Pep Guardiola has explained why Manchester City signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa despite already possessing a wealth of attacking talent.

The England international became the Premier League s most expensive player in August, arriving in Manchester for a fee of £100million, as City smashed their transfer record despite boasting the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden in the wide and attacking midfield roles.

Guardiola, who led City to their third Premier League title in four years last season, insisted that signing top-quality players is necessary to keep things fresh for a successful side.

[We signed Grealish because of his] quality in the final third, Guardiola said ahead of City s Champions League clash with Club Brugg…

Brazil legend Pele said he is getting closer to the goal as he continues his recovery following surgery to remove a tumour in September.

The three-time World Cup winner required an operation to remove a colon tumour and has since continued undergoing chemotherapy as part of the rehabilitation process.

Pele, who turns 81 on October 23, has been in poor health but provided another update on Wednesday after his discharge from the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo last month.

I suggest you start to catch your breath to celebrate with me, because with each passing day I get closer to the goal, the former Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil star wrote on Twitter.

Sugiro que comece a pegar fôlego para comemorar comigo, porque a cada dia que passa eu estou…

Emmanuel Adebayor has delivered a stinging rebuke to Manchester City fans, declaring he left the Eastlands because he did not feel loved.

City parted with 25 million pounds to secure the services of Adebayor from English Premier League rivals Arsenal in July 2009, but less than two years later the Togolese striker was shipped off to Real Madrid on loan.

The appointment of manager Roberto Mancini as Mark Hughes successor in December 2009 foreshadowed the end of Adebayor s time at City, despite scoring 14 goals in 34 games in his first season.

Mancini s preference for a defensive formation relying on one striker, as well as the arrival of star signings Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, left Adebayor out in the cold and the 27-year-old was hastened out of the door …

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe claims he considered quitting the club during the January transfer window due to a lack of matches.

The 28-year-old, who has been at Spurs for six years over two spells, has started just 11 matches this season and made only three substitute appearances.

He scored his first Premier League goal of the campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, but it remains to be seen if will feature against AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.

It s been hard. You start to think: What am I doing here? I m used to playing in big games, Defoe told the Daily Mail.

I ve played in big games for my clubs and for my country.

It ll be a tough game (against Milan). I hope I m playing and if I can score and we win th…

Erik Lamela and Nicolas Gaitan have been called up by injury-hit Argentina for Wednesday s friendly with Germany.

New coach Gerardo Martino has drafted the duo into the squad as he prepares to lead Argentina into a rematch of the World Cup final at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf.

Martino has been hit by the loss of a number of key players, including Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who has pulled out the squad as a precaution due to a hamstring strain.

Maxi Rodriguez is also out with a similar problem, while Rodrigo Palacio (ankle) and Ezequiel Garay (thigh) are also unavailable.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi is also a doubt with a back complaint, leaving Martino with little choice but to bring in reinforcements.

Neither Benfica at…

Islam Slimani has pledged that Algeria will give their all at the FIFA World Cup, insisting the team do not want any regrets .

After enjoying his debut season in European football with Sporting Lisbon, striker Slimani is confident that he and his fellow countrymen have what it takes to make their mark in Brazil.

Algeria have been placed in a tough Group H at the World Cup along with Russia, Belgium and South Korea and Slimani knows they must perform to the best of their ability to reach the last 16 of the tournament for the first time in the nation s history.

We do not want any regrets. We will play our game. We know that the group is difficult, he said.

Belgium has great players like Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany. They are the favourites in our group. South K…

While the stars of the Americas and Europe have the Copa America and Euro 2016 to impress potential suitors ahead of a new European season, Australia s burgeoning talents had a smaller window in which to do so.

A series of friendlies, starting at the Stadium of Light against England followed by a double-header against Greece on home soil was all Celtic s Tom Rogic, Melbourne City s Aaron Mooy and Ingolstadt s Mathew Leckie got as they looked to impress on the international stage.

Rogic, in particular, impressed, but all three can look back on some decent performances as they look to push their careers to the next level.

Rogic and Mooy both put in an impressive shift against England, while Leckie s last-minute winner in the first friendly against Greece on …

There is no chance of Neymar leaving Barcelona for arch-rivals Real Madrid, the player s father says.

Neymar joined Barca from Santos in 2013 and has just two seasons remaining on his initial five-year contract.

No agreement on an extension has been reached between the Brazilian and the Catalan club, leading to suggestions he could be set for a transfer to the likes of Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.

Neymar Snr, however, has categorically denied a potential move to Barca s Clasico rivals could be on the cards.

The possibility of him ending up there [Madrid] is zero, he told Fox Sports Brasil.

The Brazil captain is used to such speculation but remains happy at the Catalan giants, according to his father.

He s still unde…

RB Leipzig s hopes of signing Hakan Calhanoglu appear over after the club s coach and sporting director Ralf Rangnick declared the deal financially impossible .

Reports in Italy suggested Leipzig agreeing a €20million deal to bring Calhanoglu back to the Bundesliga from AC Milan.

However, Rangnick effectively ended the speculation, telling reporters: The deal is financially impossible.

Obviously we know him, given he played in the Bundesliga, but now he plays for Milan.

We already knew his price, so it s absolutely not possible for us to make a move from a financial standpoint.

Calhanoglu previously enjoyed spells in Germany with Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen before moving to San Siro in 2017.

The Turkey international has found the net…

Lionel Messi being rested was not the reason why Barcelona slipped to a 2-0 loss away to Sevilla in Wednesday s Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, says Luis Suarez.

Messi, who came off the bench to help Barca beat Leganes in LaLiga at the weekend, was left out of the squad by Ernesto Valverde for the trip to Seville, the Barca boss having an eye on next month s Champions League tie against Lyon.

Second-half goals from Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder subsequently gave Sevilla victory, even though Valverde sent on Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordi Alba as substitutes.

Barcelona have lost two of the eight games they have played without Messi this season in all competitions, compared to defeats in two out of 24 matches he has played.

But Suarez would…