Santiago Giménez's current situation at AC Milan has fallen well short of expectations, and now Massimiliano Allegri, the Italian club's head coach, has delivered a worrying prognosis—not only for the Rossoneri, but also for the Mexican national team and head coach Javier Aguirre ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Allegri provides update on Giménez's recovery Although an initially shorter recovery timeline had been mentioned, Massimiliano Allegri offered a negative update regarding the Mexican striker's condition. “Giménez will be sidelined for three to four months, and Füllkrug has arrived and will help us,” Allegri said, referring to the injury sustained in Serie A. “Giménez will be sidelined for three to four months, and Füllkrug has arrived and will help us,” Allegri said, referring to the injury sustained in Serie A. Will Santiago Giménez miss the 2026 World Cup with Mexico? Aware of the proximity of the 2026 World Cup, Santiago Giménez tried to avoid surgery and opted for conservative treatment, but the pain did not subside and surgery became unavoidable. The striker, who emerged from Cruz Azul, underwent surgery in mid-December, and with a recovery period of up to four months, he is expected to receive medical clearance in April. With that time away from competition, Giménez is set to miss the March friendly between Mexico and Portugal and could arrive with limited match fitness for the World Cup, where Mexico will debut on June 11 against South Africa The striker, who emerged from Cruz Azul, underwent surgery in mid-December, and with a recovery period of up to four months, he is expected to receive medical clearance in April. With that time away from competition, Giménez is set to miss the March friendly between Mexico and Portugal and could arrive with limited match fitness for the World Cup, where Mexico will debut on June 11 against South Africa Watch beIN SPORTS Xtra live for free on YouTube DOWNLOAD OUR APPS

Reports in Spain suggest that Rodrygo is laying the groundwork for a potential move away from Real Madrid. The Brazil international forward faces fierce competition for places at the Bernabeu and is growing increasingly frustrated at having to fill a support role. Interest in his services is said to have been shown from the Premier League, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City known to be admirers. Rodrgyo has been with Los Blancos since 2019, when the Spanish giants bought into his obvious potential. Domestic titles and Champions League crowns have been captured in Spain. The likes of Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are, however, looking to fill attacking berths in Xabi Alonso's plans. That can lead to Rodrygo being left on the outside looking in. He has been included from the off by Alonso over recent weeks, but has just seven starts and two goals to his name this season. SPORT explains how Rodrygo is now in talks with two so-called “super-agents” as he seeks further representation. His father, Eric Goes, has been handling affairs, but he is not an agent by trade and is said to have seen his relationship with Real deteriorate over the course of the last 12 months. Long-term plans are, however, being drawn up and that means sounding out any suitors. Arsenal, City and Liverpool are all credited with showing interest, with the South American now looking for more professional negotiators to take care of his business. Get expert previews, data-driven predictions & winning insights with GOAL Tips on Telegram. Alonso has said when asked about the speculation that continues to rage around Rodrygo: “There have been a lot of rumors. He went on to say: “We must believe and trust Rodrygo. We're waiting for him to break this negative moment with a goal. SPORT claims that Rodrygo has been considering an exit since early in the season, with it difficult to see how his situation will change. However, questions are also being asked of how long Vinicius will be sticking around at the Bernabeu. Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting He will not be short on offers if a new challenge is eventually sought. City boss Pep Guardiola said of the tricky winger after facing Real in Champions League competition: “I told Rodrygo how good he is. That would appear to be a nod towards City being keen on adding Rodrygo to their ranks, but the Blues are now closing in on a £65 million ($87m) deal for Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo. Arsenal may be keen if Gabriel Martinelli leaves Emirates Stadium, while Liverpool continue to see unsettled Egyptian icon Mohamed Salah generate transfer talk at Anfield.

