By Tim Stannard

1) Somber mood in Sweden for Europa League final 

The horrific events at the Manchester Arena on Monday evening sees the tone of the Europa League final being very different than planned as the watching world of sport gets a reminder of what actually matters in life. 

Previously, the set-up had been a clash in Stockholm between a Manchester United side led by a trolling Jose Mourinho complaining that Ajax shouldn’t even be in the competition in the first place due to being Champions League group stage losers. The general reply from a young, sprightly Ajax was ‘bring it on’ old-timers. But now, matters are a little more subdued and thoughtful. 

The clip notes 101 version of the game is Manchester United needing a win to wipe away a largely indifferent first season under Mourinho and bag a Champions League spot, just to annoy Arsene Wenger. For Ajax, the match is a return to the European limelight and a sign that the club can move onto great things with a crop of youngsters. Or sell them all after the final whistle is blown.

Ajax against Manchester United in the Europa League final is live on beIN SPORTS is Canada from 2:45PM ET / 11:45AM PT and tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the reaction to events in Sweden with a very special guest, Gary Bailey, former Man United goalkeeper. 

2) Valverde hints at offer from “important club”

Unless Barcelona have a heck of a trump card up their La Liga-losing sleeves, then the past couple of days have cleared the path to former Athletic Bilbao boss, Ernesto Valverde, taking over at the Camp Nou. On Monday, Barca announced that the new coach would be named the following week. 

A day later Athletic confirmed that Valverde was leaving and on Wednesday, the former Barcelona forward spoke to the media saying that he had not made any decision on his next move but an offer had been made from “an important club”. Mmm. 

"Regarding Barcelona's supposed interest, I don't talk about teams that aren't my own and won't start doing so now."

Meanwhile, to keep up the Barcelona / legal vibe, Leo Messi has had an appeal turned down by Spain’s Supreme Court for a 21-month sentence for tax fraud. 

3) Wenger still unsure over Arsenal future 

Wenger news! 

Well, not really. The Arsenal boss is still unable to say whether the FA Cup Final will be his last game in charge of the Gunners because he simply doesn’t know. What he does know though is that it won’t be his last game in football, should he leave the Emirates. 

However, the Frenchman did give a strong indication that he would very much like to stay on – with or without Alexis Sanchez. "Some clubs are in a stronger position than us financially but I believe we are in a strong enough position, strong enough basic squad to compete at the top level."

4) Alexis Sanchez linked with Bayern swap 

TRANSFER NEWS!!! A lot of stuff and nonsense today. The aforementioned Alexis Sanchez is being heavily linked with Bayern Munich. Mario Balotelli to Sampdoria anyone? No? Milan for Alvaro Morata? Definitely not. That’s about the lot for a slow day so far. But tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM ET every day for the transfer tracker – a collection of done deals, made-up stuff and luke-warm tips. 

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