Thursday’s latest stories from the world of football in ESPN FC’s What’s Trending…
BARCELONA: The Uruguay national team has announced Barcelona striker Luis Suarez will be out of action for “at least four to five weeks” after suffering a knee injury playing for his club.
– Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez has acknowledged the club are in a “very difficult situation” as they look to secure deals for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.
– Vice-president Jordi Mestre says the board would prefer “respect not insults” after the club unveiled Paulinho as their fourth signing of the summer on Thursday.
– Gerard Pique says for the first time since he joined Barcelona he feels inferior to Real Madrid.
– Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio’s agent has told Bleacher Report that Barcelona “lost the opportunity” to sign the player as a teenager due to a disagreement over payment terms with his former club Real Mallorca.
– Paulinho has been hailed for his generosity after leaving Guangzhou Evergrande to join Barcelona earlier this week.
– WATCH: Barca’s dire needs
REAL MADRID: Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema scored brilliant first-half goals as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 on the night to register a resounding 5-1 aggregate Spanish Super Cup win.
– Corrigan: Asensio stars as Real Madrid stroll past Barca
– WATCH: Ronaldo joins teammates to lift Super Cup
LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp says Philippe Coutinho will miss Liverpool’s game against Crystal Palace on Saturday with a back injury and claims the club’s medical department have reported no attitude concerns with the wantaway midfielder.
– Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet insists Liverpool know only one way to play and will not compromise their attacking football to reduce the defensive risks
– U.S. international Christian Pulisic has said he is happy at Borussia Dortmund amid renewed rumours he could join Liverpool.
– WATCH: Is Pulisic holding out for a Real Madrid, Barca move?
CHELSEA: Diego Costa has said he plans to travel to Spain to resolve his future as he looks to return to his former club Atletico Madrid.
MONACO: Kylian Mbappe is undecided about his future amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City interest, PSG youth academy sporting director Luis Fernandez has told Cadena Ser.
BAYERN MUNICH: Mats Hummels has joined Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata in giving part of his salary to charity.
EVERTON: Gylfi Sigurdsson has completed his transfer to Everton from Swansea City, signing a five-year contract and moving for a club-record fee.
TOTTENHAM: Spurs are considering a move for PSV Eindhoven defender Santiago Arias as they continue their search for a new right-back, sources close to the player have told ESPN FC.
INTER MILAN: The club would miss out on a huge financial windfall should Philippe Coutinho leave Liverpool for Barcelona, a source has told ESPN FC.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Goals from Dries Mertens and Jorginho were enough to earn Napoli a 2-0 win against Nice, while Celtic thrashed Astana and there were wins for Sevilla, Olympiakos and Hapoel Be’er Sheva. FULL REVIEW
MAN CITY: The club are considering making a move for West Brom defender Jonny Evans, a source has told ESPN.
ARSENAL: Africa’s richest man says he is plotting a bid to take over Arsenal — and that his first move as owner would be to fire Arsene Wenger.
MAN UNITED: Jose Mourinho is prepared to wait until January before making further additions to his Manchester United squad after deciding against funding a move for a fourth summer signing by offloading his fringe players, sources have told ESPN FC.
– WATCH: Astronomical prices to delay Man United signings?
SOUTHAMPTON: Chairman Ralph Krueger has said that Virgil van Dijk is “not for sale in this window” as keeping the defender is “the statement we need to make.”
FIORENTINA: The club have signed striker Giovanni Simeone — the son of Atletico Madrid boss Diego — from Genoa.
MLS: The LA Galaxy have taken over the top spot from the Seattle Sounders in Forbes’ annual ranking of MLS team valuations.
– Ignacio Piatti scored twice and the Montreal Impact beat the Chicago Fire 3-0 on Wednesday night for their first three-game winning streak of the Major league Soccer season. WATCH
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