4:00 AM ET Real Madrid want to pair Kylian Mbappe with Erling Haaland in a forward line that would be the envy of world football — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: Arsenal have plans to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Jump to: Arsenal’s list of Auba replacements | City goodwill towards Barca in Torres deal

4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen In April, I looked at the next generation of male football stars — the top talents, aged 21 or under, who have shown the promise and ability to become the next household names. While the 39 players on that list were already reasonably established at their clubs, there are also

5:36 AM ET Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said he fears Romelu Lukaku‘s controversial interview could destabilise his side’s season and that he was surprised over the striker’s claim he is unhappy at the club. In a conversation with Sky Sport Italia recorded three weeks ago but released on Thursday, Lukaku suggested he was “not happy”

4:00 AM ET Manchester United should, for the sake of entertainment, pledge to give Cristiano Ronaldo more opportunities to stage his rescue acts in 2022. Alex Pantling/Getty Images Goodbye 2021, hello 2022. All you have to do is be better than either of the past two years, so quite frankly the bar is pretty low. It’s

6:42 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — “That’s more like it,” said the presenter as he opened MUTV’s half-time coverage of Burnley‘s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday, and you could almost hear the relief spill out of the TVs dotted around the stadium. The past 12 months have been a tough sell for

12:44 PM ET Cesar Hernandez Success at a young age in domestic club soccer, a bronze medal in the latest Summer Olympics — surely a move abroad would be the natural next step for many of Mexico‘s up-and-coming stars, right? That was the initial line of thinking earlier this year. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga,

5:59 PM ET LONDON — Even when Manchester City fail to hit the heights we have come to expect of Pep Guardiola’s team, they still end up basking on the sunny side of the street. The Premier League champions laboured to a 1-0 win at Brentford on Wednesday, yet they ended the day having stretched

5:17 PM ET Adam Brown A win on Tuesday was vital for Chelsea as they looked to keep pace in the Premier League title race, and they looked to have sealed a victory before a late goal saw them drop two points in a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge. –

5:18 PM ET Harry Kettle Liverpool were left licking their wounds and wondering what could’ve been on Tuesday as they fell to a 1-0 Premier League loss against Leicester City. Jurgen Klopp’s men were all over Brenden Rodgers’ stubborn Foxes for long spells of the game, but after a collection of misses, it always felt

10:30 AM ET Could Cristiano Ronaldo really be leaving Manchester United to join Barcelona? No, no he couldn’t. James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images The Christmas festivities may be over and done with for another year but Spanish football fans were treated to one last sensational seasonal gift on Tuesday as they scanned the morning headlines. Catalonia-based