Both players on target in 4-1 win for La Liga leaders Nkunku strikes as Milan sink Lecce in Coppa Italia Real Madrid maintained their flawless start to the Spanish league season with a swashbuckling 4-1 victory at Levante on Tuesday. Vinícius Júnior orchestrated the visitors’ first-half display before Kylian Mbappe’s second-half double, including a penalty, sealed a comprehensive win. The Brazil winger found form in Valencia, striking a brilliant opener in the 28th minute with the outside of his boot. Vinícius turned provider 11 minutes later, threading the ball through to the new arrival Franco Mastantuono, who doubled Madrid’s advantage from close range. Continue reading...

Arsenal have completed the signing of Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera, the Premier League club has announced.

Striker not in squad for pre-season friendlies in Asia Cristhian Mosquera signs for Arsenal from Valencia Alexander Isak is open to a move away from Newcastle, with Liverpool his preferred destination. The Sweden striker has not travelled with his teammates on a pre-season tour to Asia and is looking into his options. Isak has long been interested in joining Liverpool but the possibility of it happening this summer is remote. The striker has a contract until 2028 and the Premier League champions would need to raise funds through sales to afford a player valued at about £120m. Continue reading...

Deal for Sporting striker includes €10m in add-ons Arsenal poised to confirm Cristhian Mosquera signing Arsenal have finally reached agreement with Sporting for the transfer of Viktor Gyökeres in a deal worth up to €73.5m (£63.7m), having resolved the problematic issue of the €10m of add-ons to end a tortuous saga and Mikel Arteta’s hunt for a No 9. The London club, , who are poised to confirm the signing of the centre-half Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia for an initial €15m, made the official breakthrough late on Tuesday, sending an updated offer to their Portuguese counterparts to satisfy them over the structure of the bonuses. Sporting have wanted the add-ons to be achievable, based on appearances, goals and assists by Gyökeres plus Champions League qualification, whereas Arsenal had wanted to include some more difficult ones. Continue reading...

Plus: Isaac Price’s strange goalscoring record, strange trophies and who remembers Rodrigo Defendi? Mail us with your questions and answers “Paris FC’s promotion means that Paris will have its first Ligue 1 derby since 1978-79. Is there any European city that has had a longer gap between top-flight derbies?” queries Steve Whittaker from Frankfurt (which hasn’t had a top-flight derby in the Bundesliga era). We’ve touched on this before, many years ago, when we found a 44-year gap between the meeting of Hertha Berlin and FC Union and a 48-year wait for FSV v Eintracht in Steve’s home city. However both derbies reconvened in the second tier and don’t count here. So it is well worth us having a drill down into some top-flight derby deserts. The 46-year wait for Paris bragging rights to be earned is indeed a long one, particularly for a capital city. Valencia had no derby between Valencia and Levante in La Liga between 10 January 1965 and 8 January 2005 (40 years). Berlin had no Bundesliga derby between 1977 (Hertha Berlin v Tennis Borussia Berlin) until 2019 (Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin – 42 years). There were Berlin derbies in the old East German league, but teams from West Berlin would not have been able to participate in those. Cologne has no league derby since 1974 (FC Köln v Fortuna Köln) but those two did meet in the 1982 DFB Pokal Cup, but that doesn’t count. So the gap is active at 51 years. Finally, Naples has never had a Serie A derby at all. To get close to one, you need to venture back to the pre-Serie A days of 1921 when the Italian Championship involved a series of mini-leagues leading to a final round-robin. In the last round before it entered the final phase in 1921, three teams from Naples played each other in a mini league – Bagnolese, Internazionale Napoli, and Naples Foot-Ball Club. Bagnolese have since dissolved, and the other two merged in 1926 to form what is now Napoli. So that could be 105 years and counting. Continue reading...

Cristhian Mosquera is on his way to Singapore to join Arsenal's preseason tour after the club finalised terms with Valencia, sources have told ESPN.

Arsenal target Cristhian Mosquera has appeared to confirm his Valencia departure, claiming he is leaving "home" to begin a "new era."

Arsenal to pay Valencia initial £13m for defender Fluminense winger Arias impressed at Club World Cup Arsenal are hoping to complete the signing of Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia this week in a deal that could take their summer spending past £200m. Negotiations with Valencia over the 21-year-old defender have been ongoing since an initial offer of £14m including bonuses was rejected this month. It is understood an agreement has been struck for Arsenal to pay an initial £13m plus up to £3.5m in bonuses. Continue reading...

Valencia midfielder Javi Guerra is the subject of interest from Manchester United. Transfer Talk has the latest news, gossip and rumors.

Valencia has offered Cristhian Mosquera a new contract in an attempt to prevent him from leaving for Arsenal, sources have told ESPN.

Club to offer about £26m for Spain under-21 defender Juventus’s Weah and Mbangula reject Forest move Arsenal are hopeful of agreeing a deal to sign Cristhian Mosquera after holding talks with Valencia over the Spain under 21 international. Mikel Arteta is keen to strengthen his defensive options and has identified Mosquera – who came through Valencia’s academy and has played 90 games for the first team – as their main target to provide back-up to William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. Continue reading...

Valencia have secured financing totaling €322 million ($377m) for the development of the Nou Mestalla stadium.

Arsenal are in talks to sign Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera, sources have told ESPN.

Valencia have asked for an "immediate rectification" from the producers of Vinícius Júnior's Netflix documentary.