The Bundesliga side’s sterling record with young talents has swayed the teenager and his family, who will soon be moving to Germany

Borussia Dortmund have won the race to sign Nantes’ teenage wonderkid Kamal Bafounta,  Goal  understands. 

Bafounta,16, is considered one of the finest young talents to come out of France in recent years. 

An imposing 1.93m, he has already won comparisons to a young Paul Pogba for his accomplished midfield play in Lyon and Nantes’ youth divisions. 

And while the likes of Everton, Sevilla, Inter and Manchester United had all been linked to the prospect, it is Dortmund that have finally won the race. 

The Bundesliga side impressed Bafounta with their impeccable track record with young players, having also promised not to rush him into first-team action. 

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Dortmund also helped hone countryman Ousmane Demble during his single season in Germany, before selling the forward to Barcelona at the start of the 2017-18 season. 

Speaking to Goal  back in April, Bafounta’s former coach Johan Renard praised his maturity at such a young age . 

“The first time I had him at Under-15 level Kamal was 13. We were playing against Bourg-Peronnas and 30 minutes in he picked up the ball in our half, dribbled past four or five players and scored,” Renard recalled. 

“That move has stayed in my mind because it shows why Kamal has progressed so much. He was much bigger than the rest, his physical and technical talent gave him a huge advantage.

“What is certain is that he is less extravagant than Pogba. It’s not quite the same style of play either but I’m sure he has the ability to do as well as him. 

“He is a very intelligent boy, polite, educated and very calm, I can’t even remember him getting angry.”

Bafounta will sign a three-year deal with BVB. 

The 20-year-old striker has reached the end of his contract with the French giants and is currently weighing up his options at a career crossroads

Paris Saint-Germain striker Samuel Essende is attracting interest from Anderlecht and Brighton after reaching the end of his contract.

The 20-year-old striker is a product of a famed academy system at the Ligue 1 giants, but is yet to commit to professional terms.

PSG have been pushing to get him tied down, with one offer on the table.

Essende has, however, opted against putting pen to paper in the French capital and saw his youth deal expire on June 30.

Now free to dictate his own future, several options are being considered by the promising forward.

Goal understands that several offers have been put forward by Anderlecht, with talks having been held regarding a possible move to Belgium.

They are considered to be the side in pole position to secure a much sought-after signature, but no agreement has been reached as yet.

That is leaving the door open for others to make a move, with interest in Essende having built across Europe.

Premier League side Brighton are among the interested parties, with the Seagulls boasting the financial muscle required to squeeze out their rivals.

Norwich City are also keen on taking the youngster to England and offering him Championship football at this stage of his development.

If he does not fancy life in the second tier, then top level competition could also be found in Italy.

Serie A outfit Genoa are keeping a close eye on the situation, with information having been requested requiring Essende’s possible availability.

PSG, though, are refusing to give up the fight just yet and are planning to hold further talks before a final decision is made.

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s expected departure from the Santiago Bernabeu to Juventus has seen rumours of interest in a Liverpool forward resurface

Sadio Mane has acknowledged Real Madrid as a “great team” while maintaining he has had no contact with the club about a prospective transfer from Liverpool.

Madrid could well be in the market for attacking reinforcements with Cristiano Ronaldo heavily linked with a sensational switch to Juventus, who responded to the rumours on Friday by releasing a statement revealing they are “evaluating several opportunities”.

Senegal international Mane and Chelsea star Eden Hazard have been touted as potential targets for the La Liga giants should Ronaldo depart for Turin.

Mane, however, claims he has held no discussions with the club he scored against in last season’s Champions League final.

“These are just rumours. I am not aware of anything and haven’t been contacted,” he told reporters on a visit to his hometown of Bambali.

“I remain a Liverpool player and I will join my team-mates in the United States for the pre-season tour.

“Real are a great team, but I am focused on my team, Liverpool.”

Mane scored once for Senegal at the World Cup in Russia as his nation suffered a group stage exit.

He has spent the past two seasons with Liverpool, netting 33 goals in all competitions.

The veteran manager’s arrival at the club has delighted the defender, who is determined to get off to a fast start under his new boss.

Napoli defender Raul Albiol has expressed excitement at working with Carlo Ancelotti, praising the head coach’s “winning mentality”.

The three-time Champions League winner has arrived in Naples ahead of the new season, with the popular Maurizio Sarri set to be confirmed as the new manager of one of Ancelotti’s former clubs, Chelsea.

