Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon has gone from strength to strength since making his breakthrough at the Cottagers last season.
Rather than make the jump to a Premier League club last summer, the 17-year-old chose to sign his first professional contract at the London outfit.
A handful of top-flight clubs have been linked to the youngster’s signature, including Tottenham Hotspur.
Last month, The Sun reported that the North London outfit, as well as Manchester United and Manchester City, are interested in recruiting the left-sided player.
In an article later published by The Sun, it was claimed that Fulham value Sessegnon at around £25m, which in this market is fairly modest, despite the fact that he is only a teenager.
Tottenham fans have made it clear that they are keen for the club to make a move for the in-demand youngster.
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Now, they seem even more interested for a deal to go through following reports that Sessegnon’s price tag could be around £25m.
Former Newcastle United forward Micky Quinn has claimed that Magpies captain Jamaal Lascelles should be in the England squad ahead of Manchester City’s John Stones.
Lascelles has had an impressive 2017-18 campaign at St James’ Park, but the 24-year-old was not given an opportunity to impress for the Three Lions during the recent international break.
His lack of involvement up to this point suggests that it will be difficult for the centre-back to make Gareth Southgate’s squad for the 2018 World Cup.
Quinn, however, has insisted that Lascelles is ‘easily among the best five English centre-backs’.
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The pundit even claimed that the reported Chelsea target should be in the squad ahead of City’s Stones, who had some nervy moments during the clash with Italy last week.
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Quinn wrote in the Evening Chronicle:
“It actually really frustrates me that Lascelles keeps being overlooked by Gareth Southgate for England.
“He is easily among the best five English centre-backs at the moment – in fact, I’d have him in the squad ahead of John Stones. I really would.”
Lascelles signed for Newcastle from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2014, and is closing on a century of appearances for the Magpies.
The battle to become Liverpool’s long-term right-back has evolved into a Mexican standoff with Nathaniel Clyne’s recent return from injury, reminding Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez that potential alone won’t be enough to keep them in Jurgen Klopp’s long-term plans. All three bring something slightly different to the role; Clyne offers balance and experience, Gomez athleticism and defensive solidity as part full-back, part centre-half, and Alexander-Arnold local-lad enthusiasm combined with prodigal offensive flair.
But there’s no question who Liverpool fans think should emerge as Klopp’s primary choice for the No.2 berth heading into next season. When we asked Reds supporters earlier this month to choose between the three right-backs, and the prospect of signing a new one altogether this summer, it was Alexander-Arnold who won our poll with a clear majority – 54% – voting his favour.
And after a second impressive performance against Manchester City, the Premier League’s champions in waiting, in as many appearances, it’s becoming only more obvious why Liverpool fans value the emerging academy product so highly – especially as his journey along the learning curve of what has quickly become one of modern football’s most important positions over the last decade has steadily increased in prevalence.
It wasn’t so long ago Klopp’s decision to start Alexander-Arnold in a big game came under scrutiny, after twice being sucked towards the ball at Old Trafford to afford Marcus Rashford the space to fire Manchester United to victory in the Northwest derby. The 19-year-old was culpable for the same error against Crystal Palace too, allowing Wilfried Zaha to drift into the space between him and his corresponding centre-half to lure Loris Karius into a penalty-conceding challenge.
But Manchester City, albeit never quite at their best against Liverpool, have provided the biggest tests Alexander-Arnold’s defensive qualities will face this season and the return leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night marked the second the England U21 has passed with flying colours, especially considering his direct opposite for those 180 minutes was Leroy Sane – one of Europe’s most exciting forwards with nine goals and twelve assists in the Premier League this season.
Indeed, while the German international once again endured a frustrating evening, Alexander-Arnold’s defensive contributions in a match that was all about City trying their best to rack up a cricket score to reverse the 3-0 deficit truly stood out – registering the most tackles and interceptions of any Liverpool player, while even finding opportunity to briefly impact at the other end with one accurate cross into the box.
No doubt, Alexander-Arnold still isn’t quite the finished article, especially for Klopp’s system which implores his full-backs to get forward and provide width. Despite technical ability being widely seen as the teenager’s greatest strength, he still completed only 70% of his passes against City and suffered two unsuccessful touches – on another day, a team of City’s calibre could have punished him dearly for that sloppiness in possession.
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But the real question over Alexander-Arnold since his emergence in the first team has regarded his defensive prowess, not whether he has the quality to contribute going forward, and Klopp’s willingness to throw him in at the deep end against top quality opposition has seen that side of the Liverpudlian’s game rapidly improve. Despite Gomez holding down the role for most of the first half of the season, and a full England international in Clyne returning to fitness too, the right-back slot for 2018/18 now well and truly feels like Alexander-Arnold’s to lose.
