Pep Guardiola to Manchester City 'Will Force' Jose Mourinho to Manchester United

CommentsShareManchester United will reportedly be forced to intensify their pursuit of Jose Mourinho in order to match the hype that's erupted afterManchester Cityconfirmed Pep Guardiola will take over at the club this summer.City officially revealed on Monday that Manuel Pellegrini will step down from the helm, with Guardiola his replacement. The Daily Star's Jeremy Cross claimed United's Mourinho hunt will step up as a result:"Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has decided to replace the struggling Louis van Gaal at the end of this season. He knows Mourinho is the only man who can go toe-to-toe with Guardiola and will make his move for the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss."Alex Livesey/Getty ImagesSome United supporters have backed Mourinho's potential appointment.Mourinho has been speculated as the most likely candidate to replace former Barcelona mentor Louis van Gaal in the event United part ways with the Dutchman, but it appears the club will persevere with their current boss for now.At a FIFA event organised at Wembley by presidential candidate Gianni Infantino on Monday evening, Mourinho was quizzed on his chances of replacing Van Gaal, but as shown by Sky Sports' Paul Kelso, his answer was muted:

Let Neymar finish his career at Real Madrid, says agent

In an open letter addressed to the Brazilian's father, Wagner Ribeiro adopted a scathing tone and suggested the issues were due to a refusal to join the Blancos as a teenager

The former agent of Barcelona star Neymar has responded to the embargo the Brazilian suffered due to tax issues in his home country, ironically suggesting that his ex-client would enjoy a quieter life if he moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Brazilian authorities moved against the forward on Friday, freezing assets worth £33.1 million. 

Neymar is accused of evading 63m Brazilian reais (£10.5m) between 2011 and 2013, while he was still a Santos player.
And Ribeiro did not hold back in an open letter to the star's father, published on his Instagram page.
"Take your money, take it to tax havens, legally, of course," the agent advised, tongue firmly in cheek.

"That way you will stop paying taxes in Brazil. Close your businesses, the Praia Grande institute and enjoy your life on the Mediterranean beaches.
"But let Neymar play a few more years of football. Let him finish his career in Europe, preferably Real Madrid."

In the letter, Ribeiro held Neymar's father responsible for the tax scandal, as he ignored the agent's advice to stay in Europe with Madrid after a trial when the striker was still a teenager.
"It was obvious this was going to happen, right Ney?" the businessman asked.

"You never paid for the boy [Neymar Jr.] to play. You decided to listen to his 'juvenile-infantile' desire to go back to Brazil instead of playing in Real Madrid.
"But Neymar Jr, a responsible, charismatic star started to become recognised and businesses in Brazil and beyond wanted his image, and that made you 'rich'.

"In Brazil, when a poor person becomes rich he has to be a donkey. They say that 'You can take the man out of the favela, but you cannot take the favela out of the man', and that has deep meaning for part of society which is used to 'always win.'"

Gary Neville: Yaya Toure's the best midfielder in the Premier League

The Manchester United legend was full of praise for the Manchester City man, but he feels it's time Manuel Pellegrini started managing his appearances more effectively
Gary Neville rates Yaya Toure as the best midfielder in the Premier League - but he has criticised how often he is fielded for Manchester City.
Toure has started all eight of City’s games this season - including last week’s League Cup win over Sunderland - and is set to be involved once again in Wednesday’s Champions League game against Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany.
Manchester United legend Neville thinks Etihad Stadium boss Manuel Pellegrini needs to be using the 32-year-old a little more sparingly if he is to get the best out of the former Barcelona star.

“He cannot play three games a week, that man,” the England assistant coach told Sky Sports. “He is a fantastic player, but I would leave him for your most important games.
“There is a problem around Yaya Toure. On his day, he's perhaps the best central midfield player in the Premier League, but the idea that you can get three equal performances out of him in a week now is impossible.”

Neville picked out three former Premier League stars who also reached the point where it became impossible for them to compete at the top of their games on a regular basis.
“We've seen it with Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, these players that have maximum impact in teams,” he added. “They get into their 30s and physically they drop off; you have to manage these players.”

Barcelona can cope without Messi, insists Luis Enrique

The Argentine is sidelined for up to eight weeks with a knee injury but the 45-year-old maintains his side have the ability to adapt
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique insists his side can cope with the absence of Lionel Messi.
The Argentine has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with the knee ligament injury he suffered during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Las Palmas.
But while Luis Enrique admits Messi will be “impossible to replace”, he is adamant that his team have the ability to adapt their style ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou.

"All my players give always their top so I can't ask them more due to Messi’s absence,” said the Barca coach.
"Messi and Rafinha injuries are challenges for us.
"We will do what we have to do without Messi, a player like him is impossible to replace but we showed during the preseason we know how to play without him, we will introduce new players.
“We have already thought about changing our playing style without Messi because our main goal is to be on the top at the end of the season.”

Luis Enrique also confirmed that Claudio Bravo and Jordi Alba took part in training on Monday and are available to face Leverkusen.

Probable Starting Formations & Key Players – Man United vs Liverpool

Last season, Manchester United did a double over their arch rivals Liverpool. They defeated the Merseysiders 2-1 at Anfield and humiliated them 3-0 at Old Trafford.

As far as the team news is concerned, Liverpool’s biggest concern is the absence of star playmaker Phil Coutinho. The Samba star is suspended. Summer signing Roberto Firmino will now be the key playmaker for the Reds against Manchester United.

As far as the midfield is concerned, the battle between Morgan Schneiderlin and James Milner is going to be intriguing. Captain Jordan Henderson may return to the starting XI to boost Liverpool.

For Manchester United, all the lime light will be on big money deadline day signing Anthony Martial. The young French star is going to be under a lot of pressure mainly because of the huge price tag.

During the international break, Wayne Rooney finally became England’s all time top goal-scorer and the United supporters will hope that the former Everton star will find his goal-scoring form with the Red Devils as well.

As far as the starting formations are concerned, United have mainly played the 4-2-3-1 formation this season and Rooney might play behind Martial in this system. Liverpool will probably play 4-3-3 with Can, Milner and Henderson in the midfield. Here are the probable starting lineups.

man utd    de gea, shaw, darmian, blind, smalling, schnerdelin, s,staiger, depay,mata, rooney, martial

liverpool   mignolet, gomez, cylne, sktel, sakho, can, henderson, milner, firmino, ibe, benteke