Liverpool could receive Edin Dzeko from Manchester City in a cash-plus-player exchange for wantaway star Raheem Sterling.

According to Fichajes.net, via George Bellshaw for Metro, Sterling could be on his way to the Etihad Stadium from Anfield this summer, with Dzeko and a hefty fee heading the other way.

The Bosnian struggled for minutes at City this season thanks to the arrival of Wilfried Bony, starting just 11 league games.

Dzeko’s agent, Irfan Radzipegic, spoke about his client’s future in February. Per Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star, Radzipegic said: “Dzeko is 28 years old and wants to play for the most prestigious teams in Europe. If he were to leave Manchester City he’d prefer a big club like Juventus or Atletico Madrid.“

Now 29, should a Champions League team fail to come knocking this summer, Liverpool would likely be an appealing option for Dzeko.

Because of his limited game time this season, the striker scored just six goals and provided three assists in all competitions, but as WhoScored.com indicates, Dzeko has proved in the past that he can be a fairly prolific Premier League goalscorer:

Indeed, Dzeko hit 26 in all competitions in 2013-14, and comfortably reached double figures in the two seasons prior to that. In total, he’s scored 71 goals in 165 games for City.

Thanks to the disastrous signing of Mario Balotelli and the frequent injuries to Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool are desperate for a proven striker, which is just what they’ll get in Dzeko.

He may not be the star name Reds fans are craving, but Dzeko can bolster their forward line.

Unless Balotelli enjoys a dramatic turnaround in form, however, more striking options than Dzeko will be needed in order for Liverpool to significantly contest for a return to the Champions League.

Mateo Kovacic to Replace Steven Gerrard?

Inter Milan midfielder Mateo Kovacic could be in line to replace the departing Steven Gerrard.

According to Alessandro Di Gioia of Calciomercato.com, via Joe Rimmer of the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool officials have traveled to Italy in order to obtain Kovacic’s signature in a deal that is reported to be worth £12 million.

Kovacic scored five goals this season, and while his return of two assists is modest for a man of his talents, the Croatian has caught the eye and stands out in Inter’s side.

Per Squawka, the 21-year-old has created 59 chances in Serie A this season, more than Liverpool’s entire squad save for Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling, and completed 86 take-ons.

The Guardian’s James Horncastle puts Kovacic in good company:

The youngster has also shown potential to operate in a deeper role than his usual position in attacking midfield.

Per Squawka, Kovacic has completed 49 per cent of his tackles this season, while Zonal Marking notes that he has been used as a defensive midfielder in international games, dominating his side’s play.

At 21, Kovacic has an excellent future ahead of him, and Liverpool would benefit greatly from his cultured presence in their midfield as they begin life without their talisman. His creativity, tenacity and eye for long-range goals make him an outstanding candidate to replace Gerrard.

Furthermore, acquiring his signature in the wake of interest from a host of European giants would send out a strong statement that the Reds can still attract top talent despite no longer being a regular in the Champions League.

Liverpool’s deal to bring in Philippe Coutinho from Inter has been successful, and Kovacic could be just as important for the Reds if they can sign him.

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Arsenal’s 2014/15 Premier League campaign will be regarded as one of progress. Despite finishing with a lower points tally than in the preceding year, they have finished one place higher up the table and showcased a new-found ability to cope with elite opposition.

The squad is stronger than it has been in many years, both in terms of depth and mental fortitude. However, there remains one major regret that they take away from this campaign: their dreadful start to the season. As Arsene Wenger said, per Matt McGeehan of the Press Association (h/t Daily Mail):

We were not consistent enough. After eight games we were 11 points behind Chelsea. If we win our game in hand (against Sunderland on May 20) we are 10 points behind Chelsea. That means in the first eight games we lost our championship and that’s what we have to address next season and start strong.

The reasons for Arsenal’s sluggish start to the campaign are manifold. The first and most obvious is the World Cup. Arsenal had a number of stars competing in Brazil throughout the summer, and in fact three members of the Gunners squad went all the way to the final: Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker.

