Man Utd boss Ferguson encouraged in bid for Real Madrid outcast Ozil

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to try again for Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Ozil. 

Mesut Ozil

Ozil is no longer a first choice under Jose Mourinho following the arrival of Luka Modric and sources insist he is growing increasingly unhappy. United chief Alex Ferguson has asked to be kept informed of any developments and would be at the front of the queue if Real decide to sell. 

Fergie is hunting a successor to 38-year-old Paul Scholes, who looks set to retire for the second time at the end of the season. If Real do choose to offload Ozil, the Spaniards would want double the £12million they paid Bremen. But United still have money to spend after missing out on Eden Hazard and Lucas Moura in the summer.

Pep Guardiola's Natural Destination Is Manchester United, Not Chelsea or City

Josep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola to Chelsea was always a stretch.  Why would a manager who thrived on continuity at Barcelona risk his reputation at a club that hosts a revolution whenever a billionaire Russian feels like it?

As ever with Chelsea, Roman Abramovich's buying power justifies the speculation, but why are we to assume money is even a factor in Guardiola's decision-making?

Not everybody can be bought.

Money won't tempt Lionel Messi to Manchester City, for example. And it won't tempt Sir Alex Ferguson to see out his 70s managing an obscure Chinese club for $1 billion a season.

Guardiola has already passed up a year's earnings to spend a sabbatical in New York. He needed to "rest", he told reporters in May, after walking away from Barcelona—hardly the sentiment you'd marry to somebody motivated by money.

But, still, Abramovich thinks his wallet will win out. Chelsea made a second failed approach in October for Guardiola.

The same paper claimed Guardiola cited Chelsea as his "dream job" in early November—adding that he loved the way Roberto Di Matteo set them up this season and is a big fan of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata.

Then came the Di Matteo sacking. Abramovichhired his ninth manager in Rafa Benitez and opened the revolving trap door to a man who six months earlier had led Chelsea to their greatest triumph.

Chelsea fans rounded on their owner and their new manager on Sunday—booing both with equal ferocity. Meanwhile, their team tightened up to play out a dull 0-0 draw with Manchester City and are in danger of becoming the first holders to go out of the Champions League in the group stages.

Suddenly, the Guardiola to Chelsea rumours began to look a little less viable. 

So maybe Chelsea wasn't his "dream job" after all? What an earth-shattering surprise.

Of the Manchester clubs, United are the better fit—not just because of their history and the level of trust they've afforded Ferguson in his 26 years, but because their ethos is closer to that of Barca.

Barca are a football family. During Sunday's 4-0 win against Levante, they had 11 homegrown players on the pitch at the same time (Pitchside Europe). Chelsea could claim just Ryan Bertrand in the squad of 16 who drew with Manchester City. City were without Micah Richards, their only homegrown player.

In that sense, United—though the club is not quite the production line it was in the early 1990s—much more closely resembles the environment in which Guardiola made history with Barca. 

But it goes beyond youth development and choosing owners with a long-term vision. If you're going to make a comeback, make a big one—and what's bigger than taking over from the great Sir Alex Ferguson, and at a club with a romantic vision to fit Guardiola's footballing philosophy.

Guardiola has already turned down Chelsea's money. Turning down Ferguson's legacy would be far harder.

Man Utd boss Ferguson ponders trying again for Inter Milan contract rebel Sneijder

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is monitoring Wesley Sneijder's amazing situation at Inter Milan. 

Sneijder

 The Dutch playmaker has been warned by Inter management that he won't play again for the club unless he accepts a pay-cut. Sneijder, who is feted as one of the world’s best midfielders, was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in 2011, but pledged his future to Inter. 

 However, Sir Alex Ferguson could be tempted to try again as Sneijder’s future at Inter doesn’t look like being resolved anytime soon. Coupled with that, United have looked flat in the middle of the park in recent games, and Sneijder could provide an extra dimension to their play.

Man Utd closing on Torino defender Ogbonna

Manchester United are keeping tabs on Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is chasing Torino’s Italian international centre half Ogbonna to bolster his leaky defence. 

Ogbonna: The next Devil?

Fergie’s spies have watched the 24-year-old’s last two games in Serie A, with the Premier League leaders looking at potential new faces in central defence because of concerns about their current crop at the position. 

Ogbonna, who is of Nigerian descent, has emerged as one of the best defenders in Italy after coming up the hard way with Torino during their time outside the top flight. 

Chelsea fires another boss!

So that's that, then. Roberto Di Matteo bites the dust at Chelsea. And if you can find the logic in it, you're a better man than me. 

Di Matteo: bites the dust despite becoming the first Chelsea manager to win Champions League

They say it's a "results business." And most likely, Chelsea will become the first defending Champions League winner ever to go out at the group stage following the 3-0 defeat at Juventus on Tuesday night. 

But if you buy this "results" line then it's equally true that Di Matteo came in and rescued a wayward season and delivered Chelsea its first ever Champions League crown. Not just that; he also won the FA Cup. 

