When selecting a supreme Samp five, it is impossible to look beyond the stars of their greatest era, in the 80s and 90s By Stephen Kasiewicz for The Gentleman Ultra The members of my Sampdoria five-side-team played together during the club’s most successful period, from 1984-1994. It would have been easy to pick an ultra-attacking side with four forwards. But to maintain some kind of balance there was no room for Blucerchiati icons Fabio Quagliarella and Francesco Flachi, while none of Doria’s star foreigners made the cut either. Continue reading...

Defender hangs up boots after knee injury at Como‘I have loved fighting for myself, my clubs, my country’ Raphaël Varane has announced his retirement from football aged 31. The former France centre-back made the decision after suffering a serious knee injury at Como in Serie A. The player joined the newly promoted side on a two-year deal after leaving United at the end of last season, but sustained a knee injury on his debut during a Coppa Italia match against Sampdoria. Later in August the France international was removed from the club’s squad list for the league season, and the injury has now forced him to call time on his illustrious career. Continue reading...

Reaction from the world of football and beyondEmail will.magee@theguardian.com with any thoughtsNews piece: Sven-Göran Eriksson dies aged 76 After the sad news of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s death, his former clubs have been among the first to pay tribute. Benfica, where he won three league titles across two spells and was a European Cup runner-up in 1990, tweeted: “It is with deep regret that Sport Lisboa e Benfica mourns the death of Sven-Göran Eriksson, at 76 years of age. Rest in peace, Mister.” Fiorentina, where he had a two-year stint between 1987 and 1989, tweeted: “Fiorentina joins the [football] family in mourning the passing of Sven Göran Eriksson.” Sampdoria, where he was manager between 1992 and 1997 and won the Coppa Italia, tweeted “Ciao Sven”, accompanied by a blue heart. Continue reading...

The famed football manager has died at the age of 76. A career that took him from his home in Sweden via Benfica, Sampdoria and Lazio to manage the England team. We take a look back at his career in the game. Continue reading...