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New Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal has instructed the club to pursue alternative targets after giving up on the signing of Toni Kroos. With contract negotiations between Kroos and current club Bayern Munich stalling it appeared that the German champions could be persuaded to do a deal on the 24 year old German international. Many newspapers were reporting that the deal was all but done, until the Metro reported that Louis Van Gall had cancelled the deal. The reasons for the decision are unclear. Perhaps Van Gaal didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of last summer where Man Utd embarked upon fruitless pursuits of players like Cesc Fabregas before ending up with a deadline day purchase of Marouane Fellaini for £4 million more than they would have paid two weeks earlier. Maybe the newspaper reports indicating United had all but sealed a deal for Kroos were inaccurate, and instead the Bayern Munich midfielder will eventually sign a new deal with the 2012-2013 Champion...

© Getty Images Chelsea assistant manager Rui Faria has had the punishment for his aggressive touchline behaviour reduced by the Football Association following an appeal. Jose Mourinho 's right-hand man was issued with a six-match stadium ban after being charged with two counts of improper conduct. The English governing body took action after Faria angrily confronted the match officials during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Sunderland on April 19. It has now been confirmed that the coach's appeal has been partly upheld, meaning that Faria will serve a four-match stadium ban with two games suspended. The assistant boss will miss the first two games of the 2014-15 campaign after being absent for the last two games of the recent season.