The effect of the summer exertions was particularly clear on this trio. Mertesacker started the season even more slowly than usual, while Ozil seemed to lack the physicality required to cope with the rough and tumble of the Premier league. Podolski, meanwhile, was so poor that he eventually found himself loaned out to Inter Milan in Italy.

Perhaps Wenger could have mitigated against this fatigue fact by undertaking more work in the transfer market. However, Wenger left key gaps in the squad, after failing to add a defensive midfielder and centre-half. It was only midway through the season that Francis Coquelin stepped up and Gabriel Paulista was signed from Villarreal to cover these yawning gaps.

That’s not to say he hadn’t been busy in the transfer window. Arsenal made five signings in the summer of 2014, strengthening the squad but simultaneously creating an instability and uncertainty in the starting XI. That may also have contributed to their indifferent beginning to the campaign, as Wenger fought to discover an alchemic balance that would prove successful on the pitch.

Arsenal also had to cope with the hurdle of the Champions League qualifier. That tie against Besiktas proved a significant distraction, but having now achieved automatic qualification for next year’s competition, they will look forward to starting a Premier League season without that particular shadow hanging over them.

In the end, Arsenal won just two of their opening eight Premier league games. After 11 matches, they were already 12 points behind leaders Chelsea. At the end of the campaign, the gap remained the same. Arsenal’s bad beginning handed Chelsea an insurmountable lead. If the Gunners are serious about challenging for the title next season, they cannot afford such an inauspicious start again.

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Premier League champions Chelsea could reportedly be set to sell winter signing Juan Cuadrado at a loss to Inter Milan in the summer.  

The Colombian arrived at Stamford Bridge from Fiorentina in February for £26.1 million as a supposed upgrade on the departing Andre Schurrle.

However, in the second half of the league season, Cuadrado played just 312 minutes of football, contributing no goals or assists, per WhoScored.com.

Recent reports have suggested that he may be looking to return to Serie A, having failed to settle in west London, and Inter Milan are lining up a £22 million bid for the 27-year-old, per Tuttosport (h/t Joe Short of the Daily Express).

Inter have seemingly missed out on Palermo‘s Paulo Dybala, per Short, and San Siro boss Roberto Mancini is now apparently lining up Cuadrado instead.

In all likelihood, however, Blues boss Jose Mourinho will keep hold of Cuadrado into next season, having previously suggested the winger needs time to adapt to the Premier League, per Luke Kenton of the Daily Telegraph: “He needs time. I know Italy and I know the difference between Italy and England. His formation, his development, his experience – everything was in Italy. Stability, time, integration – I think we will see the best Cuadrado next year.”

The player himself certainly does not see his fledgling Chelsea career coming to an end so soon, if his reaction to the Blues’ league win is anything to go by:

Chelsea clearly rate Cuadrado very highly given the transfer fee they paid for him, and they will surely not offload him after only a few months at the club.

He is a hugely versatile attacking talent who could become a stalwart of the Chelsea team in years to come, and they would be foolish to get rid of him having barely given him a chance to shine.

Juve Target Oscar, Antonio Rudiger Eyed 

The Blues are set to come under pressure from Juventus in the summer as the Serie A champions are reportedly targeting Chelsea attacker Oscar.

According to Tuttosport (h/t talkSPORT), the Brazilian is at the top of Juve’s summer wish list as boss manager Massimiliano Allegri looks “to add more flare and creativity to his side.”

Juventus have had a terrific season thus far, winning the domestic double and reaching the Champions League final: They face Barcelona on June 6 in Berlin.

However, they have often relied on a solid defensive unit, with creative options lacking further forward, a problem Oscar could potentially solve.

Furthermore, for the right price, Chelsea may just be prepared to sell Oscar on, as he was not an indispensable component for the Blues in the second half of the season, playing a full 90 minutes just twice in the league in 2015, per WhoScored.

Indeed, Bleacher Report’s Garry Hayes presents a scenario in which Eden Hazard moves into the centre of the park for Chelsea, leaving Oscar warming the bench:

However, despite falling down the pecking order somewhat, Chelsea and Mourinho would surely only think about selling Oscar if they stood to make a substantial profit on the £19.35 million they paid for the 23-year-old.

At the other end of the pitch, Chelsea are reportedly eyeing Stuttgart centre-back Antonio Rudiger as Mourinho plans for the future of his back line.

