Newcastle United have confirmed the appointment of Paul Mitchell as the club s new sporting director.

Mitchell, who previously worked for Southampton and Tottenham, replaces Dan Ashworth who joined Manchester United earlier this week.

Ashworth s leave was due to run until mid-2025, but it emerged on Monday that the two clubs had agreed a compensation package to

The 42-year-old has been out of work since October 2023, having most recently been the sporting director at Ligue 1 side, AS Monaco.

Ready to get to work!

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC)

Speaking on his arrival to St. James Park, Mitchell said: It s with immense pride that I accept the responsibility of being Newcastle United s new sporting director.

I ve seen the rec…

Manchester United have a bigger potential of profitability than Liverpool, who may have reached their peak as an investment.

That is according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire after both owners of the two Premier League giants recently confirmed they are seeking new investment or potentially a full sale, with rumours abound as to who could potentially take the reins at Old Trafford and Anfield.

The Glazer family have been in charge of United since 2005, while fellow Americans Fenway Sports Group have owned Liverpool since 2010.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Maguire explained how United and Liverpool are likely to be viewed by potential buyers.

I think Manchester United is a bigger ship to turn round, he said. It s going to be more expensive, but it…

Best odds: 13/5

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Atletico Mineiro and Vasco da Gama are separated by two places in the Brasileiro standings as they prepare to face off at Arena MRV on Sunday in round 18.

The home side could overtake their in-form visitors by securing all three points, but that will be a challenging task against a team that has remained unbeaten for nearly a month.

Atletico Mineiro

After losing two consecutive games, avoiding defeat in back-to-back matches should be seen as progress for Gabriel Milito s men.

A 2-1 win over Sao Paulo last weekend and a 1-1 draw with Juventude midweek suggest a positive turnaround, and Milito hopes his players can maintain these improved levels against an in-form Vasco.

The Argentine was undoubtedly pleased to e…

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp fears the Europa League final may come too soon for Jordan Henderson, but expects the England midfielder to be fit for Euro 2016.

Henderson has been sidelined since suffering knee ligament damage during Liverpool s Europa League clash with Borussia Dortmund in early April.

It was initially feared that the Reds captain would miss the rest of the domestic season, as well as the European Championship.

Liverpool face Sevilla in the Europa League final next Wednesday, and while Klopp was non-committal on whether his skipper will be available in Basle, he had a positive update for England manager Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson s side begin their campaign against Russia on June 11 and, speaking ahead of Liverpool s Premier League match against …

Cristiano Ronaldo should have told Manchester United he wanted to leave at the end of last season rather than drop a July bombshell, according to former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher.

Superstar Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford last year, having enjoyed a remarkable career in 12 seasons away with Real Madrid and Juventus, but widespread reports on Saturday said the 37-year-old wants to leave again.

He is said to want to play in the Champions League, according to The Times, which first reported the news, and United cannot offer that after a disappointing sixth-placed finish last season.

The Portugal striker has been a mainstay in that competition throughout his career, and the prospect of being away from the frontline of elite European football would be a step dow…

Stefano Pioli warned his Milan players they cannot just sit back and defend their 1-0 first-leg lead at Tottenham in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.

Pioli s men take a narrow advantage to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the second leg after Brahim Diaz s first goal since October put them ahead at San Siro.

Milan will return to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since the 2011-12 season if they avoid defeat, though Pioli cautioned his players not to sit back and just focus on defending on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is the match of personalities, Pioli told reporters at his pre-match news conference. Our opponents are formidable from an offensive point of view, they will play with great intensity.

We must be prepared to control t…

Just eight teams remain in the Champions League, and there is every chance one of Tuesday s quarter-finals could yield the eventual winners.

Manchester City and Bayern Munich tussle in arguably the tie of the round, a contest that has seen the intrigue multiply following the latter s dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann and hiring of Thomas Tuchel.

Of course, Tuchel has won this competition before and boasts plenty of quality in his squad, but City probably go into the tie as favourites because of their greater stability and the Erling Haaland factor .

Tuesday s other game, which takes place on the other side of the draw, pits Benfica and Inter against each other, with both sides surely fancying their chances of a shock run to the final given they will come up against …

Gareth Southgate says England must have the “humility to start again” as the Euro 2020 runners-up look to go one glorious step further in Germany next summer.

Impressive progress during the former defender’s seven-year reign means the side ranked third in the world are among the favourites to lift the European Championship trophy in Berlin.

England found out their Euro 2024 group and potential pathways to the July 14 finale in Saturday evening’s draw at the stunning Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg.

Group C is complete

What do you reckon, fans?

— England (@England)

Southgate’s top seeds avoided a so-called group of death after Slovenia and Serbia followed Euro 2020 semi-final opponents Denmark, but there is little ch…

Germany took a stranglehold on Group A of Euro 2012 qualifying with a 2-1 win over Austria on Friday, as Belgium drew 1-1 with Turkey.

A brace from Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez the second of which was an 89th-minute winner secured the points for Joachim Loew s side at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna on Friday.

Hosts Austria had pulled level through an Arne Friedrich own-goal four minutes into the second half, but they were rendered helpless by Gomez s late header.

The win sends Germany seven points clear at the top of Group A, with a game in hand over second-placed Belgium.

Defeat puts a further dent in Austria s already slim hopes of qualifying, but Turkey will take heart from their draw in Brussels.

Home side Belgium took an early lead …

To say fortune favoured the brave in Lyon on Thursday would be doing a disservice to Michael O Neill and his Northern Ireland players, who conclusively disproved the disparaging route-one label applied to them before the game by Ukraine s Ruslan Rotan.

Making five changes to the line-up that lost 1-0 to Poland, including axing talismanic striker Kyle Lafferty, was a brave decision from the coach, but it was not such decisiveness alone that sealed a memorable 2-0 win.

The men in green, white and blue still had to go out there and take control of the game against a tough Ukraine bristling, in theory at least, with the twin threat of Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andriy Yarmolenko.

As it was, the star wingers were surprisingly subdued under the attention of Jonny Evans an…