England manager Gareth Southgate says he would never risk Bukayo Saka’s long-term fitness by selecting him to play when he is not fit.

Saka was included in Southgate’s 26-man squad for forthcoming games against Australia and Italy, despite limping out of Arsenal’s last three games.

He is being assessed ahead of this Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City before the squad is due to meet up early next week.

Here it is: your squad for October!

— England (@England)

Southgate says he wants his best players available for the biggest games, with a crunch European Championship clash against Italy at Wembley on October 17, but never to the detriment of their health.

“I can only go via what Mikel (Arteta) has said about th…

Marcus Rashford joined Erling Haaland in being nominated for the Premier League s Player of the Month award for November and December after a strong run of form for Manchester United.

With the 2022 World Cup necessitating a seven-week break for elite club football, performances from either side of the tournament contributed towards the nominations.

Having scored three times during England s campaign in Qatar, Rashford hit the ground running on his return to club football by claiming a goal and an assist against Nottingham Forest before netting the winner at Wolves in United s final game of 2022.

Rashford – who was named Player of the Month in September – will face fierce competition for the award from Haaland, who scored four goals in four games for rivals Ma…

Arsenal are interested in signing Pedro Neto from Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Gunners will undertake a medical assessment of the winger before deciding whether to bid for him or not.

Football Transfers has reported that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is a massive admirer of Neto. The Gunners wanted to sign the Portugal international in the January transfer window but were told to pay £80 million for him. The report has claimed that the Wanderers could now sell him for £43 million.

Neto, who is part of the Portugal squad at the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany, has had injury problems in recent times, and Arsenal reportedly want to make sure that he will be fine in the long te…

With all of Europe s top-tiers fully back in the swing of things, Saturday promises to offer another stacked schedule from across the footballing globe. On that note, for those of you looking to stick on a weekend acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Saturday September 25th

BST 15:00 Leyton Orient vs Mansfield Town

Starting with Saturday s hosts, while Leyton Orient might have missed out on a play-off spot last season, they have really caught the eye since opening the 2021/22 campaign. With their sights set on mounting a real automatic charge this time around, Head Coach Kenny Jackett finds the mood in his camp at a real high. Enjoying an immediate boost since bringing in the former Portsmouth bos…

Napoli are interested in signing Angel Di Maria in the summer of 2023, according to . The report has claimed that the former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger does not plan to stay at Juventus beyond the end of the season, and that Napoli are among the clubs who are keen on securing the services of the 34-year-old Argentina international, who can also operate as an attacking midfielder and won the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Di Maria joined Juventus in the summer of 2022 on a free transfer after leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season. The former Real Madrid star has failed to make a massive impact at the Bianconeri. So far this season, Di Maria has made eight starts and four substitute appearances in Serie A, scoring three goals and providing two assists in the …

Giorgio Chiellini has confirmed he will join MLS side Los Angeles FC on a free transfer.

The Juventus great revealed his intentions to leave Turin at the end of the season, ending a 17-year spell with the Bianconeri in which he made 425 Serie A appearances.

Chiellini also retired from international football with Italy two weeks ago following the 3-0 Finalissima defeat to Argentina in a meeting between the Euro 2020 winners and Copa America champions.

The 37-year-old has expressed his desire to use his vast experience to go into management or a director role, once his playing career is finished.

Los Angeles will likely be his final club that he plays for, after Chiellini took to Twitter on Monday to confirm his move to the Black and Gold on a reported 1…

Inter Miami won their fourth straight MLS game as Julian Gressel provided another assist in the Herons 2-1 victory at Charlotte FC.

With Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez away on Copa America duty, Gressel has stepped up to help fill the void for Gerardo Martino s side.

And he delivered again as his brilliant cross teed up Benjamín Cremaschi for an 86th-minute winner.

Dean Smith s Charlotte team were subsequently reduced to 10 men when Patrick Agyemang, who had earlier cancelled out Robert Taylor s opener for Miami, saw red deep in stoppage time.

Miami stay top of MLS, two points ahead of FC Cincinnati, who they face next, in the Eastern Conference.

Charlotte, meanwhile, sit sixth in the same conference after suffering back-to-back defeats.

Vi…

France coach Didier Deschamps said it would have been pointless to leave a fatigued Kylian Mbappe on for the final 15 minutes of extra time against Portugal.

Mbappe was taken off at the interval in the added 30 minutes in Hamburg on Friday, with the score level at 0-0.

It remained that way 15 minutes later, though Portugal squandered two golden chances, with Joao Felix and Nuno Mendes failing to convert.

France ultimately got the job done in the end, though, triumphing 5-3 on penalties, with Felix missing the decisive spot-kick.

Mbappe had a game-leading five shots, though they accumulated just 0.17 expected goals (xG), but Deschamps believes it would have been foolish to leave the 25-year-old on any longer.

Deschamps said: He s tired, obviously. …

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes Jarell Quansah underlined his potential by producing a “top game” in tricky conditions at Bournemouth.

The 20-year-old defender helped the much-changed Reds set up a Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham with an assured performance in Wednesday’s 2-1 success at Vitality Stadium.

The England Under-21 international was forced to contend with relentless rain and swirling winds on just his fourth senior start for the Reds as Storm Ciaran hit the south coast.

What a performance from Jarell tonight

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

Manager Klopp praised his players’ professionalism in successfully battling the adverse weather and singled out centre-back Quansah for special praise.

“He was really good,�…

Antonio Conte has held talks with Roma, confirmed the club s director Francesco Totti, who says teams would do crazy things to appoint the coach.

Conte, who has been out of work since leading Chelsea to FA Cup glory last season, previously won three consecutive Serie A titles at Juventus before taking charge of Italy in 2014.

Bayern Munich and Inter have also been linked with Conte, but Totti is keen to bring the 49-year-old to Roma.

We see that in recent weeks there is a lot of talking about Conte, Totti said to Sky Sport Italia. We have Claudio Ranieri on the bench and we have to show respect.

Every club would do crazy things for him [Conte]. At the end of the season we ll decide if our coach will be Conte, Ranieri or somebody else. For now we are on…