Tag Futebol

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, what an absolute hero. Once a legend on the pitch is now a complete legend from the sidelines as well, with the revival he has help mastermind. 

Indeed, it’s been brilliant to see the best of Manchester United over the past few months and the sky is the limit for what the fans-favourite can achieve with the club.

The feel-good factor is back around the ground, players are playing with freedom and look far better than they were under Jose Mourinho. Now, it’s all about how Manchester United will transform themselves next season, with the welcome of some new players sure to help things.

Their midfield is an area that is noticeably weak and Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz would certainly amend that problem.

Havertz, (who is valued at £58.5 million on Transfermarkt) is a midfield genius and at the age of 19-year-old, definitely warrants the caption of ‘wonderkid’.

For all those interested in just how good the young German is, his 12 goals and seven assists this season only partly explain how influential Havertz is on the pitch.

It’s his dribbling, immaculate first-touch, his eye for goal and his ability to pick out a pass no one else has even seen. Sound like a United player to you? It certainly does to me.

For a youngster, his potential is quite frightening and Manchester United would be stupid not to do everything in their power to sign him.

Already capped twice by Germany shows how much progress he’s made in the game in so little time and the platform Manchester United could give him would be mega.

They’re the biggest club in the world and therefore need the biggest and best players, of which Kai Havertz could be one of them.

Manchester United fans, do you think Kai Havertz could light up Old Trafford? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Crystal Palace went one step closer to the FA Cup final with a 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers on Sunday ensuring they progressed to the quarter-finals – a feat manager Roy Hodgson has achieved just twice previously in all of his years in the dugout.

First-half goals from Jeffrey Schlupp and Max Meyer proved decisive although the Eagles could have been out of sight had referee Mike Dean been inclined to award the visitors a penalty.

Two handball incidents were dismissed by Dean, with the second in particular sending the Selhurst Park faithful into outrage. First, Rovers’ Danny Andrew appeared to swing his arm at Scott Dann’s header, before Blackburn loanee Paul Downing blocked Patrick van Aanholt’s cutback with his left-arm.

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Play continued in both instances, with Downing comically holding his face after making contact with his hand and Palace would surely have been furious had their hosts capitalised on their second-half domination – Alfie May looked likely to score and Wayne Hennessey cast an unassured figure between the sticks.

Nevertheless, the win sees the south London outfit through to the last eight of the competition and, with bitter rivals Brighton also emerging victorious in their cup clash with Derby, there could be a spicy fixture to come.

Here’s how Palace fans on Twitter reacted to Mike Dean’s clanger…

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Loads of West Ham fans have been running the rule over Wednesday’s big news, as Declan Rice officially declared that he will represent England at the international level.

Rice has officially switched allegiances from Republic of Ireland to England, the 20 year-old confirmed via his Twitter account on Wednesday.

The youngster has played three times for Ireland’s senior side, although all three were friendlies, so the decision is sure to attract plenty of controversy from that side of the Irish Sea.

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This is of course a huge boost for England though, who not too long ago were looking at a future without a single quality central midfielder.

Now, with Rice declaring his intentions and Harry Winks emerging as a star in his own right at Tottenham, Gareth Southgate may already have his midfield duo sorted for the next decade.

Rice has been superb in his new midfield position under Manuel Pellegrini, currently sitting fourth in the Hammers’ squad behind Felipe Anderson, Lukasz Fabianski and Fabian Balbuena in Whoscored’s match rating system.

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

New Zealand batsman Dean Brownlie will travel to India in October, to work on his batting in spinner-friendly conditions. Brownlie, who was dropped from the New Zealand squad after a poor tour of the Caribbean, said he had been looking to take up such a training stint for ‘a couple of years’.”I’ve wanted this for quite a while,” Brownlie told . “I’ve been pushing for this for a couple of years, because I didn’t want to waste a tour – I suppose, like I did [against West Indies] – working out my best way to play in those conditions. But the cricket has been so full on and so busy, so it’s been hard to get the time to do it.”Brownlie will train at a Mumbai academy for five days, before heading to Pune to play in a few local matches. He will leave for India soon after the completion of New Zealand A’s home series against India A, which runs from September 18 to October 6.In the Caribbean, Brownlie had been dismissed on five occasions out of nine (including the tour game against WICB President’s XI) by the spinners, and got into double digits only twice on the tour, with a highest of 35.More than the technical aspects of his game, though, it is the mental side of it that needed some working on, Brownlie said. “It’s not so much about making big changes,” he said. “I need to learn to trust my game a little bit more. I realise it shouldn’t have taken six weeks on tour [in the West Indies] to realise what I was doing wrong, but it did.”I think I can play spin well, but I do need to work on how I play it in those [slow, low] conditions.”

