´Something has died in me´ – Lewandowski reaffirms Bayern exit plans amid Barcelona links

Robert Lewandowski says something has died within him at Bayern Munich, as the striker continues to push for an anticipated exit to Barcelona.

The Poland international, who has a year left on his contract with the Bundesliga champions, has repeatedly signalled his intent to leave Allianz Arena this summer.

Though no official confirmation has been made by the player, it appears Lewandowski is fixated upon a switch to Camp Nou in the next step of his decorated career.

A myriad of issues, from Bayern s reluctance to sell him through whether Barca can afford to pay any transfer fee, remain major obstacles to any such move.

But Lewandowski has continued to state he will not be in Bavaria next term, saying he desires to move on to discover new challenges.

Prediction: Sampdoria vs Roma

Best odds: 8/11

Bookmaker:

On Monday afternoon, Sampdoria will be welcoming AS Roma to the Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genoa for a battle within the 10th round of the Serie A roller coaster, an important one for both sides, but also a meeting between two old friends in the two dugouts.

Sampdoria

The big news involving Sampdoria these days is still, of course, the sacking of Marco Giampaolo earlier this month after an extremely poor start to the season and the appointment for former Red Star Belgrade boss Dejan Stankovic.

Stankovic knows football in Italy as well as anyone, having spent 15 years playing for Lazio and Inter Milan. What s more, he was a key player for the Nerazzurri in 2009/10, when they won the historic treble under the current Roma boss, J…

West Ham´s Paqueta charged by FA over alleged breaches of betting rules

Lucas Paqueta has been charged by the Football Association (FA) over alleged breaches of betting rules, with the West Ham midfielder accused of intentionally seeking to receive a card in four different games.

Last August, it was reported that the FA had opened an investigation into suspicious betting activity surrounding Paqueta.

In March, the Brazil international said he was cooperating with the FA s probe and was happy to be helping .

On Thursday, the FA brought charges against Paqueta, who is accused of attempting to get himself carded in four different Premier League fixtures, three in the 2022-23 season and one on the opening matchday of 2023-24.

An FA spokesperson said: West Ham United s Lucas Paqueta has been charged with misconduct in relation to …

Skip Bayless Is Gaining On ESPN In A Ratings War That Doesn't Matter

ESPN’s flagship shoutfest, First Take, has long and rightly been reviled for degrading everyone and everything it touches. Until co-host Skip Bayless departed earlier this year, that didn’t seem to matter at all to its loyal core audience, which happily tuned in each day no matter how repulsive or just plain stupid the proceedings were. Compared to same point last year, though, its ratings are down six percent (ESPN contends that it’s actually only four percent), and that actually masks how bad things are. Until June 21—Bayless’s final day on the program—ratings were actually up six percent compared to the same period in 2015. Since his departure, the show’s ratings are down a whopping 26 percent. Meanwhile, Second Take, the First Take, has drawn a respectable average o…