Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho has denied any link to Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. There were reports that when Real Madrid rework their squad during the summer, Bale could be on his way out. Manchester United were one of the leading sides gunning for the signature of the player but with the capture of Alexis Sanchez, Mourinho says such would no longer be possible.

Sanchez has showed his obvious quality since moving to Manchester from Arsenal this winter. The Chilean missed his penalty but scored the rebound as United thrashed Huddersfield Town on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has supposedly hinted that he is not keen on a move to Manchester United during this summer’s transfer window. The France international came close to reuniting with compatriot Paul Pogba at Old Trafford last summer, before making a surprise U-turn owing to Atletico’s transfer ban being upheld.

The Spanish outfit have since been allowed to sign players during the 2018 winter transfer window, and Griezmann has now suggested that he wants to resolve his future ahead of the World Cup in Russia, he said: “My future will be decided before the World Cup, I want to go to Russia with a clear mind, I think that’s what everybody wants, it’s not so much the question of where I’ll play, which may be boring, but about having the peace of mind if I’m still in one place or another.”

Manchester United legend-turned-pundit Rio Ferdinand viciously criticised the performance of his former club who failed to show up against Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The round of 16 tie had been excellently poised following a goalless draw in the first-leg in Seville, but United struggled to make the most of their home advantage.

Right from the off, Jose Mourinho’s side gave control of possession to the opposition, and they were very fortunate to have not conceded before the break. The game continued in the same vein after the interval until Wissam Ben Yedder’s arrival changed the complexion of the tie. The Frenchman took advantage of some tired legs in the United defence to score two goals within four minutes, and this ended United’s chances of progressing as Romelu Lukaku netted the sole consolation in a 2-1 aggregate defeat.

Sky Sports Pundit Tony Gale hit out at the performance of Chris Smalling during Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday. The England international has received plenty of sticks from the club's faithful of late, and he did himself no favours after being booked for simulation in the lead-up to the Magpies goal.

Speaking on Sky Sports, former West Ham ace Gale was not impressed with the reaction of the centre-back, and believes he should have been embarrassed over his reaction, he said: "Well I think he got embarrassed so quickly he got up so quickly didn’t he. He realised what he had done. His defence would be that he was anticipating the challenge, but that’s not enough. You’ve got to have a connection on you and it was embarrassing really, it was quite embarrassing. Watch how quickly he gets up here, he goes down and he’s ‘oh blimey, what have I done, up I get’."

Manchester United have an FA Cup semi-final date with Wembley regulars Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, 21st April. The Red Devils play Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs live on BBC One with kick-off scheduled for 17:15 BST.

Both teams have won their home Premier League games against one another earlier in the season. United had France forward Anthony Martial to thank for a late winner in October, but succumbed to a first minute Christian Eriksen strike and Phil Jones’ own goal when travelling to North London in January.

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Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to move to the Major League Soccer (MLS), leaving Manchester United, according to reports. The Swede netted 29 goals in 53 games for the biggest English side. However, the injury he suffered last term has cut short his deal with the club.

He agreed a year with the club when he joined, with an option of renewal, disappointing many Swedish fans who had been hoping he'd see out his career in Sweden. United activated the deal last summer despite concerns, but Ibrahimovic has not been the same following the injury.

Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard claims that the club are only a couple of minutes away from turning the 2-0 deficit against Burnley into a victory. The winger came in with a brace to help United get a 2-2 result from the match. Even though this was the second consecutive game with a similar score, Manchester United can at least take positives from having come away with a late equaliser rather than having conceded that same – as they have done in recent matches against Bristol City in the League Cup and Leicester City in the Premier League.

United were once again wasteful in front of goal as the team created several good opportunities, but required panic goals in order to get back on level terms. This is a major blow for United in the hopes of winning the title, even though it was a small hope none the less. The team are a whopping 15 points behind Pep Guardiola’s Manchester city and are unlikely to catch them on this pace. In fact, United are being put under pressure from Chelsea for the second spot. Jesse Lingard says that momentum against Burnley was in the hands of United towards the final whistle, and that another 10 minutes of the game would have resulted in a victory for the home team.

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has insisted that the Blues had no other choice than to sell Nemanja Matic during last summer's transfer window. The Serbia international was an influential player for the Blues during their Premier League triumph last term.

Matic's future had made up his mind to join Manchester United early in the summer, and Courtois feels there is noting the Blues could have done to keep him at the club, he told the Independent, "That’s not my decision to make. Those are questions you need to ask to the people who made that happen. If a player nowadays wants to go to a team, then he has – I don’t want to say the power – but if he has a strong will to leave and join another team then it is hard for the club. You cannot just ignore him and say ‘you cannot leave’ because then you have a disappointed player who won’t play at his best."

With 12 English Premier League matches having been played so far, the top tier football league of England is almost reaching it’s midpoint. At this point in time, Manchester City have enjoyed a far more positive start to the season than any other club with no defeats and 11 triumphs out of the 12 opening league matches.

Despite this superb kick-off that Manchester City are going through, it’s still too early to decide which club will emerge as the champions of England.