Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk insisted his £75million price tag was never an issue after the world-record fee for a defender was broken earlier this month.

Van Dijk made the move from Southampton to Liverpool in January 2018, the huge transfer fee initially raising eyebrows.

But the Netherlands international helped the Premier League giants win the Champions League last season and has emerged as a Ballon d Or contender.

However, the world-record fee was broken after Manchester United paid Leicester City £80m for England centre-back Harry Maguire earlier this month.

Van Dijk, whose side face Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul on Wednesday, played down the significance of the fees.

It wasn t a big issue for me. It s something you don t ha…

Premier League boss Richard Masters is hopeful this season s champions will be spared having to lift the trophy in an empty stadium.

Chief executive Masters is eyeing next term for a major return of supporters, but he says there is a possibility some may return before the 2020-21 campaign ends.

Fans have been absent for almost all of this season to date due to the COVID-19 crisis.

A brief window in December saw up to 2,000 fans allowed in a number of games, but that was quickly shut as infection rates climbed.

It has created the possibility of the champions, like Liverpool last season, having to celebrate their title success behind closed doors.

Yet Masters, who spoke at the FT Business of Football summit on Thursday, is holding out hope that fa…

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho insisted on Tuesday that striker Samuel Eto o would have no more motivation to beat former team Barcelona than he does anyone else as he is already a born winner.

Inter host the holders in their Champions League Group F opener in a match that immediately pits Eto o and Barca s Zlatan Ibrahimovic against the teams they left only a couple of months ago.

The manner of their departures was wildly different, though, as Ibrahimovic left in search of the European success that eluded him during five years in Italy while Eto o was forced out of Catalonia against his will, as a make-weight in the deal to bring the big Swede to Spain.

But Mourinho said revenge will not be on the mind of the Cameroon forward.

I think Samuel is one of…

AC Milan will make a move for Newcastle United’s Davide Santon, if they lose Ignazio Abate to Arsenal, .

A defensive merry-go-round is set to see Gunners full back Bacaray Sagna move on, with Abate lined up to replace him at the Emirates leaving a vacancy post at the San Siro.

Paris Saint Germain are also interested in Abate, who is close friends with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and he also shares an agent with the Sweden captain.
Santon began his career in Milan with Inter before securing a move to St James’ Park in the summer of 2011.

He has made 75 appearances for Alan Pardew’s side, and was a key part in the defence that kept back to back clean sheets in shock wins over Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur recently.

The Magpies are currently ninth in the…

Thomas Lemar is free to start pre-season training with Atletico Madrid after completing his medical tests.

Atletico are reported to have paid €60million to bring Lemar to LaLiga from Monaco, where he won the Ligue 1 title in 2016-17.

Lemar underwent his medical tests in the Spanish capital on Friday and has now been given the all-clear to start training.

Atletico started their pre-season campaign with a penalty shootout win against Arsenal in the International Champions Cup in Singapore on Thursday.

Diego Simeone s side face ICC fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain and Inter, as well as friendlies with Stuttgart and Cagliari.

Atletico s first competitive match of the 2018-19 campaign will see them take on city rivals Real Madrid in the UEFA Sup…

Manchester United and Chelsea fell further off the pace in the Premier League as they lost leads in disappointing draws on Saturday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men were unable to retain their advantage as they drew 1-1 at Southampton, while Chelsea slipped from 2-0 up in a dramatic encounter with promoted Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City thumped Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0, while leaders Liverpool beat Burnley 3-0 in the last game of the day.

Crystal Palace, Leicester City and West Ham were also winners, while Newcastle United and Watford drew 1-1.

BLADES COMEBACK STUNS CHELSEA

Frank Lampard is still waiting for his first home win as Chelsea boss after the Blues somehow failed to hold on against Sheffield United.

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(GSM) Manchester United striker Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the current season with a hamstring injury. The news comes to end any hope for the 30-year-old in featuring in Fabio Capello s England squad for this summer s World Cup.

Capello had warned Owen that he had to prove he is worthy of being listed in the Three Lions squad during the season and it looks like Owen, who has not been called upon by England since a friendly against France in March 2008, has no hope of playing part of his country s quest in South Africa.

The former Liverpool striker picked up the injury during United s Carling Cup final win over Aston Villa last Sunday. Owen had scored the equaliser in his side s 2-1 win, but had to be substituted after 42 minutes, having sustained th…

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has played down the Champions League dominance of Premier League sides Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United by claiming that they are not really English.

An English team has reached the final of Europe s premier cup competition for the last five years in a row, while Liverpool and United tasted glory in the tournament in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

Italian sides, by contrast, have enjoyed flagging fortunes of late.

AC Milan are the only Serie A club to have won the tournament this decade and there could be no Italian representation in this year s quarter-finals if Inter Milan fail to overcome Chelsea in the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday.

English football is represented by Manchester United, Chelsea an…

Barcelona can re-sign winger Gerard Deulofeu from Everton under a €9million buy-back clause at the end of this season, Goodison Park boss Roberto Martinez has confirmed.

Everton brought Deulofeu back to Merseyside in a €6m deal during the close season, following a fruitful loan spell in 2013-14.

Deulofeu failed to break into Barca s first team on the back of his initial taste of the Premier League and a loan stint with Sevilla in La Liga was also unsuccessful.

In selling Deulofeu, Barcelona insisted on a buy-back option spanning two years – a decision taken in view of their current transfer embargo.

The 21-year-old has been in impressive form of late for Everton and Spain Under-21s, following a hat-trick against Georgia with a brace versus Croatia…

Liverpool striker Divock Origi has revealed how he passed up opportunities to join both Manchester United and Bayern Munich before he made the switch to Anfield.

Origi claims he was wanted by United as a teenager, instead opting to move to Lille when he was 15.

After impressing in Ligue 1, Origi was signed by Liverpool in 2014, the Belgian deciding on a move to the Premier League rather than joining Bundesliga giants Bayern.

I started with the national team at Under-16s. It was a very good year for me, a lot of scouts were coming to my dad. I heard Manchester United wanted to sign me, some Italian clubs and German clubs, Origi said.

I visited Lille s training centre. I was amazed how good it was. I saw how Eden Hazard had grown from young player to big …