Rumour Has It: Atletico begin talks with Barcelona´s Rakitic

With several high-profile teams already eliminated, Arsene Wenger is keen for Arsenal to capitalise against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

Arsene Wenger has urged Arsenal not to waste their opportunity to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals when they host Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Arsenal ended a nine-year wait for a major trophy by beating Hull City in last season s final last May and with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham having been knocked out in round four, the Londoners are well-fancied to retain their crown.

However, in Middlesbrough Arsenal face a side who are top of the Championship and brimming with confidence following six straight wins in all competitions and having gone 10 unbeaten.

Aitor Karanka s men have …

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has laughed off suggestions he could replace Rafael Benitez at Real Madrid.

Benitez is under pressure at the Santiago Bernabeu following their 4-0 Clasico humbling by Barcelona last month while speculation persists about a difficult working relationship with a number of the club s senior players, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

Madrid president Florentino Perez has publicly backed the former Liverpool and Inter boss but rumours persist that his days in the Spanish capital could be numbered.

One name that has been thrown up as a potential replacement is Guardiola, who has yet to commit to extending his Bayern deal that expires at the end of the season and has also been linked with Manchester City and Manchester United.

The 44-…

Pep Guardiola is wary of Manchester City s Champions League foes Napoli, labelling Maurizio Sarri s men as one of the best three teams in Europe.

City avoided Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at Thursday s draw, the big guns who have habitually dogged their group-stage campaigns since ascending to the continent s top competition in 2011-12 a season where defeat in Naples preceded round-robin elimination.

Shakhtar Donetsk represented a more favourable pot one opponent but, in a group also containing Eredivisie champions Feyenoord, it was Napoli who grabbed Guardiola s attention.

When the third pot team is Napoli the best team in the pot it is complicated, he told a news conference ahead of City s Premier League trip to Bournemouth on Saturday.

In…

Hat-trick hero Christian Eriksen was the difference as Denmark silenced a thunderous Dublin crowd to beat the Republic of Ireland 5-1 and book their ticket to the 2018 World Cup.

The sides had played out a numb goalless draw in Copenhagen and the six previous play-off games across the globe had all finished 0-0, with tensions at their highest, but this return leg was a superb contest and the touch paper was lit by Irish defender Shane Duffy scoring a sixth-minute header.

Ireland s inability to score in the first leg meant their lead was as precarious as could be, however, and two goals inside three minutes put Denmark in firm control.

Cyrus Christie was unfortunate to turn into his own goal, but Eriksen s brilliant strike oozed the kind of class needed to settle …

Laurent Depoitre cancelled out Charlie Austin s header as Huddersfield Town fought back to earn a 1-1 Premier League draw at Southampton on Saturday.

Austin continued his recent good run of form with his fifth goal in seven appearances and fifth in his last eight outings against the Terriers but the striker could face retrospective action from the Football Association for a late challenge on visiting goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.

Having nodded the Saints ahead midway through the first half, Austin was perhaps fortunate to escape punishment for drawing blood from Lossl s nose by leaving his foot in as the Dane gathered a throughball.

Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino invited speculation surrounding Virgil van Dijk s future by leaving the Netherlands defender out wit…

Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Sergio Gomez from Anderlecht, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Premier League champions have been struggling to nail down a designated left-back to feature regularly in Pep Guardiola s team. Benjamin Mendy is unlikely to play again following the criminal process currently progressing against him. Oleksandr Zinchenko, who used to perform frequently on the left defensive flank, has joined Arsenal, leaving Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo as the only senior fullback options and both prefer to play on the right.

City were believed to be close to signing Marc Cucurella from Brighton and Hove Albion, but Chelsea have managed to steal the spotlight there at the eleventh hour and agree a deal with the Seagulls.

At the age of…

Wendell Lira claimed the Puskas Award for the outstanding goal of 2015 for his stunning overhead kick for Goianesia against Atletico Goianiense.

The acrobatic strike capped a fine team move in Brazil s Campeonato Goiano to earn Wendell 46.7 per cent in the public poll with 1.6million fans voting.

Lionel Messi (33.3 per cent) and Alessandro Florenzi (7.1 per cent) were also shortlisted.

Florenzi was nominated for his long-range strike for Roma against Barca in this season s Champions League and Messi for his wonderful solo goal for Barcelona against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final.

Since its launch in 2009, Messi has been shortlisted for the Puskas Award in 2010, 2011 and 2012 without ever finishing in the top three.

Wendell…

Serbian defender Neven Subotic is on the verge of leaving Borussia Dortmund, .

Once a key member of the squad at Signal-Iduna Park, the 27-year-old has struggled for playing time of late, and he only made six league appearances last term.

Despite losing Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich, the Millionaires will not stand in Subotic’s way as he looks to move in search of first team football, and it appears that a farewell is nearing closer.

Namely, Bild claims that the defender was allowed to miss training yesterday in order to speak to an interested club, and he should soon be leaving BVB for greener pastures.

Dortmund want around €5 million for the experienced footballer, and they should have no problems finding a buyer for the Serbian stopper.

Su…

Champions League winners Real Madrid will have little to no sympathy over the uproar their Julen Lopetegui announcement has caused just days before Spain are to kick off their World Cup campaign.

Just as they should.

Los Blancos named Spain boss Julen Lopetegui as a new head coach on a three-year deal on Tuesday. Lopetegui is set to take over from Zinedine Zidane who led the club to three successive Champions league titles.

The regal club opted to approach Julen Lopetegui regardless of his ongoing commitments with Spain and without any regard to the fact he has only recently signed a contract extension with the Spanish FA. With Florentino Perez insisting on a swift solution to their managerial vacancy, Real Madrid have displayed an apparent lack of respect to…

Ched Evans hopes he can earn a Wales recall upon resuming his career after being found not guilty of rape in a retrial.

Evans, sentenced to five years in prison in 2012 after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman, was cleared of any wrongdoing this week after his original verdict was quashed in April this year and a retrial was ordered.

Since his release from prison in October 2014, Sheffield United, Hartlepool United and Oldham Athletic all pulled out of deals to sign the striker over fan backlashes before Chesterfield handed Evans a one-year deal this season.

The 27-year-old, who made 13 international appearances between 2008 and 2011, scored four goals in seven League One games before he was stood down from first-team action as the trial was in prog…