Confederations Cup Social Diary: Vidal´s boot bugbear, Cahill´s blast from the past and power naps f

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes he has the best squad in England to work with ahead of the new season.

The 2011/12 Premier League champions have strengthened significantly since the end of last term with four players joining since June, including Spain internationals Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo, with the latter scoring 25 goals in 36 La Liga appearances for Sevilla last season.

With former Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic and Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho also moving to Eastlands, Pellegrini feels City have the strongest line-up in the Premier League ahead of their season opener against Newcastle United a week on Monday.

I think we have the best squad in England, he insisted.

We bought four important players, we already had a very goo…

Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Egypt international Mahmoud Hassan, known as Trezeguet, from Kasimpasa.

Trezeguet scored Egypt s opening goal at the Africa Cup of Nations in June, making four appearances as the tournament hosts crashed out in the last 16.

The 24-year-old scored nine goals in Turkey s top flight last season, having netted 13 times in his first season at Kasimpasa following a loan move from Anderlecht.

Villa have paid a reported £8.75million for Trezeguet, who also made three appearances at the World Cup in 2018 and becomes the club s ninth signing of the close season.

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)

We re really excited to work with Trez. I ve watched him a number of times, Villa head coach Dean Smith told …

Jose Mourinho has hailed new Manchester United signing Diogo Dalot as the best full-back in Europe in his age group and is confident he has all the attributes to be a success at Old Trafford.

Dalot had been strongly linked with a move to United over the past week, with reports claiming his €20million release clause had been met.

United confirmed the deal on Wednesday after both parties agreed terms on a five-year contract which has the option for a further 12 months.

And, despite featuring just six times in the Primeira Liga in 2017-18, 19-year-old Dalot is expected to go straight into United s first-team squad, initially as back-up to Antonio Valencia.

But in the long run, Mourinho has high expectations for the full-back.

Diogo is an extremel…

Wayne Rooney has been tipped to leave Manchester United after being left out of the starting line-up to face Real Madrid on Tuesday.

Some observers have suggested the England international is falling out of favour with manager Alex Ferguson, with the 27-year-old s future in question after his substitute appearance in United s 2-1 loss to Real in the Champions League round of 16.

Reports suggest United would be willing to offload Rooney for as little as 20 million pounds at the end of the season.

The England international has two years to run on his contract, after signing a five-year deal in 2010.

That commitment came after he publicly questioned the club s ambition and seemingly attempted to orchestrate a move away from Old Trafford.

Cross-city r…

Barcelona can make moves to sign Lionel Messi, but LaLiga will not alter its regulations to help, even if Javier Tebas is keen to see the superstar forward back in Spain.

Messi, widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, left Barca on a free transfer two years ago after financial restrictions prevented the club from giving him a new contract.

There has since been consistent talk of Messi returning from Paris Saint-Germain, with his initial contract in France up at the end of the season.

But Barca s financial situation still has not improved to the extent they could immediately bring their great number 10 back into the fold.

Indeed, LaLiga chief Tebas told the Blaugrana last month they would have to recoup a significant sum in transfe…

Market: Switzerland win

Odds: 

Swiss grabbed a late goal against Serbia to give them an advantage to progress while the Central Americans have yet to record any goals or points so far.

For Switzerland, although Vladimir Petković s side were trailing Serbia 1-0 at half-time, The Swiss valiantly battled back and thanks to a late goal from Xherdan Shaqiri goal, The Reds secured a 2-1 win and now remain in pole position to secure a spot in the last 16. Carrying on their remarkable record in all competitions, Switzerland have remarkably only lost one match since June 2016 and on paper, it appears they should come through a Costa Rica side well and truly out of form with relative ease.

As for Óscar Ramírez s Costa Rica side, coming off the back of concedin…

Guangzhou Evergrande have their sights set on a treble as they take on Kashiwa Reysol in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.

Marcello Lippi s men are 11 points clear at the summit of the Chinese Super League and still in contention to win the FA Cup ahead of their first-leg clash away to Japanese opposition.

They are the first Chinese team to reach the final four of the tournament since 2005, seeing off the threat of Qatari outfit Lekhwiya with a 6-1 win on aggregate in the last eight.

Guangzhou will look to go one better than Shenzhen Ruby did eight years ago and they have had ample time to prepare after their FA Cup meeting away to Beijing Guoan, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed.

The league leaders were also due to face Liaoning Whowin last we…

Monterrey could make CONCACAF Champions League history on Wednesday when they host Santos Laguna in the second leg of the 2012/13 final.

Having claimed a scoreless draw at Santos Laguna s Estadio Nuevo Corona last week, Monterrey could be 90 minutes away from becoming the first club to win three-consecutive CONCACAF Champions League titles since the 1970s.

Mexico s Cruz Azul is the only club to have achieved that feat when they won in 1969, 1970 and 1971.

Monterrey, who are also a Mexican club, should have plenty of confidence ahead of Wednesday s clash with fellow Liga MX outfit Santos Laguna, in what is a rematch of last season s CONCACAF Champions League final.

Santos Laguna have not won in Monterrey in over a decade, including in the first leg of the …

USM Alger go into Sunday s CAF Champions League semi-final with El Hilal on Sunday in fine form, as they seek to reach the final for the first time since 2003.

Miloud Hamdi s side stormed through Group B ahead of fellow semi-finalists Al Merrikh taking 15 points from their six outings to equal the record points haul set by Esperance in 1999 and 2013.

Their only defeat came at the hands of Merrikh, having already ensured progression with five wins from their first five outings.

However, while Esperance failed to reach the final on both those occasions, Alger will hope to deny their Sudanese opponents a third appearance in the final and ensure a chance at righting the wrongs of 2003 when they were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Enyimba of Nigeria.

While…

Manchester United greats Alex Ferguson and David Beckham will be reunited at Old Trafford on November 14 after agreeing to take part in a charity match to raise funds for UNICEF.

Beckham will captain a Great Britain and Ireland team managed by Ferguson that will face a Rest of the World XI led by Carlo Ancelotti and skippered by Zinedine Zidane.

Money raised through profits from ticket sales and donations made on matchday will go to UNICEF to help protect the world’s most vulnerable children.

Beckham said: I want a world where children can grow up safe from violence, free from poverty and protected from preventable diseases.

This match gives me the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and vital funds to help reach the children who need it most. I am…