Aston Villa right-back Alan Hutton has announced his retirement from Scotland duty.
Hutton was absent from the squad to face England in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley and it has emerged he had asked manager Gordon Strachan to be excluded.
The 31-year-old failed to regain his place from Callum Paterson, of Hearts, for last month’s double-header against Lithuania and Slovakia after pulling out of the previous two squads through injury.
The former Rangers and Tottenham player, who won 50 caps, said: “I feel this is the right time to put everything I have into doing well at Villa and give others a chance for Scotland.”
Napoli eyeing striker Mitrovic
Napoli want to strengthen their forward line and one of their prime targets in January will be Aleksandar Mitrovic, of Newcastle United.
Reports yesterday said Napoli are prepared to table an offer of €20m for the Serbia international who has just turned 22.
The Serie A club are seeking to recruit a new striker with Arkadiusz Milik sidelined for the next three months after an injury while on Poland duty.
If the deal is completed, Napoli will surely part with Manolo Gabbiadini who failed to live up to expectations this season.
Hoffenheim were lucky says coach
Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted his side had been fortunate to come away from Bayern Munich with a point in their clash last weekend.
The 29-year-old’s club conserved their unbeaten start to the season with a 1-1 draw on Saturday, although the champions had chances to take all three points in a second half in which they struck the woodwork twice.
“We’re happy to take this point back with us, although in view of the second half, Bayern would have deserved to win,” Nagelsmann admitted.
“They put us under extreme pressure and we could hardly free ourselves from it.”
Markus Kauczinski leaves Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt have reacted to their 10-game winless start to the season by releasing head coach Markus Kauczinski from his contract by mutual consent.
The 46-year-old has been relieved of his duties by the Bavarian club, who are second from the bottom of the table with just two points from their first 10 games of the season.
A 2-0 defeat at home to Bavarian rivals Augsburg proved to be the final straw for club bosses.
Kauczinski arrived in the summer following Ralph Hasenhuttl’s departure for RB Leipzig, and he failed to win any of his games in charge.
Alli out injured for Spurs and England
Dele Alli has twisted his knee and will be out for a “few weeks”, according to Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Alli will now miss England’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland on Friday and the friendly against Spain four days later.
The 20-year-old was set to play in yesterday’s north London derby against Arsenal but the midfielder sustained the injury in training on Saturday and was left out of the squad.
“He’ll be out for a few weeks. We hope it’s not a big issue. It’s bad luck he was in the team, he’s an important player but that’s football,” Pochettino said.
Visit to factory works wonders
Sunderland’s David Moyes was rewarded for employing an old managerial ruse as his team finally achieved their first Premier League victory of the season at the 11th attempt on Saturday.
“We went to a factory last week, showing the players it is much better to be a footballer than working in a factory,” he revealed after the 2-1 success away to Bournemouth.
Moyes and his struggling players visited Nissan’s Wearside car factory on Thursday and, evidently, it proved not a bad idea.
Previously criticised by some fans for a lack of commitment and character, the team showed both qualities in abundance as they won a match in which they had only 30 per cent of possession and survived the last half-hour with 10 men.
Fiorentina put €12m tag on Milan Badelj
Milan and Chelsea are showing interest in Fiorentina midfielder Milan Badelj but the Viola made it clear yesterday that they will not part with their player unless they get €12m in transfer fee.
According to calcio-mercato.com, Fiorentina would be ready to sell the Croatia international player but they will not accept less than the figure established.
Milan had already tried to lure Badelj to their fold in summer, linking him up with his former coach Vincenzo Montella, but the deal fell through.
In recent days Chelsea have also been mentioned with a move for the 27-year-old, whose contract runs until June 2018.