Liverpool are set for a busy off-season with suggestions that Jurgen Klopp and the club's management want a squad overhaul.

Among the key areas to address is their midfield options, leading to links to numerous players.

It was reported last week Liverpool have pulled out of the race for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.

TOP STORY – REDS TO RAMP UP MOUNT INTEREST

Liverpool will ramp up their efforts to sign Mason Mount, amid a lack of a breakthrough in negotiations between the midfielder and Chelsea, reports The Guardian.

The Reds have now moved on from Bellingham given Dortmund's asking price, with Mount in their sights given he is out of contract at the end of this season.

Mount has offered no signs that he will extend his Chelsea deal, with Liverpool eager to capitalise and lure the 24-year-old England international to Anfield.

ROUND-UP

- Chelsea could look to join the race alongside Real Madrid for Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, according to Fichajes. Alvarez is reportedly unhappy with his lack of game-time on the pitch at City.

- Manchester City are interested in an off-season move for Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies along with Real Madrid, reports Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg. Davies' contract runs until 2024 and he has held talks with Bayern on a new deal.

- Man City are also willing to let defender Aymeric Laporte exit in the off-season if he pushes for a move, claims the Daily Mail. Laporte, who is contracted until 2025, has fallen out of favour at City.

- 90min reports Arsenal are tracking Borussia Monchengladbach's Florian Neuhaus, who is contracted until 2024.

- Sport Witness claims Inter's Joaquin Correa has interest from Premier League trio Aston Villa, Everton and West Ham.

- Ex-Tottenham boss Antonio Conte will take over at Roma next season, with Jose Mourinho tipped to move to Paris Saint-Germain, per Calciomercato.

Real Madrid are eager to rejuvenate their squad for coming seasons with investment set to come in the off season.

Los Blancos are set to finish second in the LaLiga title race to Barcelona who hold an 11-point lead with nine games to play.

The depth of the reigning European champions, who are in this season's quarter-finals, has been tested at times this term.

TOP STORY – MADRID BOSS TO SWOOP ON CHELSEA TALENT

Fichajes claims Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has identified Chelsea quartet Reece James, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic as potential targets.

The latter three are all out of contract in 2024, meaning Los Blancos could sign them for free if they do not re-sign.

Perez is plotting to capitalise on Chelsea's downfall this term, with the club to miss next season's Champions League.

Kovacic previously spent three seasons at Santiago Bernabeu, while Mount has attracted interest from several top clubs given his quality and contract status.

ROUND-UP

– Lionel Messi wants to return to Barcelona when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expire at the end of this season, reports Fichajes. Messi will overlook offers from Saudi Arabia and MLS club Inter Miami to return to his former club.

– Manchester United are in pole position to sign French defender Axel Disasi from Monaco in the off season, claims Football Insider. Disasi is out of contract in 2025, with Chelsea and Manchester City also said to be interested.

– Liverpool have turned to Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch as an alternative to Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham, claims The Times.

– Calciomercatoweb claims Arsenal are still in the race to sign Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic, despite stiff competition from Madrid and PSG .

– Toni Kroos is set to accept a contract extension offer from Madrid and re-commit to the club for another 12 months, reports Marca.

– Chelsea have met with ex-Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann as they look for their next permanent manager, according to The Times.

Massimiliano Allegri rued Juventus only sparking into life after suffering a "slap in the face" during their 1-0 loss at Sassuolo.

Juve went down to Gregoire Defrel's fine finish on Sunday, suffering a second straight Serie A defeat and their third loss in four away games in the league.

The defeat leaves Juve – who will defend a 1-0 lead against Sporting CP in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday – sitting in seventh place and nine points behind Milan in the final Champions League spot.

Having hardly threatened prior to going behind, Juve did spark into life in the closing stages. Andrea Consigli saved from Adrien Rabiot's excellent header, while Angel Di Maria blazed over from a great chance.

But it was not enough to ease Allegri's frustration, with the Juventus coach telling DAZN: "We did not play well for an hour, then reacted after the slap in the face of the goal.

"It was an important game for the table, but it was a second consecutive defeat in the league.

"We've got to get back to our feet, work on what we got wrong and take a different approach to the matches. All we can do is stay quiet, work hard and drag out the last drops of energy to get past Sporting.

"I told the players this was an important step. Instead, we dropped points."

Paul Pogba came on for just his fourth appearance of the season, all of which have come from the bench since his return from a calf injury that kept him out for over six months.

Allegri, though, said the France midfielder is still well behind where Juve hoped he would be.

