Aston Villa have appointed Hendrik Almstadt as sporting director.

The 40-year-old German moves to Villa Park from Arsenal, where he spent the last four years, tasked with improving Villa s scouting network.

Almstadt is the first person to hold a sporting director role at Aston Villa and the club s chief executive Tom Fox, who worked at Arsenal between 2009 and 2014, said: I m really pleased to welcome Hendrik to Aston Villa.

I was able to see first hand the excellent work he did at Arsenal and he will add tremendous value across our entire football set-up.

Almstadt starts in his post on Monday and said: I can t wait to start my new role at Aston Villa. It is a club with huge potential, a rich history and deep roots in Birmingham, the Midlands, and withi…

i said Spanish and European champions Real Madrid do not want to play beautiful football like their bitter rivals Barcelona.

Madrid swept LaLiga and Champions League honours last season but Zinedine Zidane s men have struggled this term, already 16 points behind runaway leaders Barca and Lionel Messi in the league.

Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi believes Madrid lack the culture of beautiful football at the Santiago Bernabeu, highlighting Jose Mourinho s time in charge from 2010-13.

Barcelona is the final exam for a player, Xavi – who now plays for Al Sadd in Qatar – told El Pais. It is the most difficult club and the most demanding in the world. Madrid do not play so beautifully. At the Bernabeu, if a defender hoofs the ball into the stand it is fine. That…

Raphinha has thanked Marcelo Bielsa for setting him on the road to stardom with Barcelona and Brazil after their time working together at Leeds United.

Tricky winger Raphinha s form for Leeds in the 2021-22 campaign in particular earned him his first caps for Brazil and ultimately led to a big-money switch to Barcelona this month.

The 25-year-old contributed to 29 Premier League goals for Leeds – five more than any team-mate – with his goal involvements helping to keep them in the division last season.

Across his 19 months in England s top flight, only Tottenham s Son Heung-min (131) created more chances than Raphinha s tally of 129, highlighting his creativity.

Raphinha thrived in Bielsa s physically demanding system, and also impressed under the A…

I ve been in this business 45, 46 years, Fatih Terim said on Monday. I know some people don t like me. But almost all the big achievements in Turkey were achieved by me.

Right or wrong, Turkey s charismatic coach has fashioned another moment for his list.

Turkey fans had demanded a response to their side s abject performances so far and were in ear-splitting form inside Stade Bollaert-Delelis as they met a Czech Republic team buoyed by a comeback against Croatia. They were rewarded for their faith.

Gutsy, combative and ruthless, Turkey snatched a priceless 2-0 victory to give themselves a chance of progressing to the Euro 2016 knockouts as a best third-placed team, sending their opponents packing in the process just as they did with a 3-2 win at Euro 2008.

…

What the papers say

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is reportedly weighing up making a bid for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves in January, according to the i newspaper.

Phillips has fallen out of favour at Manchester City, while the Mirror reports a meeting between Premier League shareholders could block Newcastle’s move for Neves as both Newcastle and Al-Hilal are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Crystal Palace forward Eberechi Eze is close to signing a new contract with the club after he reportedly agreed to the deal in principle, the Daily Mail reports.

The Mirror says Bayern Munich will join the race to sign 24-year-old Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. Zubimendi has played 12 games in LaLiga this…

Mircea Lucescu s Shakhtar Donetsk booked a spot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League after Eduardo s late goal sealed a 1-0 win at Anderlecht, putting the gloss on a 4-1 aggregate triumph.

The Ukrainians had Oleksandr Kucher sent off six minutes from time, but had always looked comfortable sitting on their lead and Kara Mbodji was given his marching orders soon after to level the scores on that front.

Anderlecht had the ball in the net after 22 minutes, but Mbodji s header was ruled out for a push on Facundo Ferreyra.

Stefano Okaka could have had a penalty after the interval when he was bundled over by Ferreyra, but the referee again ruled against the Belgian team.

Kucher and Mbodji were sent off in the closing stages before Eduardo tidily …

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Union Berlin are believed to be interested in signing Robin Gosens from Inter Milan. The initial claim of that interest came from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, but it has since been confirmed for Sky in Germany by Florian Plettenberg.

Union surprised many in 2022/23, finishing the season in fourth place in the Bundesliga table and qualifying for the Champions League next term. It is understandable for them to be seeking for high-quality reinforcements with participation in UEFA s elite competition on the horizon, and targeting players who have strong competition for their respective roles at current clubs certainly makes sense. Gosens is such a player, sharing the left wing-back responsibilities at Inter with Federico Dimarco.

However, the 28-year-old is believed…

Arsenal are interested in signing Mehdi Taremi from FC Porto in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Gunners are looking at signing the 30-year-old Ian international striker as a back-up to Brazil international star Gabriel Jesus, and that Porto are willing to sell him in the middle of the season.

Taremi has been on the books of FC Porto since 2020 and has done relatively well for the Portuguese giants. The Iranian star has scored a total of 56 goals for Porto. The 30-year-old striker has scored five goals and created four assists in nine Liga Portugal matches so far this season. Taremi has also given two assists in two UEFA Champions League games so far this campaign.

Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League table at the momen…

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Simply looking to make another Champions League statement on Tuesday night, Manchester City will welcome RB Leipzig to the Etihad.

Manchester City

Starting with the hosts, left frustrated over the weekend as they eventually had to settle for a 1-1 stalemate at home against historic rivals Liverpool, Manchester City will be excited to turn their attention back to Champions League duties here. Making real history last season as they became the first English club since 1999 to be crowned treble champions, Pep Guardiola’s superstar squad have their sights firmly set on embarking on another European romp this season. Already breezing their way to the knockout stage and winning each of their four Group G appearances by an aggregate score o…