Cortese Close to Quitting Southampton After Another Bust Up With Owner Liebherr: Nightly Soccer Report

Here we go again. Southampton Chairman Nicola Cortese, who is one of the main reasons behind the club’s success in the Premier League, is close to quitting the club after a bust up with club owner Katharina Liebherr.

It was only last May when Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino threatened to quit the club if Cortese left, so you can understand why Saints fans are nervous tonight. If Cortese does leave the club this time, will Pochettino leave soon too?

It’s understood that Cortese is planning his exit strategy to leave the club.

Meanwhile, on a different topic entirely, Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has signed striker Grant Holt today on loan from Wigan Athletic for the remainder of the season. The former Norwich City footballer who played under Lambert at Carrow Road is meant to help solve Villa’s goalscoring crisis up front given the lackluster form of Christian Benteke and the injuries to key players. However, if Lambert thinks Holt is the solution, he’s sadly mistaken. Villa have budget considerations to adhere to, but that doesn’t mean that Lambert has to sign someone like Holt on loan. There are far more footballers out there who are better than Holt who can be acquired on loan.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• Cortese close to quitting Southampton after another bust up with owner Liebherr — The Mail
• Aston Villa sign Wigan striker Grant Holt on loan for rest of season — Sky Sports
• Hull City turn attention back to Shane Long as they look to sign and Jelavic — Hull Daily Mail
• Manuel Pellegrini wants to mark his debut season in England by securing all four trophies — BBC Sport
• Leighton Baines on verge of signing new deal with Everton — Liverpool Echo
• West Ham reject Fulham’s Ravel Morrison bid — West London Sport
• Chelsea trio Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole handed new one year contracts — The Sun
• Julian Draxler targeted as Robin van Persie II — The Mirror
• FA’s Pro Licence course to give managers lessons in dealing with gay players — The Independent
• Cardiff still confident they can sign Fabio da Silva — The Mail

International soccer

• Qatar: “Forced to choose CR7” in Ballon d’Or voting — La Gazzetta Dello Sport

Football League

• Hull City agree Jack Hobbs deal with Nottingham Forest, according to Forest owner — Hull Daily Mail
• Paul Ince in urgent appeal to chairman for funds — Blackpool Gazette

La Liga

• Atletico Madrid beat Valencia to reach last eight of Copa del Rey — BBC Sport
• Buy-out clauses add fun to Spain-Premier League transfers — ESPN FC

Serie A

• Fiorentina set to sign Alessandro Matri on loan from AC Milan — BBC Sport

MLS

• Manchester City’s hopes of signing Barcelona star Xavi for MLS franchise New York FC set to fail — Metro

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.