It was hard to convince Pogba to join me at Manchester United – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho admits it was difficult to convince Paul Pogba to make the switch back to Manchester United from Juventus in a world-record €110 million deal.
The United boss revealed that he faced huge competition from “another big club” in completing the most noteworthy transfer of the summer.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid were interested in Pogba but were unwilling to match the fee the 20-time English champions were offering to Juventus.
“Oh! It was hard to convince him,” Mourinho said. “I had many [conversations] on the phone, lots of SMS.
“I think he was getting one in the morning from the manager from another big club and one in the afternoon from myself. I had to try hard to convince him to choose us instead of the other one.”
United may be without top-level European football this season – with Mourinho instead leading

Ozil, Sanchez’s Arsenal contract talks to start – Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said talks are to begin over tying Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to new contracts.
Ozil and Sanchez are both contracted to Arsenal for another two years, but Wenger is keen to prolong their stays.

Nigeria’s World Cup ticket not negotiable – Oboabona

Godfrey Oboabona

Godfrey Oboabona has said Nigeria Super Eagles cannot afford to miss out on the 2018 World Cup in Russia after they failed to qualify for the last two AFCONs.
The Rizespor of Turkey central defender said qualification for the World Cup in Russia was crucial

Manchester United can repeat Class of ’92 – Butt

Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs

Manchester United could see a repeat of the “Class of ’92,” according to the club’s head of academy, Nicky Butt.
In 1992, United produced a number of talented youngsters who went on to be mainstays in the side, helping the club lift a memorable Treble in 1999.
Butt was part of a crop of players which also included David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and brothers Phil and Gary Neville.
“The ‘Class of ’92’ can be done again,” Butt told M.E.N Sport. “Ability wise it definitely can be done again because some of these boys are better than I was when I was 16. They have so much more ability.
“The talent is there so it can be done again. There is no reason why it cannot. I would be really

Ronaldo believes Madrid can retain Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo believes Real Madrid are capable of becoming the first team to successfully defend the Champions League.
No club has retained the European Cup since the revamped format was introduced by UEFA for the 1992-93 season, AC Milan in 1990 being the last side to win the famous trophy back to back.
Madrid are the most successful team in the competition’s history, winning two of the last three tournaments to secure their 10th and 11th continental titles.
They begin their latest campaign at home to Ronaldo’s former club Sporting CP.
And the star forward feels the team, coached by Zinedine Zidane, can progress to the latter stages yet again.

Paul Pogba critics are ‘jealous’ – Ibrahimovic

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said that “jealous people” will regret their words of criticism about Paul Pogba.
Ibrahimovic scored in the 2-1 derby defeat against Manchester City on Saturday, registering his fourth goal in four league matches, but midfielder Pogba had a quiet game.
The Swede was quoted by Eurosport as saying: “All the jealous people who talk about him will swallow all of the words they have said about him. He will only improve and will get everyone behind him.”

PSG’s Verratti tells Balotelli to get serious

Nice's Italian forward Mario Balotelli looks on at the end of the French L1 football match Nice vs Marseille on September 11, 2016 at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, southeastern France.(AFP)

Paris Saint Germain’s Italian midfielder Marco Verratti has challenged troubled Ligue 1 new boy Mario Balotelli to concentrate on his football all week long and not just on matchdays.
The former AC Milan, Manchester City and Liverpool striker scored twice on his debut for French outfit Nice on Sunday, where he is trying to resurrect his floundering career.
And the gloves were off when Italy international Verratti was asked what he thought of his compatriot.
“I just hope he realises that football is not just 90 minutes, but an all week long thing,” Verratti said at the PSG training ground.
“He’s a good player who has always had a problem with his mentality. But I do know he’s a good guy.”

PSG will beat Arsenal, ‘have potential’ to win Champions League – Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka

Former Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka expects a close encounter when two of his former clubs meet at Parc des Princes in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The ex-France international, now 37 and most recently player-coach for Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League, started his professional career with PSG in 1996 before moving to Arsenal the following year.
Anelka remained at Highbury until 1999, when he joined Real Madrid. One year after transferring to Santiago Bernabeu, he returned to Paris and stayed until 2002 — his final spell with “his club.”
“It will be a very tough match for PSG but also for Arsenal,” Anelka told the French club’s official website. “The English play well on the ball — Arsene Wenger’s DNA is still plain to see in their play. They always make it out of the group stage. It will be these two sides fighting it out for top spot.
“They are a physical team but with a French touch. That’s when we will see whether Paris are tough enough — but I know that Paris are tough and that they’ll qualify.”

Manchester United write off £6.7m Bastian Schweinsteiger in accounts

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Manchester United have had to write off midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger as an asset in the club’s latest published accounts.
Schweinsteiger, 32, was brought to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich last summer by former manager Louis van Gaal, but has been frozen out by new boss Jose Mourinho.
The former Germany captain is training away from the first team but stressed towards the end of the transfer window that United would be his last club in Europe, saying he “will be ready, if the team needs me.”
However, that looks even more unlikely after the club announced their financial results for the year ending June 30, 2016.
Under the “exceptional items” section of United’s annual results, it listed a sum of £6.7 million “related to a registrations’ impairment charge regarding a reduction in the carrying value of a

Wenger eyes European improvement as Arsenal face PSG

Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger is looking for Arsenal to show greater consistency in the Champions League, starting with a positive result when they begin their campaign at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
A year ago the Gunners lost their opening two group games before scraping through to the last 16 behind Bayern Munich, only to fall at that stage for the sixth year running.
The key to returning to the latter stages is winning Group A to thereby set up an easier draw in the first knockout round, and so taking points off the French champions at the Parc des Princes could be crucial.
“Last year we had a bad start because we lost our first game at Dinamo Zagreb and after we had the hiccup at home against Olympiakos and Bayern was a bit more consistent,” Wenger said at a press conference on Monday.
“What we need to do to win the group is make a good result here tomorrow.”

La Liga and Nigeria league the best together – Mutiu Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju

One of the world’s most successful leagues, La Liga, has thrown its doors wide open to Nigeria with ex-World Cup star Mutiu Adepoju tasked with installing the Spanish top flight league as No.1 in this football-mad country.
Already, a five-year co-operation with the Nigeria league has seen an All-Stars team feature on a playing tour of Spain during which they lost all three matches to Valencia, Malaga and Atletico Madrid last month.
La Liga will soon donate 4,000 footballs to the country, while coaches from Spain are scheduled to visit to educate their counterparts in schools and academies in Nigeria.
An Under-13 tournament, La Liga Promesa, will be staged in Nigeria and so too South Africa.
La Liga Foundation has also made a cash donation to assist Nigeria premier league club El Kanemi

Rio Paralympics: Team Nigeria grabs two more gold medals

Handout image supplied by OIS/IOC showing Nigeria’s Lauritta Onye, Gold Medal winner in the Women’s Shot Put – F40 Final in the Olympic Stadium, during the Paralympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 11, 2016.(AFP)

Nigeria yesterday continued its impressive form at the on-going Rio 2016 Paralympic Games when it won two more gold medals and a bronze to bring the country’s tally to five gold, two silver and a bronze medal.
Powerlifting gave the country the previous medals and one of the gold medals yesterday, but athletics also came to the party with a gold in the shot put event.
Powerlifter, Ndidi Nwosu, got the country off to a good start on the day when she won gold at the women 73kg event, while Onye Lauritta won the country’s first gold medal in athletics when she