According to German outlet Stuttgarter Zeitung (h/t Alex Harris in the Daily Star) the 22-year-old Rudiger is set to leave Stuttgart in the summer, and he has a £7.1 million release clause.

John Terry had a fantastic 2014-15 season, but at 34 years old, the Englishman’s career is surely drawing to a close. Gary Cahill seems to have dropped off in form somewhat, with young Kurt Zouma coming through the ranks to earn a first-team spot.

The German Rudiger would come in as a potential long-term option to partner Zouma in the centre of defence, and Chelsea will surely be his preferred destination over other potential suitors West Ham United, Monaco, Wolfsburg and Porto. 

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As a player, Phillip Cocu took his time to reach his full, glorious potential; he took his time to just settle on his preferred position and certainly took his time before gracing one of the biggest clubs in the world.

As a manager, well, only time will tell whether his path ends up treading a familiar route. After a false start and a couple of detours along the way, Cocu has this season turned the club perhaps closest to his heart, PSV Eindhoven, into Dutch champions—for the first time in seven years.

As a player, a combative midfielder with an eye for a pass and a goal or two, Cocu helped PSV to similar glory in two spells with the Eredivisie side. In the interim, he ventured to Spain and Barcelona, where he would become the club’s most capped foreign player—at least until a young Argentinian called Lionel Messi came along.

Great players do not always become great coaches, but the early signs are that Cocu, 44, may well have what it takes to make the grade. Beloved by Barcelona as a player, the question now is whether he will soon be coveted by them as a manager too.

There always seems to be a next big thing emerging in Dutch football, but with every recipient of the tag, the only guarantee is that the individual in question will not hold it for too long.

That is not just because there is always another promising prospect coming through—although that increasingly is the case—but also because individuals feted in such a way invariably end up pursuing their ambitions in richer, larger European leagues.

That transition is not always successful—for every Ruud van Nistelrooy there is an Afonso Alves—but the strike rate is usually pretty good. Liverpool certainly struck gold when they lured Luis Suarez from Ajax in 2011, while Manchester United will be hoping they have been similarly prescient with their capture of PSV’s Memphis Depay.

The Netherlands is not only regarded as a hotbed of footballing talent but a cradle for tactical insight, a reputation fostered in part by Rinus Michels and then Johan Cruyff, two men who helped evolve the game significantly with their coaching methods and general perception of how it should be played.

Over the past two decades, Dutch coaches, like Dutch players, have traveled throughout Europe and the rest of the world imparting their wisdom, from Louis van Gaal and Guus Hiddink to Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman.

The managerial merry-go-round is even more unpredictable than the playing one, however, with reputations rising and failing with often unpredictable haste.

In the last few seasons, Ajax manager Frank de Boer has been linked with some of the biggest jobs in Europe—Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, to name but two, reported by FourFourTwo—thanks primarily to his run of four successive Eredivisie titles. This summer, however, his name has been featured less heavily, presumably because Ajax failed to win the title.

They were pipped by a Memphis-inspired PSV, a dominant victory that has made Cocu, the mastermind of it all, the feted man of the Eredivisie.

With a title under his belt to go with a previously won Dutch Cup, a history of working with younger players and a strong CV as a player, Cocu seems to possess all the basic qualities desired of the modern big-club manager. It did not take long for another side to steal away Memphis, the jewel in PSV’s crown. When might they also come in for the manager, and what might it take to lure him away?

A Player of Quality

As a player, Cocu was a combative midfielder with few equals. His versatility was perhaps his biggest strength, something he was always happy to accept, relayed by Mohamed Moallim of WhoScored.com: “The only positions I’ve not played in [are] goalkeeper and right-back.”

Heavily left-footed, Cocu was often the calming presence for both club and country, the one who stuck a foot in to win possession and retained his side’s positional structure as those around him were released to play with greater attacking freedom.

“Cocu’s a great passer, has a good shot and could almost be another Bryan Robson,” former Manchester United boss Ron Atkinson told the Guardian in 2001, tipping the Dutchman as a player his old club should try to sign. “He may not be quite so prolific a goalscorer, but he’s tremendous in the air arriving in the box and has a lot of those ingredients.

