Mbappe injury ´nothing serious´, says Deschamps

Empoli goalkeeper Maurizio Pugliesi broke the record for oldest ever Serie A debutant after starting in their 2-1 win over Torino on Sunday.

Pugliesi, who turns 40 in December, was signed by Empoli in 2014 but had only spent time on the bench for the Italian outfit across two seasons. 

However, with Empoli guaranteed survival and in no contention for any European spots, Pugliesi was given his chance to debut against Torino.

In doing so he eclipsed the previous record of oldest Serie A debutant, set by a 38-year-old Amilcar Barbuy for Lazio in 1931.

39/5 Maurizio Pugliesi has become the oldest player to make his debut in Serie A (39 years 5 months). Dream.

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)

Goals from Massimo Maccarone and Piotr Zielinski had E…

Theo Walcott dazzled for England on Wednesday, scoring a hat-trick to lead his side to a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Croatia.

The young Arsenal striker took advantage of a bad bounce to score England opener on 26 minutes, tucking home after Danijel Pranjic s attempted clearance hit Robert Kovac in the back.

Kovac then made matters worse for Croatia in the 51st minute when he was dismissed for raising an elbow to the eye of Joe Cole when going up for a header. Cole was taken off for treatment and did not return to the match.

England then poured it on, Walcott bagging the second on the hour, and Wayne Rooney making it 3-0 just three minutes later.

Substitute Mario Mandzukic managed to pull one back for Croatia in the 77th minute, but the superb Walco…

Championship promotion hopefuls Fulham have completed the signing of Thomas Eisfeld from Arsenal, .

The 21 year old made just two senior appearances for the Gunners since signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2012, one coming in each of last two League Cup campaigns while internationally, he won his first cap for Germany’s U20’s earlier this year.

He becomes Felix Magath’s seventh new signing of the summer, a list which also includes last season’s Championship top scorer Ross McCormack, as he looks to guide to London club back to the top flight at the first attempt.

Fulham begin the season with a trip to Ipswich Town before back to back home games against fellow Londoners Millwall and newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers.

They are joint third f…

Stephen Kenny’s reign as Republic of Ireland manager reached the point of no return after a comprehensive 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Greece finally killed off any hope of Euro 2024 qualification.

First-half goals from Giorgos Giakoumakis and Giorgos Masouras at a sparsely-populated Aviva Stadium plunged Ireland’s shambolic Group B campaign further into the mire and left Kenny, whose tenure is due to be reviewed next month, with nowhere to turn.

His team has managed to take just three points from its first six games of the campaign – and those from Gibraltar, who they face again in Faro on Monday evening – and for all his claims to have revitalised his squad with young, hungry players, he has not been rewarded with what he needs most – results.

Gus …

Birmingham City have sacked manager Garry Monk in a move the club believes to be in their long-term interests .

Monk s former assistant Pep Clotet has been appointed caretaker head coach with immediate effect.

Former Swansea City, Leeds United and Middlesbrough boss Monk took over at St Andrew s in March 2018 and steered Birmingham to safety in the Championship.

Monk then led Birmingham to a 17th-place finish last season and he will now move on after 15 months at the helm.

The board of directors believe this to be in the long-term interests of the club. We thank Garry for his efforts and we wish him the best for the future, said Birmingham in a statement on Tuesday.

The board of directors are hopeful that over time the team can adopt a fresh and…

Bayern Munich forward Xherdan Shaqiri claims that he was the subject of an unsuccessful bid from Liverpool before the World Cup.

The Switzerland international was linked with a move to Anfield before switching to the German champions from Basel in 2012.

Shaqiri has collected two Bundesliga titles, the UEFA Champions League and two DFB-Pokals since moving to the Allianz Arena, but has not been a regular starter due to the presence of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

That led to speculation that the 22-year-old may seek to leave Bavaria, and a rumours of a transfer to Liverpool resurfaced in the close-season.

And Shaqiri has now revealed that the Premier League giants made an offer for his services, but Bayern were unwilling sellers.

Liverpool made …

​Eden Hazard believes Chelsea have assembled a strong enough squad to go all the way in the UEFA Champions League this season.

The Belgium international arrived at Stamford Bridge in June 2012 a month after the club secured their maiden European crown against Bayern Munich.

Since Hazard s arrival, Chelsea have gone out in the group stages and were beaten semi-finalists last term.

With the likes of Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, Cesc Fabregas and Loic Remy joining the club during the close-season, Hazard is confident they have what it takes to reach the final in Berlin next May.

My ambition in the Champions League is pretty much the same as it has been since I’ve been at Chelsea, he told the club s official website. Personally and collectively it is to go …

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected an appeal made by Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu against an order to pay Chelsea £14.5m in damages. The Blues sacked the Romania international in 2005 after he tested positive for cocaine. “The Court of Arbitration for Sport has today dismissed the appeal filed by the Romanian football player, Adrian Mutu, against the decision rendered by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber on May 7, 2008 in which he was order to pay €17,173,990 in compensation… for breach of contract,” a statement read.

…

Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder is on the verge of joining Galatasaray according to his agent

Inter and Holland international Wesley Sneijder is set to make a £10million move to the Turkish top flight with Galatasaray.

However, the Dutch playmaker is allegedly not convinced that the move is the right one for him.

Interest

The Dutchman’s agent Soren Lerby has revealed publicly not he is about to make the move.

Whether that’s to create interest from elsewhere or whether it is to give fans of the star information about their hero remains to be seen.

There has been constant speculation throughout his career that the Dutch international is moving to the Premier League. Tottenham are currently being linked with a last-ditch move for Sneijd…

Bournemouth midfielder Jack Wilshere almost fell out of love with the game during his recovery from injury last season.

Wilshere, 24, has earned an England recall after impressing at Dean Court, on loan from Arsenal.

The midfielder s injury-riddled career continued last season. He made only three appearances in 2015-16 due to a broken leg.

It was difficult at times. I was injured and it wasn t as if it was my first injury, Wilshere said.

I nearly did [fall out of love with the game]. The injury last season was the hardest to take mentally, because I have been through a lot.

I missed the fight of the Premier League, being involved in all the big games and making a difference for a team and I wanted to feel that again and almost fall back in love…