SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

MANCHESTER CITY have reportedly joined the race to sign Everton's star defender John Stones. The young centre-back has been the top priority of Premier League champions Chelsea in recent weeks, who had a second bid of £26m rejected yesterday. Reports have also surfaced that Manchester United are keen on the 21-year-old too. And now, Everton will have to fend off interest from three of England's biggest clubs, with The Mirror reporting that City also want Stones. Chelsea had an initial bid of £20m turned down two weeks ago and came back with an improved offer but saw that rejected as well. The Toffees are understood to be holding out for around £34m - a British record transfer fee for a defender. City, meanwhile, have funds to use this summer and their £50m move for Wolfsburg star Kevin De Bruyne has stalled as of late. If the Etihad bosses decided to splash their cash elsewhere in the remainder of the transfer window, they could look to swoop for Stones. ...

Kairat Almaty  2.18  v Aberdeen  3.90 ; The Draw  3.40 Thursday, 15:45 Live on Premier Sports Aberdeen produced one of the results of the tournament to date in the last round when they visited Rijeka, who held champions Sevilla and beat Feyenoord and Standard Liege at home last term, and triumphed 3-0. Indeed, the Dons have  lost just two Europa League games out of ten  now since last summer, and those were the trickiest of the batch against recent Champions League participants Real Sociedad. Derek McInnes' men have won three out of five on their continental travels. Kairat Almaty have a decent record as hosts in the competition, winning four in five, but three of those were by one-goal margins against nothing too special and they were held by Esbjerg so, if Aberdeen perform to their potential, a victory is certainly achievable. Recommended Bet:  Back Aberdeen to win @   3.90 West Ham   1.60  v Astra Giurgiu  7.20 ; The D...

Bayern Munich has confirmed it has signed Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal from Juventus on a five-year deal with Bastian Schweinsteiger's replacement reportedly costing 35 million euros ($52.8m). The 28-year-old midfielder has been brought in by the German champions to bolster their options in the middle after Germany captain Schweinsteiger joined Manchester United earlier this month. Vidal is Bayern's second major signing of the close season after Brazil winger or striker Douglas Costa was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this month.  German daily Bild say Vidal will earn 10 million euros per season at Bayern as the Chilean returns for a second stint in the Bundesliga after four seasons with Bayer Leverkusen. He helped Juventus reach last season's Champions League final after claiming the Italian league and cup double. "He is a guy who likes to win and has an excellent mentality," said Bayern's sporting director Matthias Sammer. "He'll be good ...

F   T CSKA Moscow 2 - 2 Sparta Prague Wednesday, 29 July 2015 F   T FC Midtjylland 1 - 2 APOEL Nicosia F   T FC Milsami Orhei 0 - 2 Skenderbeu F   T Maccabi Tel Aviv 1 - 2 Viktoria Plzen F   T Fenerbahce 0 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk F   T Panathinaikos 2 - 1 Club Brugge F   T Young Boys 1 - 3 Monaco F   T Videoton FC 1 - 1 BATE Borisov F   T Dinamo Zagreb 1 - 1 Molde

Paris St Germain boss Laurent Blanc has revealed he is confident of completing a deal to bring in Angel Di Maria from Manchester United. The Ligue 1 champions have been heavily linked with the Argentina and ex-Real Madrid star this summer after he failed to justify his big-money transfer to Old Trafford last season. Man United boss Louis van Gaal stated this week that he has not yet given up hope Di Maria will remain at the club next season but his opposite number in Paris seems convinced the 27-year-old will make the move amid speculation a fee of £44.8m has been agreed. Di Maria has remained in Argentina, rather than team up with United on their pre-season tour of North America, while the deal is being negotiated. Blanc said PSG followers need to 'be patient' but that he hopes to have news sooner rather than later. "The matter is close to being finished," the PSG boss said. "I'm rather positive about it but, in transfers, we have seen what can h...

We are just over a month away from the end of the Premier League transfer window, which closes in 35 days on September 1. There have already been considerable fees spent and cash splashed since the 2014-15 campaign ended, with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City all investing heavily in their squad over the last few months. Notably, Raheem Sterling moved from Anfield to the Etihad Stadium for £49 million [Telegraph], while the Reds themselves bought Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke for £32.5 million [Mirror]. However, the spending is clearly not done; in this feature, we present the ten big-money moves we’re still keeping an eye on this summer.

Chelsea & Liverpool are reportedly both interested in signing Newcastle United star Moussa Sissoko, according to the Daily Star. The 25-year-old French international moved to St James’ Park in January 2013 and has been a relative success at the north-east outfit. The former Toulouse man is a rangy midfield talent who is able to drive the play forward and can cause a nuisance in the final third and the Daily Star claim Newcastle United would want £16 million for the Magpies man. Moussa Sissoko can play across the midfield and is seen by Jose Mourinho as a possible replacement for exit-bound winger Juan Cuadrado [via The Daily Telegraph]. Liverpool have already invested heavily this summer with Brendan Rodgers having signed spent £29 million to bring in Brazilian Roberto Firmino [via BBC Sport], £32.5 million to sign Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke [via BBC Sport] and another £12.5 million on Southampton right-back Nathaniel Clyne [Telegraph]. The Anfield side have also b...

Tottenham's Emmanuel Adebayor was seen at Aston Villa's training ground on Tuesday, according to reports. Adebayor does not appear to have a future at Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino having featured just three times in the Premier League in 2015, and with Villa looking for a new striker to replace Christian Benteke, a move could suit all parties. Adebayor has not travelled with the rest of the Spurs squad for their game in Denver against the MLS All-Stars and reports suggest he has been at Villa's Bodymoor Heath training complex. A move to Villa would reunite him with Villa boss Tim Sherwood, under whom he enjoyed some success at White Hart Lane. Adebayor fell out of favour when Andre Villas Boas was Tottenham head coach, but following the departure of the Portuguese and the appointment of Sherwood in November 2013, Adebayor was reinstated into the first team and scored 14 goals in 24 appearances. Once Sherwood left at the end of the 2013/14 season, replaced ...

UEFA chief Michel Platini is set to announce in the coming days that he will stand in next year's election to replace Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA. A source close to the French UEFA president said on Tuesday that "an announcement will be made before the end of the week", while another source confirmed that Platini has decided to run. When asked, Platini's spokesman refused to comment. Outgoing president Blatter announced last week that the election for his successor would be held on February 26, 2016. Platini has positioned himself as one of the most outspoken opponents to Blatter's regime, and publicly called for him to stand down after seven FIFA Executive Committee members were arrested on corruption allegations in raids in Switzerland prior to May's election. Blatter ignored those calls and was duly elected for a fifth term as president, only to announce his intention to stand down on June 2 as world football's governing body became mired in s...

MLS All-Stars  2.30  v Tottenham  2.50 ; The Draw  3.40 Thursday, 02:00 Live on Sky Sports 1 The perception is that MLS is better than ever, with this year's All-Stars roster loaded with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Sebastian Giovinco, Kaka and David Villa. Tottenham could be in trouble then given that less decorated MLS elite sides turned over Chelsea in 2012 and Bayern Munich in 2014. The All-Stars versus overseas guests format has been in operation for a decade and  the hosts have prevailed in six  of those ten contests, taking another to penalties. If you don't think that backing the best of MLS is the way to go, an alternative is counting on goals: the previous five spectacles all soared over 2.5 goals, with four passing 3.5 and two exceeding 4.5. Best Bet:  Back MLS All-Stars to win @   2.30 Other Recommended Bet:  Back over 2.5 goals Man United   2.26  v Paris St-Germain  3.30 ; The Draw  3.60 Thursday, 0...