Chelsea’s plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium at their historic Stamford Bridge home have been approved by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Khan said that he was confident the £500 million redevelopment would produce “a jewel in London’s sporting crown”.
“I’m satisfied this is a high-quality and spectacular design which will significantly increase capacity within the existing site, as well as ensuring fans can have easy access from nearby transport connections,” he said.
Mourinho frustrated at home stalemates
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is concerned that his side’s inability to win home games may cost them a Champions League qualification spot.
United remained sixth after being held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth, their seventh Old Trafford stalemate of the season.
“The reality is we are losing too many points at home. These matches at home against Hull, Burnley, Bournemouth, Stoke – it’s more of the same,” the Portuguese said.
“If you look at the points we’ve lost at home, you’re thinking about 10 or 12 and, with these points we wouldn’t just be speaking about the top four, we’d be speaking about the top two.”
Leroy Sane has huge potential – Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Leroy Sane for his recent run of good form.
The 21-year-old German international netted his sixth goal in 10 appearances as third-placed City secured a 2-0 victory at Sunderland on Sunday.
“Always when you pay a lot of money, managers all over the world are expecting the best, when it’s going well it is always cheap. When it’s going bad it’s always expensive,” Guardiola said.
“I think he has a lot of qualities, he’s so fast and runs in behind like few players in the world. But he’s just 21 years old, so the gap to become a really good player is still big.”
NY Red Bulls spoil Atlanta United debut
The New York Red Bulls scored two late goals to claim a 2-1 victory and spoil the Major League Soccer (MLS) debut of Atlanta United on Sunday.
A sellout crowd of 55,000 turned up at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech University for the MLS expansion team’s first home game.
In a city where American football – both professional (NFL) and college – has long been the dominant spectator sport, the future of professional soccer also looks bright.
Atlanta will play their first eight home games at Georgia Tech before moving mid-season into a new stadium they will share with the Atlanta Falcons NFL team.
Belotti worth more than Messi – Cairo
Torino chairman Urbano Cairo regrets not putting a higher release clause in the contract of Andrea Belotti (picture) after his seven-minute hat-trick against Palermo on Sunday took him to the top of the Serie A scoring charts.
The €100 million clause – inserted in a new deal that the 23-year-old signed last December, and which runs until 2021 – can only be activated by foreign clubs.
“If you think back to when we inserted that clause, €100 million seemed a crazy figure, but today it seems too low,” Cairo told Sky Sport yesterday.
“If I were to do the clause now, I would put it at €150m. Just compare him to the goals Messi has scored, yet Belotti is younger so he’s worth more.”
Aubameyang hair angers Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund have said they will speak to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after he appeared to promote personal sponsor Nike with his hair during Saturday’s win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Aubameyang’s hair featured what appeared to be a pink Nike “Swoosh” during the 6-2 victory, in which the striker increased his tally to 21 goals this season.
Puma is a Dortmund shareholder and provides the team’s kits. Sporting director Michael Zorc said he did not wish to see a repeat.
“This will certainly be from his personal sponsor,” Zorc said.
“This will hopefully be a one-off occasion. We’ll certainly address it in talks with him.”
FIFA ban like being in prison says Eboue
Former Arsenal defender Em-manuel Eboue said his year-long FIFA-imposed ban from football has been “like being in prison.”
Eboue, 33, has been unable to play or even train with any club since late March last year after he was suspended by FIFA for failing to pay a reported near-€1 million debt to his former agent, Sebastien Boisseau.
“It’s a bit like being in prison where you can’t do anything, because FIFA said even training with any club, I can’t,” the former Ivory Coast international, who spent seven years at Londoners Arsenal, said.
“I have lost one year of my career. I don’t play. If I don’t play, I don’t have an income. So, let me play, and when I have something, I’ll pay my ex-agent.”