West Brom head coach Pepe Mel has admitted his interest in signing Arsenal forward Joel Campbell.

Campbell, who is currently on loan at Greek champions Olympiacos, played under Mel during a loan spell at Real Betis last season.

The 21-year-old Costa Rica international has yet to play in the Premier League, having joined Arsenal from Saprissa in August 2011.

However, he received a work permit to play in England last year and Mel is keen to give Campbell the chance to shine, providing West Brom retain his services as head coach.

Joel Campbell was a player with me at Betis, a very good player and it is possible for the future at West Brom, Mel said on Friday.

He could play here if I stay here. The most important thing now is the next three matches.

We ne…

Mozambique put a foot in the second round of Africa Cup of Nations qualifying with a 5-0 first-round first-leg thrashing of South Sudan.

South Sudan were competing in their first Cup of Nations match since the nation gained independence in 2011, but could not celebrate the occasion with a performance to match.

Josemar put the hosts ahead inside 13 minutes, with centre-back Mexer doubling the advantage just before the interval.

Sonito grabbed a quickfire double after half-time and Isac Carvalho put the gloss on the scoreline for the home side.

The fixture s second leg will be played in Sudanese capital Khartoum due to ongoing civil unrest in South Sudan.

Perhaps the biggest shock of the day saw Madagascar overcome 1978 finalists Uganda 2-1 in Mahajanga.

…

Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny revealed he would love to return to Arsenal.

In an interview with BT Sport, the on-loan Gunner who has had some up and downs in his two-year stint in Rome is still regarded as an important piece of the puzzle and Giallorossi are not exactly expected to make his deal a permanent one in the summer given the fact they invested a substantial amount of money of Brazilian Alisson.

However, the 27-year-old Pole is still hoping there is hope for him to return to Arsenal, the club he left in 2015 after a fallout with the club management.

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge ever since and Szczesny hopes the forthcoming summer transfer window could see him return home even though he is quite happy in Rome.

“For now I…

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has emerged as a target for Chinese side Beijing Guoan, .

The twenty-three year old is the latest Premier League player to be linked with a move to the Super League, with the Beijing outfit initially making inquiries in January.

Zaha re-signed for Palace from Manchester United on a permanent basis a year ago having began his career with the London outfit.

He has appeared in all but one of the Eagles league games so far this season, scoring twice and has racked up over two hundred appearances for the club in total.

Internationally, the Ivory Coast born attacker has won two senior caps for England but has not featured for them since playing in a 3-2 friendly victory over Scotland in August 2013.

Zaha played…

Barcelona could soon be able to call on Sergio Aguero after the forward returned to some form of action during a training match on Wednesday.

Aguero joined Barca on a free transfer following the expiration of his Manchester City contract at the end of last season.

The 33-year-old helped Argentina win the Copa America during the close-season, yet a calf injury suffered just before the start of 2021-22 has seen him miss the opening weeks of the campaign.

Barca and under-pressure Ronald Koeman need all the help they can get. The Blaugrana sit ninth in LaLiga following a 2-0 defeat to champions Atletico Madrid last time out, while they have also lost both of their Champions League matches so far.

First time in Blaugrana colors for Kun

— FC Barce…

Sir Alex Ferguson will count the cost of the illness that has swept through the Manchester United camp on Monday as he prepares for a crucial period in his club s efforts to win back the league title from Chelsea.

Ferguson, who marked his 24th anniversary in charge at Old Trafford with a dramatic late 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday, has described the attempted comeback of England international Owen Hargreaves as a disaster .

The United manager was forced to recall Hargreaves for his first start since September 2008 because of the sickness affecting his squad, but the former England midfielder lasted just four minutes before limping off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

This morning we had to make changes Patrice Evra, (Paul) Scholes, Nemanja Vid…

Former England striker Alan Shearer believes England are not progressing under Italian coach Fabio Capello, bemoaning a lack of clear strategy and consistency in team selection.

Shearer told BBC radio on Sunday: Fabio has been here two-and-a-half years now and I m not sure we ve gone forward in that time.

If every England player was fit I m not sure he would actually know what system he wanted to play or what team he wanted to play.

If you look at before we went into the World Cup our qualifying campaign was a huge success but it seems that we have gone slightly backwards from that.

I m not sure what system we d play or what XI we would play if everyone was fit. I don t know if the manager would either.

But former Blackburn and Newcastle star…

Best domestic competition in Europe? / Image via laliga.es

An ongoing debate on which club competition should be considered the most quality one has been given another significant point in favour of Spanish La Liga.

Spanish clubs are dominant in the hunt for European glory this term, both in the Champions League and Europa League with La Liga sides evenly spread with two contenders in each competition.

Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will be vying for their place in the Champions League finals against Manchester City and Bayern Munich respectively, while Villarreal and Sevilla will go against Liverpool and Shakhtar in their respective semi-final ties.

Numbers tell a compelling story

Out of the eight teams left in two continental competitions, ha…

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had intentions to sign Paulo Dybala but later opted not to pursue the striker due to strange circumstances. 

Dybala was purchased by Palermo in 2012 from Argentine outfit Instituto, before sealing a €32million switch to Juventus last year. 

The 22-year-old is Juve s top-scorer in Serie A this season with 12 goals and has contributed eight assists also a club high. 

Juventus trail Napoli in the table by two points, while Dybala is nine goals behind his compatriot, Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain, in the scoring charts.

[Higuain and Dybala] are two different players, he told Sky Sport Italia.   But I ll hang onto [Higuain].

I tried to buy Dybala, but I saw that there were several strange situations, part…

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is adamant a story claiming Mason Mount was concerned for his place in the Blues team following the arrival of Kai Havertz was fabricated .

Mount, 21, enjoyed a breakthrough season with Chelsea last term, as he returned to the club following a year-long loan with Derby County, where he had previously played under Lampard.

The midfielder played 37 times in the Premier League, scoring seven goals and setting up another five, while he has also accumulated seven England caps since 2019-20 began.

But the signing of Havertz in a reported €71million (£65.3m) deal from Bayer Leverkusen led to some suggesting Mount s position could be under threat.

A report emanating from Germany went a step further and claimed Mount was concerned as…