Bayern Munich do not intend to improve their contract offer to Germany winger Leroy Sane, despite the new agents of the 29-year-old - who is out of contract in the summer - submitting a fresh proposal to the Bundesliga champions. (Florian Plettenberg, Sky Sports Germany), external
Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna is remaining silent about a move to sign Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 33, on a free transfer when he leaves Manchester City at the end of his contract this summer. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external
Canada striker Jonathan David will be a free agent when his deal with Lille ends in the summer and the 25-year-old is another target for Napoli.
Bayer Leverkusen chief Fernando Carro believes there is a 50-50 chance of 22-year-old Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, who has been linked with Bayern Munich, staying with the club. (Sky Sports Germany), external
Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior is on the radar of both Juventus and Inter Milan as the 25-year-old Poland defender weighs up his long-term future. (Football Insider), external
Real Madrid are looking to agree a deal with Liverpool worth about £1m for 26-year-old England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold to join them before the Club World Cup. (Football Insider), external
Former Everton and Burnley manager Sean Dyche is among the candidates to take over at Leicester City, with the Foxes expected to part ways with current boss Ruud van Nistelrooy. (Talksport), external
Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz says he misses playing for Aston Villa as he struggles for first-team football at Juventus, who signed the 27-year-old from the Midlands club last summer. (Twitch, via Birmingham Mail), external
Brighton are among a number of clubs interested in 21-year-old defender Diego Coppola, who plays for Serie A side Hellas Verona. (Fabrizio Romano), external
AC Milan are keen on Feyenoord centre-back David Hancko but face competition from Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus for the 27-year-old Slovakia international. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Crystal Palace are chasing Chelsea-linked Strasbourg striker Emanuel Emegha - in case Jean-Philippe Mateta is sold.
Isaac Sinclair, son of former England winger Trevor Sinclair, is set to sign for Accrington Stanley.
DAILY MAIL
Casemiro is set for a hefty pay rise if Manchester United win the Europa League this month, according to a report.
Manchester United fans vented against Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos at Old Trafford on Sunday after a season of brutal ticket price hikes and controversy.
Paul Scholes believes Tottenham Hotspur will be considered the favourites going into the Europa League final, but still expects Manchester United to come out on top.
Emma Raducanu has revealed that she keeps being banned from the Italian Open grounds because she has repeatedly lost her accreditation.
DAILY MIRROR
Mikel Arteta has promised a major summer spending spree after admitting Arsenal's squad was "super short" this season.
Arne Slot said the home fans were" allowed to have their opinion" after Trent Alexander-Arnold copped boos from sections of the Liverpool crowd.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's plans to sell Nice have suffered a blow after the French side missed out on automatic qualification for the league phase of the Champions League.
Hamburg's promotion celebrations saw 25 people taken to hospital with one suffering life-threatening injuries. A 6-1 win over Ulm confirmed the side's return to the Bundesliga and resulted in a pitch invasion that saw the Volksparkstadion swarmed by supporters.
DAILY EXPRESS
Real Madrid have reportedly considered a move for Arsenal's David Raya this summer as part of their major rebuild.
Mikel Arteta was furious with the first-half performance of his Arsenal players in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Anfield.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
An "embarrassed" Ruben Amorim has claimed he will not survive at Manchester United next season unless there is a rapid uplift in results.
DAILY STAR
Ruben Amorim's reaction to Leny Yoro's injury speaks volumes, according to fans, as Manchester United slip and slide down the Premier League table.
The Premier League's Match Centre account has explained the decision to send off Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson.
SUNDAY RECORD
Hearts could land Derek McInnes as their new boss swiftly by meeting a minimum compensation clause.
David Strelec would score a "minimum" of 20 goals if he signs for Celtic, according to former Hoops player Lubo Moravcik.
SCOTTISH SUN
Barry Ferguson has revealed he loves Nico Raskin's fiery temperament because it reminds him of himself.
Guardian
Amorim questions his United future after Soucek sets up West Ham win
Jamie Jackson at Old Trafford
Tomas Soucek scores West Ham’s first goal in the 26th minute at Old Trafford. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters
This was an exercise in how not to utilise the first of only two matches to tune up before a major European final from Manchester United that left Ruben Amorim so disenchanted he spoke of not being in charge if the start to next season is the same.
The head coach said: “I’m talking about myself, I’m talking about the culture in the club and the culture in the team. We need to be really strong in the summer and be brave. We will not have a next season like this if we start like this. If the feeling is still here we should give space [his position] to different persons.”
Amorim’s side was patternless and pathetic and has only the trip to Chelsea on Friday to erase the memory before jetting into Bilbao to face Tottenham in the Europa League final on Wednesday week.
