Ange Postecoglou knows James Maddison is eager to make up for lost time but has admitted the Tottenham playmaker found his spell on the sidelines tough.

Maddison will return for Friday’s visit of Manchester City in the FA Cup after almost three months without football due to ankle ligament damage.

It halted Maddison’s brilliant start to life at Spurs and Postecoglou revealed the England midfielder struggled at times during the longest absence of his career.

“Not low but it was tough for him, because he does love his football, he loves the environment of football clubs, he loves the dressing room,” Postecoglou said.

“He’s kind of a force within that. It’s hard for all players when they’ve got to go through rehab, especially a character like him.

“I suggest that our sports science staff wouldn’t enjoy the one-on-one with Madders. He’s more of a guy who wants to be in the group.

“We did send him away in the middle of it. We felt it was good for him to get away with his family, we sent a physio with him (to Dubai).

“I think that helped bridge that time. When he got back from that, he was refreshed.

“Once he could see the finish line of ‘OK, I’m getting to the tail end of it,’ you could see his spirits lift. It’s been good to get him back.

“I know what Madders expects and, in training, you wouldn’t know that he’s missed so much. The quality is there straight away and everyone notices it and he’s looking good physically.

“And he’s the kind of guy who will want to make up for lost time and come back in and make an impact straight away.”

Spurs have not played for two weeks and the break has enabled Maddison to return to full fitness while Ben Davies and Dane Scarlett have recovered from hamstring problems.

Dejan Kulusevski is also available after illness ruled him out of the 2-2 draw at Manchester United a fortnight ago, but Giovani Lo Celso is still sidelined with a muscle issue.

Postecoglou gave his squad four days off during their mid-season break and, while plenty travelled far and wide to the likes of Dubai and Miami, the coach stayed at home to catch up with his family, who were in Australia for Christmas, and also put plans in place for the future.

He added: “My family were away and they just got back, so it was some quiet time at home.

“I kind of use those moments to look a bit farther down and see stuff that needs to do. While the cold face of it is games to prepare for and win, there is some longer-term stuff I am still keen to build within the club.

“You start mapping out those things and see if we can make an impact now or a bit later or when we are going to make an impact.

“It all helps you to get to where you want. Everybody wants to get away but even if I got away I would be thinking along those lines.

“I take what I do really seriously and I feel that sometimes if I switch off for too long, I am kind of missing something. That is the way I am wired.”

Pep Guardiola has joked Manchester United should name a stand after Omar Berrada if their incoming chief executive proves to have the magic touch.

Berrada quit his role as chief football operations officer at rivals Manchester City last weekend after being offered the senior position at Old Trafford.

The appointment is a major coup for United with Berrada having been a key off-field part of City’s recent triumphs, but Guardiola has warned that his fellow Spaniard is no instant guarantee of success.

The City manager said: “Obviously his knowledge goes to United, that’s the reality.

“When you buy a player from another club you buy the knowledge that this player has had in the past with other managers and team-mates. That is normal.

“We learned a lot from Omar and he’s learned a lot from the club, and now he’s gone to United.

“But Kevin De Bruyne is still in Man City, De Bruyne will play here. Erling Haaland will play here, so in the end it’s not that simple. Otherwise, with the power of United, they would have done it before.

“Maybe United think with this person everything is going to change – congratulations. I don’t know if this is going to happen.

“He is a lovely person, an incredible character, incredible professional. Yesterday I saw him, we hugged and I wished him all the best. Deeply, I wish him the best because he’s a fantastic person.

“But I don’t know if by doing this (clicks his fingers) everything is going to be sorted and it works.

“If it does happen then, oh my God, they have to make a stand for Omar Berrada in the future because he’d deserve it.”

Guardiola insists there are no hard feelings over Berrada’s departure and is confident City will appoint wisely when it comes to naming his successor.

He said: “We try to keep the best people here but this kind of thing can happen.

“The club will move forward. We’ll find a way to replace him and we’ll continue. We will be well prepared, we will adapt and adjust and move forward.”

