It has been a busy week with the penultimate round of the Champions League having been played with pressure mounting on Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
His Manchester United team got off to a great start to the competition by winning 2-1 in Paris against PSG and then they hammered Leipzig 5-0, but if they lose in Germany on Tuesday they will have to settle for a place in the Europa League.
Tottenham comfortably beat Arsenal in the north London derby and remain top of the Premier League on goal difference.
It has been over week since Diego Maradona’s death shocked the world. Napoli’s president Aurelio de Laurentiis and the city’s mayor Luigi De Magistris have worked together to get Napoli’s stadium to be renamed as the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
News during the week included:
1) It is rumoured that Juventus and Argentine star Paulo Dybala has been offered to Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal.
Any one of the big six Premier League teams could take up the offer to sign last season’s Serie A MVP.
During that campaign he scored 17 times in 46 games, including cup games, but so far this season he has not scored in Serie A and only once in the Champions League.
2) Until Lionel Messi confirms where he will be playing next season, there are going to be rumours about his future.
There is talk that Paris Saint-Germain want to sign the 33-year-old next summer. Their Brazilian star Neymar wants them to be reunited and said they ’have to do it again next season’.
But according to sporting director Leonardo there are no plans to sign the star player.
3) After impressing at Manchester United since signing last season, Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes is set to be given a new contract worth £200,000 a week – which is double his current salary.
A possible reason for this new deal is because of rumours that Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in taking him to Spain.
He has scored 15 goals in 24 league games and this season he has seven in 10 games.
4) Unfortunately, things are not going so well for his team-mate Jesse Lingard, who is considering asking Manchester United to leave in January. If the Premier League side let him go then a number of top-flight rivals as well as Scottish big boys Rangers and Celtic are understood to be interested.
5) Mario Balotelli, who has recently been linked with Barnsley or a move to Brazil, is set to sign for Serie B club AC Monza on a deal until the end of the season.
The 30-year-old Italian, who played for both Milan teams as well as Manchester City and Liverpool, has been without a club since leaving Brescia following their relegation last season.
The move to Brescia was supposed to be his dream as it was his hometown club having moved to the northern Italian city with his family when he was three.
His career has seen him score 114 times in 289 games, but Monza chief executive has warned that his prospective move to Monza is ‘his last chance’.
6) Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is the latest coach interested in signing Red Bull Salzburg’s Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
The 20-year-old is one of Europe’s hottest properties and suitors will want to sign him before he has the chance to impress during Euro 2021.
7) After getting frustrated trying to sign long-term target Jadon Sancho, Manchester United are considering making a move for Leicester’s Harvey Barnes.
8) However, United boss Solskjaer could be sacked and replaced by PSG counterpart Thomas Tuchel.
Another name being linked with the Red Devils is Juventus and AC Milan’s former coach Massimiliano Allegri.
The Italian has said he wants to manage in the Premier League and has been without a club since leaving the Old Lady in the summer of 2019.
9) France striker Olivier Giroud has scored five times in two games to show Frank Lampard that he still has a lot to offer. The France international has made it clear he needs to play or risk missing out on next summer’s delayed European Championship.
10) Zinedine Zidane is another coach under pressure – Real Madrid are likely to progress in the Champions League but have a tricky game against Borussia Monchengladbach.
In LaLiga, they are now up to fourth but six points behind city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is one name linked with replacing the Frenchman but then there is also Real’s reserve team coach, and club legend, Raul who could get the job.
They might need to move quickly if they want Pochettino as the Argentine is believed to want to go to PSG if Tuchel leaves.
A major concern in Madrid that Zidane has lost confidence of a number of his players including former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard who has struggled since moving to Spain.