The Portuguese identified an attitude defect. “It’s mentally. We are not scared of losing a game as Manchester United. We don’t have that fear any more and that is the most dangerous thing that a big club can have.
“There’s a lack of urgency when we’re defending our box. We need to be more aggressive and need to feel that it is the end of the world when we are not winning a game.”
United have now lost 17 Premier League matches this season, 13 of them under Amorim. When Tomas Soucek’s 26th‑minute backheel beat Altay Bayindir, United sank to 17th in the table, an inarguable barometer of how far they have fallen under the 40-year-old. By the interval they were up a berth as Tottenham trailed Crystal Palace, where they stayed, and so continental club football’s second-tier tournament at the Estadio San Mamés will pit foes occupying, to their blushes, the first two places above the drop zone.
Jarrod Bowen jumps for joy after scoring West Ham’s second goal. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Again, Amorim was damning, questioning whether United should even compete in the Champions League next term – the prize for winning the Europa League. “Everybody is focused on the final. The final is not the biggest thing in our football club. We need to change a lot of things. If we don’t change the way we play and perform and feel this urgency of winning every game, we should not play in the Champions League.
“We should just stay in the Premier League and learn how to be competitive one week at a time. Playing in the Premier League and Champions League for us is the moon.
“I’m not concerned about [performance in] the final – they will be focused and I don’t know what is best, if it’s playing in the Champions League or not. So let’s think about Chelsea [on Friday] to improve a lot of things.”
In blazing sun, both sets of players flitted about at half-speed, swapping possession as if in a warmup. When the pace was increased a fraction, gaps opened, as when Bruno Fernandes twice blasted over for United, a Maximilian Kilman header missed at the other end, and Amad Diallo illustrated his quality.
After teasing the ball at Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the right wing‑back swooped inside and, with his stronger left foot, let fly: as the crowd “oohed” Alphonse Areola, West Ham’s goalkeeper, saved.
With the Europa League showpiece ahead, Amorim shuffled his pack and, though Bayindir’s inclusion for André Onana in goal was most noteworthy, the stand-in could do nothing to prevent the opener.
Down the left, Wan-Bissaka found Mohammed Kudus, he fizzed the ball across, Soucek fashioned a back‑flick that deflected off Harry Amass, and United had conceded the opener in 22 of their 36 Premier gamedays, including 11 of the last 16.
For West Ham, showing three changes, this was a fine opening salvo in their bid to end an eight-game run without a victory. United, donning a one-off shirt showing the logo of health injustice charity (Red) to raise awareness, were, simply, amateurish.
West Ham’s Alphonse Areola makes a diving save from Manchester United’s Rasmus Højlund. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
At the next Hammers foray, Bayindir rushed forward to fend off a delivery but Noussair Mazraoui stepped across him to blast away for a corner. Then, twice, Rasmus Højlund showed why he draws the ire of a sizable constituency of United enthusiasts.
A swivel and unload ended with the ball in the heavens and the striker pratfallen. Next, running on to a clever Manuel Ugarte chip from midfield, Højlund’s right-footed volley was as powder-puff as United’s league endeavours.
The plot worsened for United when Leny Yoro limped off. “We have to assess Leny tomorrow,” Amorim said. “It could be a small thing.”
The Hammers second came when Ugarte was pickpocketed and did not chase back – a prime example of the “lack of urgency” – the ball ended up left and Wan-Bissaka’s roll to Jarrod Bowen was as smooth as the captain’s finish.
“Very pleasing,” was Graham Potter’s verdict. How Amorim wishes his counterpart’s emotion could be his.
The Athletic
How Graham Potter watches football
By Liam Tharme
Graham Potter turned and pumped a fist towards the away end.
Down at the Stretford End of the Old Trafford pitch, Tomas Soucek had just tapped in Mohammed Kudus’ low ball at the back post to put West Ham 1-0 up.
Perhaps it was collective celebration, perhaps the West Ham head coach felt vindicated. That same away end had spent a decent chunk of the game’s 25 minutes of play to that point chanting for Niclas Fullkrug. Potter had dropped the target-man to the bench and switched from the 3-4-3 that brought a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur a week earlier to a 3-5-2 that featured Jarrod Bowen and Kudus in a makeshift strike partnership.
After a cagey start to Sunday’s proceedings, with West Ham pressing high and man-for-man (against Manchester United’s 3-4-3), much like against Spurs, Potter’s side broke the game open through a flowing passing move.
