Liverpool hand van den Berg new deal and loan him to Schalke

Manchester United are out of Europe after they lost to Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group game on Tuesday.

It is the sixth time they have failed to qualify for the knockout stages and just the second they have finished bottom of the group, the other being in 2005-06.

Here, the PA news agency compares United’s struggles this season to one 18 years ago.

Results

United exit the .

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

United had to qualify for the group stage in 2005-06 after finishing third in the Premier League the previous season, but did so with ease. They were drawn in, what looked to be on paper, a favourable group alongside Villarreal, Lille and Benfica.

An opening draw against the Spanish side was followed by victory ove…

N Golo Kante will miss France s World Cup campaign after undergoing an operation on his hamstring, Chelsea have confirmed.

Kante suffered the injury in his Chelsea s 2-2 home draw with Tottenham in August and has not featured for club or country since.

Chelsea have now established Kante will play no part in France s defence of their World Cup crown, which starts with their opening group game against Australia on November 22.

In a statement on the club website, Chelsea said: N Golo Kante has undergone an operation on his hamstring injury.

The midfielder visited a specialist with the club’s medical department to explore the options for his rehabilitation approach and it was mutually agreed for N Golo to have surgery to repair the damage.

Followi…

Kyle Lafferty has returned to Ibrox after Rangers agreed a fee to sign him from Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts.

The Northern Ireland international has inked a two-year deal and could go straight into Steven Gerrard s squad for Thursday s clash with Russian side Ufa.

Lafferty, 30, began his career at Burnley before joining Rangers for the first time in 2008.

He won three league titles in four seasons prior to spells with Sion, Palermo and Norwich City.

are today delighted to announce the signing of Kyle Lafferty () on a two-year deal from .

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC)

Hearts brought the striker back to Scotland at the start of last season and he found form with 19 competitive goals in 41 appearances.

Range…

What the papers say

Suitors of Brentford’s in-demand striker Ivan Toney have reportedly been warned they will need to pay at least £100,000,000 for his services. The Sun, citing Talksport, says the Bees would want a nine-figure fee for the 27-year-old. Arsenal and Chelsea are both believed to be considering a move for Toney, who returns from a betting ban next month.

The Manchester Evening News reports Preston are interested in a loan move for Manchester United midfielder Dan Gore. Despite the 19-year-old only making one appearance for the first team, North End bosses are interested in bringing him in to help the club chase a play-off place.

Tottenham are monitoring Genoa centre-back Radu Dragusin, according to The Telegraph. The 21-year-old is expected to cost £26m…

Alejandro Balde rose notably through the famous La Masia at Barcelona and broke into the senior squad in 2022. He continues to catch the eye with fine performances off the left defensive flank, showing impressive pace and creativity, and he was rewarded with a new five-year contract in September, with his release clause set at €1 billion.

But recent reports from Spain have suggested that the Catalans could be looking to sell some of their players to balance their books, and that they feel Balde could fetch them a sizable fee with offers expected to come from the Premier League. Chelsea and Manchester United are apparently monitoring the situation, both ready to meet the €50 million price Barcelona would be looking for.

However, when asked if there was anything in th…

Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal were on the ropes against CSKA Moscow before a late salvo secured a 2-2 draw in Thursday s second leg and a 6-3 aggregate win in the Europa League quarter-final.

The Gunners took a 4-1 first-leg lead to Russia but found themselves 2-0 down and on the back foot early in the second half, with Fedor Chalov and Kirill Nababkin taking CSKA to within one goal of going through.

Wenger had switched to a five-man defence at the break but his side were consistently under pressure, until Danny Welbeck struck a fine goal 15 minutes from time to kill the home side s momentum.

Aaron Ramsey levelled the second-leg scoreline in injury time to spare the Gunners blushes further, but Wenger accepted the tie could have run away from his side.