Georginio Wijnaldum leaves Paris St Germain for Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ettifaq

Avram Grant took the reins at Portsmouth on Friday and admitted he faces a huge battle in trying to keep the club, currently propping up the Premier League, among the top flight.

It s a big challenge, Grant told his first press conference since being named as the successor to Paul Hart.

I think we deserve to stay in the Premier League and that s my main concern.

Technically, the former Chelsea boss will continue to operate in his current role as director of football, pending a change in his UK work permit.

He s not the manager yet but will become it, which we hope will be next week, said Chief Executive Peter Storrie.

Whatever his title, Grant will be in the Fratton Park dugout for Saturday s visit of champions Manchester United and he believ…

David Beckham s return to Major League Soccer was a low-key affair, the star midfielder barely factoring into the Los Angeles Galaxy s 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls.

Playing in a stadium nearly three-quarters empty, Beckham looked sluggish, making no significant crosses, taking no free-kick opportunities near the goal and not even taking all of the Galaxy s corner kicks.

It was Beckham s first MLS match since the finish of the Italian League season on May 31.

The 34-year-old former England captain had been loaned by the Galaxy to AC Milan with the proviso that he return for the entire 2009 MLS season, but he got his stay in Europe extended.

Some fans clearly still felt the lure of his fame, angling for pictures when he did take a corner kick, b…

Bournemouth captain Simon Francis has had his three-match ban upheld after the Football Association rejected an appeal against what he claimed was a wrongful dismissal in Tuesday s 3-3 draw with Arsenal.

Francis was shown a straight red card eight minutes from time with Bournemouth 3-2 up against Arsene Wenger s men, as he produced a strong tackle on Aaron Ramsey.

Manager Eddie Howe defended Francis after the match, insisting the full-back s feet were not raised enough on contact to warrant a red card and felt as though Bournemouth had been harshly treated.

But the FA confirmed on Thursday the appeal has been dismissed, with Francis set to serve a three-match ban for serious foul play .

Francis will miss the FA Cup tie with Millwall, plus Premier League e…

In previous years the so called big four have nominated the FA Cup. Portsmouth won the competition in 2008 with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff at Wembley. However that final was a rare occasion that saw two teams not out of the big four appear in the final.

Important

The FA Cup may have lost some of its glamour in recent years but the big teams still want to win the trophy. That’s why they have dominated the competition in recent years.

Holders Chelsea have taken the competition more seriously than most, as the celebrations from last season’s FA Cup final victory over Everton proved.

Out

Liverpool and Manchester United made shock exits at the third round stage of the cup this season. They were both victims of lower league giantkillers. Both club…

Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Remi Garde as the club s new manager, replacing Tim Sherwood on a contract running until the end of the 2018-19 season.

The former Lyon coach is expected to take a watching brief as his new side take on Tottenham in the Premier League on Monday.

He will then turn his attentions to bringing Villa out of a woeful slump which sees them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with just four points after failing to win any of Sherwood s last nine league games in charge.

Garde, who has been out of a job since leaving Ligue 1 outfit Lyon at the end of 2013-14 campaign, will take charge of his first match against Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday.

The 49-year-old won the Coupe de France and the Troph…

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham believes signing stars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar is far from a pipe dream for the MLS club.

The franchise has been linked with offers for Barcelona captain Messi and Juventus superstar Ronaldo as they approach the final years of their storied careers, while Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar stated last year he had given Beckham his word he would sign for him in the future.

Former Manchester United midfielder and England captain Beckham remains confident he can attract players of such calibre to Florida.

When we announced Miami, there was always going to be talk about what players we were going to bring in, whether it was Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Beckham told ESPN.

There was always go…

Paris Saint-Germain secured their first Ligue 1 win of the season as a second-half goal from Ezequiel Lavezzi helped them beat Nantes 2-1.

Lavezzi netted after 73 minutes from point-blank range to give Laurent Blanc s men all three points from a frenetic encounter on Sunday.

PSG took the lead 24 minutes into the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic splitting the home defence with an excellent through-ball to allow Edinson Cavani to get his second goal in as many weeks.

Nantes responded excellently and the Brittany club got their reward seven minutes into the second half, as Alex diverted a Jordan Veretout free-kick into his own net to level things up.

The hosts threatened to take all three points at the Stade de la Beaujoire, with midfielder Alejandro Bedoya going close.

…

that West Ham United are readying a fresh assault on Saint Etienne defender Kevin Malcuit.

The Hammers attempted to recruit the 25-year-old in the January window, only to have a €10 million bid rejected by les Verts.

for the talented full-back, while West Ham are back in the race as well.

The Hammers have continued to monitor the right-back’s performances over the last couple of months and they seem convinced Malcuit would be a very good addition to the squad.

It remains to be seen though whether West Ham will be able to agree a transfer fee with Saint Etienne, who are proving to drive a hard bargain.

Kevin Malcuit is a kind of a late bloomer having made just one Ligue 1 appearance prior to joining les Verts in the summer of 2015.

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According to , Kylian Mbappe has agreed to join Real Madrid when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of the season. Apparently, the France captain has already signed the contract which will make him a Real Madrid player for five years, starting with July 1st this year.

As one of the best players in the world, Mbappe has long been tipped to join Los Blancos, despite being also linked with several Premier League clubs. A while back, he expressed his admiration for Liverpool, and there have been reports claiming his entourage had met with Manchester City, but it seems Real have finally managed to land their primary target.

Last week, the 25-year-old forward met with PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi to inform him he would be leaving the club at the end of …

Andoni Zubizarreta has agreed a new two-year deal to remain as sporting director at La Liga champions Barcelona.

The 52-year-old has been in the role since 2010, when he replaced Txiki Begiristain, and also enjoyed a spell playing for the club as a goalkeeper.

Zubizarreta is expected to put pen to paper in the coming days.

A statement on the club s webiste read: Andoni Zubizarreta will continue as sporting director until the end of the 2015-16 season after terms were agreed for the extension of his contract on Thursday November 7.

His present contract is due to expire at the end of June 2014, but he ll now be staying on an additional two years until June 30, 2016.

Zubizarreta is in his fourth season as sporting director at Camp Nou and has been partly resp…