Pepe confirms retirement from football

Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement with FC Twente for the transfer of Belgium international winger Nacer Chadli,  understands.

The deal, rumoured to be in the region of £7 million, is dependent on Chadli agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.

Chadli, 23, is on the verge of becoming Spurs second signing of the summer, joining Brazil international midfielder Paulinho who joined Tottenham for a club-record transfer fee of £17 million from Corinthians  at White Hart Lane.

The 23-year-old, who made his international debut against Finland on 9 February 2011, will join compatriots Moussa Dembélé and Jan Vertonghen in North London, adding to the formidable Belgian contingent in the English Premier League.

Chadli scored 12 goa…

Aston Villa will look for a response from back-to-back Premier League defeats when they travel to Stoke City on Saturday.

Despite sitting 11th in the table, Villa have lost consecutive matches to Fulham and Manchester United, failing to score and conceding five in the process.

Villa have won just two of their last 10, but have shown an ability to grind out draws and manager Paul Lambert is encouraged by his squad s attitude.

We re stronger as a group and we re growing stronger all the time, Lambert told the Birmingham Mail.

Defeats are part of the job, but you simply dust yourself down and get right back at it. This attitude is increasingly evident in our play and the way we can deal with adversity.

We re still a work in progress and we re nowhere near the …

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will be ready to put up a fight when they take on Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie at El Madrigal on Thursday.

The Premier League side are being plagued by injury problems and will be without a number of first-team regulars in Spain.

However, Klopp remains optimistic about his side s chances and does not think their busy schedule and injury concerns will be a major obstacle.

Momentum is not about having the best squad ready to play. Momentum is to be ready to fight, Klopp told the Liverpool website.

Villarreal also have had a lot of games. They play after our game against Real Sociedad and have a little fight for the Champions League.

We need to be prepared. It isn t about always havi…

Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted he wants to stay at Real Madrid for the rest of his career after signing a new five-year contract on Sunday.

The 28-year-old had been linked with a close-season return to Manchester United or a move to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, but has now put an end to speculation regarding his future by putting pen to paper on an extended deal at the Bernabeu.

And the Portuguese forward who has scored over 200 goals for Real since departing Old Trafford in 2009 said that while he was flattered to attract interest from other clubs, he never wanted to leave the Spanish capital.

Everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years, he said. It was a club that gave me many things and I don t forget that.

But Manchester is in the past. Real M…

Alberto Paloschi is set to leave Swansea City with Italian side Atalanta all but agreed a deal for the Italian, according to

The 26-year-old struggled to get his feet on the ground in the Premier League scoring only two goals following his £8 million January move from Chievo.

Swansea are willing to take a loss on Alberto Paloschi as the player looks set to return to Serie A with Atalanta undestrood to have already made arrangements with Swansea over the summer transfer worth £5 million plus an additional million in performance-rekated bonuses.

The Italian striker is set to arrive in Bergamo to undergo a medical and finalise his move according to the Italian media outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.

Paloschi will work under Atalanta new coach Gian Piero Gaspe…

Joachim Low refused to blame the referee for awarding a contentious penalty against Bastian Schweinsteiger in Thursday s Euro 2016 semi-final defeat to France and believes his side deserved to progress to the decider.

Antoine Griezmann was the hero for hosts France as he scored twice in Marseille to secure a 2-0 victory over the world champions.

There was an air of controversy over France s opening goal on the stroke of half-time, though, when captain Schweinsteiger was harshly penalised for handball in the penalty area.

However, head coach Low had no intention of pointing the finger of blame at ref Nicola Rizzoli and put the decision down to mere bad luck , but said Germany were the better team at Stade Velodrome.

I don t say anything about referees dec…

Al Ahly will be out to take control of CAF Confederation Cup Group B when they travel to Sewe Sport on Sunday.

The Egyptian giants are the only side to have registered a win in their group so far, which puts them top with four points.

As a result, the reigning CAF Champions League winners have managed to put their elimination from that competition behind them and forge ahead in their pool.

Since being unceremoniously dumped out of Africa s premier club competition by Al Ahli Benghazi 4-2 on aggregate, the Egyptians beat Nkana 2-0 on matchday one, before a 1-1 draw in Tunisia against Etoile Sahel.

Interim coach Fathy Mabrouk has underlined his desire to seal qualification for the semi-finals as quickly as possible, and a win in Ivory Coast could see them move four…

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Claudio Ranieri is set to make a bow as Fulham new boss this weekend with out-of-form Cottagers playing host to fellow strugglers Southampton.

Fulham

A consistent run of poor defensive displays have not only left Fulham at the bottom of the Premier League table but it also ended up costing Slavisa Jokanovic his job. Fulham officials have hired the man who wrote history with Leicester City in 2015/16 and will be hoping his vast experience would be enough to save Cottagers from relegation.

The Tinkerman had two weeks during the international break to lay grounds for a new chapter at Craven Cottage and his first test will be the Saturday’s game against Southampton. Fulham have lost six Premier League games o…

Alan Pardew says Jay Rodriguez could have a chance of making England s World Cup squad after the West Brom forward scored a brace in their FA Cup win over Liverpool.

Rodriguez scored after seven minutes at Anfield to cancel out Roberto Firmino s opener for the home side, and struck again four minutes later to give the Baggies the lead.

The game ended 3-2 to the visitors and former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said Rodriguez was showing the form that earned him his first and only England cap in 2013, during his time at Southampton.

Pardew told The Mirror: It s nice of Steven to say that. Jay is definitely starting to find his feet.

I don t know if he is at that level yet, but if he plays like that until the end of the season then he is going to have a…

Jurgen Klopp frustrated by a goalless draw against Man United / Image via express.co.uk

Liverpool’s Premier League four-match winning haul was put to a halt on Monday night at Anfield as the Reds were forced to settle for a goalless draw against Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s team was a better side in the fixture on a frustrating night as England’s most fierce rivals shared spoils in the league for the first time since 2011.

Here are the five things we learned from tonight’s blockbuster at Anfield:

Only one team wanted to play

Much to the contrast of high-pressure build-up, the encounter between Liverpool and Manchester United turned out to be quite a disappointing affair.

Having come to Anfield with clear instructions from their mana…