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BBC
Real Madrid have reactivated 'Operation Haaland' with the intention of signing prolific Norway striker Erling Haaland, 22, from Manchester City in 2024, when a release clause in his contract of up to 240m euros (£212m) becomes active. (AS - in Spanish)
Bayern Munich have decided to sack manager Julian Nagelsmann, 35, with his fellow German and former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel the leading candidate to replace him. (Bild - in German)
Tottenham could turn to Nagelsmann as a replacement for Italian Antonio Conte, 53, who looks set to leave the Premier League club. (Football.London)
Roma manager Jose Mourinho, who will enter the final year of his contract in the summer, is to meet with the Serie A side's owners to discuss their plans for the club. (Sky Italy)
Paris St-Germain could make a move for AC Milan and Portugal attacker Rafael Leao, 23, if Argentina forward Lionel Messi, 35, does not extend his deal with the French club. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle United are considering a summer move for Juventus' 19-year-old English winger Samuel Iling-Junior. (90min)
England striker Marcus Rashford, 25, will hold off signing a new contract at Manchester United until the club's new owners are confirmed. (Sun)
Arsenal have joined Leeds, AC Milan and Sevilla in the race for Barcelona's Spain Under-19 winger Ilias Akhomach, 18. (Sport - in Spanish)
Liverpool face competition from Manchester United to secure the services of recruitment guru Paul Mitchell, 41, who will leave Monaco this summer. (Mirror)
Manchester City are working on a deal for Hajduk Split centre-back Luka Vuskovic but face competition from Paris St-Germain for the 16-year-old Croatian. (Fabrizio Romano)
Everton have joined Newcastle United in considering a move for 19-year-old Brazilian striker Giovani, who plays for Palmeiras. (ESPN Brazil - in Portuguese)
Everton will put French striker Neal Maupay, 26, up for sale in the summer. (Football Insider)
The chances of Argentina forward Lionel Messi, 35, leaving Paris St-Germain for his former club Barcelona are increasing. (90min)
Southampton striker Che Adams could leave the club if they are relegated from the Premier League and Leeds United, who are fighting to secure their top-flight status, are interested in the 26-year-old Scotland international. (Football Insider)
Manchester United's Sweden defender Victor Lindelof, 28, will make a decision on his future at the end of the season. (Mirror)
Concerns are growing among some parties interested in buying Manchester United that the Glazer family may choose not to sell the club. (Guardian)
Sky Paper Talk
THE INDEPENDENT
Paul Mitchell has been earmarked for a role in any INEOS football structure at Manchester United, should the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led consortium buy the club.
World Athletics has banned trans women from international competition, Sebastian Coe has confirmed.
Ronnie O'Sullivan went "too far" with his criticism of snooker, the sport's chief has said, after the seven-time world champion said it was "in the worst place it's ever been".
THE SUN
Marcus Rashford is ready to wait and see what Manchester United's new owners put on the table before committing to a new contract. The England forward, 25, has only a year of his current deal left at the end of this season.
Tyson Fury has revealed that he and wife Paris are expecting their seventh child. The Furys welcomed baby Athena to their clan in August 2021, with many expecting their young daughter to be their last child.
Zack Steffen has admitted that he has no plans to return to Manchester City at the end of the season. The American joined Pep Guardiola's side in 2019 and has made 21 appearances for the reigning Premier League champions.
Tim Sherwood has claimed that he stopped Tottenham from selling Harry Kane to Leicester City - for just £600,000.
An England fan had his ticket for the Italy match ripped up by the FA after showing off an offensive Diego Maradona flag.
Holland's preparations for their Euro 2024 qualifiers this week are in disarray after five players were forced to leave their camp with illness.
DAILY MAIL
Huddersfield Town is to be bought by an American consortium after agreeing an 11th-hour takeover to avoid entering administration and being condemned to relegation.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has blamed the previous Blues regime for sanctioning the change to a tribute for club legend Ray Wilkins which featured in an episode of Ted Lasso and supporters labelled 'disrespectful'.
he Qatar bid for Manchester United will finally land on Friday - but it will still be way short of the Glazers' valuation.
Folarin Balogun will be selected for the U21 European Championship despite the threat of the striker switching allegiances from England to the United States.
