Premier League news conferences: key moments (2023)

Should Manchester United be looking to sign Marcel Sabitzer permanently?

The Austria international made it three goals in the past five games with a quickfire double against Sevilla in the Europa League and, says BBC Sport's football reporter Simon Stone, he could offer a cheap option in the summer.

"Sabitzer has been superb," Stone told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast. "There is a lot of debate around whether they should be trying to keep him.

"Bizarrely he has scored more in five games for United than he did in 18 months for Bayern where he only got two.

"I would not imagine they would be too bothered about letting him go and United might profit from signing someone low key like that."

The 29-year-old was signed in January after the injury to Christian Eriksen and may find game time more limited after the Denmark midfielder's return to fitness.

Yet if he continues to be influential in front of goal, he could prove very handy to support United's fight on three fronts, and beyond into next season.

At last, Erling Haaland reveals his secret.

The Manchester City striker, who scored his 45th goal in all competitions this season in Tuesday's 3-0 Champions League win at home to Bayern Munich to break the record for a Premier League striker in a single campaign, posted these pictures on Instagram of him drinking milk alongside the caption "Me and my magic potion", complete with milk and strongman emojis.

Cue a new Milk Board campaign along the lines of the famous Ian Rush/Accrington Stanley advertisement of the 1980s...

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said on BBC Radio 5 Live that he could not see how the decision to remove gambling sponsorship from matchday shirts would significantly impact Premier League clubs.

“If theadverts are replaced by cryptocurrencies, then I don’t think it would make anydifferences in terms of the overall risks of individuals.

“Throughoutthe Premier League, the gambling industry has been the biggest beneficiary ofthe rise in enthusiasm of football over the last 30 years. Clubs will stillhave their official partners in the gambling industry…I can’t see asignificant impact."

But he added: “A front ofshirt deal with a gambling sponsor is probably worth somewhere in the region of £7-10m a year, so it’s clearly a significant amount ofmoney. If you put that together you’re probably talking £50-60m.

“If this isa first step then it is to be welcomed. There’s a danger of this being a sheepin wolf's clothing."

The Premier League announced on Thursday that clubs have collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the frontof their matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season.

However, afterthe deadline, clubs will still be able to continue featuring gambling brands inareas such as shirt sleeves and LED advertising.

And clubs will beallowed to secure new shirt-front deals before the deadline.

Eight top-flightclubs have gambling companies on the front of their shirts, worth an estimated£60m per year.

The announcementfollowed a consultation between the league, its clubs and the Department forDigital, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the government's ongoingreview of current gambling legislation.

The decision willsee the Premier League become the first sports league in the UK to take such ameasure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.

Catch up on the full story here.

We are expecting to hear from Erik ten Hag next.

Stay tuned.

Simon Stone

BBC Sport

A swift turnaround for Manchester United manager Erik tenHag as he meets the media again less than 14 hours after his side’s eventfuldraw with Sevilla.

I somehow doubt that will be enough time for him to have anymore information about the injury Lisandro Martinez picked up last night, whichwas evidently a serious one, even if he ruled out an Achilles injury when Iasked him about it after the game.

Raphael Varane has also been ruled out of Sunday’s trip toNottingham Forest after he was forced out of last night’s game at half-time.

Napoli hotshot Victor Osimhen's "dream" is to play in the Premier League.

He idolises Didier Drogba.

There's a side in west London in dire need of a goalscorer.

However, argues Italian football expert Mina Rzouki, an Osimhen move to Chelsea in the summer is unlikely.

"He is a player who can play in any squad in the world," Rzouki told BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast.

"He would be a blessing for any team but he does need to be alongside players who are good on the play and play perfect passes.

"Somehow, I don't feel like it's Chelsea - in fact I think he would like to end up somewhere more like Manchester United."

Osimhen has 25 goals in 29 appearances for the Serie A leaders this season but could stay in Italy if a deal is not acceptable.

"They don't have to sell him," continued Rzouki. "They are a very well run club, in profit, and do not need to lose a player.

"They have said though if a ridiculous offer is being made, it would be vary hard for them to say no."

More on Osimhen from 9'40 on BBC Sounds

New York Red Bulls forward Dante Vanzeir has been suspended for six games by Major League Soccer for using a racist remark during Saturday's match against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Play was stopped for 15 minutes after a confrontation involving Vanzeir.

He issued an apology on Tuesday and it was later announced he would "step away" from the club until further notice to avoid "distractions".

The Belgian, 24, has also been handed an unspecified fine.

The league also stated that it would "require Vanzeir to participate in additional league-mandated training and education sessions, as well as a restorative practices programme."

Read the full report here.

You can get the latest on Liverpool’s transfer links, loads of expert opinion and plenty of fan viewpoints on our dedicated Liverpool page.

The page is right here

You can bookmark it and come back each day. Or if you are using the BBC Sport app, when you land on the page, hit the bell icon and you'll get Liverpool notifications.

Here are a few more of the top lines from today's Gossip column:

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United are interested in signing Brighton's 24-year-old Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who would welcome a summer transfer. (Guardian)

Real Madrid are ready to make a new bid to sign England defender Reece James, 23, if Chelsea are forced to sell players this summer. (Mail)

Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, 35, has been invited to meet Chelsea's board as the club continues its search for a new permanent manager. Ex-Spain boss Luis Enrique, 52, has already held talks. (Bild - in German)

Barcelona expect Chelsea to make another attempt to sign Brazil winger Raphinha, 26, this summer. (Sport - in Spanish)

Leeds United's 23-year-old French goalkeeper Illan Meslier - who is a target for Chelsea - wants to quit the West Yorkshire club in the summer, even if they avoid relegation. (Football Insider)

You can get the latest on Leicester’s transfer links, loads of expert opinion and plenty of fan viewpoints on our dedicated Leicester page.

