‘SCHWEINSTEIGER STAYING AT UNITED’

SCHWEINSTEIGER

Jose Mourinho has confirmed Bastian Schweinsteiger will stay at Manchester United and will be added to their Europa League squad.

The 32-year-old made his first start under Mourinho in United’s FA Cup fourth-round victory over Wigan, scoring the final goal of the 4-0 thrashing at Old Trafford.

"Yes, he is staying,” Mourinho confirmed. “He is going to in the Europa League list because we opened spaces with (Memphis) Depay and (Morgan) Schneiderlin (leaving).

"We don't have many players, and we don't have many options in midfield. Ninety minutes was probably too far for Bastian, from minutes 65-70 it was hard for him but now I think he is happy.

"He was a good professional when he was not playing, and after having some minutes he will be the same. With so many competitions and games he will be an option."

Jose Mourinho: It will be difficult to bring glory days back to Man Utd

JOSE MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho admits he faces a "difficult job" to bring the glory days back to Manchester United.

Mourinho feels he took over a United team "in trouble" when he took over from Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford in the summer.

United last won the title in 2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson and have struggled to repeat their former glories since his departure.

Their highest finish since Ferguson's exit was fourth place, under Van Gaal in 2015, and the Dutchman also won the FA Cup shortly before he was sacked last May.

"There are no miracles in football," Mourinho said. "When a team is in trouble for two, three, four years, it's for some reason.

"When a team win titles, and in recent years (don't) win titles, it's for some reason."

United are 14 points behind leaders Chelsea this season and sit in sixth place with 16 games remaining on the Premier League fixture list.

Mourinho added: "Some people get more difficult jobs than others, I got the biggest job in the country, one of the biggest jobs in the world

"(It is) a job I can imagine everyone would like to have, but I got a difficult one."

Crystal Palace sign Patrick van Aanholt from Sunderland for £14 million

VAN AaNHOLT

Crystal Palace have completed the signing of Patrick van Aanholt from Sunderland on a four-and-a-half year contract.

The defender has moved for a fee believed to be £14 million and could make his debut in Tuesday's game with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

He had handed in a transfer request at the Stadium of Light with Palace having a bid accepted last week, according to Sky sources.

The Dutch international will be Sam Allardyce's second signing since he replaced Alan Pardew as Eagles boss last month following the move for Jeffrey Schlupp from Leicester City.

Van Aanholt moved to the Black Cats from Chelsea in 2014 for £1.5 million but will now be reunited with Allardyce, who was in charge of Sunderland last season.

Palace, who were dumped out of the FA Cup on Saturday after losing 3-0 to Manchester City, lie 18th in the Premier League table.

The south London club have recorded just one victory in the eight games since Allardyce took charge.

Relentless Antonio Conte is out for revenge as Chelsea prepare for trip to face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool

CONTE

If this rout of Championship side Brentford was the easiest assignment of Antonio Conte's Chelsea tenure so far, the Italian knows the hardest may be just around the corner.

The Blues will be on a revenge mission when they travel to fourth-placed Liverpool for a crucial Premier League encounter on Tuesday night.

Liverpool's victory at Stamford Bridge in September saw many writing off Chelsea's title ambitions. But that defeat sparked this remarkable current run.

Chelsea's humbling of their West London neighbours on Saturday made it a perfect 10 wins from 10 on home soil since that sobering reverse to Jurgen Klopp's side.

Asked if his team were transformed since then, Conte replied: 'For sure it's true.

'After that game I said that Liverpool is already a team and Chelsea is not a team.

'After four months a lot of things are changed in my team. We are growing a lot, improving a lot and we have good confidence.

'It will be more difficult for Liverpool if you compare the game here with this game at Anfield.'

If Chelsea were licking their wounds then, Liverpool are doing the same now after three home defeats in a week. Conte knows to be wary of a reaction.

'We know this type of situation,' he said. 'Liverpool now is very tough for us because they had bad defeats and for this reason their focus will be very high.

'We must pay great attention because when you arrive after three defeats you are very dangerous and very angry. It won't be easy on Tuesday.

'I'm sure that Liverpool is one of the teams that can fight to the end to win the title.'

But a Chelsea victory would put them 13 points clear of their fierce rivals with 15 games to go.

Conte has not been to Anfield as a player or a manager before and is looking forward to his first experience.

