By Moises Llorens and Jeff Carlisle Relive the best moments from last night’s MLS Skills Challenge in Orlando. Former Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran Torres is in talks with MLS club Chicago Fire and Brazilian side Sao Paulo, according to ESPN FC sources. The Spaniard left Atleti at the end of last season and has received
Leagues
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk won the Premier League Player of the Year in May. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo are among the nominees for FIFA’s The Best award for 2019, along with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, organisers have announced. Premier League Player of the Year Van Dijk won the Champions League
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp tells ESPN FC’s Melissa Reddy that re-signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona would take “big, big money” and “it’s not our year for that.” Steve Nicol says Liverpool need quality attacking depth and bringing back Philippe Coutinho could be a sensible move if they can afford him. Stewart Robson cites Barcelona’s defeats
To watch the 2019 Leagues Cup, sign up for ESPN+. A cat took to the pitch and got a touch on the ball in the Leagues Cup match between Real Salt Lake and Tigres. Major League Soccer announced on Tuesday that Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke will be suspended three games and be
The FC crew examine Real Madrid’s current issues as Zinedine Zidane’s side head into the La Liga season on the back of a dismal ICC performance. Gab Marcotti explains how Real Madrid’s shocking defeat to Atletico Madrid has reignited efforts to bring Paul Pogba to the Santiago Bernabeu. Following Real Madrid’s humiliating 7-3 defeat to
Welcome to the All-Star edition of ESPN’s Major League Soccer Power Rankings. This week, we all take a collective breath and pause for the midseason clasico pitting the best performers of the first half of the season against a barnstorming European powerhouse led by a man who is either color blind or REALLY committed to
With rumours of Neymar’s return to Barcelona refusing to go away, Santi Solari believes if it does happen one or two players may have to leave the Nou Camp. Gab Marcotti shares the latest on a potential swap deal that would send Paulo Dybala to Manchester United and Romelu Lukaku to Juventus. Shaka Hislop and
Shaka Hislop and Stewart Robson disagree on whether a Romelu Lukaku-Paulo Dybala swap would be good business for Manchester United and Juventus. Arsenal are closing in on Lille winger Nicolas Pepe, but Shaka Hislop wonders if the Gunners could make better use of €80 million elsewhere. As Europe’s most prestigious clubs fly back to the
After Eric Bailly’s injury against Tottenham, ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol says Manchester United’s needs at the centre-back position are more dire than ever. ESPN FC’s Ian Darke and Stewart Robson share their thoughts on the likelihood Harry Maguire joins Manchester United this summer. To watch the 2019 International Champions Cup, sign up for ESPN+. Steve
12:46 AM ET Real Salt Lake missed a chance to move ahead of FC Dallas and pick up some breathing room in the Western Conference standings, settling for a scoreless draw despite forcing five saves on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas. Goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez was the hero for FC Dallas, facing 17 shots and making
Former Real Madrid manager Santi Solari says he only has “good words” for Gareth Bale who now looks set for a move to the Chinese Super League. Steve Nicol and Ross Dyer discuss the knock-on effects that Marco Asensio’s left knee injury will have on Real Madrid’s plans for Gareth Bale and Dani Ceballos. Gareth
1:50 PM ET Lorenzo Insigne celebrates after scoring. Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images Liverpool’s poor preseason form continued as they lost 3-0 in a friendly against Napoli in Edinburgh on Sunday. On their summer tour of the U.S., the European champions failed to win as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Sporting CP
1:18 AM ET Cristhian Paredes and Diego Valeri electrified the 150th consecutive sellout crowd at Providence Park with late first-half goals, and the host Portland Timbers rolled to a 4-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday night. Paredes ended the night with two goals, his second one coming in the 81st minute. The frustrations
10:26 AM ET Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte handed debuts to summer signings Diego Godin and Nicolo Barella as the Nerazzurri beat Paris Saint-Germain 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their preseason friendly in China. PSG had looked set to claim the victory when Thilo Kehrer opened the scoring on 41 minutes. However,
12:44 AM ET Los Angeles FC scored four goals in a 12-minute stretch of the first half, including one from Carlos Vela, the MLS leader in goals scored, to overcome an early deficit and then held on for a wild 4-3 victory Friday night over visiting Atlanta United FC. Adama Diomande, Diego Rossi and Eduard
Miralem Pjanic is going to see a lot of the ball this season. In Maurizio Sarri’s early training sessions as Juventus coach, Pjanic has taken on a central role, sitting at the base of midfield in practice matches and spraying passes to his teammates in the same metronomic fashion as Jorginho under Sarri at Napoli
LAFC is closing in on the signing of Penarol midfielder Brian Rodriguez, sources have confirmed to ESPN FC. Reports in South America suggest that Penarol would not let Rodriguez go for less than $11.5 million, though it remains to be seen if the final number will be that high if and when the deal gets
ESPN FC’s Matteo Bonetti finds the silver lining to AC Milan’s one-year ban from European competition. The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place. Moscardelli ends the bottlecap challenge Zlatan Ibrahimovic and
Shaka Hislop believes that Newcastle United’s problems are higher up than the recent appointment of manager Steve Bruce to replace Rafa Benitez. Shaka Hislop makes sense of Newcastle’s £50 million valuation of Man United target Sean Longstaff, who only made nine league appearances in 2018-19. Alejandro Moreno sifts through the latest transfer rumours in this
The FC crew discusses the next step in Gareth Bale’s career and whether he will return to Tottenham or move somewhere else. This has been a strange summer in the transfer market. The Gareth Bale-Real Madrid saga has become increasingly nasty. Neymar‘s desired divorce from PSG isn’t going as he’d hoped. It felt like Barcelona