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Ronald de Boer believes that Glasgow Rangers must be involved in any changes to the Champions League or other competitions in the future.

De Boer discusses Gers

Last week, the European Super League shocked the footballing world – fortunately, it was abandoned within two days of its launch (The Guardian). However, its impact has been widespread and has brought into conversation the place of many European clubs.

Former Gers player De Boer, who scored 40 goals during his time with the Ibrox outfit, was speaking about his former club and he believes that, along with Celtic, they should be involved in discussions if any changes are made to the Champions League or other competitions. He explained (via Daily Record):

“If you just talk about merchandise and interest from people around the world, Rangers and Celtic are definitely up there.

“Wherever you go, there are an unbelievable amount of fans from those clubs.
“I’m not talking about the quality of football in Scotland, just the magnitude of the clubs themselves.
“They’re huge. That’s why, on that level, they’re very close to these big teams we’re talking about, I’m 100 per cent sure of that.
“So if there are any changes in the future, they should be involved or considered.”

Important

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin praised the importance of Rangers and Celtic when knocking the Super League (BBC) – he does at least appreciate the stature of the Old Firm clubs. Unfortunately, their lack of financial power means they are often overlooked at the top of the game, but as De Boer says, in terms of fanbase they can claim to have a seat at the highest table.

De Boer is right in saying that the Gers must be involved in discussions if changes are made, but they should be one of a huge number of clubs. European football needs the ‘smaller’ clubs just as much as the elite – everyone should be given an opportunity to have their say on the future of continental football.

In other news, Rangers are in advanced talks to sign this striker.

Manchester City will be looking to seal their place in this season’s FA Cup final as they take on Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side in the semi-final at Wembley on Saturday evening.

Pep Guardiola’s side can keep their quadruple hopes alive with a win against the Blues, who have dramatically improved since the German manager’s appointment in January. Both sides progressed to the Champions League semi-finals in midweek, with City beating Borussia Dortmund 4-2 on aggregate, whilst the west London side scraped past Porto 2-1.

Rotation always seems likely when Guardiola is involved but the Spanish manager will surely go with something close to his strongest XI given the importance of Saturday’s fixture.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Guardiola to line up against Chelsea, with three changes from the side which started against Dortmund on Wednesday…

Despite Zack Steffen featuring earlier in the competition, it seems likely that Guardiola will keep his faith in Ederson to start this fixture.

There’s one change in defence as Joao Cancelo comes in at left-back for Oleksandr Zinchenko after the Portuguese defender was left out in midweek.

In midfield, Kevin De Bruyne takes the place of Bernardo Silva, with the Belgian dropping further back despite impressing up front in the win in Germany.

This allows for two changes in attack as Gabriel Jesus returns up front in the hope that he can stretch Chelsea’s ageing defence with runs in behind, with Riyad Mahrez supporting him on the right flank.

Phil Foden is also unfortunate to miss out after a starring display in midweek, but the “exceptional” Raheem Sterling – in the words of England boss Gareth Southgate – has barely featured of late and his pace could prove to be a game-changer for Guardiola. That is especially the case as Reece James will likely push up on the right-hand side, which could leave a lot of space in behind to be exploited by Sterling, so he gets the nod ahead of Foden.

In other news… Man City handed boost in transfer race for £31.5m-rated beast amid Romano claim 

أشاد رئيس جمهورية السنغال، ماكي سال، بجناح منتخب أسود التيرانجا والفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، ساديو ماني، بعد فوزهم ببطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا 2021.

ونجحت السنغال في الفوز على مصر بركلات الجزاء الترجيحية يوم، الأحد، الماضي، بعد التعادل في الأشواط الأصلية والإضافية على ملعب “أوليمبي” في الكاميرون.

اقرأ أيضًا.. حارس نيجيريا السابق: صليت لعدم فوز مصر بـ أمم إفريقيا.. والحكام لم يحموا محمد صلاح

وعاد منتخب السنغال إلى بلده أمس، الإثنين، وسط احتفالات صاخبة في الشوارع التي امتلأت عن آخرها بالجماهير التي كانت تنتظر اللقب منذ سنوات طويلة وأخيرًا حصدته على حساب مصر.

وتحدث سال عن رأيه في ماني خلال الاحتفالات في تصريحات نقلتها شبكة “Lerufisquois” السنغالية، وقال: “ساديو ماني هو ملك كرة القدم، حسنًا، أعتقد أنه تغلب على زميله محمد صلاح في تلك المواجهة، ساديو لاعب رائع، لقد رأينا ذلك طوال هذه المباراة”.

وأتم تصريحاته: “الفوز ببطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا هو انتصار كبير للشعب السنغالي بأكمله”.

Some old emails revealed by The Chronicle have shown just how close a decision was to being made on the potential takeover of Newcastle United.

