Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani spent the international break in Uruguay stepping up his recovery, but he remains a doubt to feature against Chelsea on Sunday.

A tendon problem has prevented Cavani from featuring for United since a substitute appearance in the Red Devils 2-2 draw with Atalanta on November 2, missing the losses to Manchester City and Watford that spelled the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s reign, as well as the most recent victory over Villarreal.

The 34-year-old also missed out on the chance to represent his country, with Uruguay slipping to defeat against Argentina and Bolivia, putting their World Cup qualification hopes in jeopardy and leading to the sacking of Oscar Tabarez as head coach after 15 years in the role. 

The veteran strik…

Tottenham Hotspur are ready to swoop for Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater,.

The North London side are still looking to strengthen their squad ahead of the closing of the transfer window and would be keen too bring in the England international, who was one of many stars for the Foxes as they romped to the Premier League title last season.

Leicester are keen to tie Drinkwater down to a new deal at the King Power Stadium having already lost fellow midfielder N’Golo Kante to Chelsea, though Sprs are hoping a deal can be concluded.

Drinkwater moved to the East Midlands outfit from Manchester United in January 2012 and has since racked up one hundred and seventy-seven appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring thirteen goals.

Spurs …

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has applauded Joachim Loew for his elegant approach to leading Germany back among the international elite.

The 52-year-old originally assumed the role of assistant under Jurgen Klinsmann between 2004 and 2006, but was promoted to head coach after the World Cup six years ago.

He subsequently led Germany to a runners-up place at Euro 2008 and secured a third-placed finish in South Africa.

Del Bosque, who could face Loew in a second consecutive European final in Poland and Ukraine, was lost for superlatives when describing his opponent, and sees no reason why he could not go on to coach either Barcelona or Real Madrid one day should the opportunity arise.

He is an elegant man who represents his country very well, the Spaniar…

Arsenal took home the first piece of silverware of the new season as they beat treble-winners Manchester City on penalties to lift the Community Shield.

Substitute Cole Palmer appeared to have won it for City in normal time after a fine curling finish, only for an unfortunate last-gasp Manuel Akanji own goal to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw and take the game to a shoot-out.

The Gunners scored all of their spot-kicks while Kevin De Bruyne fired against the bar and Champions League final match-winner Rodri’s poor effort was saved by Aaron Ramsdale.

This team never gives up

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

Just as 12 months ago, Erling Haaland had a quiet afternoon in this fixture but his replacement, Palmer, had appeared set to add another trophy to the brimmin…

Poland midfielder Adam Matuszczyk has empathised with Franciszek Smuda as his coach ponders whether to recall Wojciech Szczesny.

Przemyslaw Tyton became an instant hero when he came off the bench and saved the penalty that had been conceded by Szczesny in their opening Euro 2012 clash against Greece, which finished 1-1.

But the Arsenal goalkeeper, who started the tournament as first choice, is back from his ban for the game against Michal Bilek s Czech Republic, leaving Smuda with a difficult decision to make.

We have two very good goalkeepers, Wojciech and Przemyslaw, Matuszczyk told reporters.

I am happy that I do not have to make the decision (about) who must be the number one.

Midfielder Rafal Murawski echoed his countryman s sentiments.<…

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has withdrawn from the England squad to face Italy on Wednesday due to a thigh injury.

The 23-year-old has returned to his club and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit for their opening English Premier League fixture against Sunderland at the weekend.

England coach Roy Hodgson has decided against calling up a replacement for former Southampton man Walcott, as he looks to assess his options before England begin their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

Walcott has scored four goals in 28 appearances for his country, with three of those coming in one match against Croatia in 2008.

He established scored eight times and provided 11 assists in 35 league appearances for Arsenal last season.

…

Athletic Bilbao have secured the futures of defender Xabier Etxeita and goalkeeper Iago Herrerin, after the pair penned new deals with the Liga club.

Etxeita left Bilbao for Elche in July 2010, but returned to San Mames ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.

The 27-year-old has now agreed a new contract with the Copa del Rey finalists that runs until June 2018.

Similarly, Herrerin rejoined Bilbao in 2012 after a two-year stay with Atletico Madrid, where he failed to break into the first team.

He has largely played second fiddle to number one Gorka Iraizoz, but has done enough to earn a deal until June 2017.

Etxeita has a buyout clause of €40million, while Herrerin s is €35m.

…

Barcelona claimed a scarcely believable Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain that will go down in history as one of the all-time great comebacks, Sergi Roberto netting in the fifth minute of stoppage time to seal a sensational 6-5 aggregate triumph after they had trailed 4-0.

It had looked as though Edinson Cavani s away goal would prove pivotal after Barca had raced into a three-goal lead, but the hosts scored three times from the 88th minute onwards at Camp Nou to complete the biggest turnaround ever seen in the competition.

After being thrashed in the first leg of the last-16 tie, Barca appeared set to fall agonisingly short of a famous recovery in what transpired to be a classic encounter.

Luis Enrique s side were three goals up within 50 m…

Arsene Wenger claims Luis Suarez agreed to join Arsenal from Liverpool in 2013.

The Arsenal manager explained why his side made a bizarre bid of £40,000,001 for the forward, the Gunners having been wrongly advised over a clause in his Anfield contract.

Suarez eventually joined Barcelona one year later for £65million, but Wenger insists a deal was effectively done and challenged any doubters to ask the Uruguay international personally.

He was very close [to signing], Wenger said to beIN Sports.

We had an agreement with the player. We had been wrongly advised that he had a clause, with a minimal clause, but we had an agreement with the player. You can ask him.

I m convinced he wanted to join us and then they sold him. They kept him one more yea…

Marco Reus is adamant he will not miss out on a second successive World Cup as he aims to secure a place in Germany s squad for Russia.

The Borussia Dortmund forward did not feature in the 2014 edition due to an ankle problem, forcing him to watch on from afar as his compatriots lifted the trophy in Brazil.

Having also missed out on Euro 2016, Reus is determined to make sure he is available to play in this year s event provided he is recalled by national coach Joachim Low.

The 28-year-old only recently returned from a serious knee injury suffered last May, but has scored three goals in as many league games for Dortmund.

I ll look forward to it [the World Cup] when we get there, Reus said in an interview with the Bundesliga s official website.

My…