English Premier League clubs West Brom, Southampton and Sunderland are all showing interest in signing former Juventus defender Martin Caceres.
The 29-year-old Uruguay player left Juventus at the end of last season after the Serie A champions decided not to renew his contract and making him a free-agent.
Reports in the UK media said West Brom are leading the race for Caceres’s signature but Southampton and Sunderland could raise their initial offers.
‘Stein’ team talk
Brendan Rodgers revealed his team talk centred around the late Jock Stein before Celtic thrashed Rangers 5-1 in their first Premiership clash in four years at Parkhead on Saturday.
Stein was manager in 1967 when the Hoops became the first UK club to win the Euro Cup.
It is 31 years to the day that one of the Celtic’s greatest servants, while Scotland boss, died after a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.
Rodgers said: “My father is five years dead this weekend so it is ironic that we scored five goals and obviously Jock Stein was 31 years on Saturday.
“This is a guy who created a template of playing football here that, to this day, hopefully, he looks down proud and sees a team with that mentality.”
United monitor Juventus wonderkid
Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing young Juventus midfielder Grigoris Kastanos, the Daily Express said.
Kastanos is still just 18 but already has two senior international caps for Cyprus. He joined Juventus from Enosis Neon Paralimni in 2014.
Kastanos is currently negotiating his contract with Juventus, which would see him getting a pay increase but also allow Juve to increase his release clause to around €20 million.
The Daily Express said United boss Jose Mourinho has already sent scouts to watch the young Cypriot who has still not made a first-team appearance for Juve in the Serie A.
West Ham threaten to issue life bans
West Ham have warned they could hand life bans to any supporters found to have been involved in crowd trouble during Saturday’s 4-2 defeat by Watford.
An unspecified number of fans were ejected from the London Stadium after fights broke out in the closing stages of the game, although the Met Police have stated there were no arrests.
“Our policy on this behaviour remains one of zero tolerance and we will work with the police and other stakeholders to identify the individuals involved,” read a club statement.
“Once identified, they will be banned from attending any West Ham fixture for life.”
Stop singing my name, says Klopp
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp (picture) has implored fans to stop singing his name during matches to help his side stay focused and avoid complacency.
Liverpool ran out 4-1 winners over champions Leicester City at a newly-renovated Anfield on Saturday, with the home supporters serenading their manager during the second half.
“I have to say to the fans... please don’t sing my name before the game is over,” Klopp said.
“It’s a little bit like celebrating a penalty before you’ve scored.
“I don’t play, but if they like me, it’s nice, I like them all, but please don’t sing my name before the game is decided.”
Benitez lifted by Magpies’ showing
Rafa Benitez sent out a message to the rest of the Championship after his Newcastle side celebrated a fourth straight victory to leave Derby without a home league win this season.
Despite an imposing 2-0 away triumph following goals from Yoan Gouffran and DeAndre Yedlin, the Magpies boss says his team will get better.
The Spaniard said: “The main thing for me has been to see the team working as a team so that is a positive thing for the future.
“But I still think there is plenty of room for improvement, my feeling is the team is doing well but still we have things we can improve on.”
Allegri seeks more improvement
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has ordered his side to continue to improve despite extending their perfect start to the new campaign with a 3-1 win over Sassuolo on Saturday.
Allegri was keen to stress it could have been different if Matteo Politano had not been denied by Gianluigi Buffon in the opening moments – and if the same player had not missed another golden chance in injury time.
Allegri said: “We need to have more balance in the defensive third of the field. We did very well at first even if Buffon had already been forced into a fine save.
“We also need to work on the way we manage games after building strong leads, because we allowed them to have too many shots and risked letting them back into the match.”