As per the news outlet, in emails sent to the Premier League, officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) stated many times that sources believed that a decision on the proposed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group was ‘imminent.’

On June 21st 2020, the top flight reportedly confirmed that a decision to be made on the takeover was ‘possible’, although they did also claim that they could need more time.

The KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) eventually pulled out of the deal after a growing impatience with the top flight’s meandering, and it is not clear why the Premier League suddenly made a U-turn in terms of thinking that a decision was ‘possible’ and then not.

Can the Newcastle takeover be revived?

Given just how close a decision on the potential takeover in the North East was seemingly to being made, it is very much still possible that the bid can be revisited.

It will be interesting to see what the Premier League’s stance is come the pending arbitration case between them and the Tyneside club, and the result of that could make it a lot clearer with regards to whether the takeover can still be revived.

The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope’s latest update seems to suggest a deal is still in the offing, as the journalist claimed on Wednesday that Ashley’s decision to let go of retail staff may have been in cohorts with potential new owners, which you can read about below.

Find out what revelation Craig Hope has dropped on the potential new owners here!

Managers will come and go at Arsenal but the same old problems will remain.

Arsene Wenger isn’t in London anymore but defensive errors are still rife. Unai Emery tried his utmost to eradicate them while Mikel Arteta has come close on occasions.

However, some painstaking individual mistakes have cost them in recent weeks. Whether it be Dani Ceballos against Benfica and Olympiacos, Bernd Leno versus Wolves or Granit Xhaka in the draw with Burnley, it has been nothing short of calamitous.

It appears that when it comes to defending, the club are cursed. Though, there is another area in N5 that appears to be a poisoned chalice; Arsenal’s captaincy.

Ever since Patrick Vieira left back in 2005, the Gunners have been through plenty of captains. Thierry Henry led from the front with his on-field displays but after that, it has been a tale of woe for pretty much each and every one of the club’s skippers.

William Gallas was the first antagonist back in 2007, tarnishing the captaincy and thus, beginning a remarkable trend at London Colney.

On the day that Eduardo broke his leg after a horrific challenge, Arsenal lost to Birmingham and with it, started their title collapse. Gallas was slumped on the floor at full time and sat motionless on the St Andrew’s Turf, waiting for the ground to swallow him up.

If anything encapsulated a host of Arsenal captains in the last 14 years it would be that moment. Cesc Fabregas took on the mantle next and like Henry, led well on the pitch.

However, he eventually moved to Barcelona and even missed an Arsenal game to go to watch the Spanish Grand Prix.

Robin van Persie took on the baton from the midfielder but similarly to Fabregas, departed shortly after following demands he made about the direction of the club. Thomas Vermaelen became his successor but a different kind of curse took over; one where their captain very rarely played.

The Belgian featured just 43 times in the league during his two years as captain. His replacement, Arteta, then played in just 16 matches during his final few campaigns in north London.

Per Mertesacker (seven games) and Laurent Koscielny (17 matches) took on the honour of wearing the captain’s armband afterwards. Koscielny, however, left in bizarre circumstances.

One moment, the French defender was happy and then the next, he was refusing to go on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of America in 2019. He subsequently moved to Bordeaux and then proceeded to rip off a Gunners shirt during his unveiling video.

Though, the worst of all was Granit Xhaka. The Swiss was horrendously torn apart by the club’s supporters in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace during the 2019/20 campaign.

As he was being substituted, Xhaka proceeded to rip the armband off, give the crowd some stick and then throw his shirt to the ground in disgust.

Emery consequently relieved him of his duties and made Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the skipper.

Like Henry, he has led from the front. Without Aubameyang, Arsenal wouldn’t have won the FA Cup last term. However, in recent days, we’ve seen the curse begin to blow up in Arteta’s face.

There has been a certain negativity attached to the honour of Arsenal captain over the last decade and now their star man is the latest to be caught up in some drama.

Aubameyang reported late when the team met up ahead of the north London derby with Tottenham on Sunday and as a result, he was dropped to the bench. It was a major call from the manager in what was their biggest game of the season.

The Gabonese forward failed to get any minutes and then while Arsenal’s subs warmed down on the Emirates pitch at full-time, he got in his car and sped off into the distance.

Time will tell whether that was a landmark moment in his career at the club. Aubameyang has often been the joker of the pack, the go-to man when Arsenal are in a crisis. On this occasion, however, he was nowhere to be seen.

After what’s happened in years gone by, Arteta will be wary of escalating this situation. After all, Arsenal’s number 14 had just started to rediscover his best form; the last thing they need is a starting XI without his name on.

