Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is planning a summer clearout, which will likely include the departures of utility men Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind, according to the Manchester Evening News.
What’s the word?
According to the report, Mourinho had already decided to have a summer cull, even before the Champions League aberration at the hands of Sevilla, which drew so much ire from the club’s fans.
That has led some supporters to demand that the former Real Madrid boss is dismissed but the Portuguese’s summer plans show no sign that he might soon be on the move.
Darmian – valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt – and Blind have hardly featured this season. Other names who could join the pair in leaving the club this summer are Luke Shaw, Andreas Pereira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
A clearout is just what United need
Under Louis van Gaal, there was a churn of players in and out at Old Trafford and it is fair to say that it didn’t work.
Some of the players brought in – Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Memphis Depay – have already left the club while the signs look bleak for Darmian and Blind.
The issue is that the players themselves were not good enough for United and, despite the vast swathes of money spent in recent years, the long and the short of the matter is that Mourinho still doesn’t have a squad that is fit for purpose.
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There are also others who could be at risk. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones just haven’t progressed as expected. Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young have performed well at full-back this season but both are the wrong side of 30.
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Marouane Fellaini’s contract expires in the summer while question marks remain about how Alexis Sanchez, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all fit into the same squad.
Some United fans might want to see Mourinho leave the club, but if he is to stay on, then he needs to be able to mould to his will.
The squad is still not good enough and given the demand for instant success at Old Trafford, a summer of ins and outs is the only way Mourinho can go about changing that.
Rangers ended their run of three games without a win with a dominant 4-0 victory against Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday.
The result puts them second in the Scottish Premiership on goal difference with just five games remaining before the end of the season, all of which will be against the other top six sides.
Four different goalscorers – Kenny Miller, Alfredo Morelos, Jamie Murphy and Daniel Candeias – combined to delight supporters, who have had to endure under par performances of late.
With Dundee securing a 0-0 result mid-week against Celtic, they threatened going to be a tough nut to crack.
Jamie Murphy drew most of the plaudits from fans for his performance, setting up Miller before scoring the third goal of the afternoon himself.
It was his fifth goal and seventh assist since joining the club on loan in January and many supporters now believe he is one of, if not the best, player in the entire division.
Can the Light Blues bring him to the club permanently this summer?
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Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Dundee display…
Southampton fans have experienced a miserable season so far, and it does not look as though it is going to get any easier.
On Sunday, Mark Hughes’s side took on Arsenal at the Emirates with the hope of boosting their chances of survival.
It started off well as Shane Long got on the scoresheet inside the first 17 minutes, but the Gunners managed to get themselves back into the game thanks to a goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Danny Welbeck put Arsenal ahead before Charlie Austin nabbed an equaliser in the 73rd minute, and earned plenty of praise from Southampton fans for doing so.
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In the end, though, it was not to be as Welbeck scored again to give the Gunners all three points, which left the Saints three points from safety with six games left to play.
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James Ward-Prowse has become a pivotal figure in the team this season, and he delivered his thoughts on the game after the final whistle.
The supporters were left impressed by the 23-year-old’s comments, and some want him to become the new captain.
Leeds fans are absolutely furious with Paul Heckingbottom’s latest comments, as the manager insists the transfer setup at the club is good.
You’d be hard pushed to find a more hated figure at Elland Road right now than Victor Orta, as the director of football has drawn plenty of deserved flak for his work so far.
Last summer was a complete disaster for the club, and the squad is now full of dead weight that realistically needs to be moved on this summer.
If there’s one person that could give Orta a run for his money in the race to see who can annoy fans the most, it’s manager Paul Heckingbottom.
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The 40 year-old has won just twice since taking over in February, seeing Leeds drop from possible playoff contenders to mid-table pretenders.
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The boss doesn’t need to give fans any extra reason to fume at him at the moment, but he’s done just that in his pre-Villa conference by backing the club’s transfer strategy.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
According to reports in The Sun on April 21, Newcastle United are targeting a summer move for £20m-rated Bournemouth striker Josh King,
The Sun says that Rafa Benitez is looking for a new number nine at the end of the season after his side preserved their Premier League status for at least another year after surpassing the magic 40-point mark earlier this month, and the Norway international is said to be his top target.