Record-setting exploits have been delivered at Anfield, while winning two Premier League titles, but an exit early in 2026 is being mooted. It is claimed that Roma would like to be reunited with a familiar face. That may be slightly ambitious on their part, with speculation regarding Salah's future in England continuing to build. He delivered an explosive outburst against his current employers after finding himself benched. Salah was dropped for a Champions League clash with Inter following that rant, but was recalled for a Premier League meeting with Brighton prior to heading off on Africa Cup of Nations duty. Arne Slot maintains that he wants to keep the talismanic 33-year-old around. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don't have any relationship. I don't know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn't want me in the club.” Salah went on to say: “It is not acceptable for me. I don't know why this is happening to me. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player. I have done so much for this club. He added when asked if he regrets signing a new contract that is supposed to keep him on Merseyside until the summer of 2027: “Imagine how bad that I have to answer it, honestly. Get expert previews, data-driven predictions & winning insights with GOAL Tips on Telegram. While nobody at Liverpool has announced that Salah is free to move on, several clubs outside of the Premier League are keeping a close eye on his situation. According to La Repubblica, Roma form part of that pack. They relay that “relations between Salah and Liverpool have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks”. He is said to have a “strained” working relationship with Slot and Co, which could lead to a change of scenery being taken in. Big-spending teams in the Saudi Pro League were expected to lead any chase for Salah's signature, with ambitious outfits there having never shied away from the fact that would welcome a global superstar into their ranks. Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting La Repubblica admits that “financial obstacles are substantial” when it comes to returning Salah to the Italian capital in January. An agreement would be difficult even if the player agreed to lower his demands. It is reported that Salah “remains a dream scenario rather than a concrete negotiation”, with Roma also exploring alternative attacking options. Big updates on Salah are, however, imminent as he will need to make a huge call on his future once returning to Liverpool from AFCON.

Expectations are high at Stamford Bridge and a dreadful December brought about questions over just how ready this team is to compete. There was turbulence, sure, but the surprise sacking of Enzo Maresca on New Year's Day could torpedo their 2025-26 campaign altogether. Maresca supposedly missed his post-match press conference on Tuesday with illness, but it later transpired he simply did not want to face the media knowing how uncertain his future at the club actually was. There are understandable reasons for the Blues wanting to make a change in the dugout, including questions over Maresca's own commitment having met with Manchester City multiple times in recent months, but they are far outweighed by arguments in the opposite direction. The young Blues seemed to be maturing, but it was merely another false dawn. Following a miserable December, Chelsea sit fifth in the Premier League table. That wouldn't be a disaster in isolation, but given the expectations placed upon them heading into the final month of 2025, it was extremely underwhelming. Maresca's men had also dropped back down to 13th in the Champions League standings, below Tottenham and Newcastle, after losing away at Atalanta a fortnight on from toppling Barca. Since beating Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on November 22, Chelsea have embarked on a run of one win in seven Premier League matches, taking seven points from a possible 21. The gap to Arsenal, whom some Blues supporters believed their team to be on par with after their most recent meeting, is now 15 points. Chelsea's two stalemates with Bournemouth best represented the extent of their on-field issues. For such an expensively assembled team, it still blows hot and cold far too often. The youthful core that Chelsea's BlueCo owners and their raft of recruiters have taken such pride in assembling still seriously lacks leadership. Nicolas Jackson was often made out to be one of the worst offenders in this regard, though it's telling that the team's disciplinary problems have persisted and even worsened since he was forced out of the club to Bayern Munich on loan. Caicedo's fourth-minute booking in Tuesday's draw was his fifth of the Premier League season, picking up a suspension ahead of Sunday's crucial trip to Manchester City. It will be his second ban of the domestic campaign thus far too having already missed three matches for a sending off against Arsenal, where he was tipped to go toe-to-toe with the Gunners' own nine-figure midfielder Declan Rice. Maresca may have privately felt the team needed to kick this habit, but his continual public insistence surely only empowered his players to continue in their troublesome ways. This time last season, Chelsea were going through a similar sort of slump. They had climbed to second in the Premier League table, two points behind eventual champions Liverpool, and showed glimpses of a team ready to make a leap from top-four or five contenders to one in and around the title picture. It is becoming tradition for this iteration of Chelsea to get their fans' hopes up before spectacularly letting them down again over the winter. There is a new bad habit that the Blues need to kick as well - their woeful record on defending set pieces. Their main kryptonite has been long throws, with a league-high four conceded from them this season. Maresca had to be held accountable for that, but given the insistence upstairs that only long-term results matter, could he really be blamed for not cultivating a culture? Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting There are too many middling players who don't move the needle. Cole Palmer and Caicedo are standouts in their positions, Estevao Willian is an extremely exciting prospect, and Reece James (when fit) and Marc Cucurella are also excellent options, but beyond them, much of Maresca's squad is of a similar standard. Are Liam Delap and Joao Pedro any better up top than the ousted Jackson? What's the differential between Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens? Are they even any better than Noni Madueke, who was sold to Arsenal with seemingly little fuss but is already popular at a better team? Why allocate so much money towards players who won't immediately improve the first-team squad for at least a couple of years? Through 18 months in charge, Maresca never seemed to know what his best Chelsea team looked like. BBC Sport calculated he made substitutions faster than any other Premier League manager and he made the most changes to his starting lineups this season. It was a thankless task trying to keep everyone happy. This is most noticeable at Bayern Munich, where Vincent Kompany is regularly flanked by director of sport Max Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund. Maresca made suggestions that he felt the same way without explicitly saying that, though did reveal last month he felt a lack of support after defeat to Atalanta, which seemed to have been the beginning of the end for him. So much is made of their recruitment, so much praise is bestowed upon Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, yet we never see or hear from them. If Maresca's job was deemed untenable, then theirs should be on the line as well. The club have spent nearly four years trying to establish a new identity which is drifting further away from their previous one of winning at all costs and for no good reason. The owners would do well to convince a better manager to come and work for them in this regime of haphazard planning in the name of 'the project'. Whoever Chelsea's new manager is, they will still have some positives to look at. The mad scramble for Champions League qualification is so jumbled that even this terrible run of form has barely dented their hopes of finishing in the top four or five. There is a Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal to look ahead to, though at this rate that may prove a real baptism of fire. More so than any playing style, that has been 'the Chelsea way' of the modern era and is exactly why the fanbase has soured so swiftly. But do you actually believe in this Chelsea and its operations to make something of 2025-26 now?