Guardiola, meanwhile, has suggested striker Erling Haaland could return to action as the champions host Burnley in the Premier League next Wednesday.

The Norwegian has been sidelined for almost two months with a foot injury but is now back in training.

Guardiola said: “It will be eight weeks now, almost two months this or next weekend. In the process he feels good and now he needs time to make the rhythm and we’ll start to give him minutes when he is fit.

“We’ll give him three or four days and hopefully against Burnley he can play his first minutes.”

Pep Guardiola has hit back at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over comments the European governing body was right to punish the club for financial irregularities.

UEFA banned City from European competition for two years in February 2020 for breaching its Financial Fair Play rules but the ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS found that some of the charges against City were “not established” and others were time-barred.

Yet Ceferin is adamant his organisation was correct, telling the Daily Telegraph: “We know we were right. We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right.”

His remarks came as City await a Premier League hearing after being charged with 115 breaches of their domestic competition’s profit and sustainability rules.

City manager Guardiola feels that by speaking out now, Ceferin has not respected the ongoing process.

Guardiola said: “As the lawyer that he is, as president of UEFA, he should wait – and after do whatever he wants.

“He has to respect it and he has to wait. He has a lot of jobs to do at UEFA. A lawyer should respect the procedure. He knows we have the right to defend ourselves.”

Guardiola was speaking at a press conference to preview his side’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tottenham on Friday.

City will again be without striker Erling Haaland but the Norwegian is now nearing a return after almost two months out with a foot injury.

Guardiola said: “He is on the verge of coming back. For Friday he is not ready but he is close.

“The training camp was good, he trained some sessions. The last few days he’s trained but it is not perfect and we will wait a little bit more.”

John Stones is back in contention after an ankle injury but fellow defender Manuel Akanji remains on the sidelines. Goalkeeper Ederson is also fit after limping off in City’s last game at Newcastle.

City have lost on all five of their previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without even scoring a goal.

Guardiola said: “That is the reality, (and shows) how tough it is for us.

“Of course this is a ‘final’, a knockout game and to go through we have to score goals. Always it is a new opportunity to break it.

“The feeling is most of the times we played really good but the reality is there, no goals, five defeats – so they were much better than us.”

James Maddison is available for Tottenham’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City but boss Ange Postecoglou has yet to make a decision on whether he will start Friday’s clash.

Maddison has not played for Spurs since he sustained ankle ligament damage in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on November 6.

England international Maddison flourished after he moved to the club in a £40million deal from Leicester last June, scoring three goals and providing six assists in 12 appearances, and he will return to action against FA Cup holders Man City.

Postecoglou revealed: “He’s trained all week and he is fine.

“He is available and ready to start… when someone is available I assume they are ready to start.

“Whether they do or not depends on what I see with everyone else tomorrow and I usually make those decisions on game day.

“Like I said, the beauty of it is he’s got through the week really well and is ready to go.”

Manchester City have completed a move for highly-rated Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate, the Premier League champions have announced.

The 18-year-old, who is understood to have cost City in the region of £12.5million with add-ons, has signed a contract until the summer of 2028, but will remain at River until January next year.

A statement on the club’s official website said: “Manchester City have completed the signing of Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.

“Everyone at Manchester City is looking forward to welcoming Claudio to the club and we wish him the best of luck in his remaining time with River.”

Echeverri will travel the same path as Julian Alvarez, who arrived at the Etihad Stadium from River Plate in 2022.

The teenager, who turned 18 earlier this month, has already made six senior appearances for the Buenos Aries club, which is managed by former City defender Martin Demichelis, and captained Argentina to the semi-finals of the Under-17 World Cup in November and December last year.

Echeverri, who has trained with the senior national team, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 quarter-final victory over Brazil, but saw his side lose out on penalties to Germany in the last four.

Kalvin Phillips is undergoing a medical at West Ham on Thursday ahead of his loan switch from Manchester City.

