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Zinedine Zidane stepped up his attempt to force Gareth Bale out of Real Madrid this summer by leaving him in the stands for the club’s first pre-season friendly and declaring – the sooner he goes the better.

Zidane gave 22 players a run-out with 11 playing the first half and 11 in the second period against Bayern Munich but Bale was sent to the stands in a power play designed to force the player’s camp to find a new home for the Welshman as soon as possible.

Asked why he had been left out he said:  Read more... (389 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

The international friendlies calendar is in full swing with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Arsenal all in action this weekend.

In addition to this weekends games, next weekend brings us Real Madrid’s clash with Atletico Madrid on July 26 in MetLife Stadium will be the first Madrid derby outside of Europe.

And we are done done yet as Barcelona will play two games in the US against Napoli this summer as part of the first La Liga Serie A Cup.  Read more... (290 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

Aaron Ramsey has revealed he sought the advice of a Juventus legend before he accepted the iconic No 8 shirt after joining the club this summer.

The Welshman was officially unveiled by the Italian champions on Monday afternoon in Turin and he was quizzed on the responsibilities that come with wearing the No 8 shirt worn by Claudio Marchisio, Antonio Conte and Didier Deschamps.

Ramsey wore the shirt number while at Arsenal and was keen to retain it in Italy after a meeting with Marchisio at the club’s medical base.  Read more... (409 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Teenager Gabriel Martinelli scored on his debut for Arsenal to help lift the side to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids during their pre-season tour.

The 18-year-old, who was signed for £6million from Brazil’s Ituano FC on July 2, fired home a cross from Dominic Thompson in the 61st minute in Denver.

Bukayo Saka and James Olayinka’s first-half efforts had earlier put the Gunners firmly in control as they kicked off their tour of the United States.

Martinelli was in fine form from the off, just missing a chance to put himself on the scoreboard in the first five minutes when his finish went wide.  Read more... (263 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

Barcelona have admitted they had to take a loan out to pay for the signing of Antoine Griezmann underlining how difficult they would find any purchase of €200million-rated Neymar this summer.

The club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu admitted at Griezmann’s presentation:

‘The club has taken out a six-month unsecured loan for €35m and the remaining €85m [is covered by] anticipating payments yet to be received.’

The latter practice is known as factoring – a financial tool whereby a third party effectively buys an invoice yet to be paid so that it can later cash it as a profit. Barcelona are due money for players such as Andre Gomes from Everton. Factoring enables them to have that money up front.  Read more... (253 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

Antoine Griezmann has been officially unveiled as a Barcelona player, with the forward to wear the No 17 shirt for his new club.

The France star completed his move to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid on Friday for a fee of £108million.

Griezmann was in good spirits as he posed in the Barcelona kit for the first time and spoke of his desire to win the Champions League for the first time.

Pedro, Mark van Bommel and Emmanuel Petit are amongst the players to have previously worn the No 17 for Barcelona, with Jeison Murillo, who was on loan from Valencia last season, the most recent player to have worn it.  Read more... (296 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Striker Mauro Icardi has left Inter Milan’s pre-season camp by mutual consent and will play no part in the pre-season tour of Asia, ahead of a likely messy departure from the San Siro.

Former club captain Icardi has fallen out with chiefs at the club and is understood to have been told by new manager Antonio Conte that he does not feature in plans and is up for sale.

The player’s wife-and-agent Wanda Nara has been hawking her husband around top European clubs and has held talks with Juventus this summer.  Read more... (283 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Manchester United will reportedly refuse to sell Paul Pogba after the Premier League transfer window closes on Thursday, August 8.

The Premier League side have slapped a £150million price tag on the unsettled midfielder amid interest from Juventus and Real Madrid.

The Spanish giants want to pay closer to £100m and as the La Liga window closes on September 2, United fear Real will wait in a bid to push through a cut-price deal.

But now the Mirror claim United will not sell the Frenchman at any price if Madrid try to poach him after the English deadline closes.  Read more... (260 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

A signing that’s been two years in the making, Antoine Griezmann is, at last, a Barcelona player. The Spanish champions have announced on their website that:

FC Barcelona has paid the 120 million euro buyout clause to release Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid.

The player will sign a contract with his new club for the next five seasons, through to 30 June 2024, with a buyout clause of 800 million euros.

But reports out of Spain say that Atletico is refusing to end Griezmann’s contract. They argue that the transfer was clearly agreed when the fee was €200 million. Griezmann’s contract clause was €200 million before the 1st of July, when it got reduced to €120 million.  Read more... (387 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)