Premier League
Lucas Moura: Tottenham squad united behind Jose Mourinho
Lucas Moura has insisted that the whole Tottenham squad are united behind under-fire boss Jose Mourinho amid the club’s turbulent 2020-21 campaign. Mourinho’s position in the Spurs dugout has been called into question in the wake of a nightmare week which saw the team follow up a north London derby defeat to Arsenal by exiting the Europa League in shocking fashion at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb. Spurs were thrashed 3-0 in the second leg of that last-16 tie in Croatia, but responded by beating Aston Villa 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, with Moura issuing a rallying cry in his post-match interview. “It’s been a very bad week for us, the feeling was very bad,” the Spurs winger told the Evening Standard : “Last night, we showed our nature, we showed attitude. “The good thing about footbal...
Serie A giants keen on signing £27m Everton star, but player favours move to PSG
Serie A holders Juventus are keen on re-signing Moise Kean from Everton this summer, but they face a battle to convince him, Le10Sport reports. The Italy international joined the Toffees from the Bianconeri for £25.1 million in August 2019, and he had a poor debut season with only two goals and two assists from 33 outings. He started the current campaign in better fashion with a couple of goals in the Carabao Cup, but he was still loaned out to Les Parisiens before the summer transfer deadline. Kean has since excelled at the French champions with 15 goals from just 29 appearances, which has led to suggestions that Les Parisiens could buy him permanently. It is now reported that the Bianconeri have been hugely impressed by the progress of their graduate, and they are lining up a move t...
Euro club reportedly keen for 24-year-old Liverpool player this summer
Serie A giants Napoli are reportedly interested in signing Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas in the summer. The 24-year-old joined Liverpool last summer from Olympiakos for a reported £11.8 million fee. The Greece international has struggled badly in his first season at the club, managing just one substitute appearance in the Premier League and clocking five minutes of action. It is fair to say that things haven’t gone according to plan for him, although he missed several games through injury and coronavirus. Although he has made four appearances in the Champions League, his Liverpool career hasn’t taken off yet. According to reports from Il Napoli Online, Napoli are likely to revive their interest in the defender, and they feel they could tempt him with a regular gam...
Joan Laporta lands his first Barcelona signing, £31.5m star reportedly agrees contract terms
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum looks set to join Barcelona this summer after agreeing a pre-contract deal with the Catalan giants, The Times reports. The Netherlands international has been with the Reds for the past four-and-a-half seasons, where he has accumulated 22 goals and 16 assists from 228 appearances. He has featured in every league game for the reigning champions this term, but it appears that he will leave them on a free transfer in a few months. His current deal expires at the end of June, and it is reported that the Dutchman has finally agreed to a pre-contract to join the Blaugrana this summer. Sportslens view: Jurgen Klopp’s side have been unsuccessful in renewing Wijnaldum’s deal, and the midfielder recently said that he would be ‘devastated‘ to leave the Reds. De...
Champions League: Jurgen Klopp backed by Rafa Benitez to repeat Liverpool’s ‘Miracle of Istanbul’
Jurgen Klopp has been backed by Rafa Benitez to repeat his feat from 2004-05 and win the Champions League despite a disappointing Premier League campaign. Liverpool, who sit five points outside the top four with nine games to play, face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and could play Chelsea, their semi-final opponents in 2005, in the following round. With the final set to be played at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium, the venue for Benitez’s side’s miracle comeback against AC Milan, there is plenty of talk of destiny for Liverpool. Asked if Liverpool could go all the way again in Europe, Benitez told the Daily Mail: “For sure. Liverpool has the potential and the manager, it’s not a problem. “People talk about Istanbul like we were lucky. But we were not lucky to win the Champions League becaus...
‘Good news’, ‘get it done’: Some Liverpool fans react to latest update from Fabrizio Romano
Popular journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Liverpool are preparing to offer Fabinho a new contract soon. The Brazilian midfielder, who joined the Reds in 2018 for a reported fee of £43.7 million from Monaco, has been excellent under Jurgen Klopp. The 27-year-old is a world-class central defensive midfielder, but he has played mostly as a centre-back this season in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. He has been equally brilliant at the back, displaying his versatility and importance to the side. However, in recent weeks, Ozan Kabak and Natt Phillips have forged a strong centre-back partnership that has allowed Fabinho to play in his normal position. His impressive form has been crucial for the Reds this season, and the club are now lo...
