Real Madrid prospect Takefusa Kubo has re-joined Real Mallorca on a season-long loan.

Kubo moved to Madrid on a five-year deal in 2019 before being loaned out in the last two seasons and his most recent temporary switch takes him back to Mallorca.

The 20-year-old played for Mallorca in 2019-20, appearing 35 times in LaLiga, though he could not help the club avoid relegation.

He ranked third in Mallorca s squad for chances created (35) and first for successful dribbles (64), netting four times.

Real Sociedad were reportedly interested but Kubo, who appeared for Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, settled for a return to newly-promoted Mallorca ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Kubo spent last season with Villarreal and Getafe.

He played just 291 minu…

On-loan Liverpool attacker Luis Alberto hopes his Premier League experience can help Malaga in La Liga this season.

The 21-year-old returns to Spain after an unsuccessful first season at Liverpool, for whom he made just 12 appearances in all competitions.

Luis Alberto said learning from the likes of Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho would hold him in good stead for his season-long loan at Malaga.

At Liverpool, things are at a much higher level, with players like Luis Suarez, Coutinho … it was a little difficult for me to enter the dynamic of the group, as English football is completely different, he told Malaga TV.

But I really have learned a great deal. What I’ve learned there, I hope to offer Malaga.

Luis Alberto has enjoyed limited game …

David Moyes was frustrated by some of the decisions made by referee Peter Bankes in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle.

Mohammed Kudus climbed off the bench to score his first Premier League goal a minute from full-time as the Hammers snatched a point.

But Moyes was fuming with Bankes for awarding a free-kick for Lucas Paqueta’s challenge on Sandro Tonali which led to Alexander Isak’s first goal.

The Hammers boss also felt Bruno Guimaraes could have been shown a second yellow card, having been booked moments earlier, when he tripped James Ward-Prowse.

It feels like a family already

Mo is feeling at home in east London

— West Ham United (@WestHam)

“It might have got away from us a wee bit but I wouldn’t blame them with the re…

A-League premiers Sydney FC rounded off their record-breaking regular season by setting a new all-time points record thanks to a 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets.

A guard of honour for Sydney from the Newcastle players preceded a goalless first half, in which Alex Wilkinson headed against the bar for the Sky Blues and Andrew Nabbout sidefooted a penalty wide for the Jets after Rhyan Grant fouled Andrew Hoole.

The breakthrough came for Sydney in the 56th minutes – Milos Ninkovic on hand to convert Filip Holosko s low cross.

Captain Alex Brosque volleyed home to make the win safe three minutes from time and ensure he would lift the premiers plate with a record haul of 66 points to Sydney s name, outstripping Brisbane s previous best mark of 65 – set in a 30-game s…

Lionel Messi will end his career with an international trophy, Argentina team-mate Ezequiel Lavezzi insisted after Saturday s Copa America loss.

Messi, who has only won titles with Argentina at under-age levels, lost the third major final of his international career in Santiago, with Chile triumphing 4-1 on penalties after the visitors had dominated the goalscoring opportunities through 120 goalless minutes.

Argentina s failure at the Estadio Nacional will only serve to strengthen arguments by critics that Messi will not be truly great until he earns silverware for his country, but Lavezzi reckons it is only a matter of time before he dismisses those doubters.

Messi was also on the losing side in the 2007 Copa America final and last year s World Cup decider in Br…

Erling Haaland is arguably the best number nine in the world , according to Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who says the acquisition of the phenomenal Norwegian is a testament to the Premier League champions work.

City announced they had reached a deal in principle to sign the striker from Borussia Dortmund earlier this month, with Haaland since completing his medical after ending his BVB career with a final-day goal against Hertha Berlin.

Haaland scored 29 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions in his final season with Dortmund, averaging one every 82.3 minutes as they finished second in the Bundesliga. 

Since joining the German club from Salzburg in January 2020, Haaland scored an incredible 86 goals in 89 games to earn his reported £51…

Competition: Capital One Cup
Market: Chelsea to win the cup
Odds:

Chelsea recently beat Liverpool 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final, to reach their first cup final in manager Jose Mourinho’s second stint at the club. The Londoners are now hoping to win their first trophy in two years, and will face either Tottenham or Sheffield United in the final.

Mourinho and Chelsea have a real affinity with domestic cup competitions, so few would bet against the Premier League leaders winning the final regardless of the opposition. The best team won in the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, and they will fancy their chances at Wembley in a month’s time.

Manchester City are the current holders of the competition,…

Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested England manager Roy Hodgson is being judged against a different set of criteria than he was during his time at the helm.

Eriksson led England between 2001 and 2006 as the country s first foreign manager, reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002 and 2006 as well as the last eight at Euro 2004.

His successor Steve McClaren failed to reach Euro 2008 while Fabio Capello presided over a dismal 2010 World Cup campaign that saw England limp through the group stage before exiting in the second round.

Following a run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 under Hodgson, England were dumped out in the group stages at the World Cup last year, an outcome Eriksson feels he would not have survived.

England had some years where…

Jurgen Klopp does not think UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin should resign over the shambolic staging of last season s Champions League final.

However, the Liverpool manager suggested the damning review of the Stade de France showpiece might be a resigning matter for someone senior involved in planning the event.

UEFA was found primarily responsible for the near-miss at the Paris final, where the parallels between Hillsborough 1989 and Paris 2022 were described in an independent review as palpable .

The review, commissioned by UEFA, was released on Monday after an investigation into events surrounding the May 28 fixture in the French capital. It concluded UEFA and French authorities were wrong to blame thousands of Liverpool supporters with fake tickets for the …

The Mail Online understand that Arsenal are set to open contract talks with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as they look to resolve his future.

Premier League champions Chelsea have been linked with a move for the England international and have already seen a £25m bid rejected by the Gunners though remain interested in securing his services.

The North London side are desperate to not lose the twenty-four year old on a free transfer next summer with his contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is closing in on two hundred appearances in all competitions for Arsene Wenger’s side having signed from Southampton in the summer of 2011.

The last of his twenty goals for the club so far came in a 5-1 win over West Ham United back in D…