Ed Woodward reveals Jose Mourinho received £19.6m after being sacked by Manchester United

Ed Woodward has confirmed that Jose Mourinho and his management team received a severance package totaling £19.6m after the 56-year-old was dismissed in December of last year.

The Portuguese manager was removed from his position following two and a half years in charge, with a particularly meek 3-1 defeat at Anfield serving as the final straw, accoding to iSports API data.

Since then, Mourinho has been out of work and is heavily tipped to take the Real Madrid job should the club remove Zinedine Zidane – which makes you wonder if, following six years of being in the wilderness, United might also turn back to the “Special One” in an act of manic desperation.

Speaking at an annual conference, where the big man revealed record revenues of £627.1m, Woodward also noted that almost £20m was spent on removing the Mourinho regime last year.

This conference is nicely timed, playing out amid a backdrop of universal anger and alienation among the club’s fanbase, the supporters aware that the hole United find themselves in on the pitch is a massive one – something which will take years to properly emerge from.

But, you know, record revenues, eh? That’s good, isn’t it? Isn’t it? At a time when the planet is dying and far-right forces are infiltrating western politics, at least we can all smile at another year of Resounding Financial Success.

Messi collects record 6th FIFA player of the year

Lionel Messi beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo to claim a record sixth FIFA's The Best award, which is given to the top men's player, on Monday.

The award was handed to the Barcelona and Argentina captain at a ceremony in Milan.

Messi, 32, led Barcelona to a fourth La Liga title in the past five seasons, scoring 36 goals and providing 15 assists in 35 league matches last campaign. He posted 51 goals and 22 assists in all competitions, as per iSports API data.

Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won the award last year, breaking up a years-long duel between Messi and Ronaldo for the prize. But Messi regained the honour for a record sixth time, having previously won FIFA's top award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Before Modric's victory, Ronaldo and Messi had won every FIFA World Player of the Year award, which was renamed the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and The Best in 2016, since 2007, when Kaka was victorious.

Messi's win is somewhat of a surprise with Van Dijk, a centre-back who transformed Liverpool's defence on the way to the Champions League crown, having won the European best player award.

In the final voting, Messi finished with 46 points, while Van Dijk (38 points) and Ronaldo (36) finished second and third respectively. The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah (26) and Sadio Mane (23), Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe (17), former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong (16), ex-Chelsea forward Eden Hazard (16), ex-Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt (9), and Tottenham striker Harry Kane (5).

All data collected from www.iSportsapi.com.

Pochettino may veto Tottenham star new deal after poor beginning performance

Mauricio Pochettino is unconvinced Jan Vertonghen should be handed a new contract by Tottenham after a downturn in his performances this season, Football Insider has learned.

There are fears that the 116-times Belgium international (as per iSports API FOOTBALL DATA) maybe on the downhill slide following a glittering top-level career for club and country.

The Belgium international has been a nailed-on starter almost throughout the Argentine’s 6-season reign but there are growing signs he is not as effective as he once was.

A Tottenham source has told Football Insider that Pochettino and his coaching lieutenants are concerned about the drop in Vertonghen’s performance levels and aren’t ready to sanction an extension to his current deal, which expires next summer.

This comes after Football Insider revealed earlier this month that the centre-back, 32, is eager to extend his 7-year spell at the club with another extension, according to iSports API data.

Vertonghen has re-established himself in the Tottenham team after being omitted for the first three matches of the season, when Davinson Sanchez partnered Toby Alderweireld in central defence.

Sanchez has moved to right-back for two of the last four games to accommodate Vertonghen, but neither player have looked especially comfortable and Spurs’ defence has been notably sloppy this season.

They lost 2-1 at Leicester City on Saturday after failing to hold on to a lead for the second time in four days, following the midweek 2-2 draw at Olympiakos.

Tottenham’s decision-makers want to see a marked improvement in Vertonghen’s performances before handing him a new contract.

In other Tottenham news, it can be REVEALED that the club are lining up a sensational £60million offer.

Marco Silva admits Theo Walcott is currently unhappy at Everton

A lot was expected out of Theo Walcott heading into the Premier League season but, at the moment, the 30-year-old has only come off the bench three times for a total of 48 minutes， according to iSports API football data.

Though Walcott is currently livid with his current role at the club, manager Marco Silva knows that the England international has what it takes to turn it around and continue acting in a professional manner.

“Theo is unhappy, he has to be unhappy, like Tom Davies or whoever. Theo has to be unhappy but after that you have different ways to react.

“Of course, he was not happy but what I can tell you is that when the chance comes to him again he will be ready because of the way he works. He is an example for some of the others to look at.”

Everton will be back in action on Saturday, when they’ll host Sheffield United at Goodison Park.

