Former Arsenal youngster Kaylen Hinds has been released by Wolfsburg after going AWOL during pre-season.

The 20-year-old failed to report for training for several weeks after reportedly claiming he had lost his passport during a return visit to England.

Wolfsburg says Hinds unauthorised absence constitutes a breach of his contract and have cancelled his deal.

VfL Wolfsburg has parted with Kaylen Hinds. The club has reacted to the forward s unauthorised absence of several weeks by terminating his contract with immediate effect, the club said in a statement on Thursday.

There is no longer a valid contract of employment between Hinds and VfL.

Managing director for sport Jorg Schmadtke said: Despite repeated requests, he has not fulfilled his contr…

Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is not for sale, describing the injured star as an incredible boy .

De Bruyne was the star man as City smashed a string of records in romping to the Premier League title under the Catalan s leadership last term.

City are without the Belgium international due to a knee injury that is set to rule De Bruyne out of action until November.

And Guardiola intimated it could take a world-record fee to prise De Bruyne away from City, the 27-year-old having signed a six-year contract earlier this year.

He s very good. He s a very dynamic player, Guardiola said in an interview with Universo Valdano.

[Leeds United boss] Marcelo Bielsa told me he was his favourite player. He does everything.

…

Aston Villa strengthened their grip on a top-four position in the Premier League with a pulsating 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest.

Villa have their sights firmly set on Champions League qualification and a first home league win of 2024 saw them move five points clear of Tottenham in fifth.

Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz’s double saw them cruise into a 3-0 first-half lead only for Forest to scare them with goals either side of half-time through Moussa Niakhate and Morgan Gibbs-White.

But Leon Bailey struck on the hour to give Villa breathing space and they saw it out to give themselves a cushion over the chasing pack.

Forest were lucky still to be in the game at half-time after being overrun in the first 40 minutes but improved after the break and had eno…

England head coach Sarina Wiegman is satisfied Friday s 2-1 win over world champions the United States proves her Lionesses are at a very high level less than a year out from the Women s World Cup.

European champions England were playing at the scene of their momentous Euro 2022 triumph on July 31 for the first time, with the USA – the most successful team in women s football – visiting Wembley.

Although only a friendly, pre-game interest around the match was significant with it said to have been the fastest-selling England fixture – men or women – at the new Wembley.

The crowd was treated to an entertaining contest, with Lauren Hemp giving England an early lead as she pounced on a failed interception in the penalty area.

Sophia Smith levelled in …

A late Anthony Modeste header earned Bordeaux a 1-1 draw at home to Marseille on Sunday and ensured the 2009 French champions avoided defeat in their first game since the sale of Yoann Gourcuff.

Gourcuff joined Lyon in a 22 million-euro deal earlier this week and in his absence Bordeaux looked set to slip to their third defeat in four games after Lucho Gonzalez gave the visitors a 12th-minute lead.

Marseille had to play for over an hour with 10 men following the first-half dismissal of Edouard Cisse and they were within two minutes of their first league win at Bordeaux since 1977 when Modeste struck.

It was a good performance. We knew it was an important match for the fans, and for us, said Modeste, who signed from Nice earlier this month.

We persever…

Preston North End manager Darren Ferguson was charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday following Saturday s Championship loss away to north-west rivals Burnley.

Ferguson, the son of Manchester United boss Alex, has been charged with improper conduct aggravated by insulting and/or abusive language and behaviour for his conduct towards referee Kevin Friend in the tunnel following Preston s 4-3 loss at Turf Moor.

Under The FA s new fast-track procedures, Ferguson has until Friday to respond to the charge.

Ferguson s previous misconduct charge, from last season, may now be taken into account by FA officials.

He was given a two-match touchline ban, suspended until the end of the 2009-10 season, for improper conduct towards the refer…

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini expects captain Vincent Kompany to be fit for Sunday s League Cup final against Liverpool.

Kompany has battled persistent calf problems this season, but returned to action this month and turned in an authoritative display at centre-back in Wednesday s impressive 3-1 Champions League win at Dynamo Kiev.

But the Belgium international, along with right-back Bacary Sagna and forward Raheem Sterling, undertook a recovery training session away from their team-mates on Friday.

Sagna, Kompany and Sterling are recovering separately after the game but I hope the three of them will be fit, Pellegrini said.

Should they recover sufficiently, the trio will join a squad bolstered by the returns of winger Jesus Navas (hamstring) a…

Prediction: Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score

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Cristiano Ronaldo makes his return to Old Trafford on Tuesday evening as Juventus face off with Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.

The Portuguese superstar returns to England nine years after his departure for Real Madrid in a match which could go a long way in deciding how the group will play out.

Manchester United

Jose Mourinho s Red Devils head into the game with the Italian giants having dropped two points at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Despite going behind to Antonio Rudiger s first-half goal, a brace from Anthony Martial put them ahead only for Ross Barkley to score a last-minute equaliser. United now sit tenth in the Premier League table having o…

Ramon Calderon expects Barcelona to agree a reduced fee for the transfer of priceless captain Lionel Messi.

Messi has asked to leave Barca his only senior club after a difficult season at Camp Nou in which they failed to win a trophy amid tension between the board and the talismanic forward.

The 33-year-old has a clause in his contract that allows him to terminate his deal and leave the club for free at the end of each season.

It is claimed Messi intends to activate this clause, yet Barca reportedly believe the option has already expired for this year, despite the 2019-20 season having been prolonged by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rival clubs would otherwise have to pay €700million to release Messi from his contract, a fee that would appear beyond …

Freddie Ljungberg has not been given a timeframe for how long he should expect to serve as interim head coach of Arsenal.

Fans favourite Ljungberg steps into the breach left by Unai Emery s sacking for Sunday s Premier League trip to Norwich City, where the Gunners will look to arrest a run of seven winless games in all competitions.

The likes of Mikel Arteta and Massimiliano Allegri have already been linked with the vacancy, yet Ljungberg insists that bigger picture is not his concern.

There is no indication how long or how short, he told Sky Sports on Saturday, as Arsenal confirmed academy manager Per Mertesacker will assist the former Sweden midfielder in his role.

They just said concentrate on the next game, do as well as you can, and we ll see from…