Pep Guardiola claimed working with Mikel Arteta made him a better manager ahead of Friday s FA Cup reunion.

Guardiola s Manchester City side host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in the fourth round, the first clash this season between the current top two sides in the Premier League.

Arteta will return to Manchester for the game, having spent three years working as Guardiola s assistant after he ended his playing career in 2016.

The Gunners boss has spoken of the impact of his former mentor and how their partnership helped to craft him into a manager, having left City for Arsenal in 2019.

It was not just a one-way street though, with Guardiola revealing he benefitted similarly from working alongside his Spanish compatriot.

He said he would like to w…

Middlesbrough are set to sign Emmanuel Latte Lath from Atalanta in the summer transfer window, according to . The report in the Italian news outlet has claimed that Lath will fly to England in the coming hours and sign a contract with the Championship club.

TMW have claimed that Lath will undergo a medical with Middlesbrough on Monday morning. Boro and Atalanta have agreed a deal in principle over a permanent transfer. Lath will sign a four-year contract with the former Premier League club.

Middlesbrough will pay Atalanta €5 million in transfer fees plus €1 million in add-ons linked with promotion to the Premier League. Boro are playing in the Championship this season and have lost both of their opening matches, suffering defeat first against Millwall and then again…

Belgium threw away plenty of their hard work from across the last five years in their Nations League defeat to France, says a frustrated Roberto Martinez.

First-half goals from Yannick Carrasco and Romelu Lukaku had seemingly put Belgium well on their way to facing Spain in Sunday s final, only for Les Bleus to fight back to win 3-2.

Theo Hernandez got the winner in the final minute of normal time, just moments after Lukaku thought he had restored Belgium s lead following Karim Benzema s strike and a Kylian Mbappe penalty.

Yet VAR came to France s aid with an offside call, as they won their first game after trailing by two or more goals at half-time since May 2012 against Iceland in a friendly.

Belgium will return to Turin to face European champions Ita…

David Raya is expected to leave Brentford this summer, after he rejected two offers of a new contract from the club, according to Fabrizio Romano. The 27-year-old goalkeeper is believed to be holding out for a big move, and there are apparently several clubs monitoring the situation.

Speaking on the subject last month, Brentford boss Thomas Frank expressed a serious doubt about Raya remaining at the Community Stadium past this summer.

Raya arrived to England 10 years ago to join Blackburn Rovers at the Under-18 level, and following a short loan spell at Southport, he spent five years as Blackburn s No.1 before joining Brentford in 2019 for £3million. Since then, he has stood between the posts in 147 matches in all competitions for the Bees, keeping a clean sheet on 50 …

Jose Mourinho declared Roma are establishing a promising squad after landing their second consecutive win in Serie A with a 4-0 victory over Salernitana.

Mourinho s men followed up a 3-1 defeat of Fiorentina with the four-goal rout – just the second time since the 1970s they have scored at least seven goals in their opening two Serie A matches.

It is also the first time they have started a Serie A campaign with successive wins since 2014-15. They were inspired by Henrikh Mkhitaryan who provided another assist on Sunday and has now been directly involved in eight goals in his last six top-flight games.

Mourinho, who is the third coach to win his first two Serie A games with Roma, is satisfied with the progress his side are making.

It was impossible n…

Brazil Under-20 defender Lucas Beraldo has joined Paris St Germain from Sao Paulo after agreeing a five-year deal with the French champions.

Beraldo has completed a move for a reported £17.36million after enjoying a breakthrough year in 2023 that saw him make 52 appearances for Sao Paulo.

The 20-year-old joined the club in 2020, starting out for the under-17s before making his first-team debut two years later.

Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to welcome Lucas Beraldo to the club.

The 20-year-old Brazilian defender, who will wear the number 35, has signed a five-year deal.

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)

“I’m really happy to be joining a club as ambitious as Paris St Germain,” Beraldo said on the PSG website.

…

Chelsea are in talks with Mauricio Pochettino to take over as manager at the end of the season, the PA news agency understands.

A deal has yet to be signed but Pochettino is closing in on his first role since leaving Paris St Germain in July, succeeding interim head coach Frank Lampard.

Chelsea have three Premier League fixtures remaining – against Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle – and want their new boss in place once the campaign is over.

The Blues have endured a disappointing season and sit in 11th place having managed just 11 wins in 35 league games.

Graham Potter was sacked in April and while Julian Nagelsmann was the initial favourite to replace him, Chelsea turned to Lampard to see out the rest of the season in his second spell…

Former Manchester City full-back Pablo Zabaleta has retired from football.

The 35-year-old has been without a club since being released by West Ham at the end of June.

After 18 years as a professional footballer I took the decision to retire from playing football, Zabaleta said in a social media post.

These have been wonderful years that gave me the opportunity to enjoy unique and unforgettable moments.

Forever I will thank all the people that shared the journey with me; clubs, team-mates, coaches and in particular my family and all my friends.

With a lot of emotions I leave behind one of the best stages of my life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta)

Zabaleta made 594 appeara…

Jose Mourinho hailed Eric Dier for an effort level that was not human against Chelsea, despite the defender having had to leave the pitch for an unscheduled comfort break.

Spurs triumphed 5-4 on penalties in the EFL Cup last 16, Mason Mount missing the crucial kick after Erik Lamela s equaliser had cancelled out Timo Werner s strike in normal time.

During the second half, Dier headed back to the dressing room to use the toilets and was pursued by Mourinho, the England international then seen running back to the pitch soon afterwards.

Mourinho put Dier s hasty disappearance down to dehydration, the 26-year-old having been the only outfield player to have kept his place in the starting line-up from the 1-1 Premier League draw with Newcastle United two days ago.

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Tottenham have confirmed left-back Destiny Udogie will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his left thigh.

Udogie has flourished in his first campaign in the Premier League and made 30 appearances in all competitions for Spurs.

The Italian defender has caught the eye with his ventures into midfield under Ange Postecoglou but he revealed on Saturday night his 2023-24 campaign was over.

We can confirm that Destiny Udogie has undergone surgery to his left quadriceps, having sustained an injury in training earlier this week.

The defender will continue his rehabilitation with our medical staff and is expected to rejoin the squad during pre-season.

We re all…

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)

Spurs said in a …