Morning Espresso, 1.21: Almirón closer, Champions League returns, silly season & more

Welcome to another edition of the Morning Espresso on the SDH Network, all the soccer news you need to know to start your Tuesday. The deal for Miguel Almirón to return to Atlanta United appears to be getting closer, with multiple heavyweights in the journalism game reporting that yesterday. Updates from Newcastle this morning have him on standby to jet across to pond to finalize everything. Emmanuel Latte Lath is in action today for Middlesbrough potentially, no updates on his status for that match or his rumored move to Atlanta.

Plenty to talk about with the new Champions League format, two more group stage matches to play and that restarts today. Manchester City and Real Madrid's hopes of reaching the knockout round could hinge on Slovan Bratislava pulling off a home upset win against Stuttgart this afternoon.

Silly season reporting with Marcus Rashford staying or going, Barcelona trying to clear room in the salary limit, Carlo Ancelotti staying or going, Florentino Perez definitely staying, and Jonathan Bamba coming to Chicago. Watch or listen to the Morning Espresso below, stay tuned to the SDH Network all day for updates from Atlanta United training and the silly season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNz7fZZXISM