Van Gaal: Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insists he has not yet decided to retire from coaching. The 65-year-old has been out of work since leaving Man. United at the end of last season, and on Monday told reporters he had turned down offers from the Far East as he was not keen to return to football. But in a subsequent interview Van Gaal said: “No, no, no. I have not retired. I am just taking a sabbatical year and after that I will decide. Valencia offered me the manager’s job about a month ago but I said no.”
Ilori: Defender Tiago Ilori has joined Reading from Liverpool on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, the Championship side said yesterday. The 23-year-old Portugal youth international joined Liverpool from Sporting Lisbon in 2013 and made three senior appearances for the Premier League club. “Tiago Ilori is the type of defender a lot of people like. We always want players with those attributes within our squad,” Reading manager Jaap Stam said.
Muntari: Sulley Muntari is expected to make a comeback to Italian football this month after agreeing a deal with strugglers Pescara. The Ghanaian, who played for Milan, Inter and Udinese in Serie A, left the Rossoneri in 2015 to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad. The 32-year-old will be available for Pescara once he formalises his release from Al-Ittihad.
Rodwell: Injury-prone midfielder Jack Rodwell will miss Sunderland’s Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday after damaging the medial ligaments in his knee during last weekend’s 3-1 defeat by Stoke City. It was feared that the 25-year-old was set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines but scans have revealed the problem is not as severe as first thought and the midfielder could now be back in a couple of weeks.
Ranieri: Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has been in-ducted into the Italian Football Federation’s Hall of Fame, BBC reported yesterday. He became the third Italian manager to win the English Premier League title with an astonishing victory in the 2015-16 season. The 65-year-old is included alongside former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti and ex-Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.