Chelsea's search for a new manager continues to be narrowed down, with three more potential candidates to succeed Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge being ruled out of the running. It is being claimed that former Blues midfielder Cesc Fabregas, current Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and highly-rated Porto boss Francesco Farioli are not being considered in west London. A vacancy has arisen at Chelsea following the decision to part with Maresca. The Italian tactician was relieved of his duties on New Year's Day, despite overseeing Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup triumphs in 2025. Chelsea find themselves back in the market for a new manager as a result, with another change being made just 18 months after bringing in the former assistant to Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. World Cup winner Fabregas would tick that box, as he continues to cut his managerial teeth in Italy with Como. The Daily Mail are, however, reporting that the Spaniard - who spent five years with Chelsea as a player between 2014 and 2019 - is “not a contender” to retrace steps to familiar surroundings. Farioli, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the running by Fabrizio Romano. He has claimed on social media that Porto's manager - who is just 36 years of age - has told fans at Estadio do Dragao: “We continue together.” It has been claimed that Chelsea would need to stump up £13 million ($17m) in compensation if they wanted to prise Farioli away from Porto, and that is another factor that has led the Blues to target alternative options. Get expert previews, data-driven predictions & winning insights with GOAL Tips on Telegram. BlueCo would have little trouble in moving him from one of their dugouts to another. Rosenior does not, however, have any experience of coaching in the English top flight. He worked with Derby and Hull City before heading to France. He does, however, fit the mould when it comes to youthful exuberance and a tactical blueprint that demands attacking football be played. Frank Lampard has already taken in two spells as Chelsea boss - one permanent and another interim - and is now catching the eye at Championship leaders Coventry. Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting It appears unlikely that he would walk away from that post, but William Gallas - who also represented Chelsea in his playing days - has previously side of a third stint at the Bridge being enjoyed: “After what happened to Frank Lampard, we had to be patient. That's why it's good for him to improve and do something really good with another Premier League team in the future, maybe helping them into Europe in the Europa League or Champions League. With the likes of Lampard, Fabregas and De Zerbi seemingly out of the running, it remains to be seen who Chelsea will turn to.

Sign up to get started The Black Stars officially qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after finishing the qualifiers as leaders of Group I, scoring numerous goals to outclass their opponents. The team netted 23 goals in 10 games and conceded only six, which helped them gain prominence on the table and secure their place in the tournament. Jordan Ayew was the top scorer with seven goals and seven assists, ranking among the best players globally, alongside stars like Erling Haaland and Argentina captain Lionel Messi. Ghana drawn in Group L for 2026 FIFA World Cup In addition to Ayew, players such as Alexander Djiku, Iñaki Williams, Thomas Partey, and others also got on the scoresheets to cushion the team's campaign. Ghana joined the list of qualified African nations after beating Comoros at home on matchday 10 of the qualifiers to secure their ticket for the tournament. Otto Addo has now become the first coach to qualify the Black Stars for two FIFA World Cup tournaments. Watch all the goals scored by the Black Stars players below: 🤩 It's World Cup Year! 📹 Relive all the goals that earned us a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup 🌍🏆 History made. 👊🏾🇬🇭#BlackStars https://t.co/mHlNEVZz7Y pic.twitter.com/IjQ7LGjaYj— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) January 1, 2026 SB/AE Meanwhile, watch as Rev. 📹 Relive all the goals that earned us a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup 🌍🏆 History made.

