The former Premier League striker, now 33, is said to have been subject to hateful speech, with his club calling for serious action to be taken

Demba Ba was allegedly subjected to racial abuse in Shanghai Shenhua’s 1-1 draw with Changchun Yatai on Saturday.

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Ba, formerly a Premier League player with Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham, was visibly furious after an on-pitch altercation with Yatai’s Zhang Li.

The 33-year-old grabbed at his opponent, while also motioning towards his skin colour to officials and other players.

Unconfirmed reports claim Li repeatedly shouted “you black” towards Ba.

Odion Ighalo, also an ex-Premier League player with Watford and now with Yatai, spent several minutes on the pitch trying to calm down the Senegalese striker.

Speaking after the match, Shenhua manager Wu Jingui addressed the incident.

“I learned that a Yatai player used insulting language towards [Ba],” he said.

“Around the world, it has been stressed that there should be no insulting speech toward black athletes.

“The Chinese Super League has players of many different skin colours.

“We should respect our opponents and there should be no discrimination.

“I cannot calm down now. I feel great regret about the lack of respect to a player.”

Ba’s club also took to twitter to condemn the actions of Li, stating that serious action must be taken.

“Demba Ba is offended by racist words from Changchun Yatai player Zhang Li.

“CFA should take serious disciplinary actions!! #saynotoracism.”

Elsewhere, Ba’s former side Bestikas also took to social media to express their solidarity with the player, tweeting: “#NoToRacism, You’re not alone.”

The CFA have yet to comment on the incident.

Maurizio Sarri’s side head to Australia as well as France and Ireland on their pre-season tour ahead of the new campaign

Chelsea returned to the Asia-Pacific region with a fixture against Perth Glory in Australia to get their preparations for the 2018-19 campaign under way.

The Blues then faced some of Europe’s biggest clubs as part of the International Champions Cup in a number of venues around the continent.

With the World Cup having ended just eight days before their first fixture against Perth, it left Chelsea with very little time to fully prepare – though it did give players the opportunity to get back into the fold in an energising manner.

Goal brings you your complete guide to the Blues’ 2018-19 pre-season and Premier League fixtures, with dates, venues and all you need to know about the preparations.

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Date	Match	Time (UK / US ET)	Venue
Jul 23	Perth Glory 0-1 Chelsea	12pm / 7am	Optus Stadium, Perth
Jul 28	Inter 1-1 (5-4 pens.) Chelsea	7:05pm / 2:05pm	Allianz Riviera Stadium, Nice
Aug 1	Arsenal 1-1 (6-5 pens.) Chelsea	8:05pm / 3:05pm	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Aug 5	Chelsea 0-2 Man City*	3pm / 10am	Wembley Stadium, London
Aug 7	Chelsea 0-0 (5-4 pens.) Lyon	8:05pm / 3:05pm	Stamford Bridge, London

*2018 Community Shield

Chelsea’s pre-season schedule involved some entertaining clashes, including an exciting match against Premier League rivals Arsenal, as well as European giants Inter, with Lyon still to come.

While the likes of fellow Premier League sides Manchester United and Liverpool playing in North America, Chelsea will instead be heading down under and to Europe.

The first game of their pre-season tour saw them play Perth Glory in a 60,000-seater stadium on July 23 at Optus Stadium in an Australia-exclusive friendly.

Goal’s Josh Thomas sat down with Chelsea youngsters Tammy Abraham and Kasey Palmer  to discuss their hopes of breaking into the first team this season ahead of the match.

The west London side headed to Europe to begin their International Champions Cup campaign against Inter at the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice, winning through penalties, before falling in to Arsenal in a shootout at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin shortly after.

They concluded their pre-season preparation with a shootout win in home friendly against Lyon, having lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley.

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Squad number	Position	Player
1	GK	Kepa Arrizabalaga
2	DF	Antonio Rudiger
3	DF	Marcos Alonso
4	MF	Cesc Fabregas
5	MF	Jorginho
6	MF	Danny Drinkwater
7	MF	N’Golo Kante
8	MF	Ross Barkley
10	MF	Eden Hazard
11	MF	Pedro
13	GK	Willy Caballero
14	MF	Ruben Loftus-Cheek
15	DF	Victor Moses
17	MF	Mateo Kovacic
18	FW	Olivier Giroud
21	DF	Davide Zappacosta
22	MF	Willian
23	FW	Michy Batshuayi
24	DF	Gary Cahill
27	DF	Andreas Christensen
28	DF	Cesar Azpilicueta
29	FW	Alvaro Morata
30	DF	David Luiz
32	MF	Lucas Paizon
33	DF	Emerson
40	FW	Izzy Brown
41	DF	Ola Aina
44	MF	Ethan Ampadu
51	GK	Marcin Bulka
–	MF	Tiemoue Bakayoko

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Chelsea recently announced the dismissal of manager Antonio Conte after two years in charge of the club with confirmation that ex-Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri is to assume duties as head coach. 

