Popovic plays down Palace link

After struggling for regular football at Monaco, Lucas Ocampos has joined Ligue 1 rivals Marseille on an initial loan deal.

Lucas Ocampos swapped Monaco for fellow Ligue 1 title hopefuls Marseille on an initial loan deal on Monday.

The versatile forward moved to Monaco ahead of the 2012-13 campaign when the club were in the second tier of French football.

However, the Argentinian has found first-team football hard to come by at Stade Louis II this term and has started just seven times in the league.

Marseille have subsequently swooped to take the 20-year-old to the Stade Velodrome on a temporary basis, with Marcelo Bielsa s men retaining the option to make the deal permanent.

Ocampos could make his debut in Marseille s visit to Rennes on Saturday.…

Keisuke Honda and Makoto Hasebe have retired from international football following Japan’s World Cup exit.

The Blue Samurai led 2-0 in their Round of 16 fixture with Belgium before the Europeans launched a dramatic comeback to win 3-2 with a late Nacer Chadli goal.

Honda did not start a game in Russia, but came off the bench as a second half substitute in Rostov, and believes the future is bright for Japan.

Today we showed how we can proceed as Japanese football, said the 32-year-old, who scored 37 goals in 98 caps.

Thank you my World Cup and my dream. You raised me up until today.

— KeisukeHonda(本田圭佑) (@kskgroup2017)

I am happy, because we have a lot of good young players, and now it is their turn to write the history of Ja…

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still speaks to Erling Haaland and said let s see what life brings when asked about the striker s future.

The Norway star was a target for the Red Devils before he joined Borussia Dortmund from Salzburg in January 2020.

Haaland s progress in Germany has been remarkable, the 20-year-old having scored 27 goals in all competitions this season, second only to Robert Lewandowski among Bundesliga players.

Clubs including United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich continue to be linked with a bid for the player, who scored twice against Sevilla last week to become the first player in Champions League history to reach as many as 17 goals in his first 13 appearances.

Solskjaer is still in touch …

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny is being targeted by Bayern Munich and Barcelona, according to the player s agent.

Koscielny has made 119 appearances for the Gunners since moving to the Emirates Stadium from Lorient in 2010, and came second in the club s fan-voted Player of the Year award last season.

However, the 27-year-old s representative Stephane Courbis has revealed that his client could now be set for a move elsewhere.
Laurent is part of a shortlist of two clubs, he told Eurosport.
Bayern or Barca have not contacted the player to discuss a possible transfer but I know that (he) is part of a shortlist of three or four players from both clubs.
Koscielny had just one year of French top-flight experience when picked up from Lorient by Arsene Wenger three years a…

Newly promoted Hull City are set to make a fresh bid for Celtic striker Gary Hooper, according to .

The Tigers had been targeting Wigan Athletic’s Arouna Kone, though he has expressed a desire to join up with former manager Roberto Martinez at Everton.

They had a bid of £4.5m rejected last earlier this month, with the Scottish champions holding out for a fee closer to £8m, though with the former Scunthorpe United man having just a year left on his contract they may have to settle for less.

The 25 year old moved to Celtic Park back in 2010, and has scored sixty-three goals in ninety-five league appearances.

He also scored four goals in last season’s Champions League campaign, and hit a brace in last month’s Scottish Cup final victory over Hib…

Deulofeu could benefit greatly from Milan move / Image via express.co.uk

And his Italian move could have a symbiotic effect.

The Spanish winger Gerard Deulofeu is a player who had a lot of things go over his head in a short period of time.

Under all terms considered as more than a relatively young footballer of 22, Deulofeu is getting ready to put on a shirt – his fifth different since the beginning of his career only six years ago. Having never quite lived up to the hype surrounding him, will the La Masia graduate finally get his big break in Milano?

Slow Start

Barcelona’s renowned football academy La Masia which over the years unearthed plenty of football gems and jewels truly was and still remains one of world’s best farming gro…

Fiorentina have signed Edimilson Fernandes on a season-long loan from West Ham.

The Switzerland midfielder, capped three times by his country, made nine Premier League starts last term having joined the Hammers from Sion in 2016.

Manuel Pellegrini has allowed Fernandes to leave London Stadium after adding Felipe Anderson, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko during the transfer window.

Serie A side Fiorentina confirmed in a statement Fernandes has joined them on loan, with the deal also including an option to buy the 22-year-old.

…

Don Cowie has been placed in interim charge of Ross County while they consider their next move following the departure of Derek Adams.

The Staggies are looking for their third different manager this season after Adams, who replaced Malky Mackay in November, resigned on Wednesday in the wake of a 5-0 defeat at Motherwell.

County have asked Cowie, who was assistant to both Mackay and Adams, to take the reins on a temporary basis.

Ross County FC can this evening announce that Derek Adams is to leave the club as First Team Manager after offering his resignation.

— Ross County FC (@RossCounty)

It remains to be seen if the former Scotland midfielder, 40, who began and ended his playing career with the Dingwall club either side of spells with Invernes…

Gareth Southgate insists he is keeping an open mind about staying with England beyond Euro 2024 this summer.

The 53-year-old is under contract until December and accepts it is possible he may not even be in charge by the time England play Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland in the autumn.

However, he insists his decision is not yet made either way and remains open to the possibility of staying on and working with England’s exciting crop of players, led by Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham.

…

Marc Wilmots is in contact with Schalke to replace Roberto Di Matteo and will leave Belgium s national team if he wants to.

The 46-year-old coach has been heavily linked with Schalke since Di Matteo quit last week, with Wilmots having twice played for the Bundesliga club during his playing career.

The former attacking midfielder scored 38 goals in 178 appearances in all competitions for Schalke, playing there from 1996-2000 and 2001-2003, and confirmed on Friday that he is interested in coaching the Gelsenkirchen-based club.

I am in contact with Schalke and never said that I would stay until 2018 with the national team, he told reporters at Belgium s training camp, which is being held in the lead-up to a friendly against France and a Euro 2016 qualifier versus W…