THE TIMES
The American former owners of AC Milan have tabled an offer for a minority stake in Manchester United. Elliott Investment Management, which before selling Milan last year celebrated a first Serie A title in a decade with the Italian giants, had initially made a proposal offering financing to any potential bidders.
Anthony Watson is the latest England international considering a move to France this summer. The Leicester Tigers wing is set to visit the Top 14 side Castres in the coming days, as he assesses his options for next season. He could take up an option in Japan.
Revamped plans for a European Super League would see Celtic and Rangers eclipse the huge sums currently on offer for competing in the UEFA Champions League.
Marcus Rashford took to social media on Thursday to reveal he is taking some 'Downtime' in the Big Apple.
There is every chance Brighton defender Levi Colwill, on loan from Chelsea, earns his first England call-up for the summer fixtures against Malta and North Macedonia.
DAILY EXPRESS
Italian police reportedly knocked an England fan unconscious in ugly scenes ahead of the Three Lions' Euro 2024 qualifying match in Naples. There had been fears of horror clashes ever since the Italian FA confirmed the game would be staged in the city, which is famed for its football-related violence.
Liverpool have been handed a significant blow in their pursuit of recruitment expert Paul Mitchell, as they may face competition from Manchester United to secure his services.
Emma Raducanu could find herself unable to compete at next year's Olympics despite claiming she would "love to" play. The country's top-ranked woman has not represented the national team for almost a year. After making herself "unavailable" for next month's Billie Jean King Cup qualifier tie, Raducanu is running out of chances to make herself eligible for Paris 2024.
DAILY STAR
David Beckham has invested £49m ($60m) into Inter Miami's training facilities, with the footballing mogul continuing to transform the MLS franchise.
Chris Kamara has revealed he urged Jose Mourinho to move for Virgil van Dijk - when the Dutchman was impressing at Southampton.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Antonio Conte could miss out on the prospect of a £15m payday by leaving Tottenham before the end of the season. Tottenham are expected to agree Conte's exit after the Italian criticised the club's players following the 3-3 draw with Southampton in which Spurs let a 3-1 lead slip.
McLaren have announced a big restructure of their technical department in a bid to arrest their alarming decline in performance, with technical director James Key leaving the Woking team with immediate effect.
An England supporter who was pictured with an offensive flag referencing the death of Diego Maradona had his tickets for Thursday night's Euro 2024 qualifier revoked and was condemned by the Football Association.
World Athletics has put itself on a potential collision course with the International Olympic Committee after banning Russia and Belarus athletes from elite competition.
DAILY MIRROR
Glamorgan will benefit from the knowledge of one of English cricket's finest white-ball minds with Mark Alleyne returning to elite head coaching after a gap of 15 years.
Steven Gerrard believes it might be time for Harry Kane to "move on" after the Tottenham striker became England's leading scorer - with Manchester United interested.
Ibrahima Konate admits Liverpool need to freshen up their squad with new additions this summer if they're to be Premier League title challengers again.
DAILY RECORD
Michael Beale is hoping for a five-star summer as he plans for the next stage of his Rangers restoration project.
Barry Ferguson reckons Billy Gilmour needs to move on from Brighton to get his career back on track - and says he'd love to see him back at Rangers.
Hundreds of England fans missed kick-off in their Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy after being bused to the stadium in the wrong direction.
Swedish chief Mats Enquist says his country will never use VAR until it stops ruining games for fans.
SCOTTISH SUN
The race for Alfredo Morelos' signature continues to heat up with the striker coming to the end of his Rangers contract.
The Colombian striker, whose current deal is set to expire in the summer, has been heavily linked with a move away from Glasgow after failing to agree a new contract with the club as of yet.
The European Super League would offer Celtic and Rangers a 'big opportunity' to progress, according to the man spearheading the controversial project.
The planned breakaway league caused major backlash upon its announcement back in early 2021, with opposition eventually leading to the vast majority clubs who had signed-up to withdraw.
Sports Witness
West Ham and Aston Villa to battle for Argentina international – Hammers ‘in pole position’ for now
By Tom Coast
Currently in very different areas of the Premier League table, West Ham United and Aston Villa could end up going for the same player in the summer.
That’s Joaquín Correa, currently at Inter Milan, where he has struggled to convince ever since his expensive transfer from Lazio.
