Liverpool are looking to bolster their defensive options by signing Inter Milan‘s Alessandro Bastoni, while Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu is in the sights of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.

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TRENDING RUMORS

– Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni has emerged as a top target for Liverpool after the club missed out on signing Manchester City-bound Marc Guéhi, TEAMtalk reports. The 26-year-old Italy international, who has two-and-a-half years of his contract, is reportedly very keen on the idea of testing himself abroad. Another name high on Liverpool’s centre-back shortlist is Borussia Dortmund‘s Nico Schlotterbeck, who is widely expected to be on the move after this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

– Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are all eyeing a deal for Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu, according to Calciomercato. The France international made a permanent move to Juve last summer, having enjoyed a successful loan spell at the club from Serie A rivals AC Milan the previous season. Calciomercato reports that the 25-year-old could be signed for a fee of €30 million, although he unlikely to move until the end of the season.

– Chelsea are prepared to pay €50m for 20-year-old defender Jérémy Jacquet, according to RMC Sport. The Rennes youngster has been linked with several clubs this month, although Chelsea’s interest has emerged as the most concrete. It’s believed that his club would seek a transfer fee in excess of €60m, as he is under contract until 2029 with no release clause. Jacquet, who is a France under-21 international, has been a regular in Ligue 1 this season, featuring in all but two of Rennes’s games in the competition to date.

– Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson is on Napoli‘s winter shortlist, Corriere dello Sport reports. The 21-year-old, who is on loan at AS Roma from Brighton & Hove Albion this season, may be on the move again, with Napoli looking to sign a new forward this month. Ferguson has five goal involvements in 16 league games this season. Meanwhile, Nicolo Schira reports that Chelsea have offered Napoli the chance to sign Raheem Sterling, who is not in the club’s plans having been frozen out all season.

– The Tottenham Hotspur board are debating whether to give manager Thomas Frank one more game to try and save his job, according to The Independent. Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to West Ham United sparked chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from Spurs fans, However, the team still have a chance of finishing in the top eight of the Champions League league phase with two games remaining, starting with Tuesday’s visit of Borussia Dortmund, leaving little time between games to make a change in the dugout.

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OTHER RUMORS

– Manchester United are keen on signing Portugal midfielder Rúben Neves, is out of contract at Al Hilal at the end of the season, in the final weeks of the winter window. (Football Insider)

– Chelsea are set to recall Celtic target David Datro Fofana from his loan spell with Turkish club Fatih Karagumruk, as they look to move on the Ivory Coast striker permanently this month. (Football Insider)

– Newcastle United have registered their interest in veteran Inter Milan defender Stefan de Vrij. (Football Insider)

– Girona and Valencia are showing an interest in signing Brighton & Hove Albion defender Diego Coppola on loan. (Matteo Moretto)

– There is a full agreement in place for Beşiktaş to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Emmanuel Agbadou. The transfer fee is expected to be around the €11.5m mark. (Footmercato)

– Schalke 04 are exploring a winter move for Fiorentina striker Edin Dzeko. Concrete talks are underway, as the former Manchester City striker is ready to leave Italy. (Sky Germany)

– Mainz, FC Köln and FC Augsburg are all pushing to sign Como defender Stefan Posch. (Sky Germany)

– Hoffenheim are in advanced talks to sign Irish wonderkid Michael Noonan from Shamrock Rovers. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Rennes are in advanced negotiations with Fenerbahçe over the signing of Polish winger Sebastian Szymanski. (Footmercato)

– Bournemouth are closing in on the loan signing of Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandas until the end of the season. (Sky Sports)

– St. Louis City are finalizing a move for Barcelona centre-back Mamadou Mbacke Fall. (Tom Bogert)

Lisandro Martínez has challenged Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt to repeat their criticism to his face after the pair said Erling Haaland would make the Manchester United defender look like “a little toddler” in the Manchester derby.

Speaking on a podcast ahead of the game, Butt predicted Haaland would “pick Martinez up and run with him” and their battle at Old Trafford would be rememble “a dad after school running down the road with a little toddler.”

Scholes followed up with “he’d score, then throw him in the net.”

But after Martinez kept Haaland quiet during United’s impressive 2-0 win, the Argentinian hit back at the former players — and Scholes, in particular.

“Honestly, he can say whatever he wants,” Martinez said. “I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care.”

United are known to be unhappy at the comments from Scholes and Butt, believing it was an attempt to mock Martinez rather than offer any constructive analysis.

Both Scholes and Butt have been at Old Trafford recently with the pair spotted in the directors’ boss alongside Sir Alex Ferguson for United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup the weekend before the derby — a game Martinez played in.

“I think for me, I respect the relations [ex-players] when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television but when you see [them] here face to face, no one says anything in your face,” Martinez continued.

“So for me, I don’t really care what they say. I just put the focus on my performance, the performance of the team and I give everything to this club until my last day.”

Martinez’s display against Haaland — who was substituted early by Pep Guardiola — was key for United as Michael Carrick masterminded victory over City in his first game as head coach.

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The 44-year-old was only appointed on Tuesday and took training for the first time on Wednesday, Still, Martinez said the former United midfielder was able to quickly make an impression on the squad.

“It’s so different, so different,” he said. “Different mentality, different guy. He [Carrick] knows what this club really means. He sent us that message that he played here for a long, long time.

“He won everything. He is a big legend. He wants to help the club and I think we were in a tough situation and it was the best moment to change that.”

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) governing council’s working committee held a late-night meeting to discuss key matters for the upcoming season, including the player auction and retention policies, sources told Geo News on Sunday.

According to insiders, the committee agreed to introduce a player auction for PSL 11 and also finalised the rules for player retention.

The committee’s decisions will be sent to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi for final approval, with the option of convening a full governing council meeting if required.

Sources revealed that the defending champions Lahore Qalandars, along with Quetta Gladiators, Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Hyderabad, voted in favour of the player auction model.

Peshawar Zalmi and the Sialkot franchise also voted in favour of the ‘drauction’ system, sources said.

It was also confirmed that the five existing franchises agreed on retaining four players each, one in each category, with one player eligible to be brought into a lower category and designated as a brand ambassador, sources said.

The new franchises, meanwhile, will select their remaining players from the general player pool through the auction system. Two new franchises, however, insisted on zero retention.

“The remaining players will be auctioned, and franchises will pick their players in the auction,” sources said.

The final formula for the PSL 11 auction and retention rules will be submitted to Mohsin Naqvi, with an official announcement expected within the next one or two days.

Sources said there is a possibility that it will not be made mandatory to include a player from the Emerging category in the playing XI.

The PSL auction is likely to be held during the first week of February, sources said.

Earlier, Naqvi advised franchise owners to increase the players’ salary cap as the marquee league enters a new era with the addition of two new teams.

Highlighting the rise in franchise market value, he encouraged teams to adopt the auction model.

“Conduct an auction of players in the PSL 11 draft and select players of your choice — they will benefit from it,” Naqvi told franchise owners during the meeting.

PSL 11 is set to begin on March 26, marking a significant milestone as the league expands from six to eight teams with the inclusion of new franchises from Sialkot and Hyderabad.

The historic PSL 2026 auction, held at the Jinnah Convention Centre on January 8 this year, saw FKS Group and OZ Developers secure ownership of the new franchises for Rs 1.75 billion and Rs 1.85 billion, respectively.