What the papers say

Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha is reportedly high on Mikel Arteta’s transfer wish list. According to the Daily Mirror, the Gunners’ boss views signing a new central midfielder as one of his priorities ahead of the January transfer window, with Palhinha considered a top prospect. Any move would also signal the end of Thomas Partey’s time with the Gunners.

Should Palhinha depart Fulham, the Telegraph reports the club already have an alternative in mind. The paper says Brazilian midfielder Andre, of Fluminense, is the club’s number one target to replace Palhinha at Craven Cottage.

Elsewhere, The Independent says Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is ready to clean house. According to the paper, the club are willing to hear offers for midfie…

Xavi has challenged Ansu Fati to prove he can be a leader for Barcelona while suspended striker Robert Lewandowski waits to return.

Fati only played the closing moments of Barcelona s 3-1 Supercopa de Espana final win over Real Madrid last Sunday as the club landed their first trophy since Lionel Messi left in August 2021. It was Xavi s first trophy as Barcelona coach.

The 20-year-old Fati was a substitute again for the Copa del Rey win over Ceuta on Thursday, coming on to score the third goal in a 5-0 rout.

His bit-part role is something Fati may have to accept given Lewandowski is a seemingly guaranteed starter when available to head coach Xavi. This weekend sees Lewandowski serve the second part of a three-game ban.

Gavi, Pedri and Ousmane Dembele have…

RB Leipzig defender Willi Orban admits it will be difficult for the club to mount another Bundesliga title challenge as last season s fairy-tale story prepare to make their Champions League bow.

Leipzig took the Bundesliga by storm in 2016-17, threatening to dethrone German giants Bayern Munich in their first season in the top flight.

Orban and his team-mates eventually finished runners-up to Bayern, securing automatic Champions League qualification in the process, capping their meteoric and rapid rise through the German divisions having only been formed in 2009.

An unknown quantity in 2016-17, Leipzig will have to deal with additional pressure and matches this time around, and Orban was keen to play down any hype following last season s remarkable exploits.

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Enzo Maresca was pleased with Chelsea s win in their Europa Conference League play-off first leg but says they played with fire in the closing stages.

Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke both netted in the second half of their 2-0 victory, earning Maresca his first win in charge of the Blues.

However, it was almost a different story as Chelsea came under late pressure, with Jeremy Guillermenot squandering two chances in stoppage time to half the deficit for the Swiss side.

Despite seeing improvements from their Premier League defeat against Manchester City, Maresca says there is still a lot of work to do if they want to find some consistency.

I was a bit worried because in the last 10 minutes, we played a little bit with fire because we could manage the …

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Lee Mason has left his role by mutual consent after his blunder cost Arsenal a win against Brentford last weekend.

The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw in a London derby last Saturday, though Ivan Toney s equaliser should have been disallowed.

Toney headed in from close range after Christian Norgaard nudged the ball across the face of goal, but the latter had been offside in the build-up.

The goal went to a VAR check for a separate incident instead, with Mason – in charge of the technology for the game – not spotting Norgaard strayed just offside.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for referees in England, subsequently acknowledged it was a significant error and Mason was not assign…

Juventus failed to give Massimiliano Allegri a winning send-off as late goals from Gregoire Defrel and Gianluca Caprari secured a 2-0 win for Sampdoria on Sunday.

The Old Lady have made a habit of winning under Allegri during his five years in charge, lifting five successive league titles, though they fell short of those standards in Genoa and dropped points for a fifth Serie A game on the bounce.

There was a distinct end-of-season feel to the majority of the first half, with excitement lacking and clear-cut chances at a premium.

Proceedings picked up at the start of the second period, with Juve going close three times and having a Moise Kean goal disallowed, but Sampdoria s more clinical finishing saw them claim victory.

Defrel opened the scoring six min…

Germany striker Mario Gomez has sealed a return to former club Stuttgart from Bundesliga counterparts Wolfsburg on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The 32-year-old was a product of the youth system at Stuttgart, where he made his Bundesliga and international breakthroughs more than a decade ago, memorably firing Die Schwaben to the title in 2006-07.

Gomez has 155 goals in 281 Bundesliga appearances over the course of his career and 87 of those came with Stuttgart before joining Bayern Munich in 2009 for a then German top-flight record of €30million.

He went on to play for Fiorentina and Besiktas, with Gomez s form for the Turkish giants earning him a surprise Germany recall for Euro 2016, four years on from his previous competitive appearance for Die Mannsc…

Liverpool are still getting to know Xherdan Shaqiri, according to Jurgen Klopp, who admitted it was difficult to leave the Switzerland winger out of his staring XI against Cardiff City.

Despite setting up Mohamed Salah s winner against Huddersfield Town before impressing against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, Shaqiri had to settle for a place on the bench for Saturday s Premier League clash at Anfield, with Adam Lallana preferred.

But the former Stoke City man made the ideal impact when he was introduced, netting Liverpool s third goal in a 4-1 win just moments after Callum Paterson had pulled one back.

And Klopp has emphasised that Shaqiri was rested, rather than dropped, with Liverpool unsure of how the 27-year-old would react to a congested fixtur…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Napoli forward Fernando Llorente has been offered to Tottenham Hotspur on a short term deal – however, Spurs aren’t believed to be all too interested in re-signing their former striker. 

Llorente was well known towards the back-end of his Tottenham days for popping up with goals of real importance from time to time. Alas, it always seemed likely that he was going to leave, which he did. 

The veteran seems to be interested in the potential of a return to North London but now that Jose Mourinho is in charge, it seems like the priorities of the club have shifted. Tottenham certainly have something of a minor injury crisis on their hands, especially with Harry Kane being out until April. If they want to make a serio…