Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela is set to return to a football pitch after 13 months out through injury. The Argentine has not featured for the Lilywhites since October 25 last year when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Liverpool. He had been treated in Rome and other places before returning to London for the final phase of his recovery. Mauricio Pochettino had earlier in the season admitted that Lamela’s injury was a mysterious one and he could not say when the attacker would be ready to play again. However, speaking ahead of his side’s match against Leicester  City, Pochettino was happy to announce that Lamela is now available for selection. Lamela who cost Spurs £30 million in the summer of 2013 as they looked to cover the void left by the sale of Gareth Bale would also be delighted to be back as he seem to be a better player under the tutelage of Pochettino after initially struggling to justify his price tag. Many fans may have given up on Lamela, but Pochettino insists that he believed all along that his fellow country man would be back sooner.

Former Nigeria International Michael Emenalo has been unveiled as the new Sporting director of AS Monaco. Emenalo spent ten years at Chelsea and left just 21 days ago claiming he wanted to see his kids grow and also reflect on the work his has done so far. However,  the 52 years old has now taken up a role in Monaco and would report directly to the club’s Russian vice-President Vadim Vasilyev. He held several positions at Chelsea before being promoted to Technical Director in 2011. During his time with the Blues he oversaw the signing of some of their best players including Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, and David Luiz. He also oversaw the sale of some fringe players like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohammed Salah, and Romelu Lukaku. These transfers netted the Blues huge profits, but the players would go on to have better careers and command larger fees for the buying clubs. He is said to have fallen out with both Antonio Conte and Roman Abramovich after a poor summer that saw the Blues lose out to their rivals on the signing of some of their key targets, and he was also blamed for the sale of Nemanja Matic to rivals Manchester United. Vasilyev is delighted to have landed Emenalo as claimed his recruitment shows they remain committed to being one of the best teams in Europe.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has urged the Blues to offer a new deal to their number one Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian’s current deal expires at the end of the 2018/2019 season and he has been courted by the likes of Real Madrid for the past two summers. The Blues had begun talks with his representatives, but with no progress made the Belgium number one has decided to pause negotiations until the end of the season. Per Talksport,  Conte believes Courtois is one of the best goal keepers in the world and sees him as a very important member of his team. He also admitted that Courtois could decide not to sign a new deal at the club, referencing the situation of Gunners duo, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Courtois spent three years on loan at Atletico Madrid before returning to displace Petr Cech as the Blues number one. Courtois has not ruled out a move to Real Madrid yet, and although he is the Galacticos second choice behind David de Gea, there is a possibility that he might end up and the Bernabeu next summer.

Arsene Wenger does not believe Mesut Ozil has agreed to sign for Barcelona in January. The German is out of contract in the summer, but the Gunners are reportedly keen to tie him down to a new deal, although his representatives and the Gunners are still far from reaching an agreement. Ozil who was the club’s record signing before this last summer’s signing of Alexandre Lacazette has been inconsistent in his four years at the Emirates. But, he put in a man of the match performance against Tottenham last weekend and has attracted the attention of Barcelona. However, when asked if Ozil has agreed to join Barcelona in January, Wenger said “No” per Talksport, the French went on to admit that players could talk to any club at any time as they have representatives who hold talks on their behalf. The French man defiantly refused to sell Ozil or Sanchez during the last transfer window despite knowing they could walk for free after this season. Ozil had earlier reportedly told family and  friends that Jose Mourinho wanted him at Manchester United and he would prefer to run down his current deal and join the Red Devils.

Lionel Messi has finally signed a new contract with Barcelona ending months of endless speculations about his future. After losing Neymar to PSG over the summer, Barcelona were keen on tying Lionel Messi to a new deal. However, the Argentine was not in a hurry and that kept the club’s fans fearing they may lose another superstar. Messi’s last deal was set to expire at the end of the season, but he has signed a new deal worth £500,000 per week for the next four years. To avoid losing him like the did Neymar, the Catalans have inserted a mammoth £626 million release clause. The Argentine is also expected to pocket an 80 million signing on bonus. Messi joined Barcelona as a 13 years old, and at the end of this deal in 2021, he would have spent 17 years with the Catalans. Confirming the news on their Twitter account this afternoon, Barcelona posted the attacker with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu alongside the caption “The story continues”. Messi has played 602 games for the Catalans, scoring 523 goals.

Eden Hazard has claimed that his former teammate Mohammed Salah was unlucky at Chelsea as he was not given enough time to impress. The Egyptian who is currently the Premier League’s top scorer spent 12 forgettable months at Chelsea before being shipped out initially on-loan to Fiorentina. His stock rose in Italy and he joined AS Roma on a permanent deal the following season where he continued to shine. This summer, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp took a gamble to bring him back to the Premier League and that gamble seems to have paid off with the winger netting 9 Premier League goals so far. However, Eden Hazard thinks he could have been performing at the same level if he was still with the Blues, but Jose Mourinho was unimpressed and sold him on. Hazard is preparing with the defending champions for their clash against Liverpool on Saturday evening and is still good friends with Salah. According to the Belgian “He is still my friend, we are still in contact”. Despite their friendship, however, Hazard would not like to end up on the losing side. “… I want him to do well, but not very well because we want to win” the Belgian adds.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has said that he cared less if Danny Rose was angry at not starting games. The England left-back claim to have been left fuming after being snubbed in the derby day loss to Arsenal last weekend. However, Pochettino who reinstated the England full-back in their midweek European clash against Borussia Dortmund says he doesn’t care if Rose was disappointed at not playing because the team’s interest always comes first in selection. Rose had been sidelined for almost a year, and his Argentine manager does not want to rush him into action just yet, with the former Southampton boss even considering dropping him for this weekend’s fixture against West Brom. Rose seems to be disillusioned with life at White Hart Lane and has said he would consider an offer from a big club should it come his way. While injured earlier in the season, he had publicly asked the club to sign world class players so that they can also compete for top honours, claiming he doesn’t want them to keep signing players he would have to Google to know about them. Pochettino says he does not expect any player to be happy if he is not playing and so does not care if Rose was fuming or not.

After being left out of the squad for Manchester United’s last two match days, it appears the future of Henrikh Mkhitaryan is up in the air again. The midfielder has not enjoyed a good relationship with Jose Mourinho since he joined the Red Devils last season, despite helping them win the Europa League. The loss to Basel on Wednesday starts a run of 13 games in 40 days for Manchester United until the new year, but it seems Mkhitaryan would play a limited role in those fixtures. With Paul Pogba, and Marouane Fellaini back in midfield and Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford first choice wingers, the Armenian seem to have his work cut out in terms of getting back into the thinking of Jose Mourinho. This is the latest twist in a troubled Manchester United career of former Borussia Dortmund man. He had to wait a month before making his United debut last season but was so dismal in his first game that he was substituted at halftime. He then disappeared for two months before reemerging to score 11 goals in all competitions. He also started this season well and has provided five assists in the Premier League already this season, but Jose Mourinho clearly expects more from him.