'To play a game there is exciting,' he said with a smile. 'I repeat we must pay great attention because of the great atmosphere and Liverpool is a really good team. They have a good coach and really good players.

'The crowd pushes them a lot and we must pay attention to this atmosphere because it will help them but we have to play our football.

'We'll try to play with good intensity, with good attention and then we'll see what happens.'

Brentford provided the gentlest of warm-ups. Conte made nine changes to his team but Chelsea still swatted the Bees aside without breaking sweat.

Nearly 6,000 made the six-mile journey to cheer on Dean Smith's men, but their hopes of a shock were extinguished after only 21 minutes.

Willian curled in a superb free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, and the tie was over as a contest when Pedro converted Michy Batshuayi's incisive pass to double the lead.

Branislav Ivanovic – the subject of interest from West Brom whose manager Tony Pulis was watching from the stands – came on with a quarter of the game to go and added gloss to the scoreline and, so too perhaps, his nine-year Chelsea career.

The Serbian made it three with a powerful drive after being played in by the brilliant Pedro, before Ivanovic was tripped inside the penalty area by Yoann Barbet nine minutes from time.

Diego Costa had come on to stretch his legs by then but decided to hand the responsibility to Batshuayi who completed the scoring from the spot. The real work for Costa and Conte will come at Anfield. 

Stoke City forward Bojan Krkic thanks fans for 'making me feel so special' as he joins Mainz on loan after Middlesbrough are priced out

BOJAN

Stoke City playmaker Bojan Krkic has joined Bundesliga side Mainz on loan for the rest of the season.

The Barcelona academy product was denied a move to Middlesbrough after Stoke demanded a transfer fee in excess of £12million and refused to loan him out to an English club. Watford also registered an interest while Spanish clubs Celta Vigo and Las Palmas were priced out, and Celtic also chased a loan deal.

Mainz confirmed the news with a picture of Bojan signing his contract shared on the club's Twitter account this morning.

CAREER: BOJAN KRKIC 

Age: 26

Clubs: Barcelona, Roma, AC Milan (loan), Ajax (loan), Stoke City, Mainz 05 (loan)
Stoke games: 60; Goals: 15

International caps for Spain: 1

Bojan himself then took to social media to post a long an heartfelt message saying thank you to the Stoke fans - even though he is due to return to the club in a few months.

The six month loan deal does not include a clause for a permanent transfer.

He said 'a very special chapter in my life has come to a close as another really exciting one opens', and said he was not saying goodbye to the Potteries, merely a 'see you soon'.

Bojan wrote on his personal Twitter page: 'I came to England looking to once again enjoy my football, and the passion surrounding the game, to the full. Being out on the pitch is what makes me happy and it's now time for me to carry on along my journey as I continue to enjoy this great sport.

'Firstly, thank you to Stoke City for giving me the chance to play in and enjoy the Premier League. I would particularly like to thank the board for standing by me during the tough times, such as when I was allowed to recover from my cruciate ligament injury back in Barcelona.

'Of course, thank you also to the Stoke City fans for their unwavering loyalty and for making me feel so special. The unique feeling on hearing the 'Ole, Ole, Ole... Bojan, Bojan' chant is one that will remain with me forever.

'Ole back to you!'

He has seen his opportunities reduced at Stoke this season and he was substituted at half time of the 2-0 FA Cup third round defeat by Wolves.

The Spanish forward signed a new contract last spring that ties him to Stoke until the summer of 2020 but has started only five Premier League games this season.

At the start of January, he made it clear he wanted to play more regularly or be allowed to move to ensure more first-team football, and now the deal is signed and ratified at Mainz.

Stoke's decision to sign Saido Berahino from West Bromwich Albion earlier this month pushed Bojan further down the pecking order, with the likes of Marko Arnautovic also ahead of him.

Bojan, whose other former clubs include Roma, AC Milan and Ajax, can now add a stint in Germany to his multi-national CV.

Mainz 05 are 11th in the Bundesliga with 21 points from 17 games.

The club wrote in its confirmation tweet 'Bojan is 05!' and '#WelcomeBojan'.

Manchester United record goalscorer Wayne Rooney 'a huge influence' on Marcus Rashford who says he 'can only imagine' his success feels like

ROONEY

Marcus Rashford has praised Manchester United's all-time highest goalscorer Wayne Rooney for influencing his game, and said it was 'amazing' to see the club record broken.

