Football News

SIMON JONES: Bayern Munich have agreed to pay Fulham £47.4million for midfielder Joao Palhinha. It will represent a club record sale for Fulham with £43.2m up front and a further £4.2m in add-ons. Bayern have held a long-standing interest in the 28-year-old having pursued a move for him since last summer.

Stones, 30, played the entirety of the 120 minutes last time out but was spotted leaving the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen with protection on his leg. It is likely the strapping was simply a precaution and he is set to be in line to play. Guehi is suspended after picking up a booking in just the third minute against Slovakia and his absence may see Ezri Konsa line up alongside Stones instead. Spirits appeared high in the camp with golden boy Jude Bellingham snapped laughing with team-mates while left back Luke Shaw was again spotted in action. Southgate appears spoiled for choice ahead of the match in Dusseldorf and looks likely to be able to select 25 of his 26-man group - with Guehi the only absentee.

Calzona shoved Rice in the chest while England's stars held their team-mate back in a furious fracas following England's 2-1 win over Slovakia at Euro 2024. The Slovakia boss had stormed on to the pitch to confront referee Umut Meler about the Three Lions' time-wasting and Rice tried to intervene. A lip-reading expert exclusively told Mail Sport that Rice said 'shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald ****' - and now the manager has hit back.

Ralf Rangnick seemed to take a swipe at England , France and Portugal following Austria's elimination from Euro 2024. Austria were knocked out at the last-16 stage after suffering a 2-1 defeat by Turkey, despite being favourites for the clash. Vincenzo Montella's side went 2-0 up thanks to a brace from Martin Demiral, before Michael Gregoritsch pulled a goal back for Austria, but they were unable to level.

Fans have praised Romania after pictures of how they left the dressing room after their Euro 2024 exit went viral.  Romania crashed out with a 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the last-16 on Tuesday night.  It was their best showing at a major international tournament in 24 years, having not reached the knockout phase of any competition since the quarter-finals of Euro 2000. 

Footage has emerged showing a fan being punched and kicked by a group of stewards during Portugal's last-16 victory over Slovenia at Euro 2024. Roberto Martinez's side booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition after a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory - where Slovenia missed all three of their efforts. The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of action but Portugal did have a golden opportunity to score when they were awarded a penalty during extra-time. 

CRAIG HOPE: So, what was Tuesday's most surreal moment? Playing 11-a-side against an England team including Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and managed by Kieran Trippier? Taking a penalty with Jude Bellingham watching on? Or, later in the day, sitting outside my hotel room and seeing Jude casually stroll through the secluded courtyard less than 15 feet away? Who else, eh? Oh, there was also a chance meeting with Conor Gallagher and his very charming family, during which I gave them a quick guide to Erfurt. But let's start with the football, England staff versus the media in Blankenhain. After we arrived in dribs and drabs and wearing various kits - West Ham, Scotland, Middlesbrough all on show - it felt like we were in a Carlsberg advert when their team bus pulled up. 

Man United have reportedly moved into the lead in the race to sign Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.  Zirkzee caught the eye as he scored 12 goals in all competitions last season, while proving his link up play was also of a high standard as he provided seven assists. It was previously reported the 23-year-old has a £33.7million buy out clause and had been targeted by AC Milan, who were considered front runners for his signature. 

AUSTRIA 1-2 TURKEY - IAN HERBERT AT THE RED BULL ARENA: A wild, raw, febrile night of tournament football as it should be - teams playing as if their lives depended upon it and many, many people in red, frantically bouncing up and down in the rain. Austria came with their engineered pressing method, put in place by a German coach, Ralf Rangnick, someone once called 'The Professor' and a hell of a lot of belief, given the 6-1 swatting they'd given the Turks in Vienna in March. But Turkey had something unquantifiable, unpredictable, feverish even, borne of a force of support in this country which has been with them all along. They started with two teenagers in their number - the first team to do so at these finals since 1964 - and met fire with fire, pace with pace, energy with unrelenting energy.

Commentator Clive Tyldesley has revealed his new role after revealing he had been turned down by four different broadcasters in recent years. The 69-year-old commentated on his final match for ITV during their Euro 2024 last-16 tie between Germany and Denmark on Saturday, which the tournament hosts won 2-0. Tyldesley had worked for the broadcaster for 28 years before being axed, having already been replaced by Sam Matterface as their lead commentator in 2020.

Turkey goalkeeper Mert Gunok helped his nation into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a stunning last-gasp save against Austria. With Turkey 2-1 up on the tie, Ralf Rangnick 's side were piling on the pressure deep into added time. As the ball was played into the box in the 94th minute, Christoph Baumgartner headed an effort on goal that looked to be nestling in the corner.

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Leicester City midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.  Mail Sport reported that the clubs agreed a deal worth £30m, with Dewsbury-Hall expected to sign a contract until 2030.  The club have now taken to social media to welcome the 25-year-old to Stamford Bridge.  

