Chelsea captain, Reece James, will miss the start of the Premier League next season through suspension.

The England defender was shown a straight red card during their 2-1 win away at Brighton for kicking out at Joao Pedro.

James was sent off only 19 minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Referee Michael Salisbury was advised to check the pitchside monitor following VAR intervention, where he brandished James with a straight red card.

It is his second sending off this season and he will now miss four matches.

That will see him ruled out of the final Premier League clash of the campaign against Bournemouth on Sunday, and the first three next term.It is his second sending off this season and he will now miss four matches.

That will see him ruled out of the final Premier League clash of the campaign against Bournemouth on Sunday, and the first three next term.

Manchester United midfielder, Bruno Fernandes, has said he will leave if he’s no longer wanted at the club.

Fernandes stated this on Wednesday, following a 3-2 win over Newcastle at United.

The Portugal international made his return to injury after missing two matches and put in an impressive performance.

The 29-year-old has been linked with a summer exit with the club in turmoil.

But when asked about his future by reporters, Fernandes replied: “I will be here till when the club wants me and the club wants me to be a part of the future.

“If for some reason they don’t want me, then I will go.”

Four Premier League teams will be fighting for European football on the last day of the season.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa have all qualified for next season’s Champions League.

But Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester United are fighting for European qualification.

On Wednesday night, United beat Newcastle 3-2 and Chelsea won 2-1 at Brighton.

The result leaves Spurs in fifth (63points), Chelsea in sixth (60), Newcastle in seventh (57) and United in eighth (57).

The teams that finish fifth and sixth will qualify for the Europa League if Manchester City win the FA Cup.

In that instance, seventh would go into the Conference League.

However, if United win the FA Cup, they will qualify for the Europa League, as well as the team finishing fifth.

In that scenario, the side in sixth would play in the Conference League and the side in seventh would miss out on Europe.

But if United finish sixth and win the FA Cup, the Conference League place again moves down to the side finishing seventh.

On the last day of the campaign, Manchester United are away at Brighton, Chelsea welcome Bournemouth, Spurs travel to Sheffield United and Newcastle take on Brentford.

Chippa United second choice goalkeeper Sean Louw has revealed Nigeria international Stanley Nwabali’s big goal is to play for South African giants, Kaizer Chiefs.

Nwabali contributed immensely to Nigeria’s second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

The 27-year-old is now a subject of interest from clubs outside South Africa.

Louw revealed that his teammate was only keen on a move to Kaizer Chiefs before the AFCON.

“Like I said to you, between you and me his childhood dream was to always play for Kaizer Chiefs, but even me, my childhood dream was to play for Kaizer Chiefs, I don’t blame him,” he was quoted by sabcsport.

“In the beginning of this season he wanted to play for Kaizer Chiefs, but I said to him before you speak to Kaizer Chiefs, first go to Afcon because you will win the Afcon and you will be so much more worth than at Kaizer Chiefs with all due respect.”

Nwabali has played a total of 27 matches in all competitions this season, conceding 26 goals and kept 11 clean sheets.

Sporting Lagos have regrouped for their remaining fixtures in the Nigeria Premier Football League this season.

The modest club embarked on a short holiday after the NPFL announced a short break to allow Rivers United complete their outstanding fixtures.

Sporting Lagos had a light training session at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena on Monday to improve their fitness before the resumption of the league.

“We’ve taken some days off and we have started preparing for our next game against Rivers United,” goalkeeper coach Isa Abdullahi told the club’s media.

“We had some reflexes and reaction exercises to make sure we are ready for the game.”

Abdullahi Biffo’s side will face Rivers United when the season resumes.

The league is expected to resume later in the month.

Super Eagles striker, Victor Boniface has been nominated for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season award.

Boniface was recognised for his brilliant displays for Bayer Leverkusen.

The 25-year-old was nominated alongside Borussia Dortmund’s Ian Maatsen, Xavi Simons of RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim forward Maximilian Beier.

The forward won the award for four consecutive months (August, September, October and November).

