كشفت تقارير صحفية إنجليزية أن مدرب فريق ليفربول يورجن كلوب كان مقتنعًا بفكرة انتقال لاعب بوروسيا دورتموند جادون سانشو، إلى مانشستر يونايتد في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي لهذا العام.

وكان ليفربول ضمن الأندية الراغبة في الحصول على خدمات اللاعب الإنجليزي، هذا الصيف، ولكنه لم يتمكن من التوصل إلى اتفاق مع دورتموند بسبب الرسوم المالية المرتفعة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. شاكيري عن تكهنات مستقبله مع ليفربول: الإعلام يكتب كثيرًا

وارتبط مانشستر يونايتد ارتباطًا وثيقًا بـ سانشو، وكان أكثر الأندية اهتمامًا به ورغبة في ضمه وقدم أكثر من عرض ولكن إدارة دورتموند رفضته حيث إنه لا يلبي مطالبهم.

وحسب شبكة “ذا أثلتيك” الإنجليزية، فإن كلوب كان على إطلاع دائم بمستقبل سانشو وما يدور بين مانشستر يونايتد وبوروسيا دورتموند في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية.

وأوضحت أن كلوب أخبر أصدقاءه المقربين أنه يعتقد أن سانشو سينتهي به المطاف في الأولد ترافورد، وهي الخطوة التي لم تتم في النهاية.

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Loads of Celtic fans have been reacting to a tweet from the club wishing former star Charlie Mulgrew a happy birthday, and it’s fair to say fans are missing the 32 year-old.

After a slightly up and down start to the season, Celtic are well and truly flying at the moment, winning 11 domestic games in a row since December’s Old Firm defeat.

However, the Bhoys could still be facing a defensive crisis this summer, with Dedryck Boyata yet to show any signs of penning a new contract and the likes of Jozo Simunovic and Jack Hendry still failing to really impress.

Fans are thus hoping the club brings Mulgrew to Glasgow for the third time, after they tweeted their good wishes to the 39-cap Scotland ace on Tuesday.

Mulgrew spent four years at Parkhead to start off his career and returned in 2010 for a six-year spell, racking up 29 goals in 208 total appearances for the club over the two spells. Most of his second stint was of course under the management of Neil Lennon.

Now 32 and plying his trade for Blackburn in the Championship, the versatile defender has scored an impressive ten goals this season, and fans are all calling for his return – a return that would surely only happen if Boyata leaves the club.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

أوضح مدرب فريق روما الإيطالي باولو فونسيكا موقفه من التعاقد الدائم مع اللاعب كريس سمولينج، من صفوف فريق مانشستر يونايتد الإنجليزي في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.

ولعب المدافع الإنجليزي على سبيل الإعارة في صفوف روما الموسم الماضي.

ورغب روما في شراء سمولينج بشكل دائم من مانشستر يونايتد هذا الصيف، ولكنه فشل في التوصل إلى إي اتفاق حتى الآن، رغم أن سوق الانتقالات سينتهي بعد غد.

وقال فونسيكا، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “سكاي سبورتس” العالمية: “مازالت صفقة سمولينج مستمرة؟ لدي ثلاثة مدافعين فقط، لذا نعم، أحتاج واحدًا آخر”.

وأضاف: “سنرى في الـ48 ساعة القادمة ماذا سيحدث”.

وواصل: “كما قلت، أريد سمولينج، إنه هدفنا في قلب الدفاع، لذا نعم، أنا واثق (من إتمام الصفقة)”.

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been reflecting on the weekend’s action, and they’re not too happy with the form of James Milner.

Liverpool returned to the summit of the Premier League on Sunday, drawing 0-0 at Old Trafford in a rather drab affair.

The Reds have now drawn four of their last five games in all competitions, and the front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane have combined for just two goals across those four draws.

Who has the loudest fans in Europe? PSG certainly state their claim in the video below…

All three were ineffective again on Sunday, but the real problems are further back in the team, where the lack of creativity in midfield is a huge problem.

Milner filled in at right-back at Old Trafford, and the versatile ace had by far the most chances to create dangerous situations for the Reds, yet he couldn’t produce a single good cross. When he plays in midfield, his crosses and forward play are equally ineffective.

The 33 year-old has said in the past that he would like to move back to Leeds United after his time at Anfield ends, and fans are now discussing the prospect of axing him this summer.

Milner is a Jurgen Klopp favourite and for good reason, but the Twitter reactions down below suggest his time at the club is nearing its end…

Of course, fans have their different opinions on Brendan Rodgers’ departure but one thing that supporters can agree on is the fact that Neil Lennon has already done a solid job.