Former USMNT star Michael Bradley named NY Red Bulls coach (0:26) Columbus Crew defender Max Arfsten, Orlando City defender Alex Freeman, New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese and Real Salt Lake's Diego Luna all boosted their stock over the course of the year at both club and international levels, giving credence to U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino's vow to look under every rock and tree for capable players who will help his team's cause. Not only is the winter transfer window in Europe about to open, but next summer's World Cup is looming on the horizon. Playing time, regardless of where it happens, is paramount. Then there's the nature of what next summer's World Cup represents. "I think as you're heading into six months out from a World Cup, for American, Canadian and Mexican players it's an opportunity that'll happen once in a lifetime to make a World Cup roster and play in your home country. That's going to be paramount," said Richard Motzkin, executive vice president and managing director of global soccer at Wasserman, a firm that represents more than a dozen USMNT players. There are no absolutes in these kinds of circumstances. Every player has his own scenario, but some situations are more solid than others. Freese signed a new deal in September through 2030 and, according to one source with knowledge of the situation, has "no appetite" for a move. Freese's competition is all MLS-based with the New England Revolution's Matt Turner and Columbus' Patrick Schulte among those hoping to challenge for the top spot; Freese isn't going to get nudged out of the starting spot because a competitor is tearing it up in Europe. Arfsten and Luna are similarly tied up, with multiple years left on their respective deals, though their situations are a bit more fluid. Arfsten drew the attention of Middlesbrough earlier this year, but Columbus' valuation remains higher than what was being offered. The timing -- and money -- has to be right. That's even more the case with attacking players like Luna, with U.S. products in those positions often having to do more to prove themselves than their colleagues elsewhere on the field. "I would say [a move is] not very likely, but again, things can change and you never know what happens in the next month or so," said RSL chief soccer officer and sporting director Kurt Schmid about a possible Luna transfer. "I think we'd only do a move -- and he'd only, I assume, want to move -- if it was the right situation and didn't mess anything up with the national team, given how close the World Cup is. That's going to be a big concern of his, and rightly so, with any potential offers or anything that comes in." The defender's rise up the ranks at both club and international level has been nothing short of meteoric, capped off by a two-goal performance in a friendly against Uruguay in November. The player has made it clear that he prefers to stay put. "I think my focus in January, February is going into Orlando and just being able to perform at my best," Freeman told ESPN in November. "I feel like that's going to be my goal, and especially being able to do that and being a system guy ... not [having] to worry about having to switch the way I play, I feel like that's perfect for me in my situation. So I'll still be able to get that." But the respective desires of player and club aren't always in alignment. One source with knowledge of the situation said that Orlando has made a max-U22 offer for Freeman that would see him get paid eight times more than what he is making now, but he isn't expected to sign, which puts Orlando in a quandary. The club essentially has to transfer Freeman now if it is going to get any return on the player. Otherwise, it risks losing him for nothing at the end of next season. The compromise is for a transfer to be made with a loan back to Orlando through at least the World Cup. With just six months to go until the start of the World Cup, matters in terms of possible transfers are mostly settled, but there are still some pieces in motion.

January's FIFA Club World Cup may well be the deciding factor in Alonso's future, but Real Madrid are staying prepared for the worst. In that sense, AS‘s recent report on Alvaro Arbeloa becomes significant. The manager, after all, has done exceedingly well irrespective of the setup entrusted with – something that speaks volumes about his managerial quality. Arbeloa has impressed at the Real Madrid hierarchy. It was a team that boasted the likes of Nico Paz, Jacobo Ramon and Gonzalo Garcia among others and Arbeloa does deserve credit for all of them being in top clubs today. His teams work hard off the ball with vigorous intensity, win the ball up high and play with a wonderful vertical style of football. Arbeloa is also liked for being up to date with his approach to management which is exemplified in his use of drones to get an aerial view of his team's structure. He is outspoken, fearless with the media and an approachable figure for his players. There are no direct links between him and the first-team job as of today, but it appears that it is only a matter of time if the team do not improve. Real Madrid will be on the lookout for a successor, and Arbeloa is giving off all the right cues.