The England midfielder has agreed a move to the London Stadium until the end of the season.

West Ham will have an option to buy Phillips once the loan deal is over.

The PA news agency understands the loan deal will be announced either later on Thursday or on Friday morning.

Phillips joined City from Leeds for £45million on a six-year contract in July 2022.

But the 28-year-old has never managed to hold down a regular spot in Pep Guardiola’s side and has not started a single Premier League match this season.

Crystal Palace and Newcastle were also interested in Phillips but he has opted for West Ham, who are currently sixth in the table and in the last 16 of the Europa League.

Phillips knows he needs game time with Euro 2024 coming up this summer.

Hammers boss David Moyes is also looking to offload players with Algeria winger Said Benrahma likely to leave before the transfer window closes.

Ajax’s Steven Bergwijn is a potential replacement for Benrahma with Moyes keen to build on West Ham’s strong first half of the season.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City have all slipped down the rankings in the latest Deloitte Football Money League as clubs from continental Europe gained ground.

Liverpool have had the biggest fall of any club in the top 20, from third place down to seventh, after Deloitte found their revenue had dropped slightly from £594.3million to £593.8m.

Deloitte attributed that fall to the Reds’ on-field performance, with the club finishing fifth in the Premier League last season and bowing out in the Champions League last 16.

Manchester United dropped one place to fifth despite a healthier revenue figure than the season before, while treble winners City were leapfrogged by Real Madrid and now sit second, despite posting a record Premier League revenue figure in their most recent accounts.

The Money League looks at revenue figures reported in clubs’ annual accounts for the 2022-23 season and does not look at operating costs.

Tottenham and Chelsea switched places compared to last year, with Spurs up one place to eighth, while Arsenal held on to 10th position.

Real led the way with revenue of £723m in 2022-23, demonstrating the club are doing well out of European football’s current ecosystem, despite their president Florentino Perez being arguably the most staunch advocate for a Super League.

Paris St Germain enter the top three for the first time, while Barcelona moved up three places to seventh with a revenue figure of £696m.

Tim Bridge, the lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the PA news agency: “There is a point in time, a moment here, where you’ve got Real Madrid and Barcelona redeveloping their stadiums, they have made moves towards controlling much more of their operations, particularly merchandising and licensing, so those revenue figures are a result of direct changes they have made to their business model.

“When we look at the Premier League holistically we’re not 100 per cent certain the days of significant domestic growth in media rights is over, but what we can say is, without significant competition coming into that market, then single-figure percentage growth is the likely outcome in that domestic market. Therefore the focus is on what can be done in the international market.

“What has always underpinned the fact there have been 10 or 11 Premier League clubs in the Money League has been that the media rights growth has given them significant distributions. Other leagues have caught up and there has been a slight plateauing of Premier League rights.”

Deloitte said the top 20 clubs had earned 10.5billion euros (£9bn) collectively, a 14 per cent increase on the previous season.

Barcelona Femeni were the top-earning women’s club in the world, with revenue rising by 74 per cent to £11.6m.

UEFA’s investigators were “right” to ban Manchester City from European competition after finding they had breached financial regulations, its president Aleksander Ceferin has said.

City were handed a two-year suspension in February 2020 by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), but the penalty was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in July of that year.

CAS found some of the alleged breaches were “not established”, while others were time-barred. The club’s fine for failing to co-operate with CFCB investigators was reduced by CAS to 10 million euros (£8.6m).

Ceferin, however, has backed his organisation’s process.

“We know we were right. We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right,” Ceferin told the Daily Telegraph.

“As a trial lawyer for 25 years, I know that, sometimes, you win a case that you are sure you will lose,” he added.

“And, sometimes, you lose a case when you’re sure… You have to respect the decision of the court. I don’t want to speak about the case in England. But I trust that the decision of our independent body was correct.”

The case in England Ceferin mentioned was the decision of the Premier League in February last year to refer City to an independent commission, charged with more than 100 breaches of the competition’s financial rules.

