By Ian Mitchelmore and Gareth Vincent, BBC Wales

Southampton are close to announcing the appointment of Swansea City head coach Russell Martin as their new boss.

Saints have turned to Martin as they rebuild following Premier League relegation, with the 37-year-old set to replace Ruben Selles.

Former Scotland defender Martin will be joined at Southampton by some members of his Swansea backroom team.

Southampton will pay compensation for Martin and his staff, whose Swansea contracts run until 2024.

• More on this story here

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Southampton

Southampton Football Club can confirm that it has held conversations with men’s first team manager, Rubén Sellés, and decided that his contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the season.

The club wants to place on record its thanks to Rubén for taking on the managerial position at a difficult time for the club and for giving his all as we attempted to stay in the Premier League.

Rubén will take charge of the team for the final game against Liverpool on Sunday at St Mary’s. We wish him all the best for his future career.

Southampton

Southampton will not renew manager Ruben Selles' contract at end of the season.

More to follow.

BBC World Service

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Former Liverpool and Aston Villa goalkeeper Pepe Reina will play the 1,000th competitive game of his professional career today.

Reina, 40, will reach the impressive landmark playing for fifth-placed Villarreal in La Liga, when they take on Cadiz.

The Spaniard started the season as Villarreal's reserve keeper but is ending it as their first choice, and he has also played for Barcelona, Napoli, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Lazio over the course of his career.

Speaking on Sport Today on BBC World Service, he said: "I feel very thankful and very lucky because I love what I do. That's the only secret, dedication, being as professional as I can.

"I still have the feelings in your tummy before the games. That lovely fear of making mistakes still, feeling that responsibility. As a romantic football player (being at Villarreal) was the end I could only dream of. Living all those years away from Spain and coming back to the club that gave me the opportunity to grow as a player (after joining from Barcelona).

"It's a dream ending for me and my family because my wife also has a big family here and we are really at home. I want to keep going as long as they want me. As long as I am OK to be helpful with the team, I'll be around. The club knows.

"Whenever they decide I'm no longer any help for the club, on the field at least, I will hang up the gloves because (it's) clearly going to be my last club."

Image source, Huw Evans picture agency

Southampton are close to announcing the appointment of Swansea City head coach Russell Martin as their new boss.

Saints have turned to Martin as they rebuild following Premier League relegation, with the 37-year-old set to replace Ruben Selles.

Former Scotland defender Martin will be joined at Southampton by some members of his Swansea backroom team.

Southampton will pay compensation for Martin and his staff, whose Swansea contracts run until 2024.

Martin had been due to travel to the USA last week for talks about his future with Swansea's American ownership group, but the trip was called off.

He has said on a number of occasions he would be interested in extending his stay in Wales, but no new deal materialised.

Former Norwich City captain Martin signed a three-year contract when he left MK Dons to succeed Steve Cooper at Swansea in August 2021.

He led Swansea to 15th in his first year as a Championship boss and then 10th in the campaign which has just finished.

Image source, Getty Images

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi revealed centre-back Lewis Dunk has played through the pain barrier and has backed his captain for an England recall.

Seagulls centre-back Dunk has been ever-present in the Premier League this campaign but could begin on the bench against champions Manchester City tonight because of ongoing calf and back issues.

Albion boss De Zerbi admits the 31-year-old took time to adapt to his high-intensity, possession-based style of play after he replaced Graham Potter in September.

Yet the Italian says influential leader Dunk, who played for England in a 3-0 friendly win over the United States in 2018, has since cemented his status as a guaranteed starter and “deserves” another shot at international football.

“At first it was not so easy for him to understand my idea but he gave me total availability,” said De Zerbi.

“I would like him to be more open because he doesn’t speak a lot but he’s an example inside of the dressing room, inside of the pitch.

“He’s playing with a lot of problems because he has calf and back problems but he is playing every game. He deserves to play in the national team.

“It’s not my work to decide the players of the national team but for us it should be a target. I hope he can play in the national team.”

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26 March 2023

England maintained their winning start to Euro 2024 qualifying with a comfortable victory over Ukraine at Wembley.

England struggled to build any momentum until record scorer Harry Kane made it 55 international goals when he bundled in Bukayo Saka's cross at the far post eight minutes before half-time.

The second arrived three minutes later and was all Saka's own work, the Arsenal winger turning away from his man on the edge of the area and curling a superb effort beyond the reach of Anatoliy Trubin and into the top corner.

