Netherlands defender Daley Blind has expressed frustration at news of his likely January exit from Ajax quickly becoming common knowledge.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Wednesday how Blind has been given permission to leave the Amsterdam giants on a free transfer.

The club are said to have agreed to smooth the path for his exit because of his long service, which has come either side of a four-year stint with Manchester United.

Blind, 32, is the son of Ajax legend Danny Blind, and began his career in the Ajax youth ranks before emerging into the first team.

After his Old Trafford stay, he returned to Ajax in July 2018. His deal was due to expire at the end of this season, but the 99-cap international now looks poised to depart sooner.

Re…

In-form Leicester were made to work hard for their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup with a battling 2-0 win over Tranmere at Prenton Park.

Second-half strikes from Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy proved to be the difference as the Foxes weathered a number of early scares to overcome their League Two opponents.

The Foxes enjoyed much of the possession in the early stages and could have taken the lead as early as the seventh minute when Harry Winks’ long-range effort flew narrowly wide.

The 2016 Premier League champions continued to dominate with further chances as Cesare Casadei’s header flew narrowly over the Rovers crossbar.

The visitors did not have it all their own way, however, and having defended resolutely and frustrating their Champion…

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino has no doubt Lionel Messi will continue to perform at the highest level when playing for the Ligue 1 giants.

Messi and PSG will host Group A rivals RB Leipzig on matchday three of the Champions League on Tuesday.

After netting in PSG s win against Manchester City three weeks ago, Messi is looking to join team-mate Neymar (2017), Alex (2012) and George Weah (1994) in scoring in his first two home games for the club in the competition.

As Messi continues to find his feet in the French capital following his blockbuster switch from Barcelona, Pochettino praised the six-time Ballon d Or winner.

Leo [Messi] shines by himself.  He shone in Barcelona, [he] shines with Argentina and shines at PSG, Pochettino tol…

Manchester United will be in pursuit of a top striker this summer, and according to Sunday People, they re ready to move for Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, even though that would mean making the England captain the most expensive English player ever.

Much has been said about the future of Kane and the lack of major trophies in his otherwise extremely impressive career. He has recently become the top goalscorer in Spurs history and has been the central figure of everything good the club have achieved over the last decade, establishing themselves as a regular feature in the Champions League and even reaching the final of the elite competition in 2019. But they still haven t won a trophy for a very long time.

Manchester City made a strong push to sign Kane back in 2021…

England’s final home match of the year will be remembered for the pre-match tributes to Sir Bobby Charlton rather than the football that followed as Gareth Southgate’s side limped to a 2-0 win against Malta.

Friday’s European Championship qualifier at Wembley saw the senior men’s team play their first match since the incredible 1966 World Cup winner died at the age of 86 last month.

A fan mosaic, video montage and minute’s applause formed part of a fitting farewell to Charlton before the current crop made hard work of a simple assignment against the side ranked 171st in the world.

Celebrating the life of Sir Bobby Charlton, a legend of our game.

— The FA (@FA)

Southgate is dealing with a number of absentees right now and his side are…

Best odds: 10/11

Bookmaker:

The year 2020 has come to a close, with 13 rounds in the Bundesliga gone. The clubs will have no time to relax, though, as round 14 this weekend means business resumes as usual for them. On Sunday afternoon, Bayern Munich will be welcoming Mainz 05 to the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich

The year that s just ended may have been a disastrous one for many around the planet and not too good for the football world either, but Bayern certainly got as much as possible from it. They won the Bundesliga DFB-Pokal Champions League treble, repeating the feat of 2013, with striker Robert Lewandowski being crowned FIFA s Men s Best Player of the Year.

To top it all off, the Bavarians are back at the top of the table in the German top flight. …

Xavi welcomed the returns of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong as the Barcelona midfielders were passed fit to feature in Sunday s clash with Atletico Madrid.

Pedri has not played for Barca since he sustained a hamstring injury during February s 2-2 Europa League draw against Manchester United.

The Spain international initially looked set to return for last month s LaLiga meeting with Clasico rivals Real Madrid – a game Barca won 2-1 – only to suffer a setback in his recovery.

While Pedri has missed a total of 11 games, Barca have also been without fellow midfielder De Jong for their last four matches after he sustained a similar injury.

Barca have struggled for creativity in back-to-back goalless draws against Girona and Getafe in LaLiga, but they will have…

Inter s losing streak extended to their worst in Serie A in six years with a 1-0 defeat to Fiorentina at San Siro on Saturday.

Giacomo Bonaventura s second-half header was enough to down Simone Inzaghi s side, inflicting a third consecutive defeat upon the Nerazzurri.

The game s only goal came shortly after a woeful miss from Romelu Lukaku, failing to hit the target with the goal gaping from inside the six-yard box.

Inter came closest to an equaliser when Nicolo Barella struck the crossbar from long range but failed to restore parity and suffered their 10th league defeat of the season.

2018 Giacomo Bonaventura has scored his first Serie A headed goal since January 2018, also at the Meazza Stadium, for AC Milan against Lazio. Surprise.

— OptaPao…

Leicester City have to accept a point is all they deserved according to manager Steve Cooper, after drawing 1-1 with Everton in the Premier League.

The East Midlands outfit remain without a win in their opening five matches, with three draws and two losses.

Stephy Mavididi salvaged a point at the King Power Stadium after Iliman Ndiaye had put Everton a goal to the good after 12 minutes.

Cooper believes it was all the hosts could have asked for after a disappointing first-half showing in which they managed just one shot on target and created an expected goals of just 0.15.

We were nowhere near the level first half, I won t hide away from that. We were deservedly losing the game, and we were second best in the fundamentals, he told BBC MOTD.

It wa…

Free-scoring Bayern Munich extended their perfect Bundesliga start, with Michael Olise getting two goals and two assists in a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen.

In an extremely one-sided contest, Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry also scored to ensure Bayern ran out comfortable winners and stayed at the top of the Bundesliga.

Vincent Kompany s side have now scored 20 goals in their last three matches in all competitions, and Olise opened the scoring on Saturday, finishing off a lovely flowing move in the 23rd minute.

He turned provider nine minutes later, making an incredible jinking run before setting up Musiala for a simple tap-in.

Olise then teed up Kane for a goal from the edge of the box and netted the fourth in the 60th minute with a delightf…