Although, Lennon’s long-term future at Parkhead remains uncertain as the Daily Mail reported that Alex Neil was being considered for the managerial vacancy after Brendan Rodgers’ departure.

But, The Sun have now reported that Alex Neil has ruled out becoming Celtic’s next manager.

Here’s what the Preston North End boss had to say:

“I have no thoughts about moving club or anything like that.

“I am the Preston manager and I am enjoying my time here and we have a lot of scope to improve. Being the boss here has my full focus.”

So, with Celtic already facing rejection in their pursuit of Brendan Rodgers’ long-term successor, here are the potential consequences…

CELTIC FACE MANAGERIAL DILEMMA

Celtic supporters would never have imagined that Alex Neil would reject the chance to take charge at Celtic, but they’ll now have to face the harsh reality as the managerial hunt goes on.

Indeed, the Hoops now face a dilemma as they’ll have to weigh up their options and consider a different target, which isn’t exactly convenient as Alex Neil had everything that Celtic want in a manager, with experience in Scotland, a record of developing players and constant progression at Deepdale.

NEIL LENNON OVER THE MOON

Interim boss Neil Lennon will have his sights set on becoming Celtic’s permanent manager in the summer after enjoying a strong start at Parkhead, so hearing news of Alex Neil’s snub will delight the former Hibernian boss.

Neil’s snub will come as a big boost to Lennon and things could get even better if he continues to secure positive results and silverware in the current campaign, with fans surely calling for him to be appointed if that’s the case.

Celtic fans, do you think the club should appoint Lennon on a permanent basis? Surely there’re better managerial options out there… 

When Rangers think back to the days under Pedro Caixinha, there are very few positive memories compared to their current spell under Steven Gerrard, although things weren’t quite as different as they may think. The Portuguese gaffer was up against it from the start, as opposed to Gerrard who came in as an Ibrox darling, and it makes a good read.

At the moment, Steven Gerrard finds himself in pursuit of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League, but much as has been the case over the last few years for the Gers, he’s set to end the season trophyless. Pedro Caixinha suffered similar struggles, but his early blip in Europe ultimately meant his time at the club was over before it even began, even if the pair have similar records in Ibrox.

PEDRO CAIXINHA

Many a manager has fallen under the weight of expectation when taking on a top job, and in reality, it seems that Pedro Caixinha simply didn’t understand the size of the job he was undertaking when he rocked up at Ibrox. The Portuguese gaffer was doomed from pretty much day one, though, as his lacklustre Rangers fell at the first qualifying round of the Europa League.

If there was ever going to be any way back from that embarrassing loss over two legs against Progres Niederkorn then Caixinha would have found it, but in truth, his sacking was always a matter of when and not if after that. Regardless, the now-Cruz Azul gaffer went onto win 14 of his 26 games and boasts a win percentage that actually eclipses that of Steven Gerrard, even though he’s looked at as a resounding flop.

TT GRADE: B

STEVEN GERRARD

Whilst Stevie G has done a good job in winning over the fans, his time at Ibrox could end in the same way as Caixinha’s did if he’s not careful. The fans may be behind the ex-Liverpool and England skipper, but as trophies remain elusive at Ibrox, one decent run in the Europa League won’t save the young manager for too much longer, especially seeing as he only managed to make the group stages.

If anything, that early summer run where Gerrard navigated the qualifiers was only made to look so impressive because of Caixinha’s failures 12 months before, and when it came to the Scottish Premier League the frailties started to show. There is no doubting that Gerrard deserves more time, as did Caixinha, but the Portuguese manager’s time in Glasgow should be a stark warning to the current gaffer as the slightest slip up could see his spell at the club end in the same way as his predecessor.

TT GRADE: B

TT VERDICT

Pedro Caixinha will always be looked at with real scorn by the Gers for his calamity spell in charge, but look at the numbers and his 53.85% win ratio is marginally better than Stevie G’s 52.27%. The stats aren’t everything in football, though, but whilst Gerrard continues to come up short against Scotland’s finest then it really is hard to justify giving him the edge over Caixinha, so this one has to end a draw.

There is nothing worse for a passionate football fan when their club lets a star player leave. For Aberdeen fans, that was exactly what happened less than 12 months ago when the news was confirmed to them on the 19th July that Adam Rooney would be leaving Pittodrie to sign for Conference club Salford City.

So far this season the Republic of Ireland striker has scored 16 goals in 30 league games for his new club, but prior to his time with Salford City, the 30-year-old was a goal machine at Aberdeen. His record of 87 goals in 197 games for the Dandies made him a household name north of the border and his departure certainly would have hit the Aberdeen supporters hard.