Ancelotti was appointed Sarri’s successor after a disappointing second season as the manager of Bayern Munich, which saw him sacked early in the campaign after a slow start in both the Champions League and Bundesliga.

Running afoul with many of the club’s top players, Ancelotti leading Bayern to their fifth straight Bundesliga title in the previous season proved not enough to save his job.

However, after the first four days of pre-season training, Albiol has been impressed by the new man in charge.

He told Radio Kiss Kiss: “Ancelotti is a winning coach and he is transferring his mentality and his ideas.

“We are working with one of the greatest tacticians in the world and this is a great opportunity for us, we have to follow his instructions and assimilate his way of playing football.

“It’s normal that having such an important manager gives us motivation and a great desire to do well right from the start.

“We are assimilating his ideas even if it is still early, and the group trains with enthusiasm because we want to be ready to face a great season.”

Ancelotti will look to build upon Sarri’s final season in charge of the club, which saw them fall four points short of snapping Juventus’ streak of Serie A titles. 

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Thomas Meunier became the 10th Red Devil to hit the back of the net on Saturday as his nation recorded their best-ever World Cup performance

The World Cup third place play-off may be little more than a sideshow ahead of the main event, but it allowed Belgium to equal a tournament record as they downed England once more. 

Having prevailed over the Three Lions in the final game of Group G, Belgium again proved too strong for their European rivals on Saturday. 

Goals in each half from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard led Roberto Martinez’s side to a 2-0 victory, which in turn guaranteed their best-ever finish at a World Cup. 

The class of 2018 surpassed Belgium’s efforts in 1986, where they finished fourth after losing out to France in the play-off. 

And Meunier’s goal also made another little slice of history when he turned in past Jordan Pickford in the opening minutes. 

The Paris Saint-Germain defender became the 10th Belgium player to net in Russia, a mark only Italy in 2006 and France in 1982 have previously matched. 

Dries Mertens was the first man to get Belgium off the mark with a second-half strike against Panama in Group G’s opener, before Romelu Lukaku swooped with a late double against the CONCACAF team. 

Hazard then opened his account from the penalty spot and added another in a 5-2 rout of Tunisia, with Lukaku scoring another two and Michy Batshuayi adding another. 

Then, in a game that saw both sides make huge rotations, Adnan Januzaj scored the only goal of a 1-0 win over England to send the Red Devils through to the last 16 with a 100 per cent record. 

There were three more scorers in a thrilling comeback to beat Japan, as Jan Vertonghen, Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli inspired their 3-2 victory. 

And Kevin De Bruyne became the ninth man on the scoresheet with Belgium’s second against Brazil; a Fernandinho own goal having put the Europeans ahead against Tite’s charges. 

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After helping Belgium to third place at the World Cup as Roberto Martinez’s assistant, the Frenchman wants to follow the path to becoming a head coach

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Thierry Henry has quit his role as a television pundit to focus on a future in coaching.

Henry was an assistant to Roberto Martinez as the ex-Everton boss guided Belgium to a third-place finish at the World Cup, having juggled the role with his on-screen duties for the past two years.

But the former Arsenal and France striker has elected to walk away from the small screen after completing his UEFA Pro Licence through the Football Association of Wales last year.

“Over the last four years I have had some extremely rewarding coaching experiences in football,” he tweeted. 

“These experiences have only made me more determined to fulfil my long-term ambition to become a football manager.

“It is with sadness, therefore, that I have decided that I must leave Sky Sports to enable me to spend more time on the pitch and concentrate on my journey to achieving that goal.

“I would like to thank everyone at Sky for making me feel so welcome and at ease throughout my time with them and I wish them all the best for the future. Great memories.”

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is setting out on his first senior managerial role and he carries a burden of expectation in Glasgow

Steven Gerrard will lead Rangers into competitive action for the first time when they take on Macedonian outfit Shkupi in the first leg of their Europa League first qualifying round tie on Thursday.

The former Liverpool midfielder was appointed as manager of the Ibrox club in May and he will be expected to oversee a change in fortunes for a side that has struggled to reach former heights.

Indeed, Gerrard will be desperate to avoid a repeat of last season’s Europa League disaster, which saw the Scottish outfit fall at the first hurdle against Luxembourg side Progres Niederkorn.

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A trip to either Moldova or Croatia is the prize on offer for the winners of the tie, with one of Petrocub Hincesti or Osijek waiting in the second qualifying round. 

