Premier League
Pep Guardiola confirms triple Manchester City injury boost ahead of Tottenham Hotspur clash
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed a triple injury boost ahead of the Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The Cityzens recently won their 15th successive match in all competitions and became the first English side in history to do so. They will return to league action this weekend against Spurs and Guardiola has provided a positive update on the injury front prior to the game. Rodri picked up a knock in the recent FA Cup fifth round tie against Swansea City but he has returned to training and is in contention to face Spurs. Ruben Dias has also reported for training after overcoming an illness which kept him out of the midweek trip to the Liberty Stadium. Meanwhile, Sergio Aguero could make his first appearance since the first week of January. The Ar...
Big Sam explains why West Brom abandoned Ahmed Musa deal
West Brom manager Sam Allardyce has revealed the reason behind the Baggies decision not to offer Ahmed Musa a contract at the end of his trials with the club. Allardyce insists West Brom weren’t in a position to sign Musa on a short-term deal after the loan captures of Mbaye Diagne, Okay Yokuslu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles towards the end of the January transfer window. The 28-year-old has been without a club since leaving Saudi side Al-Nassr in October of last year but has previous Premier League experience having joined Leicester City in the summer after they were crowned champions in 2016. “We’d already brought four players in, so it didn’t fall within our budget anymore,” Allardyce was quoted by Birmingham Live. “More players would have had to have left to have funded that one. It’s a s...
‘I am positive’: Mikel Arteta provides update on Folarin Balogun’s contract situation
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the contract situation of Folarin Balogun ahead of the Premier League game against Leeds United on Sunday. The 19-year-old striker has less than five months remaining on his Gunners contract and the club have yet to convince him to sign a fresh deal. Balogun is said to want regular first-team football and that appears unlikely with Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Eddie Nketiah preferred ahead of him. The youngster is still awaiting his Premier League debut for the club but Arteta is optimistic about committing him to a new long-term contract. “No, I’m still very positive that Flo is going to stay with us and it’s what we’re trying to do as a club, and it’s what I’m trying to do as a manager,” he told the club’s offic...
Super Eagles boss wants Ahmed Musa to sort out his career before Afcon qualifiers
Nigeria national team coach Gernot Rohr hopes to see his captain Ahmed Musa back to action ahead of their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in March. The three-time African champions will take on the Republic of Benin and Lesotho in their last Afcon qualifying games next month. Musa has been without a club since October when he left Saudi Arabian side Al Nass by mutual agreement. The forward starred for Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow before moving to England to team up with Leicester City. The Super Eagles winger struggled to establish himself at the King Power Stadium and in an effort to enjoy more playing time, he left for Saudi in 2018. The forward is now looking to returning to Europe and has been heavily linked to Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. Rohr is hopeful ...
With Chelsea closing in on Boateng, who will Bayern Munich sign in defence?
Chelsea are close to signing Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng on a free transfer this summer and that could pave the way for the German champions to bring in a replacement. The Bavarian giants celebrated the second treble in their history last season with Boateng and David Alaba making up their central defence, but both players appear set to head for the exit door in four months’ time. There has been a complete breakdown in contract talks with Alaba and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge recently confirmed that the Austrian will leave the club when his deal expires at the end of June. Boateng is in a similar contract situation and the indications are that he could leave alongside his defensive partner, with the Blues said to have agreed a deal in principle with his agent to sign him this summe...
Thiago Silva reveals ‘nice surprise’ from Frank Lampard after Chelsea move
Thiago Silva says a “nice surprise” from Frank Lampard immediately assured him he made the right choice when joining Chelsea over the summer. The Brazil defender moved to the Premier League shortly before his 36th birthday, bringing to an end his eight-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain. Silva says he had no doubts about his decision to head to Stamford Bridge, but appreciated a gesture he received from his new manager as he prepared for the move. What did Lampard send Thiago Silva? “As soon as I said yes, he sent me a picture of us both shaking hands as national team captains in 2013,” Silva told FourFourTwo. “It was a nice surprise. He understood exactly what I needed at this stage of my career, probably because he had made a similar move when he was also 36, from Chelsea to Manchester Ci...