AND in other news, Imagine him and Partey: Edu could sign Xhaka upgrade for AFC with “complete” £22m star…

In a recent interview, Leeds United centre-back, Robin Koch, jokingly called for Erling Haaland to join Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Since joining Leeds from SC Freiburg last August, life has not got off to the best of starts for Koch at Elland Road, with the defender being sidelined for a considerable amount of his debut Premier League season due to a knee injury.

However, the £15.3 million-rated 24-year-old’s lack of game time for Leeds does not appear to have put him off shopping the club about, as, in a recent interview with SportBild (via Sport Witness), the Germany international jokingly called for Borussia Dortmund centre-forward, Erling Haaland, to join him at Elland Road.

Speaking about Manchester City’s upcoming Champions League clash with Dortmund, Koch said: “City’s defence has improved, but Erling Haaland can also push a ball in against City. Haaland has the killer instinct and the Champions League seems to give him a lot of joy.

“With his stature, this body, he would be made for this! I think the Premier League is a perfect fit for Haaland. Maybe he will stay in Dortmund for another year or two and then come to us in Leeds [grins].”

Transfer Tavern Take

While Leeds’ improvement as a club under the leadership of Bielsa has been rather remarkable, perhaps the signing of a player such as the £141,000-per-week Haaland still remains slightly out of the club’s reach, for now.

Having said that, with the striker’s father, Alf-Inge, having played for the Whites in his time as a professional footballer, perhaps, along with the comments of Koch, Haaland could be convinced of a move to Elland Road at some point in the future.

Although, it would not be advisable for fans of Leeds to hold their breath while they wait to find out.

In other news: Leeds United have been urged to sign this “highly sought-after” £31k-p/w star this summer – find out more here!

Liverpool head into their UEFA Champions League last-16 second-leg against RB Leipzig in a bit of a crisis.

Since the turn of the year, the Reds have lost seven matches, with the recent 1-0 defeat against Fulham at Anfield being a low point in the tenure of Jurgen Klopp.

A whole host of the German’s charges at Anfield are woefully out of form yet one man still fails to be handed an opportunity: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The upcoming European clash could be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce him into the starting line-up in place of Thiago Alcantara.

So far this season, the former Arsenal man has made just ten appearances in all competitions with just three of those being starts.

The early months of his campaign were blighted by injury, only returning to contention in mid-December. However, since then, he has only featured for a total of 201 minutes in the Premier League.

With Liverpool in such a commanding position heading into the second leg, the game could be a wonderful opportunity to hand Oxlade-Chamberlain a much sought-after place in the starting XI.

Some would argue that it makes no sense for the Englishman to replace summer signing Thiago in the lineup due to his much inferior output.

In one respect, they would be correct. According to WhoScored, the Spaniard is superior to Oxlade-Chamberlain in shots, key passes and dribbles per game.

Despite that,  however, it is actually the Englishman who has had a more telling contribution on the pitch with an assist. Whilst that is still not sparkling, the £120k p/w midfielder has achieved that in far less game time as Thiago continues his struggles to adapt to the demands of life at Anfield.

Even Klopp has pointed out an aspect that Liverpool are desperately missing and one that Oxlade-Chamberlain could bring: “energy”.

The reigning Premier League champions look flat and uninspiring at the current time. They need a spark from somewhere and that could potentially be with the recall of Oxlade-Chamberlain.

AND in more news, should Jurgen Klopp walk from Anfield in the near future, FSG have to target former midfielder Steven Gerrard as the German’s replacement…

Despite the result, Alex Iwobi let Carlo Ancelotti down on his return to the starting line-up as Everton beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Thursday night.

The Nigerian forward had featured for just seven minutes over the Toffees’ previous two Premier League fixtures, after falling out of the side for last month’s 2-0 Merseyside Derby win away to rivals Liverpool.

Ancelotti sought to offer the 24-year-old a recall at the Hawthorns as Everton played their second of three fixtures in the space of eight days, with James Rodriguez not risked and Gylfi Sigurdsson initially rested after featuring against Southampton on Monday.

Opening the action away to Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened Baggies marked Iwobi’s 13th start in 23 outings during the top-flight campaign to date, having been a staple of the Blues line-up over the festive period.

But his night would end in only the 58th minute as Ancelotti sought to put Everton in control of the midfield battle, with Allan introduced from the bench to instigate a shift in formation from the 3-4-1-2 with which the Toffees initially took to the field.

Iwobi was an easy choice for the Italian tactician to haul off early in the second period, having wasted a handful of promising opportunities in the first half to deliver a cross into Sam Johnstone’s penalty area.

The £22.9m-rated attacker, operating in a right-midfield role, was off the pace in most scenarios and delivered a performance akin to the displays Everton saw throughout last season which sparked Darren Bent to question where his qualities are.

“For all his endeavour – he does work really hard and he tries really hard – there’s no end product, there’s no quality there,” the former England international told Football Insider last July.

