Right, that’s all we’ve got time for today. It’s been a busy one for sure, with the FA Cup buildup dominated by that colossal Manchester United manager news. Erik ten Hag will be desperate to bow out with a victory, however slim those chances are, before all the attention turns to the identity of his successor. Football, eh? Bloody hell.

Thanks for following along throughout the day! Until next time.

In case you missed this one late last night, or early this morning, I can’t quite remember, here’s some more manager news that relates (vaguely) to Manchester United. Rooney to Argyle?

Looks like the Manchester United squad has just left for London, while City’s have just touched down in the capital in the past few moments.

*Insert joke about City always being one step ahead*

All roads lead to Wembley.

Some Palace/Everton takeover/ownership news for you.

American businessman John Textor is reportedly selling his 40 per cent stake in Crystal Palace with a view to buying Everton.

Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri is currently tied into a period of exclusivity with troubled US investment group 777 Partners until May 31 and cannot enter into alternative discussions.

But with the takeover seemingly on the verge of collapse, Moshiri confirmed this week to Everton’s Fan Advisory Board he had received unsolicited approaches from interested parties.

Textor and his multi-club network Eagle Football appears to be one of those, according to some of his comments to The Athletic.

13th time lucky? 12 teams have tried and failed to go back to back with ‘the double’ in English football – AKA do the ‘double double’.

Not content with making English football history with their four consecutive Premier League titles, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City could write themselves into the FA Cup history books as well tomorrow. And they probably will. Sachin Nakrini trawls through the archives for this one.

Kyle Walker, the modern day Manchester-based right-back, just wants to win. And win, and win, and …

Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker thinks it would be a mistake for the club to get rid of Ten Hag, even if they lose the FA Cup final.

He said: “I personally would stick with him.. If you change the manager, that means a whole new coaching staff. It would be rinse and start again.

“There would be too many changes too quickly - and there would still be a lot of dead wood [players] left there.”

Parker is not hopeful of a United win at Wembley, adding: “No-one can put their hand on their heart and say ‘I expect Manchester United to win’. It’s absolutely impossible.”

Maybe hiring a manager who would have a chance of winning these games would be a good idea. Just sayin’.

Football Daily has just landed and, shock horror, it’s all about FA Cup finals and managerial departures.

Over on the more serene blue side of Manchester, City are preparing to offer Pep Guardiola a new contract, according to the Daily Mail.

Goodness me, they’re going to go all Bayern/Celtic/PSG and win 10 on the spin, aren’t they? The contrast with the chaos going on at United on the eve of the FA Cup final couldn’t be starker.

Emails, emails, emails! Christian Oquendo is another who’s enjoying watching the merry-go-round spin:

Tuchel, Pochettino, McKenna blah, blah, when are all of us readers going to hear where Moyes is going to manage next? That’s REALLY what we are all here for!

My advice to Moyesy would be to put his feet up and relax. Steer clear, Dave.

Another email from Gary Stover:

McKenna, Tuchel, Poch? But what about Gasperini? He won his last game.

Kieran McKenna’s rise from derided Manchester United backroom coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to the hottest managerial property on the market is astonishing when you think about it. The guy’s had two-and-a-half years in management and one-and-a-half of those were spent in League One. He might be the man to restore United (or indeed Chelsea) to their former glories, but it’s one hell of a punt from whichever club appoints him.

Thomas Tuchel seems nailed-on for the Chelsea job if McKenna doesn’t get it, with Mauricio Pochettino in the mix – but ineligible for the Chelsea position for obvious reasons – it could well be three managers for two jobs. Where’s yer money?

Another piece of breaking Premier League news for you this afternoon.

Thanks Taha. Have I missed anything?

Right then, that’s enough from me – Dominic Booth is back on the tools.

Kevin Wilson writes in: “I think it’s the correct decision to fire Erik Ten Hag – a decent first season was followed by a wretched second and as much as he could blame injuries, the signings he wanted have failed, the style of play is awful and he’s improved very few of the players. But Tuchel will just feel like a rehash of what they’ve tried before with Mourinho or Van Gaal. I don’t see him lasting very long. Tuchel tends to stay at a job for a couple of years before it goes sour. I’d much rather they went for a bolder, progressive choice of head coach than Tuchel, who’s not exactly excelled this season in Munich.”

Russell Martin is ready to embrace the magnitude of his Southampton side’s contest with Leeds at Wembley, reflecting on his playoff victory as Norwich’s captain over Middlesbrough in 2015. Quotes from PA:

It is such a privilege to play in a game of this magnitude, because you can go your whole career and not be playing in one like this or as a manager. I woke up [that morning] feeling calm, because of the work we had done in the buildup, but was still really emotional when I saw my family in the crowd. However, I had that calmness and I hope that our players will feel the same way.

They have the chance to feel something spectacular that they will remember forever and have feelings about, because I still remember that day now, it was one of the best. I feel like it would be an even better feeling to be on this side of the fence rather than playing – even though it feels 10 times worse not playing and not being on the pitch to control anything, but it will be incredible.

