Here, Sports Mole rounds up the latest news snippets from across the footballing world, including Sporting Lisbon's reported interest in Marco Silva, Charlie Austin's scathing comments about Southampton and a new personal scout for Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Scroll down for more!
Sporting want Silva?
© Reuters
Sporting Lisbon are interested in hiring Everton boss Marco Silva after sacking Marcel Keizer, according to O Jogo. The Portuguese side are already thought to have tried - and failed - with ambitious approaches for Jose Mourinho and Massimiliano Allegri.
Atletico to appeal Griezmann fine?
© Reuters
Atletico Madrid are expected to launch an appeal after Barcelona were fined just £265 for their pursuit of Antoine Griezmann earlier this year. The Frenchman moved to Camp Nou in a £107m deal over the summer but Atleti have argued that as the Catalan side courted him earlier than that, they should pay his full release clause of £178m.
Evans: 'Leicester want European football'
© Reuters
Leicester City defender Jonny Evans has revealed that the club have it on their "agenda" to bring back European football to the King Power sooner rather than later. The Foxes have been tipped to gatecrash the Europa League places this season after their fine start to the campaign, although manager Brendan Rodgers has recently attempted to temper expectations.
"Everyone is talking about us since Brendan came in and changed the style of football," Evans told The Telegraph. "There's a belief that we can compete and achieve the target of getting into Europe, which is probably what the club is crying out for. We want European football and that is the next stage. If you can guarantee that over a couple of seasons, it puts the club on a different level in terms of attracting players."
Neymar: 'PSG fans are like having a girlfriend'
© Reuters
PSG frontman Neymar has compared the club's fans to having a relationship. The Brazilian was booed by large sections of the French club's support after his alleged attempts to leave over the summer, but has since proven himself their hero with the winning goal in two of their last three league games.
"I'm very happy to be able to help PSG. It's better with the fans," he told reporters after the victory over Bordeaux at the weekend. "It's like with your girlfriend, one moment you're bad, but with hugs and a lot of love, it's better. I am here to give my life to PSG. They are my team; the goal is to help my club, to continue to score goals."
Charlie Austin accuses Southampton of 'disrespect'
© Reuters
Charlie Austin has hit out at his former club Southampton after spending the summer training with the Under-23s side before sealing a deadline-day switch to West Bromwich Albion. The 30-year-old was deemed surplus to requirements by Ralph Hasenhuttl and was instead sent to Radhi Jaidi's youth side while they attempted to sell him.
"Of course I was [hurt]. I am 30 years old. I felt like I needed to be treated with respect," Austin told Sky Sports News. "It is easy to say the club has got to do this and that and they have got to look after themselves. The other side is that the outside world thinks the player gets this and gets that money and they should.
"Sometimes the club has got to look at it and go, 'you have given him this, it is not their problem'. This is your problem. This is on you. Sometimes you have got to hold your hands up and say that is up to you. I look in the mirror and can say I did nothing wrong."
Newcastle send Gayle to Portugal
© Reuters
Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle has been sent on a warm-weather training camp in Portugal as he continues his recovery from a calf injury sustained in pre-season. "Dwight is still not right so he's on a training camp at the minute," manager Steve Bruce told The Chronicle. "We're hopeful when he comes back he will be OK. I haven't seen him kick a ball yet since I've been here. We've taken a couple of weeks for him and somebody will work with him individually. With some warm weather on him hopefully that will do the trick."
Man City academy staff 'wanted transfer ban'
© Reuters
Some members of Manchester City's academy team have been accused of wanting the club to suffer a transfer ban as punishment for signing underage players. The club were deemed to have broken FIFA rules on signing young players but were given just a hefty fine, but according to the Daily Mail, some staff believed that a ban would have actually been beneficial to the development of the existing youth players.
Solskjaer 'appoints personal scout'
© Reuters
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has appointed his own personal scout to help strengthen the first-team squad, according to The Sun. Simon Wells - currently part of the recruitment team - has been asked by Solskjaer to provide reports on his own targets, separate to the work of United's extensive scouting team.
Neil Wilkes
