April 2016 - Soccer Wiretap

Marseille Fires Michel As Manager
Michel replaced Marcelo Bielsa last August.

The Guardian

City To Wait Until Summer To Decide Future Of Yaya Toure
Yaya Toure's contract expires in the summer of 2017 and has been expected to leave City with the arrival of Pep Guardiola.

Jamie Jackson/The Guardian

Jamie Vardy Could Face Extra Match Ban
Jamie Vardy is automatically banned for Swansea City's visit on Sunday but could also sit out the following match against Manchester United.

Stuart James/The Guardian

Juve Insists Paul Pogba Won't Be Sold In Summer
Juventus was able to convince Paul Pogba to remain with the club last season amid speculation of an impending departure.

Ben Gladwell/ESPN

Leicester Play Inordinately High Percentage Of Long Balls
From the teams in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1, only two German clubs have a higher percentage of long balls from total passes than Leicester.

ESPN

Pique: It's Incredible The Stars Have Aligned Against Us Like This
Barcelona briefly had a 1-0 lead against Real Madrid in the Clasico on April 2nd and everything has gone wrong for them since.

Sid Lowe/The Guardian

Jose Mourinho Puts Gonzalo Higuain Atop United Wish List
Gonzalo Higuain previously played for Mourinho with Real Madrid.

Sunday People

City Will Sacrifice Pursuit Of Paul Pogba To Land Alvaro Morata
Alvaro Morata could conceivably link up with Sergio Aguero similarly to how he did with Carlos Tevez.

ESPN

Manuel Pellegrini Admits Pep Guardiola Has Been Distraction For City
Manuel Pellegrini had previously insisted that City's announcement on February 1st that Pep Guardiola would replace him as manager this summer did not contribute to their poor form.

Sachin Nakrani/The Guardian

Barcelona Loses Again, Now Level In La Liga With Atleti
In their past four La Liga matches, Barcelona has recorded just one point.

Rob Smyth/The Guardian

Slaven Bilic: West Ham Could Have Signed N'Golo Kante
Slaven Bilic instead brought in the likes of Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio and Pedro Obiang.

PA Sport

United Signs 16-Year-Old Striker Nishan Burkart
Nishan Burkhart is a 16-year-old striker and has also been linked with Chelsea and Arsenal.

ESPN

Sergio Aguero Gets Hat-Trick, Thibaut Courtois Sent Off With Red
Sergio Aguero had a hat-trick for Manchester City in their 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Dominic Fifield/The Guardian

Liverpool-Villarreal, Sevilla-Shakhtar In Europa Semifinals
With an improbable comeback win against Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side will travel to Estadio El Madrigal on April 28th with the return leg seven days later.

ESPN

Real Madrid-City, Bayern-Atleti To Meet In Champions League Semis
Real Madrid will play Manchester City in the semifinals of the Champions League, while Atletico Madrid drew Bayern Munich.

RealGM Staff Report

Liverpool-Dortmund Had 3.4-3.4 xG Over Two Legs
Liverpool defeated Borussia Dortmund 5-4 on aggregate in a remarkable comeback win.

Michael Caley/Howler

Robert Lewandowski Was In Car Accident Few Days Before Benfica Match
Robert Lewandowski started on the bench in that game, and only came on in the 84th minute in place of Thomas Mueller.

ESPN

Jurgen Klinsmann Denies Report Linking Him To Everton
Ian Darke tweeted "Persistent Merseyside rumours that USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann could be next Everton manager."

ESPN

Atleti, Bayern, Real Madrid, City In Champions League Semifinals
Atleti defeated Barcelona 3-2 in the quarterfinals to end their title defense.

RealGM Staff Report

Manuel Pellegrini: City Always 'Thinks As A Big Team'
Manchester City has had a disappointing domestic season but they advanced to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time by beating PSG 3-2 on aggregate.

Jamie Jackson/The Guardian

Karim Benzema Won't Play For France In Euro 2016
Karim Benzema is accused of accepting a request from a childhood friend to act as an intermediary between the blackmailers and Mathieu Valbuena, but he denies any wrongdoing.

Mark Rodden/ESPN

Bayern Tries To Downplay Talk Of Possible Mario Gotze Transfer
Bayern said Mario Gotze is welcome to hold talks with the club once the season is over on an extension.

FourFourTwo

Enrique Cerezo: Diego Simeone 'The Perfect Coach For Atletico Madrid'
Diego Simeone received interest this year from Chelsea.

Liam Twomey/ESPN

Atletico 'Would Love' To Bring Back Diego Costa
Diego Costa has grown frustrated with media coverage of his play in his second season with Chelsea.

Liam Twomey/ESPN

AC Milan Fires Sinisa Mihajlovic As Manager
Sinisa Mihajlovic has been fired as manager of AC Milan with Christian Brocchi replacing him on an interim basis.

Ben Gladwell/ESPN

Liverpool, Dortmund To Both Pursue Mahmoud Dahoud
Mahmoud Dahoud is a Germany under-21 international of Syrian descent and could command a €30 million transfer fee.

Andy Hunter/The Guardian

Chelsea Could Target Keeper With Future Of Courtois, Begovic Uncertain
Antonio Conte spoke to both players last Wednesday as part of a round of talks with individuals from the first-team squad to outline expectations when he takes over.

Dominic Fifield/The Guardian

Barcelona's Continued Struggles Open Up La Liga Title Race
Barcelona would still have to drop points twice for Madrid or Atlético to have a chance.

Sid Lowe/The Guardian

Leicester City Clinches Spot In Champions League
The Foxes last played in Europe in the 2000-01 UEFA Cup.

Dale Johnson/ESPN

Jose Mourinho Denies Report Of Pre-Contract With United
Jose Mourinho said he's "not in a position to turn [jobs] down."

FourFourTwo