Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan has admitted that the club are keeping tabs on highly rated Sporting Lisbon striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
The 22-year-old moved to the Estadio Jose Alvalade from Utrecht in the last transfer window, but already is being linked with a move to a bigger club, with the Premier League champions one of his potential suitors.
The Dutch striker has made an electric start to his time with the Portuguese club, scoring six goals in his first six games, which has come to the attention of a number of leading European teams.
Despite remaining coy about a move for the forward, Phelan has admitted United are keeping tabs on the Netherlands international.
“We have obviously known Van Wolfswinkel for a long time. He is a young striker, very talented, who has been growing in the last few seasons,” Phelan stated to Portuguese newspaper Record.
“A club like Manchester United carefully follow many players all over the world.”
Sir Alex Ferguson has signed players from the Portuguese Primeria Liga before, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson ending up at Old Trafford after impressing in the country.
By Gareth McKnight
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Roma manager Vincenzo Montella was disappointed after his side threw away a two-goal lead against Parma on Sunday.For the ninth time this season, Roma dropped points from a winning position after Amauri’s late double salvaged a point for Pasquale Marino’s side at the Stadio Olimpico in the exciting 2-2 draw.The result leaves Roma in sixth position on the Serie A table, leaving them five points behind fourth-placed Lazio, who occupy the last of the Champions League spots.”We concede far too many goals in the final half hour,” Montella said. “It isn’t a question of players or formation but simply a dip in concentration. This side has suffered this lapse all season and we must work to put this right.””I liked what I saw during the first half and this gives me confidence going forward,” he said.”After the break we were missing (David) Pizarro who is fundamental for our particular way of playing.””We believe a lot in the fourth place, very much and also after today’s result and today’s performance, because, I repeat, there were positive signals.”Roma are close to terminating the contract of Brazilian striker Adriano after he failed to attend a medical. The forward, who signed a three-year deal in June, has been in his home country to receive treatment on a dislocated shoulder and has repeatedly delayed his return to Rome.He finally arrived last week but did not turn up to an organised medical, infuriating club director Gianpaolo Montali.”It’s true, the player did not turn up and will be given a heavy fine,” Montali said.”We tried in every way possible to look after this man when he came to Roma, but now the problem is that he is unprofessional. Adriano is indefensible.”
Blackburn midfielder David Dunn has welcomed reports that Rovers could be interested in signing unsettled Stoke City striker James Beattie this summer.
Beattie has been told he can leave the Britannia Stadium should Stoke receive an offer in the region of the £2million they paid Sheffield United to sign him 18 months ago.
The 32-year-old has been out in the cold at the Potters since reports of a mid-season bust-up with manager Tony Pulis.
Beattie has been linked with a return to Ewood Park, where he started his career with a handful of appearances before moving on to Southampton.
Dunn, who himself left his first club only to return three years ago, is excited about a possible reunion with the bustling striker.
“I think the way we play he could be a good addition to the squad, so hopefully something might get sorted there,” he said.
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“I’m sure James is pretty keen on coming back home, but it depends on how much money the manager’s got and if he needs to shift a few around. We’ll wait and see.”
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It’s apparently open season on Liverpool’s 35 million pound man Andy Carroll, as critics seem to be lining up to have a dig at the big number nine. Is this criticism over the top, and is it simply due to his fee?
Clearly having the label of the most expensive British footballer in history is always going to leave you open for high scrutiny and inevitable criticism. However, the scathing manner of the criticism of Carroll has been a bit far fetched, particularly at such an early stage of the season. The fee and the media hype surrounding him, isn’t Carroll’s fault, and for a young player with everything to prove, it hasn’t helped his cause.
Carroll joined Liverpool with a serious injury problem, and he has struggled to regain full fitness since the injury. It was unfortunate for him, that he couldn’t hit the ground running, and he wasn’t fully fit when he played for the reds at the end of last season. He still doesn’t quite have his full fitness and match sharpness back, but he is certainly getting there with each passing week. He has obviously lost a lot of confidence after his injury problems, and it will be important for him to start building that up again.