Gazzetta dello Sport look at the Argentine’s situation on Friday, and make it clear the plan from the Serie A side is to offload him in the summer.
They have highlighted Bologna’s Riccardo Orsolini as the replacement, but first need to get rid of Correa, who is becoming a burden to them.
It’s explained that San Siro grumbles ‘every time he touches the ball’, and that’s what makes any ‘stay difficult’.
West Ham are said to be ‘in pole position’ to get him at this moment in time, but they would face the competition from Aston Villa.
The sale of Correa is now ‘increasingly probable’, and he is attracting attention of ‘medium-range English clubs, which are always very wealthy’.
In fact, the Argentine ‘wouldn’t mind a different challenge’ on these shores after what are described as ‘two forgettable seasons’ with Inter Milan.
West Ham want to ‘rebuild their attack’, and perhaps try and get the best out of Gianluca Scamacca, and they like Correa for his ‘still unexpressed potential’.
However, Aston Villa are lurking, as they have ‘also expressed interest’ in the forward, where they will need to ‘rebuild him both physically and mentally’.
Something to keep in mind.
“I don’t sit on board” – West Ham player on Moyes future, and his ‘end justifies means’ tactics
By Naveen Ullal
Vladimír Coufal has been asked about David Moyes’ future at West Ham United after their poor run in the league this season.
The Hammers are 18th in the table, a point behind 17th placed Leicester City and two points behind Leeds United, Everton and Nottingham Forest, who are 14th, 15th and 16th respectively. West Ham can get ahead of these clubs if they win their game in hand.
Sport.cz interviewed Coufal and asked him whether there was a debate within the club that replacing Moyes would improve West Ham’s situation.
Responding to that, he said: “I can’t say from my position, I don’t sit on the board. This is a question for our future owner (entrepreneur Daniel Křetínský, editor’s note).”
The outlet further pressed the Czech Republic international on whether he and his West Ham teammates have come across the rumours around Moyes’ future.
“Of course, there were some reports from the media that we have to win, otherwise the coach is in danger. With Everton, with Nottingham or most recently with Aston Villa. But I read an interview where David Moyes said he had a great relationship with the board,” Coufal explained.
When asked how he ‘perceives’ Moyes, the right-back said: “Pure pragmatist. The end justifies the means. I have probably never seen such an orthodox pragmatist, when he has results at the expense of everything, maybe sometimes even the game. There is a lot of pressure on him and he is putting pressure on us as well.”
Coufal has made 26 appearances in all competitions this season. He featured only twice in the league from mid-September until the World Cup break. This saw suggestions in December that West Ham had included him in a list of unwanted players.
On this claim, the 30-year-old explained: “I don’t know where a list came from, nobody said anything like that to my face and I think manager David Moyes would.
“Right after the World Cup, he called me and said that I was important to him, that it was a mistake that I didn’t play a few matches. He held me and said that if I had planned to leave for somewhere, he wouldn’t let me go.”
Caught Offside
West Ham interested in signing 20-year-old Belgian from Euro giants
West Ham United are reportedly keen on signing the Juventus defender Koni De Winter.
A report from TuttoJuve claims that Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and Southampton are keeping tabs on the Belgian defender as well.
De Winter is currently on loan at Italian club Empoli and he has been a useful first-team player for them.
The Belgian has the potential to develop into a quality defender and he could prove to be a superb long-term investment for the Hammers.
The 20-year-old is versatile enough to play as a central defender, a right back and a defensive midfielder. His versatility will be an added bonus for the Hammers if they manage to secure his services.
The defender has a contract with the Italian club until the summer of 2026 and it remains to be seen whether Juventus are prepared to part with him at the end of the season.
The Italian giants could miss out on Champions League qualification and that would be a major hit on their finances. They could look to sell some players in order to balance the books.
It is fair to assume that West Ham will have to preserve their status as a top-flight club in order to attract the Belgian during the summer transfer window.
The 20-year-old is a prodigious young talent who will not want to play in the Championship next season.
De Winter needs to play regularly in order to continue his development and he might not get those opportunities at Juventus next season. Therefore, a permanent move away from the Italian club could be ideal for him. Regular football at West Ham could accelerate his development and help him fulfil his potential.
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