Serie A

SERIE A has been rocked by a new “spygate” drama after a coach was found hiding in a tree while taking notes of a rival training session.Jose Mourinho’s former side Roma reportedly caught a member of staff from upcoming opponents Torino spying at their training ground over the weekend.
A Torino staff member was caught spying on Roma’s training session ahead of their Serie A matchCredit: Getty
Il Messaggaro claims Michele Orecchio was found hiding in a tree while taking notes by a security guard.
Roma, now managed by Daniele De Rossi, welcome Torino to the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night.
And Orecchio was thought to be gathering intel for the upcoming tactical battle.
It’s not known how long he was hiding for, or how much information he gathered.
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But De Rossi is said to have immediately halted Roma’s session until the coast was clear
Amazingly, it’s not the first time Orecchio’s been caught spying on the capital club either.
Last season, he was nabbed while in possession of recording equipment outside Roma’s training ground.
Orecchio was reportedly busted by Mourinho’s assistant Nuno Santos.
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But there was no punishment of any kind for the Torino man.
And his mission clearly backfired after Roma downed the Turin side 1-0.
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De Rossi’s men currently lie sixth in the table after winning four of their last five games.
As for Torino, they are tenth and just one point behind reigning champions Napoli.
Serie A’s “spygate” mission comes five years after the infamous Championship debacle between Leeds and Derby.
Marcelo Bielsa sent a member of staff to watch Frank Lampard’s side before their league meeting.
The Leeds man was caught in the act, but Bielsa insisted he had done nothing “illegal.”
And the now-Uruguay manager proceeded to reveal detailed notes of all Leeds’ opponents to the media in a bid to prove his point. More

Former Premier League striker M’Baye Niang has been rushed to hospital after wrecking his car.The Senegal international spent the first half of 2017 on loan to Watford from AC Milan.
M’Baye Niang was involved in a horror car crash in ItalyCredit: Getty
Niang made 16 Premier League appearances for WatfordCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
He made 16 top-flight appearances, scoring in the Hornets’ wins over Burnley and West Brom.
France-born Niang joined Italian Serie A club Empoli last month from Turks Adana Demirspor.
But the 29-year-old was rushed to hospital on Tuesday morning after his Mercedes SUV collided with several parked cars in Empoli, near Florence.
Niang has previously figured in a series of motoring mishaps in Italy and France.
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Empoli sporting director Pietro Accardi said: “M’Baye Niang advised us promptly about the accident that took place.
“As a club we know that since the lad’s arrival at Empoli he has usually gone out early each morning, to join a prayer group with others who practise the same faith as him.
“The player then returned home.
“M’Baye is well.  He passed all the normal tests from the competent authorities.”
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Niang trained later in the day, and is expected to be fit for Saturday’s relegation six-pointer at Sassuolo.
He landed a motoring ban in Italy aged just 17 for driving without a licence – and pretending to be an older Milan clubmate – in 2012.
The striker crashed his Ferrari into a tree while with Montpellier in 2014, and received a suspended 18-month jail term for an alleged hit-and-run incident that left 11 people injured.
And two years later the accident-prone attacker suffered ankle and shoulder injuries after another car smash.
Play stopped as Watford player M’Baye Niang carries a baby bird off the pitch More

PAUL POGBA could “return to the pitch tomorrow”, claims his agent Rafaela Pimenta.The former Manchester United star, 30, has been out of action since September after testing positive for banned substance DHEA, a precursor hormone of testosterone.
Paul Pogba has been suspended since SeptemberCredit: Getty
Pogba will have to undergo trial at the National Anti-Doping Tribunal.
Proceedings were initially supposed to get under way on January 18th, but the date was pushed back.
Pimenta has denied that Pogba intended to break the rules, telling Tuttosport last year: “We’re waiting for the counter-analysis and we can’t say anything now.
“For sure, Pogba never wanted to bend the rules — I can guarantee that.”
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The agent has since offered a further update on the Frenchman’s status, telling Calciomercato: “Pogba could return to the pitch tomorrow.
“He is ready for any situation, he is also a champion mentally. He takes a blow, digests it and moves on.
“He didn’t move forward irresponsibly, he trains knowing that he must be ready.”
Still contracted to Juventus, Pogba believes that he has a point to prove in his career.
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Pimenta added: “Sometimes I’ll ask him: ‘Shall we do something else?’. And he’ll get angry, saying to me: ‘Rafa! I have to train.
“You don’t understand, I have to play, I have to win, and I have to finish a journey that I started’.
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“If he were to play tomorrow, he could come on the pitch and play. Obviously, it’s a difficult moment to overcome.”
Pogba rejoined Juve from Man Utd on a free transfer in 2022.
He suffered an injury-hit first campaign back in Turin – only featuring six times in Serie A.
The midfielder came off the bench in two of Juventus’ first three games of this season, prior to being suspended.
Pogba is contracted until 2026, but could face a ban of up to four-years if found guilty of doping intentionally, which he denies. More

