28/01/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JAN 28, 2026

29

Napoli staring at elimination against Chelsea

TOUCHLINES NOTTINGHAM FOREST have made a £35m bid for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, but the Eagles want a £40m package and will only let the 28-year-old Frenchman leave if that price is met and they are able to bring in a replacement. EVERTON and Guinea-Bissau forward Beto, 27, is one of the options Juventus are considering as they look to bring in a striker during the winter transfer win dow. JUVENTUS are also interested in Liverpool’s Italy winger Federico Chiesa, 28, and 24-year-old Dutch for ward Joshua Zirkzee, who is at United. FRANCE striker Randal Kolo Muani, 27, is on a season-long at Tottenham from Paris St-Germain and is another option Juventus have asked about. MAN UNITED midfielder Bruno Fernandes is set to wait until the end of the season before deciding on his future, with the 31-year-old’s current deal running until 2027 and having the option of a further year. ATLETICO MADRID are set to hold talks with Atalanta about signing 26-year-old Brazil midfielder Ederson from the Italian side. EVERTON have rejected a £15m offer from Lazio for 22-year-old English midfielder Tim Iroegbunam. NEWCASTLE’S English defender Jamal Lascelles, 32, has been told he can leave the club if the right deal is found. WOLVES have rejected a £6.9m bid from Roma for 23-year-old Norway left-back David Moller Wolfe. FORMER Southampton and Rangers manager Russell Martin is among the candidates to take over as Leicester City manager following the sacking of Marti Cifuentes. FORMER Leicester City player Gary Rowett and Hearts manager Derek McInnes are also being considered by the Foxes. MAN CITY are actively keeping tabs on England right-back Trent Alexander Arnold as uncertainty continues to grow over the 27-year-old’s future at Real Madrid. LIVERPOOL have contacted ex-Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso’s represen tatives to enquire about the Spaniard’s availability, with the 44 year-old reportedly giving a positive response to his former club’s approach. BOURNEMOUTH are close to complet ing the signing of Vasco da Gama’s Brazilian forward Rayan, 19, on a perma nent deal. CHELSEA and Man United are track ing Rennes’ 18-year-old French striker Mohamed Kader Meite. MEANWHILE, Ligue 1 side Rennes have rejected Chelsea’s January approach for France U-21 centreback Jeremy Jacquet but the Blues remain keen on a summer deal for the 20-year-old. GLADBACH and Switzerland goal keeper Jonas Omlin, 32, who was a target for Sunderland, has joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan until the end of the season. £1 = RM5.40

NAPOLI are on the brink of being eliminated from the Champions League as the troubled Italian club face Chelsea tomorrow (4am) racked by a deep injury crisis and a faltering Serie A title defence. Sat just inside the elimination zone on only eight points from seven matches after last week’s miserable 1-1 draw at FC Copenhagen, Napoli must beat Chelsea to scrape a place in next month’s playoffs. That will be no easy task with the Blues, Antonio Conte’s former club, needing a win to stay in the top eight and bag direct qualification for the last 16. And Napoli come into the game still stinging from a 3-0 defeat at Juventus which left the Italian champions nine points behind current Serie A leaders Inter Milan. Sunday’s loss in Turin was a big slap in the face for Napoli and Juve icon Conte, who was full of praise for his players who have had to dig deep in the face of a host injuries. “Before today the last match we’d lost was against Udinese (on Dec 14). We even won the Italian Super

Cup in an emergency, an emergency which has got even worse,” Conte told DAZN on Sunday. “The boys need big support from the fans … We’re going through a difficult period and I expect the fans to get behind the team.” Conte’s bid to become the first Napoli coach to win back-to-back Serie A titles has been hampered by physical problems in his squad right from the start of the season. It started with Romelu Lukaku suffering a hamstring injury in pre-season which kept him out of action until the 79th minute of Sunday’s loss. Lukaku replaced academy graduate Antonio Vergara who played in place of Italy international Matteo Politano, while new signing Giovane made his debut as a substitute, with Conte later saying he hadn’t even seen him train. Conte has also lost giant goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to a hamstring knock while winger David Neres flew to London for ankle surgery on Monday which will likely keep the Brazilian out until April.

