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Manchester City are reportedly set to appoint Sporting Lisbon ‘transfer guru’ Hugo Viana as their new director of football to replace Txiki Begiristain.

It would be a major coup for the Premier League champions, who are once again hoping to land this season’s top-flight trophy over Arsenal and Liverpool.

That’s because he is highly regarded for his business acumen, and was responsible for Sporting signing a number of players who’ve moved on to the Premier League.

Viana played a big role in securing deals for Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Porro, who have since left Sporting to join Manchester United and Tottenham respectively.

He is now expected to swap Portugal for England early next year with City having the basis of a deal in place, according to The Telegraph.

City have worked long and hard to find the perfect replacement for Begiristain, regarded as one of the best sporting directors in the world, who is stepping down at the end of the season.

They want Viana to ‘shadow’ Begiristain from early 2025 so he is ready to take over for the 2025-26 season onwards.

As well as his impressive work in the transfer market, Viana played an instrumental role in bringing in the highly-rated Ruben Amorim as Sporting’s head coach.

City’s deal for Viana comes at an interesting time, with City’s current manager Pep Guardiola out of contract at the end of the season.

While Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso is expected to be a leading contender, it is thought that Amorim could now come under consideration.

That’s only if Guardiola decides to leave the club and it should be noted that he is yet to indicate whether he intends to extend his deal with City or leave.

Amorim has been linked to the Chelsea and United jobs following his impressive work at Sporting in Portugal.

The 39-year-old, Sporting’s manager since 2020, has helped the club win two Primeira Liga titles and two Portuguese League Cups.

Tim Sherwood has likened Georginio Rutter to Arsenal’s Kai Havertz after Brighton’s victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

The 22-year-old joined Brighton in a £40 million deal from Leeds in the summer having scored just seven goals in 48 Championship appearances last season.

Rutter was handed his fourth Premier League start of the season on Sunday and scored Brighton’s equaliser in their 3-2 win at home to Spurs.

Havertz, meanwhile, has been one of Arsenal’s standout performers so far this season and Sherwood believes Rutter shares similar characteristics to the Germany international.

‘They [Brighton] don’t get it wrong,’ Sherwood told Premier League Productions after the game.

‘They don’t get it wrong with managers either as well as players, give them the credit for that.

‘Albeit in the Championship with Leeds with the numbers, but if he [Rutter] can continue like that and get the confidence from scoring in the Premier League.

‘I can’t pigeon-hole him, I don’t know what he is but certainly a good technical player, he finished that one [against Tottenham] brilliantly.

‘He is very similar to Kai Havertz, he’s not a No.9, not a No.10, he’s a bit of both.’

Meanwhile, former Brighton striker Glenn Murray says the club’s use of data was key behind their decision to sign Rutter from Leeds in the summer.

‘He’s starting to find his feet in a Brighton shirt in the Premier League as well,’ Murray said.

‘He’s a funny one, you can’t really put him in a box, Rutter, he reminds me a little bit of Havertz, not quite a No.9, not quite a No.10, but he’s a big physical presence, he’s just an issue, he always causes a problem.

‘There were questions asked and eyebrows raised when they paid £40 million for a lad who had only scored six in the Championship last year, but apparently on the data sheet that Brighton use for recruitment his numbers were off the chart in the final third, like final third entries, forward passes, things like that.

‘That’s why the club felt so strongly to go and pay that amount of money for him.’

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Here’s today’s starter for ten: what’s the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?

Well, a graveyard lies in the grounds of a church while a cemetery is on common land.

Both, though, have been described as the place where Tottenham’s dreams of a successful season have been laid to rest following their 3-2 defeat at Brighton on Sunday following a second half manager Ange Postecoglou described as ‘unacceptable’.

It was the tenth time since the Premier League’s inception the boys from N17 have lost a match after leading by two goals, which is an unwanted record.

But don’t be too quick in adding fuel to the fire by calling them ‘Spursy’ because it’s more complex than that.

Tottenham were a joy to watch in the first 45 minutes and would have been ahead inside 30 seconds if Timo Werner had found the unmarked Brennan Johnson with an accurate pass.

