Vincent Kompany has retired from playing football at the age of 34 and has been named as Anderlecht s full-time head coach.

The Belgium great was named as player-coach in May 2019 after leaving Manchester City but relinquished his managerial duties on matchdays in August after taking just two points from the club s opening four matches – their worst start in 21 years.

Simon Davies was officially placed in charge of tactical decisions and substitutions but later reverted back to assistant, with Franky Vercauteren appointed for a third spell, while Kompany remained the nominal boss.

Reports suggest Kompany, who has agreed a four-year deal at the helm, endured a fraught relationship with Vercauteren and the club confirmed the latter has now left the club.

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Martin Odegaard scored twice as Arsenal beat Wolves 2-0 at Molineux to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners headed into the game looking to take advantage after Brentford s surprise victory against Manchester City earlier on Saturday but did not have it all their own way in the Midlands.

Gabriel Jesus saw an early effort chalked off for offside and struck the frame of the goal in the first half, while Wolves presented a threat on the counter.

Arsenal s patience paid off in the second half though, with captain Odegaard striking twice to seal all three points and leave the hosts rooted to the bottom of the table.

Øn the spot

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

Jesus smashed home after six minutes only to be denied by th…

Arsenal are readying a cut-price January move for West Ham United defender Winston Reid, .

The Hammers defender has long been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium, and with his contact talks with the East Londoners looking unlikely to have any positive outcome, a move next month looks highly likely.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is set to dip into the market once it reopens, and a defender will surely be his priority having started the season with just six senior professionals in that particular position.

Reid moved to West Ham in 2010, and has since racked up over a hundred league appearances – the latest of which coming in yesterday’s 2-1 defeat home to Arsenal.

That loss saw Sam Allardyce’s side slip down to sixth place, and they can now …

Edinson Cavani took his tally for Paris Saint-Germain to 100 goals in all competitions following his converted penalty in the 2-0 Ligue 1 win over Angers on Wednesday.

The Uruguay international joined PSG from Napoli in 2013 and mainly spent his first three seasons in the French capital out wide, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic occupying the number nine position.

This did not stop him from netting 81 goals over the course of the past three campaigns, though, and he has added 19 more in the opening stages of 2016-17 following the departure of Ibrahimovic to Manchester United.

Cavani needed 166 games to hit the 100-goal mark, with the 2013-14 campaign his most successful year as of yet with 31 goals.

100 has scored his 100th goal with in all comps. Matador.

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Fabio Cannavaro has been appointed head coach of Serie A strugglers Udinese on a contract until the end of the season.

The former Juventus and Real Madrid defender, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2006 after captaining Italy to World Cup glory, replaces Gabriele Cioffi.

Cioffi was sacked earlier on Monday, with Udinese above the relegation zone only on goal difference following Saturday’s 1-0 loss at relegation rivals Verona.

Benvenuto, Fabio Cannavaro!

— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896)

Cannavaro has six games to save the top-flight status of a club who have managed just four league wins all season.

The 50-year-old, who has previously managed in China and Saudi Arabia, plus Italian club Benevento, will be assisted by his youn…

Fulham have signed Croatian international Mladen Petric on a one-year deal following the expiration of his contract with Hamburg.

The 31-year-old made 98 appearances for the German side, scoring 38 league goals after being signed by then-Hamburg boss Martin Jol from Borussia Dortmund in 2008.

Petric has previously played against his new employers in the 2009/10 Europa League semi-finals, scoring a goal as his side lost out at Craven Cottage.

The Croatian has appeared for his country 44 times and most notably scored the winner in a 3-2 victory over England at Wembley in a Euro 2008 qualifier.

I like the Premier League and it has always been one of my wishes to come here, Petric said.

I played with Hamburg against the club two years ago in the Eu…

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri feels Juventus journey to the UEFA Champions League final can serve to dispel myths surrounding the style of football in Italy.

Allegri s men will contest this weekend s showpiece against Barcelona and in doing so will become the first Italian side to feature in the final since Inter won the competition in 2010.

The former Milan boss says his side need to play on the front foot, adding Juve can show Italian football is no longer heavily based on defending.

Asked about stopping the trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar who have netted a staggering 120 goals between them in all competitions this season  Allegri said:  We have thought about trying to stop them but they are extraordinary players.

We ll have to…

Andy Carroll has distanced himself from reports linking him to a big-money move to China, insisting he wants to stay with West Ham.

Striker Carroll was linked with a £20million move to the Chinese Super League that reportedly would have paid him wages of £300,000-a-week earlier this year.

But the 27-year-old insists he feels settled with West Ham having been with the club since his initial loan move from Liverpool in 2012, which became permanent the following year.

No, no I don t know where that came from, Carroll said to Sky Sports about the China links.

I m very happy, I m settled. Obviously in the past I ve done a lot of things and I have settled down here. 

I think it is great, I love the club. I think the staff, fans, players, and the a…

Neymar s scintillating display in Barcelona s epic Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain may prove to be the moment he stepped up to become the world s best player, says David Beckham.

The Brazil superstar turned in a masterclass as LaLiga giants Barca overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the last-16 tie, scoring twice in the closing stages of the dramatic 6-1 victory in the return tie.

Neymar was unable to inspire a similar turnaround as Barca crashed out at the quarter-final stage 3-0 on aggregate to Juventus this week.

However, Beckham writing the accompaniment to Neymar s profile after he was named in Time Magazine s list of the world s 100 most influential people believes Neymar is ready to challenge team-mate Lionel Messi and Real Madrid st…

Zinedine Zidane acknowledged he is not giving Isco the opportunities he needs to display his talents amid continued speculation over the Spain international s Real Madrid future.

The attacking midfielder has become a peripheral figure under head coach Zidane and last month his agent and father Francisco Alarcon suggested he is ready to try a new league amid reports Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton are monitoring his situation.

Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Isco has started just 29 times in LaLiga, while he has been named among the starting XI only three times this campaign.

In those games, Isco has failed to score or provide an assist, but he has created four chances for team-mates and has a pass success rate of 87.56 per cent.

Zidane was rep…