It seems that Andy Carroll’s past mistakes are also counting against him, as critics continue to bash his lifestyle choices and even Fabio Capello has somewhat harshly chipped in with his thoughts on Carroll’s extracurricular activities. Critics are quick to suggest that he is wasting his talent, however this seems to have little bearing on his time at Liverpool, where nothing has come out to suggest anything other than the fact that he has got his head down at the club.
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Criticism of Carroll rather than other players also seems unfair, as Liverpool have not really played to his strengths as of yet. When Carroll is on the pitch they seem to revert to a manner of play whereby they hoof the ball downfield to him, which inevitably ends in nothing. They have yet to get the service or movement around him correct, they should be playing it down the wings and providing great service to Carroll in the centre, the return of Steven Gerrard should help Carroll out in this department.
To be fair to Carroll, he was unlucky not to score against Arsenal and had a perfectly good goal disallowed at Sunderland, if those two incidents had been slightly different, everyone would be raving about him, as the biggest hope for the future of English football, so we need to put things in a little perspective.
Carroll is in good hands with Dalglish, who will endeavour to get the best out of him, and his experience and know how will definitely be a help to Carroll. Liverpool have wrapped him up in cotton wool up to now to protect him from further injurys, but now is the time for him to be given a regular first team place so that he can fully regain his sharpness and match fitness, as well as his confidence.
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Carroll won’t get forever to prove himself, but we have to at least give him a fair chance, and the constant criticism of him is over the top and unjustified. The expectation due to the fee that he should have hit the ground running is harsh, and he should be judged by what he does on the pitch after a full season not four games. Everything is now in place for him, he’s at a great club with a good manager, so now it is up to him, but he needs to be given a fair chance and that is not something he has been given so far.
Do you think criticism of Andy Carroll has been over the top? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or following me on Twitter @LaurenRutter
I saw Gary Neville in the Sky studio one match day last year – I think it’s the only time he has been there, I may be very wrong. He seemed harmless enough. He gave some opinions which seemed vaguely sensible, his moustache had gone, I quite liked his suit to be honest, and he didn’t say anything too controversial. His trousers weren’t as tight as Jamie Redknapp’s, and he didn’t say “you can’t raise your hands” a single time, but with a bit of media training that can be sorted out. If I didn’t know who he was, I’d say he seemed quite well suited for the role.
Sadly (or not), all this is irrelevant. Gary Neville could be the most eloquent man to walk the land since Oscar Wilde. He could have the charisma of Jack Nicholson, the style of David Beckham, the wit of a young Woody Allen, the oratory skills of Winston Churchill and the tactical insight of Herbert Chapman. It matters not one jot.
And it matters not one jot because Gary Neville doesn’t like a large chunk of the English population, and has said so publically. And more to the point, the feeling is mutual.
Very mutual.
“I can’t stand Liverpool, I can’t stand Liverpool people, I can’t stand anything to do with them.” reported in the Guardian.
So said Mr Neville once. Such was his vitriol of all things Liverpool in a interview once his dad had to step in to try and calm him down, turning off the interviewer’s tape recorder, to which Gary responded: “But I do hate them Dad.”
You might think this puerile hatred of a whole city and all its people is a bit laughable and not worth worrying over. But this small matter would somewhat compromise his role as a neutral observer of football matches. Could you rely on Gary Neville to comment on how excellently Liverpool played or how City totally outplayed Manchester United (it’s a hypothetical question, ok?)?
To be honest, I’m not going to lose sleep over this decision. I don’t watch pre-match build ups, or half-time analysis – it’s the football, and the football alone that I am interested in. I couldn’t believe how sexist remarks from two football pundits dominated the news for over a week – it just wasn’t that big a story, THEY are not that big a story. But hey, maybe it would be quite good fun watching Neville squirm and have to compliment teams he hates. Maybe he’ll be the consummate professional and be totally unbiased. I can’t see it myself.
But last Wednesday the news came through that Gary Neville was retiring with immediate effect, mid-season. And the whole of Liverpool, half of Manchester and a fair swathe of the rest of the country simultaneously muttered “uh-oh”.
