Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly claims black players in Serie A risk becoming ‘prisoners of minorities’ unless Italy starts kicking out racist fans.

Koulibaly has been subjected to racial abuse from Lazio and Inter supporters in recent seasons, and the Senegalese believes the time has come for authorities to finally get serious about fighting the problem.

“Why we can’t wait...” he told Corriere dello Sport, beginning with a famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote.

Populous, the firm behind Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, is the favourite to design the proposed new San Siro.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Populous is winning a two-horse race with Italo-American architects Manica-Progetto CMR.

Populous boasts over 35 years of experience and more than 3,000 projects, including Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Benfica’s Estadio da Luz.

Manica-Progetto CMR, meanwhile, conceived Cagliari’s new stadium – scheduled to open next year.

Former Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi believes Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are his spiritual heirs. “We have the duty to make the public enjoy football.”

Guardiola and Klopp have cited Sacchi as influences in the past, and the legendary Coach praised the Manchester City and Liverpool rivals for leading a ‘golden age’ in English football.

“Their football is similar to mine and I really appreciate their values, culture and mentality,” he told The Daily Mail.

Roma new boy Henrikh Mkhitaryan says he is braced for the pressures of playing for the Giallorossi.

Mkhitaryan was unveiled as a Roma player on Tuesday, the versatile attacker having arrived from Arsenal on a season-long loan.

“I am happy to be here,” began the 30-year-old.

“It has been a hard time [for me] before coming here and now I start a new adventure. I know where I am coming, I know what the team is playing for, what the goals are for this club and of course I will do my best to help achieve those goals.

Poland Under-21 defender Krystian Bielk has confirmed that Milan tried to sign him before he joined Derby County.

It was reported over the summer that Milan CEO Ivan Gazidis was hoping to use his Arsenal connections to land Bielik.

However, the versatile 21-year-old ended up moving to EFL Championship side Derby in a £7m (€7.8m) deal.

“I was hoping to get an opportunity with Unai Emery,” he told Sportowe Fakty.

England international Jesse Lingard reveals he “had to get” Marco Verratti’s jersey when playing Italy. “I always liked him.”

The midfielder went through a collection of shirts he swapped with various stars over the years as part of his YouTube channel content.

“I have always like Verratti as a player,” said Lingard. 

“I had to get his shirt. He has got that low centre of gravity and is hard to get the ball off - he's clever.”

Michael Owen has hit out at Fabio Capello for ‘causing catastrophic damage to both my career and English football in general.’

Owen scored 222 goals for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United and Manchester United, while netting 40 times in 89 games for England.

However, the one-time Ballon d’Or winner played just once for his country under Capello and retired aged just 33 after injuries plagued his final few seasons.

Juventus and Milan are reportedly among the sides interested in Arsenal and England Under-17 attacker Sam Greenwood.

According to The Sun, both clubs sent scouts to watch Greenwood in action at the European Under-17 Championship earlier in the summer.

Despite England’s elimination at the group stage, the 17-year-old bagged three goals for his country.

He is primarily a right winger, although he can also play as a centre-forward or a second striker.

Everton boss Marco Silva claims Moise Kean will only start once ‘he shows to me in training he’s ready and that he’s better than the others.’

Kean left Juventus for Everton on the proviso he would have more first-team opportunities, with the Toffees having lacked a regular goalscorer since Romelu Lukaku in 2017.

However, the 19-year-old has so far been limited to substitute appearances and was benched for the third game running against Aston Villa on Friday evening.

Lecce’s search for an experienced No 9 has reportedly taken them to Jackson Martinez and Guido Carrillo.

Lecce failed to bring in Burak Yilmaz, Kostas Mitroglou or Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Gianluca Di Marzio’s website writes they are now looking at the South American duo.

Martinez was once considered hot property in Europe after his haul of 94 goals in three seasons with Porto.