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Roman Abramovich has 'given the green light for Chelsea to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland this summer'. The 20-year-old striker has excelled at Dortmund since joining from RB Salzburg last January and is on the radar of a number of top sides across Europe. According to BILD, Chelsea are right in the hunt and owner Abramovich has given his permission for a move worth more than €100million. Read More: Europa League last-16 Draw: Man Utd vs Milan, Olympiacos vs Arsenal. Full result New Blues boss Thomas Tuchel could infuriate his old side by trying to lure their prised striker away from the club after one-and-a-half seasons. He risks the ire of sporting director Michel Zorc, manager Hans-Joachim Watzke and any Dortmund fans who still hold him in high regard. But Haaland is both one for the future and the here and now. Chelsea are desperately in need of a dependable presence up front and the Norwegian seems to tick those boxes. Abramovich's fortune means

The Europa League last 16 draw has been done with the result of Man Utd vs Milan, Olympiacos vs Arsenal and Dinamo vs Tottenham. Draw results Ajax vs Young Boys Dynamo vs Villarreal Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk Olympiacos vs Arsenal Dinamo vs Tottenham Man Utd vs Milan Slavia Praha vs Rangers Granada vs Molde Match dates First legs: 11 March Second legs: 18 March The draws are provisional and are subject to the outcome of ongoing investigations and/or legal proceedings and final confirmation by UEFA.  

Since his goalscoring debut five years ago, England forward Marcus Rashford has developed into one of Manchester United's leaders on and off the pitch. Thursday marks exactly five years since Marcus Rashford exploded onto the scene for Manchester United. Having been fast-tracked into the first-team squad due to injuries, the then-18-year-old was handed a surprise start against Midtjylland in the Europa League after Anthony Martial was injured in the warm-up. Rashford responded with two goals in a 5-1 win, both in front of the Stretford End, in a game neither he nor fans have forgotten. On February 25, 2021, Rashford could well be afforded a rest when United host Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, having scored in the 4-0 first-leg win to put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side in control of the tie. The importance of saving Rashford for major games to come is a sign of his status within the squad after five years, three different permanent managers and a single-minded developme

Paul Pogba is set for another extended spell on the sidelines as he battles to recover from his latest injury. That was the news from Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who also revealed that Daniel James picked up a knock in the Red Devils' 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday. Pogba, who has been in imperious form for United recently, has not featured since limping off in the 3-3 league draw against Everton on February 6 with a thigh injury. He has missed three games in all competitions, and Solskjaer's troubling assessment suggested the Frenchman may miss several more yet. 'Paul is still out for a few weeks,' the Norwegian told BT Sport after the final whistle at Old Trafford. Manchester United take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday in a crucial match for both teams' Champions League ambitions. While Pogba is certain to miss out, Solskjaer is hoping for better news on other absentees including Scott McT

Thomas Tuchel doesn't appear to go in for subtext. What the Chelsea head coach says is exactly what he means and that has led to a couple of awkward exchanges with reporters, not to mention a rather damning post-match analysis of Callum Hudson-Odoi's performance against Southampton. That  Tuchel  lacks a filter when dealing with the press is useful. It enables him to deliver true insight and, on occasion, a peek behind the curtain at Stamford Bridge. Take, for example, his comments about enhancing the value of the club's players. The question was specifically about  Kepa Arriazabalga  but Tuchel expanded it nonetheless. He said: "No matter if we bought them for crazy money, if they come through the academy, or they were a free agent when they arrived, it is our job to push every player to the limit, this is what counts. "We are pretty selfish. Why? Because we want to have them in the best shape on the pitch. Of course, the club wants the market value k

The Europa League round of 16 draw takes place today, with three Premier League sides eagerly waiting to see who they will get in the second knockout stage. Arsenal  came close to winning the crown in 2018/19, but were beaten 4-1 by Premier League rivals Chelsea in the final, but this season's competition could be vital with the competition realistically their best chance of sealing a return to the Champions League. Jose Mourinho  has won this competition twice as a manager and will be hopeful of doing so again as it's also  Tottenham Hotspur 's best route back to the top table of European football. Meanwhile, Manchester United cruised into the round of 16 stage with a 4-0 aggregate win over Real Sociedad and are one of the favourites to lift the trophy. However, one of the more surprising results in the round of 32 saw Leicester City - riding high in the Premier League - knocked out by Slavia Praha at the King Power Stadium. That shows there are no easy ties in

