Leeds United interested in Blackburn Rovers star Ben Brereton Diaz

What the papers say

Newcastle could be set to revisit their interest in Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips. According to the i, the 27-year-old could be brought in as short-term cover for Sandro Tonali, who is facing a ban following investigations into alleged betting offences.

The Liverpool Echo reports the Reds are among several Premier League clubs interested in Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams. Citing website 90min, the paper says Liverpool, along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa, are all keeping tabs on the 21-year-old.

And the Birmingham Mail says Aston Villa and West Ham have been told by Real Madrid that the price tag for in-demand midfielder Brahim Diaz is about £17.8million.

Social media round-up

Kevin De Bruyne contacted by Cristi…

Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the Bundesliga season – including one from his own half – as 10-man Bayern Munich bounced back from a goalless first 45 minutes to beat nine-man Darmstadt 8-0 on a wild afternoon at the Allianz Arena.

Joshua Kimmich was sent off after just four minutes, but red cards for Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica ensured the hosts had the man advantage at the break, the first time three men have ever been sent off in the first half of a German top-flight encounter.

Kane broke the deadlock six minutes after the restart but it was his second goal, a magnificent effort from inside his own half, that was the highlight of a contest that also saw him pick up an assist on the first of two goals for Jamal Musiala before striking in his 12th goa…

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is taking a “careful” approach with captain Reece James, who started a match for just the second time this season in the Blues’ 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Blackburn.

James, who has been making his way back to full fitness after sustaining a hamstring issue in August, played 61 minutes of Wednesday’s tie before he was swapped for Malo Gusto.

Benoit Badiashile netted the opener in his first appearance this season, while Raheem Sterling added a second after the break to book the Blues a quarter-final clash with Newcastle.

Pochettino said: “The plan was to check at half-time how (James) was feeling, and after 15 minutes he starts to feel tired and we’re checking from the second half, and we need to be careful how we mana…

Roma forward Borja Mayoral has suggested Zinedine Zidane wanted him to stay at Real Madrid and for Luka Jovic to instead be sold.

Mayoral was a bit-part player for Zidane in 2017-18 and spent the following two LaLiga campaigns on loan with Levante, where he scored 14 goals in 69 appearances in all competitions.

He returned to Madrid for the start of this season and was brought on as a substitute in two league games but has since joined Roma on an initial two-year loan deal.

However, Mayoral has claimed things could have turned out differently as Zidane preferred him to Jovic, who has struggled to make an impact since arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

After doing pre-season with Real Madrid, I was going to leave the club qui…

At this point it is more a case of when, rather than if, the dynamic duo of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will be departing from Premier League giants Arsenal.

For two players with such differing styles and approaches on the pitch, there have been some eerie similarities off it. It seems almost fitting that they, who have undoubtedly been the Gunners’ two best players over the past few seasons, should depart in unison.

What’s worrying is that Arsene Wenger is taking little flak for this situation. If there was ever a sign that your manager is perhaps not up to the task anymore it was the fact that your two star players want to leave the club, but perhaps that is a debate for another day, and another article.

When tracking the career paths of Sanchez and Ozil…

Everton have bought themselves time while they pursue a successor to Rafael Benitez by appointing club legend Duncan Ferguson as caretaker manager.

A run of three defeats in four top-flight games resulted in former Liverpool boss Benitez being sacked at the weekend, with Everton plummeting worryingly close to the Premier League drop zone.

Reports have indicated 16th-placed Everton, who have never been relegated from the Premier League, could interview Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard as they hunt their next boss.

Lampard did well in his first management job at Derby County before experiencing mixed fortunes as Chelsea boss, while Rooney is catching the eye in difficult circumstances at Derby this season.

Former Everton manager Roberto Martinez has also been…

Leeds United have appointed Jesse Marsch as their new head coach.

The former RB Leipzig boss will succeed Marcelo Bielsa on a deal until June 2025, subject to international clearance.

Bielsa left the club following last weekend s 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham. It was their fourth consecutive loss in the top flight and meant they conceded 20 goals in February alone, the most in a single calendar month by any team in Premier League history.

Leeds director of football Victor Orta said: We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter.

Jesse is someone we identified a number of years ago during his time at Red Bull Salzburg, and we believe his philosophy and style of football aligns with that of the club a…

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has stressed the importance of the Catalan giants remaining united after suffering another setback at home to Granada on Monday.

Barca required a 90th-minute equaliser from Ronald Araujo to salvage a 1-1 draw after Domingos Duarte had opened the scoring with the earliest goal for a visiting side at Camp Nou since Atletico Madrid s Fernando Torres in February 2005.

The LaLiga heavyweights have now won two and drawn two of their four league matches this term and are already five points adrift of leaders Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand.

Having also suffered a heavy 3-0 loss at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week, the pressure is building on head coach Ronald Koeman ahead of Thursday s trip to Cad…

Atletico Madrid and Porto played out an eventful stoppage-time on Wednesday, becoming just the second Champions League match to see three goals scored in the 90th minute or later.

The LaLiga side took the lead in the 91st minute through Mario Hermoso, who then handled in the box as Porto looked to have snatched a point when Mateus Uribe fired home the resulting penalty.

However, substitute Antoine Griezmann nodded in a stunning winner in the 11th minute of stoppage-time to send the home fans into raptures and give his side three points.

Griezmann s goal made the Champions League game only the second to feature three 90th-minute goals, after a match between the same two teams in December of last year, when Atletico ran out 3-1 winners.

The LaLiga side s l…

With all of Europe s top-tiers really reaching the business end of the season, we have another stacked schedule on our hands this weekend. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Saturday March 12th

BST 12:30 Brighton vs Liverpool

Starting with Saturday s guests, while Liverpool might have suffered a 1-0 loss against Inter Milan earlier in the week, Jurgen Klopp s men did manage to extend on their Champions League adventure. Last seen on Premier League duties claiming a scrappy 1-0 win against West Ham at Anfield, the English giants are firmly battling it out in this season s title chase. Looking to cut Manchester City s buffer at the top of the table back to just …