Leeds star deserves international chance, but hopes will probably be scuppered – opinion
Patrick Bamford’s performances for Leeds United have sparked talk that he could force his way into the England squad for this summer’s European Championships. The 27-year-old is enjoying an excellent season, scoring 12 goals with six assists in 22 appearances for the Whites. SL View Bamford represented England at youth level, but he has never previously come close to being in the conversation for a senior call-up. However, he has improved massively under manager Marcelo Bielsa and probably deserves a chance to stake his claim for a place. Unfortunately for Bamford, there is plenty of competition with Harry Kane, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Marcus Rashford all ahead of him in the pecking order. Factor in the likes of Tammy Abraham, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden, and the Leeds star has his work ...
Forget Madrid – That ship has sailed for Tottenham star – opinion
“You’ve got Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo coming to the end of their careers. (Robert) Lewandowski is four years older than Harry – he’s got the chance to be the best player in the world.” That little nugget from Tony Cascarino on talkSPORT sparked plenty of debate across the Sportslens team. Kane has been hugely prolific during his time at Spurs, but his goals have failed to translate into any silverware for the club. Cascarino, who played for numerous clubs during his career, believes that Kane should consider moving to La Liga this summer. “He’s 28 in July and Beckham went to Real Madrid at 28 – I think he’s going to look at his team,” he said. “What has he won? The answer is nothing. He’s won lots of accolades for his individual achievements, but he was a loser in the League Cup f...
Report: Chelsea star set for contract talks, transfer expert tips him to stay
Chelsea want to keep Thiago Silva at Stamford Bridge beyond the end of this season. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Blues are willing to trigger a clause to extend his contract by another year. The 36-year-old has largely been impressive for Chelsea this season, racking up 21 appearances and weighing in with a couple of goals in all competitions. SL View New Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is an admirer of Silva, with the pair previously enjoying a successful period together at Paris Saint-Germain. The defender has settled well into English football, providing much-needed experience to Chelsea’s backline. Silva hasn’t been totally flawless, with his error against West Bromwich Albion earlier in the campaign his most notable blunder. However, mistakes have been few and far b...
Three Things: Liverpool get cold feet, Arsenal going nowhere, big call needed on De Gea
It has been a while since we ran our ‘Three Things’ column on a Monday morning, but we couldn’t resist given events in the Premier League over the weekend. Manchester City’s stunning 4-1 victory at Liverpool was the standout result and left Reds fans everywhere bemoaning the rapid demise of the reigning champions. Without further ado, we offer our take on three of the key talking points from the latest round of Premier League fixtures. ‘Bad champions’ get cold feet Man City’s demolition job on Liverpool at Anfield sparked plenty of debate, with Roy Keane’s epic rant on Sky Sports perhaps the best of the bunch. 🗣 “They are making a lot of excuses, to me they’ve been bad champions.” Roy Keane has not been impressed with Liverpool’s mentality this season pic.twitter.com/jjxyCdnhwM — F...
Former Arsenal defender hits out at Arteta over defensive failures
Former Arsenal defender Armand Traore has criticised Mikel Arteta over his failure to address the club’s defensive issues. Kieran Tierney’s absence through injury has left the Gunners’ boss short of options at left-back over the past few games. Cedric Soares has been deployed as Tierney’s replacement despite being more comfortable playing at right-back. Speaking to Stadium Astro after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday, Traore hit out at Arteta’s failure to resolve the problem. “I would have liked to see a left-back coming in for cover for Kieran because I believe that he has got a lot of injuries issues at the moment,” he said. “The fact that they didn’t was a bit disappointing. I don’t like seeing Cedric at left-back. He’s a right-footed player and it creates an imbalance wi...
PL legend urges Arsenal boss to resist temptation to sell ‘quality’ player
Former Celtic and Aston Villa midfielder Stylian Petrov has urged Mikel Arteta not to sell Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman had a lofty reputation when he signed for the Premier League club in 2017, but he has failed to live up to expectations. The 29-year-old has scored 58 goals in 154 appearances for Arsenal, but Petrov believes he still has plenty to offer the north London club. “I think Lacazette has the quality and ability to make the difference,” he told Stadium Astro. “If they add the right players around Lacazette they can still see the best of him. “You can still use him as long as you add more players and better quality around him.” SL View It is fair to say that Lacazette hasn’t quite delivered what was expected of him at Arsenal. His impressive goalscoring rec...
