Find a Football Team

John Stones didn’t make much of an impression in the Manchester derby: didn’t register on the headline stats, wasn’t singled out in the post-match montage, didn’t come steaming across to launch a heroic goal-bound siege-tackle, or head the ball away with a conical white bandage twined around his bloodstained brow.

This is usually a good sign when it comes to Stones, a player who only ever seems to get picked out when he makes a mistake, and whose recent run of form in a reconfigured defence provides another convincing argument City may just be ready to reach down and hit a deeper gear this season.

• Striker insists he has ‘never gambled on football’
• Charge believed to relate to loan move to West Brom

Daniel Sturridge has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of the Football Association betting rules in January, although the Liverpool striker insists that he has “never gambled on football”.

Even if this is found to be true a guilty verdict could still be returned due to the rules Sturridge is alleged to have contravened being wider than directly betting on the sport.

The latest Manchester derby provided more evidence of a gulf in class but United can bridge the divide with a squad overhaul

Manchester United face a crisis: are they prepared to accept mediocrity or will Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, allow José Mourinho a serious squad overhaul? When wages are factored in the bill for this will run to close to half a billion – as much as United are in debt via their owners, the Glazers. Here is what is required to end United’s stagnation as the one-step forward, one-step back proposition they have become.

Related: José Mourinho’s midfield dogs of war yap harmlessly at City ankles | Jonathan Wilson

• Midfielder must satisfy concerns before signing short-term deal
• West Ham reinstate academy coach but give him final warning

The former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri could be set for a return to the Premier League – if he can convince West Ham of his fitness following his doping ban.

Nasri, who played under the West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini at City, was pencilled in for a medical but would have to satisfy doubts over his fitness before signing the six-month deal on the table which also includes an option to extend his stay.

England’s 16-strong squad selected by Centrepoint have the chance to reconnect with life playing street football in a tournament comprising 500 players from 47 countries

As the clocks went back and another gloomy British winter beckoned, Craig McManus developed an enjoyable daily ritual. “I kept checking the weather forecast for Mexico City,” he said. “It’s been around 23C.”

McManus landed in the Mexican capital on Sunday but his trip is about much more than finding an antidote to vitamin D deprivation. The 43-year-old Glaswegian is a street football coach and senior development officer at Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity, and he will spend the next week on England’s coaching staff at the Homeless World Cup.

Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck has had two successful operations to repair his broken ankle, the Premier League club have announced.

The 27-year-old faces a long spell on the sidelines after suffering what the club described as a “significant” injury in last week’s goalless Europa League draw against Sporting.

Nicky Butt has admitted Manchester United face a daunting task to restore themselves as “the biggest club in the country but also in the city” after witnessing the staggering progress made by their rivals Manchester City over the past decade.

United’s academy manager, who won six Premier League titles and a Champions League there as a player, was speaking 24 hours after his club’s 3-1 defeat in the derby. That victory took City, the reigning champions, 12 points clear of United.

• Jonathan Klinsmann is a goalkeeper for Hertha Berlin
• Twenty-one year-old was raised in California

Jonathan Klinsmann, the son of German World Cup winner Jürgen Klinsmann, has been added to the USA squad for their upcoming friendlies against England and Italy.

Klinsmann was born in Germany but moved with his parents to California while still an infant. His mother, Debbie, is American and his father coached the US national team between 2011 and 2016.

Before the match, Real Betis’s manager had to apologise for his admiration for Barça. After beating them, Barcelona’s players spoke of their admiration for him

In the final moments before the first half began on Sunday afternoon, Real Betis’s manager, Quique Setién, approached Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets and asked him for his shirt. He wanted to frame it, he said. Busquets nodded and smiled, so Setién thanked him and headed out towards the bench at the Camp Nou. As he went, he also had a word with Lionel Messi, whose shirt already hangs on his wall, alongside that of Luka Modric. Messi was returning to action after three weeks out with a broken arm, today of all days, and Setién sidled up to him, greeting him fondly.

“I’d have waited a bit longer, not taken any risks,” he grinned. “I couldn’t,” Messi replied; sitting out was driving him up the wall and he was desperate to play.

Like many 10-year-old boys throughout Britain in the year 2000, Damilola Taylor was a fan of Manchester United, happily in thrall to the team of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Andy Cole. He loved playing the game, too. Today, 18 years after he bled to death in the stairwell of a Peckham housing estate, his name is on the youth centre where he practised his skills.

Beyond the fact he had left Lagos for south London a few months earlier with his mother and a sister who needed specialised treatment for epilepsy, a love of football was among the few things that could be used to build a picture of Damilola when the news of his death made headlines in a Britain that could still be shocked by the idea of children killing each other. Now the connection is made all the time in reports of boys dying by violence on the streets. An involvement in rap music is often mentioned. But football is the interest that, by providing the victims with a sense of aspiration, most frequently gives us a clue to who they were.

Max is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Marcela Mora y Araujo to discuss City’s win in the Manchester derby, Arsenal and Chelsea dropping points, the Superclásico, Parklife and Sol Bamba’s torso