Sarri brought midfielder Jorginho along with him to Stamford Bridge for a fee of €57 million (£51m/$66m), which marked Chelsea’s first big signing in the transfer window.

The Blues dipped into the transfer market again, making a world-record goalkeeper signing in the form of £72 million (€80m/$92m) Kepa Arrizabalaga as Real Madrid landed Belgium international Thibaut Courtois off the back of a successful World Cup.

Transfer activity in

Position	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date
DM	Jorginho	Napoli	£51m	July 14
GK	Robert Green	Huddersfield	Free	July 26
MF	Mateo Kovacic	Real Madrid	Swap	Aug 8
GK	Kepa Arrizabalaga	Athletic Bilbao	£72m	Aug 8

Transfer activity out

Position	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date
DF	Baba Rahman	Schalke	Loan	July 1
MF	Ruben Sammut	Falkirk	Loan	July 1
DF	Trevoh Chalobah	Ipswich Town	Loan	July 1
GK	Nathan Baxter	Yeovil Town	Loan	July 1
DF	Reece James	Wigan Athletic	Loan	July 1
DF	Dujon Sterling	Coventry City	Loan	July 1
MF	Lewis Baker	Leeds United	Loan	July 1
DF	Jake Clarke-Salter	Vitesse	Loan	July 2
MF	Danilo Pantic	Partizan	Loan	July 5
GK	Eduardo	Vitesse	Loan	July 6
DF	Jonathan Panzo	Monaco	£2.7m	July 6
MF	Jordan Houghton	MK Dons	Loan	July 6
MF	Kenedy	Newcastle	Loan	July 12
FW	Joao Rodriguez	Tenerife	Loan	July 12
MF	Kyle Scott	Telstar	Loan	July 14
GK	Jamal Blackman	Leeds United	Loan	July 16
DF	Todd Kane	Hull City	Loan	July 17
MF	Mason Mount	Derby County	Loan	July 17
MF	Charlie Colkett	Shrewsbury Town	Loan	July 21
MF	Jeremie Boga	Sassuolo	£3.5m	July 21
FW	Nathan	Atletico Mineiro	Loan	July 24
MF	Mario Pasalic	Atalanta	Loan	July 25
MF	Jacob Maddox	Cheltenham Town	Loan	July 26
MF	Victorien Angban	Metz	Loan	July 27
GK	Thibaut Courtois	Real Madrid	£31m	August 8
DF	Kurt Zouma	Everton	Loan	August 10
FW	Michy Batshuayi	Valencia	Loan	August 10

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The Premier League has confirmed that the 2018-19 season will get under way on Saturday August 11.

Fixtures were released early in the morning of June 14 and Chelsea will kick off their campaign with an away game against Huddersfield Town before hosting rivals Arsenal in their first London derby of the season the following week. Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Cardiff City complete the Blues’ opening five games of the season.

Liverpool and Manchester United visit Stamford Bridge on September 29 and October 20 respectively, while champions Manchester City pay their first visit to the venue on December 8.

Chelsea’s full Premier League fixture list can be seen below.

