By Tim Stannard

1) Real Madrid set for midfielder clear out with Pogba purchase

Real Madrid may already have the extremely expensive James Rodriguez warming his Colombian booty on the Real Madrid bench, due to an overload in midfield – and Zinedine Zidane’s crazy notion of playing a balanced side – but that does not appear to have dissuaded Florentino Perez from spending upwards of $140 million dollars on Juve’s Paul Pogba.

That’s what Italian sports paper, Gazzetta dello Sport, claims with the outlet reporting a meeting taking place between the two clubs to discuss the subject next week with the Juventus man apparently very much on Zizou’s wanted list. This means that Madrid are either going to have the most expensive bench in the history of football – but still one striker – or there will be a midfield fire sale with potentially James, Isco and even Toni Kroos being plonked onto the transfer market, probably for the two Manchester clubs to hover up. Find out more on the special midnight XTRA live on beIN SPORTS.

2) Ronaldo wary of Iceland obstacle as Portugal head to France  

One person who may not be too happy about the move, as it will make him only the third most expensive footballer after Gareth Bale, is Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Portuguese poser has other business on his mind. Euro 2016 business.

Fresh from playing his part of a fairly impressive demolition of Estonia on Wednesday, Ronaldo has spread a wide net in choosing his favorites to win Euro 2016 which starts on Friday with France’s opening with Romania. France, Germany, Spain and Italy are the ones to watch apparently. And also Iceland, who are in Portugal’s group. "Iceland came to the Euros from the same group from where the Netherlands were eliminated… need we say more about Iceland's credentials?" warned the Madrid man.

3) Mexico gear up for another mauling as Uruguay face possible early exit

After Brazil’s 7-1 demolition of Haiti on Wednesday night and little Leo still working his way back to fitness, the next best chance for the Copa America to get some messy action will be on Thursday as an impressive Mexico takes on a cannon-fodder Jamaica in a Group C clash in Pasedena.

There will be at least one change to the line-up that thumped Uruguay with Andres Guardado suspended for the clash after a red card in the opening group clash for the PSV man. Mexico boss, Juan Carlos Osorio, says he has been having fun experimenting with five different alternatives to fill the goal-scoring vacuum.

Uruguay, one of the sneaky favorites before the competition, could be out, out, out on Thursday night, should the side fail to beat Venezuela in Philadelphia. However, the return of Luis Suarez to the starting line-up after a hamstring injury picked up in the Copa del Rey final should be enough to carry the side through. Our Jonathan Johnson over in Paris says the match will be a key one for Edison Cavani who is by no means guaranteed to be the heir apparent to King Zlatan.

4) Double deal day in La Liga as Espanyol and Depor appoint new coaches

There has been a bit of managerial activity in La Liga on Thursday. Espanyol have confirmed the appointment of all round lust-beast, Quique Sanchez Flores, as their manager for the next three years, after the Spaniard left Watford at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Deportivo have moved for former Eibar boss Gaizka Garitano has their new manager.

Even though Unai Emery has yet to move to PSG – still a rumor – Sevilla are reportedly lining up the crouching one’s replacement. And it could well be former Chile boss, Jorge Sampaoli, who has already been linked with moves to Granada and Valencia this summer.

Football mourns untimely loss of Sascha Lewandowski

Tragic news from Germany with the death of former Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen boss, Sascha Lewandowski, who passed away at the age of 44. The manager stepped down from his role at Union Berlin in March on the advice of doctors after being diagnosed with acute fatigue syndrome.

5) Sponsors back Sharapova despite drugs test ban

After receiving news on Wednesday of a two-year suspension from the International Tennis Federation for failing a drugs test at the 2016 Australian Open, Maria Sharapova had better news on Thursday with most of her major sponsors standing by the Russian. Nike released a statement reading that “The ITF Tribunal has found that Maria did not intentionally break its rules. Maria has always made her position clear, has apologized for her mistake and is now appealing the length of the ban.”

There is some Olympic standard track and field action on beIN SPORTS on Thursday with the Diamond League meet from Oslo. Thursday’s competition includes a huge pole vault tussle between reigning World Champion and fine Canadian, Shawn Barber, and Olympic Champion and world record holder Renaud Lavillenie. Coverage begins from 2PM ET.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.