D’Ambrosio set for Inter medical

Juventus are perfect for Serie A but their surprise exit to Lyon highlighted their issues in the Champions League, according to Alessandro Del Piero.

The Italian champions recorded a 2-1 win in the last-16 second leg on Friday but were still knocked out of the tournament on away goals after conceding in Turin.

Memphis Depay converted a first-half penalty to double Lyon s advantage in the tie, the French side having triumphed 1-0 on home soil before the European season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to turn the game around on the night but despite the Portuguese s best efforts, Juve slipped out to raise questions over the future of their coach, Maurizio Sarri.

Club legend Del Piero praised Ronaldo for showing …

Juventus are prepared to let Emre Can leave in the January transfer window, according to Tuttosport.

The midfielder arrived to Turin from Liverpool as a free agent in the summer of 2018, and while he was an important part of the team under Massimiliano Allegri, the arrival of Maurizio Sarri to the dugout has turned the situation up-side down. Can found himself left out of the 25-man squad registered to play in the group stages of the Champions League, and he has only played 150 minutes of Serie A football this season, spread over four games.

The 25-year-old is reportedly considering his future and has been linked with a number of clubs. For example, Mirror believe that Tuttosport s claim means Manchester United have been given the green light to make their move as Ole G…

Pep Guardiola praised the “generosity” of Kevin De Bruyne after he set up four of Erling Haaland’s five goals as Manchester City thrashed Luton at Kenilworth Road to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Haaland, who returned at the end of January from nearly two months out, grabbed the headlines with his finishing but this 6-2 win owed every bit as much to De Bruyne, the architect of four of his team-mate’s haul and a devastating creative presence throughout.

The pair combined for City’s opener inside three minutes. Matheus Nunes fed the Belgian with a clever reverse pass, releasing him into a channel down the left, and the cutback came to the left foot of Haaland who wrapped his boot around it for 1-0.

Name a better duo. We ll wait.

— Manchester…

There has been plenty of speculation regarding the future of Dani Olmo recently. The attacking midfielder himself said only a couple of days ago that he wasn t thinking about leaving RB Leipzig this summer, but he also refused to rule it out completely, pointing out that everything was possible in football.

However, Olmo has now put all rumours to bed by signing a new contract with the Bundesliga side, valid until the summer of 2027.

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN)

The deal reportedly contains a release clause set at €60 million, but it doesn t kick in before the summer of 2024, which makes it quite clear that the parties have agreed to continue their cooperation in 2023/24 no matter what. It will have come as a disappointing bit of …

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said Friday he would like to see former Spain manager Luis Aragones replace the recently sacked Carlos Queiroz as Portugal?s national team coach.

I would like Aragones to be the new national coach because he is very experienced, but my conviction is that national teams should be coached by men from the country itself, the Portuguese manager told a news conference.

I don t like to see Portugal lose or draw games. I hope things change. They have good enough players to turn the situation around, he added.

Aragones, 72, coached Spain between 2004 and 2008. He is credited with laying the foundations for Spain s World Cup win this year by guiding the team to the Euro 2008 title with the introduction of a short-passing style.

…

Edgardo Bauza officially farewelled the national team, not before insisting Argentina will qualify for next year s World Cup in Russia.

Bauza fronted the media on Tuesday alongside the Argentine Football Association (AFA) after he was sacked less than a year in his position as head coach.

The 59-year-old, who succeeded Gerardo Martino in August, paid the price for overseeing just three wins in eight matches in charge – last month s shock 2-0 loss in Bolivia leaving the South American giants outside of the automatic qualification for the 2018 World Cup in the CONMEBOL section.

However, Bauza is confident Lionel Messi and his team-mates will be among the 32 nations competing next year.

I am grateful to the players because they are responsible for this…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said the prospect of Champions League football is helping the club in their attempts to strengthen in the transfer market.

Europe s premier club competition is set to return to Anfield for the first time since 2014-15 and for only the second time in eight seasons, with Liverpool third in the Premier League.

Liverpool are two points ahead of fourth-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.

But Klopp believes Liverpool have become a much more attractive option for players.

I think that Liverpool at this moment is a really interesting project for players. It s a fantastic club, it s a good situation where we really can see the progress of the team, he said.

The talks we ve had so far are very positive. That doe…

Roma sporting director Monchi has no desire to leave for Barcelona and is eager for rumours of a potential departure to stop.

The highly respected executive has been linked with a move to both Barca and Manchester United, having joined Roma from Sevilla in 2017 after helping the Spanish club win 11 trophies in his tenure.

Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid have also been mentioned in connection with Monchi, who saw Roma reach the semi-finals of the Champions League in his first full season in the job.

However, speaking before Roma s win over Sampdoria, Monchi told Sky Sport Italia: I m happy to work here and I want to stay for many years because I have a lot of confidence in the club.

I hope the rumours of my departure stop. I don t want to leave, …

Brest midfielder Ibrahima Diallo has no intention of moving to the King Power Stadium this January, according to the L Equipe.

The French publication claims that the 20-year-old is not interested in joining Leicester mid-season despite the club s recent Premier League success. Instead, Diallo will finish the season with Brest before considering his future options in the summer.

The youngster arrived in Brest on loan in August 2018 and appeared in altogether 26 games during the 2018/2019 season for his club, which then played in Ligue 2. This season Brest are playing in Ligue 1 and so far the Frenchman has appeared in 13 games, but has yet to score his first goal. The youth product of Monaco Academy, Diallo has made a good impression since joining the team, especially wi…

Deep in thought

There has long been a belief that great players will go on to make great managers. It is perhaps even more probable that great captains will go on to be great managers. However, we have all come to realise over the years that neither of them things happen to be true all the time.

Career

The likes of Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have shown that you do not have to have had a particularly auspicious career on the field to go on to greatness in the technical area. One manager once famously said ‘you don’t have to have been a horse to become a great jockey’!

Roy Keane was a great player. The thirty-nine year old Irishman spent twelve years at Manchester United where he won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and a Champions Leagu…