Birmingham City boss Lee Clark is hoping to secure the loan signing of Manchester United starlet Jesse Lingard until the end of the season despite already landing Albert Rusnak from Manchester City.

Lingard, 21, bagged six goals and three assists in 13 Championship appearances for the Blues earlier this season, including a four-goal performance on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday.

The England Under-21 has since returned to Old Trafford and was an unused substitute against Swansea on 11 January.

I am still in conversation with David Moyes and his staff about Jesse – that isn’t completely dead – and one or two other things, Clark told the .

I am also having conversations with other clubs regarding some of the top young players to…

Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has revealed he will fight for his first-team place at Old Trafford next season.

Van Persie, whose current contract at United is set to expire next summer, has been linked with a move to Italy in recent weeks, with reports suggesting Juventus and Lazio are keen on the Holland international.

The 31-year-old, who joined United from Arsenal for an initial fee of £22.5 million in the summer of 2012, tallied just 10 goals and two assists in 27 English Premier League appearances for the Red Devils last season.

However, with United destined for UEFA Champions League football in 2015/16, Van Persie will likely stay with the club despite reports to the contrary.

Am I worried? Van Persie said, according to …

During his prime at Chelsea, Diego Costa was without doubt one of the best out and out forwards in the world game. Few had the power, determination and sheer nuisance ability than the Brazilian-born Spanish international.

A return to former club Atletico Madrid in the winter transfer window of 2018 was a blow to the Blues at the time, as he had just scored 20 top-flight goals for the south west London club the season before. Chelsea have struggled to really replace him, while Costa has struggled to make an impact at Atletico in his second stint.

Maybe Chelsea and Costa were a match made in heaven

There are times when players and clubs go together perfectly well. The two just seem to come together and it makes for great viewing. That was the case with Costa and Chelsea.…

Carlo Ancelotti hopes his glittering array of titles across Europe can help Napoli take the next step and end their 28-year Scudetto drought.

Napoli have finished in the top five in Serie A for the past eight seasons and have been Juventus main challengers in the previous three.

For large parts of the 2017-18 season the Partenopei were title favourites in Italy but Juve were once again too strong and battled back to lift a seventh successive Scudetto.

Napoli only finished four points adrift of the champions, though, and Ancelotti – who replaced Maurizio Sarri in May hopes his previous successes can help close to gap to Juve even further.

I hope to take Napoli on to the top of the Serie A podium, Ancelotti – who has won titles in Italy, Germany, Fran…

Joachim Loew s frustration was all too evident after his Germany side s impressive start to the World Cup was tarnished by Friday s 1-0 loss to Serbia.

A 4-0 opening demolition of Australia had generated talk of his youngsters emerging as serious title contenders but defeat at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium has left them with work to do to make it out of the first round.

While Loew is confident his side will progress Germany now face Ghana in their last Group D tie with the unwanted pressure of requiring a win to be sure of qualification.

This was not Germany s day, with Miroslav Klose sent off for a second yellow card in the 37th minute, Serbia scoring one minute later, then Lukas Podolski missing a second half penalty.

Lukas always scores from the pen…

(GSM) Looking to continue the dominance of South American sides in this World Cup, Paraguay will seek a quarter-final berth on Tuesday afternoon when they face Japan in the round of 16 in Pretoria.

Paraguay got to this point as Group F winners without losing a match, though they looked a bit shaky in draws with Italy and New Zealand.

Japan impressed at times in their group as they finished second in Group E behind the Netherlands thanks to wins over Denmark and Cameroon.

Both sides will be confident going into Tuesday s match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, the first meeting since the sides last met in a 0-0 draw in a 2008 friendly.

Víctor Cáceres will be missed by Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino, as the starter is banned for picking up two bookings in the …

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is eager to make the most of returning to Anfield, starting with Wednesday s visit of Sunderland.

The Premier League s second-placed side have not played at home since February 23 but have won their last three games on the road.

Their most recent victory came on Saturday with a 6-3 triumph over Cardiff City, yet Rodgers is keen to take advantage of being back on familiar turf in midweek as his side aim to maintain a title challenge.

I ve got to say I m so looking forward to our game on Wednesday. It feels like we haven t played at home for ages, he said.

We ve now got five games at Anfield and three away from home Anfield is a special place to play our football.

The immediate future is all I can focus on. The fans can beli…

Ajaccio highly rated goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has added fuel to speculations linking him with a summer switch to Marseille.

The Mexican shot-stopper is out of contract in the summer and he recently in order to qualify for a citizenship.

And with Marseille set to cash in on first choice keeper Steve Mandanda, the French giants are being widely tipped to make a move on Ochoa.

Speaking after the clash against his potential future employers, the Mexican has admitted he could join OM at the end of the current campaign.

“I am out for contract, but for now there is nothing with any club,” Ochoa explained to Canal + on Saturday.

“Marseille is interesting, it is a club with great ambition, it would be good for my career. We ll see.”

Gui…

Miralem Pjanic believes Cristiano Ronaldo learned to keep things simple from Manchester United great Paul Scholes as the Juventus midfielder praised his superstar team-mate.

Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time with five Ballon d Or awards, five Champions League titles and a European Championship crown in 2016 among his haul of 26 trophies.

The 33-year-old forward was also Real Madrid s all-time leading goalscorer before joining Serie A champions Juve for €112million in the off-season.

Pjanic highlighted the impact of Scholes on Ronaldo, who spent six seasons with the former United midfielder at Old Trafford, where the Portugal captain arrived as an extravagant and overenthusiastic teenager in 2003.

If you look at Ronaldo when…

Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart believes Dele Alli has the potential to become a true great and hopes the England international will be given the time he needs to develop.

The 21-year-old has progressed into a key figure at Spurs since joining the club in 2015 and was recently crowned PFA Young Player of the Year for the second season in succession.

Van der Vaart is impressed with the youngster s performances this campaign and believes he is destined to become one of the best around in the game.

It is just a pleasure to see Alli play, Van der Vaart told the official Tottenham website.

He is still so young and already so eager, I like that a lot. He is fast, fluid and has a great skill set.

He is special and if he keeps enjoying…