Boniface was later sidelined for three months due to an adductor injury.

The former Bodo & Glint player has already been named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season.

He has scored 13 goals and provided nine assists in the league this season.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he hoped star footballer Kylian Mbappe would be freed up by his likely future club Real Madrid to take part in the Paris Olympics for France.

“I’m counting on Real Madrid to free up Kylian for the Olympic Games so he can come play with the French team,” Macron said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Mbappe confirmed on Friday that he will leave French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with Real Madrid widely expected to be his next destination.

“I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” Mbappe said in a video posted on social media.

Real Madrid has already said that it will not lift its players’ obligations to the club in favour of their participation in the Olympic Games which are not part of the FIFA-designated international tournaments for which clubs must free up their players.

The 25-year-old World Cup-winning forward and France captain said himself last week that he wasn’t “thinking much” about the Games.

Mbappe will lead France at Euro 2024 which runs from June 14 to July 14 in Germany.

The Olympic football competition begins on July 24 and runs to August 9, with France in a group alongside the United States, New Zealand and another side still to be determined.

Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has hailed his current squad as the “best” after they came from behind to defeat Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

The first leg ended 2-2 in Germany, with Vinicius Jr earning the draw for Los Blancos.

At the Bernabeu, Joselu scored two late goals to win the tie, after Alphonso Davies stunned the Bernabeu in the second half.

“I think we played well but to be honest we had opportunities to control the game.

“We had the strength to go up when they scored. It happened again here. It’s quite usual at the Bernabeu with our supporters. With them, we can do something that is unexpected,” Ancelotti told TNT Sports.

On his players’ attitude, he added: “Unbelievable. I’m really grateful to them, they work really hard, I think this is the best squad I have ever had in my career.”

Real will now play Bayerns Bundesliga rivals, Borussia Dortmund in the final on June 1.

Former Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos has reacted to Los Blancos victory over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the competition.

Real Madrid came from a goal down to earn a 2-1 victory over Bayern and a place in the final at Wembley.

Los Blancos will face another German team, Borussia Dortmund in the final, with the German club having beaten Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

Ramos, who now plays for Real Madrid’s rivals, Sevila hailed his former side for their never-say-die attitude during the game with Bayern Munich.

Los Blancos scored twice late on to reach their 18th UEFA Champions League final.

Alphonso Davies produced a superb curler midway through the second half to give the visitors the lead.

Substitute Joselu pounced on a rare error from brilliant Manuel Neuer’s cross to make it 1-1.

Joselu scored again, narrowly beating the offside trap to tap in Antonio Rudiger’s cross.

Ramos – a four-time Champions League winner with Madrid – tweeted after his side reached another final (as translated from Spanish):

“Until the final whistle … Very much from minute 93 DN @realmadrid !! Congratulations!! One more final.”

Chelsea have reportedly developed a strategy to try and snatch Napoli star, Victor Osimhen this summer.

The Blues are mulling an offer in the region of €80m-€90m plus Romelu Lukaku and an unnamed young player for the forward.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are, however, prepared to pay the striker well over his current €10m net per season wages.

Osimhen has a release clause of €120m in the contract he signed last December.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is known to be a tough negotiator and it remain to be seen if he will be willing to accept the offer.

Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint-Germain are also reportedly interested in the Nigeria international.

Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach Cesar Luis Menotti has died aged 85.

Menotti led his country to victory on home soil in the 1978 tournament, beating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time thanks to two goals from player of the tournament Mario Kempes.

“The Argentine Football Association regrets to report with great sadness the death of Cesar Luis Menotti, former world champion coach of Argentina,” said the AFA in a statement.

As a player, Menotti, a striker, played alongside Pele for Brazilian side Santos and won 11 international caps.

He then embarked on a coaching career which lasted 37 years including winning two trophies in a two-season spell with Barcelona and spells in Italy, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina.

He took over the Argentina role in 1974 but there was controversy around the 1978 win after he opted not to include a 17-year-old Diego Maradona in the squad despite giving him his international debut the previous year.

