Sports

Wayne Rooney said that he offered Marcus Rashford words of advice just weeks before the Manchester United forward scored six goals in nine matches for the Red Devils.

The pair spoke during the preparations for England s 3-0 win over the USA in November, which marked the end of Rooney s record-breaking international career, at which point Rashford had scored just two goals in 2018-19.

Since then, then the 21-year-old has taken his season s tally to eight in all competitions and Rooney shed light on the conversation they had about his game.

When I went back to play for the national team against the USA, I spoke to Marcus and he was trying too much, Rooney told ESPN.

He was trying too hard, he was working too hard, he was getting tired at the end of games.…

Atletico Madrid held talks with Djibril Sidibe over a transfer last year, the France and Monaco right-back has claimed.

Sidibe is one of the few remaining members of the Monaco side that won Ligue 1 and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2016-17 still plying his trade at Stade Louis II.

And the 26-year-old could have followed Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko out of the exit door had negotiations with Atleti  who did secure the services of Sidibe s former team-mate Thomas Lemar before the start of this season  come to fruition.

Atletico Madrid, I do not know at all. We were in good discussions, but it was complicated in relation to my health after the World Cup, he told Telefoot.

It s a big clu…

Peter Bosz has vowed to be careful with Mario Gotze as the Borussia Dortmund playmaker makes his way back to full fitness.

Gotze made his first appearance since February as Dortmund defeated Japanese side Urawa Reds 3-2 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

The Germany international, who scored the winner in the 2014 World Cup final, is recovering from a metabolic disorder and Bosz will not rush his return.

First of all, I am glad for Mario himself, he has not trained or played for a long time, Bosz said. 

We have to be careful with him.

We are glad that he could play for 30 minutes today. He was also very happy about the game.

Now we have to look every day as it goes on, and we hope that he can take further steps quickly and can p…

Real Madrid will play their first three LaLiga fixtures away from home, with the first Clasico coming in October and a derby meeting against Atletico Madrid following in December.

Madrid played the entirety of the 2020-21 season at their Valdebebas training base, with the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium hosting matches behind closed doors as redevelopment work took place at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Los Blancos will be back at their famous stadium on September 12, when they host Celta Vigo, but new boss Carlo Ancelotti – back for his second spell in charge of Madrid – must first tackle three matches on the road.

Madrid start against Deportivo Alaves on August 15, with trips to Levante and Real Betis coming before the first international break of the season.

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What the papers say

Manchester United are preparing a big-money move for a new striker, according to the Daily Telegraph. The paper reports United will make a £50million swoop for Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund, 20, from Atalanta.

Another Dane could be heading out of the Premier League with Atletico Madrid approaching Tottenham over a move for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, reports the Daily Mail. Bayern Munich have also been linked with the 27-year-old midfielder.

Chelsea will have to dig deep in their pursuit of Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo. The Daily Telegraph reports they will need to pay more than £100m for the 21-year-old from Ecuador.

West Ham are looking at a potential move for midfielder Denis Zakaria from Juventus. The Guardian said the Switzerland int…

Erik ten Hag admits Manchester United were left disappointed after failing to top their Europa League group, despite a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Thursday.

A triumph by two or more goals would have seen United advance as Group E winners by virtue of a superior head-to-head record over La Real.

Alejandro Garnacho s 17th-minute goal gave United hope, but that proved to be their only shot on target during a lacklustre display at the Reale Arena.

Ten Hag, whose side subsequently face a play-off against one of the teams knocked out of the Champions League, told BT Sport: You do not always get what you deserve.

Of course, we are disappointed we didn t score two goals because that s what we needed. We want always to be number one, and when we aren t, we are…

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah became the leading goalscorer in the history of England s Under-21s side after netting against Turkey.

Nketiah scored in the 88th minute on Tuesday, making it 2-0 to Aidy Boothroyd s side, before Halil Dervisoglu pulled one back for Turkey in stoppage time.

Just three minutes after missing a penalty, Nketiah took in a pass from Ryan Sessegnon and lifted a neat finish over the onrushing Altay Bayindir.

It took Nketiah onto 14 goals from 12 appearances for England s U21s, making him the record goalscorer ahead of Francis Jeffers and Alan Shearer.

Having spent the first half of 2019-20 on loan at Leeds United, Nketiah returned to Arsenal for the second part of the campaign.

From 13 Premier League appearances, the 21-y…

Ruud Vormer will leave Roda for Feyenoord on a free transfer at the end of the season.

The Rotterdam giants said their official website that the holding midfielder will sign a three-year deal after undergoing a medical in January.

The 23-year-old is a product of the AZ youth academy, but never really managed to secure regular first-team action at the Eredivisie table-toppers and joined Roda in 2008.

He has since developed into a key player at the Kerkrade side and has made more than 100 league appearances for Roda.

The midfielder had an expiring contract at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium and refused to sign a new deal.

Vitesse were also interested in signing Vormer, but he has now opted to join Feyenoord instead, much to the delight of sporting dir…

A Drew Brees master class inspired the New Orleans Saints to a 49-24 win over the New York Giants in the NFL on Monday.

Brees passed for 363 yards, four touchdowns and added one himself in the 2009 Super Bowl champions comfortable victory as they kept their one-game lead over Atlanta in the NFC South division.

The 32-year-old became the first player ever to achieve the feat on Monday night football and became just the second player after Peyton Manning to reach 30,000 yards in a seven-season run from 2005.

Brees heroics overshadowed the result but in truth it was an easy win for the Saints with the match as good as over at half-time when they led 24-3.

After a scoreless first quarter, Brees burst into action as Lance Moore (twice) and Jimmy Graham scored…

Seattle have announced that goalkeeper Terry Boss has retired from football, following a series of concussions during the 2011 season.

We are going to miss Terry, Sounders FC manager Sigi Schmid said.

He was a valuable member of the Sounders and it is unfortunate his career has come to a close. We wish him well and good health in his future.

Boss, 30, acted as the team s back-up goalkeeper to Kasey Keller for the past three seasons, with Keller also announcing his retirement this offseason.

It has been a great honour and privilege to play for Sounders FC, Boss said.

This has obviously been difficult, but the support I have received from my family, friends, teammates, coaches, front office and fans has been tremendous. From the top down thi…