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Southampton have confirmed they have "reluctantly agreed" to allow director of football Jason Wilcox to depart and join Manchester United.

Wilcox has long been linked with a role at Old Trafford, since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos secured a minority takeover at the Manchester club in December 2023.

Southampton will receive a compensation fee.

"Whilst the club is naturally disappointed that Jason’s stay at Southampton has only lasted nine months, it wishes him well for the future," said Southampton in a statement.

"The club will continue to work closely with Russell Martin and his back-room team to ensure they have all the support they require moving forwards."

Manchester United said Wilcox "will work with all technical areas of the football department to achieve the highest standards of performance".

Darren Fletcher will remain at Manchester United as part of the football leadership team working across the men’s first team and academy.

Wilcox will report to the yet-to-be appointed sporting director, who will have overall responsibility for football performance, recruitment and operations.

Dan Ashworth is earmarked for that role, although as yet, no compensation deal has been agreed with Newcastle for his services.

Sunday presents a massive day out at Wembley and it is by far the biggest game this weekend as far as I’m concerned.

All eyes are on Erik ten Hag with the uncertainty surrounding his future, but the manager deserves credit if he can lead Manchester United to a third final in his first two seasons.

Expectations are high at a club like United and some forget – after watching us overachieve last season – that Ten Hag’s job is an extremely difficult one and bumps were inevitable on this journey.

The lack of consistency shown by United means we are not going to become Premier League winners anytime soon, so after slipping in the race for a top-four finish, Ten Hag’s biggest challenge is to prove that, at the very least, we are a cup team. A team that, on their day, can beat anyone, which has rarely been the case in the Dutchman’s second campaign.

It would be a huge mistake to underestimate a side like Coventry City, especially when the FA Cup is United’s last chance to salvage something this season. Mark Robins, who needs no introduction here, possesses a team with enough firepower to cause problems to a depleted defence.

We’re on a march with Ten Hag’s army - we’re all going to Wembley.

Dale O'Donnell can be found at Stretty News, external

Remember when England was in a great position to secure a fifth place in the Champions League next season?

That possibility suffered a significant blow this week with clubs from the country exiting a host of European competitions. Their exits damaged the points tally England had amassed in Uefa's co-efficient rankings.

As a result, there is now a 1.1% chance that a fifth-qualifying place materialises.

Watch BBC Sport's Ben Croucher explain more in our clip.

Pep Guardiola has spoken to the media before Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• On facing in-form former City forward Cole Palmer: "He's an exceptional player. I said many times, I didn't give him the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely. He's a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said stay. He said he wanted to leave. What could we do?"

• On the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid: "Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will better than today. We don't want to feel sorry for ourselves. We performed at our best but were not able to win. Do you know which team we were facing? Did you expect they wouldn't have the ball or create opportunities? And think we were going to win another Treble? And next season another Treble? And win the Premier League by 20 points? It's not true."

• On the fitness of Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland: "Kevin feels well. Erling we will see. Erling felt a muscular issue and that's why he said he could not continue. Kevin felt exhausted and after what happened with injury for five months, that is normal."

• On scrapping FA Cup replays: "You (media) know better than me the reason why it was created. It's for the lower-division sides to have the chance to have big clubs and get money for them. In that sense, it is a problem. For big clubs playing in European competitions, it is much better because we have a tight schedule. To find a balance in world football is so difficult. I understand why clubs in lower divisions complain and it has been a tradition for many years but with the schedule that we have playing in European competition and with many players going to the national team, it is much better."

Would defeat to Coventry City in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final usher in the end of Erik ten Hag's time at Manchester United.

"I think they need a fresh start," says former Premier League midfielder Michael Brown.

"It just needs the change. Whoever it is, they need to find that answer."

Watch the clip above or take in The Football News Show in full here.

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Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger says the club should take inspiration from rivals Liverpool for their recruitment strategy.

In a recent interview with former United defender Gary Neville on 'The Overlap, external', Schweinsteiger highlighted the club's recent failings in the transfer market.