There’s bias in many studio guests – they often have affiliations with specific teams (usually playing that day), and so you might think it’s unfair to single out Neville. But when a player has been so public with his hatred of a set of football fans, it goes further than having a simple bias. It alienates viewers, and it compromises his ability to do his job properly, and professionally.
I can’t see Sky taking that risk. But if Dean Windass can be employed as a reporter, anything’s possible. I have seen written and heard of at least a hundred people saying the day he becomes a Sky employee they will cancel their subscription – this seems like nothing more than bravado to me, and a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but the anger truly is there at the thought of him being in the studio. Not that Sky would care, whoever they employ will outrage someone. And they appeared to be trying to soften us all up at the weekend by running an interview with Neville, which to be honest did him no favours.
Of course he may be kept away from teams he despises. And if Paul the Apostle could stop persecuting Christians and follow Jesus instead, maybe Gary can forgive Scousers and blue Mancunians and himself take on a road to Damascus journey and come out a changed man. (13:6 And he did come to a crossroads. And the Lord said seek forgiveness and make peace with your fellow man. And Gary did make peace, and great rewards were delivered from the sky, and from BBC too). Then again, I might pop up to the attic tonight and discover Lord Lucan hiding behind the immersion heater with a copy of Nuts magazine.
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The answer to me is clear. Been there, done it, bought the t-shirt, planted a flag in the centre circle. Speaks with honesty, knowledge, knows what he’s talking about, speaks his mind, and appeared to despise Richard Keys. He too had a moustache, but a proper one. Step forward, Graeme Souness.
Liverpool fans are absolutely crucifying Alberto Moreno, after the Spaniard struggled in his return to action against West Brom.
Everything looked rosy for Liverpool fans around 14:00 on Saturday afternoon, but in the space of ten minutes their comfortable 2-0 lead at the Hawthorns evaporated.
The capitulation felt all too familiar to Liverpool fans, who until the arrival of Virgil van Dijk suffered through plenty of late collapses.
Van Dijk has made a huge difference for the Reds, but he wasn’t enough on Saturday as several key players were rotated, leaving the likes of Moreno to prove themselves.
Unfortunately for Moreno, he only proved himself as unreliable, as late goals from Jake Livermore and Salomón Rondón ruined the Reds’ party.
Liverpool are still in a very strong position to secure top four despite the 2-2 draw, but fans are absolutely furious with Moreno’s performance.
The flying full back has certainly had a fair few ups and downs at Anfield, but he was playing his best football since coming to the club before his ankle injury.
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It’s not hard to see why Andrew Robertson has kept him out of the team even since he’s returned to fitness though, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
It’s that time of year again when media outlets link any player to any side in order to get people talking. Kaka to Spurs? Tevez to West Ham? Sneijder to Man City? – You know the drill. And Man United are no exception to this rule, with are plenty of transfer rumours in the air at the moment. Are Falcao’s Old Trafford days numbered? And who will be replacing him?
As far as Radamel Falcao is concerned, it seems he has not got much time left in a red shirt. Failing to impress at Stamford Bridge against the league leaders Chelsea could well have made up Louis Van Gaal’s mind, with his late effort that crashed off the post a bitterly disappointing one. The loan deal with an option to buy at the end will likely not be fulfilled, and he will be playing elsewhere come the summer.
And there is no shortage of players to replace the Colombian. First up, Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke. The second half of his season has been outstanding, and he has not struggled to find the back of the net. He has scored a staggering six goals in his last four games: including a hat trick at QPR. If he is finding it easy to score goals with Aston Villa, he will have no problems at Manchester United. He’s already scored against them this season!
If Benteke cannot be lured away from the Midlands, there is a back up plan. That player being Burnley’s Danny Ings. Ings is on the verge of dropping down to the Championship, yet many believe he is destined to stay up – whether Burnley do or not. The media believes he has a big club signing lined up, with Manchester United showing interest.
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A Champions League goal has brought ‘Chicharito’s’ talents back to the spotlight. Chicharito’s dramatic late goal has gotten Real Madrid through to the Champions League semi-finals, and immediately questions of the Mexican’s Manchester United future were asked. Will he come back? It won’t cost anything (bar wages, of course) and he is a proven goalscorer for the Red Devils. One goal does not make a player – but what a goal to score.
