Darren Bent has been released by Aston Villa following the expiry of his contract, and penned a two-year deal with Derby County.
Bent moved to Villa Park in a record-breaking deal worth a reported £24million from Sunderland in January 2011, but struggled for a first-team place in the past two seasons.
He spent all of 2013-14 on loan at Fulham, and more temporary switches to Brighton and Hove Albion and Derby followed in the most recent campaign.
His 12 goals in 17 games convinced Derby to keep him on permanently as they look to finally crack promotion and make it back to the Premier League.
Enda Stevens has also been let go by Villa, although the club remain determined to hold onto Netherlands defender Ron Vlaar.
Vlaar has been linked with a host…
Competition: Womens World Cup
Market: USA Women to win the World Cup
Odds:
USA Women are looking for revenge against Japan Women in the 2015 World Cup final, with the Americans having lost to their Asian opponents in the 2011 final. The two sides also locked horns in the 2012 Olympics final too, with USA winning gold and Japan silver. Tonight’s meeting is expected to go the way of the Americans, as they’ve been more convincing en route to make the final two, and boast real firepower to get the job done.
Twice-winners of the World Cup (1991 1999), USA are chasing a record third triumph against the holders, who have proven their credentials to make the final again despite a tricky journey. Japan beat England in the semi-finals thanks to a late own goal, a…
Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel insists he has not been in contact with other clubs as speculation over his future at Anfield continues to grow.
The Slovakia international was linked with a switch to Premier League champions Manchester City earlier this month as boss Roberto Mancini reportedly looked to bolster his defensive options.
Rumours gathered that City were preparing to test the resolve of new Reds manager Brendan Rodgers with a 20-million-pound bid for Skrtel.
However, the 27-year-old, who won the club s Player of the Year award last season, has dismissed suggestions that he has been the subject of approaches from other clubs and says he is happy to stay at Anfield.
In the press there have been rumours about my future, Skrtel said on his perso…
Crystal Palace made it three straight Premier League wins as a Jean-Philippe Mateta double earned them a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at Selhurst Park.
Palace had not scored in their last four Premier League matches against Newcastle before Wednesday s game, and it looked like the Magpies could stifle them again.
But after the hosts failed to break the deadlock in a Palace-dominated first half, a neat one-two with Jordan Ayew allowed Mateta to lash the Eagles in front before he added another late on to make sure of the three points.
Oliver Glasner s impressive start as Palace head coach continues with the Eagles safety from relegation now mathematically confirmed in 14th, while Eddie Howe s side drop below Manchester United into seventh place.
Eberechi E…
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp hailed Mitchell Langerak s exceptional goalkeeping after his side reached the DFB-Pokal final on Tuesday with a penalty shoot-out win over Bayern Munich.
Bayern generally dominated the semi-final at the Allianz Arena, finishing the 120 minutes with 65 per cent possession and 19 shots to Dortmund s 10 but a shoot-out was required as the score remained locked at 1-1.
Langerak made six saves, plus stopped Mario Gotze s penalty, as the visitors won the shoot-out 2-0.
Three Bayern players missed spot-kicks, with captain Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso both slipping before skying their efforts over the bar.
That was a hell game. Lucky, no question, Klopp said after the match, according to Bayern s website.
Both teams …
Willy Sagnol has put France s disappointing performances at big tournaments in recent years down to the lack of a winning mentality.
France were eliminated by Spain in the quarter-finals at Euro 2012, while they failed to survive the group stage at the 2010 World Cup amid player unrest, and the former full-back feels cultural issues are one of the reasons behind their early exits.
We need winners. That is what is lacking in French culture generally, and it s not easy to develop, Sagnol told France Football.
While you can improve a player s technical ability and help him evolve, it is hard to change the mentality.
Once they are in a high-level structure, that must be mandatory. It must have the same importance as technical education.
Sagnol m…
Inter winger Jonathan Biabiany is determined to make up for lost time and help Roberto Mancini s side bounce back from their loss against Fiorentina by beating his former club Sampdoria at the Luigi Ferraris.
Biabiany, now in his third spell at Inter, missed all of last season after it was discovered that he had an irregular heartbeat during a medical with city rivals Milan.
The Frenchman finally returned to action on September 24, coming on as a substitute in Inter s 1-0 win over Verona.
That victory was Inter s fifth of the season, but their winning start was brought to an abrupt halt by Fiorentina at San Siro last Sunday – Paulo Sousa s men moving up to top spot in Serie A with a comprehensive 4-1 triumph.
Despite beating Roma in their previous home …
Ruben Loftus-Creek is one of Chelsea s highly-rated youngster s hoping for more regular first team football next season
Chelsea sauntered to the Premier League title last season and looked strong for much of the campaign.
There has been little transfer activity so far at Stamford Bridge this summer.
The only impending deal looks like the loan signing of Colombian striker Radamel Falcao from Monaco, despite some Blues fans reported protestations at the deal.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho has hinted in the past that he wants to promote some of the clubs youngsters, so maybe next season will be the one where we see some of Chelsea’s bright young things featuring more regularly in the first team.
Here are just a few of Chelsea youngsters who could make …
Examples from history may serve to both help and hinder Monaco s cause against Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on Wednesday, while Antoine Griezmann will be expected to play a part in firing Atletico Madrid past Bayer Leverkusen.
Ligue 1 leaders Monaco and Premier League heavyweights City played out a thriller at the Etihad Stadium last month, the hosts coming from behind to win 5-3 and take a slim aggregate lead into the return fixture at Stade Louis II.
Atletico, last season s beaten finalists at the hands of fierce local rivals Real Madrid, ran out 4-2 winners over Leverkusen in Germany, also giving them a two-goal advantage but with the potentially crucial benefit of multiple away goals when the Bundesliga team visit the …
Spain and former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas claims he held talks across several years over a move to Real Madrid that never came to fruition.
Fabregas rejoined boyhood club Barca in 2011 following an acclaimed eight-year spell with Arsenal.
The 28-year-old is now back in the Premier League, having helped Chelsea become champions in 2014-15, but in an interview with Marca revealed that he discussed terms with Barcelona s bitter rivals Madrid.
Well, there was contact with different presidents over the space of several years, but no deal was ever struck, Fabregas said.
We discussed terms, but nothing final was ever agreed. That decisive step was never taken.
Barcelona travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the first Clasico showdown of the …