Sports

Gary Neville has described Manchester United’s year a “disgrace to the end” after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in the club was announced on Christmas Eve.

Neville wished Ineos Group chairman Ratcliffe, 71, a childhood United fan who was born in nearby Failsworth, “all the very best” in attempting to return the club to former glories.

But former United captain Neville questioned the timing of the announcement, which came at 4pm on Christmas Eve, writing on X: “Manchester United 2023 has been a disgrace to the end.

“The timing of this is truly awful and no functioning organisation would even think about it.

“Anyway all the very best to Jim Ratcliffe and I hope he can somehow work out a way to get the club right ag…

Manchester City survived a testing encounter at Goodison Park as they came from behind to beat Everton 3-1 and climb back into the top four.

The newly-crowned Club World Cup winners recovered from going behind to former winger Jack Harrison’s first-half goal to score twice after the break through a beauty from Phil Foden and a Julian Alvarez penalty.

Late on, Bernardo Silva curled home into an empty net after the otherwise excellent Jordan Pickford had his kick charged down to leave Everton a point above the relegation zone.

Three goals Three points The champions return to the Premier League in style |

— Premier League (@premierleague)

It was only City’s second win in seven league matches, but was enough to bring second-placed Arsenal wi…

Gennaro Gattuso described AC Milan as two-faced after his team conceded an injury time equaliser against Atalanta.

Gonzalo Higuain gave Milan a second-minute lead and Giacomo Bonaventura restored the advantage after Alejandro Gomez s equaliser.

But with Milan seemingly on track for victory at San Siro, substitute Emiliano Rigoni scored in the first minute of added time to earn Atalanta a draw.

Milan have won one of their last four Serie A matches to sit in the bottom half of the table and Gattuso could not contain his frustration after seeing his side drop points again.

There is great regret, we are a two-faced team, Gattuso told Sky Sport Italia. We played a great first half, in the last half hour we struggled and we suffered against our opponents.

…

Tom Brady and Michael B Jordan investing into British football clubs shows everybody wants a piece of the beautiful game, so says Justin Kluivert.

A-list Hollywood actor Jordan invested into Bournemouth last year, while NFL great Brady, one of the most successful sportspeople on the planet, recently put money into Championship club Birmingham City.

Jordan s investment helped Bournemouth stave off relegation from the Premier League last season, and the Cherries have made some big signings this transfer window.

Kluivert, son of former Milan, Barcelona and Newcastle United star Patrick Kluivert, has been among those additions, with the 24-year-old joining from Roma.

While he has not yet met Jordan, Kluivert believes the superstar s investment is evidence of…

Arsenal remain interested in Paris Saint-Germain left-back Layvin Kurzawa, according to France Football magazine.

The 27-year-old started his professional career in 2010 when he was promoted from the youth setup to the first team at AS Monaco. Five years later, he made his way to the French capital, and though he is currently behind Juan Bernat in the pecking order, he has still managed to rack up 22 appearances, a goal and two assists this season.

Arsenal have a bit of a situation on the left defensive flank with both Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Tierney spending most of the season so far injured, and they ve mostly been using 18-year-old winger Bukayo Saka in the role. They apparently tried, along with Juventus, to bring Kurzawa to North London in Januar, but their funds…

Patrick Cutrone says he is disappointed to be leaving AC Milan but is excited to be joining Premier League side Wolves.

Nuno Espirito Santo s side are reportedly close to sealing a £20million (€21.9m) move for the Italy striker, who confirmed on Monday he is swapping San Siro for Molineux.

Cutrone, 21, looked at home when he broke into Gennaro Gattuso s side two seasons ago, scoring 18 goals in all competitions.

Fewer starting chances resulted in a less prolific second campaign in 2018-19 and a switch to England now beckons.

3 Patrick is the third youngest player to score 10+ goals in a single Serie A campaign with (20 years and 137 days in 2017/18 with 10 goals), after Gianni Rivera in 1961/62 and Alexandre Pato in 2008/09. Talent.

— Opta…

Arsenal confirm Havertz coup and reach general Rice agreement

Arsenal have completed and the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea. The transfer is believed to be worth up to £65 million.

Reppin the famous red and white

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

It s super exciting for me to be joining this amazing club and to be part of the Arsenal family, Havertz told .

This club has such a big history, and I hope we can achieve lots of things.

The mentality in the Arsenal squad is very high and you can feel that. That was one of the reasons why it has been so hard to play against Arsenal recently.

The aim is to win trophies and I’m going to give everything to do that for the supporters and everyone at the club. I m no…

Chris Smalling has completed a permanent move to Roma, Manchester United have confirmed.

Smalling impressed during his season on loan in the Italian capital last season, playing 37 times as Roma finished fifth in the league and reached the Europa League quarter-finals.

The 30-year-old joined United in 2010 from Fulham and went on to make 323 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 18 goals. 

He won two Premier League titles with the Red Devils and tasted success in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League. 

After 10 years of service at Old Trafford, has left to join Roma on a permanent deal.

Thank you and good luck in Italy, Chris 

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

The 31-cap England international will hope to ma…

Thierry Henry believes Kylian Mbappe can beat his France goalscoring record and set the benchmark very, very high for generations to come.

Arsenal great Henry scored 51 goals for his country, the most of any France player, in a career that saw triumphs at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

However, Mbappe, still just 20, has already tallied 13 international goals, also winning a World Cup in Russia in 2018.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward has quickly established himself as one of world football s outstanding talents and appears set to dominate for years to come.

Henry certainly believes that will be the case, explaining when asked by Omnisport if Mbappe could break his record: With Kylian, we say he s young because of his age but he s not really young anym…

Manchester United could try to rival Tottenham Hotspur for Atalanta defensive midfielder Ederson in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Tottenham are increasingly likely to bid for Ederson at the end of the season, and that Premier League rivals United could try to make a move for him as well.

Ederson has been on the books of Atalanta since 2022 when he joined from Italian rivals Salernitana. He has developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in Serie A and is now a big player for Atalanta. The 24-year-old has made 25 starts and two substitute appearances in Serie A this season, scoring five goals and providing one assist in those games.

The Brazilian has also made six starts and one substitute appearance for Atalanta this sea…