Here are the latest stories for Friday.
MAN CITY: Sergio Aguero’s agent has dismissed speculation linking the Manchester City striker with a summer move to Real Madrid, telling The Guardian he is staying at the club.
– Playing for Pep Guardiola is made more difficult by his insistence on winning with style, says Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure.
ARSENAL: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is keeping tabs on Kylian Mbappe and told The Ligue 1 Show the Monaco youngster “could be another Thierry Henry.”
– Wenger says Aaron Ramsey will miss three weeks with a calf strain, deepening the Gunners’ midfield crisis at a crucial stage of the season.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Azerbaijan could stage the 2019 Champions League final, with UEFA announcing that Azeri capital Baku is vying with Madrid for the right to host the showpiece fixture in two years’ time.
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool have confirmed chief executive officer Ian Ayre will leave the club at the end of February. Ayre will leave his post on Merseyside to become general manager of 2. Bundesliga side 1860 Munich at a later date, which is yet to be announced.
– Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he agrees “100 percent” that managers should treat officials with respect but said outbursts are inevitable because “a manager is still a human being.”
CHELSEA: Antonio Conte has revealed he is still haunted by Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in September.
– Pep Guardiola’s claim that the Premier League title is Chelsea’s to lose is no more than a “normal mental strategy,” according to Antonio Conte.
– Cesc Fabregas says he is not hiding from a “new situation” of spending so much time on the bench this season.
– Nathan Ake says he wants to prove it is “possible” for an academy graduate to break into the first team at Chelsea after being recalled early from his loan spell at Bournemouth by Antonio Conte in January.
MAN UNITED: Manchester United’s Axel Tuanzebe has signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with the club just days after making his first-team debut.
– Manchester United defender Phil Jones has said the team “only have ourselves to blame” after failing to put pressure on the clubs above them in the Premier League.
– United have recalled Dean Henderson from his loan spell at Grimsby Town after third-choice goalkeeper Joel Pereira sustained an injury.
REAL MADRID: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the world’s highest-earning athlete for the first time, becoming only the second individual from a team sport to lead the Forbes rankings since they began in 1990.
– Fabregas has said Ronaldo would never be whistled by his own team fans were he playing in the Premier League.
TOTTENHAM: Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed Danny Rose will see a specialist on Monday following a scan on his knee injury.
– Mousa Dembele believes Tottenham Hotspur can achieve “something special” in the Premier League title race, telling Sky Sports that the club has learned from last season.
WEST HAM: Roberto Mancini has spoken of his desire to return to management in the Premier League, six months after losing his job as coach of Inter Milan.
LEICESTER: Claudio Ranieri has insisted he has “no issue” with Leicester City’s Leonardo Ulloa and that the forward will play for the club again, despite the Argentine claiming earlier this week that he would not kick another ball for the Premier League champions after being “betrayed” by the manager.
STOKE: Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed striker Saido Berahino served an FA disciplinary suspension before he joined the club in the January transfer window.
SWANSEA: Swansea boss Paul Clement has revealed he tried to sign Frank Lampard before the former England star announced his retirement.
SUNDERLAND: Sebastian Coates has left Sunderland after agreeing a permanent switch to Sporting Lisbon.
BAYERN MUNICH: Bayern Munich midfielders Arturo Vidal and Thiago Alcantara are both available for Saturday’s game against Schalke but captain Philipp Lahm could miss out on making his 500th appearance.
BARCELONA: Sergio Busquets returned to Barcelona training on Friday and a late decision will be taken on his fitness for the weekend’s game against Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou.
– Ronaldinho has reached an agreement with Barcelona to return to the club in an ambassador role, it was confirmed on Thursday.
– Ronaldinho says Pep Guardiola wanted him to stay at Barcelona when he took over as the Catalan club’s manager in 2008.
DORTMUND: Alexander Isak is now eligible to play for Borussia Dortmund after FIFA approved his transfer from AIK Solna, although he has been left out of the club’s Champions League squad.
– Thomas Tuchel said his Borussia Dortmund side must avoid negative pressure as they seek a top-three finish in the Bundesliga.
FIFA: FIFA is closing its match-fixing detection division, deciding to outsource the work of discovering betting irregularities in world football.
– FIFA is interested in the possibility of using video assistant referees (VARs) at the 2018 World Cup, the technical director of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has told The Times.
UNITED STATES: Bruce Arena will make a host of changes to the lineup that started Sunday’s goalless draw against Serbia in San Diego, the U.S. coach said on the eve of the national team’s friendly here against Jamaica.
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