Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has said that he will hold talks with Yoshinori Muto at the end of the season and has no problems with the attitude of the Japan international. The Magpies have stayed clear of the relegation over the course of the entire season and they will end their campaign this weekend with a home game against Liverpool.

Muto has played as the deputy behind Dwight Gayle and Joelinton for the striker’s role this term and he has been restricted to only eight league appearances totalling 209 minutes. Hence, he has been fancied to head for the exit door in the quest for more game time and Bruce is prepared to hold showdown talks with the former Mainz star.

 

Japanese national coach Hajime Moriyasu will continue to be in charge of the Olympic side even after the postponement of the Olympic games, which was set to be settled in Tokyo. The coronavirus pandemic meant that the Tokyo Olympics, which was set to take place on 2020, and the qualification matches for the World Cup 2022 have been postponed. As a result of the fixture congestion that this causes in the football calendar around the world, the Japanese Football Association grew concerned about the ability of the current management to manage both tasks in an efficient way.

Initially, it was decided thatMoriyasu would be in charge of the Olympic team since the World Cup qualification does not overlap these games. There will be some overlapping in terms of preparing for matches and some warmup matches, but these should not be a major problem. If there is a similar overlapping case, Akinobu Yokouchi will be able to take charge of the Olympic team. JFA Technical Committee chairmanYasuharuSorimachi said that there have been extensive discussions about the best course of action for the national team. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the Olympics, the JFA has decided to makeMoriyasu remain in charge of the Olympic team. The Olympic teams will only feature under 23 players with only three players over this age limit.

 

Franco di Santo is heading into a problematic situation, as Atletico Mineiro coach Jorge Sampaoli is not keen on bringing him back to training even as football is on the verge of resuming to its normal schedule. The Argentine striker is back in his home continent after signing forAtletico Mineiro. He has been on the road for the last few years, as he has been unable to find a proper destination. His most comfortable spell in recent years was with Schalke, where he spent four years from 2015 to 2019.

This recently came to an end after the move to Spanish outfit Rayo Vallecano, but this was not so successful. After joining the Spanish outfit on a free transfer in January 2019, the striker only featured in six games before being released.

Liverpool are expected to make a huge statement in the summer transfer window. The runaway league leaders will splash the cash in the summer, as they bid to build on their success, and try to keep up with other European elite teams.

The club have made two additions all through the season. They signed goalkeeper Adrian on a free transfer from West Ham in the summer. The Spaniard was the only arrival last summer. They added the second player during the winter transfer window. Takumi Minamino joined from RB Salzburg. The Japanese international started his career in Japanese football with Cerezo Osaka before making the move to European football. He moved to Austria with RB Salzburg in 2015. He left the Austrian Champions after 5 years to join Liverpool. The Japanese was the only outfield player to join the club since last summer.

Rangers head coach Steven Gerrard believes Virgil van Dijk deserves to win the Ballon d’Or ahead of Lionel Messi, given he was faultless with his performances during the Reds’ Champions League triumph. Van Dijk has been hugely instrumental for the Reds in the central defence since arriving from Southampton last year and he has continued the good form this term, where the Reds are comfortably at the top of the Premier League table.

Speaking in a press conference, Gerrard acknowledged that he is a huge admirer of Barcelona’s Messi and he is among those, who would want the Argentine to enjoy every success. However, he added that the Ballon d’Or should be presented to Van Dijk, given he was the catalyst towards ending the Reds’ seven-year wait for a trophy.