Away from strikers, Hummels to United is one rumour that refuses to disappear. Manchester United need to strengthen their defence, and Hummels would be perfect. But, this could be just another Sneijder rumour that surfaces but nothing happens. However, Klopp’s Dortmund departure is adding fuel to the fire and Hummels could be a Manchester United player after all.
His Dortmund teammate Gundogan has also been linked to Manchester United as the perfect ‘replacement’ for Michael Carrick. Carrick has shown no signs of slowing down, and has been key this season, but he will not be at Manchester United forever. It seems Gundogan is on the radar in order to build for the future.
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It perhaps speaks volumes about the nature of the hyperbole that’s managed to sweep around the Luis Suarez incident in recent days, that it’s taken Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher of all people, to emerge as the voice of reason.
Following the Uruguayan’s recent bite to the arm of Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic during the two sides’ 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday, the footballing world has quite rightly shown its collective disdain for an act that was as brutishly impromptu as it was freakishly bizarre.
For a 26-year-old man to clasp his jaw around another professional’s arm like that absolutely beggars belief and the fact that Suarez has in fact got previous for the same incident, many have been left wondering with the former Ajax-man truly has a future in the Premier League given his past resume of incidents.
But while it’s important that Liverpool’s number seven is criticized, condemned and dealt with appropriately with retrospective action by the FA, it’s seemed that for some, that’s not quite enough. Far from making him serve his time on the sidelines, the feeling within some quarters is that it’s time for Suarez to pack his bags and leave the Premier League for good.
In recent days, we’ve heard everyone from David Cameron to Mike Tyson weighing in on the Suarez debate, with one rather notorious Fleet Street hack even having the gall to dub the Liverpool striker’s act as one worse than the infamous bite that the latter took out of Evander Holyfield in 1997.
But far from the distant musings outside of English football, it’s been the hypocrisy and damn right lack of judgment that we’ve witnessed from inside the footballing domain that’s been the really disheartening element.
As Carragher elaborated upon in his Mail Online column, while Suarez’s history leaves him in quite some unfavourable stead, he’s not the first person in Premier League history to loose control physically. In fact, when you measure him up against past incidents, his attempted ‘bite’ on Ivanovic doesn’t even see him draw close to the worst offenders we’ve seen.
Taking the spotlight away from Liverpool for the moment, and in terms of physical incidents that might bring the game into disrepute, Suarez’s nibble on Ivanovic’s arm cannot even hold a candle to the assault that Eric Cantona dished out to Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons back in 1995.
There is a tendency to let bleary-eyed nostalgia and the Frenchman’s cult-status to underplay his now infamous ‘Kung-Fu’ kick, but let’s not forget that Cantona was arrested and charged with assault – one that brought with it a two-week prison sentence before appeal.
But far from being hounded out the country and sold out of disgust, Sir Alex Ferguson did everything in his power to retain his services, following his eight-month ban.
For as uncouth as the sight of Suarez’s bite may have been, it didn’t amount to assault and it most certainly didn’t put the career of another professional in danger, as Roy Keane’s pre-mediated shocker on Alf-Inge Haaland did in 2001.The Ulsterman later admitted he had intentions on going out and ‘hurting’ the Norwegian and he certainly had his desired effect, with his tackle during a Manchester derby playing it’s part in the former Leeds man’s retirement. But of course, that’s nothing compared to Suarez’s peck on the cheek, is it?
But it was listening to one their own – as Carragher so prominently pointed out – that really left you stumbling for words when it came to evaluating the Suarez incident.
There was almost something macabre about Graeme Souness’ public chastising of the Uruguayan during his work as a pundit for Sky Sports on the weekend, as the man who once broke another professional’s jaw during his time at the club, called out Suarez for putting the club in a ‘very very bad light indeed.’