You'd be hard pressed to find a fan anywhere in the country with a bad word to say about Marcus Rashford. How often can you say that about a Manchester United player? Five years ago today, the academy prospect made his debut for the club he holds dear and has since evolved from boy to man, prospect to star and footballer to inspirational figurehead. Rashford is now something of a national treasure for his campaigning work and those five years have been littered with outstanding achievements. Here, Sportsmail takes a look at his five best moments since February 25, 2016. A stunning debut United were up against it. They were staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat in their Europa League tie against Midtjylland having lost the first leg 2-1 away from home. Louis van Gaal's side were ravaged by injuries, 13 in total, a starry-eyed Rashford had been named in the bench but was given his big chance when Anthony Martial went down in the warm-up. Midtjylland scored f

Ian Wright claims Bruno Fernandes is getting ‘more and more frustrated’ with his Manchester United team-mates. Wright believes the Portuguese playmaker is a ‘perfectionist’ and that he is easily ‘demoralised’ when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side makes mistakes. The pundit has shared his disappointed as Fernandes' obvious signs of displeasure on the pitch and insists he should follow the example set by Dennis Bergkamp. Wright believes Fernandes – who has scored 34 in just 59 games since joining in January last year – has become a Manchester United leader and that he should avoid showing his frustration during games. ‘I look at Bruno Fernandes and he just seems to be getting more and more frustrated with people when I’m watching him,’ Wright said on the Wrighty’s House podcast. ‘I don’t want people to take this wrong and say, “oh, Wrighty’s digging him out.” I’m not digging him out, I just look at leaders like him, he’s obviously the leader of Manchester United, it’s blat

Most goalkeepers are left stunned by Lionel Messi during a game against him but one was left shell-shocked by his gesture at full-time. Barcelona's talisman produced the goods once more on Wednesday night by scoring twice in a 3-0 LaLiga win over strugglers Elche. And post-match Elche goalkeeper Edgar Badia asked for his shirt only to be caught unawares when Messi asked for his in return. As both teams walked off the Nou Camp pitch, Badia made a beeline towards Messi to ask for his jersey. The 33-year-old duly obliged and wanted Badia's too, leaving him surprised that he would. Badia's slightly-startled expression was clear to see before he laughed and joked with the forward afterwards. Messi was in a good mood as the win moved his side up to third in LaLiga. They're now just two points behind second-placed Real Madrid and five behind leaders Atletico Madrid, with the latter having a game in hand. S

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has resigned as manager of Montreal Impact, after claiming the role was having too much impact on his family. The former Monaco manager had taken charge of the MLS side prior to the 2020 season but stated that the coronavirus pandemic had made it impossible to continue, claiming he was now heading back to London. 'It is with a heavy heart that I've decided to take this decision,' Henry said in a club statement. 'The last year has been an extremely difficult one for me personally. Due to the worldwide pandemic, I was unable to see my children.

It took the Blues 71 minutes to break the deadlock in a tough Champions League round of 16th tie against the La Liga leader to enable them end a longtime wait against the Spanish side, despite VAR consuming almost three minutes in deliberations for the goal to arrive but once it did, through a piece of magic from Olivier Giroud assisted by a botched clearance from Mario Hermoso, there could be little arguing against it being deserved. Chelsea's Bucharest business trip was carried out with minimal fuss. This was by no means a classic encounter but Thomas Tuchel's gameplan was executed effectively against an Atletico Madrid team that were conservative to a fault. Read Also: Manchester United place 'Varane and Kounde on five-man centre-back shortlist' There were long moments of passivity in possession from the away team, spells where it was questionable if anyone in light blue could provide the killer pass to break down Atletico's seemingly impregnable wall