In other Manchester United news … Jamie Jackson sits down with the teenage sensation Kobbie Mainoo.

Here was Pep Guardiola speaking about Erik ten Hag earlier in the day.

Thomas Tuchel entering the door could well be history repeating itself for Manchester United. A Dutchman spends two seasons at the club, ending it with the FA Cup final, and in comes an ex-Chelsea manager with Champions League-winning pedigree who isn’t one for long-term relationships. Seen that one before.

Mammillaria Hahniana responds to Gary Stover (scroll down): “Trick question. Manchester United, obviously.” Well played.

“A well-placed source said that even winning the Cup would not save Ten Hag,” reports Jacob Steinberg. So it could well be the case that Ten Hag repeats what Louis van Gaal did eight years ago, winning the FA Cup in his last game in charge of United (it would be some achievement against this City side). It’s been a difficult second season after a promising debut year. Who’s next in the mixer?

Rather taken aback by Ewan Murray’s intro here, pointing out that there hasn’t been an Old Firm Scottish Cup final in 22 (!) years. It was settled by a last-minute winner; here’s to even more drama this year.

Afternoon, everyone. A terrific question, Gary. While Barça’s flip-flopping is something to behold it’s got to be Chelsea for me at the moment in the Dysfunction Rankings. Cue my shameless plug:

Right, that’s the end of my football blog shift and I’m off for some chicken drumsticks. Taha Hashim will be coming into the hot-seat for the next bit.

Here’s a question for him to answer, via Gary Stover.

Which organisation is proving to be the most dysfunctional: Barca, Bayern, Chelsea or Spurs?

It’s so nice to know lots of you are following along while living your best Friday lives. Karen As’adi gets in touch:

Following you Dom in between listening to Metallica’s 72 Seasons; I gotta say appointing Tuchel for Man United is actually the best option there; they could do a lot worse and they probably will! McKenna should go to Brighton like God intended.

The managerial merry-go-round is certainly capturing the imagination this week, that’s for sure.

“Lads, can you tweet out a picture of Pep where 80% of the image is just blank white.”

Whereas Newcastle’s youngsters were trounced by the A-League’s male all-stars, Arsenal’s women were up the to task against their Aussie counterparts, with Alessia Russo on target in a win for Jonas Eidevall’s side.

Guardiola has also confirmed Manchester City have a fully fit squad to pick from, bar the injured Ederson, while he also extended his sympathies for Erik ten Hag, whose job is under serious threat going into the cup final. United have a fair few more injuries than their neighbours.

“I have huge respect for the job he has done,” added Guardiola. “He has had a lot of injuries. They had a lot of problems. The squad is really good but if they are injured you cannot use them.”

It’s finally time to hear from Pep Guardiola, who’ll no doubt have a word or two to say about Foden, as well as Manchester United and the FA Cup final.

The big news ahead of the Championship playoff final:

Phil Foden = world class. Don’t @ me. Here’s Will Unwin’s piece on the Manchester City superstar.

Right, as it stands, the list of managers available this summer includes:

Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, Max Allegri, Roberto De Zerbi, Graham Potter, Thomas Tuchel and Xavi.

And I’ve probably missed off a few.

Here’s Barcelona’s comunicado oficial on Xavi’s departure:

Today, Friday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has informed Xavi Hernandez that he will not be continuing as first team coach in the 2024-25 season. Barcelona wishes to thank Xavi for his work as coach, as well as for his inimitable career as a player and as team captain, and wishes him every future success in the world.

Xavi Hernandez will be coaching the team for the last time in Sunday’s game away to Sevilla. During the course of the next few days, Barcelona will be making an announcement regarding the new first team structure.

An email has dropped from Kieran McHugh, who isn’t overly impressed with Bruno Fernandes’ latest missive.

The quote from the piece written by Bruno Fernandes in The Players Tribune could, let’s be honest, have been written by any number of players at any number of clubs. To cite it as evidence of his value to United is daft. It proves nothing. His goals and assists are better evidence in my opinion. In an underperforming team he can point to a genuine contribution.

There are some reports now doing the rounds suggesting José Mourinho is the new frontrunner for the Chelsea job.

Go home, managerial merry-go-round, you’re drunk. What next? Sir Alex Ferguson back at Man Unit– actually, that might be a good idea …

More Manchester United chat now, with André Onana leaping to the defence of teammate Marcus Rashford in another pre-FA Cup final interview. He is backing the out-of-sorts forward to fire at Wembley tomorrow. (Our very own David Hytner explored this very possibility in a recent article).

Rashford – how many goals did he score last season? How many goals did he score this season? We are talking about the same player. He’s a bad player? So last season he was good, this season he is bad? No. It is just a moment. You can have a bad season, you can have a bad start.