Villas Boas

And sure, Chelsea had good fortune on their side in overcoming Barcelona and Bayern Munich on their way to the big one. But it's also true that they weren't exactly lucky in their recent Premier League outings against West Brom, Liverpool and Manchester United. The Blues could easily have had another four points from those three games, in which case they'd be top of the table. Would Di Matteo have gotten the boot then? 

Who knows? 

It's becoming increasingly hard to decipher what goes on in Roman Abramovich's head. You will no doubt hear a whole load of anti-Abramovich stuff being thrown around right about now, much of it having to do with how he's "trigger-happy" because he sacked eight managers in less than nine years. 

Avram Grant

Strictly speaking, those numbers are misleading. Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink weren't sacked; they were always interim bosses who were let go after their spell. And Claudio Ranieri, the first guy to get the chop, was someone Abramovich had inherited from the previous regime. 

You can give an owner a pass for removing a leftover boss (and one who had been there for four years), especially if he replaces him with a Jose Mourinho. The Special One's departure was the one most Chelsea fans regret, but internally, Mourinho had run his course and tensions had bubbled over with club officials and players. You can live with that one. 

Furthermore, you can also understand why Andre Villas-Boas and Luiz Felipe Scolari both went, as they had the worst and second-worst results of any boss in the Abramovich era. AVB had also fallen out with senior players, while Scolari, at times, looked about as interested as a 10-year-old in an accountant's office. 

Scolari

But you can't give the club the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Carlo Ancelotti, the double winner who had Fernando Torres and David Luiz thrown into his lap unsolicited. Nor, by any stretch, can you do it with Di Matteo. 

I don't buy this argument about whether someone "deserves" to be sacked. Merit has nothing to do with it. You remove a manager when you think you can get somebody better. I don't have a problem with that. 

So the issue here is whether Chelsea thinks it can get someone better right now. Forget the Pep Guardiola business. He's on Manhattan's Upper West Side as you read this; unless he did some kind of sudden about-face, he's not on his way over to jump-start Chelsea's season. If -- and it's a huge if, as we've written before -- he comes to Stamford Bridge, it will be in the summer. And if he commits to Chelsea and Di Matteo had been let go at that point, few would have batted an eyelid. 

Ancelotti

Thus it becomes a question of whether there's a better available manager out there, but it needs to be somebody so good that you accept the fact that Guardiola is not coming. Why? Because no serious boss is going to accept an interim position. 

And if you were going to go for a Mr. Fix-It type who could deliver instant results, someone to "save" the season and then disappear into the background, why not keep Di Matteo? After all, it's not as if a top-four finish for Chelsea looks in question this season. And who else is going to put up with Torres? 

Unless, of course, we are to believe that Di Matteo was sacked because Chelsea did not get the result they needed at Juventus. In which case it would be a simply idiotic decision. Because the implication is that, had Chelsea drawn the game, then -- presto! -- Di Matteo would still be good enough to be Chelsea boss. 

The trigger-happy Abramovich

The reason Chelsea is in this situation isn't hard to discern. It was folly to go into a season with Torres and Daniel Sturridge masquerading as the Blues' entire strike force. That was not Di Matteo's decision; somebody further up the food chain needs to take ownership of that. 

Thinking that four central midfielders -- one of them somewhat limited (John Obi Mikel), one of them a recycled wide player (Ramires), one of them 34 (Frank Lampard) and one of them just turned 21 with little experience (Oriol Romeu) -- could be enough to see you through the campaign was equally silly. And equally not down to Di Matteo. 

Chelsea says it'll announce its new boss shortly. Whether it's an interim guy or a permanent hire will tell us plenty about what the next move is and whether there really was a coherent plan. Right now though, it looks like a knee-jerk reaction and nothing more.

Man Utd, Man City head-to-head for new English wonderkid Zaha

Manchester United and Manchester City have joined the battle for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. 

The next wonderkid from Crystal Palace

       The Manchester Evening News says Zaha has been on Sir Alex Ferguson’s radar ever since his sensational performance inspired Palace to a shock Carling Cup victory over United last November. 

       As a two-footed winger he is seen as a potential replacement for Nani if the Portuguese international is allowed to leave Old Trafford. 

     Ferguson is also considering Porto’s £40m-rated James Rodriguez, but Zaha would represent a much cheaper alternative. The England under-21 star could be available for around £15m. 

      That would also interest Roberto Mancini, with City already signing rising English talents Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair in the summer.

Due to earn first England cap soon.

Zaha, the Crystal Palace winger, has emerged as one of the most highly-rated young talents outside the Premier League and Roy Hodgson has rewarded his progress by ­promoting him from the under-21s for the friendly in Stockholm on Wednesday. 

    The 20 year-old has been watched frequently by scouts from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City this season and last week Palace co-chairman Steve Parish insisted it would require bids of £20 million before the Championship club would consider selling him. 

       Zaha, who played in both legs of the England Under-21s’ Euro 2013 play-off against Serbia last month, was born in Ivory Coast and has been approached by head coach Sabri Lamouchi in an attempt to commit his future to the country but he is expected to play some part against Sweden. 

      He will replace Walcott, who has been forced to withdraw with a muscle injury sustained against Fulham on Saturday. Palace are now facing an increasingly difficult battle to ensure Zaha remains at Selhurst Park beyond the January transfer window.