Guardiola benches Fernandinho and Rodri for Champions League final, Sterling starts

that Everton striker Arouna Kone could be returning to Spanish La Liga in January.

The Ivorian joined the Toffees from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2013, but he was unfortunate to suffer a serious knee injury after making just five league appearances for the club.

Kone was in the match squad for the Capital One Cup clash against Swansea in September, but then suffered a new setback, and it appears his time at Goodison Park is drawing to a close.

According to Daily Mirror, former club Levante are ready to offer him an escape route from Merseyside and could submit a January bid.

Arouna Kone, 30, enjoyed the best season of his career with los Granotes, having bagged 15 goals in 34 La Liga outings before moving to DW Stadium.

The Ivorian then con…

Pep Guardiola has challenged Sergio Aguero to hit peak form for Manchester City as Gabriel Jesus begins his rehabilitation from medial knee ligament damage.

Guardiola has rotated Argentina star Aguero and Brazil striker Jesus for the majority of this season, an approach that has contributed to City opening up a 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

It has also been an apparent source of one of the few notes of discord emanating from the Etihad Stadium of late, as reports before Christmas suggested Aguero was unhappy with Guardiola s treatment of him in the wake of being an unused substituted in the 2-1 derby win over Manchester United.

The 29-year-old was also visibly frustrated when withdrawn for Jesus before the hour as Tottenham were swatted asid…

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is expecting January interest in midfielder Moussa Sissoko.

Sissoko returns from suspension for Newcastle s hosting of Chelsea in the early kick-off on Saturday, after being sent-off in their 1-0 loss at West Ham.

The France international extended Newcastle s winning streak to six matches in all competitions the week prior with the winner against Queens Park Rangers, before turning villain in the loss at Upton Park.

Sissoko is well-known to upcoming opponents Chelsea, having scored a stunning brace on his home debut for Newcastle against the Londoners in February 2013 to see Pardew s men come from behind and post a 3-2 win.

And the former Southampton boss said he would not be surprised if Sissoko was pursued by, or sol…

Laurent Koscielny feels Arsenal s recruitment over the close-season will be key to them mounting a sustained Premier League title challenge in 2016-17.

The Gunners finished as runners-up at the end of the previous campaign, although they were a whopping 10 points behind shock champions Leicester City.

It was another season of frustration for the club, Koscielny concedes, but the France international is confident that with some shrewd acquisitions they can end their 15-year wait for a Premier League title.

Yes it s a disappointment. We finished second, but if you look at the whole season, we can have regrets, he told Omnisport.

I think this year we had the means to compete with the other teams to win this title. But our results were inconsistent, especia…

Bayern Munich s French star Franck Ribery has targeted a September return date for the German giants Champions League campaign as he continues his rehabilitation from ankle surgery.

The 25-year-old midfielder is still in plaster after an operation to repair the ligaments he damaged in France s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Italy in Zurich which knocked them out of last month s Euro 2008.

Having done the German league and cup double last season with Bayern, Ribery is hoping to be part of their Champions League challenge when the Group Stage matches begin on September 16/17.

Ribery is in Munich as new Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann this week began preparing his side for the new Bundesliga season which starts on August 15 when Bayern begin their title defence agains…

Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will no longer be available for the Dutch national team. This was announced by the Dutch FA on Monday.

The 32 year old forward talked to Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk earlier today, and told the manager that we would not be available any longer.

The player commented on his decision: After studying the scheduled of Real Madrid and the Dutch team, I realized that looking at the required physical effort to perform well at that level, a choice had to be made.

The combination of the league, cup and Champions League matches of Real Madrid on one hand and the schedule of the Dutch team on the other, is too heavy for me.

It leaves me with no other choice. Of course you don t easily make such decisions. I had a really good…

Everton are expected to move on from many players they have signed in the last three or four years and Yannick Bolasie is reportedly one of them. The Sun are reporting that Southampton and Newcastle are both interested in potentially signing the Frenchman this summer, as they need to freshen things up on the wing.

Bolasie, 29, spent the season at two loans. First, he was shipped out to Aston Villa, where he played 21 times in the Championship, but only nine times in starting XI. He scored two goals and assisted four before he moved on to Anderlecht in the second half of the campaign. He played just eight times in the finishing months of the season and now Saints and Magpies want to give him a chance.

Bolasie fell down the pecking order at Goodison Park and the …

Aymeric Laporte said Manchester City are aiming to stay on the top always after completing a historic treble of domestic trophies in his first full season at the club.

The former Athletic Bilbao stopper, who City paid a reported €65million for in January 2018, featured in all but four of Pep Guardiola s starting line-ups in the Premier League in 2018-19 and played again in the 6-0 FA Cup final victory over Watford.

After celebrating the treble at Wembley, Laporte outlined City s vision for next season and underlined his belief in their ability to improve their performance in the Champions League and sustain their success long into the future.

It has been a great season, said Laporte, who played in City s Champions League quarter-final defeat to Tottenham in A…

Lionel Messi has voiced his admiration for Barcelona team-mate Eric Abidal following the latter s ongoing fight against health problems.

The Frenchman was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver in March 2011, yet featured for the full 90 minutes in Barca s 3-1 Champions League final win over Manchester United hardly two months later.

Abidal was dealt another blow in March 2012, though, when it was announced that he needed to undergo a liver transplant, and the defender has since been working on his recovery.

Everything Eric has done and everything he has fought for is admirable. No-one truly knows how hard he has worked to be able to train with the team again, Messi told reporters.

It was very difficult when we found out (he had cancer) but his strength h…

that AC Milan are wrapping up a deal to sign Genoa midfielder Juraj Kucka.

The Slovakian midfielder has been a long-term target for the Rossoneri and he is widely tipped to join the club in the summer transfer window.

Milan and Genoa have done a lot of business of late, and they are currently putting the final touches on the agreement that will see Kucka move to San Siro next summer.

With veteran midfielder Massimo Ambrosini expected to leave at the end of the season, Milan officials believe the Slovakia international would be a perfect addition to the centre of the park.

The 26-year-old joined Genoa from Sparta Praha in January 2011 and quickly developed into an important member of the squad at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

He has made a total of 69 S…