IAN LADYMAN: The Football Association's decision to invite the very middle of the road Ed Sheeran to sing for the England players this week felt appropriate after what we have seen from them so far in Germany. All a bit gentle. All a bit nothing. All a bit vanilla. But the good news for Gareth Southgate and his players as they seek improvement and progress ahead of their quarter-final with Switzerland on Saturday is that there has been precious little rock n roll football from anybody else either. Maybe with the possible exception of a talented Spain team, nobody has brought the noise to Germany, as Jurgen Klopp would say. Before this engaging but less than electrifying tournament began, we looked at England and looked at the rest of the traditional super-powers of European football and declared that there didn't appear to be an outstanding team to worry unnecessarily about.

The USA crashed out of the 2024 Copa America on Monday night but the tournament hosts did not exit quietly. Monday's Group C finale in Kansas City ended with USA star Christian Pulisic telling Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega that he and his team of officials should celebrate with the Uruguay players. This came after Uruguay beat Pulisic's side 1-0 courtesy of a controversial goal scored by Mathias Olivera.

John Terry has labelled the BBC a 'disgrace' after the broadcaster mocked Cristiano Ronaldo for his penalty miss in Portugal's victory against Slovenia. With the game level at 0-0, Ronaldo had the opportunity to score the winner from the penalty spot in extra time but his effort was kept out by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak. As they showed a replay of the penalty, the BBC added the caption 'Misstiano Penaldo', which sparked a furious reaction from former Chelsea star Terry. In an Instagram story, Terry stated: 'BBC this is a disgrace.'

England stars were treated to a private performance by Ed Sheeran as they enjoyed some down-time in their Euro 2024  campaign. The singing sensation was filmed performing a rendition of 'The A-Team' for the squad and staff after a warm-down session on Monday. Gareth Southgate's stars are preparing for a quarter-final clash against Switzerland on Saturday, with their campaign having been less than perfect so far. 

England were seconds away from exiting Euro 2024 in humiliating fashion on Sunday, only to squeak past Slovakia and into a fourth successive major quarter-final under Gareth Southgate, thanks very much in part to Bellingham (left inset). The Real Madrid star, who turned 21 the day before the last-16 clash, came to the rescue with a 95th-minute overhead kick (left) against their well-drilled opponents before Harry Kane sealed a 2-1 extra-time win. Bellingham feels like he very much tapped into his Real Madrid DNA after revealing like he felt like Los Blancos legend Ronaldo (right inset), who scored an unforgettable overhead kick against Juventus in Champions League quarter-finals in 2017-18 campaign (right).

New footage has emerged of Cristiano Ronaldo being moved to tears after seeing his mother crying in the stands following his penalty miss in Portugal's last-16 clash with Slovenia at Euro 2024. Ronaldo was given the opportunity to put his side in front in the first period of extra time after a goalless stalemate in normal time when Diogo Jota was brought down in the penalty area. He stepped up to open his account at this summer's Euros, but his spot-kick was kept out by a brilliant save from Jan Oblak. Ronaldo managed to keep things together for a couple of minutes until the half time whistle blew, but was then in floods of tears as Roberto Martinez gave his players a pep talk during the interval.

Cristiano Ronaldo posted a short nine-word update on social media following Portugal's dramatic Euro 2024 last-16 victory over Slovenia that saw the 39-year-old cry atter a missed penalty. The 39-year-old is still without a European Championship goal to his name but it wasn't for lack of trying as he made numerous attempts to break the deadlock.

Kylian Mbappe celebrated in front of Vertonghen after the Belgian defender scored an own-goal against France.  Didier Deschamps' men booked their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a 1-0 victory against the Red Devils.  Vertonghen was the unlucky player as he found the back of his own net with five minutes remaining on the clock. 

SAMI MOKBEL IN ERFURT: England players are using the hostility towards their Euro 2024 performances to fuel a siege mentality inside the camp. Some players have become so consumed with the way they are judged by critics and fans that proving their detractors wrong is now a source of motivation. They have become so fascinated by how they are being received that even traditional player ratings by media outlets, which mark individuals from one to 10, are under increased scrutiny.

MIKE KEEGAN: Jude Bellingham is to be investigated for a 'potential ban' after he made a seemingly-crude gesture following his dramatic equaliser against Slovakia last night. UEFA have launched a disciplinary probe amid claims the England star directed his gesture towards the Slovakia bench in Gelsenkirchen.  The player himself was quick to take to social media to point out that the act was an in joke aimed towards close friends who were in the stands. 'Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,' he added, on X.

Manchester United have finally installed Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director after agreeing a compensation settlement with Newcastle. Ashworth has been on gardening leave for the last four months and was about to take Newcastle to arbitration after they rejected United's offer of £2million and demanded £20m. However, the two clubs reached a compromise over the weekend that will enable United to formally appoint the 53-year-old who will start work immediately.