Five goals and a return to your national squad for the first time in six years. It’s been quite a week for Vakoun Bayo.

The 27-year-old has been named by Ivory Coast national team coach Emerse Fae in his 25-man squad ahead of the final 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Zambia and Chad.

Bayo has two full international caps, but the last of those was back in October 2018 when he made a late substitute appearance against Central Africa in an AFCON qualifier.

In fact, his senior international career so far only adds up to 15 minutes, and with the last of his caps being so long ago, The Crow might have thought his chance of adding to that was over.

However, his six goals in 14 appearances this season (only nine of which were from the start) has caught the attention of Fae and he joins the likes of Manchester United’s Amad Diallo and Simon Adingra of Brighton in the squad.

“I’m really delighted for him and like I said at Sheffield Wednesday his work for the team and his work every day, he’s a real good role model for Jebbison and Doumbia,” said Tom Cleverley.

“His work hasn’t only been recognised by me, he’s been called up to the Ivory Coast squad and I am delighted for him. He is deserving his goals.

“The media and the supporters will always judge a striker on the goals they score, and rightly so.

“But the reason why he still played for those two months when he didn’t score was because of the job he does for the team.”

Often overly criticised by supporters, Bayo has stayed positive and never lost the faith of his head coach.

“His out of possession responsibilities, his hold-up, how good he is with his back to goal, and what a great character he is,” said Cleverley.

“They’re the reasons why he stays in the team even through dry spells.

“The five goals he’s scored in the last week he thoroughly deserves.

“We’re not getting carried away with ourselves, but I want him to enjoy his goals as it’s been a tough period for him with the lack of them in the last two months.”

Over the last 12 months, Pep Guardiola’s future as Manchester City head coach has been widely speculated upon.

His contract with the reigning Premier League champions is due to expire at the end of this season, and it is far from certain that he will extend his stay at the Etihad Stadium beyond nine years.

Guardiola had been linked with the England job, although that has since gone to Thomas Tuchel. He’d since been rumoured with having been pursued by the Brazilian Football Federation, with “several contacts” having taken place between the two parties. However, the CBF have since denied this information, as per Diario AS.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was heavily linked with taking the Brazil job throughout 2023, although that ended when he signed a new contract at the Santiago Bernabeu. It remains to be seen whether Guardiola is also in their crosshairs, although this snub would suggest otherwise.

Over a week has passed since Ruben Amorim was announced as Manchester United manager, taking over from the departed Erik ten Hag following a fantastic stint at Sporting CP.

The 39-year-old, who ranked at no.11 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best managers in the world right now, gained plenty of plaudits since his arrival in Lisbon, taking the club from a fallen giant to a dominant force in a short space of time, lifting the Liga Portugal title twice in just four years with a squad of largely homegrown young talents.

Bolstered by the imperious form of Viktor Gyokeres, Sporting are now a genuine threat on the European stage, taking a number of huge scalps already this season in the Champions League.

Perhaps the biggest of these results came after United’s announcement as Amorim guided his Sporting side to a famous 4-1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday.

In fact, the win over City was one of three games Amorim will manage at Sporting following the announcement of his new role, so why hasn’t he started his Old Trafford career immediately?

Throughout negotiations between United and Sporting over the manager’s signature the issues of a release clause and potential notice period were raised, with many suggesting they would act as major stumbling blocks in the speed at which a move could progress.

Despite initially wanting to start at the end of the season, Amorim claims he was told it was “now or never” by the club as they looked to secure their future as early as possible.

Upon completion of the deal, The Red Devils released a statement confirming the manager would take charge from November 11th, with his first match in charge scheduled to take place against Ipswich on November 24th, leaving Ruud Van Nistelrooy in charge for United’s four games in between – in which he is so far unbeaten.

The reasons behind the delay are without concrete confirmation, although it is likely that the start of the international break will allow Amorim a solid period of time to get his feet under the table before the chaotic schedule kicks back into gear.

As well as implementing an entirely new system, Amorim is also reported to be eager to bring a number of coaches with him from Sporting, with negotiations surrounding their respective futures taking a little while longer.

Already an enamoured figure at Old Trafford thanks to his win over City, excitement around the Portuguese’s arrival continues to grow as the Red Devils begin yet another chapter in the post-Ferguson story.

FourFourTwo