Connor Wickham News

CONNOR WICKHAM wants to prove himself to Paolo Di Canio by returning to Sunderland in the right frame of mind after a depressing June with England's Under-21s.

CESC FABREGAS may be interested in a move to Manchester United or Arsenal - but only if Barcelona want rid of him.

Eurosport - A dejected Nathan Redmond walks past Israel's players and staff as they celebrate their victory over England England slumped out of the European Under-21 Championships with a 1-0 loss to host nation Israel in Jerusalem - a humiliating third straight defeat.

And now the 36-year-old has been released by the Trotters, Paolo Di Canio is said to be taking another look.

Under-21s again fall short in the finals of a tournament as second defeat speeds exit from European Championship and also spells the end for manager's reign Note: We do not store your email address but your IP address will be logged to prevent abuse of this feature.

Sunderland boss Paulo Di Canio is keen to bring more attack-minded football to the Stadium of Light next season Paulo Di Canio has challenged his Sunderland side to adopt a more attacking approach next season - and play with "quality, athleticism and intelligence".

PAOLO DI CANIO is pressing ahead with his summer rebuilding plans but has been warned of significant competition from around Europe for A 6m striker target Paulinho.

A murderer killed her 'sugar daddy' with the help of two boyfriends then hid his body in a freezer, a court heard Last week's episode of Top Of The Pops from 1978, had a particularly Geordie flavour.

The French Sports Ministry has given its backing to a proposal that would end Monaco's privileged financial status in French football.

Defender Titus Bramble has accused Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio of being a "strange person" and has told the Italian he has a lot to learn about dealing with players.

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Hooper, 25, is rated at 7million by Celtic but has only one year left on his contract.

The European Under-21 Championships get underway on Wednesday, so the Eurosport network takes a look at some of the potential stars of the tournament in Israel.

Connor Wickham has played down Paolo Di Canio's description of him as a 'Playboy model' and hopes to impress the Sunderland boss in pre-season. The 20-year-old striker arrived at Sunderland in an 8m move two years ago, but has struggled to live up to his price tag.

England go into the European Under-21 Championship finals in Israel this week as the only country to have qualified for the past four tournaments, all of them under Stuart Pearce, who replaced Peter Taylor as manager in 2007.

Italy open their campaign in the second match of the tournament when they take on England and I reckon the Azzurri are the call to lift the trophy at 5/1. The Italians are the most successful side in the competition's history with five titles already to their name and there is another crop of promising youngsters available to them this time around.

Unless they're doing PR stunts to stave off having to flog another winners' medal, it's always worth listening to the Gods of '66. Put simply, they knew what it took to be the best in the world, and have thus earned the right to pass judgement on the state of our national game.

RIO FERDINAND has pledged to help new Manchester United boss David Moyes keep the silver rolling into Old Trafford after signing a new deal.

And Phil Bardsley, Connor Wickham, Danny Graham, James McClean and Matthew Kilgallon are set to follow Bramble out of Wearside as boss Di Canio clears the decks for at least six new arrivals before the start of next season.

Tottenham Hotspur missed out on Champions League qualification for the second year running despite beating Sunderland 1-0 at White Hart Lane.