With Islam Slimani only on loan from Leicester City, Aleksandar Mitrovic looking increasingly likely to leave after a hugely positive spell with Fulham and Joselu struggling for form and goals, it is clear that the Tyneside outfit need to make a change up top.
The Cherries man has been in impressive form for the south coast outfit over the course of the last two seasons – last term especially – and he may well be a target for many top flight clubs this summer.
Meanwhile, another man in demand could be West Bromwich Albion striker Jay Rodriguez, whom they signed from Southampton last year to boost their attacking options and whom has scored 33 Premier League goals in 138 Premier League appearances in total, as per Transfermarkt.
While he has impressed at times this term his club are on the verge of suffering relegation to the Championship, but the 28-year-old’s displays suggest that he is at a level where he can still make a big impact at this level, and he should also be on Benitez’s radar.
Here are three reasons Newcastle must forget King and sign the one-cap England international instead…
Rodriguez showed the quality that he has in his locker when he scored 15 goals in 33 Premier League appearances during the 2013/14 season, but the injury that he suffered against Manchester City towards the end of that campaign certainly affected him for a number of years since that moment at Southampton.
It was clear that the 28-year-old needed a new start somewhere else and his form for West Brom this term – 11 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions – show that he is still capable of finding the net on a regular basis at this level for Newcastle.
One of Rodriguez’s main issues, and one of the reasons that clubs would have been hesitant about acquiring his services last summer, was because there would have been a concern over whether he could have got back to his best.
However, the 28-year-old, whose all-round statistics this term suggest he would be one of the transfer gems of the summer, has shown by making 34 Premier League appearances for West Brom this season that his fitness is no longer an issue, and Newcastle wouldn’t have to worry about him getting injured as much as they may have done previously.
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While Bournemouth striker King could reportedly cost Newcastle £20m, the Magpies would surely fancy their chances of signing Rodriguez for a smaller fee should West Brom suffer relegation to the Championship – something that seems to be on the cards right now.
The fact that the Baggies player is quick, often seems to find himself in the right place at the right time, and can also play out wide if needed mean that Benitez should hesitate on splashing the cash on the 28-year-old.
Finding room for all his big-name pieces in Manchester United’s attacking jigsaw has been a recurring dilemma for Jose Mourinho during his second season at Old Trafford, and for a short while Jesse Lingard emerged as the epicentre just about holding the rest of it together.The Red Devils academy product has endured his fair share of critics since becoming a first-team regular in 2015/16, but the most difficult period of United’s season – when Mourinho was still searching for a way of getting the best out of Paul Pogba and January signing Alexis Sanchez in the same starting XI – showed why the last two Manchester United managers and England boss Gareth Southgate have always retained their trust in the 25-year-old, even though his development has often seemed a few stages behind colleagues and contemporaries of similar age.With goals and assists against Arsenal, Chelsea, Italy and the Netherlands, producing the goods at key moments to get United and England over the line in important games has been a key feature of Lingard’s season, validating the faith shown by Louis van Gaal, Gareth Southgate and Mourinho, not to mention Sir Alex Ferguson’s prophecy that the Three Lions man would be something of a late bloomer.
In the last few months though, a spell which has seen United beat all their Big Six rivals, Mourinho has solved the Pogba-Sanchez conundrum by reverting to the system he’s most synonymous with, leaving Lingard as the unfortunate casualty. As 4-2-3-1 has shifted to 4-3-3, Pogba has become the most offensive element of the midfield, Sanchez has beat away competition to make the left wing berth his own and Lingard has found himself pushed out to the right-hand side.
Van Gaal once remarked that Lingard lacks the pace to be an out-and-out wide man, and that’s really shown in his performances on the right this season compared to when he’s been utilised as a central attacking midfielder. His averages for shots, key passes and dribbles per game have all been lower, while the number of unsuccessful touches has increased. Perhaps most significantly, his strike rate centrally is better than one-in-three; out wide, he’s scored just one in seven.
The key statistic for Mourinho though is the win rate, United failing to win during just one of Lingard’s seven right wing outings this season. Tellingly, Mourinho used 4-3-3 in five of those games, the only exception being the 4-2-3-1 used in the 4-1 demolition of Carabao Cup opponents Burton, and that once again highlights the delicate balancing act the Old Trafford gaffer has been forced to undertake this season – which has his former world-record signing as the painfully temperamental pivot point.