Harry Kane has just delivered passionate message on Twitter ahead of Villa vs Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has delivered a passionate message on Twitter ahead of their Premier League clash against Aston Villa. Spurs suffered a 2-1 defeat against Arsenal in the north London derby in the Premier League clash. It was followed by a 3-0 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League that saw Spurs bowing out of the competition. Spurs skipper Hugo Lloris branded the defeat as a “disgrace” and claimed that everyone should feel responsible for the defeat. Now Kane has broken his silence and has come up with a passionate message for the Spurs fans. He says it was a “very disappointing week” and that “no words will atone” for whatever happened in the last couple of games. However, he has urged his team to do the talking on the pitch instead. Time to bounce back tom...
Mark Lawrenson states his prediction for West Ham United vs Arsenal
BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson has stated his prediction for the Premier League clash between West Ham United and Arsenal this weekend. The Hammers recently suffered a 1-0 league defeat at Manchester United, but they are still within three points of fourth-placed Chelsea with a game in hand. David Moyes’ side are scheduled to host the Gunners on Sunday, and Lawrenson feels the club will be determined to avoid a second-straight defeat. The Gunners are currently seven points behind the Hammers in the 10th spot, but they are unbeaten in the last three games in the top-flight (two wins and one draw). Lawrenson has predicted a share of the spoils (1-1) in the London derby. He told BBC Sport: “This feels like a big game for West Ham, as a test of their top-four aspirations, and I think the u...
WCQ: Tottenham’s Tanguy Ndombele returns to France squad
Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has been rewarded for his upturn in form with a recall to the France squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for Les Bleus since the summer of 2019 but now has the chance to add to his six international caps in matches against Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Other notable returnees include Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar, who hasn’t featured since November 2019, while Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, a member of their 2018 World Cup-winning squad, is back for the first time in two-and-a-half years. This represents Ndombele’s first international call up since his club-record €60 million (£54m/$68m) move from Lyon to Tottenham. The Frenchman arrived in north London with a reputation as an all-action midf...
Gabriel Agbonlahor urges Leeds United to sign ‘reliable’ defender with 209 PL appearances
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Gabriel Agbonlahor has said that Leeds United should consider a move for Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt. Van Aanholt has been with the Eagles for the past four years, where he has accumulated 130 appearances across all competitions. His current deal expires at the end of June, and it appears that he could leave on a free transfer with Leeds and Arsenal interested in signing him. In an interview with Football Insider, Agbonlahor said that Van Aanholt would be a ‘great signing’ for a team outside of the top six in the Premier League. He said: “He’s played a lot of Premier League games. He’s Mr Reliable, and he’s very good going forward. “I think that would be a great signing, and it’s something that Leeds should pursue. “Any club in...
Alan Shearer includes Kelechi Iheanacho in Premier League Team of the Week
Legendary England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer included hat-trick hero Kelechi Iheanacho in his Premier League Team of the Week. Shearer’s Team of the Week was published on the Premier League’s official website. Iheanacho netted his first ever hat-trick in Leicester City’s 5-0 win against Sheffield United at the weekend. It was his fifth goal in his last three games and has now scored six goals in 16 league appearances. Among other players who made the list alongside Iheanacho are Chelsea goalkeeper Edourd Mendy, Arsenal youngster Emile Smith Rowe, Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw and Erik Lamela of Tottenham Hotspur. And in Shearer’s Team of the Week, which is in a 3-4-3 formation, Iheanacho leads the three-man forward. And commenting on the Nigerian, the Premier League winner ...
Chelsea owner takes legal action over ‘Putin’s People’ book
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched legal action for defamation over the book Putin’s People. The Blues owner’s case relates to “a number of false and defamatory claims made about our client in the book published by HarperCollins.” The book was written by author Caterine Belton and contains a number of claims about Abramovich and others close to Russia president Vladimir Putin. Abramovich’s statement, published on Chelsea’s club website, says: “Today my legal representatives have issued legal proceedings in England in relation to a book that was published in the UK. The book contains a number of false and defamatory statements about me, including about my purchase, and the activities, of Chelsea Football Club. “Today’s action was not taken lightly. It has never been my ambition to ...