Zinedine Zidane is interested becoming manager of Chelsea, providing the club can give him certain assurances.

Current manager Maurizio Sarri is under mounting pressure after what has been a difficult season and Zidane is keen to talk to the club about coming in to replace him, according to The Sun.

However, the former Real Madrid boss would need the Blues to guarantee that star man Eden Hazard stays at the club.

Zinedine Zidane wants the Chelsea job, providing the club can give him certain assurances

Zidane would need the Blues to guarantee that star man Eden Hazard stays at the club

Zidane would also need a transfer kitty in the region of £200m to improve the squad as well as being granted a major say in recruitment alongside Marina Granovskaia. 

Sources close to the Frenchman say he is not expecting to be given the job with Sarri’s future still very much in his own hands.

If Sarri fails to make the top four and ends the season trophy-less then it is highly likely that he will be shown the door.

And Chelsea’s top brass will make Zidane, who won the last three Champions Leagues, their main target if that is what materialises. 

Current manager Maurizio Sarri is under mounting pressure after a difficult season

The good news for Rory McIlroy at the end of a tortuous Genesis Open was a third straight top five finish from three starts this season. The bad was that this was another inviting opportunity to end his 11-month victory drought that was not accepted.

McIlroy had a stroke of luck at the 16th hole during the final round on Sunday when he held a bunker shot for an unlikely birdie two. With the par five 17th and the 18th playing downwind, he was fully aware that a 4,4 finish would pile the pressure on JB Holmes and Justin Thomas playing behind. But he finished 5,5 instead to let them off the hook.

‘I took a peek at the leaderboard after the 16th and knew I was in a position to at least give them something to think about,’ said the Northern Irishman. ‘But the wind fooled me at the 18th and so I came up short. It was definitely a chance to win but it was a week when I didn’t quite have my best stuff, and so another top five feels like a step in the right direction.’

JB Holmes reeled in Justin Thomas with a fourth-round 70 to win the Genesis Open

Rory McIlroy made a late challenge but fell away on the last two holes

Any disappointment McIlroy felt deep down would have been miniscule in comparison to Thomas, who squandered a four-shot lead to open the door for his fellow American, Holmes.

No wonder they say slow and steady wins the race. The 36-year-old Holmes was steadiness personified to prevail against such stellar competition but his frightful pace of play sucked much of the joy out of the proceedings. The final round took five and a half hours to complete and it’s a mystery that the other, more famous Holmes would struggle to solve as to why on earth the PGA Tour continue to do nothing to improve the pace of play.

Holmes looked as if he’d blown it when he three putted from no more than 3ft at the par five 11th, but he gathered himself to hold off Thomas down the stretch. He finished with a final round 70 for a one shot victory over Thomas, with third place going to Korean Si Woo Kim, who shot a miraculous 66. McIlroy finished a further shot adrift and a tie for fourth place with Australian Marc Leishman.

Justin Thomas saw his four-shot overnight lead slip away in Los Angeles

So another year came and went without the tournament host Tiger Woods winning the biggest event in the game still missing from his incredible c.v. The 43-year-old spilled shots late on and acknowledged he got tired as the conditions deteriorated at the end of an intense three days and it became, in his words, a ‘war of attrition.’

But there was a golden spell in the middle of the event where he played 26 holes in ten under par and included a third round 65 that was his best score at Riviera for 15 years. Sir Nick Faldo was impressed enough to predict some fireworks from Woods this summer.

‘I think he is swinging the club as well as I have ever seen him,’ enthused the six-time major winner.

Anthony Joshua has released a compelling behind-the-scenes video which reveals his challenging preparation the fight with Alexander Povetkin in September 2018.

Joshua posted the video titled ‘The Life Is Chose And I Live For It’ on his YouTube channel on Sunday, including footage of the boxer fighting flu, playing football and hitting the pads with trainer Robert McCracken. 

‘This has been a 10-year project. It’s still not the finished article, because where we’re trying to go is the unknown and see how far we can take it. We’re trying to conquer new territory now,’ said Joshua.