LAZIO are reportedly targeting a double raid on Sunderland for Jobe Bellingham and Jack Clarke.The Italian giants, managed by ex-Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, are on the hunt for some bargains this summer.
Jobe Bellingham is being lined up for a move to Lazio this summerCredit: Getty
The Italians also want Sunderland teammate Jack ClarkeCredit: Getty
And Gazzetta claims they have identified two of the Black Cats’ top stars as major transfer targets.
Bellingham, 18, is the younger brother of Real Madrid and England star Jude.
The midfielder only joined Sunderland from Birmingham last summer.
But he has quickly become a key player and already has five goals in 33 matches this season.
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As for Clarke, he was reportedly the subject of a failed £13.5million bid from Lazio in January.
The flying winger, 23, is in his third season at Sunderland after moving from Tottenham.
And he has hit an incredible 14 goals in 34 outings from wide positions.
Sunderland are desperate to keep both players, especially if they win promotion to the Premier League.
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The Black Cats are 10th in the Championship table after winning 14 matches.
Just one point separates them from the play-offs.
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As for Lazio, they are suffering a disappointing Serie A campaign after finishing second last term.
They sit 7th after just 11 wins and are five points off the Champions League spots.
But Sarri’s men are in the Coppa Italia semis, where they will face Juventus for a place in the final.
And they also have one foot in the Champions League quarters after a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s last 16, first-leg tie. More

THIS is the bizarre moment Inter Milan fans appear to have been recorded singing for Kanye West’s new number one Spotify track.The star’s album, Vultures 1, dropped this week and baffled many when it included the football fanatics in the credits.
A bizarre video claims to show football fans being recorded for Kanye West’s new trackCredit: TikTok / @rollingloud
The track is called Carnival and is part of Kanye’s new album he made in collaboration with Ty Dolla $ignCredit: Rex
The ultra’s are said to have provided the back in sound for one of the songs in the album, Carnival.
A video has now emerged claiming to show the sports enthusiasts making a raucous in the recording studio.
In the clip a crowd of men belt out a chant as a conductor desperately tries to keep them in tune.
The fans don’t just feature in one song but two as they were also called in to lend their talents to the title track of the album and have been given credits for writing parts of both songs.
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This is Kanye’s first album since his controversial fall from grace as he was labelled an anti-semite for his comments in 2022.
It is part of a trilogy of albums made by Kanye and singer Ty Dolla $ign going by the joint name of ¥$.
Vultures 2 and Vultures 3 also set to be released this year.
Vultures, which features Rich the Kid and Playboy Carti, looks set to be West’s highest-charting track in 15 years and has more than 6.28 million plays so far.
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On Tuesday Kanye occupied half of all the spots inside the top 10 on Spotify’s ranking of the most-streamed songs in the U.S.
He has also ranked the number one most listened to artist on the site in the last two days.
He even managed to deny Beyonce’s song Texas Hold ‘Em the top spot as it now sits in second position falling short by just thousands of streams.
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It comes as Taylor Swift was accused of removing Kanye West from his Super Bowl seats.
It happened after Kanye attempted to upstage Taylor at the Super Bowl, according to former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
On his Paper Route podcast, Marshall claimed that West bought seats directly in front of Swift’s suite for the Super Bowl in an effort to photobomb her TV appearances.
However, Marshall claimed that Swift made “a call or two” to get West removed from Allegiant Stadium.
Swift became one of the faces of the NFL this season, but it seems unlikely that she would have the power to fully remove West from the stadium, especially if he paid for a ticket.
However, it is possible that she could have gotten his seat moved because of their tumultuous history.
Carnival is currently number one on SpotifyCredit: Getty More