In the United States (US) the game will be not be shown live on television, but it will be available to stream live online via Rangers’ in-house TV channel, Rangers TV.

In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on BT Sport 1 or streamed live online using the BT Sport app.

Gerrard has added a number of new faces to the Rangers squad since taking the reins, with the likes of Connor Goldson joining from Brighton, Scott Arfield signing from Burnley and Jon Flanagan arriving from Liverpool.

However, Portugal defender Bruno Alves has departed the club, while Lee Wallace and Jordan Rossiter will miss the game through injury. New signings Lassana Coulibaly and Umar Sadiq are not expected to play a part in the first leg.

Potential Rangers XI: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Flanagan; Jack, Windass, Candeias, Arfield, Murphy, Morelos.

Shkupi have boosted their squad with the signings of Brazilian winger Sergio Junior and Macedonia international Muarem Muarem, as well as Amir Bilal and Artan Veliu.

Potential Shkupi XI: Zendeli, Bajrami, Krivanjeva, Tipuric, Broja, Ljamcevski, Adem, Shabani, Sergio Junior, Ilijoski, Stojkovski.

Rangers are heavy favourites to win the game at Ibrox, with dabblebet offering odds of 1/50 on the Scottish side to come out on top. Shkupi’s chances of winning are rated at 28/1 and a draw is available at 12/1.

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An air of intrigue will envelop Ibrox Stadium on Thursday as Rangers embark on a new journey with one of the most respected footballers to play the game in the modern era at the helm.

However, that sense of hope will also be tinged with caution considering what happened to the Glasgow side in their previous Europa League campaign.

“This’ll be one of the easiest team talks I’ll ever have to do,” Gerrard told reporters ahead of the match. 

“All I have to do is show them the faces from 12 months ago in the away leg and that’s the team talk right there. If you’re not ready to go and put that right, we have a serious problem here.”

The former Liverpool captain has been busy making his mark at Ibrox by bringing in a host of new additions, a number of whom have been recruited directly from Premier League clubs.

A 6-0 friendly win over Bury in pre-season set the tone nicely for the new era and Gerrard will be keen for his charges to replicate that level of performance, particularly at home, as they look to set off on the right foot.

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The England international saw injury struggles cost him a place at Russia 2018, but he is raring to go ahead of the new Premier League season

Adam Lallana is hoping to be like a new signing for Liverpool in 2018-19 after shaking off the injury issues which dashed his World Cup dream with England.

The 30-year-old playmaker saw niggling fitness problems restrict him to just 16 appearances across all competitions last season.

He was able to sign off with an outing in the Champions League final, but a lack of football cost him a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad heading to Russia.

Lallana was delighted to see the Three Lions roar their way to their best showing on the global stage since 1990, but admits it was difficult to watch on from afar knowing that he should have been involved.

He said ahead of an International Champions Cup clash with Manchester City on Thursday:  “Of course it was frustrating because I wanted to be there.

“It is what it is. Sometimes when you are a professional footballer, you have to deal with tough decisions. So I was just supporting them like any other fan.

“My best mate Jordan [Henderson] was there and he was one of the best players. It was great to see him do so well. The team got to a semi-final and it was a remarkable achievement.”

Lallana added on hearing Southgate brand him a key player in his plans: “I still feel that is the case. If I had been fit and had a half decent season in terms of availability, there is no shadow of a doubt that I would have been there.

“But I had a disappointing season in terms of my fitness and, you know, it just wasn’t meant to be.

“But that is in the past and I’m back in pre-season, three weeks down the line. The next goal is West Ham and I want to be in the best possible shape for it. I want to play good football again.”

With full fitness restored, Lallana is understandably desperate to make the Premier League season opener on August 12.

He will face added competition for places by then, with the likes of Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri having been drafted in by Jurgen Klopp over the summer.

The former Southampton star is, however, confident that he can make a telling contribution.

He said: “Last season was so stop-start that it was more or less written off. It probably is like having a new signing, to be fair.”

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Having Lallana firing on all cylinders will offer a major boost to Liverpool, but they are set to be without another stricken star for the foreseeable future.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is taking in a long road to recovery from knee ligament damage, with it possible that he could miss the entire 2018-19 season.

Lallana said of the club and international colleague: “He’s such a good kid.

“We obviously knew the full extent of the injury, more or less, when it happened. We are friends, we are team-mates and he wanted to keep it all in-house. He wanted us to focus on the Champions League final. That shows he is not just focused on himself and what is best for him.

