Jose Mourinho revealed he would welcome Italy striker Andrea Belotti to Roma with open arms, as he outlined his desire to keep Nicolo Zaniolo at the Stadio Olimpico.
Belotti, a free agent since leaving Torino when his contract expired at the end of June, has been strongly linked with a move to Roma after scoring eight Serie A goals last season.
The 2021-22 campaign was the first in which Belotti had failed to hit double figures in the Italian top-flight since 2014-15, and reports have suggested he could arrive to provide competition for Giallorossi forwards Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala.
Asked ahead of Monday's game against Cremonese whether Roma would be signing another attacker, Mourinho said: "I do not answer, because the director Tiago Pinto already knows.
"I just have to wait with the hope that it can be done. If it cannot be done, we will go on with what we have.
"If Belotti were a player of Torino or of another team I would not answer. Being released, I do not have the ethical block of not saying anything, I can say something.
"If it is true, I repeat if it is true, that he wants so much to come to Roma, I would be happy to hear this kind of feeling. If he doesn't come, I don't know, let's wait and see."
While Belotti could join the likes of Dybala, Georginio Wijnaldum and Nemanja Matic in making the move to Roma, fellow forward Zaniolo has been tipped to leave throughout the transfer window.
Zaniolo scored the winner when Roma ended a 14-year trophy drought by winning the Europa Conference League in May but has been linked with Juventus.
Mourinho views the 23-year-old as a key player, adding: "He is doing very well. Physically he seems agile and fresh.
"If he stays here, it is a question for the director and not for me. If you ask me if I would like him to stay, I do not hide it and I say yes. He is important for us."
'When's it going to stop?' – Ref Support chief calls for end to 'silent' response to officials abuse
Football's governing bodies must do more to protect referees amid a "considerable rise" in abuse that has often been met with a "silent" response.
That was the message from Ref Support chief executive Martin Cassidy, who referenced issues with Bruno Fernandes, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andrew Robertson in the Premier League this season.
Fernandes appeared to make contact with an assistant referee in Liverpool's 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, while Mitrovic was banned for eight games after pushing Chris Kavanagh.
Robertson was another involved in an altercation with an official, when assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis seemingly made contact with the Liverpool left-back with his elbow, though the official faced no further punishment after an investigation.
A couple of seasons earlier, former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero came under scrutiny for placing his hand on the shoulder of assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis during a home victory over Arsenal.
Cassidy believes the response to the rise in these issues has been inadequate, calling on the likes of the League Managers Association (LMA) and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to do more.
He told Stats Perform: "From a domestic point of view, what's been going on over here with the situations that [there has been] a considerable rise in contact with match officials from what's happened with Sian Massey-Ellis, Bruno Fernandes, Mitrovic, Robertson – it’s on the rise.
"When's it going to stop? And there are people who are silent on this who shouldn't be silent on this – the LMA, the PFA and even the Football Supporters' Association, they're all quiet on this, they comment on everything else.
"They will talk all these white papers and governments, and they tweet about enough is enough about things [that are important] to them, but they never come out and publicly condemn their behaviour by their members.
"The LMA never do it. We wrote to them, and we got a very benign, weak response. [The] PFA never say anything about the behaviour of their players – their members.
"Certainly, there never seems to be any stance from supporters associations who really want to stand up and say: 'Look, we are going to do something here, what's the protocols, what's the code of conduct for managers in the LMA, what is the code of conduct for a professional footballer with regard to how they behave with these post-match comments here?'
"So, there are a lot of silent people here who need to step up like the FA have in this country. When these people criticise the FA, the LMA and the PFA need to look at themselves and say what they are doing to address the situation that's caused directly by their members."
Cassidy acknowledged the problems span wider than English football, with the ill-tempered Europa League final between Roma and Sevilla marred by abuse of referee Anthony Taylor after the game.
Aside from refereeing issues, the ongoing racially motivated problems with Vinicius Junior and Spanish football continue – and Cassidy believes UEFA must improve.
"UEFA hasn't really got a good track record on what they've done with racism," he added. "So, they have been quite weak on that really and very erratic.
"Look at what has happened in Spain, they haven't really taken control of that. So, I'm not very hopeful that they'll respond to this in a manner that football wants it to respond to, but hopefully they prove us wrong.
"UEFA does, in particular with the UEFA foundation, some wonderful stuff. But when it comes to stuff like this, they don't seem to – look at what happened in the Champions League final last year, Liverpool-Real Madrid – they never really covered themselves in glory there.
"Let's take this opportunity, UEFA, let's make the game better. Let's come out hard and tough and let's send a message that this behaviour is totally unacceptable in our game."
Fred is yet to talk to Erik ten Hag about future at Manchester United
Erik ten Hag is yet to speak to Fred about his Manchester United future with the midfielder about to enter the final year of his contract.
The Brazil international has played 35 times in the Premier League this season and started United’s 2-1 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, but said afterwards that he is unsure about his future at Old Trafford.
This season has been by far the 30-year-old’s best campaign in terms of appearances with 56 games across all competitions.
He has played a key role as United have returned to the Champions League after a season away, as well as winning the Carabao Cup in February.
Ten Hag’s team were defeated by their city rivals on Saturday, thwarting them in their bid to win both domestic cups and stop City’s charge towards the Treble in its tracks.
“Of course I always want to be playing, to be helping my team and gladly today I started and I think we played well,” said Fred.
“(About my future) I still don’t know, I have to talk with my family, I still have one year left on my contract here. Now it’s holidays time and a good opportunity to rest. I’ll talk to my staff, to the club and see what’s everyone’s decision.”
Fred joined United for £47million from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 but struggled to win a regular place in the side during his first season.
In all he has scored 14 goals in 213 games for the club, and during his time at Old Trafford has nailed down a place in the Brazil squad. He currently has 32 international caps and played for his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He added: “I do have to talk with Ten Hag as well, he’s the manager and the conversation has to involve everyone. We have to see how next season will pan out.
“I want to be important, I want to help the team, so we’ll see. But I’ve always been and still am very happy at Manchester United.”
Luke McCowan signs new two-year deal with promoted Dundee
Dundee have continued to prepare for their cinch Premiership return by securing Luke McCowan on a new two-year deal.
The 25-year-old scored 10 goals last season including an excellent individual effort in the title-clinching victory over Queen’s Park.
The attacking midfielder has played 76 times since joining from Ayr two years ago.
McCowan told the club’s official website: “I am happy to get the deal done and I am looking forward to the season in the Premiership and taking the positives from winning the league last year into this year. I am excited to work under the new manager and for the season ahead.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