Pivot being a fitting metaphor, because Pogba has so desperately struggled in a deep midfield two this season, most memorably finding himself hauled off by Mourinho in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at Wembley after being out-fought and out-classed by Mousa Dembele. Pogba’s performances there have proved United can’t afford the Frenchman and a No.10 in the same midfield, and although Lingard was the considerably better performer while United were still shaping up in a 4-2-3-1, he’s become the more expendable entity.
Perhaps that’s because Pogba commands such power at United as their record signing and one of their highest earners, compared to an academy product that cost the club nothing in transfer fees and takes home a comparatively modest £100k per-week. Perhaps that’s because Mourinho has made it almost a personal mission to prove his huge investment in Pogba was indeed money well spent. Perhaps that’s because, more justifiably, Pogba is naturally the more gifted talent, with much greater experience from his spells with Juventus and France.
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Whatever the ultimate motivation though, it’s clear Pogba and Lingard can’t coexist in the same midfield, and due to the reasons detailed above that’s a much bigger problem for the latter than the former. But it’s clear Mourinho is incredibly fond of the England man; he could be playing Juan Mata, Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford there, three players arguably more naturally equipped for the right wing berth, yet has trusted Lingard instead, even in spite of a considerable downturn in form.
That proves Lingard can still have a role to play at Old Trafford, but it also leaves him at something of a crossroads; if he wishes to be a No.10, someone who can rival Dele Alli for that role within the England squad, his future most likely lays with another team that can afford to play him there. If he wishes to stay with his boyhood club while maintaining the effectiveness he showed earlier in the season, he needs to find a way of performing in the same starting XI as Pogba and Sanchez by modifying his game.
It’s incredibly difficult to develop the defender-beating speed van Gaal once accused Lingard of lacking, especially at the age of 25. But the changing tactical trends of the Premier League throw up an interesting solution.
The most successful and entertaining teams in English football this season, Premier League winners Manchester City and Champions League finalists Liverpool, have a pair of ‘false No.8s’ – as Pep Guardiola describes them – at their beating hearts; technically gifted and dynamic players who would have been traditionally Pidgeon-holed as No.10s breaking through from the engine room to become part of the attack.
To an extent, Pogba’s fulfilling that role for United already, and Lingard has the requisites for it as well. He’s got fantastic energy and counter-attacking ability, and that lack of scintillating pace has forced him to become a more disciplined attacking midfielder than most, so moving slightly deeper into midfield wouldn’t automatically make him a defensive liability in the same way as Mata, for example.
The ultimate question, however, is how much faith Mourinho has in that Guardiola-and-Jurgen-Klopp-inspired idea. Those kinds of midfields have quickly moved to the forefront of English football, but it would represent a significant sea change from Mourinho to deploy two offensive-minded midfielders in the same engine room, even if Nemanja Matic is there to sweep up behind.
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As things stand though, it’s hard to see where else Lingard really fits into this United team while Pogba is utilised in his most effective capacity. Mourinho’s clearly given up on the idea on Pogba playing behind a No.10, and Lingard clearly isn’t the dynamic and potent right winger a club of United’s calibre desperately need to challenge City next season. Once again, perhaps through no genuine thought of his own, Mourinho finds himself blocking the path of a promising academy product for the sake of a big-money signing.
Would you move Lingard into central midfield alongside Pogba? Let us know by voting below…
According to The Times, the Premier League’s top six sides are all trying to sign Napoli’s midfield maestro, Jorginho.
What’s the story?
Napoli have been in superb domestic form losing only 3 games in Serie A all season.
While their failure to win last weekend handed Juventus their seventh consecutive league title, it was still a strong campaign from Maurizio Sarri’s men.
At the heart of their midfield was Jorginho and his impressive performances have led Napoli to set an asking price of €60 million (£52.9 million)
Who is he?
Jorginho is the Brazilian born Italian footballer whose performances for Napoli this season have got the attention of England’s elite.
