Como ambassador Raphael Varane says that his former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has been the most influential person across his career, and has revealed what Zizou told him to do during training sessions as a youngster. 

Varane spoke in-depth in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday, 18 months after he retired at Como. 

• Read more: Varane breaks silence 18 months after shock Como retirement: ‘Difficult journey’

The four-time Champions League winner had joined Cesc Fabregas’s side on a free transfer following the end of his Manchester United tenure in the summer of 2024, but picked up a serious injury to his knee just 23 minutes into his first competitive appearance with the club in the first round of the Coppa Italia that same summer. 

Varane was then left off Como’s Serie A squad list for the 2024-25 campaign and ultimately announced his retirement, less than two months after he had originally joined the club. 

Despite retiring at the age of 31, Varane decided to stay on with Como and is currently serving as an ambassador, sits on the club’s development board and has a hands-on role overseeing the management of the youth sector. 

What Zidane told Varane at Real Madrid

During his own teenage years, Varane left his boyhood club Lens in order to join Real Madrid, where he would go on to play under the likes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Zidane.  

“When I moved to Real Madrid from Lens, everything was bigger, newer, different. More than anything, the perception of time is different. You don’t play for a month and it feels like a year,” Varane told La Gazzetta dello Sport. 

“You have to stay focused, stay on track, be resilient and train in the same way that you play.” 

Varane also revealed which individual had the biggest impact on his career: “Zidane,” he said. 

“He advised me to focus on one specific thing during each session. A long ball, a different touch, a new move. A small thing, not lots of things, not everything. Add things and improve day by day.”

Click here to read the full interview with Varane

Douglas Luiz has finally returned to playing regular top-flight football during his loan spell with Aston Villa, but how much will it cost the Premier League outfit to sign the Brazilian on a permanent transfer from Juventus? 

How much will Aston Villa have to pay Juventus to sign Douglas Luiz permanently?

It has been a strange few years for Douglas Luiz, who earned rave reviews towards the end of his first stint with Villa, which began in 2019 and ended in 2024. His performances, particularly during the 2023-24 season, earned him a big-money move away from Villa, joining Juventus in a deal worth €50m. 

Despite his promising Premier League performances, Douglas Luiz failed to hit the ground running in Serie A, and soon became somewhat of an outcast in the Bianconeri first-team. In the end, he made just 19 Serie A appearances during his first season in Italy, and only three of those came as a starter. 

The Old Lady decided to cut their losses during the most recent summer transfer window, sending Douglas Luiz on a season-long loan deal to Nottingham Forest with a conditional obligation to buy. 

Still, largely due to injuries, Douglas Luiz struggled to make an impact at the City Ground and was limited to just eight league appearances during the first half of the 2025-26 season. 

His loan deal was terminated in January, which facilitated a return to Aston Villa, this time on loan with an option to buy. 

Since then, Douglas Luiz has gone on to make six consecutive starts and is looking increasingly settled back in his familiar environment at Villa Park. He added his first league goal of the season with his second-minute strike in an eventual 4-1 loss against Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday night. 

If Aston Villa were to activate their option to buy clause this season, Juventus would receive a €25m fee, which is payable over three financial years. The Bianconeri could also claim bonuses of up to €3.5m, the club confirmed in January.

Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has deleted a story from his Instagram profile criticising Red Devils head coach Michael Carrick but praising Italy international Sandro Tonali. 

The Class of 92 graduate took to Instagram to share his thoughts after Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat by Tonali’s Newcastle in the Premier League on Wednesday evening, criticising his former teammate Carrick, who has been placed in charge on an interim basis until the end of the season. 

Despite an upturn in United’s results since Carrick took over, Scholes said that they “have been crap last four games,” and also gave a shout-out to Newcastle midfielder Tonali. The Instagram story was posted on Wednesday evening and had been removed from Scholes’s profile by midday on Thursday. 

Scholes continues to praise Tonali

Tonali has previously cited Tonali as being the best midfielder in the Premier League. 

