Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas says he will never manage in the Premier League again after his stints at Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane.

The former Tottenham and Chelsea manager doesn’t think the English top-flight suits his philosophy or style of football.

The 42-year-old, who is now in charge of French outfit Marseille, spent nine months at Stamford Bridge before being sacked in March 2012 with the Blues lying fifth in the table.

He went on to coach Tottenham, and, despite being hampered by a lack of his transfer targets in his first summer, in 2012, guided the White Hart Lane club to their then-best Premier League points tally.

Villas-Boas missed out on the top four on the final day of the season even with a new club record of 72 points.

He, however, eventually struggled to maintain the push at White Hart Lane as his second campaign was a poor one, and the club relieved him of his duties in December.

“I will not go back there. It is the championship with the most investment, the best players and teams,” Villas-Boas told Portuguese radio station Radio Renascenca.

“But, I like being in a league that includes different game philosophy. This is not the case in England.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @ Olympique de Marseille

UEFA has released €236.5m to its 55 member associations meet the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic in their respective countries..

The funds come from UEFA’s HatTrick assistance programme, set up in 2004 with the aim of supporting European football development.

The HatTrick funding is usually distributed to the national associations to cover running costs and to help develop specific and targeted areas of domestic football.

However, UEFA has decided to allow each association to set its own priorities in light of the negative impact of the coronavirus on football at all levels.

“Our sport is facing an unprecedented challenge brought about by the COVID-19 crisis,” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement.

“UEFA wants to help its members to respond in ways that are appropriate to their specific circumstances.

“As a result, we have agreed that up to €4.3m per association, paid for the remainder of this season and next, as well as part of the investment funding, can be used as our members see fit to rebuild the football community.

“I believe this is a responsible decision to help as much as we can; and I am proud of the unity that football is showing throughout this crisis.

“Without doubt, football will be at the heart of life returning to normal. When that time comes, football must be ready to answer that call.”

There are reports Chelsea have no “imminent” plans to sign Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho as they turn their attention to Manchester United traget Kai Havertz.

The 20-year-old winger is considered one of the hottest young prospects in Germany and is said to be interesting a number of elite teams.

The Blues are clearly keen to add some more creativity to their squad and have already spent £33m on the acquisition of Ajax star Hakim Ziyech.

Barcelona would be prepared to accept a significant loss on Coutinho with a fee between £50m-£70million reported to be enough to seal his signature.

But The Athletic points out that cost would still put Chelsea off as they’re not prepared to pay close to a club-record fee.

Instead, it is said Chelsea are far more interested in going after the highly-rated Kai Havertz, who they have been scouting on a regular basis.

Havertz, who came through the academy at Leverkusen, has scored six goals and created five assists in the Bundesliga this season, while he has also impressed in the Europa League, with three goals and two assists in just three games.

Photo Credit: Twitter @ Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour has identified the advice given to him by the club’s manager Frank Lampard and his assistant Jody Morris as the reason for breaking into the the Blues first team.

The 18-year-old has joined several Blues academy graduates in forcing their way into the first team during Lampard’s reign at Stamford Bridge, most notably starring against Liverpool with a man-of-the-match performance.

Gilmour excelled once again when making his full Premier League debut in the 4-0 win against Everton, earning rave reviews from Manchester United legend Roy Keane, and the Scot has been tipped for a bright future at Stamford Bridge.

But the youngster admitted he thought he would be spending the season out on loan to gain some first-team experience and thanked Lampard for showing faith in his ability, report the Evening Standard.

“I went on pre-season with the first team and did well,” he told the club’s official website.

“I thought when we came back I’d be going on loan but the gaffer and Jody spoke to me and said they thought it was best for me to stay, play games with the Under-23s and train with the first team a lot more.

“I was happy with that, especially the chance to get more opportunities to train with the first team and express myself and show them what I’m about.”

Photo Credit: premierleague.com