Rooney scored his 250th goal for United with an excellent free-kick against Stoke City earlier this month, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing record.

Rashford, who in the last 12 months has broken into both the United and England squads of which Rooney is captain, said he could not imagine what it must be like to manage such an 'unbelievable' feat.

ROONEY FOR MANCHESTER UTD 
Games: 547

Goals: 250

Trophies: 2007/08 Champions League, 5x Premier League (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), 2016 FA Cup, 3x League Cup (2006, 2009, 2010), 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, 5x Community Shield (2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017)

Rashford told United's official matchday programme for their FA Cup fourth round clash against Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford: 'To watch Wayne play, all the way through, ever since I was a young boy, I've seen him score loads of goals at Old Trafford and it's amazing for us to witness it happening.

'So I can only imagine how it feels for him to do it himself.

'It is an unbelievable achievement and it is going to take some doing to break it.

'He is definitely a huge influence on me. I think I've been around him and watched him grow as a player as well.

'Honestly, it takes the way you watch his game to another level.

Rashford said he could not imagine what it must be like to manage such an 'unbelievable' feat
'I think for the younger ones looking on, we've just got to take note as much as we can from what Wayne does.'

Rooney has the opportunity to score his 251st goal on Sunday afternoon as he leads the line against Championship Wigan.

Rashford meanwhile is on the bench, while Bastian Schweinsteiger starts for his club for the first time in 385 days.

Jurgen Klopp cannot afford to turn down trophies as Liverpool flop to FA Cup fourth round exit and show no signs of improving

KLOPP

The record books will show that Liverpool lost at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Championship in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 2017. But those who were there will know that's not what really happened.

If reserve teams as we once knew them still existed, then Jurgen Klopp fielded one at Anfield on Saturday. This was the team that lost to Wolves. It was not a weakened team or an under-strength team or a team with regulars absent.

It was a team of prospects and fringe players and the decision to field it is the one that Klopp must accept and deal with as he attempts to put the broken pieces of Liverpool's season back together against Chelsea in the Premier League tomorrow night.

So we are back to an old topic, that being the way that some managers in the top division view the FA Cup. However, Klopp's decision on Saturday is more pertinent to the health of Liverpool than it is to a competition that will doubtless survive without the seven-time winners between now and this year's final in May.

We know what Klopp's logic was in choosing this team. The meeting with Chelsea has a 'must win' feel to it and the Liverpool manager obviously wants to throw a fully rested and restored first team at Antonio Conte's league leaders.

However, there was a clear flaw in his approach. The team he picked on Saturday had already shown itself to be promising and absolutely no more this season.

A similar group of players had already struggled against Leeds in the EFL Cup (Leeds lost, but were the better team that night), Plymouth in the FA Cup and, of course, over two legs of an EFL Cup semi-final they lost to Southampton more comprehensively than a 2-0 aggregate scoreline suggests.

So why would anybody expect them to do any better against Paul Lambert's perfectly competent Wolves team on Saturday? There should have been no surprise to see Liverpool lose. Again.

Klopp should not worry too much about accusations of abusing the image of the FA Cup. His first responsibility is to his club. However, the German has seriously under-estimated what an FA Cup triumph would have done for his club and indeed his own standing at Anfield. Liverpool are a club that needs a trophy. Any trophy.

Only once in the last 10 and a half years have Liverpool won one. They have had some close moments such as last season's Europe League, but they haven't won anything. For a club of their size, that must change.

Comparisons to Manchester United never go down well at the westerly end of the East Lancs Road but this one is valid. Liverpool's great rivals have endured some fallow years of their own since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Even as we stand today, a betting man would probably wager that Liverpool will win the league before United do.

However, during this time United have won an FA Cup and are favourites to lift the EFL Cup next month. If they do so, their return from three-and-half difficult years will be two trophies. Not bad, considering.

It is this that sustains clubs like United and Liverpool as they rebuild. It is this, no doubt, that persuaded Pep Guardiola to field a Manchester City team that included players like David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Yaya Toure in their cup game at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

So by putting his club's place in the FA Cup at risk at the weekend, Klopp has denied his club — and indeed himself — an opportunity.

In Klopp's eyes, victory tomorrow may justify the method. But would it? It would still leave Liverpool seven points behind Chelsea. They would be on the outer fringes of the battle for Premier League success, but no closer than that. 

Meanwhile, they are very much out of the FA Cup.