Date	Time	Match
11/08/2018	15:00	Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
18/08/2018	17:30	Chelsea v Arsenal
26/08/2018	16:00	Newcastle United v Chelsea
01/09/2018	15:00	Chelsea v A.F.C. Bournemouth
15/09/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Cardiff City
23/09/2018	13:30	West Ham United v Chelsea
29/09/2018	12:30	Chelsea v Liverpool
06/10/2018	15:00	Southampton v Chelsea
20/10/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Manchester United
27/10/2018	15:00	Burnley v Chelsea
03/11/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Crystal Palace
10/11/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Everton
24/11/2018	15:00	Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea
01/12/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Fulham
04/12/2018	19:45	Wolverhampton v Chelsea
08/12/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Manchester City
15/12/2018	15:00	Brighton v Chelsea
22/12/2018	15:00	Chelsea v Leicester City
26/12/2018	15:00	Watford v Chelsea
29/12/2018	15:00	Crystal Palace v Chelsea
01/01/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Southampton
12/01/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Newcastle United
19/01/2019	15:00	Arsenal v Chelsea
29/01/2019	19:45	A.F.C. Bournemouth v Chelsea
02/02/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Huddersfield Town
09/02/2019	15:00	Manchester City v Chelsea
23/02/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Brighton
27/02/2019	19:45	Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
02/03/2019	15:00	Fulham v Chelsea
09/03/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Wolverhampton
16/03/2019	15:00	Everton v Chelsea
30/03/2019	15:00	Cardiff City v Chelsea
06/04/2019	15:00	Chelsea v West Ham United
13/04/2019	15:00	Liverpool v Chelsea
20/04/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Burnley
27/04/2019	15:00	Manchester United v Chelsea
04/05/2019	15:00	Chelsea v Watford
12/05/2019	15:00	Leicester City v Chelsea

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A namesake of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has also been on the move this summer, with Leeds United traded for life in the Italian top-flight

Juventus have been mocked by Sampdoria after their Serie A rivals landed themselves a Ronaldo of their own.

The Turin giants pulled off the signing of the summer when luring five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo away from Real Madrid in a €100 million (£88m/$117m) deal.

Understandably, that agreement was greeted by plenty of fanfare, with Juve getting the ball rolling on social media.

Their acquisition of Ronaldo was accompanied by a flurry of graphics and videos, with the day he officially became a Bianconeri player becoming #RonaldoDay.

As a brad in his own right, the Portuguese superstar has been an easy sell for Juve as they welcome a global superstar onto their books.

Ronaldo is a figure who transcends sport, with CR7 now a global phenomenon.

Juventus went big when securing his signature, with the club eager to make the world aware of their stunning coup.

Cristiano will, however, not be the only Ronaldo turning out in Serie A during the 2018-19 campaign.

Over in Genoa, Sampdoria have snapped up England U21 international Ronaldo Vieira.

The 20-year-old Guinea Bissau-born midfielder has moved to Italy on a five-year deal from Leeds United.

He has already been welcomed into the first-team ranks by Sampdoria, but the club could not resist having a dig at their domestic rivals when breaking official confirmation of the deal.

It could be that Ronaldo Vieira gets the chance to line up against Cristiano Ronaldo this season, with Sampdoria among those hoping to prevent Juventus from cementing their domestic dominance with an eighth successive Serie A title win.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The same unbeaten trio continues to set the pace atop the NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Two-time defending state champion East Coweta (32-0) continued its roll through the Class 7A playoffs with a doubleheader sweep of Mill Creek to return to the Georgia High School Association semifinals at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Ga., and remain the top team for an eighth week.

No. 2 Papillion-LaVista (34-0) reached the Nebraska Class A semifinals with identical 10-0 victories over Millard West and Gretna, while No. 3 Wesleyan (28-0) routed Trinity Christian 12-0 and 16-0 in the Georgia private school Class A playoffs, needing just seven innings total to complete the two contests, and continues on the path toward a third-straight state crown.

A quartet of one-loss schools moved up one spot apiece to comprise spots 4-7, before three teams with a combined record of 120-7 round out the top 10.

Surging Colorado schools Columbine (won seven) and Grand Junction Central (won 12) worked their way in the mix this week at 12th and 16th, respectively, while Nebraska’s Beatrice (31-4) made its own debut at No. 24.

Elsewhere, Silo (38-3) and Kiowa (40-4) both moved up in the rankings after collecting Oklahoma state championships last Saturday.

The bottom three teams from last week — Georgia’s Grayson, Nebraska’s Omaha Marian, and Missouri’s Blue Springs South — dropped out.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to compile the NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll. Teams are chosen based on performance, roster quality and strength of schedule. Five states — Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri — play a fall fastpitch schedule, while Iowa recently completed its summer season.

NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll – Oct. 17, 2019

Rank

Team

2019 Record

Previous

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1

East Coweta (Ga.)

32-0

1

2

Papillion-LaVista (Neb.)

34-0

2

3

Wesleyan (Ga.)

28-0

3

4

Collins-Maxwell (Iowa)

27-1

5

5

Westfield (Ga.)

18-1

6

6

Rock Canyon (Colo.)

22-1

7

7

Holy Family (Colo.)

21-1

8

8

Assumption (Iowa)

41-2

10

9

Broken Arrow (Okla.)

