football

With victories in the Champions League for AC Milan, Napoli, and Inter in the last two weeks, Italian football is again in the spotlight. The highest point of Serie A seems wrapped up with Luciano Spalletti set to convey a first scudetto to Napoli since the Diego Maradona period, over a long time back. Five teams are competing for three Champions League spots behind the leader in a fascinating race for football.

The two Rome clubs advanced to the next round of the Europa League and Europa Conference on Thursday night after winning their first-leg Champions League Round of 16 matches against Spurs and Porto.

AC Milan forward Rafael Leao has drawn comparison with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. The comparison between Leao and Henry was made by former Fiorentina striker Nuno Gomes in an exclusive interview with Italian football publication La Gazzettadello Sport. According to him, the Milan attacker is already one of the best players in his position.

In January, AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli compared Leao with Arsenal legend Henry and Nuno Gomes is in agreement. In addition to the comparison with Henry, Nuno Gomes also said he would add Brazilian star Ronaldo ‘The Phenomenon’ for his explosiveness and Adriano for his strength in certain moments.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has revealed that he expects midfielder Jack Rodwell to get even better in the coming weeks once he gets his full fitness back. The former Everton midfielder was signed by the north-east club for £ 10 million from Manchester City in the transfer window. Rodwell was once spoken of as the next big thing in the England international team, but the 24-year-old has suffered from a string of injuries in the last few years. Keen to revive his career, Rodwell moved to Sunderland in the expectation of regular first-team football.

It is understood that Liverpool have received an offer from Turkish club Trabzonspor for defender Kolo Toure. After coming to Anfield only last summer on a free transfer from Manchester City, Touré went on to make 24 appearances in all competitions. He also created two goals as well.
However, first-team opportunities became very limited in the second half of the campaign after Brendan Rodgers decided to use Martin Skrtel along with Sakho. The return of Daniel Agger has also increased the competition for Touré.

Former Manchester United youngster Paul Pogba has been one of the best midfielders in the Italian Serie A since his arrival from the Premier league outfit a few years ago. However, there have been several transfer rumours linking him with a return to Premier League or even with Spanish giants Real Madrid. This is because of his all-round nature to be able to dominate the midfield. Pogba not only acts as a defensive shield, but he also joins the attack and scores goals as well.

Napoli are looking highly unlikely to sign Pepe Reina on a permanent basis after the player’s agent revealed that the Italian club are not looking to meet the asking price of Liverpool. The Spaniard spent the last season on loan at Napoli due to his good relationship with Rafa Benitez. He has since returned to Liverpool after his loan spell came to an end. However, he is unlikely to stay at Merseyside for long due to the former Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet being the first choice at the club.