“He’s more than capable of contesting midfield and is so versatile that he can not only fill virtually any position but play it as a world player.”

The intelligence Atkinson spotted was always a feature of his game. Born in Eindhoven in 1970, Cocu’s family left the city for Alkmaar when he was a toddler. His first experiences of organized football came with De Graafschap before he ultimately signed terms with AZ as a 16-year-old.

He was a winger at this point in his career—indeed, a left-footed tyro who lifted the crowd with his technique and attacking flair. After two seasons at the club, he joined Vitesse Arnhem, where, after overcoming a broken leg early in his stay, he would slowly convert to a more central role.

He would also begin to garner international attention, narrowly missing out on Dick Advocaat’s squad for the 1994 World Cup at the age of 23. “I thought it was great that Advocaat had me on his list of the first 25 [players],” Cocu later reflected to Trouw. “Too bad I just didn’t make it. But I was still young [and would have another chance].”

In the end, he would have to wait another two years to make his international debut.

At 24, he finally returned to Eindhoven after PSV met the release clause in his contract. Feyenoord met the clause as well, but Cocu’s mind was long since made up. He duly helped PSV to cup success in 1996 before the Rood-witten lifted the league title 12 months later.

Cocu was a player of greater ambition, however, and in 1998, he allowed his contract with PSV to expire. By this time an established Netherlands international, he attracted interest from around Europe. Barcelona eventually beat out Real Madrid, Lazio and Inter Milan to secure his signature.

Cocu had cheered for Barcelona as a boy—at that time, they were a club with a heavy Dutch influence—so joining the Blaugrana was something of a dream for the midfielder. He would make the most of it, playing 292 games for the club over the course of six seasons to make the most appearances by a foreign player in its history.

Since then only two non-Spaniards have beaten Cocu’s mark: Messi and full-back Dani Alves, reported by Barca’s official website.

In 2004, at the age of 33, Cocu returned to PSV for a final three-year spell at the club, adding three successive league titles and one Dutch cup to his collection. During that period, the club also reached the Champions League semi-finals, only to be denied by AC Milan. In a 3-3 aggregate draw—Milan progressed on away goals—Cocu scored twice.

After a one-season, presumably money-spinning, stay at Middle East side Al Jazira, Cocu retired in 2008 and immediately turned his attention to coaching.

First Forays into Coaching

If backroom coaching jobs are the footballing equivalent of summer internships prior to finally getting on that graduate scheme in the city, then Cocu’s list of experiences is something to behold. Since retiring as a footballer, he has worked under Bert van Marwijk, Huub Stevens and Dick Advocaat, learning from the best with both the Netherlands national team and PSV.

His first taste of actual management came in March 2012, when he was appointed caretaker manager at PSV following the dismissal of Fred Rutten. Cocu’s initial impact was underwhelming, although the club did win their final five games of the season and lifted the KNVB Cup.

Nevertheless, the club opted to appoint a familiar face, Dick Advocaat, in the summer, with Cocu—perhaps considered too raw for the top job at that time—deciding to ditch his assistant role with the national team and focus exclusively on managing PSV’s under-19 squad.

This was an astute move from both club and coach. With PSV having realised, as almost all Dutch clubs now have, that focusing on producing their own players is the only way to survive and thrive, Cocu was suddenly perfectly placed to succeed Advocaat when he departed. When Advocaat left the club after a disappointing season, Cocu was finally handed the reins on a permanent basis.

Cocu immediately set about overhauling the squad, changing the profile of a club that had allowed itself to slip some way off the pace of Ajax, a club that made its famous Toekomst academy the central tenet of its footballing identity. The new coach promised that the club would again contend for the Eredivisie but that there might be some growing pains to endure first.

“We are going to build a new team,” Cocu said, relayed by the Associated Press (h/t ESPN FC). “There will be changes in the squad. PSV will always go for the title but there is time enough.”

He added: “I am someone who likes to learn step by step and don’t want to go too fast. I also think you’re never too old to learn.

“I’m ready to take this step. It is a long-term thing but I am someone who, if he start something, wants to do well.” 