The former Nottingham Forest winger soon opened the scoring with his sixth goal in consecutive matches and James Maddison doubled the lead just before the interval with the Seagulls thanking their lucky stars they weren’t three or four down by then.

It was the thrilling brand of exquisite entertainment which had pundits purring as Spurs overwhelmed Manchester United and Brentford in their previous league outings and shows how dangerous they are when on top of their game.

The way they threw in the towel in the second half is alarming and shows there are speed bumps lying along the path to progress under Big Ange’s leadership but they lost because of individual errors and not because they kept attacking at full throttle.

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte preferred the more cautious approach, shutting up shop whenever possible, and where did that get them? If Tottenham keep dominating play and crushing opponents the way they did for more than two hours from Brentford’s trademark early strike to Brighton’s first goal at the Amex two minutes after the restart, they will be fine.

Back them with confidence at 3/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to finish in a Champions League position.

Let’s not forget that Aston Villa and Chelsea also underwhelmed at the weekend and while Spurs’ top-four chances were sent to the chapel of rest, in some quarters they are still alive and kicking.

• Defending champion Luke Humphries is 6/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral to win his second-round match against Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko at the World Grand Prix in straight sets.

• Seamus Power has averaged 67.75 strokes in his last 28 rounds on the PGA Tour after finishing tied 11th at the Sanderson Farms last week. The Irshman is worth an each-way interest in this week’s inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah at 22/1 with William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfair.

Robin van Persie terrorised Premier League defences during his goal-laden spells at Manchester United and Arsenal but only after Spurs passed up the opportunity to sign him.

Arsene Wenger won the race to sign the Dutchman in 2004 and he went on to score a century of goals for the Gunners, before his acrimonious move to United eight years later.

Van Persie’s predatory instincts helped fire United to the title in his first season at the club and helped Sir Alex Ferguson enjoy the perfect end to his Old Trafford reign.

Prior to his exploits in England, Van Persie honed his skills at Feyenoord where he started out as a precocious and often hot-tempered winger.

Arsenal ultimately were the first to really benefit from his talents, but it all could have been very different had their north London rivals been more decisive when they scouted Van Persie at the same time.

‘Then as a director of football, at Tottenham, I went to Feyenoord to see Robin van Persie,’ Spurs legend David Pleat told FourFourTwo.

‘He came on as a sub, shirt out of his shorts, socks rolled down, looking a right mess.’

‘Steve Rowley at Arsenal had decided not to sign him, but they went for a second look and decided to take a chance,’ he added.

Van Persie was far from the only high-profile signing Pleat missed out on during his illustrious career with two eighties legends also having slipped through his grasp;

He said: ‘John Barnes’ agent told me he was leaving Watford: £750,000, But I had Waddle and Hoddle. I didn’t take Barnes and he went to Liverpool.

‘At Luton we had Stuart Pearce training for a week with the reserves when he was at Wealdstone; I asked the coach what he was like and he said, ‘OK.’ I should’ve played him in an 11 vs 11 and made everyone play properly: then we would have seen his character.

Wales head coach Craig Bellamy insists Brennan Johnson is an ‘elite player’ and believes Arsenal legend Robert Pires endured similar criticism to the Tottenham winger when he first moved to the Premier League.

Johnson was signed by Spurs in a £47.5 million deal from Nottingham Forest just over a year ago and the 23-year-old has come under fire for his inconsistent performances since his transfer.

However, the 23-year-old has been in excellent form in recent weeks, scoring in each of his last five games for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Bellamy has included Johnson in his Wales squad for their upcoming Nations League games against Iceland and Montenegro.

And the Wales head coach feels Johnson is already showing that he is worth his transfer fee for Spurs.

‘His high intensity is through the roof and he is elite,’ Bellamy said.

‘Spurs have paid that money and he could have a bad few years.

‘But if I was in another job and he was worth £80m I’d go and buy him for that.

‘Trust me, he’s got every part of football that makes him an elite player. That’s the player I see.

