Poland and former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski, who scored 29 goals in 109 games for his country, has announced he is retiring.

“Every road has its end… I made the difficult decision to end my career,” the 37-year-old said on Facebook late Thursday.

“Thank you for the huge support I received every step of the way,” Blaszczykowski told his fans.

Having started his professional career at Wisla Krakow, Blaszczykowski joined Borussia in 2007 and stayed on for ten seasons except for a one-year loan to Italian club Fiorentina.

He moved to Wolfsburg in 2016 for three seasons before returning to Wisla.

Blaszczykowski scored 28 goals in 235 Bundesliga games.

He helped to save Wisla, the 13-time Polish champions, from bankruptcy as he bought a quarter of the club’s shares when he returned home in 2019.

Having played only two games last season because of injuries, he will bid farewell to Wisla in his last ever game for the club on August 5.

Blaszczykowski trails only Robert Lewandowski in terms of appearances for Poland.

He was a member of the 2018 World Cup squad in Russia but was not selected for the 2022 edition in Qatar.

Burnley have signed English winger Nathan Redmond on a two-year deal with the option of a third, the Premier League club announced on Friday.

The 29-year-old joins Burnley from Turkish side Besiktas and is their seventh signing ahead of their return to the top flight.

“I always had aspirations to play again in the Premier League. Burnley’s project matches with my ambitions,” Redmond said in a statement.

Redmond made over 250 Premier League appearances during his spells with Southampton, Norwich City and Birmingham City.

“He’s got a great work ethic, plenty of skill and a willingness to continue learning. He also brings his personality and character to this football club which will benefit the younger players here,” manager Vincent Kompany said.

RB Leipzig sports director Max Eberl says “there is no agreement” between the German club and Manchester City over Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol.

The 21-year-old is valued in the region of £86m and if that fee was paid by City it would make him the most expensive defender in football history.

When asked if a deal had been reached, Eberl said: “A lot has been written and the latest information about Josko surprised us all.

“Currently we’re still very far apart.”

He added: “As you can see, Josko is here – so it’s not true.

“He didn’t do a medical check – not that we know. And I don’t think he did it behind our backs because he’s just a full professional.

“There is no agreement, not even remotely an agreement.”

The centre-back has made 87 appearances for the German club since signing from Dynamo Zagreb in July 2021.

Last season he scored against City in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, which RB Leipzig lost 8-1 on aggregate.

He has won 21 caps for Croatia since making his debut in 2021 and helped his country finish third at the 2022 World Cup as well as runners-up to Spain in this year’s Nations League.

Earlier in July Eberl confirmed talks were taking place with the Premier League champions but it was understood City were yet to make a formal bid.

Recent reports had suggested an agreement had been reached that would eclipse the £80m Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019.

Spain cruised to victory in their Women’s World Cup opener as they dominated Costa Rica in Wellington.

Valeria del Campo scored an own goal to put Spain ahead, before Aitana Bonmati curled in a second two minutes later.

Esther Gonzalez added a third after a header against the crossbar by Jennifer Hermoso, who then had a penalty saved by Daniela Solera.

Olga Carmona hit the bar and Solera made a number of fine saves to restrict Spain to three goals.

The Spanish team’s dominance was shown in the match stats, as they had 46 attempts at goal, including 12 on target, with Costa Rica, ranked 36th in the world, only having one shot, which went wide.

Spain also had 80% possession and 22 corners compared with just one from their opponents.

For Spain, looking to advance past the last-16 phase for the first time, it was the perfect start to their Group C campaign after a disrupted build-up to the tournament.

In September, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) claimed 15 members of its national team, unhappy with training methods and match preparation, said they would resign if manager Jorge Vilda did not step down.

The federation backed Vilda and he only then named three of those 15 players – Barcelona’s Mariona Caldentey, Bonmati and Ona Batlle – in the World Cup squad.

Costa Rica had never won a match at a Women’s World Cup, but had drawn 1-1 in their opener against Spain in 2015 – the only other tournament they had qualified for.

But there never looked like being a repeat as Spain dominated.

Bonmati, Gonzalez, Ivana Andres and Salma Paralluelo all missed chances before Del Campo accidentally converted Gonzalez’s cross from the left.

Spain scored three times in a seven-minute spell and had a great opportunity for a fourth but Hermoso’s poor penalty was pushed away by Solera.

Only an inspired performance from Solera kept the scoreline respectable as she made excellent saves to deny Paralluelo, Carmona and Ivana Andres.

Midfielder Alexia Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or for being the best player in the world in 2021 and 2022, was among the Spain substitutes and played the last 13 minutes as she recovers from injury.

She sustained a serious knee injury just before last year’s Women’s European Championship and has not played a full match since.

Spain will be looking for another big win in their next match on 26 July as they face Zambia, at 77th the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, with Costa Rica facing 2011 winners and 2015 runners-up Japan.