Manchester City has officially started going after last season's Premier League leader in goals and assists, Harry Kane. Even though Tottenham doesn't want to move on from Kane, the 27-year-old has reportedly expressed his wishes to be gone. Man City reportedly sent Spurs an original offer of around $140 million guaranteed with an opportunity to swap players.
With two matchdays already complete, England's footballing template has been executed perfectly so far at Euro 2020.
First: infinite pre-tournament hype, especially in connection to a burgeoning young star — in this case, Phil Foden. Then, earn some decent results in the group stage without looking overly encouraging on the pitch. Finally, get through to the next round, provide some hope, then lose in heartbreaking fashion late in the game or on penalties.
It's a pattern so often repeated that any England fan worth his salt has put it to memory.
Former Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuaín had low expectations coming to MLS but now is learning to respect the competition. The 33-year-old exclaimed he expected to play with a cigarette in his mouth, it was going to be that easy.
Through seven matches in the 2021 MLS season, Higuaín has four goals and one assist. He was quoted on Christain Vieri's Twitch live stream a few days ago saying, "I thought I would come to MLS and play with a cigarette in my mouth and instead it is difficult."
Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden is now Europe's most expensive player to buy, according to the CIES Football Observatory, which recently published its latest ranking of players in Europe's big five leagues with the highest estimated transfer value. How much would someone who wanted Foden have to put up? $232 million.
As the world heals from the pandemic, pick-up matches are on their way back as well. Pick-up matches exemplify all the best parts of soccer: intense rivalries, healthy competition and the opportunity to sharpen your skills.
Fresh off his contributions in the UEFA Champions League final, Christian Pulisic is expected to start Thursday when the United States men's national team faces Honduras in a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal in Denver.
Pulisic came on as a substitute in the 66th minute of Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester City in Porto, Portugal. In a prime scoring chance, Pulisic had a shot that went just wide of the left post with an opportunity to give Chelsea a two-goal lead.
Former AZ Alkmaar golden boy Guus Til has secured a return to the Netherlands after agreeing a loan move to Feyenoord.
Sporting Kansas City scored three goals within 14 minutes in the second half to earn a 3-2 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo.
The game was played in front of 20,086 frenzied fans in the first full-capacity match since March 2020.
In the 50th minute and trailing 1-0, Gadi Kinda drew a foul to set up a free kick. Gianluca Busio drove the ball from about 28 yards out, over the wall of defenders and off the side post into the goal.
GIANLUCA BUSIO!
Juventus claimed the 2020-21 Coppa Italia 2-1 with a commanding second-half display against Atalanta at the Mapei Stadium on Wednesday night. Dejan Kulusevski put Juve in front after receiving the ball from Weston McKennie, but Ruslan Malinovskiy answered for La Dea — seeking its first major title since the 1963 Coppa — setting the stage for Federico Chiesa’s excellent second-half winner.
4,300 fans were allowed into the stadium in northern Italy, amounting to the country’s largest attendance since the pandemic began.
Here’s a live look at Joe Willock’s transfer value using a sophisticated tool that I’ve been developing.
You can see the part where Joe Willock starts scoring goals. Photo: ShutterStock