But the most important thing is how you end and Rashy, for me, is one of the best players in the world. But he is facing difficulty, like us, not only him and me, but the whole club. And he will come back and I know my killer will score some important goals for us. Hopefully Saturday he will score two and we win the FA Cup.

As PR stunts go, this isn’t a bad one. Domino’s are giving away 115 pizzas free of charge to Manchester United fans from its Wembley High Road outlet this Saturday. All supporters have to do is rock up in United colours from 11am and ask for a ‘Financial Free Pizza’. “Supporters who feel they are missing out are free to lodge an appeal,” says a PR statement.

We see what you’ve done there.

Sharing this because it’s a glorious goal scored by a glorious player in a glorious team winning the Champions League final at Wembley. It’s also a glorious camera angle.

Real Madrid conclude their La Liga campaign against Real Betis on Saturday night, with the small matter (insert irony) of the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund to come in a week’s time.

Aurélien Tchouaméni has been ruled out of the Wembley showdown with injury, Carlo Ancelotti confirmed today, while Toni Kroos is in contention to start what will be his final game in club football.

“Toni Kroos has made his decision to leave at the top, we spoke but he decided to retire,” Ancelotti said. “Toni has balls, we have to respect that.”

Some Bournemouth news before we get to the City pre-final presser.

The Cherries have announced the appointment of Tiago Pinto as their new president of football operations. The 39-year-old will start in his role next week, after he left AS Roma. It’s part of a reshuffle at the south coast club, with Richard Hughes departing as technical director to join Liverpool. Simon Francis is taking up that role and will work with Pinto.

Thanks Barry. I wonder if anyone will ask Ten Hag about the swirling speculation surrounding his job. It feels like Louis van Gaal pre-cup final areas, to me …

(We won’t be finding out until the embargoed section is released at 10.30pm unfortunately).

Handover: With pre-FA Cup final press conferences from Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag very much ahoy, it’s time for Dominic Booth to take up the cudgels.

Scottish Cup final: Having already masterminded victory over Aberdeen in the League Cup, Rangers boss Philippe Clement is hoping to win his first game against Celtic at the fourth time of asking in tomorrow’s Scottish FA Cup final.

Unlike his Celtic counterpart Brendan Rodgers, Clement has several injury concerns and saysd he may ask several players to play through the pain barrier at Hampden Park tomorrow. Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo, Danilo, Connor Goldson, Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, Borna Barisic, and Leon Balogun all sat out last weekend’s league draw with Hearts.

“This is a final game, a decisive game,” said Clement. “Maybe we need to take some risks with players that we normally don’t do. The last six, eight weeks, it’s been difficult with all the players falling out, coming back from injury but missing rhythm, others falling out.

“It’s now about this one moment, about 90 minutes, 120 minutes, 120 minutes and penalties, to give everything with the whole squad, with everybody who is available. I think a few guys even want to come on the pitch with crutches. I cannot allow that, of course, but we’re going to go hard with the team with every energy that is available in the building.”

Scottish Cup final: Celtic have played Rangers four times in the Scottish Premiership this season, beating them three times and drawing once, at Ibrox in April. The Glasgow rivals meet for a fifth time in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park tomorrow but despite his side’s supremacy over Rangers, Brendan Rodgers insists his players won’t be complacent.

“We have a humility in how we work,” the Celtic manager said ahead of tomorrow’s final. “You can never have that arrogance. We respect every opponent we play, whether it’s Rangers, Raith or whoever. From a football perspective there’s no different approach to this game than the other four in the league, we want to impose ourselves.

“For the supporters it’s everything,. They live their life for Celtic. To deliver it for them would be great. Any final is always a challenge, a Celtic-Rangers final is a great occasion, but for us it’s focusing on our game and how we can win it.”

DFB-Pokal final: After a surprise run to the German Cup final, fallen giants Kaiserslautern, who spent the season battling against relegation from the second tier, need a miracle against Xabi Alonso’s champions – but they still have hope. Words: Will Magee.

FA Cup final: While a strong Manchester City side will start at Wembley on Saturday, a rotating cast has helped propel Pep Guardiola’s side through the earlier rounds. Will Unwin reports …

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna will manage in the top flight from August onwards but, with the merry-go-round gearing up for overdrive before 2023-24 has breathed its last, doubts continue to swirl over around where it might be. Our resident Tractor Boy, Nick Ames, types through salty tears to explain exactly why the young coach from Northern Ireland is in such massive demand …

A-League All Stars v Newcastle United: When Eddie Howe inevitably starts complaining about the intensity of the fixture schedule and player burn-out in six months time, it is to be hoped that somebody will remind him that he and his players went straight to the airport after their final game of the Premier League season, boarded a plane and flew all the way to Australia to twerk their collective money-maker in a couple of exhibition matches.

On Wednesday, Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties at the MCG after the two teams played out a 1-1 draw. Right now, Howe’s side are getting walloped by a team of A-League All Stars at Melbourne’s considerably smaller Marvel Stadium. They’re in the second half and it’s currently 3-0 to the hosts.