Manchester City are keen on 17-year-old Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, with the Portugal Under-21 international also interesting Manchester United, Liverpool and Juventus. (Teamtalk), external
Manchester United are keen on 17-year-old Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, with the Portugal Under-21 international also interesting Manchester City, Liverpool and Juventus. (Teamtalk), external
United will give new head coach Ruben Amorim a say before making contract decisions on players approaching the end of their deals. (ESPN), external
Sacked United manager Erik ten Hag did not want to buy Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna in the summer and was furious when the £36.5m forward arrived for training a stone overweight. (Sun), external
Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter in Lisbon
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken to the media before Tuesday's Champions League game at Sporting (20:00 GMT).
Here are the main lines from his news conference:
On losing two games in a row: "I know our standards. We lost one game in the Premier League. Maybe we will lose against Brighton and Tottenham [next two league fixtures], but we lost one game and we are two points behind a top-class team in Liverpool. I know people expect us to win 38 games 5-0 and the Treble every season because this is our standards - but this will not happen."
On a season of struggle: "We have to accept we are going to struggle and it is fine. Every game will be more difficult than when everything was smooth. We won six Premier Leagues in seven years and situations change. It's the reality. The middle class in the Premier League rise unbelievably. The top-class teams were always there - add Newcastle and Tottenham, but after you see Fulham, Brentford, most of the teams."
On Erling Haaland's fitness and whether he needs a break: "He's fine, no problem. We have to occupy the news 24 hours a day. I don't think he needs a break."
On Ruben Amorim's Sporting: "The pattern is clear. Movements in behind are so dangerous - the pace and the control. Good inside, good switch of players and movement. Winning the Portuguese leagues after 20 years and then doing it again shows how good the job he has done here."
After a turbulent week ended in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the latest episode of BBC Radio Manchester's The Devils' Advocate has landed to dissect it all.
In this week's show, Gaz Drinkwater and Joe McGrath discuss the Old Trafford draw with the Blues, caretaker boss Ruud van Nistelrooy and captain Bruno Fernandes' comments about former manager Erik ten Hag.
Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
Image source, Getty ImagesSporting boss Ruben Amorim says Manchester United fans may think "the new Alex Ferguson has arrived" if his team beat Manchester City on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old has two more games as Sporting boss before taking over at Old Trafford - including the Champions League match against his new team's city rivals.
"If the result is very negative, expectations will drop and I don't think that's a bad starting point, when you begin at Manchester United," he said in his pre-match news conference.
"If we win, they'll think the new Sir Alex Ferguson has arrived, which is very difficult to maintain.
"I'm fully aware that I'm going to be judged as a manager on this game, and only on this game, and I realise what people can take from this depending on the result."
Ferguson won 38 trophies during 26 years as Manchester United boss before retiring in 2013. He is leaving his role as club ambassador at the end of the season.
Sporting have won 14 of their past 15 games in all competitions, only losing the Portuguese Super Cup this season.
Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter in Lisbon
Image source, Getty ImagesWith a delayed flight and queues to get through security at Lisbon airport, I was in a rush and a bit flustered when I arrived at the press conference room for Sporting's pre-match media for their Champions League game against Manchester City.
I didn't realise until I had sat down that I was only one - empty - seat away from Ruben Amorim, who was watching one of his players answering questions.
I said hello and shook Amorim's hand. He said hello back and seemed perfectly civil.
Then, after answering 20 minutes of questions in his native Portuguese, Amorim was asked another five or six by the English media.
Again, the answers were in Portuguese. Asked by an English TV journalist if he could offer an answer in English, he declined. His press officer said English journalists would get a lot of answers in their native tongue when he starts officially at Manchester United on 11 November.
For now, it is Portuguese only.
Image source, Getty ImagesFull-back Noussair Mazraoui believes Manchester United "have too much" quality to be where they are in the table.
In a week that saw Erik ten Hag sacked as manager and assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy stepping up to take caretaker charge, United ended it with a 1-1 draw against rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils sit 13th in the Premier League table with just three victories and 12 points, recording their worst points haul after 10 matches since 1986-87.
