According to The Times, contingency plans to bring the beautiful game back to life is becoming a reality, with government ministers recognising that an injection of positivity and hope is sorely needed.

City Football Group (CFG) have been in negotiations with the Ligue 2 outfit about becoming the organisation's ninth team but the Coronavirus pandemic has put talks on ice.

White has enjoyed a brilliant season on loan at Championship side Leeds and his form has caught the eye of three Premier League giants, according to The Athletic.

Manchester United and Manchester City have been forced to shelve plans for pre-season tours with European competitions set to re-start in August.

Arsenal mounted a legitimate title challenge in the 2010-11 season but top stars Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie then left in the space of a year.

Mario Balotelli (left) gave a rare interview and opened up on how a deal to take him to Turin to play for Juventus after Manchester City collapsed as he chose not to ignore an offer from his boyhood AC Milan.

Shaun Wright-Phillips has admitted he planned to spend his whole career at Manchester City before he was caught off guard in being sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2005.

Guardiola is still on the lookout for a new assistant to replace Mikel Arteta, who left to become Arsenal head coach in December last year, with Alonso a leading candidate for the position.

The Brazil international's current contract is set to run until the summer of 2021, and another one year deal would take him to the age of 37. Fernandinho has been at City since 2013. 

The 16-year-old is viewed as one of the best youngsters in Scotland and City, among other Premier League's leading teams, including Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, are keen.

As doubts grow about the viability of playing out the rest of the Premier League season, a number of methods have been mooted to complete the campaign. L'Equipe proposed their own.

Sane was heavily linked with a move to the German giants last summer only for the 24-year-old to pick up a near-season ending cruciate ligament injury in August's Community Shield.

The Manchester City striker admitted health concerns are at the forefront of minds among squads set to restart training next month despite the death toll from coronavirus staying high.

INTERVIEW BY PETE JENSON: As Pablo Mari clocked up miles on the stationary bike in his back garden during 47 days of lockdown, he never let the situation get to him.

Jamie Carragher believes that even Liverpool's heroics this season would not match Leicester's remarkable Premier League title win in 2016 under Claudio Ranieri.

The Argentine's contract at the Etihad Stadium runs until June next year having signed a one-year extension in 2018, but it means he is close to entering the final 12 months of his deal.

Kevin De Bruyne remains confident that Manchester City will overturn their two-year Champions League ban but says if they don't he will have to consider his future and 'make a final decision' .

The Manchester City forward, who would become Puma's highest-paid footballer should the deal go through, is also being pursued by rivals Adidas, New Balance and Under Armour.

This year Dortmund face another battle to cling onto Jadon Sancho, amid interest from Premier League sides, but how have past players from the German side fared in the English top flight?

It is sad that one of the Premier League's modern greats may leave our game this summer with the same lack of fanfare that greeted his arrival almost 10 years ago.

EXCLUSIVE: Etihad has a large cargo operation, but has been forced to repurpose 22 of its passenger planes as freighters during the coronavirus pandemic, including the Man City jet.

CRAIG HOPE: There are more questions than answers right now when it comes to determining if and when Premier League football will return. Here, Sportsmail looks at some of the key talking points.

Premier League clubs were due to to reconvene on Friday to vote on plans to revive the season. However, they will now wait until Boris Johnson reveals the next phase of the UK's lockdown to meet

The midfielder, who will be 29 next month, admitted at the weekend that he might have to consider his future if City's two-year Champions League ban is upheld.

Top-flight officials are considering a number of measures to improve the safety of players and staff amid the coronavirus crisis, including neutral venues and extra substitutes in every game.

Manchester City will face a High Court trial over damages claims from eight men who were sexually abused by paedophile football coach Barry Bennell.

Both Premier League clubs have watched 17-year-old KV Mechelen midfielder in this season. Vranckx caught the eye when he scored the first and set up the second in a 2-0 win over Anderlecht. 

The winger has been a long-term target for the German giants and they were keen to bring him to the Allianz Arena last summer only for him to suffer a horror injury in the Community Shield.

Reports in Argentina have claimed that Martinez, who has been capped by Argentina and has made 64 appearances for River since his debut in 2016, is a target for City manager Pep Guardiola.

Sane has one year remaining on his deal with the Premier League champions, who grew increasingly exasperated with what they deemed unscrupulous tactics by Bayern last summer.

He's already broken the 20-goal mark for the third consecutive campaign but that is not enough these days. Scoring every other game is not deemed prolific enough and Sterling wants more.

EXCLUSIVE BY JACK GAUGHAN: Marsh was up at 3am on Sunday, busy juggling Tupperware. The Premier League needs feeding and a fair number of its big names are relying on the personal chef.

Kamara has been one of Marseille's stars under Andre Villas-Boas, with the French side emerging as best of the rest in France behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

City Football Group, who are majority owned by Abu Dhabi United and have involvement from China Media Capital, CITIC Capital and Silver Lake, will wipe out Lommel's debts of £1.75million.

The Sun reported that the 29-year-old had flouted Government guidelines just weeks after he apologised for holding a sex party with two escorts. Walker released a statement on social media.

Jurgen Klopp's starting XI in Liverpool's last nine games could be the deciding factor in the Premier League European qualification and relegation battles this season, a club executive claims.  

Walker was spotted travelling from Cheshire to Yorkshire, where his sister was celebrating her birthday, before then briefly moving on to his parents' house nearby.

EXCLUSIVE BY MIKE KEEGAN: Users were directed to bogus stories which reported persistent slurs against the Premier League champions.

Manchester City's partnership with the NHS is facilitating 1,000 coronavirus tests a day at the Etihad Stadium. The Premier League side have been praised for opening their doors to the NHS.

MATT HUGHES - AHEAD OF THE GAME: The Premier League may let TV cameras into dressing rooms and allow broadcasters to conduct interviews at halftime if the season is resumed.

The 34-year-old, who made his debut for Derby this week, has described how he was 'sucked in' by initial success with gambling before ending up losing money and then 'chasing his bets'

Wayne Rooney is determined to remind his old England coach Roy Hodgson that he can still cut it at the top. The 34-year-old wants to play in Sunday's FA Cup tie away to Crystal Palace.

Roy Hodgson was not surprised to see the pitchside monitor used during their 1-0 defeat to Derby in the FA Cup but is unsure if he wants it to become a regular occurrence.

David Alaba, Christian Eriksen and Wilfried Zaha are just some of the names who could be on the move this January as clubs look to do the business to strengthen their ranks.

It's still just Liverpool as the only Premier League side to have completed a major signing in January so far, but clubs up and down the country continue to hunt down their mid-season targets. 

After their humiliation at the hands of Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, Manchester United are among the teams actively looking to improve their side in January. Follow our live transfer blog here.

Arsenal and Chelsea fans face a travel nightmare after their FA Cup fourth round ties later this month were moved for live television coverage.

Following the long-term lay-offs of Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko, Tottenham are scouring the market for replacements before the window closes. Follow our live transfer blog here.

Chelsea youngster Tariq Uwakwe is set for an 18 month loan switch, with Hull and Swansea in the running for his signature. The 20-year-old is being tipped for big things at Stamford Bridge.

It's day 14 of the transfer window with clubs across Europe battling it out for their mid-season targets before the end of the month. Follow Sportsmail's live transfer blog for all the latest news.