Paulo Dybala has found being compared to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar damaging , according to Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
A strong start to the Serie A season, which featured hat-tricks against Sassuolo and Genoa, intensified suggestions Dybala could become the player to break Messi and Ronaldo s decade-long stranglehold on the Ballon d Or.
Dybala has since gone off the boil, scoring only once in Serie A since October, leading Allegri to regularly leave the Argentina international on the bench.
Allegri again denied he has fallen out with Dybala reportedly the subject of an offer worth £70million plus Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United but hinted the 24-year-old has been distracted by speculation.
The relationship with him …
Ryan Fraser s dramatic late second goal secured Bournemouth a 2-1 win over Everton at the Vitality Stadium, ending their eight-match winless run in the Premier League and lifting them out of the bottom three.
Everton looked set to leave with a point after Idrissa Gueye cancelled out Fraser s first goal, but Bournemouth kept battling and the midfielder sealed all three points with a minute of normal time remaining, courtesy of a shot that took a huge deflection to beat Jordan Pickford.
The hosts appeared the more purposeful in attack during the first half and were good value for the lead when Fraser rounded off an incisive counter-attack in style with 33 minutes played.
However, Sam Allardyce introduced Wayne Rooney – who had been suffering from illness –…
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has talked up a move for out-of-contract striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, believing the Sweden captain would be a great addition at Old Trafford.
United have emerged as a possible destination for 34-year-old free agent Ibrahimovic, who opted against signing a new contract with French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Ibrahimovic ended the 2015-16 season with 50 goals in all competitions as PSG snapped up all four trophies on offer in France, taking his career tally with the capital club to 156 in 180 appearances.
And France international Martial has welcomed the potential arrival of Ibrahimovic, who is preparing for the upcoming Euro 2016.
If Zlatan was to come, it would be really good, Martial said.
He s a grea…
Sean Dyche preferred to focus on Burnley s overall progress across the past year after the Clarets began 2018 with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool.
It looked as though Dyche s men had secured a point when Johann Gudmundsson struck in the 87th minute to cancel out Sadio Mane s superb opener.
But in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Ragnar Klavan nodded home at the far post to secure maximum points for the visitors and extend Burnley s winless run to five games.
The Clarets sit seventh in the Premier League on 34 points, only six fewer than their tally for 2016-17, when they finished 16th.
FULL-TIME Burnley 1-2 Liverpool
The Reds steal three points late on with Mane Klavan getting on the scoresheet
— Premier League (@premi…
Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes has revealed the club have not received any offers for captain Ryan Shawcross.
The 26-year-old defender, who earned a solitary England cap in 2012, played all but one of Stoke s Premier League matches this season, only missing the penultimate game against Fulham through suspension following a red card in the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Shawcross impressive displays at centre-back helped propel Stoke to ninth their highest Premier League finish and speculation has mounted regarding a possible move away from the Britannia Stadium for the former Manchester United trainee.
However, Scholes stated on Thursday that Stoke had received no offers from other clubs.
It comes as no surprise to me what I have read about Ryan, Scholes told …