Quotes

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte said the club's current focus was on signing younger players who still needed to gain experience.

"If you want to grow faster, you want to try to be more competitive faster, you also need players with a lot of experience because then they increase the experience in your team," he told Italian Sky Sport in an interview.

Conte, who helped Serie A's Inter Milan to win the title last year and break Juventus's nine-year win streak, said Spurs came out of the January transfer window numerically weakened.

Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo apologized for his "unfortunate gesture" in Sunday's 2-2 LaLiga draw away at city rivals Espanyol, saying the "tension" of the match led to the incident.

Araújo appeared to be taking aim at Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed while he was leaving the field towards the end of the match, which saw both teams have a player sent off.

Charlotte FC manager Miguel Ángel Ramírez might have just become my favorite in MLS after he gave a brutally honest answer to the press on Thursday about how his expansion side will fair in the upcoming season.

Two weeks before Charlotte’s first MLS game, Ramírez has stated that his club “are screwed.”

A very transparent Miguel Ángel Ramírez today gave a press conference and gave us squad updates, injuries, and season expectations

Anthony Martial has denied refusing to be in Manchester United's squad for Saturday's Premier League game against Aston Villa after interim manager Ralf Rangnick said the Frenchman did not want to be involved.

The 26-year-old forward has started only two league games this season and has not featured since a 3-2 win over Arsenal on Dec. 2. Martial's representative has said he wants to secure a move in January to get more game time.

United are struggling for players due to injuries, COVID-19 and the Africa Cup of Nations but Martial played no part in the 2-2 draw with Villa.

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo is hopeful he can recover from a minor muscle injury in time to feature in Saturday's Premier League match against Aston Villa.

The Portugal international missed United's 1-0 FA Cup third round win over Villa on Monday but is keeping his "fingers crossed" that he can return to action at the weekend.

Sierra Leone are hoping to prove competitive and lay the foundation for future qualification as they compete at this month’s Africa Cup of Nations finals for the first time in a quarter century, coach John Keister said.

Having last qualified for the 1996 edition in South Africa in only their second appearance at the finals, the west African country returns hoping to become a more regular participant, according to their Manchester-born coach.

LONDON - Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku was left out of the squad to face Liverpool at home on Sunday after saying he was dissatisfied with his role at Stamford Bridge.

The 28-year-old, who signed from Inter Milan in the close season for a club-record $132 million, told Sky Italy recently that he was unhappy with manager Thomas Tuchel's system. Lukaku also said he would like to return to Italy at some point in his career.

Asked about the Belgian international's comments ahead of the Liverpool game, Tuchel said they were "not helpful."