“He wants what is best for the team and there are so many players with that mind-set in the squad. That is why we have been so successful. It is up to myself and the other lads to have a good season for him.

“It was the likes of him who had outstanding form in the Champions League and, as a result, I got to feature in the final. We are a team. When someone else is injured, they are the ones who motivate you. It’s not just for yourself – it’s for them.”

Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium plays host to two European giants on Saturday in the latest International Champions Cup clash

AC Milan and Barcelona will go head to head on Wednesday as the International Champions Cup approaches its final fixtures.

It has been a busy summer off the pitch for Milan, complete with a change of ownership and a series of high-profile arrivals. 

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And while the likes of Gonzalo Higuain will not take part in the weekend’s clash, the Argentine will see how his new team fares against a side of Barcelona’s calibre. 

In the United States (US) the game will be shown live on television on ESPN Deportes and will be available to stream live online via WatchESPN.

In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on Premier Sports and streamed on the Premier Player app.

Milan start life without defender Leonardo Bonucci, who has now completed a move back to Juventus.

Former Juve pair Higuain and Mattia Caldara, meanwhile, will not play a part in Santa Clara, leaving the likes of Mateo Musacchio at the back and striker Suso with a point to prove as they look to cement a place in the Rossoneri’s plans. 

Potential Milan XI:  Donnarumma; Abate, Musacchio, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Locatelli, Bonaventura, Calhanoglu, Mauri; Borini, Suso. 

Ernesto Valverde will need to experiment with his side with the majority of his players still on post-World Cup holiday, though new arrivals Arthur and Malcom should pick up further minutes after impressing so far with the Catalans.

Potential Barcelona XI:  Cillessen, Semedo, Santos, Lenglet, Cucurella, Vidal, Gomes, Melo, Suarez, Malcom, Alcacer.

Barcelona are considered to be favourites to win the game, with  dabblebet  offering odds of 7/5 on the Blaugrana coming out on top. Milan are priced at 17/10 and a draw is available at 13/5.

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It has certainly been an action-packed summer for everyone connected with AC Milan. 

The Rossoneri have experienced a change in ownership already in pre-season, with hedge fund Elliott Management taking over the reins. That switch has coincided with increased activity in the transfer market, including a sensational triple deal struck with Juventus. 

Bonucci’s return to Turin has been compensated by the arrivals of Higuain and Caldara, while Pepe Reina has also arrived at San Siro in recent weeks. Pressure will be intense for coach Gennaro Gattuso, and he will need a strong start to the Serie A season to keep speculation over his job climbing to unbearable proportions. 

Barcelona, meanwhile, will go into the 2018-19 Liga season with great hopes. Arthur, Malcom and Clement Lenglet have all joined Ernesto Valverde’s side, while there is hope that Arturo Vidal will also sign before the end of the transfer window. 

Those buys, plus the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo and possibly Luka Modric at Real Madrid, mean the Catalans start as overwhelming favourites to retain their Liga title. The club’s starting XI is in little doubt, but with a host of top players still on leave Saturday will be another chance for the club’s frindge men to make an impact. 

The French side are on thin ice after European football’s governing body took issue with the behaviour of their supporters

Marseille will be banned from the next European competition they qualify for should they fall foul of any UEFA regulations in the next two seasons.

UEFA has taken a dim view of the behaviour of Marseille fans during the 2017-18 Europa League campaign, citing four matches where rules were broken.

The games in question all came in the knockout stages of the competition, starting with their last-eight meeting at home to RB Leipzig, before both legs of their semi-final with Red Bull Salzburg and the final against Atletico Madrid in Lyon.

Marseille were charged with crowd disturbances, acts of damage, setting off of fireworks, throwing of objects and a delayed kick-off by Europe’s governing body.

Having found the French side guilty, UEFA has revealed a lengthy list of sanctions, one of which would see Marseille excluded from playing in Europe for a season.

That ban has been deferred for a probationary period of two years, but the other punishments come into force immediately.

Marseille’s next home European match at the Stade Velodrome will be played behind closed doors and the subsequent clash will see areas of the stadium closed.

A fine of €100,000 has also been levied against the club, and they must pay for the damages caused by Marseille fans to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais during their 3-0 final defeat to Atleti.

Marseille finished last season fourth in Ligue 1, earning them an automatic spot in the 2018-19 Europa League group stages.

They will have to wait until August 31 to find out who they will face in the competition.