"There are players like Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba who are getting back into shape, while others have played a lot more and are tired," Allegri added.

"I saw improvements from Pogba, but he's still a long way behind schedule and not in condition to play 90 minutes.

"We'll try to slowly get him up to 30 minutes and see how he responds."

Juventus suffered a second successive Serie A defeat as Gregoire Defrel's fine finish saw Sassuolo win 1-0 on Sunday.

Three days on from beating Sporting CP 1-0 in the Europa League, Juve turned in a tired display at Mapei Stadium, as Sassuolo dented the Bianconeri's Champions League qualification hopes.

Defrel's 64th-minute goal had been coming, with Massimiliano Allegri's team having lived a charmed life at the back while offering little going forward.

Juve found some spark late on, with Adrien Rabiot denied by Andrea Consigli and Angel Di Maria squandering a golden chance, but Sassuolo held firm to beat Juve at home in the league for the first time since October 2015.

Sassuolo carved out the only chance of a muted first half, but Nedim Bajrami failed to keep his shot down from a tight angle.

Danilo should have done better with a near-post header shortly after the restart, though Juve needed stand-in goalkeeper Mattia Perin to thwart Sassuolo soon after.

Having tipped a curling Maxime Lopez shot wide, Perin pulled off a fantastic save from Defrel's close-range header.

Perin could only stand and watch as Federico Gatti headed against the woodwork just after the hour, Juve coming away unscathed after the defender's awful attempt at a clearance.

Yet the pressure eventually told – Defrel arrowing in a brilliant finish on the spin after Nicolo Fagioli's dreadful clearance fell his way.

Juve finally sparked into life, with Rabiot's header forcing Consigli into a superb save before substitute Di Maria blazed over as the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless, with Paul Pogba's late cameo from the bench unable to inspire an equaliser.

Antonio Cassano slammed Juventus' season under Massimiliano Allegri, insisting it "would be suicide" if his former coach remains in charge of the Bianconeri next term.

Juve are eight points adrift of Serie A's top four with nine matches remaining, though their situation could look very different should the appeal they lodged against their 15-point penalty for transfer fee irregularities earlier in the campaign be successful.

Nevertheless, the Bianconeri would still trail runaway leaders Napoli by 15 points, while they exited the Champions League at the group stage.

Juve could still finish the season with silverware as they are in the Coppa Italia semi-finals and Europa League quarter-finals.

However Cassano, who played under Allegri at Milan during the 2011-12 season, is far from impressed by their achievements this term, and believes the club should seek a replacement for his former boss ahead of 2023-24.

The former Italy striker told Gazzetta dello Sport: "In July, Allegri said: in March-April, we have to be in everything. [The] result: he went out in the Champions League group in a shameful way; in November, he was out of the championship fight.

"The Coppa Italia and Europa League save nothing; Juve must fight for the Scudetto.

"The squad has been devalued: [Dusan] Vlahovic above all. [Angel] Di Maria, who remains a genius, is misused 50 metres from the goal. 

"[Allegri] has 20 internationals and plays horrendously. The team are always behind the ball, everyone in defence.

"Starting again with Allegri next year would be suicide: the mistake was to give him a long contract. But if making mistakes is human, persevering is diabolical."

Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Paul Pogba is "not ready to play the whole game" when Juventus travel to Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday.

Pogba has endured a torrid time since re-joining the Bianconeri from Manchester United last year due to a succession of injury setbacks, while he also missed the World Cup in Qatar.

A five-minute cameo in the midweek Europa League victory over Sporting CP represented only his third appearance of the campaign – all of which have come as a substitute.

Allegri feels Juve's clash with Sassuolo is too soon for Pogba to be thrown in from the start, but the head coach is confident the 30-year-old can still significantly impact the remainder of their campaign.

"Pogba is training well. Yesterday, he did 20 minutes of good training with the ball. Today, we see how he is," Allegri told reporters.

"At the moment, he is not ready to play the whole game, but he can only improve, and I think he will be able to show us his quality – if not for the whole game, for the minutes in which he will play from here to the end of the championship."

Allegri also confirmed Wojciech Szczesny will be rested for the trip to Mapei Stadium.

The Poland international was substituted during the first half of the win over Sporting after suffering chest pains, though he was subsequently checked and given the all-clear by the medical team.

Mattia Perin, who produced an impressive display from the bench, is likely to deputise.

"Today, I will talk to [Szczesny]," Allegri added. "If he is serene and calm, he can come with us and stay on the bench, so at least he will have a day of recovery and rest.

