SPORTS

Liverpool were determined to sign the Guinea international and eventually paid a premium on his £48m release clause in order to conclude a deal.

Republic of Ireland will take on Denmark while Northern Ireland will face Switzerland over two legs for a place in the 2018 World Cup.

Barcelona have indentifed Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt or Schalke 04's Max Meyer as Philippe Coutinho's alternatives ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

Keylor Navas, Casemiro and Raphael Varane have been included in Real Madrid's squad to face Tottenham after the three players missed the weekend win over Getafe.

Gunners have reportedly offered a £275,000-a-week deal to the player, who demands in the region of £350,000-a-week instead.

Batshuayi has failed to convince Conte of his talents and the Italian has been looking at other striking options.

Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw were both part of the Manchester United group that travelled to Lisbon for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Benfica.

Mirallas has barely featured for the Toffees this season but was a lively substitute against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov wants the UFC to book a trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz so that he can fight Tony Ferguson.

Dejan Lovren believes Romelu Lukaku deliberately stamped on him during Liverpool's 0-0 draw against Manchester United.

Former British number one Greg Rusedski believes Andy Murray will return to challenge for major honours but is concerned about Novak Djokovic.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in line to start for Liverpool in their Champions League clash against Maribor after impressing Jurgen Klopp over the weekend.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he is happy at the club and would like to stay for a long time.

Roger Federer is wary of Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka, says former Great Britain tennis star Greg Rusedski.

Anthony Joshua will defend his heavyweight titles against French-Cameroonian Carlos Takam who will step in on short notice to replace the injured Kubrat Pulev in Cardiff.

Romelu Lukaku will not face retrospective action for his alleged stamp on Dejan Lovren during United's draw with Liverpool.

Real Sociedad defender Álvaro Odriozola is one of La Liga's latest success stories with Barcelona and Real Madrid interested in signing him.

22-year-old winger has scored four goals for the second team since his summer arrival from Valladolid.

Depay failed to make an impact at United but has impressed since signing for Ligue 1 outfit Lyon in January.

Raheem Sterling did not ponder a potential transfer to Arsenal "for one minute" after rumours of player-plus-cash deal also involving Alexis Sanchez.

Reds searching for their first Champions League group stage victory after two frustrating draws against Sevilla and Spartak Moscow.

Rose will make the bench when Tottenham travel to the Bernabeu for their Champions League clash on Wednesday.

Diogo Figueiras, Seba, Emmanuel Emenike and El Fardou Ben Nabouhane have all been left out of Olympiakos' 20-man travelling squad to face Barcelona on Wednesday.

Ashley has decided to put the club up for sale "in the best interest" of the club's fans following ten years at the club.

Alcacer is surplus to requirements at the Camp Nou and has not made an appearance for Barca since August.

Former Chelsea forward Cascarino believes Conte's reluctance to play Batshuayi makes it clear that the Belgian will soon move on.

Romelu Lukaku has scored 11 goals in all competitions since moving to United from Everton in the summer. He has failed to be on the scoresheet against Leicester and Liverpool.

Marca's Enrique Ortego has moved to clarify a controversial claim in an article that was condemned by Tottenham as being "wrong" and "distasteful".

Marko Grujic is among the Liverpool squad travelling to Slovenia for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Maribor.