However, Mazaroui feels the team deserved more at the weekend and their current position does not reflect where they should be.
"We fought really hard, but I think eventually if you look at the game and the chances we created, we deserve to win," he told MUTV.
"I think if you look at the table where we are now, you cannot say that's where we belong. Everybody knows that. We know that.
"We have to step up and get away from there really, really fast because, yeah, that's just not us.
"You see that [against Chelsea]. We have too much of a quality to be there in this position."
Van Nistelrooy shared a similar view to the Morocco international, saying the Chelsea draw and Carabao Cup win against Leicester showed a foundation of "spirit and fight" that means "football qualities will come out" at United.
But Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca believes the Dutchman's side overstepped the mark late on in the game, when he felt Lisandro Martinez should have been sent off for a challenge on Cole Palmer.
Asked if the match was at times too physical, Mazraoui said: "I don't agree. No, no, not too physical. I think it was really passionate from both sides.
"I think for the supporters a great game to watch, even though there were just two goals in there. I think an amazing game to watch from everybody."
Image source, Getty ImagesManchester City's Erling Haaland has been directly involved in 49 goals in 42 appearances in the Champions League (44 goals, five assists). If he scores or assists on Tuesday, the 24-year-old will become the player to reach 50 goal involvements in the fewest games in the competition's history - a record currently held by former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy (45).
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Bournemouth and Manchester City.
Here are some of your comments:
Bournemouth fans:
Rob: A monkey off our back with the City win! Can you really now say, "it was an off day for City" and also, "an off day" in the Arsenal game? And... were Villa also having an "off day"? I think Bournemouth deserve more credit. Up the Cherries.
Steve: A tremendous performance from the Cherries. Iraola’s tactics were played out to perfection and rather than go for the low block many teams use against City, Cherries played their natural attacking game and took it to the champions from the first minute. Still buzzing 24 hours later. Europa Conference spot could be in reach.
Derek: Another great performance, seven points from three top teams. As seems to be often the case the result is portrayed as being due to top team being off par rather than Bournemouth playing well and taking the game to the opposition. Iraola has instilled a belief and collective teamwork that does not give up and works from start to finish. Joy to watch.
Peter: A historic win. I think we knew as fans that we can beat anyone at home. We have to keep hold of Semenyo and Kerkez. Evanilson is fitting in well. I hope the last three games give the team the belief that they can challenge in the top half of the table. Iraola is a magician!
Man City fans:
Suraj: Very disappointing, don’t understand why the performance was so flat. I know we’ve got injuries, but we still had a strong side. Not sure why more were not used, maybe Pep’s worried about more injuries. Liverpool I think are the ones to look out for as unlike us they came back from behind. I'm just not feeling confident for this season.
Abdullah: City were off it today. Until Jeremy Doku came on we were actually horrendous and were shown how to play. Doku and Gvardiol our only positive players. Semenyo and Kerkez were outstanding and fair play to Evanilson, who converted his sole chance (something we couldn't do). You can't control injuries but we will bounce back soon, we always do.
Steve: A lacklustre performance from us, proven by the fact it was the 80th minute for our first shot on goal to arrive. After four consecutive titles, I am not convinced we have the same hunger we had in previous seasons. One positive out of the game was another excellent performance by Nunes. Congrats to Bournemouth, who thoroughly deserved the win.
Roger: City have been fragile defensively all season and combined with an aging midfield and several players all striving to find their best form this defeat was long overdue. Pep will no doubt turn it round but possibly might need to use some fringe players to achieve it.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Manchester United and Chelsea.
Here are some of your comments:
Man Utd fans:
Ray: Poor team performance. Thought there would be a bounce from the players with Ten Hag gone but more of the same - no cohesion between defence, midfield and forwards.
Andrew: I pity our new manager - we are a complete shambles. Clueless. Playing for fouls and appealing to the ref is all we are good at. Worst I have ever witnessed in 58 years.
Adam: It was a solid performance, but the lack of goals is becoming a concern now. United are six points off the top four but, in reality, we are nowhere near the teams above us in terms of an identity and style of play.
Christine: It was a little better but still a team with no identity as such. It is going to take Amorim some time to sort out this mess. The defence is too leaky and the press is not fast enough. These players are not good enough and it's going to take time to change this team.