Speaking on The Overlap in October, Scholes said: “I love Tonali at Newcastle. Oh, he can run. (Bruno) Guimarães as well. I’d probably choose Tonali at this point.” 

When asked to clarify if he meant that Tonali is currently the best midfielder in the Premier League, he replied: “Yeah. Why? Are you going to say Declan Rice? 

“Yes. I think he’s better than Declan Rice. I really like Declan Rice, don’t get me wrong. I think he’s got everything, I just think too many times he takes too many touches of the ball. I think he tries to look a little bit more stylish than he needs to. 

“I think his physical attributes are brilliant, I think he can be a box-to-box, he can link, I think he can score goals, I just don’t think he does it enough. I prefer Tonali. Is that okay?”

• Read more: Tonali sends message to Pickford after wonder save: ‘One of the best shots of my life’

Dusan Vlahovic is closing in on a return to action after over three months on the treatment table, but what does his presence in the squad mean for Juventus’s summer signing Jonathan David? 

Vlahovic nears Juventus return: Where does David fit in?

Vlahovic has been out of action with an adductor injury he suffered during Juventus’s 2-1 win over Cagliari on November 29, an issue which required surgery to fix.

He had an operation in London, has been working on his rehabilitation since then and as of Wednesday, has returned to training with the first-team group at Continassa, albeit partially. 

Reports earlier this week suggest that the Serbian, who is into the final year of his contract with the Old Lady, could potentially be called up to the matchday squad to face Pisa in Serie A on Saturday. 

In Vlahovic’s absence, and with Arkadiusz Milik also out long term, Juventus have been left without a ‘traditional’ no.9 in their attacking ranks: Summer signings David and Lois Openda have both played there previously, but neither have particularly convinced when starting alone at centre-forward in Serie A. 

The Bianconeri has considered bringing in a new striker during the January transfer window given Vlahovic’s injury and his contract situation, but a move for Fenerbahce’s Youssef En-Nesyri fell through towards the end of the January transfer window, 

Vlahovic will soon be able to lend Juventus a hand on the pitch, and there have been reports that talks over a potential contract extension are progressing as well. 

Vlahovic’s return does not spell the end of David’s days in the Bianconeri attack, though, as reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport suggest that Luciano Spalletti is keen to play both attackers in the same line-up, with the Serbian leading the line and the Canadian playing off him a second striker or no.10 role. 

This would still allow Juve to field Kenan Yildiz and either Francisco Conceicao or Weston McKennie out wide as well. 

The Derby della Madonnina between Milan and Inter in Serie A is fast approaching, and the league have confirmed that Daniele Doveri will be the man with the whistle in San Siro on Sunday evening. 

Doveri confirmed as referee for Milan vs. Inter 

Milan will be the home side for Sunday’s derby in San Siro. The Rossoneri are currently in second place, 10 points behind the table-topping Nerazzurri after 27 matches of the 2025-26 campaign. 

Referee Doveri will take charge of Sunday’s derby. The 48-year-old has taken charge of 14 matches in Italy so far this season: 13 in Serie A and one in Serie B. 

Doveri has refereed Milan twice so far this season: Once for the 3-0 win over Udinese in September and once for the 1-1 draw with Atalanta in October. Matteo Gabbia, Luka Modric and Santiago Gimenez were shown yellow cards in the 1-1 draw with La Dea. 

Doveri has taken charge of three matches involving Inter so far this season: For their 2-1 win away against Hellas Verona in November, their 2-1 win away against Genoa in December and most recently, the 2-2 draw with Napoli in January. 

Doveri showed yellow cards to Yann Bisseck against Verona, and to Manuel Akanji, Bisseck again and Nicolo Barella against Genoa. 

This will not be Doveri’s first Derby della Madonnina either: He has taken charge of four in his career to date: The 2-0 win for Inter in 2019, the 3-0 Nerazzurri victory in 2021, the 1-1 draw later that same year and Milan’s 3-0 win over Inter in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final last season. 