Napoli brought Jorginho in from Hellas Verona in 2014 in a £8.5m deal. He operates in a three man midfield alongside Hamsik and Allan. In this dynamic, Hamsik acts as the playmaker, Allan as the enforcer and Jorginho is responsible for setting the pace of the game.
The ball control and passing skills he has at his disposal allows Jorginho to keep the play moving and he has the knack of finding pockets of space that mean he is a constant option for a pass.
The midfield maestro is one of the most accurate passers on the continent. He currently rates highest in Europe’s top 5 divisions in terms of average passes per game (94.7) all while maintaining a pass accuracy of 89.7%.
Jorginho also has the reputation of being an intelligent footballer and he is capable of mapping out a move well before play has developed.
He often comes very deep to receive the ball, sometimes dropping even behind the two centre-backs, but once on the ball he can quickly distribute and find passes that create chances out of nothing.
In this sense, Jorginho has been touted as a natural successor to Michael Carrick, the veteran midfielder on the red side of Manchester.
Will he leave Napoli?
Txiki Begiristain, the current director of football at Man City is understood to have made an informal enquiry.
The volume and accuracy of Jorginho’s passing has resonated with Guardiola who is on the lookout to replace veteran midfielders, Fernandinho (33) and Yaya Toure (34)
While Jorginho’s agent, Joao Santos, has recently been vocal in discussing the player’s future.
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“A Manchester City bid for Jorginho? Everyone knows there are four or five Premier League clubs who want Jorginho.
“Napoli have never talked about anything and I’ve never talked to other teams officially. I’m waiting for Napoli to define his future.
“Jorginho still has two years left on his contract, and if Napoli want to sell him, he’ll just have to find an agreement with another team and then he’ll have to talk to us about it.”
It is appearing more and more likely that Mikel Arteta will be named as Arsene Wenger’s successor at Arsenal in the coming days, and Gunners fans are already excited to see the Spaniard work with exciting young forward Reiss Nelson.
The 18-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in the first team after making 16 appearances in all competitions for the north London outfit, including a start at Old Trafford in the Premier League last month.
The versatile attacker, who can play on the wing or through the middle, will be hoping to be a more regular fixture in the XI next term, and Arteta could work closely with him like he has done with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling at Manchester City.
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Arsenal supporters, who have identified the Hector Bellerin replacement they want this summer, were quick to have their say on the potential link-up between the duo via social media, and while one said he would get “Salahesque numbers under Arteta next season”, another said “Mikel Arteta gonna make Reiss Nelson an absolute beast”.
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Manchester City are littered with world-class talent, but they will look to improve the squad even more this summer.
Pep Guardiola guided the blue half of Manchester to the Premier League title in his second season as manager.
If the club want to claim the trophy back-to-back and progress further than the quarter-finals in the Champions League, then they need the right playing personnel.
According to the Daily Star, City are planning to launch a British record £100m bid for Chelsea star Eden Hazard.
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The playmaker, who has two years left on his current contract, is often linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
The London Evening Standard claims that the Belgium international is currently earning around £200,000 per week, but is sure to receive a big financial boost if he signs for City.
This season, Hazard scored 15 goals and created seven assists in all competitions, and netted the only goal of the game that earned Chelsea the FA Cup last weekend.
City fans would understandably be delighted with the arrival of Hazard, but not everyone is getting their hopes up.
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A Sporting Lisbon quartet – including striker Bas Dost – have terminated their contracts with the Portuguese outfit, as The Telegraph reported on Tuesday morning, and Wolverhampton Wanderers fans have been quick to deliver their verdict on whether they club should sign the prolific Dutchman.
The Telegraph says that the 6ft 5in tall centre-forward – along with teammates Gelson Martins, Bruno Fernandes and William Carvalho – have all rescinded their deals claiming “just cause”, after some of the Sporting players were attacked by a group of supporters at their training ground last month.
Meanwhile, the west Midlands outfit, who reportedly want to sign a 6ft midfielder who dominated Ruben Neves in 2018, may well be busy in the transfer market this summer as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of their Premier League return, and they could look to bring in a new striker – especially after Benik Afobe left to join Stoke City on Tuesday.
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Wolves supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on a potential move for Dost, and while one said “get him to the Molineux”, another said “I’m not sure he’s compatible with our style”.
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