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‘Not going to pay £20m-plus’: Corresondent dismisses Newcastle link with prolific forward
A respected Newcastle United correspondent has dismissed claims that the club are interested in signing Ivan Toney. The Brentford striker previously had an unsuccessful three-year spell with the Magpies, spending most of his time out on loan before being sold to Peterborough United in 2018. After enjoying two prolific seasons in League One, Toney was snapped up by the Bees and has since made a massive impact in the Championship. He has racked up 24 goals in 30 appearances for Brentford, sparking talk that he could secure a move to the Premier League at the end of the season. Leicester City, West Ham United and Arsenal have already been linked with Toney, while Newcastle’s name has also been thrown into the mix. However, Chris Waugh has poured cold water on Newcastle’s supposed interest, sa...
Liverpool nominated alongside Bayern Munich for prestigious TOTY prize
Liverpool Football Club have been nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award for 2020. The Reds are in the running for the prestigious prize after winning the Premier League last season, ending a 30-year wait for a top-flight title. Jurgen Klopp’s men only lost three times all season, and they blew their closest competition Manchester City out of the water, with 18 points separating the teams at the end of the campaign. Liverpool were by far the best team in England from start-to-finish, and their German manager will go down in history for the feat. The Reds are not the only football team looking to land the Laureus World Sports Team of the Year prize, with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich also in contention. The German giants won the Champions League after landing the domestic ...
Smith Rowe and Ceballos start, Predicted Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1) vs Benfica
Arsenal will play hosts to Benfica in the second leg of the Europa League last 32 on Thursday night. The game is scheduled to be played at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece due to coronavirus restrictions. The north London side have a disappointing record at the ground with four defeats and just one win from five European games. However, their sole victory came during the previous campaign against Olympiacos and they will be aiming for another positive result. Mikel Arteta’s side have the precious away goal advantage after the 1-1 draw against Benfica in the first leg which was played at the Stadio Olimpico. Formation: 4-2-3-1 Predicted Line-up: Bernd Leno is an automatic choice in goal for the Gunners. The German had a comfortable game in the reverse leg until the penalty scored ...
Three Serie A clubs reportedly interested in signing Man Utd player
According to the Sun, three Serie A clubs are interested in signing Manchester United’s Juan Mata. The Spaniard has featured in just 12 matches across all competitions under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season, scoring two goals with three assists. Mata’s current contract with United runs out in the summer, but the club has an option to extend it for a further 12 months. The 32-year-old is happy at Old Trafford but wants more first-team football. Inter Milan, Juventus and Roma are keen on signing the World Cup winner, with Antonio Conte’s side showing the most interest. The latter two would consider signing Mata if he became a free agent. SK View Mata has featured in 267 matches for United since joining them from Chelsea, scoring 50 goals while providing 44 assists. However, he has fallen dow...
Ajax pair will miss out, Lille almost at full strength
Thursday’s Europa League action gets underway at 5.55 pm as Ajax welcome Lille to the Johan Cruijff Arena for the return leg of their last-32 tie. Ajax hold a 2-1 advantage following the first-leg in France last week. All three goals were scored after half-time. Timothy Weah slotted the ball past Maarten Stekelenburg to put the home team in front in the 72nd minute. However, Ajax skipper Dusan Tadic converted a spot-kick in the 87th minute to initiate the comeback. The visitors did not have to wait long to complete the turnaround. Davy Klaassen unlocked Lille’s defence with a pinpoint through ball, with Brian Brobbey poking home from a few yards out. The French giants now have a mountain to climb in Amsterdam. Ajax Preview Ajax have joined the Europa League on the back of their premature C...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms Manchester United trio won’t face Real Sociedad
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Edinson Cavani, Donny van de Beek and Scott McTominay are unavailable to face Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday night. Cavani and Van de Beek have been sidelined for the past few games with calf injuries while Scott McTominay missed the recent league clash against Newcastle United with a knock sustained in the reverse meeting against Sociedad. The trio have returned to training but Solskjaer has ruled out their involvement against the La Liga outfit in the second leg of the Europa League last 32. He told M.E.N: “No. They are still out. Still not trained enough, more or less same squad vs Newcastle.” Meanwhile, Pogba is the other absentee for the Red Devils. The Frenchman is out on the sidelines with a thigh inju...
