SERGIO AGUERO is to leave Man City this summer, the club have confirmed.
Meanwhile Chelsea are reportedly looking to include Timo Werner in a potential swap deal for Erling Haaland with Borussia Dortmund.
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KON AIR
SunSport’s Charlie Wyett says: “Liverpool are in pole position to land RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate for £33million.
“A number of European clubs have been watching the French centre-back, 21.
“But the Premier League champions are the only ones prepared to meet his buy-out clause.
“Liverpool have drawn up a five-man list for potential central defenders this summer.
“And this includes Ozan Kabak, 21, who joined on loan from Schalke in January.”
LUKE AT HIM NOW
Luke Shaw knows he is drinking in the last chance saloon with England — but promises he will never betray Gareth Southgate’s trust again.
The Manchester United left-back made his long-awaited return during Sunday’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win in Albania.
And Shaw confessed: “I have some massive regrets about my England career and I couldn’t stop thinking about the mistakes I had made in the past.
“I have pulled out of a lot of squads and I was letting the boss down because maybe I wasn’t in the best condition around that time.
“The last time I played before Sunday was against Spain in 2018 and I’ve given it so much thought over the past two years.
“I tried to keep in touch with the manager just to let him know that things have changed, but I had a few discussions with my family and they thought that maybe I wouldn’t get back into it.
“But deep down I always believed that if I worked hard I could earn a recall and Gareth has given me another chance so now I need to prove to him that I want to be a part of this squad.
“I remember watching the last World Cup and seeing how well the squad was doing and it really made me want to get involved.
“Maybe at that time I wasn’t mentally right. I had injury problems but maybe they were ones that could have been dealt with.”
MO SWEAT
Arsenal star Mohamed Elneny curled in a beauty as Egypt battered Comoros 4-0 on Monday evening.
COMPUTER SAYS GO
Manchester United will qualify for the Champions League – but Newcastle are heading for the Championship next season, according to a supercomputer.
Thomas Tuchel is expected to get his Blues into the top four, joining champions Manchester City, second-place United and Leicester in third.
RACE FOR EUROPE
Meanwhile, Vladimir Coufal was coy on whether the team will qualify for the Champions League.
He said: “David Moyes is a big personality for Scottish football and for our Premier League. He is very helpful. Still he is asking about something, what do we need.
“Hopefully, I wish [to qualify for the Champions League]. But we will see. We have to stay with our feet on the ground and we will see at the end of the season.
“West Ham is very popular now in Czech Republic. It’s very pleasant and I really enjoy it.”
HAMMER BLOW
Vladimir Coufal has claimed the Czech Republic side stand by Ondrej Kudela following allegations that he racially abused Rangers’ Glen Kamara.
The West Ham star said: “Of course, everyone from the Czech team stands by Ondrej and everyone is glad that he is here.
“He is an important part of our squad. Other things that happened, I can’t comment on.
“I think Ondrej is happy he could be here. He is a big professional and for him, it’s no problem.”
JACK POT
Jack Grealish returned to training with Aston Villa today to end his five-week injury exile ahead of a swift return against Fulham on Sunday.
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
Thomas Muller has addressed Pep Guardiola’s Champions League hoodoo that the Spaniard suffered at Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
He told the Times: “A team with Guardiola is always in shape to win it.
“But the problem is in the knockout stage you have only two games and many crazy things can happen.
“It is more random than in 38 games like the Premier League. In the last two years, Liverpool was amazing but normally a good team with Guardiola wins the league, for sure.
“The way he prepares his teams, his team against smaller teams, he is the best. But when top teams play against each other, the difference is not big enough to put away the random facts.”
GUARD UP
Thomas Muller also gushed over former boss Guardiola, who is set to win a third Premier League title with Manchester City.
He enthused: “Our advantage was that Pep came after our big win [the Champions League and German double] in 2013 — we had no time to rest on our success because Pep kicked our ass in every training session.”
MULL IT OVER
Thomas Muller has refused to rule out a move to the Premier League.
He told The Times: “I’m not fixed to this club.
“I have a special relationship, I love Bayern before I started playing for them, but when there is a situation where you have to decide maybe to play for a different club it would be no shame and no problem at all.
“Maybe like with Thiago [Alcantara, now at Liverpool].”
AGUERO SPEAKS OUT
The Manchester City legend has released his own statement on social media following his exit announcement.
CITY LIMITS
Manchester City have confirmed Sergio Aguero will leave the club this summer.
The Argentina striker, 32, is City’s all-time leading goalscorer with 257 goals in 384 games.
Aguero joined the club in 2011 from Atletico Madrid for £35million.
And he has led City to numerous trophies including four Premier League titles.
But Aguero will part ways with the club after ten years when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
CLASS ABOVE
Manchester City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak has revealed the club will build a Sergio Aguero statue alongside David Silva and Vincent Kompany.
He told the club’s website: “Sergio’s contribution to Manchester City over the last 10 years cannot be overstated.
“His legend will be indelibly etched into the memories of everyone who loves the Club and maybe even in those who simply love football.
“This is not yet the moment for farewell words and speeches. There is still much to achieve in the remainder of the time we have with Sergio, and we look forward to his contributions to the challenges which lay ahead.
“In the meantime, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we will be commissioning an artist to create a statue of Sergio to live at the Etihad Stadium alongside the ones under construction for Vincent and David. And we look forward to the opportunity to bid Sergio a fitting farewell at the end of the season.”
AGUER-NO
Manchester City have confirmed that Sergio Aguero is set to leave on a free transfer this summer.