‘Sometimes you hit the ground running at a club straight away, while sometimes it takes longer.

‘I remember Robert Pires for a whole season was a waste of money and the next season he wins the player of the year. It can work that way at times.

‘Brennan is young and I believe all we are seeing now is what the talent is allowing us to see.

‘It was going to happen and hopefully that continues.’

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Brighton host Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday and are set to have Brajan Gruda, Solly March and James Milner available after injury, but Joao Pedro has been labelled a ‘long-term’ absentee.

March has been out for a year with a serious knee injury but could return to action against Spurs while summer signing Gruda could make his debut for the club following a calf problem.

Milner has been suffering with a hamstring complaint, but the veteran is back and available again.

However, Joao Pedro’s ankle injury has put him among the ‘long-term injuries’ alongside Matt O’Riley and Jan Paul van Hecke.

‘Let’s start with positive things,’ said Fabian Hurzeler at a press conference on Friday morning. ‘Brajan Gruda and Solly March, they trained really good this week, they might be an option for the weekend.

‘And the others, the long-term injuries with Matt O’ Riley, Joao Pedro and JP.

‘James Milner he’s an option for this weekend. Positive and negative news but in general we see more positives that the players come back.’

Simon Adingra’s status was not mentioned, but he is a doubt for the weekend after missing the last outing against Chelsea.

Pedro is a significant loss for Brighton after a bright start to the season from the Brazilian forward and it is unclear how long he will be out for.

He returned to the team against Nottingham Forest last month after a previous injury but suffered an ankle problem after a heavy challenge from Morgan Gibbs-White.

‘It was a hard tackle and Joao had some problems after the game, he still has some problems,’ Hurzeler said last week.

‘We have to go week for week with him. But I don’t think he will be an option for the weekend. I’m not sure how long he will be out. I think Joao is a good healer. I’m convinced he will be back soon. But of course also with this player we can’t take any risks.’

Brighton suffered their first league defeat under Hurzeler last time out, losing 4-2 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Seagulls have picked up nine points from their first six league games of the season and face a tricky run of fixtures, with Spurs following Chelsea and a trip to Newcastle to come after the international break.

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Rafael van der Vaart has backed former Tottenham striker Troy Parrott to become a ‘very big player’.

The 22-year-old joined Spurs at the age of 15 but made just four first-team appearances for the club.

The Republic of Ireland international spent time on loan at Millwall, Ipswich Town, MK Dons, Preston and Dutch side Excelsior, where he scored 17 goals in 32 games last season.

Spurs opted to sell Parrott in the summer, with the forward joining AZ Alkmaar in a €8 million (£6.7m) deal.

Parrott has made an impressive start at AZ with six goals in nine matches so far, four of which came in the 9-1 win against SC Heerenveen last month.

But speaking on Ziggo Sport, former Chelsea defender, Khalid Boulahrouz, raised doubt over the striker’s potential.

‘Parrott has scored six [this season] but I don’t think he is a deadly striker yet. He’s not someone where I think, ‘you are now taking AZ to a higher level’,’ said Boulahrouz.

Van der Vaart, however, disagreed with Boulahrouz’s analysis of the former Tottenham forward.

‘I think so, I think he’s going to be a very big player,’ Van de Vaart replied.

‘I don’t know what it is. I saw him at Excelsior, but then it was more on the counter.

‘Now he is a good, footballing striker, who actually has everything. He just has to develop the killing a bit.

‘He can perhaps play football a little too well to be a killer.

‘Then you start wandering a bit and that costs strength. In the final phase you lack some strength to score. I really think he is a gem.’

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Diogo Dalot has jumped to Bruno Fernandes’ defence and backed the midfielder to return stronger after a difficult start to the season at Manchester United.

Fernandes took over the captain’s armband at United last summer and was one of the club’s few shining lights across an immensely disappointing 2023/24 campaign.

While United finished the season down in eighth place, their worst ever showing since the Premier Leagu’s inception, Fernandes contributed ten goals and eight assists before captaining the club to FA Cup glory in May.

