Cesc Fabregas has signed a four-year deal to officially become the permanent head coach of Como.
The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder was promoted to first-team head coach on an interim basis last November, but only for a month due to not having his UEFA coaching badges yet.
Fabregas led the club from seventh to third in his short tenure, and stayed on as an assistant to Osian Roberts when he was named caretaker – he has now moved into a development role at the club.
Under their stewardship, Como earned automatic promotion to Serie A for the first time in 21 years.
Having now completed his badges, Fabregas will take charge of the club for their return to the top-flight.
Como 1907 is delighted to confirm that will become head coach of the…
Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of one count of rape on the direction of the judge in his ongoing trial at Chester Crown Court.
Mendy, 28, was cleared of the rape of a 19-year-old woman at his home in Cheshire on July 24 last year.
Mendy s co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was cleared of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault against the same woman.
Judge Stephen Everett ordered the jury to clear the two defendants of those counts after the prosecution offered no further evidence.
Mendy and Matturie remain on trial for a number of other alleged sexual offences, which they both deny.
Mendy was suspended by City on August 26, 2021 and has not played for them since.
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Ciro Immobile became the all-time leading goalscorer in Lazio s history after finding the net in their 2-2 draw with Marseille on Thursday.
Italy international Immobile overtook Silvio Piola by netting his 160th goal in all competitions for the club in the second half of the Europa League clash at the Stade Velodrome.
The striker pounced on an error from William Saliba and curled a fine finish beyond Pau Lopez in the 49th minute, though Dimitri Payet s late intervention ensured it was not the winner.
Immobile joined Lazio in 2016 and reached the milestone in his 233rd appearance for the club, with the majority of his goals being scored with his right foot (125).
160 Ciro (160) has scored more goals than any other Lazio s player in all compe…
France thrashed 10-man Gibraltar 14-0 in Nice for a record international win to close in on a top seed for Euro 2024.
Les Bleus had already qualified as winners of Group B, and showed no signs of letting up against Gibraltar – who scored an early own goal before defender Ethan Santos was shown a red card for a late tackle on 17-year-old debutant Warren Zaire-Emery.
Following the red card for Santos, who had put the ball in his own net after just three minutes, France were relentless, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick, Kingsley Coman netting twice and substitute Olivier Giroud hitting a late brace.
14 TIMES FRANCE
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG)
Paris St Germain midfielder Zaire-Emery had set a new record as France’s youngest post-war …
Bastian Schweinsteiger says Jose Mourinho was always asking about Bayern Munich at Manchester United, as speculation grows the Portuguese could take over the reins at the Bundesliga champions.
Bayern parted ways with coach Niko Kovac on Sunday after a 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt a day earlier left them fourth in the Bundesliga table.
Pressure had been growing on Kovac all season despite his leading Bayern to the Bundesliga title and a DFB-Pokal triumph in his first year in charge.
Meanwhile, Mourinho has been out of a coaching job since being sacked by United in December 2018, with the 56-year-old considered to be among the frontrunners to replace Kovac.
Schweinsteiger played for Bayern between 2002 and 2015 before moving to United, where he played…
Eden Hazard would be a great addition to the Real Madrid attack, according to defender Dani Carvajal.
Hazard is widely expected to join the LaLiga giants from Chelsea for a reported €100million this close season after seven impressive campaigns in the Premier League.
Carvajal, who has been at Madrid since 2013, believes the Belgium international would be just what is needed at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Hazard would add a lot to our attack, the right-back told El Larguero on Tuesday.
He is a player who wants the ball and does not hide.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Zinedine Zidane has already started rebuilding Madrid, sealing the signing of talented striker Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Carvajal welcome…
Frank Lampard s focus is on getting Dominic Calvert-Lewin fit and firing for Everton as he looks to make a late push for England s World Cup squad.
Calvert-Lewin enjoyed a brilliant 2020-21 campaign, scoring 21 times. That tally included a hot streak of eight goals in seven games to start the season, with his form seeing him make his England debut, scoring four goals in as many starts for the Three Lions, the most by a player since Kerry Dixon in 1985-86.
He was part of England s Euro 2020 squad but the 25-year-old missed much of last term through injury, returning to score the vital goal to keep Everton up in a 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace in May, only to suffer a knee injury on the eve of the new season.
With Calvert-Lewin limited to two substitute appe…
They say you should never judge a player on one good international tournament.
In fairness, when Bayern Munich splashed out a reported €35million on an 18-year-old Renato Sanches in 2016, he had already impressed at Benfica, but it was his showings at Euro 2016 for eventual winners Portugal that sped up the hype train.
Just over a year later, he was struggling to get game time during a loan move at Swansea City.
Sanches star had fallen almost as quickly as it had risen, and after being unable to establish himself at Bayern, the midfielder made the move to Lille in 2019.
At the French side he finally settled and became a crucial part of Christophe Galtier s underdogs, who impressively beat Paris Saint-Germain to the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title.
Sanches…
Diego Milito and Wesley Sneijder have both claimed Inter were wrong to sack Frank de Boer as the Nerazzurri prepare to face AC Milan in the derby.
De Boer was dismissed this month after just 85 days in charge, with his replacement Stefano Pioli set for a daunting first match at the helm against Inter s in-form cross-city rivals at San Siro on Sunday.
Argentine Milito, a member of Inter s 2009-10 treble-winning team under Jose Mourinho, believes the Dutchman deserved more time to prove himself.
I liked him, the Racing Club veteran was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.
I think to sack him has been a mistake. He had winning ideas and could give a new mentality to both the team and club. He just needed more time to work.
Without good re…
Former Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat claims Jack Rodwell has the potential to make an impact in Serie A as rumours of a surprise switch to Roma surface.
The 28-year-old is a free agent after being released from Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season and, with Roma suffering from midfield injuries, he could join compatriot Chris Smalling in the Italian capital with speculation a medical could happen this weekend.
Rodwell earned a move to Manchester City in 2012, having come through Everton s youth ranks, but injuries have impacted the Englishman s career to date.
The Englishman would later spend five years at Sunderland, working under Advocaat during his brief spell as manager and the Dutchman says he s not surprised by Roma s interest in Rodwell.
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