West Ham have made an opening bid in the region of £18million for Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes, according to reports. Gomes spent the season on loan at Everton and impressed in his debut campaign in the Premier League. According to the Times, Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini has made signing the playmaker one of his main priorities in the summer and the club are trying to act fast to secure a deal. Everton are keen to retain the Portuguese’s services but no preferential option was included in the deal agreed between Barcelona and the Merseyside outfit before the season started. West Ham are now in pole position to land the 25-year-old’s…

David Luiz has backed under-pressure Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, insisting the Italian is doing an ‘amazing job.’ There have been numerous reports claiming Sarri will leave the west London club this summer, with Blues legend Frank Lampard replacing him in the hot-seat Sarri has come in for heavy criticism this season with fans unhappy at his style of play, while a spectacular downturn in results saw them fall off the title pace. They were neck-and-neck with Manchester City and Liverpool for the first couple of months but went on to suffer a 4-0 defeat by Bournemouth and a 6-0 drubbing at Manchester City. Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted…

Charlton and Sunderland will both be out to reclaim their Championship status this weekend when they go head-to-head in the League One play-off final. The two sides were both Premier League stalwarts for several seasons in years gone by before their demise. Now they have the chance to get back in England’s second tier with victory at their Wembley showdown this weekend. talkSPORT will have full, comprehensive coverage of the big game as this season’s thrilling League One campaign comes to an end. CONFIRMED TEAMS CHARLTON: Phillips, Bauer, Taylor, Cullen, Sarr, Parker, Aribo, Dijksteel, Bielik, Purrington, Pratley. SUBS: Maxwell, Pearce, Forster-Caskey, Reeves, Solly, Williams, Lapslie. SUNDERLAND: McLaughlin, Oviedo, Ozturk, Cattermole, Maguire,…

N’Golo Kante is a major doubt for the Europa League final with Arsenal after the Chelsea midfielder suffered an injury setback during training on Saturday. The World Cup winner had almost fully recovered from the hamstring injury which saw him limp off in the penultimate game of the season against Watford. However, the France international is reported to have sustained a knock to his knee and looks set to be sidelined which is a massive blow to Chelsea who hope to win the competition for a second time, when they contest the all-English showdown in Baku on Wednesday. Chelsea are already without Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek who both suffered…

Danny Welbeck is interesting Serie A side Lazio, who could make a summer move for the Arsenal striker. Welbeck has been included in the Arsenal squad for their Europa League final clash with Chelsea in Baku, Azerbaijan, next Wednesday and could be on the bench. The 28-year-old reportedly played in Thursday’s behind-closed-doors game against Austrian side LASK Linz, as Unai Emery assessed his squad. The England striker has not featured for the Gunners since breaking his ankle in a 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon back in November and is available on a free transfer as his contract expires on June 30 and the club have confirmed it will not be…

Manchester United fans were treated to a taste of the good old days on Sunday afternoon when a number of club legends took part in an anniversary match from their memorable treble winning campaign in 1999. And exactly two decades on from their stunning 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, a few of their former players reunited for a match against the German side. It wasn’t so close this time with the United legends trouncing their opponents 5-0 thanks to goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Dwight Yorke, Nicky Butt, Louis Saha and David Beckham. Red Devils fans enjoyed seeing the old band get back together but…

Patrick Bauer’s strike in the final seconds of stoppage time secured Charlton’s promotion to the Championship with a dramatic 2-1 victory in the League One play-off final over Sunderland at Wembley. The defender latched onto a loose ball after his initial header was blocked to send the Addicks into ecstasy and up to English football’s second tier for the first time in three years. Charlton fully deserved their victory but pulled it off in almost the hardest possible way after leaking a calamitous own goal from Naby Sarr in the fifth minute. Ben Purrington levelled before half-time thanks to Lyle Taylor’s smart assist, and just when the clash looked headed…

Sir Alex Ferguson favoured the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as Manchester United manager over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, according to reports. According to the Mail on Sunday, Ferguson was saddened not be approached by the club’s hierarchy over the appointment of the new Old Trafford boss. Following Jose Mourinho’s dismissal in December, Solskjaer was given the job until the end of the season to get the club back on track. The Norwegian hit the ground running in charge, winning his first eight games, and also led his side to a stunning Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition. However, United succumbed to another barren…

Thomas Partey will be able to leave Atletico Madrid if his £43.5m release clause is met, according to the player’s agent. The midfielder has been linked with Arsenal and Manchester United in recent weeks amid reports he could be on his way to the Premier League. Partey recently played down speculation on his future but his agent Daniel Jimenez has now spoken about the future of the 25-year-old. “I can say that right now, I haven’t talked to anyone, even if Inter are a top club,” he told Passione. “There’s a €50m (£43.5m) release clause in his contract, a figure that’s cheap for a player like Thomas. “We’ll wait for…

Coventry say an extraordinary general meeting to discuss their future has been cancelled after reaching a groundshare agreement. The EFL had given Coventry until May 29 to reveal where they will be playing their home games next season, with the club still hoping to agree a deal with Gallagher Premiership side Wasps to extend their stay at the Ricoh Arena. In a statement, Coventry said: “This groundshare is in place to make sure the club has somewhere to play in the scenario of a deal to play at the Ricoh Arena not being agreed. “We can confirm that talks with the aim to achieve a deal to play at the…