Doveri has refereed Milan 34 times, resulting in 19 wins, nine draws and six defeats for the Rossoneri. He has taken charge of 39 Inter matches, resulting in 16 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses.

Marco Verratti is increasingly likely to be called up to the Italy national team squad for the upcoming World Cup play-off campaign at the end of March, but what role will the 33-year-old Al-Duhail midfielder have to play in Gennaro Gattuso’s side? 

According to various reports over the last few weeks, Gattuso has been considering calling Verratti back into the national team fold for the World Cup play-off semi-final against Northern Ireland on March 26.

Should the Azzurri win that fixture, they will then have to face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina away from home in a one-legged decider for a spot at the final World Cup tournament. 

How does Verratti fit into Italy’s World Cup play-off plans?

According to updates on Thursday, Verratti is on Gattuso’s preliminary squad list and according to Tuttosport, he will be part of the squad at the end of the month. Federico Chiesa and Federico Gatti are among the other players who could return to the squad. 

For Verratti, if he is called up, it would be his first involvement with the Italy squad since the Nations League third place play-off against the Netherlands in June 2023. 

It remains to be seen whether Verratti will play if he is called up to the squad. According to Thursday’s report, he is seen as an alternative option to Juventus’s Manuel Locatelli at the base of the Azzurri midfield. Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Barella are unlikely to be dropped from their starting spots in Italy’s strongest XI. 

If Verratti is to play, it is most likely that he would be a second half substitute: An experienced player capable of helping Italy get things over the line with his ability to read play and control the tempo of the game from the middle of the park. 

Strahinja Pavlovic has revealed that he spoke to Juventus star Dusan Vlahovic and former Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic before deciding to join Milan from RB Salzburg in the summer of 2024 and claims that Serie A is the best league he’s played in: ‘In these two short years, I’ve learned more than the last six of my career’. 

The Rossoneri defender spoke in-depth to La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of the Derby della Madonnina between Milan and Inter coming up in Serie A on Sunday evening. 

• Read more: Kaka picks one Inter player he’d steal for Milan and picks derby MVP 

Pavlovic on joining Milan, talks with Vlahovic and improving under Allegri 

Pavlovic claims that he has learned more from playing in Serie A than he had done across six years of his career across Serbia, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Being at Milan and playing under Massimiliano Allegri specifically has played a major role in his development. 

“You just have to walk around Milanello to understand how many legends have played here, there are pictures everywhere: In the dining room, in the gym … It makes me happy to wear the same shirt that they wore. It’s a great feeling, it’s hard to describe.” 

Pavlovic revealed which of his Serbian teammates he spoke to before joining Milan: “I called Luka Jovic who was here last season, but I also spoke with Milenkovic and Vlahovic to find out more about the Italian division.” 

He insists that moving to Serie A has been the most insightful step of his career: “Milan is the biggest club I’ve played for so far and Serie A is stronger than Austria, France and Serbia. Everything is different here, there are no easy games. And in these two short years, I’ve learned more than the last six of my career. For a defender, it’s the perfect league to grow.

“The coach puts a lot of attention on the defence and we’ve made a lot of progress. The credit is not only due to the defenders, though, because we need everyone’s help. The forwards and midfielders lend us a big hand as well.

“(I’ve learned) so many little things. I’ve started paying attention to little details that I hadn’t even considered before, which makes the difference.” 

After a difficult 2024-25 season in which Milan finished in eighth place, missing out on European football altogether for 2025-26, the Rossoneri now find themselves in second, albeit 10 points off their city rivals, Inter. 

Are Milan ‘happy’ with their season so far?
“It’s a difficult question,” Pavlovic pondered. “We’re happy compared to last year, the goal at the beginning of the season was to get into the top four and we are in the running to achieve that. But looking at our performance, we could have had more points, so there is a bit of regret. 

“There are still 11 games to go and we will do everything we can to get the most out of them.” 

Click here to read the full interview with Pavlovic