Martinez Barca’s favourite, Man Utd eye Rice alternatives – Friday’s biggest stories

Robin Bairner

24 Sept 2021 23:29 BST
3 min read

Not just Declan Rice – Tomas Soucek has also caught the eye at West Ham — © ProShots

Barcelona continue to dominate the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with Ronald Koeman still clinging onto his post as head coach.

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A scoreless draw against Cadiz on Thursday only heightened the pressure on the Dutchman and it is starting to become clearer who will take over from him.

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez is being increasingly tipped to take the post, with the tide turning against club legend Xavi.

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo, who is reportedly a major 2022 transfer objective for the Catalans, has picked up an injury issue that will keep him out for an indefinite period.

One man who left Spain this summer was Sergio Ramos. The Real Madrid legend has yet to make his debut for Paris Saint-Germain. Find out why here.

Across in the Premier League, meanwhile, there has been more meaningful transfer talk.

Manchester United are already looking for alternatives to Declan Rice having failed to land the West Ham and England midfielder in the summer.

But the Red Devils are not only trying to land new signings, they are also trying to offload players who are surplus to their requirements.

At the head of this list is Anthony Martial, who is being linked with a potential move to Arsenal.

The Gunners could make space for Martial by offloading his fellow France international forward Alexandre Lacazette, who is out of contract next summer and being linked to a number of sides.

Meanwhile, summer arrival Jadon Sancho has been warned that he is “not playing FIFA” following his poor start to life at Old Trafford.

Looking further ahead to 2022, Liverpool are reportedly ready to make a big move for Erling Haaland, but with so many other leading clubs also chasing the Borussia Dortmund striker, where do they stand in the pecking order to sign him?