City said they looked forward to presenting “irrefutable evidence” to the commission against the charges brought.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told the Culture, Media and Sport select committee last week that a date has been set for the commission hearing, but declined to say what that date was.

Defending the length of the City process when compared to other cases such as Everton’s brought under the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), Masters said the City case was different “in volume and character” to Everton’s case, or that involving Nottingham Forest.

West Ham have agreed a loan deal with Manchester City for England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, the PA news agency understands.

Neither club have commented but it is understood, if completed, the 28-year-old would join the Hammers for the remainder of the season.

Phillips has been linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this month after struggling for game time with the treble winners.

After an injury-hit first campaign at City following a £45million move from Leeds in 2022, Phillips has started just two first-team games this term.

The loan switch could enhance the player’s chances of retaining his place in the England squad ahead of Euro 2024 this summer.

There was reported interest from Newcastle and Juventus but West Ham have emerged as the most likely destination.

Phillips is now expected to discuss personal terms after returning from Abu Dhabi, where he has been warm-weather training with City.

If talks progress, he could undergo a medical and complete the move before the end of the week.

What the papers say

Manchester United are keen to offload embattled winger Jadon Sancho in a permanent deal, putting the England international – currently on loan at Borussia Dortmund – on offer to Saudi clubs for around £50million, the Evening Standard reports.

The club have also opened offers up for Brazil winger Antony, to Saudi sides for a similar price tag, writes the Standard, as United look to claw back some of the heavy investment they made in the two 23-year-olds.

West Ham are inching closer to striking a deal for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, however the Daily Mail reports that there may be some late interest from Juventus in the 28-year-old England international.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Kieran Trippier: Newcastle are demanding that Bayern Munich pay a fee of around £12million for the 33-year-old England full-back who is open to moving to the German giants, says Sky Sports.

Armando Broja: West Ham’s hopes of signing the Albania forward in the January transfer window look slim, as Football Insider reports that Chelsea want at least £50million for the 22-year-old.

Abdoulaye Doucoure: The Everton and Mali midfielder is understood to be a target for Saudi side Al-Ettifaq, writes the Guardian.

Manchester City signed Netherlands midfielder Nigel de Jong on this day in 2009 as a remarkable spending spree gathered pace.

The club were undergoing an astonishing overhaul following the takeover of Sheikh Mansour the previous summer and De Jong became a key cog in their rapid transformation from mid-table battlers to eventual champions.

De Jong, then 29, penned a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Premier League club after City agreed a fee of around £18million with Hamburg.

His arrival came soon after the high-profile captures of Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge at the then City of Manchester Stadium and was quickly followed, in the same transfer window, by that of goalkeeper Shay Given.

City had begun sending shockwaves through the transfer market on the day of the sheikh’s takeover in August 2008 when they snapped up Brazilian Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5million.

They had set their sights even higher in January 2009 as they made an audacious, then world record, £100million attempt to buy Kaka from AC Milan.

That failed but De Jong’s signing, albeit far more modest, proved sensible as the defensive midfielder added steel to a side needing a grafter amid a huge influx of exciting attacking talent. Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez were among the newcomers the following summer.

The Dutchman went on to make 137 appearances for City over three and a half years, helping them win the FA Cup and Premier League, before leaving for Milan.

He later had spells in the United States, Turkey and Qatar and also earned 81 international caps before retiring in 2021.

Everton and Nottingham Forest face the threat of points deductions this season after the Premier League said the clubs had confirmed they were in breach of the competition’s financial rules.

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look.

What has happened?

The Premier League says Everton and Forest have confirmed to it that they are in breach of the competition’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), having incurred losses above permitted levels for the assessment period up to the end of last season. Independent commissions will now be appointed to determine the appropriate sanctions, the league said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

What are the PSR?

