And who is the Oscar-winning director who counts Kevin De Bruyne as a dream dinner guest?
All this, plus reaction to City’s 1-0 win over Bristol Women and Pep’s Champions League dream – welcome to Thursday’s Media Watch…
Transfer gossip
Birmingham Mail: City among top clubs circling Traore?
“Virtually every elite club in Europe is reportedly interested in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Adama Traore.
“The 24-year-old has come into his own under Nuno Espírito Santo at Molineux this season and is now one of the most feared players in the Premier League.
“His performances have attracted plenty of attention with his former club Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all linked with moves in the transfer market.
“Traore, who only cost £18million from Middlesbrough in 2018, is bound to command a colossal transfer fee with some reports even suggesting Wolves have slapped a £150m price tag on his head.
“Here we take a look at everything which has been said and reported about Traore’s future so far:
“Three Premier League clubs have been linked with Traore in the last few months, from champions elect Liverpool to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
“City boss Pep Guardiola is well aware of Traore from his time at Barcelona and has joined Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho in talking up the Wolves star.
“Said Guardiola: ‘He is a motorcycle! It’s almost impossible (to stop him). Nobody can handle this pace.’
Manager quotes
Goal.com: Pep’s Champions League dream
“Despite lagging behind Liverpool in the title race, Guardiola believes his team have played well this season and worked as hard as ever.
“He is now eyeing success in the Champions League, with the first leg of their last-16 tie with Real Madrid set to be played on February 26 at Santiago Bernabeu.
‘We played really well this season,’ he said. ‘In the games we lost we played really, really well, and the hunger is not the reason why [we lost].
‘We work harder than last season when we won all the domestic trophies in this country.
‘I want to win the Champions League. I dream and will enjoy preparing for the games against Madrid, to see what we can do.
‘This process, these two weeks, are the happiest moments of my profession — looking at what we can do to beat them.”
Match reaction
Sky Sports: City set new home wins record
“Manchester City broke the record for the most consecutive home wins in Women’s Super League history with a narrow 1-0 victory over struggling Bristol City in their first game since the departure of manager Nick Cushing.
“Gemma Bonner‘s left-footed shot after just two minutes earned City an 11th consecutive home win.
“Cushing departed to join MLS side New York City as an assistant after six years in charge, with Alan Mahon taking over on an interim basis.
“His reign got off to a perfect start as Caroline Weir picked out Bonner with a pinpoint free-kick following a foul on Demi Stokes by Bristol City’s Yana Daniels. Bonner guided the ball past Sophie Baggaley and into the back of the net from 10 yards out.
“The Robins stay bottom of the table with only one win in 13 games, while City remain just one point above second-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand at the top of the WSL table.
READ: Quickfire Bonner volley rocks Robins
And finally…
RT.com: Oscar-winning director names De Bruyne as one of his dream dinner guests
“South Korean movie supremo Bong Joon-ho, who scooped the Best Director Oscar for his film ‘Parasite’, revealed his bizarre side even further by naming Kevin De Bruyne as one of his dream dinner party guests.
“Parasite grabbed the Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards, making history as the first ever non-English-language film to win in that category, as well as bagging Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
“Before bagging his haul of movie gongs, Joon-ho revealed in a Reddit AMA - an interactive online Q&A - a surprising dinner guest for his dream line-up, alongside some familiar picks from the world of directing.
“The question, dated three months ago, read: What would be your last supper and which five people would you invite (dead or alive)?
‘[Alfred] Hitchcock, Yuna Kim, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Scorsese, and Jimmy Page, who was my hero in high school,’ the 50-year-old.
“And what would the eclectic mix of guests of a British horror filmmaker Hitchcock, gangster epic king Scorsese, Olympic gold medal skater Kim and Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page be tucking into?
‘We are eating Spanish cuisine. Lots of paella,’ Joon-ho elaborated.
“While it would be logical to guess Joon-ho is a City fan, it may be more reasonable to suggest he liked the idea of the Belgian midfield maestro being turned into his junior lookalike Kevin McCallister from the Home Alone franchise.”
We may not have heard the last of this…
