Zeljko Buvac has taken a leave of absence as Liverpool assistant manager for personal reasons.

Jurgen Klopp has described Buvac as “the brain” behind his coaching set-up, is “spending some time away from the first team environment between now and the end of the season” according to Liverpool, who have declined to comment further on what they regard as a private matter.

Buvac may leave Liverpool permanently this summer.

Buvac met Klopp when they were players at Mainz, where they had a gentleman’s agreement that whoever went into management first would take the other as their assistant. 

Buvac has cut a distant figure at Melwood and during first team matches. 

Rangers are increasingly confident of hiring Steven Gerrard as manager.

Gerrard is currently a youth coach at Liverpool.

Rangers are seeking a permanent successor to Pedro Caixinha, who was sacked in October. Graeme Murty has been in charge of first-team affairs on an interim basis.

Andres Iniesta has confirmed he will leave Barcelona at the end of the current season.

“This is my last season here.”

Iniesta’s emotional press conference was witnessed by a number of members of the Barça first team.

“I want to thank my team-mates,” he said. “My only aim was to be a success at this club and I have done that.”

Iniesta is widely expected to join the Chinese Super League.

“There are still things to be sorted,” he said. “I have said I will never play against Barça, so I won’t play in Europe.”

Unai Emery has announced he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the current season.

Emery has long been expected to leave the club this summer. Emery has been linked to a return to Sevilla.

“I have communicated to the players my departure,” Emery told a news conference. “I thank President Nasser al-Khelaifi, sports director Antero Henrique, supporters and all players for these two seasons.”

Thomas Tuchel is expected to replace Emery as manager.

Monchi has defended Roma's sale of Mohamed Salah to Liverpool.

Roma sold Salah to Liverpool for an initial £36.9 million and that the club had to do it to comply with Financial Fair Play.

“I sold him for more than €42 million,” Monchi told the Spanish radio station Onda Cero. “We had a need to sell. We had no option but to sell Salah before 30 June. Had we not done that, we probably wouldn’t be here playing the semi-final of the Champions League as we had Uefa closely monitoring us.

“We didn’t want to sell him but we had no choice. We had to take an offer before the end of the month. He wanted to leave, but we would have kept him if the regulations weren’t against us. When I arrived, the offer [from Liverpool] was €30m but we managed to get it up to almost €50m with bonuses. That is what we could do. The market then went crazy with Neymar, Coutinho and Dembélé.”

Pep Guardiola would like to recruit Andres Iniesta to Manchester City.

Iniesta is planning on leaving Barcelona this summer to sign in China.

Arsenal could also pursue Iniesta if Luis Enrique is hired as manager.

Iniesta's extension with Barcelona allows him to leave the club at a time of his choosing.

Jose Mourinho has downplayed the possibility of a major overhaul of Manchester United's roster this summer.

Sources say Mourinho's top priority is to find a central midfielder to replace Michael Carrick.

"We are going to invest the basic to improve our squad," Mourinho said. "We are going again to touch our squad and believe that more than spend, spend, spend, is probably the evolution of our players.

"We have some young players that need to get, with both hands, opportunities with their evolution, so let's see."

Pep Guardiola is interested in signing Jorginho as a replacement for Yaya Toure at Manchester City.

Napoli is expected to demand a minimum €60 million (£52.5 million) for the defensive midfielder.

City and Napoli were in the same Champions League group this season and Jorginho impressed Guardiola home and away.

Guardiola also wants a forward after missing out on Alexis Sanchez.

Real Madrid have begun the process of extending the contract of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Florentino Perez initially made the promise of improving Ronaldo's deal after last year's Champions League final in Cardiff.

Ronaldo is believe to view the proposal positively and a new contract is expected to be in place before the World Cup begins.

Ronaldo could go from earning €21 million ($26 million) net per year to €30 million ($37 million) net per year. The improved contract would put him closer to Neymar's €35 million.

Ronaldo's contract won't be extended, however, as it is set to expire in June of 2021.

Arsenal will begin their first coaching search in nearly a quarter of a center with an open mind.

"It's important to me that we continue the football values that Arsene has instilled in the club. So I want to see somebody who can continue that for our fans," CEO Ivan Gazidis said at a news conference. "And our fans want to see somebody who will continue to play progressive, exciting football, that gets people interested and excited in the games that we play.

"But I also think there is a significant piece with Arsenal Football Club of how the candidate represents the club. ... To replace Arsene, that's not going to happen. But what we have to do is to make sure we don't lose his qualities and his values within the club, but that we take them forward. I'm absolutely committed to doing that."

Max Allegri, Leonardo Jardim and Joachim Low have been viewed as the most probable candidates for the job.

"I think we've got to be open-minded and also brave in the decision. When Arsene was appointed, I don't think he was on many people's radar screens," Gazidis said. "Now that doesn't mean we have to make another appointment that not everybody is thinking about and talking about. But it does mean we need to be bold in the appointment and get the person that we believe is the right person."