THE TALK OF FOOTBALL

MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola has aspirations of coaching Spain in the future. The 46-year-old, a former Spain international, enjoyed trophy-laden spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich before arriving in England. And Guardiola has admitted he is also keen to test his skills at international level. Asked whether he would like to take charge of a national team, Guardiola said: ‘Yes, Spain I think. ‘I would like to be a manager in a World Cup.’

CHELSEA are interested in Steaua Bucharest winger Florinel Coman. However, Steaua’s controversial owner Gigi Becali is reputed to have inserted an £88m release clause in the 19-yearold’s contract, as he believes Coman to be on a similar level to Kylian Mbappe.

FORMER Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas, now working in China, has been handed an eight-match ban for accusing a referee of taking a bung. Villas-Boas was angry when his Shanghai SIPG side were denied a penalty in their 1-0 win over Beijing Guoan — storming towards the official and rubbing his fingers together, simulating counting money. Chinese officials said in a statement: ‘His conduct has severely influenced society in a negative fashion.’