Promising United States striker Ricardo Pepi has joined Augsburg from FC Dallas for a reported €18million ($20m) fee plus add ons.

Pepi, 18, impressed for Dallas in the 2021 season as he scored 13 times in MLS – the joint-most ever managed by a teenager in the competition.

The forward is also the youngest player to ever score in consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the USA and has previously been linked to some of Europe s top clubs, such as Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

But Pepi has opted to move to Augsburg, who have signed the talented teenager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, while holding the option to extend for a further year.

The transfer represents a club-record deal for Dallas as Pepi dethrones Alphonso Davies move from Vancouver Whitec…

Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic feels his old side Schalke are the perfect club for Marko Pjaca to rediscover top form after a frustrating period at Juventus.

Pjaca tore his anterior cruciate ligament in March and is yet to return to competitive action for the Serie A giants.

Schalke confirmed this week they are close to signing the 22-year-old on loan until the end of the season.

And Rakitic, who played for the Bundesliga team from 2007 to 2011 before moving to Sevilla, expects his Croatia team-mate to thrive at Veltins-Arena. 

He told 24 sata: Pjaca made a good choice, Schalke is among the three to four best German clubs and by [the] club s organization, [a] top European club.

[The] fans are fantastic, Marko will play at one of nicest stadiums i…

Left furious to have seen Sunday s derby getting postponed almost 24 hours prior to kick-off, it is fair to say that Antonio Conte hasn t been impressed by his new squad s recent displays.

Hit with a 1-0 loss at home against London rivals Chelsea last week and eventually crashing out of the EFL Cup thanks to a 3-0 aggregate defeat, Spurs appear in a real uphill battle to claim a Champions League return this season.

With Conte remaining coy over what his future could hold, many have also been surprised to see the 52-year-old not add any new additions to his side since the transfer window reopened.

With under a fortnight left until the January window slams shut, we have taken a look at a handful of Tottenham stars who could still be heading for the north London e…

FIFA and UEFA have banned Russian teams from club and international competitions, denying them entry to the 2022 World Cup and Women s Euro 2022.

The decision means Spartak Moscow will be removed from the Europa League last 16, where they were due to face RB Leipzig.

UEFA has also ended its relationship with Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant that was a major sponsor of the Champions League.

A joint statement from FIFA and UEFA read: Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.

Both presidents [Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Ceferin] hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.

The …

Ronald Koeman explained Granada s early goal and the limited resources at his disposal meant Barcelona could not play tiki-taka as they battled to a draw on Monday. 

In their first match since going down 3-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barca narrowly avoided suffering another home defeat. 

Domingos Duarte headed a second-minute opener for Granada, chasing their second straight Camp Nou win after 24 straight losses, and the Blaugrana had to wait until the final seconds of normal time to respond. 

Ronald Araujo got the leveller with a header of his own, coming from one of 54 Barca crosses. 

Since the 2005-06 season, the Catalan side have only once registered more crosses in a match, sending in 55 in a goalless draw against Malaga in N…

Robert Lewandowski scored his first Barcelona hat-trick as the Blaugrana met expectations with a dominant 5-1 win over Viktoria Plzen to open their Champions League campaign.

Barca s three first-half goals were more than they managed over the whole group stage last season (two) when they were dumped into the Europa League, though sterner challenges await.

Plzen had moments against an unconvincing Barca defence, with Jan Sykora netting just before the break, but the hosts were already ahead thanks to Franck Kessie and Lewandowski, who made it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time.

Although the tempo slowed slightly, Barca remained dominant after the break and Lewandowski ensured he became the first player to net a Champions League hat-trick with three different teams be…

Sandro Tonali has become the latest player to sign a new deal with Serie A champions Milan.

The 22-year-old, who joined from Brescia in September 2020 on an initial loan basis, has agreed a new five-year contract at San Siro.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli recently confirmed the club were in talks over extending the stay of Tonali, who is reported to have doubled his salary with his fresh terms.

Tonali has played 84 times for the Rossoneri since arriving, a tally bettered only by Franck Kessie (86), Rafael Leao (87), Theo Hernandez and Alexis Saelemaekers (both 89).

The 22-year-old has made exactly 100 appearances in Serie A. Among players with 100 or more appearances in the competition, Tonali is the youngest of them.

Sandro Tonali 2027
Penning …

Julen Lopetegui has come a long way. Very little highlights that more than the fact he has been mentioned as a potential long-term successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United.

While such a move probably won t occur, with Mauricio Pochettino seemingly the likeliest to walk through the door at Old Trafford at the end of the season, the speculation is at least a vindication of the work Lopetegui has done at Sevilla over the past two and a half years.

Of course, it wasn t long before his hiring by Sevilla that Lopetegui seemed to be the butt of all jokes in Spanish football, with the situation surrounding his Spain departure attracting criticism before he was swiftly shown the exit by Real Madrid.

But he is a coach who really has put in the hard graft, ha…

It seems bizarre to suggest that in a contest between a club that has never won the European Cup or Champions League and another that has won 13 of them, it is the latter who will go into it as the underdog.

That is the case this week, though, with Manchester City and Real Madrid set to go head-to-head for a place in this season s Champions League final.

There is obviously reasoning behind this, with Pep Guardiola s side winning every other trophy available to them in recent years and breezing through their European campaign up to this point, a few scars from their quarter-final with Atletico Madrid aside.

Carlo Ancelotti s men have had a tougher road to get here, having to get past newly crowned French champions Paris Saint-Germain and reigning European champion…

Pizzi has signed a new contract with Benfica that will keep him at the club until 2023.

The 29-year-old joined from Atletico Madrid in 2013 but was immediately sent out on loan to LaLiga side Espanyol.

He became an immediate fixture in Benfica s midfield from the start of the 2014-15 campaign, however, and has helped them to the Primeira Liga title in four of the past five seasons.

Pizzi, who is in Portugal s squad for the Nations League Finals next week, told the club s official website: All my seasons here have been special. I feel a special connection with the fans and all the people at the club.

I am very proud to be part of this club and to continue as part of the family.

He scored 13 goals last season as Benfica beat Sporting CP to the ti…