"Sometimes you spend the money completely wrong. You have to adapt to how football is changing or not changing." Schweinsteiger said. "The easiest example that United should have learned from is 45 miles away in Liverpool.

"What did Klopp do. Did he sign a lot of huge money transfers? Look at where he got Robertson. It's the same as what he did at Borussia Dortmund. He found [Robert] Lewandowski, [Mario] Gotze, [Ilkay] Gundogan - all of those players.

"You just have to look 45 miles aside and see how they do it. It's stable, it's up there and it doesn't have a wave like United does."

The German also spoke to Nevile about the squad he played with at Old Trafford, beleiving they had the potential to compete for the major trophies.

"I call Paul Pogba one of the best midfielders I've played with." Scweinsteiger told Gary Neville on the Overlap. "I enjoyed playing with him so much. Him, Zlatan [Ibrahamovic] and Wayne [Rooney] - that was so nice.

"We had the right pieces. It was actually all there but you just needed to put the puzzle together.

On what team he would have picked to ensure success, Schweinsteiger said: "David De Gea, Valencia, Luke Shaw. The backline was not that important. You could play with Smalling, Jones or Rojo.

"A midfield of Pogba, Schweinsteiger, maybe Carrick. Up front Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Rashford. That's enough. 100 per cent."

Erik ten Hag has been speaking to the media before Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final with Coventry at Wembley on Sunday.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• In response to Alejandro Garnacho 'liking' two well-read social media posts that were critical of Ten Hag around last Saturday's draw at Bournemouth: "Alejandro is a young player. He has a lot to learn. He apologised for it and we move on."

• The latest on Jadon Sancho, who has reached the Champions League semi-finals on loan with Borussia Dortmund after falling out with Ten Hag in September: "We know he is a fantastic player. That is not a surprise. That is not the issue."

• On Casemiro's form: "Last season he was fantastic. He never scored so many goals. This season he struggled with a bad injury but he is such a winner, all his career he won. Everywhere he was there was success. I trust he will also give us success. I am very confident in him. He is a fighter and an important player for us."

• On scrapping FA Cup replays: "It is very sad for British football culture but it is inevitable. It is due to the overload in the schedule, which is dictated by Fifa and Uefa. There is so much overload on the players and it has to stop. I feel really sad for English football. But for top players we have to make some space in the schedule."

• On facing Coventry: "They are dangerous, that is logical, they are in the semi-final. Last season they were not far away from promotion to the Premier League and we have seen the game against Wovles in the quarter-final (Coventry won 3-2 with two injury-time goals). The mentality is fabulous. We have to play to our best levels."

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Coventry City boss Mark Robins says the "normal occasion" of an FA Cup trip to Wembley for Manchester United means there is "expectation" on the club.

Sunday's FA Cup semi-final will be the first time the Sky Blues have played at this stage of the competition since they won the trophy in 1987.

On the other side, this will be United's third semi-final in the competition in the past four years.

The Red Devils knocked out rivals Liverpool in the last round, but have been on a difficult run of form since that game.

Speaking in his pre-match news conference, Robins said: "It is the first time we have been there [semi-final of the FA cup] since 1987 so it is not a normal occasion for us, for Manchester united it is a normal occasion for them.

"They have played at Wembley a lot of times. There is some England internationals in there, some other internationals that have played at Wembley on numerous occasions. It is an expectation for them and their supporters.

"I hear people talking about Manchester United, that they are this or they are that, but the truth of it is they have got top players. We have to be able to deal with the situation, but also deal with Manchester United and the threat that they pose which is a significant one.

"For us, we know they are clearly favourites to win this game by a million miles. They are expected to win, as simple as that."

Former United player Robins is often credited for 'saving' Sir Alex Ferguson's job at the club having scored the goal against Nottingham Forest that kept them in the FA Cup in 1988-89.

However, that is not something he is thinking about going into this game and added: "I have got no agenda other than trying to prepare the team as best we can to go and put a performance on that we can be proud of.

"So that we can go there and stand a chance in a game that we know is really, really difficult. For me it is nothing other than that, it is not about me for sure."