Spanish football legend, Gerard Pique has expressed his disappointment with his former club Barcelona getting knocked out of the Europa League by Manchester United. 
Barcelona was leading at halftime, thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s 18th-minute penalty after Bruno Fernandes’ needless foul on Alejandro Balde. Brazilian duo Fred and Antony, who came on as a half-time substitutes for Manchester United, both drilled home low first-time shots in front of an ecstatic Stretford End. The second-half goals from Fred and Antony secured a memorable United win as the La Liga leaders were beaten 2-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
Pique who retired from football earlier this season, was following the match and was live on Twitch on the Kings League show at the full-time whistle. Following some of the comments from his team-mates, Pique was heard saying during the live stream, “It was a f*cking mess.”
Insiders told ESPN that Garnacho opened talks over a contract extension late last year, and has now reached an agreement for a 5-year deal with the English club. All that remains to be finalized before the terms can be made official are some aspects relating to Garnacho’s image rights. The new deal will see his salary adjusted according to his new status in Erik ten Hag’s squad due to the progress he has made since making his first team debut last April. He is currently thought to be earning around £7,000 per week, so the starting point of his new salary will be a healthy increase to reflect his rise from the youth ranks to a first-team regular since his debut last April. 
Garnacho has since made 27 appearances for United, scoring three goals, and has been one of the revelations of the Premier League season so far. Given his roots, and Real Madrid’s history of luring wingers away from Old Trafford, there were concerns an early switch to the Bernabeu may have been on the cards next year. Los Blancos have been reportedly monitoring his progress and would no doubt be interested in taking him back to the Spanish capital if he fulfils his world-class potential. Garnacho left Atletico Madrid’s academy for United in 2020 and has gone from strength to strength since, skyrocketing up the senior pecking order. 
While it was suggested at the time that he was joking, the 51-year-old South Africa-born business magnate later added: “Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.” It is expected that a bid of up to £4.5bn could be enough to get a takeover over the line even though United’s American owners reportedly wanted between £6bn and £8bn to sell up. The report notes that dozens of interested parties have already expressed their interest and signed the necessary paperwork to be granted access to confidential data about the club. United’s next owners will likely need to have money in reserve – up to £2bn, according to some estimates – to commit to redeveloping Old Trafford. This should be no issue for Musk, even though Tesla’s plummeting stock price led to his net worth being slashed by £150bn since November. Should United fetch a sum of £4.5bn as expected, they would become the most expensive sports team in the world, surpassing NFL side the Denver Broncos, who were bought for £3.7bn last year. 
The incident played out after Manchester United’s forward, Antony was shoved off the pitch. The brawl saw Casemiro being sent off after grabbing Will Hughes by the throat. Casemiro has already been hit with a three-match ban for violent conduct and was forced to sit out the Red Devils’ 2-2 draw with Leeds earlier this week. Announcing that Manchester United and Crystal Palace have been charged over the brawl, the FA said in a statement; 
“Manchester United FC and Crystal Palace FC have been charged following a mass confrontation between their players in the 67th minute of the Premier League fixture on Saturday 4 February 2023. “It’s alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour, and it’s also alleged that Manchester United FC failed to ensure its players refrained from violent behaviour. Manchester United and Crystal Palace FC have until Monday 13 February to respond.” 
This is coming after all charges relating to allegations of attempted rape, assault, and coercive and controlling behaviour, which were filed against Mason Greenwood were dropped. The Manchester United forward who was suspended indefinitely by the Premier League club after the accusations came to light, was initially arrested in January 2022 before being released on bail. He was subsequently arrested again for breaching his bail conditions and charged by prosecutors. It has now been confirmed all charges filed against him have been dropped. The Athletic reported that Manchester United Women’s team is “deeply uncomfortable” about the prospect of Mason Greenwood returning to first-team action at Old Trafford, and the men’s team is also reportedly ready to move on from him. 
Players in the women’s team who expressed concern about the prospect of Greenwood returning after hearing an audio that was released on social media before his arrest, said it is “not something that can be easily erased from memory”. Daily Mail had also reported that the men’s team led by Erik ten Hag want to move on from Greenwood and believe his return could disrupt their progress this season. On the other hand, the staff at Manchester United are said to be split on Greenwood’s future. Some feel the Red Devils own a duty of care to the 21-year-old, while others believe he should not wear the famous red shirt again. The club’s management has already said it would “conduct its own process” before determining the next step to be taken. 
Manchester Evening News reported that the club decided to classify Martial as sellable before his latest injury setback last week. Martial returned from a two-and-a-half week absence to score as a substitute in the League Cup semi-final second-leg win over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, February 1, however, he withdrew from the squad for the Premier League defeat of Crystal Palace three days later. Martial, 27, has missed 20 of United’s 34 games this season and he has been absent for a total of 16 weeks through five separate injury lay-offs. The Frenchman is under contract until 2024 and United has the option of an additional year, so the upcoming summer transfer window is a prime time to try and cash in on Martial. 
He said; “I feel like I’ve looked after myself – I think it’s two-and-a-half weeks since my last start – so I’ve been working hard in training, the lads who’ve been playing have been doing well so when I get the opportunity I need to take it and make sure we win. It was nice to be out there helping the lads and I’m ready when my chance comes. “Of course, I’m a player, 29 years old, and I haven’t really been in this position in my career so it’s a position that I don’t want to get used to, but it’s part of the parcel of football. “I’m working hard every day, I’m pushing, I’m training well, and when my chance comes I need to take it. We know at this club we need competition for places, we have some top centre-backs at this club so I think we’re all good from now until the end of the season.” 
Manchester United on Saturday, January 14, staged a stunning late turnaround after coming from behind to beat Manchester City in a dramatic Premier League derby at Old Trafford. 
Jack Grealish had put City ahead after coming off the bench but late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford grabbed the win for United. Erik ten Hag’s side drew level in contentious fashion with 12 minutes left as Bruno Fernandes scored despite the presence of Marcus Rashford in an offside position. City’s protest that he had interfered with the play was ignored despite the flag going up. Rashford was the central figure again four minutes later when he swept in substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s cross to move United ahead in the scoreline. 
This is coming four months after the Red Devils were chastened and bruised following a 6-3 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. Manchester United has now won nine-straight games in all competitions and five straight in the Premier League. They now have 38 points and are just one point behind second-place Manchester City who are 5 points behind league leaders, Arsenal.