Anthony has released a compelling behind-the-scenes video on his YouTube channel

Joshua struggled with the flu in the lead up to his Wembley bout with Alexander Povetkin

‘I had my pre-fight nap and normally I wake up feeling 10 (out of) 10. This time I woke up feeling seven (out of) 10’ added Joshua, who was fighting the flu in the build up to the Povetkin bout.

‘I tried to sleep on my way to the arena, and I had this different aura about me this training week where I just felt like I needed to be left alone, because I was in my own thoughts.’

The video also shows former five-weight world champion Sugar Ray Leonard interviewing the Brit in the Wembley dressing room before the fight.   

Joshua spends time with friends in the lead up to the fight with fellow Olympian Povetkin

The heavyweight champion jokes around in the kitchen with members of his entourage 

The then-28-year-old’s anxiety is evident in the build-up to the fight, and Joshua looks liberated after stopping the Russian in the seventh round. 

‘All I thought to myself was “What happens if I lose?”‘ 

‘The worst feeling. I’m ill, my back, my hip, my elbow. I was thinking “What are these signs?” and “Should I have taken this fight?”‘

‘If I can get through this fight and beat someone at my worst, it shows I’ve got what it takes to be on top.’

Joshua will defend his IBO, IBF, WBO and WBA titles against undefeated Brooklynite Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller at Madison Square Garden on July 1. 

France‘s Gael Monfils overcame a determined Stan Wawrinka to win the Rotterdam Open 6-3 1-6 6-2 on Saturday, lifting his first title since January 2018.

In the first Rotterdam final between two unseeded players since 2008, Monfils raced past his Swiss opponent to convert two break points on his way to sealing the opening set in 36 minutes.

Three-times Grand Slam champion Wawrinka, who was playing his first final since undergoing two knee surgeries in 2017, fought back to clinch the second set but struggled to keep up with Monfils in longer rallies during the decider.

France’s Gael Monfils overcame a determined Stan Wawrinka to win the Rotterdam Open

Despite winning his opening game to love, Wawrinka was broken by Monfils in the third game, while the Frenchman also maintained his service rhythm to dictate play in the final set.

Monfils, the 2016 Rotterdam runner-up, converted another breakpoint to go 5-2 ahead before he served out the match for his eighth career ATP title.

World number 33 Monfils, who reached the Sofia Open semi-finals last week, credited his practice partner Wawrinka for his resurgence, having lost just twice in 11 matches this season.

‘You know this win is part of him,’ said Monfils, who last won an ATP title at the 2018 Qatar Open.

‘We’ve been practising a lot, we’ve been talking a lot… Sorry I beat you in the final. I hope we can have many more battles.’

Stan Wawrinka was playing his first final since undergoing two knee surgeries in 2017

A Serie C side were thrashed 20-0 on Sunday after being forced to field seven teenagers because of fear they would be kicked out the league.  

Pro Piacenza, who were thrashed 20-0 by Cuneo and were 16-0 down at half-time, have forfeited three matches already this season.  

They had to field a minimum of seven players or they would have been expelled from Serie C.

A Serie C side were thrashed 20-0 on Sunday after being forced to field seven teenagers

Pro Piacenza were thrashed 20-0 by Cuneo and were 16-0 down at half-time in Serie C

They had to field a minimum of seven players or they would have been expelled from Serie C

All the players were aged between 16 and 19 with captain Nicola Cirigliano listed as the coach. 

Pro Piacenza are in serious financial trouble and have lost all their players but Cuneo did not show any mercy.

Cuneo had only scored 18 goals in 24 matches before the game while Pro Piacenza have already been deducted eight points this campaign.

Edoardo Defendi scored five for the hosts while Hicham Kanis scored a double hat-trick. 

Michele Emmausso and Francesco De Stefano also padded out their goal tallies with a hat-trick each. 

Sunday’s defeat was branded a ‘farce’ by local newspaper Sport Piacenza, who stopped their live coverage at half-time with the score at 16-0.