The intention of these regulations is to ensure clubs are run sustainably. They have been in place for over a decade. Clubs are in breach of PSR if their losses over the assessment period – usually three seasons but in this case 2022-23, 2021-22 and an average of the two Covid-affected seasons before that – exceed £105m. Losses related to investment in infrastructure spending and other areas such as youth and women’s football are “added back” and not included within the calculation of loss. Forest’s maximum permitted loss was £61m, with the threshold reduced by £22m for each season that they were in the Championship during the assessment period. Critics of PSR say the rules lock in advantage for the bigger clubs with higher revenues and prevent ambitious clubs from challenging the elite.

What have the affected clubs said?

Forest say they intend to “continue to co-operate fully with the Premier League” and that they are “confident of a speedy and fair resolution”. Everton, who are already appealing against a 10-point penalty imposed by an independent commission in November in relation to an earlier PSR breach, released a much more bullish statement which highlighted what they see as “a clear deficiency” in the league’s rules. The club are understood to feel they are the subject of ‘double jeopardy’, and that league rules do not prevent a club being sanctioned for breaches which have already been subject to punishment.

What happens now?

Clubs agreed a new expedited process to deal with PSR breaches at their most recent annual general meeting in summer 2023. Under that process, Everton and Forest have 14 days to respond to Monday’s complaint from the Premier League, and hearings must conclude within 12 weeks of the complaint being issued. The commission’s decision must be handed down within seven days of the hearing’s conclusion to allow time for the appeal process, which must be complete no later than June 1 – the point at which promoted clubs gain their Premier League ‘shares’. In Everton’s case, they say the ‘in-season’ process means they must defend the league’s complaint before the appeal against the November sanction has even been heard.

If Everton and Forest’s cases will be dealt with this season, why is the Manchester City case still rumbling on?

In simple terms, because the City case is so much more complex. Although the league announced City had been referred to an independent commission last February, the size and scope of the case means it will take much longer to resolve. Sources close to the league point out that even if a case of an equivalent magnitude happened now, since the adoption of the ‘in-season’ process, it could not be dealt with under an expedited process.

What the papers say

Newcastle have dropped out of the fight for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips due to his loan fee being too expensive, the Telegraph reports. The England international’s proposed move to the Magpies reportedly does not make sense financially. Sky Sports says Juventus, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Everton are all interested in the 28-year-old.

Chelsea are going to demand the £35million release clause for any club who wants to sign their 21-year-old Dutch defender Ian Maatsen, who recently joined Borussia Dortmund on loan, the Telegraph says.

Jesse Lingard could be on the move to the United States with MLS team the Portland Timbers interested in the 31-year-old free agent’s services, the Daily Mail says.

Celtic have got Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher on their radar, the Daily Mail says, but there is also interest from Wolves, Brighton and Brentford for the 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Jhon Duran: Chelsea are reportedly interested in a short loan deal for the 20-year-old Aston Villa forward who has scored two goals in 14 Premier League games this season, Metro reports.

Bruno Guimaraes: Talksport says Paris St Germain are interested in the Newcastle midfielder, who has a £100million release clause.

Manchester City snatched a last-gasp win over Newcastle on Saturday as they look to kick-start their traditional title charge in the second half of the Premier League season.

Pep Guardiola’s side have won five of the last six titles and here, the PA news agency looks at their formidable record in the run-in.

Strong in the home stretch

City have won at least 14 of their final 19 games in each of the last six seasons, with a minimum of 45 points in that stretch (2.37 per game) in their five title-winning campaigns and 43 in 2019-20 when they finished second to Liverpool.

That includes the Premier League’s only 100-point tally in 2017-18 and the memorable battle the following season in which Liverpool set another record by finishing second with 97 points.

That season required City’s best run-in of all, winning 18 of their last 19 games and the last 14 in succession to stay a point ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s side, who themselves finished with nine straight wins.

City won 14 of their last 19 games in 2019-20 but lost four – to Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Southampton – as they finished 18 points behind the Reds, who had built up a dominant lead by winning 18 and drawing one before the halfway point.

