Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not thinking about retiring from professional football despite needing a physio to watch his every step.

Since returning to Milan in January 2020, Ibrahimovic has scored 30 goals and supplied nine assists in 54 games in all competitions. 

However, the striker has struggled with injuries and featured in only half of the Rossoneri s Serie A games in 2020-21, while he was forced to pull out of Euro 2020 duty with Sweden. 

Still, he became the fourth-oldest scorer in Serie A history this season when he struck against Bologna last month and took his domestic league tally to 400 versus Roma a week later.

Ibrahimovic acknowledged he has had to learn to listen to his body more and seek treatment as quickly as he can, though it has not m…

Sunderland have reached an agreement to sign 17-year-old Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham for an undisclosed fee.

The Black Cats have been targeting Bellingham for some time and will complete the deal when he returns from international duty with England Under-18s.

Jobe is the younger brother of England midfielder Jude Bellingham, who also completed his move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Jobe made his debut for the Blues at the age of 16 in January 2022, and made 22 appearances for the club in last season’s Sky Bet Championship campaign.

Bellingham told Sunderland’s official website: “I’m delighted to sign for Sunderland AFC and I can’t wait to get started.

“The opportunity for young players to move here and progres…

Injured winger Callum Hudson-Odoi moved closer to a Chelsea comeback as he took part in an open training session at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old has been sidelined since rupturing an Achilles tendon in April.

Hudson-Odoi was linked to Bayern Munich before and after the setback but is reportedly on the cusp of signing a new contract with the Premier League club.

Agreeing fresh terms could come as a double boost with the England international upbeat about an imminent return to playing. 

Great to be back in training, it s another step in my recovery, Hudson-Odoi said in a video Chelsea posted on Twitter.

Can t wait to be back at the Bridge playing again. See you soon!

One step closer!   

— Chelsea FC (@Chels…

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen is hopeful Spurs can keep Christian Eriksen, who has been linked to LaLiga giants Real Madrid.

Madrid have emerged as a possible destination for Eriksen after the Tottenham star revealed he wants to try something new .

Eriksen s bombshell came following Tottenham s unexpected run to the Champions League final, which they lost 2-0 to Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Amid reported interest from across Europe, Vertonghen – preparing for Belgium s Euro 2020 qualifier against Scotland on Tuesday – hopes Spurs can retain the services of the Denmark international.

Obviously when the transfer window starts there are a lot rumours, but there were rumours last year and everyone stayed together, so I m hopeful, Vertonghen told …

Moise Kean ended his goal drought and Adrien Rabiot scored twice as rejuvenated Juventus eased to a 4-0 win over Empoli on Friday.

Kean had not scored since April, but the striker set Juve on their way to victory with an early strike at the Allianz Stadium.

Weston McKennie doubled the Bianconeri s lead with his first Serie A goal of the season, heading home in the second half, and Rabiot added a late double to cap an impressive performance.

That is now back-to-back wins for Massimiliano Allegri s side, who moved up a place to seventh ahead of a must-win Champions League clash at Benfica next week.

Juve started with great intensity and were rewarded just eight minutes in when Filip Kostic whipped in a cross from the left and an unmarked Kean applied the fi…

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The 29th round of the 2021-22 season in Ligue 1 was opened on Friday, when St-Etienne shared the spoils with Troyes in a 1-1 draw, but arguably the most interesting duel of the weekend in the French top flight is set to take place on Sunday, when AS Monaco welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade Louis II.

AS Monaco

Having won the title in 2016-17, when their team boasted players like Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Thomas Lemar and Radamel Falcao, Monaco have struggled to reach anywhere near those heights since. At the moment, they re in eight place in the table with 41 points, six points behind Strasbourg in fifth the last to lead into a European competition, two points behind LOSC Lillie in sixth, one poi…

Sergio Aguero netted a scruffy brace as Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 and go top of the Premier League, however momentarily.

City were without a win in each of their past three matches immediately on the back of Champions League duty and, after drawing 1-1 at Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, Burnley had them up against it once more through Dean Marney s superb 14th-minute volley.

Pep Guardiola s side lacked fluency and intensity but Aguero s supreme poaching instincts came to the fore as he converted a 37th-minute corner and was on hand to net in similarly scrappy fashion with an hour played.

Burnley, hindered by the loss of Marney and Johann Gudmundsson to injury, were unable to avoid a third loss at a typically vociferous Turf Moor th…

Marco Verratti has committed himself to Paris Saint-Germain until 2024, the Ligue 1 champions have confirmed.

Verratti joined PSG from Italian club Pescara in 2012 and has been a fixture in the side ever since, despite suffering numerous injuries over that period.

A technical and hard-working midfielder, the 26-year-old has frequently been a reported target for Barcelona.

But he is in it for the long-haul at PSG, with his new contract set to keep him in the French capital until he is 31.

The Italy international has started eight of PSG s 11 Ligue 1 matches this term and will likely be key for the remainder of the campaign as Thomas Tuchel s men look to win the club s seventh league title in the past eight seasons.

…

Atletico Mineiro striker Fred has moved to reveal that he was offered a chance to return to Lyon last summer.

The 33-year-old had enjoyed a successful spell with les Gones a while back, bagging 34 goals in 88 league appearances for the club and winning three Ligue 1 trophies in the process.

Fred has been plying his trade in native Brazil since leaving Lyon in 2009, notching goals for fun at Fluminense before signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with Atletico Mineiro last summer.

However, he now reveals that Lyon expressed a desire to bring him back to France during the summer transfer window, but he didn’t want to pull out of the deal with Atletico Mineiro.

“I was really happy to receive such a proposal. This is not common for a player at my age,” Fr…

Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City are reportedly the three leading candidates to land prized RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol after his excellent World Cup for Croatia.

Gvardiol, 20, has emerged as one of the top young centre-backs in the world after breaking into Leipzig s starting XI last season, and with 19 senior caps for Croatia under his belt already, he is well established on the international stage.

Having been signed from Dinamo Zagreb for €16million in 2020, that deal has proven to be a bargain, but it remains to be seen if Leipzig feel it is good business to part ways with their young star with four more years remaining on his contract.

TOP STORY EUROPE S TOP CLUBS CIRCLE CROATIA S ROCK IN DEFENSE

Gvardiol may feel his future does…