Rudi Garcia has highlighted the importance of Giacomo Raspadori as Napoli seek to take another step towards the Champions League knockout stages in the continued absence of Victor Osimhen.

Napoli host Union Berlin at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday knowing victory will take them to the brink of the last 16.

Osimhen, who scored 26 Serie A goals last season to fire Napoli to their first domestic title since 1990, is again absent with an injury picked up on international duty last month.

Boss Garcia told reporters ahead of the Union game that Osmihen will return from his native Nigeria on Wednesday and be available for Napoli’s post-international break visit to Atalanta on November 25.

He also threw his support behind in-form Italy forward …

Everton are interested in signing Ivan Toney from Brentford in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Bees are bracing themselves for bids for the former Newcastle United striker before the summer transfer window closes on September 1.

The Toffees need to sign a new striker this summer. Everton sold Richarlison to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur earlier this summer and did not bring in a replacement. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has also had injury problems.

Toney has been on the books of Brentford since the summer of 2020 when he joined from Peterborough United. The 26-year-old striker has scored two goals and given two assists in three Premier League appearances for the Bees so far this season. During the 2020-21 campaign, the Engl…

Claudio Bravo, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane could all make their Manchester City bows in Saturday s top of the table clash at Manchester United. But how do the pressures of derby day affect those combining them with a first appearance in red or blue.

Here, Omnisport s Dom Farrell looks back at five memorable derby debuts.

Eric Cantona: Manchester United 2 Manchester City 1 (December 6, 1992)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic s instant leap into the affections of Manchester United fans has drawn comparisons with a similarly enigmatic, charismatic forward of Old Trafford renown. Eric Cantona was the catalyst for United s initial golden era under Alex Ferguson, the driving inspiration behind the 1993-94 and 1995-96 double-double . He also made a habit of scoring at wi…

Ronald Koeman claimed an attempted move to bring Georginio Wijnaldum to Barcelona fell through after president Joan Laporta delayed a deal.

The Dutchman, who was fired by the LaLiga outfit last October after 14 months in charge at Camp Nou, struggled at times on the Barcelona bench and was replaced by Xavi.

Koeman, who will embark on a second spell as Netherlands head coach after the World Cup in Qatar, has confirmed he attempted to bring in compatriot Wijnaldum during the final transfer window of his Barcelona tenure.

However, Koeman contends that president Laporta, then recently returned to the position as Josep Maria Bartomeu s successor, stymied any move by dragging his heels.

I tried to sign Wijnaldum for Barca, but I failed because the preside…

An independent investigation has found systemic abuse and misconduct within women s professional soccer in the United States.

U.S. Soccer on Monday released the findings of the year-long investigation, led by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, after over 200 interviews had taken place.

The report stated that over the nearly 10-year history of the National Women s Soccer League (NWSL), numerous coaches have verbally or emotionally abused players .

It also found that several are alleged to have committed serious sexual misconduct during and/or before their time in the League .

The report stated: Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct – verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct – had become systemic, span…

From Madeira to Lisbon, from Lisbon to Manchester, from Manchester to Madrid, from Madrid to Turin, but above all, from the bottom of my heart to the world I ve given everything I could, I never held back and I ve always tried to deliver the best possible version of me.

In return, you gave me your love and admiration, your presence and your unconditional support. And for that, I ll never be able to thank you enough. I couldn t have done without you.

As I celebrate my 36th birthday and my 20th year as a professional footballer, I m sorry that I can t promise you 20 more years of this. But what I can promise you, is that as long as I keep going, you ll never receive less than 100 per cent from me!

Thank you once again for all your support and for your kind mess…

Xavi has claimed Barcelona are candidates to triumph in the Europa League, but did not go as far as to call his side favourites.

Barca ran out 4-2 winners in their final Champions League game – a dead rubber against Viktoria Plzen.

Though they managed only two wins in their Champions League campaign, Barca will be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, sides in Europe s second-tier club competition.

While Xavi expects his side to be competitive, he did not claim they are outright frontrunners to succeed.

I would say that we are candidates to win the Europa League, he said, sidestepping a direct answer when asked if Barca were favourites.

There is a very nice Europa League left to play for, and at Barca, we are a candidate who can fight fo…

Mike Petke has been sacked as Real Salt Lake head coach after serving a three-match MLS ban for abusing a referee in a Leagues Cup fixture.

Petke was sent off following RSL s defeat to Tigres last month as he confronted the officials.

The coach was suspended for three MLS matches, three Leagues Cup matches and fined $25,000 for using unacceptable and offensive language and for his repeated confrontational misconduct towards match officials .

Petke was also required to attend anger management, sensitivity and diversity training.

In addition, RSL suspended their coach without pay for two weeks.

He had been set to return on Monday before the club announced his departure.

A statement described the steepest sanctions ever imposed on an MLS coac…

The Premier League has had an established six of the best for the past three seasons, but in 2019-20 it looks like being Liverpool, Manchester City and the rest. 

Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea all fell to defeats over the weekend and the chances of one or more of that trio or Arsenal finishing seventh or lower for the first time since 2015-16 appears very real. 

Few expected anyone to realistically challenge champions City and Liverpool the closest pursuers last term for the title this time around, but few expected the other heavyweights to look so punch-drunk by late September either. 

Tottenham, Champions League finalists only three months ago, slipped to a 2-1 loss to Leicester City on Saturday throwing away a lead for the second time in four da…

The Mail Online understand that David Silva is closing in on a new deal with Manchester City.

The Spain international is in his eighth season with the Citizens and is playing as well as ever, missing just one of their league games so far this season.

His only goal of the campaign so far came in the 7-2 demolition of Stoke City, though he does sit top of the division’s assists chart with eight.

In total, Sivla has played three hundred and twenty-three times since signing from Valencia, scoring fifty-two goals while he has helped his side win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup and was last year named the club’s Player of the Season.

He has been capped one hundred and eighteen times for his country, scoring thirty-five goals w…