Guardiola’s side have won 15, 14 and 15 of their 19 games in the second half of the three seasons since, winning the title on each occasion. That includes another one-point winning margin in 2021-22, when Liverpool won 16 and drew three in the run-in.

In the six completed seasons going back to 2017-18, City won 90 out of 114 games in the second half of the campaign to earn 280 points. Oscar Bobb’s late goal at St James’ Park on Saturday provided just the start required for another strong finish to the campaign this year.

Liverpool rank second with 254 points in the equivalent games, with Manchester United the only other team over 200 at a distant 208. City do also have 267 points in the first halves of those seasons, 18 more than Liverpool with the established ‘big six’ all above 200.

Let battle recommence

Liverpool are again the main rivals for this season’s title, currently top of the league and two points ahead of City having lost only one game.

Aston Villa are alongside City on 43 points but have played a game more and won only one of their last four, with Arsenal slipping three points further back in fourth after a run of one win in five. Spurs also have 40 points but, like Villa, have played 21 games.

With City and Liverpool’s goal difference also level on plus-25, the stage is set for another memorable fight over the second half of the season.

City’s experience and winning record in those battles will aid their bid, as is the keenly awaited return of Erling Haaland – still joint-top of the Golden Boot standings with 14 goals despite missing the last five games.

He is alongside Mohamed Salah, who was ever-present for Liverpool’s first 20 games but now faces his own absence of potentially up to four matches while away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations. Salah also leads the league in assists, alongside Villa’s Ollie Watkins, with eight.

Pep Guardiola has backed match-winner Oscar Bobb to serve Manchester City for “many, many years” – if they can keep hold of him.

The 20-year-old came off the bench at Newcastle on Saturday evening to snatch a 3-2 victory which catapulted the reigning Premier League champions right back into the thick of this season’s title race.

Bobb’s imperious control and nimble-footed finish, prompted by the brilliance of fellow substitute Kevin De Bruyne, left Guardiola purring, but fully aware that another of his emerging talents could follow Cole Palmer, now plying his trade at Chelsea, out of the door at the Etihad Stadium if he cannot give him the football he craves.

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The City boss said: “We have another player for many, many years – if he decides to stay. Maybe he decides for now he is happy with those minutes.

“Cole Palmer was happy with those minutes, but after two or three years, they want more and it’s natural, it’s completely understandable. Maybe I don’t give them those minutes and they decide to go there.

“If he decides to stay, we have a player for many, many, many years.”

Bobb’s cameo at St James’ Park capped a thrilling night of football characterised by a display of increasingly bewildering finishing.

Bernardo Silva gave the visitors a 26th-minute lead when he nonchalantly flicked Kyle Walker’s cross past Martin Dubravka, but they were pegged back by Alexander Isak’s delicious strike 10 minutes before the break and found themselves behind two minutes later when Anthony Gordon repeated the dose.

City dominated the second half without finding a breakthrough until shortly after Guardiola sent on De Bruyne for his first league appearance since August with 21 minutes remaining, and it was he who levelled with a pinpoint 74th-minute effort.

The game appeared destined to finish all square until a minute into stoppage time when Bobb collected De Bruyne’s pass with the deftest of touches, side-stepped Kieran Trippier and stabbed the ball past Dubravka to win it with his first league goal.

Guardiola decided to take Bobb on the club’s summer tour to Asia on the recommendation of director of football Txiki Begiristain and has been richly rewarded since.

He said: “Txiki at the end of the season, he said to me he that Oscar Bobb in the under-23s was the best player by far. Then I said, okay, go to Japan, start to train with us and immediately Oscar got something that is the most important thing, relying on his mates. It’s more important than relying on the manager.

“When the mates can say, ‘Okay, this player can play with us’, that is for the best success, and it was immediate.

“He can play in five positions – striker, right-winger, left, in pockets – he is so dynamic, the work ethic is unbelievable. He doesn’t feel much the pressure.

“An important part of the season is November, December, a lot of games. Important players were not there and Oscar helped us, and that is great, it’s really, really great.”