United Arab Emirates businessman Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim the mastermind behind the purchase of Manchester City is to buy 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth it was revealed by the club on Wednesday.
Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak has been looking to sell the club for a while and after seemingly successful talks held in Rome where Al Fahim is attending the Champions League final Pompey issued a statement.
A period of formal legal and financial due diligence will commence next week, it read.
We cannot make any further comment on the future structure of the club until this period has been completed.
Portsmouth also added that they hoped the deal will be concluded as soon as possible .
Al Fahim is no longer part of the consortium that owns Manchester…
Socceroos captain Lucas Neill has been nominated for the AFC Player of the Year award, while Mark Schwarzer is also up for an honour.
Neill has been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation s highest honour alongside Iran s Ali Karimi and Mohsen Bengar, as well as Zheng Zhi of China and Korea Republic s Lee Keun-ho.
The AFC Player of the Year award remains a controversial prize as only players who can attend the presentations, which this year will be held in Kuala Lumpur on November 29, can win.
Neill, who plays for Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates, will become Australia s second-ever winner of the award if he triumphs, after fellow Socceroos defender Sasa Ognenovski was named the AFC Player of the Year in 2010.
Schwarzer is one of three nominat…
Luciano Spalletti hinted that Victor Osimhen could be fit to play in Napoli s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Milan on Wednesday.
The striker has 25 goals in 29 games for I Partenopei this season, but sustained a thigh injury while representing Nigeria during last month s international break, causing him to miss last Sunday s 4-0 loss to Milan.
Napoli recovered from that humbling and took themselves closer to a first Scudetto in 30 years with a 2-1 win at Lecce on Friday, when Osimhen was again absent.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo s header was cancelled out by Federico Di Francesco, before a second-half own goal from Antonino Gallo handed Napoli three points.
It wasn t easy to secure this result after last Sunday s defeat and some injuries, Spall…
Mikel Arteta hailed Aaron Ramsdale for producing magic moments that could be pivotal in the Premier League title race after Arsenal s 2-2 draw at Liverpool on Sunday.
The Arsenal goalkeeper produced a trio of expert saves to deny Liverpool a late winner after Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino scored to drag the Reds back into the game from 2-0 down.
Ramsdale denied Darwin Nunez when one-on-one, superbly tipped a deflected Salah curling effort around the post and somehow thwarted Ibrahima Konate from point-blank range in the dying seconds.
Arteta likened Ramsdale s influence to the impact Alisson has had for Liverpool in recent years after the England international starred at Anfield, where Salah missed a second-half penalty.
The Arsenal manager said durin…
Sky Sports understands that Aston Villa are lining up a move for Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
The Clarets are ready listen to offers for both Heaton and fellow shot-stopper Joe Hart after offering Nick Pope a new deal.
Heaton has played two hundred times for the Lancashire club, a tally which includes half of last season s league fixtures after he returned from a serious injury which kept him out of the 2018 World Cup finals in Brazil.
Villa are busy strengthening their squad after returning to the top flight after a three year absence.
They had been linked with a move for Stoke City s Jack Butland, though at £7m Heaton is valued at less than a third of his fellow England international.
Dean Smith s Villains start the campaign with a tri…
Erling Haaland has handed Manchester City a major injury boost after returning to training.
Haaland, with 19 goals in all competitions this season, has been sidelined with a foot injury since City’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on December 6.
But the Norway international was pictured in training with the squad ahead of their third-round FA Cup clash against Huddersfield on Sunday.
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Jeremy Doku, who has missed his side’s last eight matches with a muscular injury, also trained with his team-mates.
Both players had previously been training individually.
The imminent return of Haaland and Doku will send a warning to City’s rivals with Kevin De Bruyne also stepping up his return.
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Fabio Capello on Thursday warned his England stars not to get carried away by the rapidly-escalating hype over their chances of lifting the World Cup in South Africa next year.
A flawless qualifying campaign, culminating in Wednesday s 5-1 demolition of Croatia, has seen England installed behind Brazil and Spain as third favourites to win Africa s first World Cup.
Capello believes he has the players to match the world s best but he recognises that further improvement and good fortune with injuries will be required if England are to finally end what will be, by next year, a 44-year wait to lift a major trophy.
We made the first step, and we go to South Africa but it is only a first step, the Italian said Thursday. We are a good team, we are playing well but we h…
Hamburg attacker Rafael van der Vaart has hinted he would be prepared to take a pay cut to remain at the club.
The Dutchman s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, but he is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal.
However, the former Real Madrid and Tottenham man insists money will not be an issue when it comes to discussing an extension.
It would certainly not fail on the question of money, the 31-year-old is quoted as saying by Bild.
Everyone knows HSV is my club. I m open to everything.
Van der Vaart has scored 13 goals in 61 Bundesliga appearances since rejoining Hamburg from Tottenham in 2012.
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Victor Wanyama believes Southampton have the strength in depth to be able to handle the gruelling fixture schedule that comes with playing in the UEFA Europa League.
Clubs have typically struggled to replicate successful form in campaigns that include Europa League fixtures Everton last season finished six places and 25 points adrift of their 2013-14 results.
Wanyama expects Ronald Koeman s side to cope with the pressures, though, and believes their performance in Sunday s 2-2 draw with Newcastle United has already proved they are up to the task.
We know it s not easy, he told the Southern Daily Echo. But we showed in the second half [against Newcastle] what we can do, so I think we can cope with it playing Thursday and Sunday.
We just need the same spi…
We re just a few days away from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and while some teams may not be going into the tournament with all that much momentum, Brazil are certainly ready for whatever comes their way in Russia. The South Americans are the favourites to win it all next month, and they concluded their preparations in style with a convincing 3-0 victory over a strong Austria side.
The Europeans may not have qualified for the WC, but since bringing in a new coach towards the end of 2017, they ve been unstoppable that is, until they came up against Brazil. The five-time world champions are going in search of their sixth title in Russia, as they attempt to erase the painful memory of their 7-1 defeat against Germany four years ago in their own backyard.
In terms of this game,…