Liverpool midfielder Emre Can’s domestic season is over after he was ruled out for at least four weeks with ruptured ankle ligaments.
The 22-year-old limped off in Thursday’s Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund and left Anfield on crutches.
He underwent a scan yesterday and the results indicated ruptured ligaments which could sideline him for up to six weeks.
However, reports said Liverpool’s medical team are hopeful the lay-off will only be four weeks, meaning the Germany international would have a chance of making the Europa League final should the club get past Villarreal in the last four.
Ferguson to open Fleetwood facility
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will officially open League One club Fleetwood’s new training facility this week.
The Cod Army have confirmed on Twitter that the Scot will be at their £8 million site at Poolfoot Farm on Wednesday.
Fleetwood were only reformed in their current guise in 1997, the year that Ferguson won the fourth of his 13 league titles at Old Trafford.
Fleetwood’s new training complex features 12 grass pitches, a gym, fitness studio, meeting rooms and a restaurant.
Benzema ‘distraught’ at Euro omission
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane says Frenchman Karim Benzema is “distraught” about being left out of the squad for this year’s European Championship.
The 28-year-old Real striker, at the peak of his game, was told last week that he would not be included in the squad because of his alleged involvement in a blackmail scandal.
“I spoke to Karim about it after they made a decision not to call him up, I’m not going to speak much about that because it’s not my place, all I can say is the player is upset and distraught, he wanted to be there,” Zidane said.
“We all know what a player he is. On a sporting level everyone who loves football will be disappointed.”
Ranieri pledge
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri wants to stay for the long-term whether or not he leads the club to a first English league title in their 132-year history.
The previous best league finish in the Foxes’ long history was as runners-up in 1929.
Ranieri, sacked by Chelsea in 2004 to make way for Jose Mourinho, has another two years on his contract from the end of this inaugural season with the East Midlands club.
“I’d like to stay,” he said.
“If the chairman is happy then I’m happy. When you have a very good chairman, sooner or later, you build a good building. Everything starts from the boss.”
De Biasi linked with Azzurri job
Gianni De Biasi, currently the head coach of Albania, is being mentioned in the Italian media as the likely candidate to fill the void left by Antonio Conte at the end of this summer’s European Championship in France.
Conte recently announced he’ll be quitting Italy when his contract expires, having already signed for Chelsea.
Roberto Donadoni, Gian Piero Gasperini and Giampiero Ventura have also been named among those shortlisted for the Italy job but Calciomercato.it is now claiming negotiations are stepping up between the FIGC and De Biasi.
The former Torino coach has a contract with Albania until 2017.
Blatter regrets not reforming FIFA
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter acknowledged that he failed to reform the scandal-ridden organisation but asserted he was not responsible for corruption in its regional organisations.
Blatter spoke to more than 400 people at the University of Basel on Friday, where a student group has been preparing proposals on how FIFA should address the scandal.
“I regret I have not done enough to bring back FIFA on the right track,” Blatter said.
But he insisted that while he led FIFA, the actions of leaders of regional football organisations did not fall under his purview.
“Those things they did within their confederations,” he said.
“I don’t have any power to intervene in their confederations.”
Joao Miranda not leaving Inter
Centre-back Joao Miranda, 31, made it clear he will not leave Inter in summer despite reported interest from Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Brazilian joined Inter from Atletico Madrid last year on loan with mandatory option to buy for €16 million.
“It has been a positive year for me,” Miranda said.
“Inter signed new players so some ups and downs are normal, but I still believe this is a strong squad and I am certain that when we find consistency, we can fight it out with any team in Europe.
“I want Inter to get back to being the club they always were.”