Three European cups or not, a hypocrite is still a hypocrite and regardless of what era you’re in or how football has evolved since 1984, it seems somewhat astounding that Souness can pass opinion on Suarez’s misdemeanor. But far from simply offer conjecture, the damage inflicted by his and others’ take on Suarez has already cast its shadow over Fleet Street.
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Let’s make no mistake here – although Suarez hasn’t broke anyone’s jaw or leg, what we witnessed at Anfield was a truly shocking piece of behavior and it feels really quite hard to comprehend that this is something the 26-year-old has already been found guilty of once before. He will take his ban – one would assume a lot longer than just the three games – and rightfully serve it.
But when he returns, let that be the end of it. Suarez’s bite had no place in the game, but it wasn’t a sin that he should have to pay the ultimate price for. Putting Suarez the man to one side, Suarez the footballer is one of the best there is plying his trade in Europe today.
We’ve welcomed back footballers after witnessing far worse crimes than Luiz Suarez’s bite. It’s worth remembering that before the campaign to hound him out of English football sets into full swing.
When Arsenal bought Petr Cech from Chelsea in 2015, it was widely perceived that Arsene Wenger had finally solved his long-standing goalkeeping issues with an experienced and calm presence between the sticks at the Emirates.
Under three years later, and the former Chelsea man is showing signs that he is on the decline – just as Wenger has been for quite some time – which raises the prospect that both men might leave North London this summer.
The goalkeeper – valued at £5.4m by Transfermarkt – is now 35 and some Arsenal fans are becoming disillusioned with his performances in recent weeks.
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It has been the case for quite some time that the majority of Arsenal fans want a change in the dugout and we’re asking you whether that should be accompanied by a change between the goalposts.
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Should Arsenal sell Cech in the summer? Let us know by voting in the poll below and keep your eyes peeled for the results…
After 11 years as Chelsea’s main shot stopper, the time has come for Petr Cech to leave Stamford Bridge.
Despite being relatively young, 32, for a goalkeeper and still considered to be one of Europe’s best, Cech has been given the option of either being using as Chelsea’s cup keeper or find a new club in the summer. For obvious reasons Cech is expected to choose the latter and look for a team where he can start regularly.
The Czech Republic international has been linked with numerous clubs, though the most persistent rumour doing the rounds is that city rivals Arsenal are a likely destination. The Gunners appreciate that Cech is a high quality keeper, the likes of which don’t come around too often. But Arsenal already have two capable goalkeepers, one of whom was brought in just last summer and the other who is expected to leave because he has had to share his place in the first team.
David Ospina, currently Arsenal’s first choice keeper, was signed in the last summer window on a four year deal believed to be worth £3million. He caught Arsene Wenger’s attention after a brilliant performance for Colombia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Since arriving in north London the 26-year-old has made 18 appearances, dislodging previous starter Wojciech Szczesny. Szczesny has been with the Gunners since he joined their youth team in 2009 and used to hold court in Arsenal’s goal before the arrival of Ospina.
With Szczesny wanting to leave because he isn’t playing enough, then why would Cech want to enter this situation? Would Cech be happy to equally share responsibilities with Ospina or would his transfer signal the start of a much reduced role for the Colombian? Surely Arsenal would have to make a choice, particularly when it comes to their Champions League matches, as they are likely to want to stick with one or the other, and with Cech having much more European experience you’d expect him to get the job.
As tempting as staying in London and playing for a team he is already very familiar with Cech can avoid numerous problems by just signing for another club who would welcome him as their main goalkeeper from the off.
Paris Saint-Germain are reported to be interested in signing him and would definitely provide Champions League football next season, along with a huge wage. Their early offer has been around the £7million mark but could increase if they have to battle against teams like Arsenal for his signature.
PSG are on course once again to win Ligue 1 and made it into the quarterfinals of the Champions League after knocking out Cech’s own Chelsea in the previous round.
Perhaps Cech would be an ideal signing for Arsenal and maybe Ospina wouldn’t mind playing a mostly back-up role to him, but Cech has the chance to join the current champions of French football, a team who are getting closer and closer to the level of European heavy weights like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
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PSG are a worthwhile project to join and after winning everything in England with Chelsea, it is the perfect time to try his luck somewhere else.