According to The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur want £40m plus Luke Shaw in order to sell Danny Rose to Manchester United in this summer’s transfer window.
What’s the story?
United are again being strongly linked with a move for Rose, who is widely expected to leave Spurs ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.
Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho is a firm admirer of the England international, and still sees him as a key transfer target despite the fact that the left-back has only featured on 14 occasions for his current club during the 2017-18 season.
According to The Sun, Tottenham have informed their Premier League rivals that Rose will be allowed to move to Old Trafford this summer, but the London club want £40m plus Shaw.
Shaw has had a number of problems with Mourinho at Old Trafford, and has been tipped to leave Old Trafford this summer as the former Southampton youngster looks to move on from what has been a difficult couple of seasons.
Would the deal suit both parties?
A swap deal involving Rose and Shaw would certainly be appealing to both Mourinho and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino. After all, both managers would be acquiring excellent left-backs.
A price of £40m plus Shaw does seem very steep, however, when considering that Rose has been unable to dislodge Ben Davies in the Tottenham XI this season.
Pochettino worked with Shaw at Southampton and sees the Englishman as a potential superstar, whilst Mourinho believes that Rose would be the perfect player to work alongside Ashley Young, who has been excellent for the 20-time English champions this season.
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It would not be a surprise to see the two individuals move in opposite directions this summer, but United would surely be reluctant to part with £40m as well as a player that still has incredible potential despite his issues since suffering a serious leg break.
Mourinho’s side might well be better off coming up with a counter offer of £15m plus Shaw, which would still represent excellent value for both clubs.
West Ham United will look to bounce back from their 4-1 home defeat to Manchester City when they visit Leicester City in the Premier League this weekend.
The Hammers are currently 15th in the Premier League table – just three points clear of the bottom three.
Defeat to Leicester this weekend would leave David Moyes’ side extremely vulnerable ahead of their home match against Manchester United next week.
The West Ham fans have been discussing their preferred team for the clash with Leicester, and it would be fair to say that they want Moyes to make changes from the City clash.
Indeed, Josh Cullen is wanted as a midfield starter, with Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate dropping to the bench following their struggles at the weekend.
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The supporters also want Javier Hernandez to come into the XI despite suggestions that the Mexican has already decided to leave the club at the end of the season.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
The weekend was an emotional one for all those connected to Arsenal as the club played their final home game under the management of Arsene Wenger.The Frenchman will leave his role at the club this summer following a two-decade tenure, which included three Premier League title wins and seven FA Cup triumphs.The 68-year-old divided fans during the latter stages of his career, mainly due to the club’s failure to sustain a serious title challenge.All of the hatred has been out aside for the time being, though, as the Gunners bid farewell to their long-standing coach.[ad_pod ]Mohamed Elneny, who signed for Arsenal from Basel in 2016, was one of many players who paid tribute to Wenger and his success.On Saturday, the team gave their esteemed coach a guard of honour and marked the day fittingly with a 5-0 romp over Burnley.On Twitter, Elneny, who has impressed fans this season, posted his own tribute to Wenger on Twitter.
Arsenal fans reacted emotionally to the midfielder’s post.
Derby County hold a slender 1-0 advantage going into the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final tie against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday night, and it remains to be seen whether manager Gary Rowett will choose to make changes to the XI that won on Friday night.
Cameron Jerome’s first-half header proved to be the difference between the two sides at the Pride Park Stadium, but the Rams may need a slightly different approach in west London to try and stop a rampant Cottagers attack who scored 79 goals in 46 league games this season.
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Matej Vydra lined up in something of an unfamiliar left wing-back role against Slavisa Jokanovic’s men, and he struggled to make too much of an impact there before he was replaced by Ikechi Anya in the 68th minute.
The Scot would certainly be a slightly more defensive selection in that position at the Cottage, and we decided to ask Derby fans to vote on our poll to see whether they would want to see Vydra dropped against Fulham, but 57% of said they wouldn’t.
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Those supporters obviously feel that the Czech Republic international still has a big part to play in this tie, as Rowett’s men look to reach the final held at Wembley later this month.
Divock Origi’s Liverpool career has been non-existent for the past few seasons as he has struggled to make it into the first team.
The Belgian international signed for the Merseyside outfit from Lille in 2014, but did not join up with the squad permanently until the following year.