"Perin is in excellent condition and has become an important goalkeeper. Compared to when he arrived at Juventus, he has made progress and important improvements.

"He is one of the best goalkeepers there are for reliability and presence in the game."

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was left "scared" after leaving the first leg of his side's Europa League quarter-final against Sporting CP with chest pain.

The Poland international left the field in tears before the conclusion of the first half, with Mattia Perin introduced in his place and playing the remainder of the 1-0 victory at Allianz Stadium.

Szczesny was checked by the medical team and given the all clear shortly after the resumption of the second half, though he admitted he was concerned by the sequence of events.

"I am fine, I was a little anxious, but we did all the tests and everything is fine," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"I was scared, it had never happened to me before, I was struggling to breathe and it really worried me."

Perin's heroics in added time with a double save to deny Pote and Hector Bellerin secured victory for Juventus, with Szczesny returning to form by joking about the situation and praising his team-mate.

"The truth is, I saw Mattia in great shape in training, I felt tired and knew he would have a great double save at the 94th [minute]," he added.

"Nah, they fired it straight at him! I congratulated him, he is also a guy with a heart of gold, we get along well. It's a shame Carlo [Pinsoglio] didn't come on, he would've had a hat-trick of great saves today."

Speaking shortly after, Perin hailed the team's display and made it clear there was still plenty of work to be done.

"I think the team as a whole has been exceptional not to fall into a victim mentality or false alibis, instead we used that negative energy and made it positive, proving we are real men," he said.

"It is only half-time in the quarter-final, there are another 90 minutes to go and we can be happy with this victory, but it's only half-done."

Federico Gatti's first Juventus goal gave the Bianconeri a 1-0 victory against Sporting CP in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.

A hard-fought encounter at the Allianz Stadium looked set to finish goalless until the 73rd-minute winner, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut opportunities.

The most notable incident to that point had been Wojciech Szczesny's departure due to chest pains, although Juventus soon confirmed their goalkeeper was "doing well".

Gatti poked home from close range to secure a narrow first-leg lead, even if Mattia Perrin, on for Szczesny, was required to make a vital last-gasp double-save to preserve that advantage.

Joao Cancelo has spent the second half of this season on loan at Bayern Munich, having fallen out of starting XI favour at Manchester City.

The Portugal full-back had penned a contract extension with City in January last year, tying him down to 2027.

But Cancelo's time at Bayern has reportedly not convinced the Germans to pursue a permanent deal, creating uncertainty about his future.

TOP STORY – MADRID TO MAKE CANCELO BID

Real Madrid are interested in a move for Joao Cancelo and will submit a bid of around €60million (£52.8m) to Manchester City for his services, claims Fichajes.

The report claims Madrid are eager to improve their current first-choice full-backs Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal, hence the interest in the Portuguese.

Los Blancos like the versatility of Cancelo, who has made 13 appearances with only eight starts since joining Bayern in January.

ROUND-UP

– Florian Plettenberg claims Liverpool's shortlist for midfielders includes West Ham United's Declan Rice, Wolves' Matheus Nunes, Inter's Nicolo Barella and Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo having dropped out of the race for Jude Bellingham.

– Barcelona are ready to ramp up their advances to sign Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan after being impressed by his midweek Champion League display against Bayern Munich, reports Sport.

– Bayern midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has interest from Premier League trio Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, reports Footmercato.

– Chris Smalling is set to pen a new two-year deal with Roma according to iSport, amid interest from Inter, Juventus and some Premier League clubs.

– Bild claims RB Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer will join Bayern on a four-year deal in the off-season. Laimer's Leipzig deal ends at the end of this season.

Massimiliano Allegri has warned his Juventus side about the strength of Sporting CP ahead of the two teams clashing in the Europa League quarter-final. 

Juventus host the Primeira Liga side in the first leg on Thursday night, after the Bianconeri eliminated Freiburg in the last 16, while Sporting beat Arsenal. 

Allegri's side sit seventh in Serie A after a 15-point deduction for alleged transfer irregularities, while Sporting are fourth in Portugal's top-flight and are unbeaten in their last 11 games in all competitions.

"Tomorrow is a difficult match," Allegri said at a press conference on Wednesday. "It is an important quarter-final against a team that has been on a positive run for 11 games now.

"Sporting's coach [Ruben Amorim] is young and very good. He brought the league title back to the club [in 2020-21] after 19 years.

"We have to do things the right way tomorrow to have an advantage for when we go to Lisbon."