But Fernandes is yet to find the net in what has been a sluggish start to the new campaign and the Portugal international was sent off in the side’s 3-0 capitulation at home to Tottenham last weekend.

However, the Old Trafford giants won their appeal against Fernandes’ controversial three-game ban, meaning the 30-year-old has been given the green light to face Aston Villa, Brentford and West Ham.

He will also be desperate to play a part tomorrow evening when United do battle with Porto in the Europa League, which could be crucial if Erik ten Hag is to remain in the job.

‘It’s not because it’s in Portugal, it’s because it’s the next game,’ Dalot told A Bola when asked whether the match represents a ‘good opportunity’ for his fellow countryman Fernandes to ‘turn the page’.

‘Bruno sees things the same way that I do: we’re players who are constantly looking to improve, we’re demanding of ourselves.

‘He’s no different. He’s already shown that he can perform at a very high level, he knows there are ups and downs, but he manages to maintain a balance and knows that the moment will come.

‘The team needs him. We’ve already shown that we’re a very strong team when he’s doing well. There will always be bad moments, with him and with other players.

‘The question is how we get back on our feet and he’s already shown in the past that he has the ability to get back on track, so I have no doubt that he’ll be very useful in the near future.’

Dalot says United are approaching Thursday’s Europa League group-stage clash with his boyhood club Porto ‘as if it were a final’.

‘We have to approach it with energy,’ the United and Portugal defender added.

‘Unfortunately, it wasn’t the result or performance we wanted [against Tottenham], but the good thing about football is that, three days later, there is a new game and a new opportunity to show better things.

‘The game against Porto is perfect because it is the next one. We have to approach this game as if it were a final, because we’ll need points if we want to go through to the next round and we really want to win the competition.’

Ten Hag reportedly has two games to save his job and Dalot admits United’s players have no option but to ‘change our mindset quickly’ and turn the situation around.

He added: ‘It’s normal to go through a process of reflection because it shows the ability to calmly analyse what had been done, both good and bad.

‘But there’s a maximum period of 24 hours to switch off and start thinking about the next one. It’s almost like closing the game, especially because we don’t have much time.

‘If we continue to live with the previous result and don’t focus on the next game… they’re different games, different opponents, different challenges.

‘We have to change our mindset quickly to be in the best possible shape, physically and mentally.’

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Jamie Carragher has taken aim at Matthijs de Ligt following Manchester United’s 3-0 capitulation at home to Tottenham, claiming the centre-back’s shaky display just ‘summed up’ the side’s defending throughout Erik ten Hag’s reign.

The mounting pressure on Ten Hag intensified as Spurs got the better of United in every department at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

It took the north London club just three minutes to open the scoring through Brennan Johnson, with the Welshman making no mistake from close range after an incredible 70-yard run from Micky van de Ven.

United had chances to equalise but were reduced to ten men in the 42nd minute as Bruno Fernandes was given his marching orders and the situation went from bad to worse after the half-time break.

Dejan Kulusevski doubled the visitors’ lead within two minutes of the restart and Dominic Solanke added a third to put Ange Postecoglou’s men out of sight, consigning the Red Devils to their third defeat of the campaign.

The result leaves United stranded down in 12th place in the table and there have been some calls for Ten Hag to be relieved of his duties, but the Dutchman is expected to remain in charge for the side’s crucial games with Porto and Aston Villa.

De Ligt has endured a rocky start to his United career on the back of a high-profile £43m move from Bayern Munich towards the end of the summer transfer window.

Analysing United’s loss on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Carragher highlighted several moments where the Dutchman had been guilty of poor positioning which ultimately cost his side.

Watching back at Johnson’s early opener, Carragher said: ‘I’ve noticed this a little bit with De Ligt and a lot of centre backs. I don’t understand why they don’t fill the space and they come over. I see this so much.

‘The striker just behind him has got nothing to do with him, that’s is Martinez’s job. If De Ligt goes over, [Lisandro] Martinez comes across. He’s looking over his shoulder… forget that, forget it! Get here!

