Wolves complete the signing of Girona defender Ladislav Krejci on an initial loan deal, which will become permanent once certain clauses are met.

Wolves are close to signing Girona defender Ladislav Krejci for £26m, with the player set to have a medical this week.

Forward has not yet been registered by financially troubled club in a summer when Real Madrid have spent €200m La Liga begins again in Girona on Friday evening, a five-day weekend to start it off, and for the first time the division’s biggest clubs, every side competing for the title, share a vital weapon: they all have Englishmen in their team. Trent Alexander-Arnold, just Trent now on his No 12 shirt, has joined Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid. Nine players have left Atlético Madrid, but Conor Gallagher isn’t one of them. Marcus Rashford has landed in Barcelona, 39 years after Gary Lineker. And Oviemuno Ejaria has just signed a two-year deal at Real Oviedo. Or, if you prefer your obvious jokes to have a slightly different bias, another team for the punchline, Tyrhys Dolan has joined Espanyol. Continue reading...

European champions are enjoying themselves under Luis Enrique, a world away from last game against the Germans The last time they crossed paths, Vincent Kompany was on his way in and Luis Enrique was on his way out. It was late November at the Allianz Arena and Bayern Munich’s new manager waited by the press room while his opposite number at Paris Saint-Germain spoke to the media; as he listened in, he could hardly believe what he heard. “It was completely over the top,” Kompany recalled in Atlanta when he again followed Luis Enrique into a chair lined up before the cameras, and before another big night, seven months later and more than 7,000 miles away. “Now we’re talking about the same game from a totally different perspective; it’s interesting to press fast forward and see how much things can change.” That night, Bayern beat PSG 1-0 in the Champions League. Five games into the competition, PSG had won just once, against Girona at the Parc des Princes and that was their third loss, fear growing that even with the new, extended format they might not get out of the group. “I heard all these big statements: ‘it’s all over’,” Kompany said. “Most games they should win 5-0 and somehow it’s 1-1 or they lose and it didn’t reflect their dominance. You look at the team now, the evolution, and it’s nice to see that in those moments the consistency paid off. He was strong enough to continue. And that’s not a compliment, that’s just a fact.” Continue reading...

Paulo Gazzaniga’s hat-trick of penalty saves was fresh in the mind but Bilbao ran out comfortable victors at San Mamés Paulo Gazzaniga rapped his studs against a post, tapped his fingertips against the crossbar and flashed the smile that broke so many hearts. In the final minutes before Athletic Club faced Girona on Saturday afternoon, Ernesto Valverde was asked who would take the penalties and gave an answer almost as loaded as the question: “Only one thing’s certain,” the coach said, “it won’t be me.” Less than an hour later, it had actually happened, which maybe it had to, another man standing before a screen inviting that guy back into their lives. So now here they were again, Iñaki Williams on the spot with the ball under his arm, Girona’s goalkeeper a few yards away wearing a look so knowing, it had a PhD. Oh, he knew. They all did: the 48,261 people in San Mamés stands, the 22 on the pitch, everyone on the bench. Williams, especially. The last time he had faced Gazzaniga, four months earlier, had hit him hard, the striker insisting he felt responsible for a 2-1 defeat. “This can’t happen,” he said, but it had. At 1-1, Gazzaniga had saved his penalty and that wasn’t the half of it: he had already stopped Alex Berenguer’s penalty and when he was spotted off the line this time, Athletic allowed to try for a third time, Williams asked Ander Herrera to take it instead – so Gazzaniga saved that too, a unique hat-trick completed before Cristhian Stuani scored Girona’s 99th-minute winner. Continue reading...

Arsenal are expected to seal place in UEFA Champions League top eight away to Girona tonight as Mikel Arteta given fresh hope of signing striker target permanently

Arsenal are hoping to win the race for Rosenborg star Sverre Nypan, who has been compared to Martin Odegaard, with Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City's sister club Girona also interested in the teenager

Manchester City’s sister club also want 18-year-oldNorwegian expected to cost around £10m plus add-ons Arsenal are hopeful of beating Manchester City’s sister club Girona to the signing of Sverre Nypan after holding further talks with the Norway Under-21 midfielder. Nypan, who in 2023 became the youngest player in Rosenborg’s history to score in a league match at the age of 16 years and 145 days, is in London with his representatives after attending Manchester City’s victory against Chelsea on Saturday. The 18-year-old is understood to be close to making a decision over his future after meeting Arsenal officials on Sunday, with Mikel Arteta keen to reinforce his squad this month after long-term injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. Continue reading...

Rafael Leao's first-half goal was enough for AC Milan to beat Girona and edge closer to automatic qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Club training to music after setback of Aston Villa draw‘You play a song and immediately you feel different’ Mikel Arteta is hoping the sound of music can help Arsenal seal a place in the top eight of the Cham­pions League and has urged his ­players to take out the frustration of letting slip a two-goal lead against Aston Villa when they face Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night. Victory against the Croatian side would put Arsenal on the verge of qualifying directly for the last 16 with a trip to Girona next week in their final fixture to come. Arsenal will again be without William Saliba after the Frenchman missed the draw against Villa on Saturday with a hamstring strain, although Arteta said the defender was “evolving well”. Continue reading...

Liverpools big-money No.9 Darwin Nunez is coming under fire after scoring just three times so far this season, and missing a number of big chances in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Girona in the Champions League

Liverpool are in the hunt to sign Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies, Manchester City are set to be busy in January, while Girona's Miguel Gutierrez is on Manchester United's radar.

Arne Slot said he was "far from happy" after Liverpool's unconvincing win over Girona in the Champions League and Alisson has defended himself and his team-mates

Watch as BBC Sport's Stephen Warnock analyses how Girona caused problems for Liverpool during their Champions League clash.