Juventus will be boosted by the return of key players on Thursday, including Paul Pogba, whose injury-hit season has seen him play just 35 minutes since re-signing from Manchester United last summer.

"Pogba is on his feet, which we are happy about," added Allegri. "Now we are working on improving his condition.

"Tomorrow he will be available and will be on the bench. Alex Sandro and [Dusan] Vlahovic are both available, but [Mattia] De Sciglio is not."

Juventus are second-favourites to win the Europa League behind United, but Allegri is not look beyond the quarter-final.

"Clearly it would be fantastic to get to play the final," he said. "But before then, there are still four games to face, starting with home and away against Sporting.

"So, it's too early to talk about playing in a final. We're only thinking about this next game, and we'll continue step by step."

Edin Dzeko has weighed in on the racist abuse faced by Inter team-mate Romelu Lukaku, calling it something "that should never happen on the football pitch".

Belgium forward Lukaku was abused by Juventus supporters during an ill-tempered Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg last week.

It came against the backdrop of a particularly violent 1-1 encounter, with both Samir Handanovic and Juan Cuadrado also shown red cards for their part in a brawl.

Ahead of the return leg later this month, Dzeko acknowledged the events were things that should not have been allowed to take place, while outlining Inter's wider cup ambitions.

"During the match, some things happened that never should on the football pitch," he told N1. "They have already been spoken and written about.

"Our fans supported us throughout the match. I thank them for their support on the pitch. We have had a good relationship since the first day [I arrived] at Inter.

"This season, I have already won a trophy, but the goal is to always win new titles. In Milan, I won three. I know how important it is for the club to be in the fight for the Scudetto.

"The fight with Juventus is wide open. At San Siro, we will have to play even better [if we are] to try to reach the final and lift the Coppa Italia."

Dzeko will have pressing European commitments before the second leg, though, with his side set to face Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals.

They will host Juventus a fortnight on Wednesday, with both teams looking to reach May's final against either Fiorentina or Cremonese.

Alessandro Bastoni, 23, is a player on the rise at Inter, having made his Italy debut in 2020 and winning the Scudetto in 2021.

But the central defender's future with the Nerazzurri is uncertain amid an inability to come to an agreement with the club on a new contract.

Bastoni's contract expires in 2024 and he has been in talks with Inter on a new deal, but two of European football's giants are reportedly circling.

TOP STORY – BASTONI IN PSG AND CITY'S SIGHTS

Powerhouse clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City will both attempt to sign Alessandro Bastoni from Inter in the off-season, reports Tuttosport.

The report claims Bastoni has been offered an improved deal by Inter but it does not meet his salary expectations, meaning no agreement has been reached.

PSG and City are both known to have endless pockets and could swoop to sign the talented Italian defender.

ROUND-UP

– Karim Benzema has turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia and instead wants to stay with Real Madrid for at least one more season, according to Marca.

– Juventus are weighing up a move for Valencia skipper Jose Gaya, reports Calciomercato. Gaya extended his contract with Los Che until 2027 last October.

– Football Insider claims Tottenham have registered their interest in signing Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech.

– Calciomercato reports Milan are tracking Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun, who has impressed this season on loan with French club Reims.

– Ex-Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch has opted against taking up Leicester City's offer to become their new boss, claims The Telegraph.

Jose Mourinho could not resist a dig at Serie A rivals Juventus after seeing his Roma side secure a crucial 1-0 win at Torino on Saturday.

Paulo Dybala's eighth-minute penalty was enough for the Giallorossi, sending them into third place after Milan and Inter both drew on Friday.

Juve lost 2-1 at Lazio to leave the Bianconeri on 44 points, nine adrift of Mourinho's side, though the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss is not convinced that will remain the case.

The appeal Juve lodged against their 15-point penalty for transfer fee irregularities will be heard on April 19, meaning the top-four picture could eventually look very different.

Speaking after the win in Turin, Mourinho did not care about the quality of the performance, just the three points, before referencing Juve's situation.

"Matches are won when you score one more goal than your opponent," he told DAZN. "This is the goal not only in football but in sport: you have to win by trying to exploit your qualities and try to hide the problems.

"We are third in the standings? Are we sure that Juve don't have 59 points? We are in Italy."

Since 2004-05, Dybala (11 goals, six assists) is only the second player to score more than 10 goals and record more than five assists in a debut season for Roma in Serie A, after Mohamed Salah in 2015-16.

Roma have nine league games remaining as well as their upcoming Europa League quarter-final against Feyenoord, and Mourinho is hopeful of success on both fronts despite what he sees as squad limitations.