If there was any form of anger in Callum Hudson-Odoi after his chastising experience in Chelsea's draw with Southampton, it likely dissipated the moment the 20-year-old discovered he was starting against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Hudson-Odoi  had been dragged over the coals by Blues head coach  Thomas Tuchel  on Saturday. His attitude was questioned, his application of tactical instructions doubted. It would not have been a pleasant experience for the young winger. Read Also: Roman Abramovich 'to hand Chelsea £260m warchest' to sign Haaland and others Tuchel even accepted as much: "He knows exactly what I demand from him and when he doesn't reach this level, maybe it leads to a hard decision. "But there is no need to think in old-fashioned terms that this is the worst thing that can ever happen, no. Tomorrow, it's already over and maybe he starts against Atletico." That was very much tough love from Tuchel. A handful of salt

It seems Roman Abramovich is not ready to rest on his laurels as he prepares to splash more cash this summer to get Chelsea back competing at the top of the table. The Blues' owner sanctioned over £200million worth of transfers in the off-season in a bid to close the gap on their rivals. But after sacking Frank Lampard and instilling Thomas Tuchel as his replacement, Abramovich now sees the need to further invest in the playing squad. According to  TuttoMercatoWeb  , he is now set to plunge another £260million into the club, with Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland top of his wishlist. Haaland has no shortage of potential suitors lining up for his signature, but with finances still tight for many clubs, Chelsea could steal a march in the race for the 20-year-old. The striker is expected to leave Dortmund next year when the £65m release clause in his contract becomes active - with Man Utd, Juventus and Real Madrid all set for a place at the auction. But Abramovich want

The Champions League Round of 16 hasn't been kind to Chelsea in recent years,who travel to meet Atletico Madrid tonight – the Blues have not made it beyond this stage of the competition since 2014. Thomas Tuchel and his players will be looking to change that this season, starting tonight when they play the first leg of their tie with Atletico Madrid. The Spanish giants are having a good season; they lead La Liga by three points and have a game in hand over second-placed side Real Madrid. But Atleti have key injuries – Jose Giminez, Hector Herrera and Yannick Carrasco are ruled out – while their previously impenetrable defence is no more, as explained in greater detail here. That the match isn't being played at Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium due to Spain's Covid-19 travel restrictions on visitors from the United Kingdom is a huge advantage for Chelsea. Diego Simeone has never lost a home match as Atletico head coach in the Champions League. The La Lig

On Thursday, FIFA publish the latest FIFA world ranking 2021 for the first time this year,with the top 10 countries retaining their various positions from the sides that closed out 2020 as the world's leading footballing nations.  Belgium still remains the world number one in the 2021 FIFA World ranking,as their effort in the 2018 World Cup,UEFA Nations League and the Euro Qualifier helped the to retained their spot at the top of the pile ahead of France and Brazil, while England, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico round out a formidable top 10. With changes in the top 20, Senegal becomes the only Africa country to climb the top 20 spot in this year FIFA World ranking as they occupied the 20th position on the ranking table. Top 20 FIFA World Ranking 2021 Nation .        Squad Size.     Point 1.Belgium           28               1780 2.France.            25                1755 3.Brazil.              25                 1743 4.England.          29             

The Champions League returns once again this week, with some mouthwatering last-16 ties in store. This season has already thrown up some moments that will stick in the mind, from Manchester United's non-existent defending in Istanbul, to both sets of teams walking off the pitch in Paris when Basaksehir faced PSG. But Europe's premier club competition has seen some other shocking moments down the years, from match-fixing scandals to harsh red cards and significant referee abuse. Ahead of the return of the action tonight, Sportsmail goes through the list of the most jaw-dropping moments in Champions League history... LUIS GARCIA'S GHOST GOAL AGAINST CHELSEA, 2005 Liverpool's 2005 Champions League-winning campaign was filled with some iconic moments - the Istanbul comeback and Steve Gerrard's last-gasp wondergoal against Olympiakos to get them out of the group stage to name a few. But there is a major controversy that puts an asterisk on their success. In t