They seemed like the words of a man keen to dampen expectations, to reduce pressure, but they proved to be a precise analysis of how he saw the future. Having promoted young winger Memphis Depay to the first team during his intermediary spell in charge, Cocu set his stall out from the start to build his new squad around the young players the club was producing—players he had learned a lot about over the previous 12 months.

When PSV emerged for the start of the 2013/14 season, the team’s average age was well below 23—not necessarily remarkable for the Eredivisie but a significant shift for the club itself.

Initially, results were good, with the club going seven games unbeaten to start the season, and Cocu’s tenure, in perfect fashion. But then came a run of losses that sparked fears about the new adventure.

“Crisis? panic? You could also say that they are growing pains,” PSV’s sporting director, Marcel Brands, told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (via FourFourTwo). “We knew at the time [of appointing Cocu, setbacks could happen], but not when the first setback would come. In July and August we performed just above expectations.

“You know a relapse in this process is logical with a completely new team. As management and staff we were already prepared.”

That faith was important for Cocu, because things were to get worse before they get better. At one point, midway through the season, PSV slipped to 10th in the 18-team table before a strong finish to the campaign saw the side eventually finish fourth, securing a Europa League spot. It was a learning experience for all concerned, although Cocu was also going through something much tougher.

Health Scare Alters Perspective

Midway through that season, a routine medical scan revealed a sizeable lump on Cocu’s back, near his spine. Doctors were immediately worried; they did not know if the lump was cancerous, but if it was, the chances were reasonable that it had already spread.

“I had sometimes vague complaints, problems with my back after beach football, or I felt a strange stiffness if I had played football with my friends in the team room,” Cocu told Helden Magazine in a rare interview.

He kept putting off getting it checked out: “After the scan I was told that there was probably a tumor in my back. I was still quite sober until I saw the photos themselves from the MRIs.

“For a long time I was still optimistic, perhaps against their better judgement.”

Cocu only told his team two days before he underwent surgery at the end of March, passing control of the squad to his assistant, Ernest Faber, for the remainder of the campaign. Surgery went successfully, and subsequent tests showed the lump was not malignant, giving Cocu the all clear.

He returned to the club in time for the start of pre-season training ahead of the new campaign.

“Mentally I was pretty fast to recover, and I always believed that it would be okay, that from the start of the new season I could immediately return and do my job,” Cocu added. “But when I got the green light in September, it did feel very liberating. I feel that I can do everything again. My body has finally returned to normal.”

After that scare, the 2014/15 season saw the realisation of Cocu’s vision. A squad based on the pace and attacking threat of Memphis Depay, the midfield skill of Georginio Wijnaldum and the defensive resilience of Karim Rekik and Jeffrey Bruma was always going to be well-equipped for the Eredivisie, although the loan signing of Andres Guardado—an experienced professional, a converted winger with a bit of bite about his play in the middle of the park—underlined the nuanced understanding of his squad Cocu had.

The Mexican added an extra balance to the side that was missing, making them an irresistible force.

Third in the table after the opening round of the campaign, PSV moved into top spot after their second game and never relinquished the spot. They won emphatically in some games, ground out victories in others—the mark, some would say, of a well-drilled side. By the end of the season, they finished a mammoth 17 points ahead of closest rivals Ajax, having been 12 points adrift of them just 12 months earlier.

It was as emphatic a turnaround as has been seen in recent years.

“This is great, to celebrate the title today at home,” Cocu said, per UEFA. “My players really deserved this. We had a clear goal and we achieved it. We worked for this all year and now today we can feel it for real.

“These are the moments you do it for. This is a title the whole club has been longing for for quite some time.”

The subsequent transfer of Memphis to Manchester United, and his status as the league’s top scorer, may suggest that victory was built on the brilliance of one player, but perhaps the player’s emergence was just the most obvious example of a long-term project coming to fruition.

“I’ve learned so much at PSV, not only on the pitch but also as a person,” Depay said after his final game for the club, per the Daily Telegraph. “I’m proud of winning the title with PSV. It’s something the fans deserved, and something I wanted so bad as well.

“I wish the club all the best for coming season, and hopefully they’re lifting a trophy again next year.”

