelona for a world-record £198m.

A fee of £75million at this moment is very good for Southampton. They want to improve their squad as well, the German told UK newspapers.

Do you think when they go to a club – if the player is not a free agent – those clubs will be accepting £5million for a r…

Prediction: Tottenham to Win and Both Teams to Score

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Jose Mourinho takes his resurgent Tottenham Hotspur side to former employers Manchester United in a midweek Premier League clash on Wednesday evening.

The Portuguese has had quite the impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since taking over from Mauricio Pochettino a matter of weeks ago and will hope to continue that excellent form at Old Trafford.

Manchester United

The Red Devils struggles for form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continued at the weekend as despite getting into a winning position against Aston Villa, they were held to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. That result now means that United have now only won four out of their opening 14 games in the Premier League under So…

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has stressed the Ligue 1 champions have no intention of selling Serge Aurier following his recent police altercation.

The right-back was arrested on Sunday in the French capital, allegedly due to an assault on a police officer after his car was stopped shortly after he left a nightclub.

His solicitor, Claire Boutaud de la Combe, confirmed on Tuesday that Aurier has filed a personal complaint alleging violence on behalf of the police and strongly refutes all charges against him.

Aurier is due to appear before the correctional court of Paris on September 26 following his arrest and PSG are adamant they will not take action against the right-back until the verdict is in.

Aurier was placed in custody, but we s…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he will not tolerate players at Manchester United who are driven by money or fame .

The United manager is expected to lead an overhaul of the squad in the wake of another disappointing campaign in which the Red Devils have been left well off the pace set by Premier League title challengers Manchester City and Liverpool, and have lost seven of their past nine games in all competitions.

There is speculation that a significant part of the first-team squad could be moved on in the transfer window, with Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Antonio Valencia likely to depart on free transfers and the futures of Paul Pogba, David de Gea, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian unclear.

Sanchez in particular has proved a costly …

New Ligue 1 outfit Caen have begun preparations for the new season by extending the contracts of Mathieu Duhamel and Alexandre Raineau.

Patrice Garande s side sealed a return to the top flight by claiming third spot in Ligue 2 last season.

Duhamel was a key figure, finishing as the second tier s joint top-scorer with 24 goals in 35 games, while defender Raineau made 17 first-team appearances.

The pair have both signed new two-year deals at the Stade Michel d Ornano.

Forward Mathieu Duhamel and full-back Alexander Raineau extended their contract with Caen for two years, the club confirmed on their official website. They are now linked with the club until June 2016.

Duhamel arrived at Caen in 2012 and has gone on to score 37 goals in Ligue 2, while 27-year-o…

AC Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo believes his side are on the right track again after overcoming their early difficulties.

The 2011 Serie A champions initially struggled to find their best form this season and even found themselves close to the relegation zone at one point.

But they have returned to winning ways in recent months and have consequently climbed to fifth place in the standings.

We are moving in the right direction and we are becoming a team. We had some difficulties at the start but the results show we have overcome them, Montolivo told Milan Channel.

We are more consistent now than in recent months. We only managed to play well for a part of the match before. We are creating our own identity.

Montolivo has developed into a …

A decision to ban Eintracht Frankfurt supporters from attending the second leg of their Champions League tie against Napoli on Wednesday has been declared illegal by an Italian court.

Last month s first leg – a 2-0 win for Napoli – was marred by clashes between the two sets of supporters.

The Italian Ministry of the Interior subsequently issued an injunction to prevent the Serie A leaders from selling tickets to visiting supporters for Wednesday s meeting at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Eintracht vowed to fight against that measure and have now had it overturned, though the Italian authorities are expected to lodge an appeal of their own.

An Eintracht statement issued on Saturday read: The competent administrative court granted Eintracht Frankfu…

Montreal scored twice in the final two minutes to rally from behind to claim a 2-1 victory away to Columbus Crew in the MLS on Wednesday, in a game delayed by inclement weather.

Lucas Zelarayan had fired the Crew into a 14th-minute lead with a low shot but Montreal hit back late, to help them move into third in the Eastern Conference.

Kei Kamara nodded in Alistair lex Johnston s 89th-minute corner, before Joel Waterman got in behind the defence from Lassi Lappalainen s lofted pass to squeeze home the winner in the 94th minute.

90 4 HALLUCINANT

THIS GOAL BY JOEL OMG OMG OMG | 1-2 |

— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal)

Inter Miami breathed life into their season with a 1-0 road win over San Jose Earthquakes to move up to eighth in the Eastern …

Arsenal took another step towards the successful defence of their FA Cup crown with a fourth-round win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil shrugged off their respective injury frustrations to score a goal apiece in Arsenal s 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

England winger Walcott set the tone for a dominant first-half display from the holders with the opener in just the second minute, while Ozil  making his first start since October added the second before half-time.

Having offered precious little in terms of an attacking threat prior to the break, Brighton reduced the arrears early in a much-improved second-half showing when Chris O Grady capitalised on some poor Arsenal defending to score.

H…

Lionel Messi believes Argentina deserve to win a major title as the side prepare to contest the special-edition Copa America Centenario in the United States next month. 

Argentina lost last year s final to Chile on penalties, just 12 months after suffering heartbreak against Germany in the 2014 World Cup decider in Brazil. 

The South American nation have made three out of the last four Copa America finals but finished runners-up on each occasion, and have not won the tournament since 1993. 

However, Messi believes it is time Argentina finally tasted success after 23 years without a major trophy.

We will try our best to win the Copa, because for us it is very important, the Barcelona star told Sports Illustrated. 

More so, it has been a very …