But the following year, with Maradona in the squad, Menotti led Argentina to the Under-20 World Cup, beating the Soviet Union 3-1 in the final.

His reign ended after the 1982 World Cup in Spain where Argentina were eliminated by Brazil 3-1 in the second round with Maradona sent off.

Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, on Sunday, matched a record set by Wayne Rooney during their 4-2 win over Tottenham.

Salah, Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott all scored at Anfield before the hour mark, as the Reds kept their faint title hopes alive.

As well as scoring the opener, the ‘Egyptian King’ assisted Elliott for his wondergoal.

This brings his tally for the campaign to 18 goals and 10 assists so far.

Salah has now become the first player to score 10+ and assist 10+ in three consecutive seasons.

Furthermore, he has become just the second player to hit double figures in both metrics in five separate seasons.

The only other player to achieve this feat was Rooney while he played at Manchester United.

Bayer Leverkusen forward, Victor Boniface has been named in Bundesliga Team of the Season.

Boniface made the selection despite missing out of action for around three months due to an adductor injury.

The forward leads the attack and is flanked by Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy.

The 23-year-old has so far scored 11 goals and provided nine assists in 20 Bundesliga games for Die Werkself.

Five of his Bayer Leverkusen teammates were also included in the Team of the Season.

They are: Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah, Alejandro Grimaldo, Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz.

Senior officials at Manchester United are concerned about Thomas Tuchel potentially clashing with the club’s leadership if they appoint him to replace Erik ten Hag.

Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of this season, with the announcement made as early as February.

New co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues are believed to be weighing up Ten Hag’s future and assessing replacement candidates.

Tuchel, who has previously coached Chelsea in the Premier League, is one of the names being linked with the job.

However, according to the Times, there are concern about the German’s history of clashing with his superiors at previous clubs.

Tuchel’s five-year spell with Mainz came to an end in 2014 following a dispute with directors over transfer funds, while he was fired by Borussia Dortmund three years later after a breakdown of trust between himself and the club’s board.

Manchester United on Tuesday night, announced more changes to its executive structure.

In an official statement, it was confirmed that interim CEO, Patrick Stewart and chief financial officer Cliff Baty, will step down at the end of this season by mutual consent.

As the new era under co-owner Jim Ratcliffe continues to take shape, the CEO of Ratcliffe’s INEOS Sport, Jean-Claude Blanc, will take over as chief executive until former Manchester City executive Omar Berrada takes on the role on July 13.

Baty will be replaced by former INEOS Sport chief financial officer Roger Bell.

“I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club,” Ratcliffe said.

Former CEO Richard Arnold stepped down in November and football director John Murtough left earlier this month.

Chiamaka Nnadozie has been crowned the best goalkeeper in the French D1 Arkema (women’s league).

Nnadozie is the first African, nay Nigerian to win the individual accolade.

The feat cemented her status as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

The 23-year-old beat Olympic Lyon’s Christiane Endler and Katarzyna Kiedrzynek of Paris SG to the award.

Nnadozie is noted for her penalty saving heroics.She saved seven penalties this season, the highest in Europe.

Paris FC president, Pierre Ferracci said the goalie deserved to win the award.

“It’s very pleasing, because she deserves it and she achieved an exceptional Champions League and not only on penalties.

“She is adorable. It is deserved. We know that she will be courted this summer but we will try to keep her,” Ferracci said at the ceremony.

Paris FC are third in the league with 42 points, eight points behind Paris Saint-Germain, their local rivals, and a further 11 points away from Lyon, the league leaders.

Rangers goalkeeper coach, Anthony Donwa will take charge of the same position with the Nigeria U-17 side, the Golden Eaglets.

Donwa will work alongside experienced tactician Manu Garba who was appointed two weeks ago.

Rangers celebrated his appointment on their X handle.

“Congratulations, coach! on your appointment as goalkeeper coach of Nigeria’s Under-17 team,” the club stated.

“We are proud of you.”

The Nigeria U-17 team are preparing for next month’s WAFU B U-17 Championship in Ghana.