When their build-up down the right hit a wall, wing-back Vladimir Coufal turned inside and split the press via James Ward-Prowse. The midfielder carried forward, worked a one-two with Kudus and passed to advancing left centre-back Aaron Cresswell — Potter had beckoned him upfield right from the off.
A slick exchange between Cresswell and left wing-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka made an angle for the latter to dribble inside, which opened a reverse pass to Kudus. West Ham had three in the box awaiting a cross, but this move created a better angle for Kudus to fire a low ball to scorer Soucek.
“I’ve taken over a team that’s conceded a lot of goals, so we’ve addressed that, and now it’s about building the attacking side,” Potter told reporters afterwards. “The first goal especially was an indication of what we’re trying to do.”
Potter wanted Cresswell positioned aggressively in possession, beyond the first line of Manchester United pressure, and with Coufal providing height from right wing-back, he gesticulated for Ward-Prowse or Soucek to pull wider and be a passing option in build-up — trying to make routes around and force the home side to vacate the midfield.
At West Ham’s first goal kick of the match, he pushed Wan-Bissaka right up onto the hosts’ defensive line. This served the dual purpose of pinning back Amad, Manchester United’s right wing-back and perhaps biggest individual attacking threat, and gave support to Kudus and Bowen.
It means that in three straight games, West Ham have scored from long passing sequences by playing through their opponents, following Bowen’s goal at home to Spurs and Kudus’ tap-in away to Brighton & Hove Albion. ‘Potterball’ became a bit cliched in his three-and-a-bit seasons managing Brighton, as really his preference for possession was more as a defensive tool to control games, but here was another example of how incisive his teams can be.
Potter is noticeably agitated on the sidelines but tries to present a cool, unemotional demeanour. He rarely argues with opposition coaches or the fourth official and is often misperceived as being too nice. At Old Trafford yesterday, he only left the technical area and returned to the dugout for set pieces, giving the space over to Narcis Pelach, West Ham’s specialist coach for those situations.
An animated Potter on the touchline against Manchester United (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
He applauds players taking risks in possession and, here against Manchester United, enjoyed one repeated build-up sequence: goalkeeper Alphonse Areola passing into central midfield and Ward-Prowse immediately bouncing play wide to Jean-Clair Todibo, the right centre-back.
Increasingly, Potter’s praise has been for defensive work-rate and commitment — there was one instance when Ward-Prowse recovered to make a two-v-one and tackle Amad after he received a long ball and had Wan-Bissaka at his back.
West Ham have been poor scorers so far under the 49-year-old (only 18 goals in his 16 Premier League matches, the fourth-fewest since he was appointed in January), but he has turned them from the fourth-worst defence to a mid-table side in terms of goals conceded (from two goals per game under predecessor Julien Lopetegui to 20 in his 16). Progression, not perfection.
From 1-0 up, there were numerous instances of Potter screaming for the defence to push up and not sit in. Late on, he was particularly animated at substitutes Fullkrug and Carlos Soler for being passive.
West Ham started particularly well out of possession and he wanted to maintain the intensity of their effective man-for-man press — Manchester United had few solutions as Maximilian Kilman defended direct balls (to feet or the channels) solidly against their No 9 Rasmus Hojlund.
It is progress that West Ham played keep-ball in second-half stoppage time, after Potter rued an inability to “sustain the good things” in the 3-2 defeat at Brighton, saying they lacked the physical and mental requirements to see out matches.
They struggled especially against Manchester United’s set pieces and needed an outstanding Areola save to prevent Hojlund scoring but Potter’s forward selection was vindicated on 57 minutes when Wan-Bissaka picked Manuel Ugarte’s pocket and combined with Kudus to find Bowen at the back post for 2-0. After Edson Alvarez brought some much-needed composure and press-resistance from the bench, the away end were “Ole”-ing past 90 minutes.
Potter told reporters that there were “aspects of the performance (against United) that have been there all the time”, but also stressed “even in the last bits of the game, it was important for us to have the ball, to try to make them run and to affect them defensively. If you just come to park the bus, it’s difficult”.
After dropping points the previous four times they’d led, Potter’s side holding out was passing an acid test.
This was West Ham’s first league win at Old Trafford since the iconic Carlos Tevez-inspired one in May 2007, which helped them avoid relegation. That it ended an eight-game winless run (West Ham had not gone nine league matches without a victory since May 2011) mattered even more.
Potter is rebuilding after the fallout from his 31-game stint at Chelsea. He called two months “a long time to go (at a) club like West Ham” without a victory.
But their winless run is now over, he can breathe a little easier, and genuine tactical green shoots are appearing.
(Top photo: Oli Scarff/AFP)