37-2

11

10

Sequoyah (Tahlequah, Okla.)

42-3

9

11

Elkhorn (Neb.)

29-3

12

12

Columbine (Colo.)

21-2

NR

13

Loveland (Colo.)

21-2

13

14

Silo (Okla.)

38-3

15

15

Golden (Colo.)

21-2

16

16

Grand Junction Central (Colo.)

21-2

NR

17

Binger-Oney (Okla.)

30-3

14

18

North Gwinnett (Ga.)

27-3

4

19

Kiowa (Okla.)

40-4

22

20

Prairie View (Colo.)

19-4

17

21

Chatfield (Colo.)

19-4

18

22

Banks County (Ga.)

28-3

21

23

Skutt Catholic (Neb.)

29-3

20

24

Beatrice (Neb.)

31-4

NR

25

Raymore-Peculiar (Mo.)

20-5

19

Dropped out: Grayson (Ga.), Omaha Marian (Neb.), and Blue Springs South (Mo.)

Chicharito and Andres Guardado are ready to kick off their club season. What other Mexico national team players are based on the Old Continent?

The return of the European season is upon us. While Mexican soccer fans have been able to enjoy nearly a month of domestic action, fans of El Tri will welcome the return of the the Premier League, the Bundesliga, La Liga and other leagues with open arms.

The national team’s roster for the 2018 World Cup included more Europe-based players than ever before and with players like Nestor Araujo making the jump across the Atlantic Ocean, there will continue to be plenty of reasons for Mexican fans to wake up early and tune in.

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El Tri has a pair of players based in the Premier League, both of whom play up front. The first, and most famous Mexican playing abroad, is Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Chicharito had a frustrating season at West Ham United last year but is back with the Hammers and full of optimism that he’ll have more playing time and opportunities under new coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Chicharito’s fellow central forward Raul Jimenez completed an offseason move from Benfica to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He’ll be eager to break into Wolves’ starting XI after several seasons as a supersub in Portugal.  

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Andres Guardado is looking for another big year with Real Betis. Last season, he was a key part of Quique Setien’s squad and helped get the Seville side back into the Europa League.

He’ll have company in Spain, though Miguel Layun no longer lives in the same city. After spending six months with Sevilla, the versatile defender signed a permanent deal to join Villarreal from Porto. At the same time Layun went to Spain, Hector Moreno made a move to Real Sociedad. He played more frequently than he had at Roma, but transfer rumors continue to swirl about a potential move to Turkey.

Spain also is the new home of Nestor Araujo, the center back who has joined former Monterrey manager Antonio Mohamed at Celta de Vigo. It’s the first move outside of Liga MX for the former Santos Laguna defender. Ex-Chivas defender Oswaldo Alanis also left Mexico for the first time but Getafe’s new sporting director has said he doesn’t figure in the club’s plans and may make another move before the transfer window closes.

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The Bundesliga is home to a pair of Mexican players, both of them teammates at Eintracht Frankfurt. Center back Carlos Salcedo finished last season strong, coming off an injury suffered with the national team and getting back into the starting lineup to help the club to a win over Bayern Munich in the cup final. Marco Fabian saw fewer minutes in the starting lineup last year, even after returning from injury. He’s hoping for more time this season, something that should be facilitated should Croatia World Cup breakout Ante Rebic move on from the team.

While he’s still on the books with Standard Liege, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is reportedly set for a move to Napoli which would make him the fifth Mexican to play in Serie A.

There are no Mexican players currently playing in France’s Ligue 1.

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After a stunning debut season with PSV, Hirving Lozano is back for another season in the Eredivisie barring a late transfer for the 22-year-old. He’s not the only Mexican who saw time in the Netherlands last season, though Uriel Antuna will hope for more than the 437 minutes he earned with Groningen. 

Hector Herrera and Jesus Corona remain at Porto and hope to have another deep run into the Champions League while defending their title. Joao Maleck moved to Porto on a long-term deal after spending last season on loan with Porto B from Santos Laguna. Antonio Briseno also remains in Portugal, where he helped Feirense avoid relegation by a point last season.

Omar Govea still is technically with Porto but didn’t go through the preseason in Porto B and is likely to make a move back to Belgium, where he spent last season on loan with Royal Excel Mouscron. 

Diego Reyes, currently a free agent, is expected to land in European football again as well with interest reported from a number of countries on the continent.