‘This was a brilliant run, it was amazing, but Van de Ven runs because he sees the space.’

Johnson came close to scoring a second against United but was denied by the post after a slick counter-attacking move from Tottenham.

According to Carragher, De Ligt displayed poor decision-making by ‘flying across’ in an attempt to steal the ball from Timo Werner before Johnson struck the woodwork.

‘This sums up Manchester United for the last two or three years. Pressing and always being late,’ the ex-Liverpool defender added.

‘Just look at De Ligt come flying across, he comes flying into the challenge, very similar to a challenge he put in against Luis Diaz for Liverpool because it comes from his starting position. ‘

Later on in the first half, De Ligt was again caught in no man’s land and had Andre Onana to thank after the much-maligned goalkeeper denied Timo Werner with his feet.

‘I can talk about Manchester United’s midfield, running through midfield, running at the back four. I’ve been saying this for the last 18 months, that hasn’t changed,’ Carragher explained.

‘But when they win the ball if I’m going to tell you that this player [Werner] within five seconds is going to be running through on the goal… that tells you the problems Manchester United have.

‘The rest of the defence is awful, it always has been when they lose possession. But where’s De Ligt? The right-back has come out here but look where De Ligt is! You’ve got to get over.

‘In every situation in that first half, two massive chances and the goal in De Ligt a player they brought in for huge money in the summer he’s completely out of position all the time so he ends up having to go flying in to challenges and then you leave yourself in a situation where you’re going to get yellow cards or red cards.’

De Ligt will hope to be given the chance to redeem himself when United return to Europa League action away to Porto on Thursday night.

After United’s horror show at the weekend, Paul Scholes questioned the club’s decision to sign the defender in the first place, arguing he was no major improvement on Harry Maguire.

‘When you bring players in, you expect them to be a lot better than who you’ve already got. I don’t see players coming in who are a big difference,’ Scholes said on SuperSport.

‘De Ligt has come in for Maguire, let’s say, but there’s no big difference there.

Asked whether De Ligt is a £50m improvement on former club captain Maguire, Scholes replied: ‘No, absolutely not.’

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No Manchester United player emerged from Sunday’s disastrous defeat to Tottenham with their reputation intact.

But Diogo Dalot has been hit with the most damning criticism with the full-back’s role in the game’s opening goal labelled ‘criminal’, ‘unthinkable’ and ‘indefensible’.

United found themselves a goal behind after just three minutes with Micky van de Ven capitalising on some meek pressing from Marcus Rashford to pick the ball up in his own half. The Dutchman burst past four United players in a remarkable surge up the pitch to tee up Brennan Johnson, who was unmarked to tap home from yards out.

Johnson was able to stride into the box unchallenged with replays showing Dalot failing to follow his man into the box, seemingly giving up on the edge of his own box.

Noussair Mazraoui, Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte and Matthijs de Ligt were all unable to deal wit with van de Ven’s run but Danny Murphy highlighted Dalot’s role as the worst in the act.

‘That is the wors part of this goal,’ Murphy told Match of the Day 2. ‘He [Johnson] has made up 12 yards, they started level. Look at Dalot’s reaction. That is just unthinkable’.

Former United right-back Danny Simpson was equally dumfounded by Dalot’s position when Johnson opened the scoring.

‘I see the cross coming, and for Brennan Johnson to have that much space at the back post, I think it’s criminal,’ he told MUTV.

‘I think that’s Dalot’s position, I’m not sure whether he was inverted from midfield or at full back, and he needs to recover.”

‘Diogo Dalot had his hands up apologising – but you can’t have that at any level.’

Another former United star in Tim Howard meanwhile effectively accused Dalot of quitting.

He told NBC Sports: ‘Dalot’s almost stride-by-stride, slightly behind Brennan Johnson. All he needs to do is kick it into another gear.

‘Instead, he stops and puts his hand up. He knows he doesn’t give an effort. It’s indefensible. You can’t protect players when they don’t give 100 per cent effort – particularly at home.’

Dalot has been ever-present at left-back this season, slotting in with Luke Shaw still recovering from injury.