Lionel Messi wishes he could have played alongside Neymar for longer at Barcelona but is loving being reunited with the Brazilian again at Paris Saint-Germain.

Neymar and Messi struck up a friendship and immense on-field relationship during their four years together at Camp Nou.

They were part of a Barca team that won two LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey crowns and the Champions League, among other trophies, before PSG broke the world transfer record to bring Neymar to Paris for €222million.

Despite such a cash injection, Barca s financial issues eventually caught up with them and prevented the club from signing Messi to a new contract last year as their LaLiga salary limit was reduced significantly.

Messi followed Neymar to Paris, and while few would…

What the papers say

Tottenham will make a move for Chelsea star Conor Gallagher if Chelsea cannot come to a new deal with the 24-year-old at the end of the season, the Telegraph reports. The paper says there has been no progress in talks with Gallagher and the Blues, despite manager Mauricio Pochettino labelling him “priceless” after Chelsea’s win over Crystal Palace.

Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite continues to draw interest from rival clubs, with the Daily Mail reporting that Manchester United and Tottenham will push hardest for the young defender. Real Madrid, Arsenal and Chelsea have also shown interest in the 21-year-old.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace hope that their efforts to persuade Ipswich Town coach Kieran McKenna to replace Roy Hodgson as manager will succe…

In-form Lyon will be strong favourites to enjoy more cup success when they host Lens in the last 16 of the Coupe de France on Thursday.

Remi Garde s charges advanced to the Coupe de la Ligue final where they will face Paris Saint-Germain with a 2-1 semi-final victory over Troyes last week, and have lost just one of their last 14 games in all competitions.

Lyon sit sixth in Ligue 1, seven points adrift of third-placed Lille in the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot, after their 2-1 win at Nantes on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike from Alexandre Lacazette and Bafetimbi Gomis penalty 14 minutes from time.

The Stade de Gerland outfit now have the chance to take one step closer to glory in the Coupe de France, a competition they last won in 2012.

Len…

Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon has been charged by the Football Association for comments he made about Neil Warnock.

Puncheon, who played for Warnock during a loan spell at QPR in 2011, posted a series of comments on Twitter last month that included allegations over the way Warnock selected his teams, as well as an attack on his training regime.

The incident came after the midfielder had missed a penalty during Palace s defeat to Tottenham, with an attempt that led to criticism from Warnock in his role as a pundit on talkSPORT.

Although Puncheon went on to delete his tweets concerning Warnock, the FA have opted to act.

A statement on Monday read: It is alleged that in posting these comments, Puncheon failed to act in the best interests of the game, and/…

Goncalo Guedes is returning to Valencia on a permanent deal after the Spanish club finally reached an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain for his transfer.

Guedes played on loan at Valencia last season and was a revelation, particularly in the first half of the campaign when the club threatened to mount a title challenge.

Neither Valencia nor the winger were able to maintain such excellence for the entire season, but Guedes performances restored the glowing reputation he earned at Benfica and helped Los Che qualify for the Champions League.

Guedes, 21, left his boyhood club for PSG in January 2017, but struggled to make an impact after his reported €30million move.

However, he will now look to build on his fine season at Valencia, having shown enough to…

Sevilla have signed Quincy Promes from Spartak Moscow for a reported €20million, the Netherlands international agreeing a five-year deal.

The 26-year-old scored a brace in Spartak s home win against Sevilla in last season s Champions League.

Promes helped fire Spartak to the Russian Premier League title in 2016-2017 and scored at least 12 league goals in each of his four full seasons at the club.

The versatile attacker has been included in the Netherlands squad for their Nations League opener on September 9 against World Cup winners France.

And Promes could be handed an immediate chance to make himself a Sevilla hero as his club head to Real Betis for a derby clash on Sunday.

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— Quincy Promes (@QPromes)

Sevilla s signing of…

Pep Guardiola has said he is “not optimistic” the Vinicius Junior racism row that has erupted in Spain will drive a change of attitude in the country.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius was racially abused by fans during his side’s game at Valencia in LaLiga last week.

The affair has sparked a wave of criticism of Spanish football and the way it deals with such matters.

It is thought to be at least the 10th time Brazil international Vinicius has been racially abused this season alone.

Manchester City manager Guardiola, the former Barcelona boss, believes the Spanish game can learn from English football on the issue.

“They should,” he said. “Here they are so strict. They know what they have to do.

“Of course racism is a problem ever…

Massimiliano Allegri s position as Juventus head coach has never been even slightly in doubt, according to Bianconeri vice-chairman Pavel Nedved.

Juve have endured a poor start to the 2022-23 campaign; they already trail early Serie A pacesetters Napoli and Atalanta by seven points after eight games.

The Bianconeri also lost their opening two Group H matches in the Champions League, with Allegri describing Wednesday s visit of Maccabi Haifa as a must win following a pair of 2-1 defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica.

Although, they do have momentum after Sunday s 3-0 victory over Bologna ended a five-game winless streak across all competitions.

And Nedved insists everyone is focused on turning the club s fortunes around.

Switching for <…

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has warned of the dangers that compatriots Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas pose.

The trio started for Belgium in their 3-2 defeat to Japan, but will be on opposing sides when Liverpool and Everton meet in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Saturday.

And Mignolet believes Mirallas and Lukaku, who combined for Belgium s first goal in Brussels, will need to be kept quiet if his side are to secure three points.

Lukaku is a physical presence and he s a good player. He s strong on the ball and he tries to finish, he told Liverpool s official website.

They ve also got Mirallas, who is playing very well at the moment. I m sure they will be up for it.

Despite the threat of his countrymen, though, Mignolet went on to urge…

Fabio Capello insists he still has the support of England s players despite the international retirements of Paul Robinson and Wes Brown less than 24 hours after the duo had been called up for Wednesday s friendly against Hungary.

Capello had hoped his decision to select a host of new players for England s first match since the World Cup would begin the healing process after his team s woeful performances in South Africa.

But instead the Italian has come under fire again for failing to communicate with his players after Blackburn goalkeeper Robinson and Manchester United defender Brown decided to call time on their England careers as soon as Capello selected them.

It was an embarrassing double snub for Capello at a time when he is keen to move on from England s …