Didier Drogba has singled out former Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard out as one of the biggest influences on his career.

Drogba played with Lampard for eight years at Stamford Bridge, which culminated in Champions League triumph in 2012.

The two set each other up on 36 occasions in the Premier League, still the highest combined figure for goals and assists between two players in the English top flight.

Speaking at a Yokohama fan event in Tokyo, the Ivorian was full of praise for his former teammate.

There s one [player] that I m going to put a bit more in front because most of my goals came from him, it s Frank Lampard, Drogba said.

And also because every day after training we were staying on the pitch trying to practice, trying to create some e…

Turkey forward Burak Yilmaz has re-joined Besiktas from Trabzonspor more than a decade on from leaving the club.

The 33-year-old is one of a small number of players to have represented Turkey s big four of Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor.

Yilmaz who has 23 goals in 52 appearances for the national side has moved for a fee of €1.36m, concluding a transfer that is unlikely to be popular with sections of the Black Eagles fanbase.

The switch was due to take place during the previous transfer window, only for Yilmaz to announce on Twitter that he had elected to stay at Trabzonspor.

A spell out of the side appears to have forced a re-think from the player who has been derogatorily called thief by Besiktas fans after winning a contentious pena…

Market: Cephas Malele to score anytime

Odds: 1/1 @

Smelling the chance to widen their buffer in the AFC Champions League chase, Shanghai will welcome Changchun to town on Saturday lunchtime.

Starting with the hosts, embarking on what has become a sensational purple patch this season, Shanghai Shenhua are sat firmly in the driving seat to clinch an AFC Champions League ticket in 2024. Last seen putting in another rampant performance as they stormed their way to a stunning 6-0 romp at home against Shandong Taishan, Leonid Slutsky’s men will be desperately seeking a repeat display here. Signing off June with a 1-0 victory away at Qingdao West Coast, the Blues have won all of their previous four appearances across all competitions. Likewise, the one-time Hull City…

The European champions will be licking their wounds tonight after they were handed a humbling defeat courtesy of The Netherlands. It was the first victory of what many hope to be a successful reign under new boss Ronald Koeman, and from the first minute to the last, you probably would ve thought that it was the men in orange who were heading to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Alas, for now, Koeman will only be able to bask in the glory of this win as the road to the 2020 European Championships continues, with this win coming just a few days after the 2010 World Cup finalists fell to a 1-0 loss against Gareth Southgate s England.

Out of nowhere

Despite what a quick glance at the scoreline may suggest, the statistics don t really follow the 3-0 result which we ve be…

Sylvain Distin is relishing a return to Fratton Park when AFC Bournemouth visit his former club Portsmouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday. 

Veteran centre-back Distin spent two years at Portsmouth between 2007 and 2009, helping the club to a famous FA Cup victory in the 2008 final against Cardiff City.

Distin was then sold to Everton as financial turmoil engulfed the club.

Since his time at Fratton Park, the contrast in fortunes between south-coast rivals Portsmouth and Bournemouth has been vast.

While Pompey plummeted from the Premier League to League Two in just three years, the Cherries rocketed up from the fourth tier to the top flight in five years the clubs crossing paths in League One in the 2012-13 season.

And for Distin, 3…

Lionel Messi struck twice in Barcelona s thumping defeat of Chelsea in the Champions League to bring up his 100th goal in the competition.

Messi opened the scoring by nutmegging Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the third minute at Camp Nou, later driving another finish through the Belgium international s legs to wrap up a 3-0 win.

The Argentina superstar also set up Ousmane Dembele s first Champions League goal as Ernesto Valverde s men completely outplayed their Premier League visitors.

But despite many believing Messi to be the finest footballer to have ever played the game, he is actually the second man to reach 100 Champions League goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid, Messi s old rival and fellow five-time Ballon d Or winner, is inevitably tha…

Lionel Messi reached the milestone of 500 career goals for Barcelona and Argentina against Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.

The 28-year-old s strike at Camp Nou moved his tally for Barca to 450 goals, while he scored his 50th for his country with a penalty against Bolivia during last month s international break.

With another career landmark reached, we look at the best Opta stats from Messi s 500 career goals.

BETTER GOAL RATE THAN RONALDO

Messi s career is constantly compared to that of his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo, with fans of both players debating who should be considered the world s best. 

Ronaldo has already reached the 500-goal milestone, but Messi has played in 159 fewer matches, giving him a better goal-per-game ratio.

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Guingamp have confirmed Antoine Kombouare as their new head coach ahead of the 2016-17 Ligue 1 season.

The 2014 Coupe de France winners announced the appointment on their club website after president Bertrand Desplat came to an agreement with the 52-year-old on Monday morning.

Kombouare was previously in charge of Lens for three seasons, leading them to promotion to the top flight in his first campaign, before suffering relegation in his second.

Prior to that, the New Caledonian had been in charge of Paris Saint-Germain, where he played for five years, from 2009 until 2011.

He was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti despite leading PSG to the top of Ligue 1.

Kombouare steps in for Jocelyn Gourvennec as Guingamp boss, with the 44-year-old having ended …

Arsenal are interested in signing Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus, according to . The report has claimed that Arsenal were keen on securing the services of the striker in the summer of 2023, and that they remain interested in bringing him to the Emirates Stadium.

Juventus were open to letting the Serbia international striker leave in the summer of 2023, but they are now trying to tie him down to a new deal. Head coach Massimiliano Allegri is pleased with how the  23-year-old is doing at the moment, and former Serie A and UEFA Champions League winners Juventus want to keep him for the long term.

Vlahovic has made six starts and four substitute appearances in Serie A for Juventus this season. The striker has scored four goals and given one assist in those games. The 23-year…

Aleix Vidal returned to Barcelona training on Wednesday after more than three months out through injury, but is not likely to be involved in Saturday s Copa del Rey final.

The full-back suffered a dislocated ankle in a 6-0 win over Alaves – this weekend s opponents – in February and initial assessments put his recovery time at five months.

However, Barca tweeted to confirm he was back on the training pitch with his team-mates in the build-up to Luis Enrique s final match in charge, when he will hope to sign off with silverware.

There was a blast from the past on show, as Ronaldinho – a star for the club between 2003 and 2008 – paid a visit.

Barça is on the training field now, getting ready for Saturday s final! Oh, and guess who popped in…