Pep Guardiola’s wish: Buy Zlatan Ibrahimović

Roberto Mancini wants to repeat the success he enjoyed as a manager with Inter Milan at Manchester City.

Mancini was installed in the Eastlands hotseat when the Premier League side sacked former manager Mark Hughes just hours after the club s 4-3 win at home to Sunderland on Saturday.

Speaking to City s website ahead of his first press conference as the club s manager here on Monday, the 45-year-old Mancini said he saw parallels between Inter and City.

I hope history repeats itself, he said.

I am proud to get the job because City is a good club with good players. Manchester is similar to Milan in its football passion, the Italian added.

In Milan there are two big teams there fighting for supremacy and silverware and here it is the same. I like…

Hadi Norouzi, the captain of Iranian football club Persepolis, has di
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ed of heart attack.

Norouzi passed away in his sleep on Thursday according to local media reports. He was 30 years old.

The Iran international forward scored 26 goals in 150 Pro League appearances for Tehran-based Persepolis over a seven-year period.

He also represented Naft Tehran on a season-long loan from November 2013, scoring three times in 12 games.

…

Frank de Boer believes the ongoing feud between captain Mauro Icardi and the Inter ultras is having a negative impact on the club.

Inter host Southampton in Europa League Group K on Thursday looking to end a run of three consecutive defeats in all competitions, the last of which – Sunday s 2-1 home loss to Cagliari – was played out amid a poisonous atmosphere at San Siro.

Argentinian striker Icardi infuriated Inter s Curva Nord ultras after claiming he made himself a hero among his team-mates by standing up to one of the group s leaders after a 3-1 defeat to Sassuolo in 2014-15.

Curva Nord declared Icardi to be finished as an Inter player and the 23-year-old was confronted by banners criticising him during the Cagliari match, where his missed penalty was chee…

Manchester United are interested in signing Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Red Devils are looking to secure the services of the England international striker at the end of the season.

Watkins is having a wonderful season for Villa at the moment and has looked a revitalised figure under manager Unai Emery. The 27-year-old striker has made 32 starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League for the Villans this season, scoring 14 goals and providing six assists in the process.

Villa are seventh in the Premier League table at the moment with 54 points from 34 matches. Meanwhile, United currently find themselves fourth in the standings with 63 points from 32 games.

…

Lyon have launched a stinging attack on West Ham after Said Benrahma’s transfer to the Ligue 1 club fell through on deadline day.

Algeria winger Benrahma underwent a medical in France on Thursday afternoon ahead of a proposed loan switch and permanent deal in the summer.

However, Lyon say West Ham failed to complete the transfer ahead of the 11pm deadline, accusing the Premier League club of a lack of respect and threatened to take further action.

A statement read: “Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets the failure of the transfer of Saïd Benrahma, for reasons beyond its control, and questions the behaviour of West Ham which did not succeed in finalising the required administrative procedures despite all the agreements concluded.

Les raisons de l échec…

Massimiliano Allegri expects a patient display from Juventus in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday as they look to overturn a semi-final first-leg defeat to Fiorentina.

The Serie A leaders were beaten 2-1 by Vincenzo Montella s side last month, leaving Allegri s side needing victory by two clear goals to progress to the final.

However, Allegri does not want his side to go all-out and leave themselves at risk of a counter-attack, instead calling for a calm performance.

We have to go to Florence to try to overturn the negative result from the first leg, said Allegri. It won t be easy. At the moment, they re the favourites, as they have the [first leg] result in their favour.

They re going through a good spell, playing good football and getting excellent results,…

Former England manager Fabio Capello believes there is no chance of John Terry making an international return.

The Chelsea captain has helped his team to the top of the Premier League, but has been retired from England duty since September 2012.

Capello resigned as manager of England in February of the year, days after the Football Association stripped Terry of the captaincy.

Despite Terry s form, Capello said the 34-year-old had no hope of playing for England again.

John Terry has no chance of playing with the national team again, the Italian said.

There are some young players who played with me who are improving. [Chris] Smalling is playing. [Phil] Jones is playing. I m happy because they are players that I brought into the national team and t…

Italy s minister for sport Vincenzo Spadafora is hoping to confirm a May 4 date for the return to Serie A training as soon as possible.

Serie A was suspended indefinitely in March, after some matches were played behind closed doors, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 145,500 lives globally.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has already stated that the campaign will not resume until the health and safety of all concerned can be guaranteed.

The Italian government has extended its current strict restrictions on movement and outdoor activities until May 3, although reports suggest some clubs are keen to return to training at that time, resume playing by the end of the same month and conclude 2019-20 in July.

On a possibility of …

Next Generation is a series focusing on the young players tipped to establish themselves as the elite in the 2020s.

Every parent thinks they know what s best for their child and that proved to be a key component of Dominik Szoboszlai s development into the talented 19-year-old Hungarian midfielder who is expected to go on big things.

Zsolt Szoboszlai, himself a footballer once, was his son s coach at Videoton until he was dismissed for refusing to bump a child up to a more advanced group, as their parent requested.

But by then, Zsolt had already acquired a strong grounding in youth coaching and development, honing specific philosophies along the way that emphasised ball work.

He and the fathers of two other young players formed their own clu…

On target

La Liga

Barcelona remain two points clear at the top in Spain but Real Madrid are beginning to look more like the real deal and as though they may be able to mount a serious challenge to their old rivals.

With Barcelona not in action Real Madrid took full advantage of their game in hand by hammering Real Zaragoza 6-0 at the Bernabeu. Two from Higuain and two from Van der Vaart gave Real a 4-0 half-time lead and Ronaldo and Benzema added second-half goals to complete the rout.

Sevilla and Valencia both lost ground and left the title looking like a two horse race. Valencia were held to a goalless draw at Deportivo and Sevilla surprisingly went down 2-1 at home to Getafe. A second-half consolation from Negredo was not even that.

Serie A

Inter ar…