Manchester United's hopes of silverware this season are officially over and focus is now turning towards the 2022-23 campaign.
The Red Devils are left focusing on their top-four battle in the Premier League following elimination to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 this week.
That has surely ended Ralf Rangnick's hopes of landing the managerial position full time, though it remains to be seen who will be in the Old Trafford hot seat come next term.
TOP STORY – UNITED RAMP UP MANAGERIAL SEARCH
The likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag and Thomas Tuchel have each been touted as contenders to replace Rangnick, but another name may now be in the frame.
According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui is also being considered for one of the top positions in world football.
Lopetegui has previously managed Real Madrid and the Spain national team and is in his third season with Sevilla, whom he remains under contract with until 2024.
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- Newcastle United intend to splash the cash when the transfer window reopens at the end of the season and, according to Fichajes, Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar is in their sights. The Brazil international was jeered by his own supporters during last week's win against Bordeaux.
- After two years with Tottenham, Fabrizio Romano claims that left-back Sergio Reguilon could be on his way back to Spain in the coming months. Barcelona are said to be monitoring his situation, while Madrid have a buy-back clause of around €40million.
- It could be a busy transfer window for Madrid, who have also been strongly linked with PSG forward Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund's in-demand striker Erling Haaland. However, Goal reports that Los Blancos are losing hope of beating Manchester City to the signature of the latter.
- Man City midfielder Rodri has another three years to run on his contract, but The Telegraph suggests that the Premier League leaders are eager to tie the midfielder down to an even longer deal, with talks between the two parties ongoing.
- La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Nikola Milenkovic is on the radar of Inter and Man Utd. Inter are said to have made the Fiorentina and Serbia defender one of their primary targets, while United had scouts present to watch him against Bologna last week.
It runs in the blood - Maldini's joy after Italy debut
Daniel Maldini, son of Italy great Paolo, made his international debut in their 4-1 win over Israel, becoming the third generation of his family to play for the Azzurri.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Mateo Retegui and Davide Frattesi scored the goals, ensuring they remained top of their Nations League group after four games.
Maldini came on as a 74th-minute substitute to replace Giacomo Raspadori on Monday, with his father, who earned 126 caps for the national team, watching from the stands.
It is the first time three generations of a family have played for Italy's national team, with Paolo Maldini's final match coming 22 years and 118 days ago, while Cesare Maldini, Daniel's grandfather, played for the last time 61 years and one day ago.
"I'm happy that my parents came here, we'll talk when I get home," Daniel Maldini, who also played for Milan like his father and grandfather, said after the match.
"It was a strong, positive emotion, I am very happy to have played and that the match went well.
"I hope to bring some quality, even if there is already too much. I try to help as much as I can."
Chelsea defeat spells end of Eidevall's Arsenal tenure
Jonas Eidevall has called time on his spell as Arsenal head coach after an underwhelming start to the campaign.
The Gunners have been tipped as title contenders in the Women's Super League this season, yet they have won just one of their opening four matches.
They also went down 5-2 to Bayern Munich in their first Women's Champions League group stage match last week, before losing 2-1 to Chelsea to suffer their first loss of the WSL season.
A bad week that started with a draw against struggling Everton and ended with that loss to Chelsea at Emirates Stadium has ultimately signalled the end of Eidevall's tenure.
Arsenal confirmed on Tuesday that the Swede, who was appointed in June 2021 and has overseen 120 matches in all competitions, had resigned.
Renee Slegers, the first team assistant coach, will take over in the interim until Arsenal, who face Valerenga on Wednesday before taking on West Ham on Sunday, confirm their next permanent appointment.
Gunners sporting director Edu said: "We thank Jonas for his commitment to the club and achievements here since joining us in 2021. We have great respect for the dedication and commitment he showed to our women’s first team and recognise the role he has played in the growth and development of Arsenal Women.
"We all wish him the very best for the future. Our focus will now turn to the process of appointing a new head coach, and in the meantime, supporting Renee, as she takes interim charge of the team starting with two important fixtures this week."
Eidevall led Arsenal to back-to-back Women's League Cup titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24, as well as finishing second in the WSL in his first season, and third in each of the past two campaigns.
The 41-year-old won 80 matches in all competitions, for a win ratio of 66.67%.
In the WSL, he picked up an average of 2.24 points per game from 70 matches. Of the five Arsenal bosses to oversee at least 10 fixtures in the competition, that points per game average is the fourth-lowest, ahead of only Pedro Martinez Losa (1.94).
On Saturday, in the defeat to Chelsea, Eidevall matched his predecessor Joe Montemurro as the Arsenal manager with the most games in the WSL.
Eidevall's team scored 171 goals, winning 49 games (70%). Since he took over at Arsenal, only Man City (178) and Chelsea (209) have scored more goals than the Gunners.
Meanwhile, of ever-present WSL teams in that time, only Chelsea (45) have conceded fewer goals than Arsenal (50), and the Blues are also the only side to lose fewer matches (seven, compared to the Gunners' 11 defeats).
'Supercharged' Germany have big ambitions – Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann hailed Germany's first-half display against the Netherlands as their best performance of 2024.
And Nagelsmann said his "supercharged" team have big ambitions after Monday's 1-0 win in Munich, which came a year to the day since he took charge of his first game - a 3-1 friendly win over the United States.
Germany are unbeaten in the Nations League after four games, and sit five points clear at the top of their group.
The Dutch did not manage a single shot in the first half, with Germany having eight themselves, albeit Nagelsmann's team had to wait until the 64th minute to make the breakthrough as Jamie Leweling marked his senior bow with the decisive goal.
"The first half tonight was the best we’ve played this year," said Nagelsmann.
"The greed that the team embodied was a huge step [forward].
"We did well and let very little in. We absolutely deserved to win.
"We've got the ambition to keep going. There's a supercharged atmosphere in the dressing room – they want to win."
An ecstatic Leweling told ZDF network: "We won as a team, I scored the 1-0, we won 1-0, but we did well and I'm just happy I could help out.
"The Dutch are a top nation, but we played a good game."
Leweling is the first debutant under Nagelsmann to score in his first appearance for Germany. Niclas Fullkrug was the last player to net on his senior debut, in 2022.
At the other end of the pitch, Nagelsmann handed a debut to goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
Aged 34 years and 131 days, Baumann is the second-oldest Germany debutant (after Matthias Mauritz) in the post-war era and the oldest goalkeeper to make his debut for the national team.
Not that Baumann had much to do. Indeed, he had only one save to make, with the Netherlands mustering only one attempt on target and a meagre 0.13 expected goals.
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