“He works really hard, you’ve got to give that to him, he puts a shift in but when it comes to that real bit of quality where it’s the final delivery, scoring a goal or the final pass, he hasn’t quite got that.”

During the 57 minutes in which Iwobi featured, Everton registered eight shots with just two on target. Three of those efforts came from Richarlison, two from Andre Gomes and one from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Bernard and Ben Godfrey, per WhoScored.

As well as not testing Johnstone, Iwobi additionally failed to create a chance for a Blues player to shoot, despite Calvert-Lewin (2), Bernard (1) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (1) – those closest on the field to the £50,000-per-week forward – registering at least one key pass each.

Part of Iwobi’s struggles stemmed from issues getting on the ball, with every outfield Everton player except Richarlison (22) and Calvert-Lewin (28) registering more touches than the ex-Arsenal playmaker (29).

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who took 28 touches, also outpassed Iwobi, with 14 accurate balls from 19 attempts to the Nigerian’s 11 from 15. Iwobi averages 19.8 passes (16.2 accurate) and with an 82% success rate per top-flight game this season, per SofaScore.

The 24-year-old further averages 0.6 key passes and 0.4 crosses (14% accurate), but failed to find a teammate with his only attempt against West Brom.

Ancelotti may not have expected Iwobi to create a haul of chances for himself or Everton as a team, but would have hoped to see the 44-cap international help set the pace far more often.

AND in other news, Everton eye a £22.5m-rated speedster who is “hungry for success”…

MatériaMais Notícias

O Fluminense contratou dois zagueiros para esta temporada, o que deixou a equipe com seis opções para o setor. As chegadas de Henrique e Renato Chaves acirraram a concorrência pela titularidade, e Marlon, antes titular absoluto, passou a alternar entre o time principal e o reserva. Agora, com um novo treinador no comando, ele – que chegou a ser barrado por Eduardo Baptista, foi titular nos últimos jogos do Carioca e poupado na Primeira Liga – segue trabalhando para se consolidar na vaga.

– O que eu tenho observado é que ele (Levir Culpi) gosta de jogar com as linha altas. Estou tranquilo, à disposição. Só quero trabalhar, dar o meu melhor para ajudar o grupo. Quem formar a dupla de zaga vai entrar e dar o melhor em prol de dar a vitória ao Fluminense – considerou o zagueiro da camisa 4, que celebrou a sequência de três vitórias do Tricolor na temporada.

– É sempre bom ter um grupo forte. Fluminense demonstrou isso. É fruto de um trabalho, no qual nos entregamos de corpo e alma. Estamos numa crescente de três vitórias consecutivas (Friburguense, América e Criciúma). Espero continuar nessa sequência de vitórias – destacou.

Neste domingo, em Volta Redonda, o Flu medirá forças com o Botafogo, na primeira rodada da Taça Guanabara (segundo turno do Carioca). Uma semana depois, vai enfrentar o Flamengo, pela mesma competição, em São Paulo, no Pacaembu. O fato de estar fora da cidade do Rio de Janeiro não é incômodo para Marlon.

– Para mim não tem o menor problema. Eu só quero estar atuando. Os jogadores estão tranquilos e cientes. Temos que encarar da melhor maneira possível, sempre buscando a vitória para o Fluminense – ponderou.

Além de Marlon, Henrique e Renato Chaves, o elenco conta ainda com Gum, Elivélton e Nogueira para a defesa.

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Many Liverpool fans reacted in delight over a transfer update regarding Bayern Munich midfielder David Alaba.

According to Goal journalist Romeo Agresti (via Anfield Edition), the Reds have submitted a contract worth in the region of £9m a year in line to a free transfer in the summer, with his Bavarian contract due to expire at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

If this deal was to go through, the Austria international will reunite with his former teammate Thiago Alcantara – who left the Bundesliga champions to join Jurgen Klopp’s side for £20m.

Alaba has been hugely successful with Bayern, winning nine Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues with over 400 appearances to his name (TransferMarkt).

In light of Liverpool’s catastrophic injury crisis at the back, with both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez ruled out for a significant time, supporters were keen to see Alaba in a red shirt as soon as possible.

Fans gush over Alaba bid

“Big if true”

Credit: @benharding__

“We really need this guy, he will fit in directly”

Credit: @slivarado

“Amazing, really versatile player and a great Wijnaldum replacement (can play in the midfield), but we need him NOW, not in the Summer, this doesn’t help us at all right now”

Credit: @anfieldfocusuk

“Pleaseeee”

Credit: @sisenor_9

“Oh yes please”

Credit: @frickkerrr

“Get it done”

Credit: @ElliottPurcell2

In other news, Paul Joyce drops huge Michael Edwards claim which will be grim news for Liverpool fans.