Here, Sports Mole rounds up the latest news snippets from across the footballing world, including Manchester United's owners title expectations, Hector Bellerin's desire to return to full action and Ben Davies's admission about Tottenham Hotspur's recent performances. Scroll down for more!
Emery advises Bellerin patience
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Arsenal manager Unai Emery has advised Hector Bellerin that he will need to be patient in his comeback from a lengthy spell out injured. The Spaniard had a 13-minute cameo during the Gunners' 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night - his first appearance since picking up an ACL injury in January.
"He wanted to play 90," Emery told reporters afterwards. "He said 'I'm ready' and wanted to play. I think no. Maybe in his mind yes. We need to listen to the doctor. The first minutes were amazing for him. The most important for him is his attitude. He wants to help us."
West Ham postpones stadium naming rights deal
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West Ham United have postponed a big-money naming rights deal for the London Stadium until the end of the season, according to Football Insider. The club and stadium owners LLDC had hoped to have a deal in place by the end of the year but a lack of suitable offers has prompted them to delay plans.
Neville: 'United are inexperienced and not ready'
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Gary Neville has criticised Manchester United's squad for being "young, inexperienced and not ready" as their lacklustre start to the season continues. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have won just two of their six Premier League games so far, while they needed penalties to get past League One Rochdale last night.
"£900m has been spent in the last seven or eight years, and there's nothing left of it really," Neville said on his podcast. "There are the bones of a squad, some young players from the academy that haven't cost that money. Potentially David de Gea, who is struggling. There's Harry Maguire but there's a lot more rebuilding to do. I've said many times that Alan Hansen was right, you don't win anything with kids."
Liverpool trio make top five at FIFA Best Awards
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Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane all finished inside the top five at the prestigious FIFA Best Awards in Milan on Monday night. Van Dijk was beaten to the men's player of the year award by Lionel Messi and was closely followed in third by Cristiano Ronaldo. Salah and Mane finished fourth and fifth respectively, while Eden Hazard - formerly of Chelsea - came eighth and Tottenham's Harry Kane was 10th.
United's owners 'do not expect title challenge until 2021-22'
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Manchester United's owners the Glazer family do not expect the club to challenge for the Premier League title until the season after next, according to ESPN. The outlet reports that the wealthy owners "accept that there is a chasm" between them and rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, and have given the green light to "a three-year plan" to close the gap. Should United successfully take the title in 2022, it will have been nine years since they last lifted the trophy.
Busquets: 'No more setbacks from Barcelona'
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Sergio Busquets has said that Barcelona can afford no more slip-ups if they are to successfully retain the league title this season. Ernesto Valverde's side have fallen to two surprise defeats in their first six domestic games of the campaign - including a 2-0 defeat at Granada last weekend - although they did bounce back with a home 2-1 win over Villarreal on Tuesday night.
"We know that the Granada match was not the best," Busquets told Movistar after the game. "We needed all three points because we can't afford so many setbacks. Besides, that was the theme of the game: to do things better as a team."
Davies: 'We have let Pochettino down'
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Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies has admitted that his side have let down manager Mauricio Pochettino and the club's fans in the opening weeks of the season. The London side have won just two of their opening six games, while they could only manage a 2-2 draw against Olympiacos in the Champions League and on Tuesday evening suffered a humiliating exit from the EFL Cup at the hands of League Two side Colchester United.
"It's horrible - it's a trophy, a good chance to pick something up and we've let it slip at the first hurdle," Davies told the Evening Standard. "The manager didn't need to say anything afterwards. In the dressing room, we were all as disappointed as him. We let him down, we let the club down.
"We weren't terrible. We just didn't seem to click, didn't put anything together. We have to win these games. We have to show we're a better side than this. It's a tough feeling right now. We just have to apologise to the supporters, too. We let them down. They travel with us everywhere and they're first-class. We need everyone behind us now to help us push on through this difficult time."
Newcastle to make January move for Lopes?
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Newcastle United are gearing up to make a January move for Sevilla attacker Rony Lopes, according to Gol. The Portuguese is out of favour under manager Julen Lopetegui and the Magpies are said to be interested in taking advantage of the situation.
Neil Wilkes
