Luka Jovic feels he could play alongside Karim Benzema in the same team but indicated he is happy to let Zinedine Zidane decide how to use him at Real Madrid.
Serbia striker Jovic signed a six-year deal to join Los Blancos after hitting 27 goals in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt last term.
Jovic s arrival is part of a major rebuild for Madrid after a disappointing campaign, with Eden Hazard, Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes also arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Karim Benzema hit 21 LaLiga goals in 2018-19 and was one of the few Madrid players to impress, although Jovic could usurp him in the team.
The 21-year-old, though, suggested at his Madrid unveiling on Wednesday he and Benzema are compatible .
When he arrived [at Real Madrid], I w…
Maarten Stekelenburg s agent has denied a deal has been agreed with Fulham for the Roma goalkeeper s services.
Rumours surfaced that the Netherlands international was due to sign for the Premier League side after reports in Italy suggested the two clubs had agreed a deal.
Fulham were close to signing the shot-stopper before the transfer deadline in January, but the move fell through at the last minute.
A deal between the two clubs looks imminent, but agent Rob Jansen declared nothing had yet been agreed.
Maarten to Fulham? At the moment there is nothing. It s still early, we have to wait, he told Calciomercato.
The 30-year old began his career at Ajax, before moving to Roma in 2011 for an estimated 6 million euros.
He has appeared 19 times in Serie A for the club this …
QPR have confirmed the signing of Netherlands international Leroy Fer from Norwich City on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Fer featured at the recent World Cup in Brazil, scoring in a 2-0 win over Chile in Netherlands final Group B clash.
The 24-year-old midfielder joined Norwich from Twente ahead of the 2013-14 campaign, but failed to help keep the club in the Premier League as the Carrow Road outfit finished 18th, three points adrift of safety.
Fer featured as a substitute in Norwich s 3-0 win over Watford in the Championship on Saturday before completing his move to Loftus Road on Wednesday.
I can t wait to get started here, Fer said. It was always my dream to stay in England, in the Premier League.
QPR did well last season to come…
Egil Olsen will remain put as Norwegian national team manager until the end of the World Cup qualifiers. The country s FA announced this on Tuesday.
Olsen became caretaker manager in January, following the departure of Age Hareide who had failed to win a single international match with Norway in 2008.
The Norwegian FA initially attempted to find a permanent replacement but Olsen s performance since January convinced board members to leave the 66-year-old until October.
Norway are currently in last place in Group 9 of the European World Cup qualifiers.
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In the opening round of the Russian Premier League, Rubin Kazan booked the first three points for the 2021-22 season with a huge win over Spartak Moscow at the Kazan Arena on Saturday.
Sticking to the task
The best way to explain how Rubin achieved their victory in this match is probably to say they stuck to the task at hand from the first to the final whistle.
Having finished second last term and shown a high level of desire and quality through pre-season, it only stood to reason to expect Spartak to walk away from Kazan with a collective smile on their faces. Indeed, the visitors pushed forward hard from the start, completely dominating possession and keeping the ball in the opposition half practically all the time during the opening 15 minutes.
Rubin defende…
Newcastle United were without club-record signing Alexander Isak and key man Bruno Guimaraes for Sunday s clash with Wolves.
Isak joined Newcastle in a £59million (€70m) deal from LaLiga side Real Sociedad on Friday.
However, the striker is not eligible to play for Eddie Howe s side against Wolves as he has not yet received a work permit, meaning he will have to wait for his Premier League debut.
Howe instead selected Chris Wood, who scored twice for Newcastle last season after signing from Burnley in January, to lead the line in the absence of Callum Wilson, who is out with a hamstring injury.
Newcastle are also without influential midfielder Guimaraes after the Brazil international sustained an injury in Wednesday s EFL Cup tie with Tranmere Rove…
Arturo Vidal insists he is calm and happy about his Barcelona future despite refusing to rule out a possible move to Inter in the transfer window.
The midfielder stated in October that he was not happy to be a back-up to Ernesto Valverde s first team and would have to assess his options if his role did not change.
Vidal reportedly stormed out of training after being told he would not be in the first XI for the Clasico on December 18, although he then marked only his fourth LaLiga start of the season against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday with a goal.
Inter are said to be interested in a January deal for the 32-year-old, who previously enjoyed huge success under Antonio Conte at Juventus, but he is not prepared to rush into any decision.
Speaking after leavi…
Frenkie de Jong insists he will not be changed by his big-money move to Barcelona.
Netherlands midfielder De Jong agreed to leave Ajax who he helped to the Champions League semi-finals last season for Barca in January for a €75million fee.
The transfer officially went through on July 1, and De Jong will be unveiled as a Barca player at a presentation on Friday.
But despite acknowledging it will take time to adjust to life in Spain, the 22-year-old was adamant his attitude and approach will not be altered by the switch.
It will be special to experience it, De Jong told Dutch publication AD ahead of his presentation at Camp Nou.
I ve seen players presentations from big clubs like Barcelona on television and now I will be a part of it myself…
Bayern Munich defender David Alaba hopes Mario Gotze will be warmly received on his Borussia Dortmund return in Sunday s DFL-Supercup showdown.
Germany playmaker Gotze moved back to Thomas Tuchel s side during the close season following a patchy three-year spell with the Bundesliga champions and the rivalry between the two clubs means it is unlikely any love will be lost when they meet at Signal Iduna Park.
Alaba believes Gotze turning out on Dortmund s home ground once more will make for a memorable occasion for his former team-mate.
And the Austria international hopes he will not receive a frosty reception from BVB fans, who were infuriated by his original decision to join Bayern, which the 24-year-old has since said was the wrong move.
It will be ver…
Andrea Pirlo claimed his players showed they possess the Juventus DNA to keep fighting until the end of games this season.
Juve were far from their best in a scrappy Serie A clash with Sassuolo on Sunday and with nine minutes remaining were drawing 1-1 after Gregoire Defrel cancelled out Danilo s opener.
But late goals from Aaron Ramsey and Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the win for the defending champions against a Sassuolo side who played the entire second half with 10 men.
Ramsey has been involved in three goals in his past five Serie A appearances (one goal, two assists) while Ronaldo s strike ensured he has reached at least 15 league goals in his past 15 seasons.
The win helped the Bianconeri notch three consecutive victories in Serie A for the first time …