Kevin De Bruyne has been out since October and won’t be back until the Spring after surgery on his right hamstring, while another key midfielder in Andre-Frank Anguissa was supposed to be back on Sunday from another hamstring injury but was left out due to back problems. “We know that we’re navigating in open waters with very high waves but we’re not getting off the boat,” said Conte. “We’re still here, made stronger by the fact that we want to keep fighting with all our might even with the absurd situation that we’re in. “These boys are serious, they’re giving everything and I see what they’re doing, what they have to put up with, what they’re risking, because let’s be clear here, they’re jeopardising their physical health. “They’re playing every three days, not training, and the same players have to play high-intensity football because we don’t have any chance to rotate.” – AFP

R EAL MADRID are aiming to seal direct passage to the Champions League last 16 at Benfica tomorrow (4am Malaysian time), but standing in their way is their divisive former coach Jose Mourinho. The veteran Portuguese still has slim hopes of taking Benfica into the playoff round, needing victory and other results to go their way, but pride alone is enough of a reward as he takes on Alvaro Arbeloa’s 15-time European champions. Mourinho never won the Champions League with Madrid, coaching the club between 2010 and 2013, a period in which rivals Barcelona had the upper hand both at home and on the conti nent. His opposite number at the Estadio da Luz is a former disciple of his in ex Madrid defender Arbeloa, one of his most loyal foot soldiers during his reign. However, their strong prior relation ship has not stopped the oft-antagonistic Mourinho from taking an apparent dig at him ahead of the match. “For me, it’s a surprise when coaches with no history get the opportunity to manage the most important clubs in the world,” said Mourinho last week, inter preted as commentary on Arbeloa’s appointment to replace Xabi Alonso ear lier in January. Arbeloa had been coaching Madrid’s reserve team, with Los Blancos his debut first team job. He responded with grace to Mourinho’s words. “You all know what Mourinho means to me. If a coach like that speaks, espe cially him, I listen and analyse it,” said the 43-year-old Spaniard. In his first press conference as Madrid coach, Arbeloa said he carries Mourinho “within him” and that it was an “honour and a privilege” to have worked under the Portuguese.

Arbeloa said he would try to be him self rather than an imitation of the 63 year-old. “While it’s true I am not afraid of fail ing, and have never been, I’m sure that if I tried to be Jose Mourinho, I would fail spectacularly,” he explained. Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey at second-tier Albacete in Arbeloa’s first match at the helm but have won the following three games, including a 6-1 demolition of Monaco. Sitting third in the league phase table, victory would ensure Madrid progressed to the last 16, avoiding the playoff round, and gaining second-leg home advan tage. Mourinho has only faced Real Madrid once since leaving the club in 2013. While coaching Manchester United in 2017 he fell to a 2-1 defeat by Madrid in the European Super Cup final in Macedonia. In the first few years after leaving Madrid he was occasionally linked with a return, although Perez never pulled the trigger on it, seemingly aware of the negative effects it could have. Mourinho stoked the rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona to unprecedented heights in the modern game, controver sially poking then Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in eye during a brawl following a Spanish Super Cup defeat in 2011. There were also fractures in the Madrid dressing room under the pres sure of Mourinho’s approach and demands. Since his heyday at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, which led him to Madrid, Mourinho’s career has taken a turn for the worse. Amid the problems Mourinho has, Madrid’s visit to Lisbon is an invitation for him to reassert some dominance, albeit for one night only, before a club which has never forgotten him. – AFP

Real test for Jose Mourinho’s Benfica between Madrid and C. League last 16

Kane opens talks to extend Bayern contract

Ű BY PHIL BLANCHE

corer in Premier League history. However, Kane’s move to Bayern has ended his trophy drought as he won the Bundesliga title last season. Vincent Kompany’s men are also on course to retain their crown this term after opening up an eight-point lead over Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table, despite suffering a shock 2-1 defeat by Augsburg on Saturday. Bayern have also secured their spot in the Champions League knockout rounds after claiming 18 points from their seven league phase matches. The German giants have tasted defeat just once in Europe this season when they were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in November. – The Independent

Therefore we’ve got absolutely no reason to rush.” The 32-year-old has netted an astonishing 119 goals in 126 appearances and last month became the quickest player to reach 100 goal contributions in Bundesliga history. Beyond his German exploits, Kane remains England’s all-time leading scorer with 78 goals in 112 international caps. His Premier League tally of 213 goals for Spurs places him 47 goals behind the competition’s record holder, Alan Shearer. Kane may be tempted to return to England to try and break Shearer’s record, but he will turn 33 in July and the clock is ticking. If he opts to sign a new contract at Bayern, that could end his dream of becoming the leading goals

ENGLAND captain Harry Kane is reportedly in dis cussions with Bayern Munich regarding a new con tract, following a stellar debut season in Germany. The prolific striker, whose current deal runs until summer 2027, is understood to be negotiating an extension that could see him remain at the Bundesliga champions until 2028 or 2029. Bayern sporting director Max Eberl confirmed the talks yesterday, stating: “We are talking to Harry. Everyone knows at some point a decision has to be made,” he added. Club CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said added: “Harry has great confidence in us and he feels com fortable in Munich. He and his family are settled in.