Depay’s departure, however, has led many to fear the end result of PSV’s success: the sale of all their most talented products. Brands said of the deal, per CNN:

We are very proud of this upcoming transfer. Memphis has gone through all the teams of the PSV youth academy and has played an important part in the national title this year.

He’s a wonderful exponent of our training and will make a nice transition to a magnificent club in a beautiful competition. Regarding sports, we lose obviously a fantastic player, which is of great value to the team. But very happily PSV grants him these wonderful step.

Other players may follow, but then other players are coming through. The question now, perhaps, is when will it be Cocu for whom a big club comes knocking?

The Future?

It seems almost certain that Cocu will be linked with another European club before too long, just as his “good friend” De Boer has been recently. Ronald Koeman, managing Feyenoord last season, showed the transition Dutch managers can make with his impressive first season at Southampton. It is just a matter of where Cocu sees his future.

As a player, Cocu never really fancied the opportunities he had to go to England or Italy.

“If the trainer wants me, it is clear. I stay,” Cocu said, per Sky Sports back in 2000, when his Barcelona contract was on the verge of expiring and Arsenal were rumoured to be interested.

“I rejected several English offers after the European Championships.

“It is true that the club has not made any moves to renew my contract but I am not in a hurry. I like Spanish soccer. It is more fun than, for example, the Italian league.”

If that opinion still holds, then it would seem Spain would again be his most likely landing spot—though the money on offer in the Premier League may now be a persuasive factor.

The obvious answer, perhaps too obvious, is Barcelona. He played for the club, he retains contacts there, and widespread reports suggest the club tried to lure him to manager the B team back in 2011, a post that has proved to be a fast track to the top job in the last decade.

Having sat in the stands at Camp Nou once already this season, per Sport, mere metres from the club president, is it really too much of a leap to speculate that Cocu is on whatever managerial shortlist the club may have already drafted?

The failed tenure of Gerardo Martino aside—an appointment, it would seem, driven by the personal desires of Lionel Messi—over the past decade, Barca have always tried to appoint coaches with a pre-existing history with the club over and above any achievements they might have accomplished elsewhere.

Cocu may have opted not to manage Barcelona B, but he has proved his credentials nonetheless. If Luis Enrique leaves this summer—and it remains a big if, especially with a treble on the cards—it would not be that surprising if the club sounded out Cocu about the vacancy.

Perhaps, for Cocu’s sake, it would be better if Luis Enrique stays. In that case, the Dutchman would be able to lead PSV back into the Champions League and gain the additional experience that comes with that challenge.

Nevertheless, it seems that, just as he was as a player, Cocu the manager will soon be coveted by plenty of clubs throughout Europe.

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Spanish coach Rafael Benitez confirmed on Thursday he will leave Napoli, ending his two-year tenure in charge of the Serie A giants.

The manager leaves with the Partenopei fourth in Serie A ahead of the final game of the season, amid widespread rumours that he’ll take over the vacant managerial role at Real Madrid.

Napoli provided confirmation of Benitez’s departure, as translated by AS‘ Nicholas Rigg:

Spanish news outlet Sport reports Benitez will be officially named as Madrid’s new manager, following the axing of Carlo Ancelotti, next week.

Benitez had previously been linked with the job at Liverpool, as Brendan Rodgers’ future hangs in the balance.

Rumours that Benitez would rejoin the Anfield superclub date back to November when Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian speculated about the coach’s return to the north-west side, quoting that bookies had slashed his odds to 6-1 to make a dramatic return.

The 55-year-old is still considered a hero on Merseyside after claiming Liverpool’s fifth European Cup crown in 2004-05. The Reds famously came back from the jaws of defeat to beat AC Milan in a dramatic final, after being 3-0 down at half-time, securing Benitez’s legend at the club.

Benitez has had two high-profile appointments between his glory years with Liverpool and his failed exploits in Italy. 

The coach was appointed manager of Inter Milan after leaving the Reds—a team who were the reigning champions of Europe—but he lasted just six months after a string of disastrous performances saw his reputation in tatters at the San Siro.