Liverpool keeping tabs on 27-yr-old forward who is wanted by Tottenham as well
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala has a contract with the Italian club until the summer of 2022 and the Bianconeri are yet to offer him fresh terms regarding an extension. Club director Fabio Paratici has claimed that the two parties are involved in negotiations and it will be interesting to see if they can sort out an agreement soon. The Argentine international has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Stadium and Premier League clubs like Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are reportedly keeping tabs on the 27-year-old (via Goal). SL View: Ideal replacement for Firmino? The Reds will need to bring in quality attacking reinforcements in the summer and develop would be a quality signing for them. Roberto Firmino has regressed massively over the past year and Jurgen Klop...
‘Attacking adrenalin’: Henry Winter and Phil Hay drool over ‘star dust’ Leeds player last night
After two back-to-back defeats, Leeds United returned to winning ways with a fantastic 3-0 win against Southampton on Tuesday night at Elland Road. After a 0-0 first half, Leeds found their scoring touch with goals coming from Patrick Bamford, Stuart Dallas and Raphinha. Fantastic win for @LUFC — Ian Harte (@ianharte23) February 23, 2021 All three goals were brilliantly taken, but it was Raphinha’s spectacular free-kick from 25 yards out that left everyone drooling over. Well done 3points top ten we #MOT Come on Leeds🤍💙💛 @adidasUK @LUFC @RocNation — Lucas Radebe (@LucasRadebe) February 23, 2021 The Brazilian was once again the star of the show. In the first half, Oriol Romeu prevented him from shooting, after he had broken away, with a superb sliding tackle. In the ...
Mourinho has come up with £30m ‘first choice’ target to replace £100k-per-week Spurs star
According to reports from the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur “have made” Nick Pope as their “first choice” target if Hugo Lloris leaves the club in the summer. Lloris situation The 34-year-old club skipper has a contract at the north London club till 2022. He has been targeted by Paris Saint-Germain where he could be reunited with former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs are aware that Lloris, who is on £100k-per-week wages, may be interested in a return to his homeland. Lloris is a world-class shot-stopper but he has come under criticism for his costly mistakes in recent matches. In fact, the Frenchman has not always been consistent in the past few years, and probably Spurs should look at other options now. Jose Mourinho has backed the France No 1 to rediscover his top ...
Hammers reportedly want Rangers star this summer, Bielsa was keen last yr
According to Football Insider, West Ham United are plotting a potential summer move for Rangers centre-back Connor Goldson as manager David Moyes looks to strengthen his defence. Sportslens View The 28-year-old has around 16 months left on his current deal at Ibrox, and extension talks are yet to commence. Rangers are focusing solely on winning the Scottish Premiership at the moment, but they will not be keen on losing one of their best players anytime soon and are likely to rebuff any interests for him this summer. Goldson has been very crucial to their impressive campaign this term, starting all of their Scottish Premiership and Europa League games so far. The former Brighton & Hove Albion star is attracting interests from the Premier League again from the look of things, and a retur...
‘Should’ve been sacked in October’, ‘A great day’ – Some Celtic fans react to Lennon’s departure
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has resigned from his post earlier today after a dismal run of results. The Hoops were expected to win their 10th League title in a row this season but they have been quite mediocre in all competitions and the reigning champions currently find themselves 18 points adrift of bitter rivals Rangers. The Ibrox outfit are very close to winning the Scottish Premiership this season and it is hardly surprising that Celtic have decided to part ways with Lennon. It will be interesting to see who comes in to replace the former Celtic player. According to the club’s official website, current assistant manager John Kennedy will take interim charge of the team. It seems that the Scottish giants are looking to bring in a permanent appointment at the end of this season. Len...
Report: ‘Multiple dressing room sources’ claim what Spurs players think of Mourinho’s training
According to reports from The Athletic, which have been informed by ‘multiple dressing room sources’, some Tottenham Hotspur players are “increasingly unhappy” with Jose Mourinho’s approach. Tottenham were top of the table in December, but they have slipped to ninth in the league table after suffering five defeats in their last six games. Mourinho insisted that the methods that he and his coach staff use are “second to nobody in the world”, and the Athletic claims he has not lost the whole dressing room yet. Excerpt from The Athletic: “Some of the attacking players, who feel that Mourinho’s training is too focused on defence and on not making mistakes, are unhappy with how little focus there is on coaching complex offensive patterns. “Some attacking players have even remarked privately tha...
