THIS. IS. BRILLIANT.

Talking of exciting signings and deals, what about this one...

According to an article in German sports magazine Kicker,, external Lukas Podolski is going to turn out for ice hockey side Kolner Haie in the German first division next term.

The former Germany striker/winger is currently still under contract with Turkish side Antalyaspor, so just how that is going to work is still to be seen.

Pretty good news eh Manchester City fans.

Keeping hold of the man who has helped the club to two Premier League titles and a domestic treble in 2019, can't be bad.

I wonder if some unfinished business in the Champions League, was in part, a motivating factor?

City are yet to go past the quarter-finals under Guardiola but they seem as well-equipped as anyone to challenge for the trophy this term and beyond.

Image source, Getty Images

Pep Guardiola has agreed a new two-year deal with Manchester City, which will keep him at the club until 2023.

The 49-year-old's present contract was due to expire with the Premier League club at the end of this season.

The former Barcelona coach has previously indicated he was open to remaining with the Blues, although would only do so if it was what the club wanted.

The current upheaval at Barcelona led to suggestions he may return to the club he won the Champions League with as a player and a manager.

However, he has rejected that notion and it is thought he spoke to City officials during the international break and told them of his desire to stay.

The financial support package outlined does not cover men's professional football, despite the well-documented financial difficulties of EFL clubs.

That is because the Government expects the Premier League to provide financial support.

English Football League clubs have "agreed in principle" for clubs in League One and Two to receive a £50m short-term rescue package from the Premier League with negotiations ongoing.

Bit more meat on the bone to that last post...

Football's National League at steps one and two - which has already benefited from £10m in National Lottery funding to assist through to the end of 2020 - will receive a further £11m to cover the period between January and the end of March.

Steps three to six of the English football pyramid will receive £14m, while the Women's Super League and Championship have been awarded £3m.

The full story on that is being constructed here.

Some good news for football....

The Government will provide a combined £300m cash injection to 11 sports hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has announced.

Major spectator sports have suffered as a result of the continued absence of fans from venues and after pledging its support, the Government has now outlined the scope of the support it will provide.

The support will largely be in the form of loans.

West Bromwich Albion

More from West Brom manager Slaven Bilic: "The club has done great. We want to influence the situation as much as we can. We are in constant talks with authorities. We are doing our best. We had a few cases.

"The players, the staff also. They have been away for 10 days. We are doing everything we can. We are waiting for results. We had enough players to train. The quality was good. That gives me a big hope for the games.

"We are still waiting for a couple of guys. I will have to count them tomorrow for the game but it looks good.

"Every squad will be affected if you lose players, especially if they are key. That happened against Spurs. Despite that we managed to play a really good game. We have a job to do and have enough to have a good game."

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom were narrowly beaten by Tottenham in their last Premier League outing, with Harry Kane's late goal the difference between the sides.

And manager Slaven Bilic says that now has to be the "standard" they work to even if he faces other new daily challenges.

"You have issues every day especially in this kind of a league," he said.

"You are not only a football coach, players, medical staff, you have corona things this season. It is a tough job but we are privileged to be in this position and it is fun.

"It has been a difficult season for us so far but we are a really strong group and I am proud of that. It is hard but the mood doesn’t just depend on the result, that gives you a good platform to hope and expect you can get points and results. Without that you have no chance."

West Bromwich Albion

The West Brom manager Slaven Bilic has also been talking about dementia.

Previous research has shown that ex-footballers are three and a half times more likely to die of dementia than the general population and former England international and Baggies legend Jeff Astle developed dementia and died in 2002 at the age of 59.

"It is very important," Bilic said.

"We are connected with Jeff Astle. His family has done a brilliant job with foundation. The PFA has to do something, how I don’t know.

"The players need to be properly looked after. This is even more important than a few more substitutes."

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom manager Slaven Bilic also said he had been part of a Premier League manager’s meeting on Wednesday that spent a long time discussing whether to return to five substitutes.

And he is mindful that decisions should be made with player welfare in mind.

