Arsenal: Romano offers verdict on ‘bid’ for Arteta’s ‘top’ target with transfer ‘expected very soon’

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has confirmed that he is to leave the club during the close-season.

Bent, 29, fell out of favour with manager Paul Lambert last season and is reportedly not in his plans for the new campaign.

The former Tottenham forward has been linked with Newcastle United and Fulham so far in the transfer window, and the England international has declared that he will be moving to pastures new.

I ll be out of here (Villa) very soon, Bent said when pressed over his future by a fan in a video posted on YouTube.

However, Bent, who has worked with both Newcastle manager Alan Pardew and Fulham boss Martin Jol during his career, refused to reveal where his next destination will be.

We ll have to see, he replied when asked if he had a preference …

World Cup winner Cristian Zaccardo has joined Parma from German champions Wolfsburg, the Italian team said on Saturday.

The 28-year-old defender, part of the Italy squad in Germany in 2006, has signed a five-year deal and will be officially presented on Sunday, although Parma gave no details about the fee paid to Wolfsburg.

Zaccardo spent only one season in Germany where he moved from Palermo and will rejoin his former coach Francesco Guidolin, who left the Sicilians and joined Parma in 2008.

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Recent Inter acquisition Jeison Murillo has vowed to fight like a warrior for his new club after leaving Granada for a dream opportunity.

Murillo had long been talking up his proposed move to Inter, revealing as early as February that an agreement was in place, but the Italian club only made the deal official at the beginning of July.

The Colombia international had spent the last five years in Spain, enjoying various loan spells away from Granada before eventually securing a first-team berth during the 2013-14 campaign.

A number of injuries hampered his progress last season, but that has not deterred Inter from spending a reported €8 million on the 23-year-old, who was named Best Young Player at the 2015 Copa America.

Speaking at his unveiling, Murillo…

Libor Kozak netted a brace as Aston Villa played out an entertaining 2-2 friendly draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Czech striker Kozak has endured an injury nightmare since joining Villa in September 2013 and last played a competitive match in December of that year.

But, on the back of Christian Benteke s big-money move to Liverpool and amid reports Emmanuel Adebayor is set to have a medical at Villa Park, Kozak made his case for a central role under boss Tim Sherwood with an impressive performance at Molineux.

He broke the deadlock after six minutes, crashing home a 20-yard strike after a clever dummy from Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Wolves drew level in the 72nd minute when Dave Edwards converted Dominic Iorfa s cross at the near post to set up a rousing f…

Pep Guardiola believes VAR in the Premier League has been a mess, despite seeing his Manchester City side benefit from the video technology against Sheffield United.

City got lucky when Blades forward Lys Mousset had a first-half strike harshly disallowed for offside by the video review system, which then allowed Sergio Aguero s opener to stand despite referee Chris Kavanagh inadvertently blocking off John Fleck in the build-up.

There was no doubt over City s second goal, with Kevin De Bruyne tucking home to secure an unconvincing win Guardiola s 100th in the Premier League.

Video assistant referee controversy has ruled in the Premier League this weekend, with Norwich City s Teemu Pukki having a goal harshly ruled out, while at Anfield, Wolves had a strike disal…

Prediction: Barcelona win

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This season s La Liga has seen Atletico Madrid emerge as the clear favourites to win the title with the usual top dogs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, trailing behind in a big way. Barca especially seem to be garnering quite a lot of attention for their inability to challenge as they have done in years gone by, and games like this are going to serve as the real test for them moving forward throughout the campaign as they prepare to take on relegation contenders Elche.

Elche

The spirit of Elche as a club is keeping them alive in this league and as we look ahead to the rest of the season, you d have to think they are going to be scratching and clawing in an attempt to survive until the very last day. They ma…

David Beckham will be back with the LA Galaxy after AC Milan failed to meet a Friday deadline to make the Major League Soccer club an acceptable offer for the England midfielder, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In an article posted on its website Friday, Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Galaxy owners AEG, told the newspaper that the Italian club had not met the deadline set by Major League Soccer and that no late offer would be considered.

Beckham is on loan to AC Milan until March 8.

He will be back here on March 9 and we don t want to entertain any more conversations now, Leiweke told the Times.

It is a distraction to (Galaxy Coach) Bruce Arena, the team and the fans and we move on. That s the last we re going to talk about this.

Reports in E…

Mary Fowler is enjoying the thrill of the WSL title chase as Manchester City prepare for the second half of the season.

One-time WSL champions City return to action from the competition s winter break on Sunday, when they take on Liverpool.

As it stands, City are second, three points behind leaders Chelsea and level on points with third-place Arsenal, with Manchester United and Liverpool four points behind.

With such a tight title race, the pressure is well and truly on, but City s Fowler, who scored in a 4-0 FA Cup win over Durham last week, believes that helps keep her team-mates on their toes.

Fowler told Stats Perform: I think it s really exciting actually. It just makes us all so much more competitive and I think you can see it out on the training fi…

Danny Ings is eager to learn from new team-mate Daniel Sturridge when the Liverpool striker returns following hip surgery.

Sturridge started just seven Premier League games for Liverpool last season due to a lengthy list of injury problems, with his last appearance coming as a substitute in April s 4-1 defeat at Arsenal.

The England forward has now returned to training after undergoing rehabilitation in the United States, and could make his comeback when Liverpool travel to Manchester United next Saturday.

And Ings, a close-season arrival from Burnley, cannot wait to play alongside the prolific Sturridge, who has scored 40 goals in 67 appearances for the Merseyside club since joining from Chelsea in January 2013.

He s a fantastic striker, he scores s…

Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has labelled Juan Cuadrado s sale to Chelsea as a pragmatic decision taken by the Italian club.

Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has confirmed that winger Juan Cuadrado is to join Premier League side Chelsea, with Mohamed Salah moving the other way on loan.

Speculation has gathered pace throughout the transfer window that Colombia international Cuadrado would move to the Premier League leaders.

Montella was disappointed that Cuadrado who will become a Chelsea player officially after the completion of a medical is leaving, but stated the fee received was too good to turn down.

Honestly, it was something that had to be done, Montella said.

As a coach I m disappointed, but on a pragmatic level the fee is so hi…