"The opponent that worries me the most in the Champions League fight? Ourselves, the fact that we want to think like a great team but we have a squad with limits," he said. 

"We have three games a week and it's hard for us, but I'm not capable of thinking small. We go ahead from game to game.

"I'm not able to say that Udinese is less important than Feyenoord – let's think game by game. Today we didn't score a second goal, otherwise the game would have been completely different."

Maurizio Sarri accepts Lazio's opening goal in Saturday's 2-1 win over Juventus could have been ruled out, but says the visitors were fortunate not to be reduced to nine men.

Lazio maintained their fine Serie A form with victory at Stadio Olimpico thanks to goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Mattia Zaccagni, either side of Adrien Rabiot's equaliser.

Juve's players were furious Milinkovic-Savic's 38th-minute opener was allowed to stand as the midfielder nudged Alex Sandro in the back before controlling the ball and firing in.

But Sarri does not believe Juventus can complain too strongly as he feels Manuel Locatelli and Juan Cuadrado could easily have been sent off.

"From where I was, my impression is that the referee could have called for a foul," Sarri told DAZN. "But I also got the impression Juve could have ended with nine men.

"There was a Locatelli foul that was worthy of a red card and Cuadrado should have had a second yellow card. That was clear when he was substituted off straight after."

Referee Marco Di Bello allowed the goal to stand following a check of the pitchside monitor, seemingly adjudging that Alex Sandro went to ground too easily under contact.

Juve assistant coach Marco Landucci, who was standing in for the ill Massimiliano Allegri, did not want to dwell on the key call.

"The referee decides. Juve fans would say it was a foul, Lazio fans would say it wasn't, but the only opinion that matters is that of the referee," he said.

"All I can say is that our first half was below par, whereas we did much better after the break, deserved to score again and the draw would've been the fair result.

"As usual, we accept the result on the field. We don't stir up controversy over these things."

Rabiot bundled the ball over the line four minutes after Milinkovic-Savic's strike, but Zaccagni restored Lazio's lead early in the second half with what proved to be the winner.

The 27-year-old has reached double-figures for goals in a single Serie A season for the first time and is the only Italian to have scored 10 goals in the division this campaign.

Lazio's second home win against Juve in 18 attempts tightens their grip on second place in Serie A, which Zaccagni says gives him more joy than any individual milestones.

"They're both beautiful to hear, but second place is worth much more [than scoring 10 goals]," he said. "I always want to improve and hope to continue as I am.

"It's going to be very difficult staying second. There are many teams around us, so we have to stay focused and score as many points as possible between now and the end."

Juve conceded more than once away from home for the first time since mid-January, with this defeat leaving them eight points off the top four.

However, with an appeal against their 15-point deduction set to be held on April 19, the top-four battle may yet take another twist.

"It's hard to say much about this," Landucci said at his post-match press conference. "On the field, we've scored 59 points. Now we'll wait to hear the appeal on the 19th.

"Lazio now only have to focus on the league, so they have a clear advantage."

Lazio maintained their impressive run of form with a 2-1 win over Juventus at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday to tighten their grip on second place in Serie A.

On a weekend in which Milan, Inter and Atalanta had all dropped points, Lazio took full advantage with an entertaining win over Juve, who remain eight points off the top four.

Adrien Rabiot cancelled out Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's opener in a frenetic end to the first half, with that sloppy goal ending Lazio's six-game run without conceding in the league.

But Mattia Zaccagni restored the hosts' lead eight minutes after the restart, and Lazio held on to move five points clear of third place, which is now occupied by rivals Roma.

Wojciech Szczesny produced a fine save to keep out Ciro Immobile's volley, but the Juventus goalkeeper could do little to deny Milinkovic-Savic from close range for Lazio's 38th-minute opener.

Referee Marco Di Bello allowed the goal to stand following a check of the pitchside monitor, despite the visitors arguing Milinkovic-Savic shoved Alex Sandro before controlling and firing in.

A member of Juve's backroom team was issued a red card and substitute Leonardo Bonucci cautioned for their protests, but Juve were level before half-time as Rabiot bundled in after Ivan Provedel had saved Bremer's initial header.

Lazio were back in front on 53 minutes through Zaccagni's first-time finish into the bottom-right corner after Luis Alberto brilliantly back-heeled the ball into his path in front of goal.

Massimiliano Allegri turned to Federico Chiesa and Arkadiusz Milik from the substitutes' bench, but Juve did not register a meaningful attempt in the second half as they failed to make up ground on the top four.