Chelsea fans:
John: It's a pity that we sent Petrovic out on loan. He is a good goalkeeper, and unfortunately Sanchez is going to prove very costly for us this season. Hopefully we can accumulate enough points to get top four without a quality keeper. Caicedo is immense for us at the minute - he's quality.
Alan: Largely dull and boring. If the manager is happy with this performance then I would be surprised. We just do not know how to get the ball in the net. When pushed, our defence falls to bits. From previous games, we seemed to go backwards with our progress. At times, it was hard to believe we are in the top six playing against a team in the lower half.
Nick: A decent performance without being exciting. We didn't seem to offer much of a threat in the final third. Satisfied with a point after going a goal down. Feeling positive about the remainder of the season. I think fourth place is achievable.
Stu: I thought we were off it. Considering these players haven't played in a week they just didn't convince. Sanchez is the worst goalkeeper we've ever had. He's costing us goals almost every game and yet Maresca won't replace him. Says it all really.
Image source, Getty ImagesOn Sunday's episode of Match of the Day 2, former England internationals Phil Jones and Danny Murphy looked at captain Bruno Fernandes' importance to Manchester United and where he fits in when new head coach Ruben Amorim takes charge later this month.
Fernandes' former United team-mate Jones said: "I get the impression he's almost misinterpreted at times, I can only go from my own experience in the dressing room that I spent with him.
"He's a leader in the dressing room and he's brilliant with the younger lads. We've all got different captains and he's a leader who leads by example, in terms of the qualities he brings. He's a player that you build the team around.
"He wants to win. Being at Manchester United is a heavy shirt to wear and I feel with him being the captain, he can certainly wear that shirt."
Assessing his performance in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Chelsea, Murphy said: "No United player has really been outstanding this season, that's fair enough to say, and Bruno included - he's admitted it himself more or less.
"But when they need somebody to be brave and creative, he stands up to be counted and again he did [against Chelsea].
"Nearly all of the moments when United open up teams, he's involved somewhere. It doesn't matter what the score is, how big the crowd is, whether they're moaning or happy, he's always trying little things.
"When the new man comes in, irrelevant of system or how he wants to play, he'll have to find a place for Fernandes because he is United's best creative spark."
Image source, PA MediaFormer Manchester United manager David Moyes and ex-Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker have spoken to the BBC's Football Daily podcast about United's two performances under interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy since the exit of Erik ten Hag.
Reo-Coker: "Even though it's only been two games, I see a vast improvement from what we saw from the players' performances under Ten Hag. They are running more, they're showing a greater desire to win.
"Even just the body language, the way Ruud embraces the players after the game and the players with him, that tells you a bigger, deeper story than just a feelgood factor right now."
Moyes: "I come from another side of it - I think it would be wrong of the players if they just suddenly put in a couple of good performances for the new manager. It would tell you more about the players than the manager they've just lost.
"United have had some of the best managers in the world recently, like Van Gaal and Mourinho, Ten Hag had a great record as well. I think United were very loyal to Erik and gave him every opportunity to get it right. But I'd hate the thought that the players are suddenly starting to perform better because somebody else has taken over.
"At United, the scrutiny is incredible and the manager takes the brunt of it, which they do at all football clubs, but at a club like United the players are an important part of it. I hope that the players have just stepped it up in the past week or two but it was nothing to do with the manager."
Reo-Coker: "Ruud hasn't really changed anything tremendously, which is why you'd say it probably is on the players. He's still started in the same formation Ten Hag was playing, but it's just a different appetite that the players are showing.
"It's unfortunate because United were very loyal to Ten Hag, but since the change has happened, you can see a different kind of energy in the players. Nothing has changed much in terms of formation and tactics."
Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres does not plan to follow Sporting manager Ruben Amorim in leaving the Lisbon club to join Manchester United. Amorim will become the new manager at Old Trafford on 11 November. (Record - in Portuguese), external
Manchester United and Chelsea have joined Tottenham in the race to sign 20-year-old Denmark left-back Patrick Dorgu from Lecce. (Football Insider), external
