Ibrahimovic still evaluating his future, says Milan director Massara

Manchester City are on the brink of claiming back-to-back Premier League titles, but Pep Guardiola believes they can be even better next season.

City are on course to become the first Premier League side to retain the title since 2008-09, as they sit on 95 points, one clear of Liverpool heading into the final round of matches.

The defending champions travel to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, while Liverpool host Wolves, and victory for the EFL Cup winners will keep alive their hopes of a domestic treble – a feat never before achieved by an English side.

However, Guardiola is demanding even more from his squad in 2019-20.

The calm before the storm

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Next season we will be stronger, I am sure. …

Mats Hummels has completed a move from Bayern Munich to Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund and will join the list of players to have returned to their former club after a spell away.

The 30-year-old joined Dortmund from Bayern in 2008 and made 309 appearances for the club, before returning to the Bavarian giants for a three-year stint at the Allianz Arena.

But Hummels will wear the famous yellow strip of Dortmund once again next season and he will be hoping for a positive reaction from BVB supporters.

That is not always the case, of course, with many failing to match their previous highs when returning to a former side.

Here we look at six examples of players going back home in recent seasons, with varying degrees of success.

Let s get to work…

Former Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta has taken up a similar role at Serie A rivals Inter, the club announced on Thursday.

Marotta joined Juve in 2010 and presided over a glorious period for the club, which included seven consecutive Serie A titles before stepping down at the end of September.

The 61-year-old had been heavily linked with the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) towards the end of his tenure, but he strongly denied that and claims of talks with Inter surfaced soon after.

Marotta s installation will surely come with great expectations given Juve s success under his guidance, coupled with Inter s underwhelming last few years.

The Nerazzurri have not won the title since 2009-10, but they will hope Marotta s arrival is the first…

AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has reiterated his commitment to the club and stressed he wants to return the Italian giants to the top of the European game.

The Rossoneri have endured an inconsistent season, featuring a disappointing group-stage exit from the Champions League while they trail fierce rivals Inter by 11 points in Serie A.

That has built pressure on Cardinale, chief executive of Milan owners RedBird Capital, following the controversial dismissal of directors Frederic Massara and Paolo Maldini last summer.

Amid continuing speculation over the future of head coach Stefano Pioli, who delivered the title to Milan in 2022, and talk of investment from Saudi Arabia, Cardinale has outlined his long-term vision for the seven-time European champions.

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Like Cristiano Ronaldo five years ago, Lionel Messi has ended his international trophy drought with continental glory.

Ballon d Ors are one thing, with the pair sharing 11 between them, but achieving success with the national team has been critical to the grander standing and legacy of the two outstanding players of this generation.

There is a school of thought that Messi remains in Diego Maradona s shadow in Argentina.

The late Maradona, of course, took La Albiceleste to World Cup glory in 1986, which has eluded Messi who was a runner-up in 2014.

But Messi had also never won the Copa America. That was until Saturday s 1-0 win over Brazil, at the Maracana, the same venue where he lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany.

Messi was part of the Arge…

Espanyol have said their values cannot be measured in Euros after Barcelona defender Gerard Pique claimed he has more money than their budget for the season.  

Ahead of their meeting at Camp Nou on Saturday, Pique told Movistar+ show La Resistencia : I have more money than the budget of Espanyol this year. Nope, not just €57million, it s plenty more than that.    

Barca boss Ernesto Valverde described the comment as light-hearted but Espanyol have taken to social media with a pointed message towards Pique.  

The post highlighted their values and referenced the tribute their supporters make in the 21st minute to former captain Daniel Jarque, who died of a heart attack in 2009 at the age of 26.  

The statement read: Our fans. The team that g…

Eddie Howe believes Newcastle took a huge step in the right direction as they continued their strong start to the Premier League season with a comeback victory over Wolves.

Mario Lemina had given the visitors a half-time lead, but two goals in five minutes from Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes saw the Magpies move up to third in the early-season standings.

Having taken 10 points from their first four games, Newcastle have now made their best start to a Premier League campaign since the 1995-96 season, when they won each of their opening four matches under Kevin Keegan.

Newcastle s powers of recovery have been evident already this season, with the Magpies picking up four points from losing positions so far, with only Manchester City (six) recovering more.