Jose Mourinho has made signing a ‘top-class starting left-back’ one of his transfer priorities at Manchester United this summer.
The Portuguese spent more than £140million during his first transfer window as manager at Old Trafford, including the world-record fee spent on Paul Pogba.
He is expected to oversee a similar expenditure at the end of the season in order to strengthen for a potential Premier League title challenge.
According to chief lickspittle Duncan Castles, the manager is looking to solve a problem position at left-back.
Five players have started at least one Premier League game on the left side of United’s defence, ranging from Daley Blind (10) and Matteo Darmian (8) to Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo, who have started one game each.
Luke Shaw has started seven games and was expected to flourish under Mourinho after returning from a double leg fracture in September 2015, but the England international’s future at the club looks increasingly in doubt.
It is Mourinho’s ‘disappointment’ in Shaw – a Louis van Gaal signing – which is the driving force behind his left-back search, writes Castles. Shaw’s ‘mental attitude’ and performances have left the manager frustrated.
Castles adds that the Portuguese wants ‘a physically powerful, quick and aggressive attacking full back’ in order to mirror Antonio Valencia on the right flank. Benjamin Mendy of Monaco has been touted as a target.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was asked about the reports from Spain that Chelsea were willing to sell Hazard but the Italian, speaking ahead of his side's match with Crystal Palace, said the 26-year-old was happy at Stamford Bridge.
However, Balague, speaking to Sky Sports in his weekly Twitter Q&A, thinks we could be seeing the early stages of a strategy from Real Madrid which, in the next few months, will try to convince the player and the English club.
"The idea of course is that yes they are interested in Hazard," he added. "I'm sure he knows about it. His representatives know about it but of course Chelsea have to want to sell. That's where the sticking point will be for Real Madrid.
"So the effort from Madrid right now is to add pressure to Hazard to make his mind up. The Spanish club feel he wants to come to them, but Real will ask him to tell Chelsea he wants to go once they have agreed personal terms.
The idea of course is that yes they are interested in Hazard. I'm sure he knows about it. His representatives know about it but of course Chelsea have to want to sell.
Guillem Balague
"So we are in an early phase of the potential transfer but Real will have a plan B in case Chelsea do not want to sell."
Real president Florentino Perez has set his sights on signing a new Galactico this summer and wants to bring in the Chelsea forward, who head coach Zinedine Zidane has previously labelled the third-best player in the world behind Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Florentino Perez is thought to be keen on signing a Galactico this summer
And Balague insists the signing of Hazard, who has played an integral part in Chelsea rise to the summit of the Premier League, is nothing to do with the upcoming elections at Real.
"He will win the elections, no problems whatsoever," Balague told Sky Sports News HQ. "For him, [signing Hazard] it's the business model.
"I'll tell you an example, Alberto Toril, who was the Real Madrid B coach, was offered Paul Pogba when he was only 18 and leaving Manchester United and he cost £150,000. That's all.
"Toril went straight to Florentino Perez because he thought of the potential of Pogba and the president said come back to me when he costs £100m. That's the business model of Real Madrid and if it costs less than that or if it costs just a little they are not interested.
"They want to buy the best around. They look at England and Hazard could be the best in the premier League so they want him."
Hazard is not Real's only target with Juventus striker Paulo Dybala and Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe also on the Spanish club's radar.
Real are also thought to be interested in Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe
Real are also thought to be interested in Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe
"Real have developed conversations with Dybala of Juventus too," Balague added. "They want to convince him not to renew his contract with Juve, while Mbappe is a bit of an impossibility.
"Someone has offered more than €100m and it's not Real Madrid.
"It's an English club apparently but his representatives are saying it doesn't matter because he wants to stay with Monaco for another year. That's what he says for now anyway."
Jurgen Klopp says Adam Lallana's injury is a hard blow to take
Jurgen Klopp has questioned the scheduling of England’s friendly with Germany after Adam Lallana suffered a thigh injury on international duty.
Lallana picked up the injury in the first half of England's 2-0 World Cup Qualifier win at home to Lithuania but played the entire 90 minutes thinking he has only suffered a dead leg.
The midfielder has since returned to Merseyside and the club have diagnosed the problem as a thigh injury, which means he's likely to miss the next four weeks.
Although Klopp, who is preparing his team for the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday live on Sky Sports, is frustrated with losing one of his key men, he wasn't looking to blame anyone in particular for Lallana's injury.
However, Klopp does believe the planning behind England's friendly with Germany, which came just 72 hours after Liverpool's game with Manchester City, made "no sense".
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher visited Everton's Finch Farm training ground to meet striker Romelu Lukaku for a masterclass in finishing
"It's hard for us to lose a player like Adam for four weeks, which could be eight games - it's a lot," Klopp told Sky Sports.
"Whoever thought it was a good idea to play Manchester City and Liverpool on a Sunday night and then Germany against England on the Wednesday - it makes no sense.
