Meanwhile, Manchester United have held early talks with Zinedine Zidane about replacing Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, according to Le 10 Sport.
Sunday 30 September 2018 11:26, UK
The European season continues at pace, with high-profile games played on almost a daily basis. And that means plenty of column inches being filled across the continent.
So we asked our friends at Football Whispers to scour the European media to bring you the latest news and the transfer gossip.
Rafa Benitez wants to bring SPAL defender Francesco Vicari to Newcastle in January. The 24-year-old centre-back, a former Italy Under-21 international, has featured in all seven of SPAL's games this season. (Sport Mediaset)
Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic has been linked with Manchester City, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid, but insists he isn't looking to leave the Serie A side: "Fiorentina are the ideal club for a young player to grow up and I am very satisfied with my choice to play here." (Tuttosport)
Genoa will attempt to re-sign teenage sensation Pietro Pellegri on loan when the transfer window reopens. The striker, then just 16 years old, joined Monaco from Genoa in January for a reported fee of €25m. But he's only made six appearances for the club and could make a return to Serie A to play regular first-team football. (Sport Mediaset)
Aleksandar Kolarov felt it would only be a matter of time until he made history in the Rome derby. After netting in Roma's 3-1 win over Lazio last night, the Serbian became just the second player to score for both clubs in the Derby della Capitale. He said: "I always try to do my best, I knew sooner or later I would score a goal for the Giallorossi in the derby, so it was bound to happen." (Sky Sport Italia)
Cristiano Ronaldo says the overhead kick he scored for Real Madrid against Juventus in last season's Champions League was more beautiful than Mo Salah's strike against Everton which earned the Egyptian the Puskas Award. On a live Instagram video, the Portuguese star said: "Salah deserved to win the Puskas award, it was a good goal. But let's be honest, let's not lie to ourselves, my goal was the most beautiful." (Sport)
Gareth Bale was taken off at half-time of the Madrid derby as a precaution, Real boss Julen Lopetegui has confirmed. The Welshman didn't feature after the break in the 0-0 draw and the Los Blancos boss said: "Gareth had discomfort in the break in his abductor and as a precaution did not come out in the second period. We are going to do some tests tomorrow and we will see [what the problem is]." (El Mundo)
Luis Suarez says Barcelona can't rely on Lionel Messi to "solve everything" after the La Liga champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Athletic Bilbao. The Argentine started the game on the bench but, with Barca trailing, was introduced in the second half to help his side claim a point. "We cannot depend on Messi solving everything," Suarez said. "Many of us are here because of what we did in other teams." (AS)
After Messi and Ronaldo snubbed The FIFA Best Awards in London this week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has instructed the federation's legal team to find a way to ensure attendance by nominated finalists from now on. (AS)
English starlet Jadon Sancho leads the top five European for assists despite having only played 124 minutes of Bundesliga action. The 18-year-old claimed his fourth and five assists of the German top-flight season in Borussia Dortmund's win over Bayer Leverkusen. "The opponent knows that we have a real weapon in action as soon as Jadon enters," Marcos Reus said. "We are glad that we have such an ace up our sleeve." (Bild)
Manchester United have held early talks with Zinedine Zidane about replacing Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford. United have made their worst start to a Premier League campaign, claiming just 10 points from their opening seven matches. Zidane is available after leaving Real Madrid in the summer, but may not be keen about taking over at United mid-season. (Le Sport 10)
