Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea continue to make progress on a two-year deal.

But Chelsea has made it clear they will not meet the £7 million release clause in Sarri's contract with Napoli. Sarri was replaced as manager of Napoli but his contract was not terminated.

Antonio Conte has been left in limbo as he has yet to be fired by Chelsea.

Manchester City are close to signing Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City and Jorginho of Napoli.

City will reportedly pay approximately £60 million for Mahrez and £42 million for Jorginho.

The deals could be done as soon as the end of next week.

Mahrez handed in a transfer request and had a 10-day absence from the club before returning to training with them on Feb. 9. 

Mauricio Pochettino has been identified as Real Madrid's top candidate to replace Zinedine Zidane.

Pochettino recently signed a five-year extension and it is believed that he does not contain a clause that allows him to leave. 

Pochettino’s contract is worth a reported £8 million a year, making him the fourth-best paid manager in the Premier League.

Pochettino previously managed in La Liga for Espanyol.

Everton has hired Marco Silva as manager to replace Sam Allardyce.

Silvas has signed a three-year contract with Everton.

Farhad Moshiri had wanted Silva to succeed Ronald Koeman in October but Watford rejected Everton’s advances and potential compensation of over £10m.

Roman Abramovich has put his £1 billion redevelopment plan for Stamford Bridge on hold after suffering continued delays of his visa.

A 49-word statement published on their website pointed to the “current unfavorable investment climate” as a key factor in their reasoning.

But the delay is understood to be prompted by Abramovic's visa issues.

Abramovich is apparently reluctant to invest heavily in a major project in the capital of a country where he is not allowed to work. 

The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday that the 51-year-old had withdrawn his request for a British investor visa, with his previous tier-1 visa, which allows anyone who invests more than £2 million in the British economy to stay for 40 months, having been granted before tighter regulations were introduced in April 2015.

Chelsea are insistent Abramovich remains as committed to the football club as ever.

Zinedine Zidane has stepped down as manager of Real Madrid.

Zidane had won six major trophies since taking over the job in January of 2016, including three straight Champions Leagues.

The club’s president, Florentino Pérez, described it as a “sad day” and said the decision was “totally unexpected.”

Zidane had been due to discuss plans for the coming season.

“I would have liked to convince him [to stay] but I know how he is,” Pérez said at the start of the press conference.

“I have taken the decision not continue as coach of Real Madrid next year,” Zidane said. “I spoke to the president to explain what I thought. I think it is the moment, for me and for the squad. I know it is a bit of a strange moment but I think it is the right moment. This is a team that should keep on winning and it needs a change for that. After three years, it needs another discourse, another working methodology, and that’s why I took this decision.”

“There are complicated moments in the season when you ask: ‘Am I still the right person? I don’t forget the hard moments too. There are lovely moments and we ended with a spectacular moment but there are hard moments that make you reflect.”

Mohamed Salah will be fit to feature in the World Cup group stages, according to the Egyptian Football Association.

Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the Champions League Final last Saturday.

A post on the federation’s Facebook page read: “The delegation of the national team was briefed on the recovery programme for the player, who is walking well and aims to join the squad in the World Cup, as well as the determination of the great player to catch up with his team-mates. For his part, Mohamed Abou El-Ela said that the period of absence of Salah due to injury will not exceed three weeks.”

Paris Saint-Germain plan on pursuing a transfer for Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.

PSG will offer Ronaldo a net salary of €45 million ($52.5 million), which would rival what Lionel Messi earns with Barcelona.

Ronaldo has a €1 billion release clause in his current contract with Real Madrid and PSG will not exceed a transfer fee of €150 million.

PSG must also comply with Financial Fair Play in order to sign Ronaldo while keeping Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as they intend.

Barcelona hasn't won the Champions League since 2015 and Pep Guardiola hasn't been with the club since 2012, but he believes they remain the best team in the world.

Guardiola offered the sentiment in an unsolicited way when asked about Andres Iniesta leaving Barcelona.

"You have to do it again and find the players to do it again," said Guardiola. "A team isn't finished when one, two or three people are gone. Barcelona are still the best team in the world, Champions League or no Champions League."

Spanish tax authorities have rejected an offer of €14 million from Cristiano Ronaldo to settle his tax fraud case.

Ronaldo offered the amount plus an admission of guilt in exchanged for a prison sentence of two years. Ronaldo would not serve any actual time in jail.

But Spanish tax authorities are demanding €28 million from Ronaldo. Ronaldo can either play this amount before June 15th or stand trial for tax fraud following the World Cup.

This situation may explain to some extent the player’s reaction after the Champions League final in Kiev.