Karamoko Dembele making history both for Scotland and Celtic / Image via dailymail.co.uk
World football is buzzing with excitement over Celtic’s child prodigy Karamoko Dembele who went from just another young boy to arguably the hottest football sensation in a month’s time.
The buzz for the youngsters who has been announced as the next big thing perhaps a tad too early is real and well-justified though, but who exactly is Karamoko Dembele, the much talked about lad who’s got the football community eating out of the palm of his hand?
Years Behind – Streets Ahead
Coming off the bench in Celtic’s win over Hearts early in October, Karamoko Dembele went on to win many hearts as the 13-year-old played final nine minutes for the Under 20 development team.
Paris Saint-Germain will win a second straight Ligue 1 title if they beat relegation-threatened Rennes at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Laurent Blanc s men missed the chance to secure the French top-flight crown when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Sochaux last week.
The capital club lead second-placed Monaco by eight points ahead of the visit of Philippe Montanier s side, and will be able to celebrate another championship with three points against a team that suffered disappointment in the Coupe de France final last Saturday.
Rennes were beaten 2-0 by Brittany rivals Guingamp in the Stade de France showpiece, losing to their neighbours in the final for the second time in five years after succumbing to a 2-1 loss in 2009.
And Montanier s men will need to quickly…
Commercial revenue in the Premier League topped £2.5billion for the first time in the 2012-13 season, according to finance firm Deloitte.
England s top-flight clubs once again generated the highest revenue of any league in Europe, followed by the Bundesliga (£1.7bn), La Liga (£1.6bn), Serie A (£1.4bn) and Ligue 1 (£1.1bn).
And a further increase has been forecast for Premier League teams, on the back of new broadcast deals and commercial growth.
However, Deloitte s Annual Review of Football Finance also revealed that 75 per cent of the increased revenue was spent on wages.
Salaries increased by £125million to £1.8bn, resulting in a record high wages-to-revenue ratio of 71 per cent in the Premier League.
As a result, aggregate profit of teams in the top f…
Frank Lampard is remaining patient amid Timo Werner s Premier League goal drought despite the striker missing a glorious chance late on in Chelsea s 1-0 win over Fulham.
Although Germany international Werner scored in the recent FA Cup win over Morecambe, he went into Saturday s match without a goal in his previous nine league games.
That was already his longest run without a goal since going 11 matches without netting in 2016.
He had a fine chance to finally end that difficult spell in the latter stages when he was put through on goal by Christian Pulisic, but he missed the target when one-on-one with Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
Luckily for Chelsea and Lampard, the excellent Mason Mount had already netted what proved to be the winner.
Lamp…
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic felt fatigue was a key factor as England s late comeback condemned his team to Nations League relegation.
Andrej Kramaric s opener in Sunday s decisive meeting at Wembley looked set to give the World Cup finalists another victory over the Three Lions.
But Harry Kane s effort ran for Jesse Lingard to equalise before the hosts captain converted a Ben Chilwell cross in the 85th minute to instead book England s place in the Finals.
Croatia were without key midfielder Ivan Rakitic due to injury and had to replace right-back Sime Vrsaljko, who made a brilliant tackle to deny Marcus Rashford, in the first half.
Ante Rebic was also withdrawn at the break, while England could introduce Lingard, Dele Alli and Jadon Sancho, and Dali…
After all the flashpoints and controversies, the trophies won and red cards, the impassioned defences and public rows, Roberto Mancini wore a weary and rueful expression.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day following Manchester City s frustrating 0-0 draw at Queens Park Rangers in January 2013 – a result that pushed a hard-earned Premier League title further back in the direction of Manchester United – the Italian confirmed his compatriot Mario Balotelli would join AC Milan on an initial loan.
I think that this is a good chance for Mario to come back in Italy. I am very sorry because we love him as a guy and a player, Mancini said.
We are so sad in this moment. I think he will miss me… not only me, but all the journalists. For you he was very important.
…
As an Everton fan, I watch England number one Jordan Pickford week-in and week-out. In my humble opinion, the former Sunderland ‘keeper should no longer be England’s first-choice goalkeeper, especially with Euro 2020 on the horizon. This may seem to be a harsh judgement on Pickford, but it comes out of frustration.
Always prone to make a mistake
Sometimes stats can be misleading. However, in Pickford’s case, the stats sum up his situation. Only Fraser Forster and Joe Hart have made more errors leading to goals since the summer of 2017. The fact that Forster and Hart are no longer first-choice Premier League goalkeepers tells its own story.
Some may say that the Everton ‘keeper has played the most of any goalkeeper in the top-flight in recent seasons may sway th…
According to Marca, Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers are keeping an eye on Colombian star Juan Quintero following a series of impressive performances from the attacking midfielder at the World Cup in Russia. Wolves have been one of the shock packages of the last twelve months as they ve elevated themselves into a whole new stratosphere, with a big reason for that being their ability to sign incredibly high profile players from around some of the biggest clubs in world football.
Quintero, 25, has been with Portuguese giants Porto ever since 2013, although he s been on loan a handful of times during his tenure. His latest spell away came earlier this year with River Plate, where he kicked off a surge of momentum that has led him all the way to the World Cup.
…
A Lionel Messi hat-trick inspired Barcelona to a crushing 5-1 derby win over city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
Luis Enrique s men were punished for a sluggish start as Barca academy product Sergio Garcia gave the visitors an early lead, but the hosts eventually found their rhythm and La Liga s record goalscorer Messi struck three times in another comprehensive victory.
Espanyol had not scored at Camp Nou since another La Masia graduate, Ivan de la Pena, netted twice in a 2-1 win back in February 2009.
However, Garcia ended that five-match drought in the 13th minute and Espanyol continued to pose a significant danger on the counter-attack.
Barca eventually levelled just before the interval, however, as Messi curled a delightful strike past K…
Alvaro Morata has passed his medical ahead of a proposed loan move from Chelsea to Atletico Madrid today (Sunday), according to Sky Sports.
The loan is apparently set to cost the La Liga side £9 million, and the deal will include an option to buy that they will be able to activate in the summer for £48.5 million.
Morata started his career at Real Madrid and spent five years with Atletico s city rivals before moving to Juventus in 2014. The deal, however, included a buy-back clause which Real exercised two years later. After just one season back, they sold him to Chelsea, and it s fair to say that he failed to impress in the Premier League.
He has been linked with a move away from the club which secured the signing of Gonzalo Higuain on loan for the rest of the…