The page is right here

You can bookmark it and come back each day. Or if you are using the BBC Sport app, when you land on the page, hit the bell icon and you'll get Leicester notifications.

The latest on Harry Kane's potential departure from Tottenham leads today's BBC Sport Gossip column.

According to the Mirror, Bayern Munich are interested in signing the 29-year-old striker this summer, however, Manchester United are favourites because the England captain wants to stay in the Premier League.

But the Independent is reporting that German champions Bayern are ready to test Tottenham's resolve with a persuasive offer for Kane.

Click here for today's full Gossip column.

And finally from Dean Smith, the Leicester boss said that Harvey Barnes and Ricardo Pereira will be out.

“Unfortunately, we’ve got a couple of players missing," he said. "Harvey Barnes will be out for Saturday and is touch and go for next Saturday.

“Ricky felt his hamstring after the game last week. His looks worse than Harvey’s. He’ll be out for a few weeks. That takes away our wider options.”

But Smith said that midfielder Youri Tielemans is "available for selection" after recovering from injury.

"He hasn’t done a lot of minutes in training so we’ll have to see if he’s ready to start," added the Foxes boss. "He’ll play a big part. He and Jonny [Evans] give the team calmness.”

Dean Smith's first game as Leicester boss will be at defending champions Manchester City, who are hoping to catch leaders Arsenal and beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"We’ve watched an awful lot of teams try to impose their game on Man City and come unstuck," he said.

"We have to have a game plan and stick to it. We’ve seen Brentford go there and get a result. We have to have belief in ourselves."

On improving his side's defence, Smith added: "Straight away, bringing in JT (John Terry), helped shore up the defence at Villa. We’ve got six centre-backs here at the club. Jonny Evans has just come back from injury and some have not played as many minutes as we would have liked, but there’s plenty to work with."

Dean Smith's first job as Leicester boss is to lift the players' spirits after Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Bournemouth left the Foxes with one point from the last 24 available.

“We’ve lost seven out of the last eight games, so confidence isn’t going to be high," he said.

"I was 80-20 to take the job, but I probably went down to 50-50 after watching the Bournemouth game!

"I felt they just needed a lift. I felt confident we could do that. We’ve seen great enthusiasm. We’re trying to put smiles on the faces and that should lift their confidence very quickly.”

Dean Smith is speaking to the media for the first time after being appointed as the new manager of relegation-threatened Leicester, with John Terry and former Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare joining him at the King Power Stadium.

“The main reason I took the job on was because Craig and JT wanted to do it as well," said Smith.

"The points are there to be won, to grab, to get out of the bottom three. It’s been a season I’ve not seen before in terms of nine teams involved in the relegation battle. The more we can keep in that, it’s not insurmountable to get out.”

On staying at Leicester beyond the summer, he added: “It’s not a conversation we’ve had. It’s an interim job. I was watching the Masters in Augusta last week and now I’m back in England. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

A final word from Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on whether Newcastle can qualify for theChampions League: “I think there’s a growing belief that we’re getting back toour best form after a difficult period around January time, where we were alittle bit frustrated with ourselves in the Premier League.

"I think the Wolveswin I’ve said was a big, big moment for us, it got us back to winning ways.

"We’ve backed that up with three really tough games over the last week. That wasa big test for us mentally and physically, we came through it.

"Now we go intowhat I see as the last set of games this season, but a big test to come,nothing's decided and we’ve got it all to prove "

Everything Newcastle in one place – bookmark the page or if you’re using the app hit the bell icon for club notifications

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon's reaction to being substituted at the end of their 2-1 win against Brentford, after coming on at half-time: "We have had a conversation. His enthusiasm, aggression and motivation levels are really, really high and I think he is fiercely determined to do well and achieve. It is one of his strengths.

"We want to embrace that, we love that about him, but I think in certain moments he needs a cool head as well.

"It is about trying to explain the situation and talk through it. I have got no issue with him at all. He has trained really well this week.

Howe added: "On the pitch you want people to absolutely want to win and do everything in their powers to try to achieve that and be really passionate about what they are doing.I have got no issue with that. Take that away from him and he's not the same player. He needs that, he just needs a little refining around the edges. "

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has given injury updates on Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron.

On Saint-Maximin: “We said at the time that we don’t think it’s a seriousinjury but he’s away getting treatment at the moment, he’s not with us.Hopefully at some stage next week he’ll come back and be available very soon.

"I'm comfortable with [him going to France for treatment], I always have been. I am a firm believer that you don't have to be in Newcastle to get the best treatment possible. It's always about how the player can come back as quickly as possible in the best condition possible. If that means going away to see someone you have worked with before and you really like I've got no issue with it.

"We do send a staff member with him who is thinking about Newcastle United. I think that is an important mix. He is not just going and we have no idea about what he is doing."

On Almiron: “He’s done really well, he’s ahead of schedule at themoment. Fingers crossed, he gets through training and could be available verysoon.”

More from Eddie Howe on Matt Ritchie's importance to the squad: "“His leadership skills are second to none, I’ve seen a realchange in Matty through the years.

"I managed him as a young player [atBournemouth] with a fierce determination to get to the very top when I firststarted to work with him. Now I’ve seen the other side, where he’s developed alot of aspects in terms of leadership and being a role model for the youngerplayers.

"His wisdom and experience have been invaluable to the group this year.At certain moments, he can know what to say to a player to help them in theircareer and in their journey.

"I’ll make it clear, though, that I still thinkMatty can play - he’s a top player, we see that every day in training, he hasthe ability to create and score goals and I don’t think he’s ever lost thatability so we love him to bits.”