Since the German coach took over at Chelsea, Christian Pulisic has only played 84 minutes, starting just one game. Christian Pulisic has scored one goal and provided one assists in 15 Premier League appearances this season. The United States international has been dealing with injuries all year and even tested positive for coronavirus. Chelsea’s No 10 has missed a total of eight games due to injuries and twice he was not included in the squad. Read Also Top 20 FIFA World Ranking 2021 Roman Abramovich 'to hand Chelsea £260m warchest' to sign Haaland and others In January, Chelsea decided to sack Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge due toa poor run of results, culminating in the appointment of Thomas Tuchel. Since the German coach took over, the United States international has seen less playing time. Pulisic has only started once under Tuchel and it was in the FA Cup in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Barnsley. Since then he has been coming on as a substitute, usually

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is weighing up giving Amad Diallo his Manchester United debut in Turin on Thursday, claiming the club’s new £37million signing has not just gone along for the ride. The 18-year-old former Atalanta winger returned to Italy on Wednesday as part of a 22-man United squad for the Europa League first leg against Real Sociedad, being played on neutral ground at Juventus’s stadium. With forward Edinson Cavani and midfielder Donny van de Beek ruled out through injury, Diallo is likely to feature on United’s bench. Solskjaer insists he is ready to use the Ivorian and 17-year-old striker Shola Shoretire against the Spaniards if needed. ‘They’re not in the travelling squad just for experience. They’re there to make an impact if they have to,’ said the United boss. ‘Maybe they’ll get their chance before we expected.’ United are without a win over Spanish opposition in their last nine attempts, most recently losing to Sevilla in the semi-finals of this competition la

PSG matchwinner Kylian Mbappe furiously warned Barcelona's Jordi Alba he would 'kill him in the street' during Tuesday's Champions League tie at the Camp Nou. Mbappe stole all the headlines by scoring a memorable hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Mauricio Pochettino's side, putting the Ligue 1 champions firmly in control of the last-16 clash. But a fiery clash saw the French forward lose his temper with Barcelona left-back Alba during a PSG set-piece on Tuesday night, with Gerard Pique forced to intervene. In a conversation picked up by the cameras of TV station Movistar on Tuesday, when Mbappe told Barcelona defender Sergino Dest to stop touching him at a first-half set piece, Alba intervened and told the PSG star to 'get bigger'. The hat-trick hero then replied in perfect Spanish: 'I will kill you in the street. I will kill you in the street.' Centre-back Pique then backed Alba up by telling Pique, 'who are you going to kill?' Alba the

Cristiano Ronaldo was furious after he was denied a penalty in the final moments of Juventus's 2-1 defeat by Porto. The Serie A side had given themselves a lifeline with Federico Chiesa pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute after they had been 2-0 behind. Just before the final whistle, Ronaldo brought down the ball in the box and then flicked it backwards before colliding with Porto defender Zaidu Sanusi. The forward went to ground and immediately appealed for a penalty but the referee refused to point to the spot before blowing for full-time. The decision was checked by VAR but Ronaldo was adjudged to have already been going to ground before the challenge from Zaidu came in. The Portugal captain was incensed and argued his case with the official at the end of the game. Zaidu had sarcastically applauded the forward after he had gone to ground, suggesting he had tried to trick the referee into giving a penalty. The result could have been worse for the Italians after a h

Timo Werner has revealed his relief after he finally put an end to his 15 Premier League game goal drought after his striker helped Chelsea overcome Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Monday. Werner's first league strike since November 7 meant the German went without a goal for exactly 1,000 minutes, which saw him heavily criticised for his role in the team – especially when the Blues parted with £53million to bring him in last summer. Thomas Tuchel had insisted only a goal could restore Werner's shattered confidence and it appears that his strike against the Magpies has done just that, after he revealed that he was 'happy' to end his voodoo in front of goal. Werner told Sky Sports after the 2-0 victory: 'I think as a striker, you always want to score. 'The last month I was not happy about not scoring, but it's a team sport and when we win, everything is good. When I help my team with assists, winning penalties and now with scoring, I'm happy. &