"We all have to start to work much better together: the FA, Premier League, television and the clubs because we're trying to sell the best product.
Klopp says there is no ill feeling between himself and Gareth Southgate
"City and Liverpool was one of the most intense games in the league. So you can't have the highlight games like that then Germany against England and this and that. We all do this on the back of the players and a lot of players got injured on this international break.
"Friendly games at this stage of the season? Someone wants to tell me that it's important because we'll learn something about the players. Eight weeks from now we have more friendly games for the national team. Players should have a holiday but they're playing friendly games for their national teams."
We talk to fans from Merseyside about this weekend's derby between Liverpool and Everton live on Sky Sports
It is the second time Lallana has returned from England duty with a knock after he broke down with a groin problem in the friendly game with Spain in November, which kept him out for several weeks.
After this latest setback, England manager Gareth Southgate reportedly called Klopp to ensure there was no ill feeling following the untimely injury to Lallana.
Klopp admits he has no issue with Southgate as he understands the new Three Lions boss is under pressure to pick his best players.
He said: "I don't blame anybody for this, especially not Gareth Southgate - I like him, we've had a few meetings. As a manager I respect it's absolutely his decision to pick him. The media put him under huge pressure to pick the best line-up. If he had left Lallana out against Germany - the press would have asked 'do you want to win?'"
‘Man United would sell De Gea for £66m-plus’ – report
Date published: Thursday 30th March 2017 1:50
David De Gea would only be allowed to leave Manchester United if Real Madrid double the world record fee for a goalkeeper.
That record still stands at the £33m that Juventus paid for Gianluigi Buffon so that price is likely to prove prohibitive.
According to the Mail, there is no £52m release clause in De Gea’s contract, contrary to reports in his native Spain.
Somebody is clearly keen to make it clear that De Gea is not agitating for a move, with the report saying:
‘The 26-year-old enjoys an excellent relationship with Mourinho – also represented by Jorge Mendes – and thrives off his manager’s anger in the dressing room following disappointing draws.
‘He shares the same vision as the Portuguese, having completely lost faith in Van Gaal’s ability to close the gap on their rivals last season.
Real Madrid are thought to be more interested in Chelsea keeper Thibault Courtois anyway.
Alex Iwobi is confident Arsenal can move on from a bad run of form starting at home to Manchester City this weekend, live on Sky Sports
Alex Iwobi wants to silence Arsenal’s critics and show they can beat the teams around them at the top of the Premier League, starting this weekend against Manchester City, live on Super Sunday.
Arsenal suffered a fourth defeat in five league games in their last Premier League outing against West Brom, which intensified pressure on Arsene Wenger as he tries to guide the Gunners into the Champions League for the 21st season in a row.
They currently sit fifth in the league, five points behind Liverpool in fourth - albeit with a game in hand.
The gap to Chelsea at the top is a massive 19 points and one of the reasons Wenger's men have struggled this season is their form against the other top teams.
From seven games against fellow top four hopefuls, they've won just one and lost four, including a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium against City earlier this season.
"We need to change that record," Iwobi told Sky Sports News HQ. "That's in the past though - we need to prepare for the present. I believe with the players we've got - we've been working hard - that we can do it.
"We've not been doing as well as we should've been doing. But every team goes through a rough spell and it's ours at the moment. I'm sure we'll bounce back.
"Judging on how everyone did on international duty - everybody did well - then the confidence will slowly be getting back. We'll prepare this week and we'll do our best. Hopefully we can come out with the result we need.
Watch a preview of Sunday’s Premier League games, including Swansea v Middlesbrough and Arsenal v Man City
"Every game is vital - we're taking it game-by-game. We just need to concentrate, prepare right and do the job."
If Iwobi is selected for the Super Sunday clash then he could come up against his international teammate Kelechi Iheanacho.
The pair have been on international duty together with Nigeria, where Iheanacho netted a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Senegal in a World Cup qualification match.
Iwobi admits the duo are good friends and have been sharing a few jokes about the match during Nigeria's training camp.
Ahead of their Nissan Super Sunday clash, we look at some of the best goals from over the years from Arsenal versus Manchester City
"We've had a bit of banter this week," he said. "He was trying to persuade me to come to Manchester City and I was trying to persuade him to come to Arsenal. I'd like to play against him.
"We've talked about the game a little bit, but we've been focused on playing for Nigeria. I've just got to prepare now and beat him!"
Tottenham have confirmed that Erik Lamela has to undergo surgery on his hip and will be out for the rest of the season.
The Argentine has not played for Spurs since an appearance in the EFL Cup defeat to Liverpool on October 25 last year.
Now Tottenham have confirmed that the midfielder will not return to action until next season but did not give an exact time frame on his return to action.
Lamela has not played since October
"Erik Lamela is to undergo surgery on his hip on Saturday. This will result in Erik returning to action next season," a Tottenham statement said on Twitter.