In the final season that Rooney spent with the club, he only managed ten goals in 44 outings, with eight of those coming in the Scottish Premiership. His influence was obviously dwindling, but that didn’t make his departure any easier to stomach amongst the fans. The highest point of Rooney’s Aberdeen career was his Scottish League Cup success with them in the 2013/14 season, and that will be one of the things that the fans remember him so fondly for, even if he only played two games in the competition.

You can see what those Aberdeen supporters made of Rooney’s departure here:

The Dandies were all gutted, as you can see from the tweets above, that they had to say goodbye to Rooney after four and a half years and will still be missing him now.

Wolves beat fellow Premier League new-boys Cardiff 2-0 on Saturday, and the way they’ve played this season sends a message that newly promoted sides don’t need to adapt to survive in the Premier League.

They currently sit seventh, probably the best any side outside the so-called ‘big six’ can expect nowadays, but they haven’t done it by defending for their lives and scoring scrappy winners. They’ve continued to play the way that earned them promotion from the Championship last season, and they deserve great credit for doing so.

Looking at the other two promoted sides, Cardiff were never the most attacking team in the first place but seemed devoid of an out-and-out philosophy that the top managers and club appear to have in the modern game. Fulham, however, did. They played some great attacking football last season, but in summer it seems they made a conscious effort to toughen up their ranks to be prepared to sit back and defend against existing Premier League sides.

The impact of this is two-fold. In one respect the players who earned the club promotion in the first place will be feeling confident about the way they played last time out and will be relishing the opportunity to show what they’re made of in the Premier League. Changing tactics as Slavisa Jokanovic did just makes the players feel they aren’t good enough to go toe-to-toe with the league’s best.

The other downside to this change is the squad just isn’t used to playing so defensively and their manufactured inferiority complex means they’re susceptible to be broken down too easily. Wolves have gone the opposite way to relegation-bound Fulham in this regard.

They’ve brought in players to improve the squad’s ability to play the way Nuno Espirito Santo wants to play.

Exciting, attacking football. Of course, they have discipline to their performances, but it’s been clear he’s given his squad the belief they’re good enough to beat anyone in this league, and that’s now true.

Clubs who get promoted this season, particularly those who have a clear philosophy, such as Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds, should take note of their success and bare it in mind over the summer months.

Do you think Fulham would have been better equipped to survive if they hadn’t been so cautious until Ranieri’s appointment?

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England manager Gareth Southgate announced on Wednesday his squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.

West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice wins his first call-up for the country after declaring his international allegiance to England over the Republic of Ireland.

And Southgate has also included a total of five Spurs players in his selection.

Full-backs Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier, the latter of which scored the opening goal in the World Cup semi-final against Croatia in the summer, are both included, along with midfielders Eric Dier and Dele Alli and striker Harry Kane.

Spurs fans, however, are far from delighted with the national team manager’s selections.

Alli only returned from injury against Southampton last weekend, while Kane has rushed his way through his recovery from a ligament problem to make his comeback, but has appeared half-fit in recent games. Dier, too, missed four games prior to the encounter with the Saints.

And supporters are worried that some of the club’s key stars could pick up even more injuries as the club look to qualify for the Champions League by finishing in the top four.

Take a look at some of the best reaction below!

Everton continued their good run of results with a solid 2-0 win at West Ham United this weekend.

The Toffees saw off the Hammers with relative ease to cement their place just outside the main pack in the Premier League, as well easing the pressure on manager Marco Silva, who has come under pressure from numerous media outlets throughout the season.

Silva was expected to challenge higher up in the Premier League table than the current ninth position is suggesting, although a seventh place finish just outside of the top six is still well on for the club.

And while Silva has been under pressure, the last few weeks have shown that the former Watford man could well be the man to take the Goodison Park club forward and finally lead them back to challenging for the top four, as in previous years under David Moyes.

Money has been spent by the powers that be for the Merseysiders, and with that money being spent comes expectation, something that Silva appeared to not be able to handle early on in his tenure at the club.

However, his tactics and way of setting up his team in recent weeks have shown that he can actually get the Toffees playing to their maximum, something which could well yield results in the coming seasons.

With the players in the ranks at Everton at the moment, success should not be too far off at Goodison Park, and stability will be needed.

It might have taken a good amount of time to start looking right, but Silva is showing he is the man to take the club forward, and Toffees fans can have plenty to look forward too in the 19/20 season if they can continue on this current upward trajectory.