Rudiger out for the season, Chelsea confirm

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings insists he would play himself in Sunday s Euro 2008 final against Spain if he was German coach despite having a fractured rib.

The holding midfielder fractured it in the 1-0 group stage win over Austria on June 16, but just nine days later declared himself fit enough to come off the bench as Germany beat Turkey 3-2 in Wednesday s semi-final.

One of three current survivors from the 2002 World Cup final defeat to Brazil, the 31-year-old is desperate to play in Sunday s final in Vienna and has already told coach Joachim Loew to pick him.

I feel absolutely fit, I hardly have any problems now and I am amazed how quickly I have healed, said Frings.

I was a bit nervous playing in the semi-final, I worried how I would cope i…

Barcelona boss Xavi has claimed there are no friendlies for the Blaugrana, while sidestepping questions over a potential move for Sevilla s Jules Kounde.

The Catalan club continued their pre-season preparations in the United States with a 1-0 victory in an overseas iteration of El Clasico against Real Madrid, thanks to a glorious strike from new recruit Raphinha in Las Vegas.

With Robert Lewandowski handed a club debut, the future continues to look rosy for Barca as they seek to reverse two years of diminishing gains with a high-risk transfer policy to reclaim their crown in La Liga.

Part of that process comes down to a mental belief that every game is there to be won, per their coach, who says that even pre-season tests cannot be interpreted as kick-about gam…

Everton manager David Moyes has made no bones about the fact that his number one target for the opening of the 2008/9 season is the Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher.

The bid is expected to be in the region of around 4 million.
With the departure of Lee Carsley to Birmingham City, a hole has been left ion the midfield where Scottish international would fit in best.

Fletcher may himself be quite keen on the move since he has never quite made it as a regular starter for the double champions and with the likely emergence of both Nani and Anderson as more regular starters this season, his future, for the foreseeable one, may be confined largely to the bench.

Last season the twenty four year old midfielder made only twenty three appearances in all compet…

Mauricio Pochettino says bringing silverware to Tottenham will play a pivotal role in convincing Harry Kane to stay.

Kane s double was crucial as Spurs saw off AFC Wimbledon 3-0 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

The England international had not been expected to feature at Wembley, but he captained Spurs and scored two goals in the space of 111 seconds after the League One side had earlier hit the crossbar.

Philippe Coutinho s £142million move from Liverpool to Barcelona has cast a long shadow over third-round weekend and Pochettino has seen his star man linked with a move to Real Madrid in recent months.

Like the rest of the Premier League s front-runners, Spurs look unable to chase down Manchester City, so going better than last term s run to the FA…

Real Sociedad head coach Jagoba Arrasate is hopeful he will keep hold of in-demand pair Carlos Vela and Antoine Griezmann.

Vela enjoyed his best season thus far, scoring 16 league goals as Sociedad finished seventh in La Liga last term, leading to reports he may leave the team.

His form has not gone unnoticed with the striker being linked to former club Arsenal, who inserted a €4 million buy-back clause when the player departed for Sociedad in 2012.

But Arrasate remains optimistic that the 25-year-old will choose to stay at Anoeta next season.

He told AS: I know how Carlos Vela is and I understand that he s happy here and if that s the case, there s always a chance he ll stay. I m feeling optimistic.

Sociedad team-mate Griezmann is also being linked with…

Hertha Berlin have agreed a one-year contract extension with midfielder Marcel Ndjeng.

The 32-year-old former Cameroon international made 17 Bundesliga appearances last season, having been troubled by injury early in the campaign.

He is now under contract until June 2015 and will therefore continue his association with the club he joined on a free transfer from Augsburg in 2012.

Ndjeng helped Hertha to promotion in his debut season at the Olympiastadion and will now seek to aid their attempts to improve on last term s 11th-placed finish.

Hertha have been busy in the transfer market of late, signing Jens Hegeler, Valentin Stocker, Marvin Plattenhardt and Genki Haraguchi.

Coach Jos Luhukay is also reportedly close to completing the signing of Dutch defender …

Market: Columbus Crew win

Odds: 10/11 @

Looking to widen their buffer in the play-off spots this weekend, Columbus Crew will welcome Chicago to the Historic Crew Stadium in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Starting with the hosts, last seen prior to the international break landing a deserved 2-1 victory against Toronto on home soil, Columbus Crew have managed to prove that those back-to-back defeats last month were just a minor blip. Tipped as one of the standout picks to once again land themselves a play-off spot in the Eastern Conference, Head Coach Caleb Porter has seen his side largely impress both on MLS and Concacaf Champions League duties. Smelling what is a golden chance to make it three wins on the bounce when they return to action this weekend, Colum…

Arsenal finished with a 100 per cent record in Europa League Group B as Mike Arteta s side signed off with a 4-2 win at Dundalk.

Still smarting from Sunday s 2-0 loss to Tottenham in the north London derby, the Gunners made it six wins on the bounce in a major European competition for the first time since 2005.

Arteta, who unsurprisingly made sweeping changes from the weekend for what amounted to a dead rubber, saw Eddie Nketiah break the deadlock before Mohamed Elneny s sweet strike put his side firmly in the ascendancy.

It was not entirely one-way traffic, though, and Jordan Flores thrashed a powerful shot beyond Runar Alex Runarsson to give Dundalk a moment to savour.

However, second-half goals from Joe Willock and substitute Folarin Balogun put the ga…

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is set to be confirmed as a Southampton player this week, as he nears the Bayern Munich exit door.

Hojbjerg stated his desire to leave the Bundesliga giants ahead of next season in May, having spent the 2015-16 season on loan at Schalke.

German media suggest a €15million deal has been agreed between Saints and Bayern, with the midfielder s agent confirming the move to Danish publication Ekstra Bladet.

Hojbjerg will help fill the gap left by Victor Wanyama s move to Tottenham, as Claude Puel looks to build on the fine work done by Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman at St Mary s Stadium in recent seasons.

Koeman broke Pochettino s record for leading Southampton to a record tally of Premier League points in his first season, before…

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos says victory in the Champions League final two years ago does not make him any less determined to triumph on Saturday.

Zinedine Zidane s side meet city rivals Atletico Madrid at San Siro in a repeat of the 2014 showdown in Lisbon, which Madrid won 4-1 after extra-time.

Ramos headed in an equaliser in second-half stoppage time to deny Atletico victory in that encounter, before goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo ultimately secured Madrid s 10th European title.

And the Spain international says he is as motivated as ever to see off their old enemy and end Zidane s first five months in charge with a trophy.

After that experience [in Lisbon] I don t think we need to change anything at all, he said.  I m ver…