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The 32-year-old had been linked with a move to Italy but has rubbished suggestions he contacted the Nerazzurri to attempt to seal a transfer

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Luka Modric has labelled reports that he tried to push through a transfer to Inter as “the greatest nonsense in history”.

The Real Madrid midfielder has been linked with a move to Serie A throughout the summer, with the player’s agent even insisting that he was “thrilled” by the idea of playing for Inter.

There are hopes among fans that Luciano Spalletti’s side could challenge for the title this season following an impressive transfer window that has seen the likes of Radja Nainggolan, Sime Vrsaljko and Keita Balde all arrive.

With the Italian transfer window having now closed, however, Inter did miss out on signing Modric, with the 32-year-old remaining at Madrid.

Reports had suggested Modric had tried to force through a move to the Italian giants before the deadline passed but the Croatian is adamant that is not the case.

Responding to an Instagram post that referenced the rumour, Modric wrote: “It’s the greatest nonsense in history!!”

Inter kicked off the 2018-19 season with a 1-0 defeat against Sassuolo as Domenico Berardi scored a first-half penalty to secure all three points for the hosts.

Madrid, meanwhile, got their league campaign underway with a 2-0 win over Getafe, with Modric coming as a second-half substitute in the game.

Going into that game, Julen Lopetegui’s side had been under pressure to spend following the 4-2 loss to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, with Madrid subsequently having their lowest crowd in 10 years for their Bernabeu opener.

Sunday’s victory over Getafe is likely to ease the calls to bring new faces through the door,  however, with chief target Eden Hazard having already ruled out a move.

The Mexican federation needs to figure out its vision for El Tri before bringing someone on to lead the team

We’ve all made a panic move. Whether it’s paying too much for something while you’re online shopping because you’re worried the sale is going to end RIGHT NOW or ordering a sandwich that ultimately will leave you unsatisfied because you don’t want to inconvenience the lady working the deli counter, there’s something in our instinct that tells us we need to act this instant.

Federacion Mexicana de Futbol’s new president, Yon De Luisa, is wisely resisting this instinct. When former manager Juan Carlos Osorio declined to continue in his post, there seemed to be a natural line of succession, one plenty both inside and outside the federation were expecting would be followed.

The FMF tried to convince Tigres manager Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti to move south from Monterrey to be the national team coach. When he once again said no, everyone expected former Chivas manager Matias Almeyda would be the chosen one.

Except, he isn’t – or so far hasn’t been. Despite Almeyda apparently trying to ratchet up the pressure, frustrating the Costa Rican federation by publicly disclosing the chats they’ve had about the opening for the Central American national team, De Luisa has not budged. Don’t see that as cause for concern, though. 

“Look, I think today the first thing you have to analyze is the project and the profile. More than taking about names, you have to look at the profile and figure out what Mexico is looking for in the next few years,” Pachuca vice president Andres Fassi said this week. “Beyond that, I think (it’s silly) to automatically fall into the name or names of the options you might have. Suddenly, you’re talking about names where the characteristics and goals and projects are really different between one another.

“So, I think the first thing you have to do is outline the profile you want for Mexico and after that look for the name as close as possible to this profile Mexico wants for the next years.”

Fassi is right. The months immediately following the World Cup are the rare chill months in international football that allow a federation to step back and actually think about what it needs. Everyone agrees El Tri should get out of the slump in which they’re currently mired and get to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

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Beyond that, there are plenty of different ideas. Is it time to overhaul the youth system? Should the federation somehow incentivize players to move abroad or focus efforts at home? And what do you do about the players who are achieving success at the youth level but then stalling out? These are questions the senior men’s national team manager will be involved in answering.

The FMF is hardly an organization that has been known for its patience over the years, but it may be working from experience. Of course, De Luisa may also just be trying to figure out what’s going on as he makes the transition from television executive to sportocrat. Nevertheless, this strategy is one that served Mexico well the last time it hired a manager.

Osorio was an off-the-radar hire to fill the post after Miguel Herrera was fired after the 2015 Gold Cup. It was unconventional, and it took time to find Osorio and work out a deal, but eventually it came through. While Mexico didn’t end up getting to the quinto partido this time around, Osorio does leave a positve legacy and set up his successor for success.

Who that successor will be remains to be seen, but there’s no point in rushing that decision. Ferretti stepped in as interim manager back in 2015. Having him or another coach do the same for September’s friendly matches against Urugay and the United States, a pair of matches less relevant than the prep matches and CONCACAF Cup match Ferretti coached, wouldn’t be a bad thing for Mexico.

