Cristiano Ronaldo remains as motivated as ever to add to his legend after the Real Madrid star was named the best player in LaLiga for the 2015-16 season by Marca.

The 31-year-old won the Spanish newspaper s Alfredo Di Stefano award on Monday to celebrate his new five-year contract with the European champions.

And, having also won Euro 2016 with Portugal, Ronaldo still has the desire to get better.

[The 2015-16 season] was filled with many emotions with the Champions League and the European Championship, he said.

Today has also been a very special day with my contract renewal and a prize from Marca, what else I can ask for?

I m very happy. This motivates me to keep working and get better in the next few years.

Ronaldo also assessed w…

Raphael Varane is excited by the prospect of Manchester United making a new start under Erik ten Hag, with the 2018 World Cup winner hoping to enjoy a more successful second season at Old Trafford.

Four-time European champion Varane left Real Madrid to join United last August, but he endured a frustrating campaign as the Red Devils struggled to a sixth-placed finish after replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Ralf Rangnick.

Varane made 29 appearances in all competitions during his first season with United, only contributing to six clean sheets as the side finished with their lowest Premier League points tally yet (58).

But the appointment of former Ajax coach Ten Hag has raised hopes United can improve next term, and Varane has spoken of the squad s eagerness to …

Arsenal had to spend a club-record £105million to land England midfielder Rice from London rivals West Ham.

The Gunners smashed their biggest-ever spend by over £32million as manager Mikel Arteta hopes Rice can prove a missing part of the jigsaw, with the aim to take Arsenal from runners-up to Premier League champions this season.

Rice, 24, left West Ham having lifted the Europa Conference League trophy in his final game as captain and – having established himself as a key player at the London Stadium – it will be interesting to see if he can continue to impress at the very top level.

Moussa Diaby – Aston Villa

Unai Emery turned Villa’s season around when he was appointed as Steven Gerrard’s replacement October.

Villa went from relegation can…

Chelsea reached the Champions League final after a 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday completed a 3-1 aggregate victory in the semi-final.

Thomas Tuchel s side will meet Manchester City in Istanbul after a fully deserved triumph at Stamford Bridge, secured through Timo Werner and Mason Mount.

The Germany international s first open-play goal in the competition since September 2019 put the Blues ahead before Mount converted from close range in the closing stages after the hosts had missed a plethora of second-half openings as they countered Madrid with ease.

Zinedine Zidane s men looked out of sorts in a makeshift 3-4-3, even with captain Sergio Ramos and former Chelsea star Eden Hazard back in the side, as their winless record against the Premier League cl…

Frank Lampard believes Michy Batshuayi s match-winning moment in Chelsea s 1-0 triumph at Ajax was just reward for the patience he has shown this season.

The Belgium striker hammered home from fellow substitute Christian Pulisic s assist with four minutes remaining at Johan Cruijff ArenA to snatch a potentially priceless three points in Champions League Group H.

Batshuayi replaced Lampard s first-choice striker Tammy Abraham, who had been mainly subdued, and had already missed a great chance before thumping in Chelsea s winner.

The fact Christian Pulisic comes on in the last two games and gets two assists, changes games, I thought his performance was outstanding for 25 minutes or whatever it was, Lampard told BT Sport. 

And Michy, the great thing about…

Lisandro Martinez is set to become Erik ten Hag s third major signing at Manchester United after a deal was agreed on Sunday.

The versatile 24-year-old will follow his former Ajax coach to Old Trafford in a deal that will reportedly cost United €57million (£48million), potentially rising to €67million (£56.5million) with add-ons.

Martinez emerged as a primary target for United after Ten Hag s appointment was confirmed in April. Arsenal were among clubs rumoured to be rivalling United for the Argentina international, but seemingly Ten Hag s presence played a telling role.

Martinez is primarily a centre-back but has also been known to fill in at left-back and in defensive midfield, with this well-roundedness and his ability on the ball making him an attracti…

Manchester United have opened talks with Newcastle over the possibility of signing Martin Dubravka on loan for the rest of the season for the backup goalkeeper role, according to Sky Sports.

The 20-time English champions had Dean Henderson as able cover for David De Gea, but the 25-year-old pushed hard to leave the club in search of regular game-time, hoping to make the England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. United eventually allowed him to leave for Nottingham Forest on loan, and now they need someone else to make sure a potential absence of De Gea isn t felt too deeply.

United are believed to have tried for Kevin Trapp, but Eintracht Frankfurt set the price for his services too high.

Meanwhile, Newcastle signed Nick Pope from Burnley this summer, r…

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal can learn from the winning mindset Chelsea have demonstrated amid upheaval at Stamford Bridge.

Arteta s Gunners face Frank Lampard s side in the FA Cup final on Saturday, with each looking to win the first trophy of their careers as head coaches.

Arsenal s last major trophy was the 2017 FA Cup, which they claimed after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final, but the Blues have made more of a habit of winning silverware despite changes in management and personnel at the club.

They were Premier League champions in 2016-17, won the FA Cup a year later and beat Arsenal in the final of the Europa League last season, with Antonio Conte in charge for the first two triumphs and Maurizio Sarri the other.

Arteta believes Arsenal can learn …

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Hoping to make an immediate return to winning ways when they travel to the WWK Arena on Friday night, Bayer Leverkusen will meet Augsburg.

Augsburg

Starting with the hosts, while Augsburg might have managed to claim a 1-0 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach on January 25th, it appears that might have just been a minor boost for the German strugglers. Last seen putting in a downbeat display on the road as they slumped to a deserved 3-1 loss away at Freiburg, Enrico Maaßen s men find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap. Holding just a two-point buffer from slipping into the drop zone, Friday s hosts have recorded just a single win from their last 10 straight Bundesliga battles. With that nightmare run of form stemming all…

Jurgen Klopp does not understand why anybody would focus only on Trent Alexander-Arnold s defending when he has world-class talent on the ball.

Liverpool right-back Alexander-Arnold has been the subject of much debate this week after being left out of England s matchday squad to face Germany on Monday.

Reece James started the match and Kyle Walker came off the bench, while Kieran Trippier was among the substitutes.

James appears to be Gareth Southgate s preferred option in that position, but Walker has made 50 appearances under the Three Lions manager. Trippier has turned out 37 times for Southgate, starting in both the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 final.

That leaves Alexander-Arnold – often outstanding for Liverpool – as fourth-choice and …