Origi had chances to prove himself under former manager Brendan Rodgers at Anfield, but when Jurgen Klopp took over in October 2015, the opportunities began to dwindle.
With Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane lighting up the attack, the striker was sent on loan to Wolfsburg at the start of the season.
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The 23-year-old has had more joy in Germany, starting 22 Bundesliga matches and coming off the bench in a further nine.
During that time, Origi, who is valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, scored six goals and created two assists.
In Thursday night’s relegation playoff, the forward helped Wolfsburg to a 3-1 victory over Kiel by scoring and then setting up another.
Liverpool fans were particularly impressed with Origi’s skill when he held off two defenders before delivering a delightful through-ball Yunis Malli, who netted Wolfsburg’s third on the night.
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Manchester United have cooled their interest in Tottenham and England international left-back Danny Rose, according to the Sun.
What’s the story, then?
The report in the Sun claims that United, along with bitter rivals Manchester City have gone cold on the trail of the man who will travel to the World Cup this summer as part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
It goes on to say that could allow Everton to steal a march in the race for a man they claim the Toffees are prepared to pay £40m for this summer.
The report also claims that Juventus’ Alex Sandro, 27, is the left-back on the top of Mourinho’s summer shopping list, meaning Rose has slipped down the pecking order.
Rose showed a poor attitude
Rose threw Tottenham’s pre-season preparations into jeopardy with a bizarre rant about signings and investment in North London on the eve of the new campaign, which showed a selfishness that would not go down well with Mourinho.
He brazenly attempted to flirt with the Manchester clubs on that occasion and failed to rediscover the form that had made him an England regular, losing his spot to Ben Davies for the majority of the season.
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Inconsistent form and speaking out of turn that will not wash with the hardline Portuguese gaffer – in truth, it wouldn’t go down well with United fans either – and that is why Mourinho may be wise to give Rose the swerve in this transfer window.
According to Italian media outlet Calciomercato, Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini is likely to leave the club and return to Serie A this summer, with a report by La Gazzetta dello Sport, via Calciomercato, saying that he would cost in the region of €15m (around £13m) this summer.
While it would be no surprise to see the Italy international depart St Mary’s in some ways given that he found first-team starts hard to come by during the 2017/18 campaign under Mauricio Pellegrino and then Mark Hughes, in others it would be confusing after he hinted previously that he would be keen to stay in the Premier League after helping Saints, who face a huge battle to sign an attacker who was once a £170,000-a-week Manchester United target, preserve their top flight status with a crucial winning goal against fellow strugglers Swansea City last month.
So, how would cashing in on the Italian truly impact Saints? Football FanCast take a look at the potential consequences of a summer sale of the 26-year-old…
Club regrets
If Southampton do end up cashing in on Gabbiadini this summer they will surely always be left thinking, what if?
The 26-year-old made a huge impact when he first joined the club in January 2017 – and was unfortunate not to score a hat-trick for them in the League Cup final defeat against Manchester United – but there is surely a feeling that they haven’t seen or got the best out of a player with such clever movement and natural finishing ability.
The Italian joined the south coast outfit at a time when they have been less attacking and lacked quality in the final third than in previous seasons, and the Saints board will know that things could have been very different.
Quincy Promes finally signs
Southampton didn’t meet Spartak Moscow’s price tag for the highly-rated Netherlands international at the end of the January transfer window, and it remains to be seen whether they will return to sign the 26-year-old this summer.
It would certainly make sense given they only scored 37 goals in their 38 Premier League matches as they narrowly avoided the drop however, with the winger scoring 21 goals and providing a further 10 assists in the same number of games for the Russian club in the 2017/18 campaign.
The extra money they get from selling Gabbiadini could be enough for them to meet Spartak’s asking price for the attacker, who would surely be a big success at St Mary’s and in the English top flight in general.
Sam Gallagher gets his chance
The big centre-forward is still only 22 years of age, but having made his first-team debut for Southampton when Mauricio Pochettino was still in charge at St Mary’s, he will have been disappointed that he hasn’t kicked on since then.
The striker returns to the south coast this summer following a largely successful season-long loan spell with Championship club Birmingham City – for whom he scored seven goals in 34 appearances in all competitions – last term, and he will hope to stake his claim for a spot in the starting XI under Mark Hughes.
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Gabbiadini leaving would certainly help him that respect as it would be one less player to get ahead of in the pecking order, and with Guido Carrillo also frozen out by Hughes at the end of the 2017/18 campaign he may find himself directly competing with the likes of Charlie Austin and Shane Long.
So, Southampton fans, should your club sell Gabbiadini? Let us know by voting below…
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]