MAKING THEIR MARC
Manchester United have joined Tottenham and Liverpool in the race for RB Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer.
The 27-year-old Austrian, who captains the high-flying Bundesliga side, is catching the eye of several Premier League teams with his performances this season.
And now Bild have reported that the Red Devils are keen to bring the midfielder to the club in the summer window.
SAN HERO
Romelu Lukaku is set for talks over a bumper new Inter Milan contract, according to reports.
The Belgian striker, 27, has been in red-hot form since making the switch to the San Siro in 2019.
That has led to speculation of transfer interest from the likes of ex-employers Chelsea as well as Barcelona.
But the Daily Mail state Inter are trying to tie their No9 down to an improved deal.
Talks are expected to begin later in the year to discuss a pay rise.
MORE FROM HAVERTZ
He added: “It has been difficult to change everything. It’s hard for me but I’m seven months here and getting used to the place now.
“I haven’t seen much of the country or the city of London. Every day I just go to training and then come back and spend the rest of the day at home.
“It’s not easy but people have more problems than me. I do what I love – I play football and that’s my job right now.
“Hopefully there will be a big change soon and then I hope the experience in England will be much better with fans and everything.”
KAI IN THE SKY
Kai Havertz is confident he has put a ‘tough’ start to life at Chelsea behind him.
He told the club’s website: “It’s been a tough season.
“I know things haven’t been going smoothly but I think that’s normal when you first go abroad. It takes half a year or longer to adjust.
“Things are going well right now so I don’t want to over-think those negative impressions from the past. I am positive and hope that the next weeks will be every bit as good.”
FANDEMONIUM
The Government has confirmed it will back allowing 20,000 fans to attend the FA Cup Final – in a bid to speed up the return to full houses by the end of the summer.
One of next month’s FA Cup semis is also in line to have be watched by a crowd as well – although that will be entirely made up of no more than 4,000 local residents.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston is working with the FA, Premier League and other sports bodies ahead of the scheduled May 17 date for turnstiles to be re-opened for crowds of up to 10,000.
Huddleston told LBC: “We’re finalising the details but the figure of 20,000 for the FA Cup Final is one I recognise and that seems to be the ambition.
“We would like as many as possible as we believe is safe because these are important tests and processes to get the systems in place in terms of hygiene and other things.
“On May 17 the goal is for major outdoor events to have capacities of 10,000 so the pilot would be pushing it beyond that, which is quite important.”
REAL PROBLEM
Arsenal and Real Madrid have agreed to delay talks regarding Martin Odegaard’s future until the summer.
Mikel Arteta appears keen on keeping the attacking midfielder on a permanent basis but Los Blancos have yet to decide whether he is part of their plans for next season.
According to Goal, the two clubs have decided to wait until the end of the season before holding talks over a possible permanent deal involving the 22-year-old.
Arsenal are reportedly worried that his parent club will demand a staggering fee of £50million once they return to the negotiation table.
AUBA THE TOP
Alexandre Lacazette teased ‘sexy boy’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for his new haircut.
The Arsenal No9 filmed his team-mate heading back into the Arsenal dressing room and shared the video on his Instagram story.
Aubemayang, 31, returned to Gunners training after the international break rocking Travis Scott-style braids.
Alongside his pink, blue and yellow fluorescent t-shirt, ripped jeans, trainers, watch, chain and shades, the Arsenal skipper was looking rather dapper indeed.
And Lacazette ensured his 3.1million Instagram followers got a glimpse of his welcome behind the scenes at London Colney.
The Frenchman, 29, shouted: “Travis Scott is in the f***ing building, show it to the gram, yes show it to the gram, sexy boy!”
KNEE BOTHER
Manchester United have dealt a new injury blow with Anthony Martial a doubt for France’s game against Bosnia.
The striker, 25, bagged an assist in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Kazakhstan.
But Martial was forced off the pitch after picking up a knock to his knee.
And RMC Sport now claims the forward is set to miss France’s third World Cup qualifier against Bosnia on Wednesday.
It’s said Martial took damage to the fibula on his left knee.
And it now remains to be seen if the ace will be fit for United’s Premier League clash against Brighton on Sunday.
RED ALERT
Ibrahima Konate’s phone has been ‘ringing all over the place’ since strong Liverpool links emerged this morning.
Asked about the reports by L’Equipe, he responded: “I woke up, I saw my phone ringing all over the place.
“I just wanted to tell them, ‘Hey, I played yesterday, I’m tired, leave me alone.’
“Frankly, I don’t even watch this.
“We can’t focus on that, there are the Euros and then my return to the club.
“You have to focus on that and not on the external things.”
AMERICAN DAN
Daniel Sturridge is at the centre of a transfer tug of war in the MLS, according to reports.
The former Liverpool striker is wanted by David Beckham’s side Inter Miami as well as rivals DC United.
Sturridge, 31, is a free agent after leaving Turkish team Trabzonspor last year.
And Daily Mail report that American sides Inter Miami and DC United are trying to sign the striker.
BALE OUT
Gareth Bale has called for a sporting boycott on social media to eradicate vile abuse online.
The Wales captain’s team-mates Rabbi Matondo and Ben Cabango were the latest footballers to receive racist abuse on Instagram after the 1-0 win over Mexico on Saturday.
Bale said: “If everyone came together and decided to boycott social media to make a statement, if we had a campaign, not just one or two people, where a lot of big influential people in sport and in other forms of life came off social media to make a statement, then yes, I definitely think it could help.
“If that is the case then I would obviously be all for that.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