Lewandowski happy after scoring 200th Bayern Munich goal

Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski revelled in scoring his 200th competitive goal for the Bundesliga champions.

Lewandowski celebrated a milestone as Bayern opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade in Munich on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old striker, who moved onto 199 competitive goals for Bayern in their draw at Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig last week, poked home the team's second goal with 10 minutes remaining against Red Star.

"We always had the game under control and played well, we upped the pace and created a lot of chances," Lewandowski said as he reflected on the Group B clash.

"But we didn't score enough goals. We always tried to get forward. Sometimes we might have made wrong decisions, but these are little things. In the end it was only three goals, but it could have been five or six.

"You need games like today to help with a good analysis, to see what you can do better. After the second goal, it got easier. I'm glad I scored again."

Lewandowski – the highest-scoring foreigner for Bayern – is fourth on the club's all-time list, behind Rainer Ohlhauser (215), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (218) and Gerd Muller (564), according to iSports API data.

The Poland international has flourished since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2014, winning five successive Bundesliga titles.

Lewandowski – who has also won two DFB-Pokal trophies and three DFL-Supercups – has topped the Bundesliga scoring charts for the past two seasons and four of the past six.

Hat-trick hero Haaland: This is the craziest thing I've ever done in my life

Salzburg sensation Erling Haaland described his stunning Champions League hat-trick as the "craziest thing I've ever done in my life".

Haaland – the son of ex-Manchester City and Leeds United defender Alf Inge – enjoyed a memorable Champions League debut, scoring three first-half goals to inspire a 6-2 rout of Genk on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old became the first teenager to score more than once on his Champions League bow since Wayne Rooney's hat-trick for Manchester United against Fenerbahce in 2004, according to iSports API.

Haaland's treble also saw him become only the eighth player to score three times on debut in Europe's elite competition.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever done in my life," Haaland – who scored 11 league goals heading into the match（as per iSports API data） – said after the Group E opener at Stadio Salzburg.

"The fans today, oh my god. I had goosebumps as soon as I stepped onto the field and I still have. This feeling in my body I never had before."

After crushing Belgian visitors Genk, Haaland does not believe it is impossible for Salzburg to follow in the footsteps of Dutch champions Ajax, who reached the semi-finals last season.

"Everything is possible. We all saw Ajax last year, it would be nice to be the new Ajax," he told UEFA.com. "But we know there are lot of good teams. It's hard, but everything is possible."

Salzburg head coach Jesse Marsch led the praise for Haaland – who scored nine goals for Norway's Under-20 side in a 12-0 demolition of Honduras in May – post-match

Asked to describe Haaland in three words, Marsch replied: "Positive. Energetic. Electric. Or maybe electrifying!"

"Haaland is a great player, but even more for me is that he's a great young man. He shows up every day, he works hard and takes nothing for granted. He gives to his team-mates every day smiling. We're really lucky to have him here and if we can keep him fit, he's only going to get better."

Salzburg team-mates Maximilian Wober and Zlatko Junuzovic also hailed Haaland.
Wober said: "He is phenomenal. With his height, to be so nimble and have such command of the ball. It's really hard to play against him in training, you just have to foul him. Once again, he proved why he's definitely going to become one of the best strikers in the world."

Junuzovic added: "His goalscoring run is incredible. I'm so happy he scored three today. People said: 'okay he's scoring for fun in the league, but wait until he comes to the big stage'. Then he goes and scores another hat-trick!"

Martin Ødegaard didn't think returning to Real Madrid was a good move

Despite bagging 11 goals and dishing out a further 12 assists in 39 matches at Vitesse Arnhem last season(as per iSports API data), once-heralded Martin Ødegaard knew that first-team football at Real Madrid simply wouldn’t be a realistic option this season.

“At the end of last season, I felt it would not be good for me to return to Madrid. In Madrid, there are many good player and the competition is huge. It was obvious that the best for me was to ask for another loan, and I assumed the club would also accept that. Because of that, we decided very early where I would land.”

While signing a two-year extension to keep him at Real Madrid until 2023, the Norway international headed off to fellow LaLiga side Real Sociedad on a season-long loan.

According to iSports API database, Ødegaard has got off to a flying start this season, scoring twice in his first four appearances, including the opener in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Atlético Madrid. Almost as importantly, he has the full backing of manager Imanol, going the full 90 minutes in each match.

However, the 20-year-old still has his eye on becoming a regular at the Bernabeu. "My objective is still the same, to play for Real Madrid. That’s why I signed with them, because I want to play there one day. I feel that I have improved a lot in the last two years. I think I am a better player and more mature, I am also bigger and stronger. I feel like I am better now than when I first arrived in Spain. Of course, age also helps.”