Rumour Has It: Pochettino wants Kane reunion at PSG, Alaba waiting for Barca?

By Sports Desk January 20, 2021

Could Harry Kane land in Paris?

With Kylian Mbappe tipped to join Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly eyeing replacements.

Mauricio Pochettino has a familiar face in mind…

 

TOP STORY – POCH WANTS KANE IF MBAPPE LEAVES

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign Tottenham striker Harry Kane, according to El Chiringuito de Jugones.

That is if PSG star Kylian Mbappe leaves the Ligue 1 champions for LaLiga holders Real Madrid.

Pochettino coached Kane for five years at Tottenham before he was sacked by Spurs in November 2019.

 

ROUND-UP

- Sky Sport Germany claims Bayern Munich star David Alaba will not decide on his future until he has spoken to Barcelona. Marca reported that Madrid had struck a deal to sign Alaba on a free transfer at the end of the season. However, Alaba is reportedly holding out for Barca as the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and PSG try to lure the Austria international.

Martin Odegaard has asked to leave Madrid on loan due to his lack of game time, reports Marca and Diario AS.

Romelu Lukaku has no intention of leaving Inter for City, says Express Sport. Lukaku spent two years at United before moving to Italy in 2019. Pep Guardiola's City have also been linked with Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland amid doubts over Sergio Aguero's future.

- Mundo Deportivo claims Manchester City defender Eric Garcia could join Barca this month or at the end of the season.

Milan are eyeing Barca's Junior Firpo on loan, while Serie A rivals Napoli are also interested, according to Calciomercato.

- Eurosport reports Tottenham are looking to prise Danny Ings away from Southampton. Ings is reportedly stalling on a new contract as he eyes a Champions League club.

Related items

  • Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on

    Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.

    Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.

    Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.

    But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.

    "This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains," Tuchel said on Friday.

    "There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.

    "We did not agree but I won't go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors."

    The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of Stuttgart.

    They crashed out to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record €100 million to sign striker Harry Kane.

    "The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision," Tuchel said.

    "There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.

    "The reasons why it did not happen, I don't know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is." 

  • Klopp: Premier League cannot continue with current version of VAR Klopp: Premier League cannot continue with current version of VAR

    Departing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp would vote to remove VAR in its current guise from the Premier League, though he also believes officiating standards are a problem.

    On Wednesday, it was revealed that Wolves – who have been on the wrong end of several contentious decisions this season – had tabled a motion to abolish VAR from the top flight.

    The club listed several "negative consequences" brought on by the technology's introduction, including an impact on in-stadium atmospheres, diminished accountability of match officials and its role in furthering "completely nonsensical" allegations of corruption from fans. 

    The role of VAR is now set to be discussed at an annual shareholders' meeting on June 6, though Wolves' motion is thought unlikely to garner the 14 votes needed to pass. 

    Liverpool were on the wrong end of perhaps the most high-profile VAR error this season, when Darren England mistakenly cleared an incorrect offside call on a Luis Diaz goal against Tottenham.

    Liverpool face Wolves in their final game under Klopp on Sunday, and the Reds boss believes they are right to say VAR is not working in its current guise.

    "I don't think they're voting against VAR, I think they'll vote about how it gets used, because that's definitely not right. I understand that," Klopp said.

    "In the way they do it, I would vote against it, because these people are not able to use it properly.

    "I do not think VAR is the problem but the way we use it is the problem. You cannot change the people, it's clear. You need them. So yeah, I would vote for scrapping VAR."

    Meanwhile, it was also announced on Friday that midfielder Thiago Alcantara will leave Liverpool when his contract expires in June, after four injury-hit years at Anfield.

    Thiago has been limited to just 68 Premier League appearances throughout his time with the Reds, including one match this campaign. 

    "Before he even came to Liverpool I believed that if you really love football it would make a lot of sense if you watched Thiago Alcantara play," Klopp said of the Spaniard.

    "Technically, he is so, so good, a talent who could play in any team in the world, and it was a privilege to have him with us."

  • Shaw struggling to be fit for FA Cup final after injury setback Shaw struggling to be fit for FA Cup final after injury setback

    Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is fighting against the odds to be passed fit for the crucial FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City.

    Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag revealed the left-back’s injury has proven more complicated than first thought and added his chances of making the game are low, but has not definitively ruled out the England international.

    He is more optimistic about Harry Maguire, though even the centre-back was only rated as having a “fair chance” of being passed fit to face Pep Guardiola’s men at Wembley on May 25.

    Before that, United will finish their Premier League campaign with a match away to Brighton on Sunday.

    Despite a desperately disappointing campaign, there are still two potential routes for United to make it into Europe for next season.

    Ten Hag's side are eighth in the table, level on 57 points with seventh-placed Newcastle United, who visit Brentford on the final day.

    If United beat FA Cup holders City, they will play in the Europa League next season.

    Failure to do so would mean they must have finished seventh in the league to secure a spot in the Europa Conference League, so they will need to better Newcastle’s result on the final day.

    Shaw has been restricted to playing in 15 games for United across all competitions this season. He was expected to return before the end of the campaign when he suffered a muscle problem in the away win over Luton Town in February.

    Ten Hag was asked about Shaw and Maguire ahead of the last two games of United’s season, a fitness update which has added importance due to their likely inclusion, if fit, in England’s squad for Euro 2024 this summer.

    "For England, I can't say, it's not up to me," Ten Hag said. "But for the cup final, we're working on it.

    "Harry Maguire, it's a fair chance that he will be available. 

    “Luke is more complicated, in this moment, let's say it's a low chance that he will make it. But there is still a very small, reduced chance."

    As well as giving Maguire a chance of making the final, Ten Hag also confirmed fellow defenders Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof have returned to training in a boost ahead of the Man City clash.

    Varane is leaving Man Utd at the end of the season, with a number of other players expected to follow him out the exit door, but Ten Hag wants his squad fully focused amid frenzied speculation over transfer activity.

    "All the issues will only distract us,” he said.

    “We know what we are building on, and we have to keep this process going.”

    Shaw, 28, played in last season’s FA Cup final defeat to City and has also been a runner-up at the Euros, having scored in England’s eventual defeat on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

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