In 2012, Benitez saw himself take over as boss of Chelsea who, like Inter, were the Champions League holders. His appointment was widely condemned by Blues fans in and around Stamford Bridge, and despite winning the Europa League, he was once again sacked at the end of the campaign.

One good trait Benitez brings with him to the anticipated Madrid role is a defensive know-how, but the primary negative is his teams do not play the most attractive blend of football. 

Nevertheless, Thursday’s confirmation of his departure from Napoli brings that dream move to the Bernabeu ever closer.

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Unless there is a dramatic turn of events that sees Pep Guardiola leave Bayern Munich this summer, Manuel Pellegrini’s position as Manchester City manager looks increasingly secure going into next season.

The club are thought to have placed Guardiola at the top of their list of targets to replace Pellegrini when the Chilean leaves the club, per Simon Mullock in the Mirror. With Guardiola’s deal at Bayern set to expire in June 2016, Pellegrini, effectively, has another season to prove he is worthy of a contract extension at the club, with the availability of Jurgen Klopp seemingly not enough to tempt City’s board into ending Pellegrini’s time at the Etihad early.

Six wins from the final six matches of the season have strengthened Pellegrini’s hand. After the defeat to Manchester United back in April, his position was becoming uncertain. City were on a run of eight defeats from 15 games in all competitions and looked completely lost, but the club look set to keep faith in the man who won a league title and a League Cup in his first season in charge.

So, what looks set to be a hugely important summer for City has already begun. Currently on a post-season tour of the U.S. and Canada, they are in the process of convincing Yaya Toure to stay, according to David Anderson in the Mirror. They will also already be working on bringing in new players they have identified to improve their squad.

Toure is thought to be a target for Inter Milan, with former City manager Roberto Mancini an admirer of the Ivorian and his game-changing qualities. Inter have struggled this season and Toure appears to be the man they see as the catalyst for a return to better form.

But it seems he will start next season at the Etihad, despite his troublesome agent, Dimitri Seluk, telling Sky Sports only a few weeks ago that he was “90 per cent certain” his client would leave Manchester. 

That, already, is a significant summer boost for Pellegrini who clearly values Toure and believes in his ability to influence the City side, even at 32. He may have fallen short of his impeccably high standards during the most recent campaign, but Toure still possesses a unique mixture of attributes that are almost impossible to replace.

Aside from talks with Toure, City also look set to be busy bringing players in. They desperately need pace and youth. At times last season they looked somewhat disjointed and uninspired, and an injection of new faces to reinvent the side is now needed. 

And with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play sanctions widely reported to be relaxed next month, coupled with City’s financial situation constantly improving, big changes could be afoot over the coming weeks. 

Raheem Sterling, the Liverpool winger, is a player who would fit the bill at City, given his ball-carrying ability and home-grown status.

Paul Pogba, the Juventus midfielder who looks set to be at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war, is also likely to be approached. However, according to Simon Bajkowski at the Manchester Evening News, Barcelona are becoming increasingly confident it is they who will sign the 22-year-old Frenchman. 

Pogba looks to have the quality needed to be one of the world’s best, and City are likely to do everything they can to sign him, but often when Barcelona come in for a player, there’s little other clubs can do to stop it happening. 

Meanwhile, according to BBC Sport, City’s post-season match with Houston Dynamo may be under threat given the flooding that has caused chaos in the city.

The Blues were set to play two matches—against Toronto FC on Thursday and Houston on Friday—but the second leg of the tour is now in some doubt. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report’s lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.

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Dnipro and Sevilla go into the Europa League final in contrasting form as the two teams chase a trophy and a place in next season’s Champions League.

Holders Sevilla have won the competition three times since 2006 and are the favourites to make it back-to-back wins.

In contrast, Dnipro have not won any trophy since 1989, per Igor Linnyk of UEFA’s official website, and they will be playing in a European final for the first time.

Here’s all of the live streaming information you need for the game and the form of Dnipro and Sevilla ahead of Wednesday’s showdown at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland.

Date: Wednesday, May 27

Time: 7:45 p.m. (BST)/2:45 p.m. (ET)

Live Stream: ITV Player (UK), beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)

TV Info: ITV4 (UK), beIN Sports (U.S.)