Leicester City's James Maddison made a good impression on his first England start while Brentford's Ivan Toney won his first cap as a late substitute, captain Kane making way once there was never any serious danger of a Ukrainian comeback.

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23 March 2023

Harry Kane became England's all-time record goalscorer as they opened their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a first away victory against Italy since 1961.

Kane beat Gianluigi Donnarumma from the penalty spot in the 44th minute to get his 54th goal for the Three Lions, overtaking previous record holder Wayne Rooney.

Declan Rice gave England an early lead when he scored from close range after Kane's shot was blocked before the captain put memories of his penalty miss against France in the World Cup quarter-final in Qatar aside with an emphatic spot-kick.

Italy, whistled off at half-time in their first international in Naples for a decade, improved as England became sloppy.

Debutant Mateo Retegui was the beneficiary of poor work from Harry Maguire, whose failed attempt to close down the danger on the edge of the box allowed the Italians to shift the ball to the 23-year-old to drill an unerring finish past Jordan Pickford after 56 minutes.

England's drop in performance was compounded by Luke Shaw's second yellow card with 10 minutes left but they hung on for a vital win.

It has been a perfect start for England in their campaign to qualify for Euro 2024 in Germany with two wins from their first two games.

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Let us know your thoughts on the players Gareth Southgate should be including when he names his England squad at 14:00 BST.

Who should be in and who should be out and why? Feel free to tell us by the means above.

With England's squad being announced this afternoon for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, let's take a look at those who were selected last time out by Gareth Southgate.

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale.

Defenders: Ben Chilwell, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Maddison, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice.

Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney.

Who will make it this time round?

Alex Howell
Football reporter

As always with an England squad there are a number of big talking points surrounding players who could feature.

In the last few years there may not have been a player's role more talked about than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. Gareth Southgate has preferred Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James in recent squads and their defensive qualities and experience have seen them excel and be praised by Southgate.

Alexander-Arnold was not in the last squad for the matches against Italy and Ukraine and Southgate said he didn’t want to call up players who may not play a lot of games.

The England manager played Alexander-Arnold in midfield against Andorra in 2021 but he has not featured there for his country since. However, at club level he has been playing a role which sees him play as a midfielder so that could be a way for him to get back into this England side.

At 14:00 BST England manager Gareth Southgate names his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers in Malta on 16 June and at home to North Macedonia in Manchester on 19 June, with England top of Group C.

Over the next couple of hours we will have a look at some of those that could be in or out for the Three Lions.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

It will be interesting to see whether there is any clarity around Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui today.

Last week Lopetegui said he was told of Financial Fair Play issues that could hinder planned summer recruitment, without which he feels it would be very difficult to compete in the Premier League.

In addition, my understanding is club officials would be surprised if rival suitors weren't looking at Lopetegui given his background and the job he did in keeping Wolves up this season - an achievement that has gone unnoticed, it has been felt.

Wolves fans are concerned about the prospect of Lopetegui leaving but the FFP issue is real.

Premier League rules mean clubs can only rack up losses of £105m over a three-year period - and in their last financial results, Wolves posted a £46.1m loss.

This season, they signed 10 senior players, plus two on loan and the only departures for significant fees were Morgan Gibbs-White, Leander Dendoncker and Ruben Vinagre - suggesting another hefty loss in their next accounts.

That will restrict what Wolves are allowed to spend this summer without selling some of their star names.

Who is the most influential manager from the last 20 years? Have your say.

Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville demands "respect" from a reporter who interrupted him during his media conference following a 3-1 defeat by Orlando City.

The Premier League has confirmed the opening and closing dates for the Summer 2023 and Winter 2024 transfer windows:

Summer 2023 Transfer Window: Wednesday 14 June - Friday 1 September 2023, 11pm.

Winter 2024 Transfer Window: Monday 1 January – Thursday 1 February 2024, 11pm.

We are sure to see plenty of incomings and outgoings expected across all 20 clubs who will play in the top-flight next term.

We'd like to know your picks for the most influential managers of the last 20 years - send us your suggestions.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester United go into their penultimate game of the season against Chelsea tomorrow still needing a point to secure a place in next season's Champions League.

I am sure manager Erik ten Hag will want the issue to be wrapped up against Frank Lampard's side, who have been absolutely awful since Graham Potter was sacked at the beginning of last month.

Ten Hag is due to speak to the media shortly.

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