“It would benefit every club in sense of player welfare given the schedule, especially for clubs in Europe. It is hard and difficult," he said.

“We spoke about it yesterday for two or three hours. The break wasn’t long enough and welfare is the most important thing. The Premier League has to decide.”

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic says a number of his players tested positive for Covid-19 during the international break.

Bilic lost Branislav Ivanovic and Matheus Pereira for the 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on 8 November after they supplied positive in the build-up to the game. Striker Callum Robinson also tested positive after going on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

All three are clear to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday – but Bilic says he is still waiting on other members of his squad and has moved his side’s training schedule to allow time for the results to come in.

“We had a few players positive but I can’t say the names. We are doing everything we can. We are waiting for results.”

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom travel to Old Trafford on Saturday chasing their first win of the season and looking for a repeat of their 1-0 victory over Manchester United in April 2018.

United who are 14th, have already lost three of their seven games in an underwhelming start to the campaign, however West Brom boss Slaven Bilic is still wary of what they are capable of.

"They are still Man Utd," he said.

"They didn’t start season the way they wanted, especially at home but they beat Leipzig 5-0. Great squad with great individuals. We will have to be on top of our game.

"They are looking for first win at home. I have a good record with West Ham there. Every game is difficult. If it is Man Utd away, their roster is massive. We have to do what we did against Spurs. Make it hard for them."

West Bromwich Albion

Now Villa Park and West Bromwich may not be that far apart geographically but it's fair to say that Baggies boss Slaven Bilic does not agree with Dean Smith on the five-sub situation.

We'll have more on that to follow.

West Bromwich Albion

Aston Villa

More from the Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "Jack [Grealish] is at the top of his game and I’m really pleased for him and proud of him. I’m pleased for him more than anything because he’s worked extremely hard and he continues to do so.

"I think anybody at Aston Villa would have more of a biased opinion and say he’s been performing like that for a while.

"I actually didn’t watch England vs the Republic of Ireland because one of our other players had a bigger game in the Euro play-offs, John McGinn against Serbia. I watched that game and saw them go to penalties.

"A big shout out and congratulations to Steve Clarke and Scotland for getting through to the Euros."

Aston Villa

The issue of player welfare and the number of substitutions that teams can make in the top flight has been raised on several occasions in recent weeks.

Prior to the international break, the likes of Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp had backed the reintroduction of five substitutions in the Premier League.

So unsurprisingly Aston Villa manager Dean Smith was asked for his take on the situation.

"We had a meeting yesterday and we spoke at length about each manager’s individual feelings. I can only go from my football club, and if player welfare becomes an issue then it’s a no-brainer and you have to increase substitutions or look at the fixture scheduling.

"At the moment, I’m not seeing any trends from my players that suggest player welfare is an issue.

"I speak to my players all the time – I want the best for them and I want to look after them. That’s what we’re doing."

Aston Villa

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa are currently sixth in the Premier League, three points behind leaders Leicester but with a game in hand.

However, despite their promising start manager Dean Smith says he will not be taking a fixture against a Brighton side that has just six points from their opening eight games.

"I’m expecting a really tough game because I’ve watched a lot of their games, looked at a lot of their stats and they’re in the top half for a lot of those stats," Smith said.

"They haven’t got the wins they would have expected with those stats.

"They’re a modern-day football team in terms of playing through the thirds. They have some very good players and we’ll certainly have to be at our best.

"We need to go and get a result at Villa Park because our last two results there haven’t been good. We’re coming up against a really good footballing team.

Aston Villa

Now here comes Aston Villa manager Dean Smith who has been doing his virtual press duties from the club's Bodymoor Heath training complex.

He kicked off with a bit of team news: "Tom Heaton has played some minutes now. He played against Burnley Under-23s and he played an in-house game that we had last week.

"He needs a few more minutes but he’s training with the first team every day. Wesley is a bit behind but he’s starting to do some ball work and build up his strength.

"We’re trying to get him up to speed so that he can join in. Bjorn Engels has a thigh injury and he’s not trained with us yet, nor has Fred Guilbert who has a side strain. Kortney Hause should start back training today."