Speaking to Record Sport, agent Carol Ksonto said:“Financially there is no chance of Martin going to Rangers. He couldn’t get half of his wages in Glasgow. It would be more like a third. Yes, he has great respect for Steven Gerrard but there’s no point in having a discussion because financially it’s just not realistic.”

Gerrard recruited the services of Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic and Gareth McAuley for the central defence during the summer and they have managed to perform credibly thereafter with just 12 goals conceded from the opening 14 matches. Despite this, there remains a slender weakness with the defensive strength when compared to Celtic and that is something which Gerrard may need to resolve to end the Hoops’ dominance in the Scottish Premiership.

Fenerbahce manager Phillip Cocu has highlighted the importance of Thursday night’s Europa League win over Spartak Trnava. The Dutchman had been under immense pressure to perform after the club’s poor start to the league campaign but he has managed to buy himself some time with the midweek triumph over Trnava.

Speaking after the game, Cocu indicated that the victory was a much-needed one after they were outclassed during the opening Europa League game against Dinamo Zagreb, he said: “It’s a very important moment to win. We lost the first game without a chance in Zagreb, then you have to win. This is different from the league, here too you have ambitions. I’m happy.

acknowledge the loan move. The statement read: "Our club has reached an agreement with English team Leicester City to loan Islam Slimani for one year.Algeria national team footballer Slimani, after health checks, has signed the official contract."

https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/four-teams-still-turkish-super-lig...

Slimani became the Foxes’ record signing during the summer of 2016 after making the switch from Sporting on transfer deadline day. However, he thereafter struggled to command a regular starting role and the same case was experienced during the previous campaign where he was loaned out to Newcastle United for the second half of the season.

Martin Škrtel is probably one of the older players, but this Slovak stopper, even at the age of 33, commands a high market value in Europe. He met Comolli, the sporting director and asked for his contract to be extended for the next two years. Comolli would be speaking to the administration accordingly.

Martin stated that he wanted to get back on the field as per the interest of the supporters. He is part of Fenerbahce and he stated to FBTV that he would want to get back on the field. Škrtel stated that pre-season work would be intense and he joked that this allowed the game environment to be more colorful. He also emphasized that these jokes should be taken in the right spirit. Being an experienced stopper he stated that the team was waiting for the season to start.

Martin Skrtel’s agent has confirmed that Rangers have been in touch with his client of any potential move in the summer. The former Liverpool defender is a teammate of current Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, who has replaced Graeme Murty after a disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Gerrard is hoping to use his contacts in the game to increase the quality within Rangers.

After having played with Skrtel for several years at Liverpool, Gerrard is hoping that the Slovakian defender is convinced about a move to Scotland. Skrtel is currently playing with Turkish outfit Fenerbahce, who are able to offer him the ability to fight for titles and European football. It appears that Skrtel is quite sceptical about a move to Rangers, as he will not be able to earn the same kind of salary as he does at Fenerbahce.

Martin Skrtel is expected to be one of the players who will be taking part in the King’s Cup 2018. The matches will involve Gabon, UAE, Thailand, and Slovakia. Thailand comes in as the defending champions. The Rajamangala Stadium will be hosting the matches in Bangkok. Slovakia prepares for the first game when they take on UAE on Thursday. Later that day, Thailand and Gabon will be facing off each other. The winners of each match will be taking on each other in a final Sunday. The losers of the two matches will be going up against each other in the third place play-off on Sunday.

Fenerbahce have decided against securing a permanent deal for Vincent Janssen at the end of the current campaign. The Netherlands international left Tottenham Hotspur for the Turkish Super Lig back in August after he found himself out of favour under Mauricio Pochettino.

However, his season-long loan in Istanbul has not gone as planned with an injury back in December, hampering his chances of earning regular gametime. Janssen, who has netted just twice in 11 appearances, is due to undergo a longer rehabilitation than expected and according to Fanatik, the club have opted against the buy-option.

Former RTE Sport pundit John Giles feels Liverpool won't improve their defensive record even if they recruit quality defenders in the future. The Merseyside outfit have conceded just once at Anfield this season, but their away form has been woeful with 16 goals allowed in the space of just six matches.

Writing in his column for the Irish Independent, the Leeds United great insisted that the issues with the Reds backline lie are directly associated with Jurgen Klopp's training methods, he said: "I've reached the conclusion that if Jurgen Klopp found four new defenders tomorrow, all with gifted with great ability, that Liverpool would still leak goals.

Liverpool can shock Manchester City when both sides clash in the Premier League. For City it seemed it was their title to lose from weeks back as Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte threw the towel in.

City will be taking another step towards the title when they visit Anfield, in one of the most highly anticipated

England will be coming up against a familiar position in the form of Martin Skrtel when the team takes on Slovakia in a World Cup 2018 qualifying match this weekend.