Form Guide

Dnipro

Last 10 results in all competitions, per Soccerbase.com: WWLWDLWLDW

Myron Markevych’s team will head into the final on the back of a 3-2 win over Shakhtar Donetsk which kept Dnipro in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Markevych rested several players in that match, ahead of the Europa League final. Linnyk, per UEFA’s official website, feels Yevhen Konoplyanka’s form has been key to Dnipro’s own performance, writing:

The coach’s rotation policy has allowed Dnipro to enter the final stages of the season as fresh as could be hoped, something reflected in their pleasing form, which unsurprisingly runs parallel with that of Konoplyanka. At the top of his game at the moment, the No10’s goal at AFC Ajax put the side into the quarter-finals and he expertly laid on the semi-final clincher against Napoli.

Dnipro, who lost over two legs to Shakhtar in the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup, have saved many of their best performances for Europe this season.

Their form in the knockout phase of the competition has been much better than in the group stage, once they got that far, that is. Dnipro’s European campaign started last July when they lost to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League qualifiers before overcoming Hajduk Split in the Europa League play-offs.

In the group phase, Dnipro failed to score in their first three games as they lost 1-0 at home to Inter Milan and FK Qarabag on either side of a 0-0 draw in Saint-Etienne. But an away win over Qarabag and a final-day success over ASSE secured the runners-up spot for Dnipro behind Inter.

After the winter, Dnipro really picked up in Europe as they beat Olympiakos 2-0 at home in the first leg of the last 32 before claiming a 2-2 draw away. Extra time and away goals helped Dnipro battle past Ajax in the last 16, and their quarter-final tie with Club Brugge was another tight affair. A 0-0 draw in Belgium was followed by a 1-0 home win in the second leg.

In the semi-finals, Dnipro came up against Napoli and were not given much chance to qualify. They managed a 1-1 draw in Italy, when Yevhen Seleznyov scored a late equaliser to set the tie up for the return in Ukraine. Seleznyov was again the hero as he scored the only goal to send Dnipro into the final.

With just five wins in 10 games in all competitions, Dnipro aren’t in the best form ahead of the final. But the way Markevych has rotated his squad can account in part for those results. At full strength, Dnipro have shown form in Europe to suggest they can pull off another shock.

Sevilla

Last 10 results in all competitions, per Soccerbase.com: DDWWLWDWWW

Unai Emery’s side could hardly be in better form, despite missing out on a Champions League place on the final day of the season in La Liga.

Sevilla have lost just once in their last 21 games in all competitions when a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick earned Real Madrid a 3-2 away win.

That impressive run of form had started with the resumption of the Europa League when Sevilla won 3-2 away to Borussia Monchengladbach in the second leg of their last-32 tie after winning 1-0 at home in the first leg.

In the group phase, Sevilla won all three of their home games against Feyenoord, Standard Liege and Rijeka, and it’s a record they have maintained in the knockout rounds.

Fellow Spanish opposition stood in their way in the last 16, but Villarreal proved to be no match. After winning 3-1 away from home, Sevilla completed the job in the second leg with a 2-1 home success.

In the quarter-finals, Sevilla beat Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1 at home in the first leg. Extra time beckoned in the second leg in Russia, but Kevin Gameiro scored five minutes from the end to secure a 2-2 draw.

A semi-final date with Fiorentina was likely to be a close affair on paper, but Sevilla destroyed their Italian opponents. Aleix Vidal scored twice in a 3-0 home win in the first leg before Sevilla won 2-0 in Italy.

Vidal, though, does not believe Sevilla’s form or reputation will count for much in the final, saying, per UEFA’s official website:

People can think what they want. Based on our name, people might say we are favourites, but if you think that a name guarantees you victory then you are wrong – because in a final the so-called better teams can lose. A final is unlike any other game. You can’t really know what it will feel like until you experience it. Here’s hoping you ask me next year and I’ll be able to tell you how it feels to win it.

On form, Sevilla are the likely winners, and their confidence from recent results cannot be higher, even allowing for missing out on fourth place in La Liga.

But Dnipro have shown how they can match more highly fancied opponents in Europe this season, and their recent form is unlikely to have much bearing on how they perform in Poland.

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