On the contrary, it would be a sign that they’re doing due dilligence and figuring out their long-term goals rather than just bringing on the first coach who would say yes to one of the most demanding jobs in the sport.

Stefan Effenberg is amazed the Bundesliga champions are considering selling the World Cup-winning defender and has encouraged him to head to Ligue 1

Jerome Boateng should join Paris Saint-Germain if Bayern Munich have truly decided they do not want to keep him, according to former club captain Stefan Effenberg.

Boateng has been heavily tipped to leave the Bundesliga champions in recent weeks, with Manchester United said to have been interested before the window for signings for Premier League clubs closed on Thursday.

PSG are another team to have been linked with the 29-year-old, although Bayern head coach Niko Kovac has made it clear he would like him to stay.

Effenberg is bemused as to why Bayern would want to part with Boateng but has encouraged him to consider joining PSG as they represent a good chance for him to win the Champions League.

“Personally, I can’t understand giving up such a great, experienced player. There can’t be any sporting reasons,” he told Bild am Sonntag.

“There was no commitment from the club for him. Despite his injury problems, for me, he’s one of the best in the league.

“If I were his advisor, I would advise him to move to Paris, where he’s welcome and would be able to win the Champions League.”

Effenberg does not think Boateng’s situation compares with that of Robert Lewandowski, however.

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The striker’s agent said in May that he wanted a new challenge and a move to Real Madrid was mooted, although it is looking increasingly likely Lewandowski will stay at the Allianz Arena.

Effenberg, though, thinks it is a risk to start the season with a player who openly wants to leave.

“If a player desperately wants to go, you have to let him,” said the former Germany star.

“Taking a dissatisfied player into the new season is risky.”

The Reds striker won a spot-kick in contentious circumstances late in the first-half against Crystal Palace, which James Milner duly scored

Jamie Carragher has defended the decision to award Liverpool striker Mo Salah a controversial penalty as the Reds faced Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The Egypt international won a spot-kick following a challenge from Mamadou Sakho late in the first half, which James Milner duly scored to give the visitors a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

Replays proved inconclusive as to whether Salah dived to convince referee Michael Oliver, but former Anfield favourite Carragher believed that the FWA Footballer of the Year did not attempt to con the officials.

“He could stay up, but why would he?” the 40-year-old said on Sky Sports. “Sakho is too tight.

“I don’t think Salah is looking for it. He’s thinking I’m going to shoot, but I don’t think he’s used the opponent to go down.”

Carragher’s fellow pundit Gary Neville mostly concurred, adding: “It’s a mistake by Sakho. It’s clumsy, he’s too late. But it is a theatrical fall, which we see a lot of players do.

“The ref’s view is perfect. There’s no doubt in Michael Oliver’s mind.”

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The advice of two former Roma players weighed heavy on the 32-year-old Estonian as he prepares to make his presence felt in Sardinia

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Former Liverpool defender Ragnar Klavan has revealed that the counsel of Mohamed Salah and Alisson was vital in his decision to swap Anfield for Cagliari. 

The Estonia international played only an intermittent role in Liverpool’s 2018-19 exploits, with the arrival of Virgil van Dijk pushing him further down the pecking order in January. 

Klavan made a total of 28 appearances over the course of the season as Jurgen Klopp’s men battled to a fourth-placed Premier League finish as well as a spot in the Champions League final. 

And he is now preparing for a new challenge in Serie A after moving to Sardinia-based Cagliari in a £2 million move, two years after signing from Augsburg. 

Liverpool’s squad contains plenty of players with experience in Italy’s top flight, and Klavan has confirmed that their recommendation pushed him towards Italy. 

“I had offers from several teams, including in other countries, but Cagliari really wanted me,” he explained to Sky Sport Italia.

“Darijo Srna advised me to come here, as I talked to him via Dejan Lovren. Other Liverpool teammates like Alisson, Salah and Lucas Leiva all spoke highly of Serie A.

“I’m certain we’ll do great things here and I am really fired up. The city is wonderful and so are the fans, I can’t wait to get started.”

Klavan, who has made more than 500 appearances during a career that has taken in spells in Germany, Netherlands, Norway and England as well as his native Estonia, is now tasked with cementing Cagliari’s place amongst Italy’s elite after the Sardinians narrowly avoided relegation from Serie A last season, finishing four points clear of 18th-placed Crotone to assure survival.