Juve's Sporting Director says no chance of Pogba returning to club

Well, this is a prime-time, canned laughter sitcom in the making.

Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba - those crazy characters! - having to work side by side for the next couple of years. And perhaps, in time, learn that they have more in common than divides them...but with some hilarious fun on the way! 

Manchester United's late win over Newcastle United on Saturday has cemented Mourinho's position at Old Trafford, while on Tuesday Paul Pogba saw one major exit door from the Premier League being sealed shut.

Juve's Sporting Director, Fabio Paratici, has said that there is no way back for the misfit Manchester United man who left the Old Lady in 2016 for a then world record deal. "We love Paul Pogba, we've a fantastic relationship with him but we've never thought about his return at Juventus and we're not going to think about it." 

This leaves Pogba's options for leaving United severely limited both due to his transfer fee and wages. PSG and Barcelona probably don't have the cash. However, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich could both be possibilities - both are always flush and in need of some reinforcements, potentially in winter. 

But realistically, Pogba is just going to have to find a way to get along with Mourinho...or mastermind his manager's departure House of Cards-style , a very different TV show all together. 

Find out more on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

Rooney calls on Manchester United players to "do better"

Former Manchester United man, Wayne Rooney, is also weighing in on the troubles at Old Trafford that see the club in eighth place in the Premier League, seven points off the top of the table.

The DC United striker has opted to back Mourinho in this particular fight and called upon his teammates to try a little bit harder. "The players have to stand up. They have to be counted and they have to do better," declared Rooney, "the manager can do so much."

At least Rooney is currently leading by example by spearheading a previously impossible play-off charge for DC United since his arrival in our nation's capital city. 

No immediate plans for manager change at Real Madrid 

And now onto the thorny matter of Real Madrid and two doses of good news for Julen Lopetegui - although one does depend on the other.

The first is reports from both Madrid and Barcelona in today's papers that the manager's job is safe until at least El Clasico. That's despite Real Madrid having failed to win in four games (three defeats) or even manage to score a single goal.

AS is writing though that Florentino Perez had dinner with his coach last Thursday to give him a warning that he was not entirely happy with matters at the White House.

The other hot topic pinging around is the revelation from Monday that Eden Hazard is torn between staying at Chelsea or moving to Madrid, which he described as "the best club in the world."

Whether Lopetegui will be around to enjoy Hazard's football stylings were he to move to La Liga is another matter.

Griezmann makes case to give Ballon d'Or to himself

Antoine Griezmann has been back on the Ballon d'Or train again and pushing the case for the good people of France to win the latest prize. The 30 name short-list for the men's competition was published on Monday by France Football for the 2018 prize.

That list included six Frenchmen including Griezmann himself, who mostly won a bag of stuff for their respective clubs as well as the small matter of the 2018 World Cup. It's for the this reason it's Allez Les Bleus all the way for the Atletico Madrid man.

"A Frenchman has to win the Ballon d'Or," to France Football. "The best team in the world, has to have the best player in the world, no?" was Griezmann's case for the prize to be given to himself, basically.

France will be in action on Thursday in a friendly game against Iceland followed by a Nations League whopper with Germany on Tuesday.

Find out what our Gabrielle Amado and George D Metellus think of Griezmann's case on the live edition of Sports Burst on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page.