If Eddie Nketiah had dreamed of the perfect scenario for his first Arsenal start since returning from Leeds, then Monday night’s clash against Bournemouth saw it come to reality.

The Gunners academy product had spent the first-half of this campaign on loan at the Championship side, but didn’t seem to get much of a look-in under Marcelo Bielsa.

The England U21 international managed just 495 minutes of football in the league, and it was no surprise that Arsenal recalled him earlier this month.

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And after being given the chance to start against Bournemouth in the FA Cup fourth round, Nketiah took his opportunity with both hands, scoring a very impressive first-time finish. After seeing his display, Arsenal fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the 20-year-old.

Some Gunners fans insisted that Nketiah is already better than Alexandre Lacazette, with the Frenchman enduring a difficult season at the Emirates with just six goals to his name.

A couple of fans felt Nketiah reminded them of Arsenal legend Ian Wright.

Having struggled to get a genuine first-team opportunity at Leeds, it didn’t take long for Nketiah to show his worth for Arsenal. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suspended, and his long-term future in question with reports he could leave this summer, the Gunners youngster has the chance to really stamp his mark under Arteta.

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And his goal against Bournemouth on Monday night was a supremely well-taken finish. If the game was seen as an audition on whether he could genuinely be an option for Arteta for the rest of this season, then he passed it with flying colours.

Meanwhile, this Arsenal starlet has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Ronaldo.

The majority of the Rangers fans that answered our recent poll are keen for Steven Gerrard to make a move to sign his own cousin and Liverpool academy starlet Bobby Duncan on loan in January.

So far this season the Gers have been heavily reliant on Colombian international Alfredo Morelos for goals and this is something that Gerrard will surely look to rectify in the winter transfer window.

One man who could be brought in is 17-year-old Duncan. The Scouse-born striker only joined the Liverpool academy from Manchester City in the summer, but he has certainly hit the ground running at his new club and has already trained with Jurgen Klopp’s first-team despite his young age.

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With 19 goals in all competitions so far this season for the U18 side, Duncan could be a fantastic signing for his cousin Gerrard north of the border.

Check out the full results of our poll below, where 63 per cent of Rangers fans said that they would support another loan deal from Liverpool.

The pressure is mounting on Brendan Rodgers after Celtic slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League.

Celtic travelled to Austria in desperate need a positive result to lift spirits after a difficult start to the season. The Hoops got off to the perfect start with Odsonne Eduoard opening the scoring after just two minutes. However, the Austrian champions quickly struck back with three goals and Celtic’s misery was compounded as James Forrest received his marching orders.

The signs are ominous for the Celtic faithful with the club seemingly showing little signs of progress this year. Despite dominating on the domestic stage in recent years, Celtic have again failed on the European stage. Being knocked out of the Champions League was bad enough, now the Hoops face a real fight to progress from their group.

One man who could help end their slump is Liverpool outcast – Divock Origi. Valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, the Belgian has slipped down the pecking order and spent last season on loan at Wolfsburg. His performances in the Bundesliga did nothing to convince Jurgen Klopp that he is ready for the first-team at Anfield and offers were accepted for him in the summer.

Origi chose to stay at the club but is yet to feature for the Reds this season. Moving to Celtic Park could be a wise move for his development given it was Rodgers who brought him to Merseyside. The Northern Irishman is a huge fan of the youngster and could look to reunite in the January transfer window.

The former Lille striker will be hungry to succeed – a loan move with an option to buy would be an astute piece of business by the Bhoys.

Celtic fans, thoughts?

The Rangers fans are excited for the future under Steven Gerrard having seen the Englishman get off to a perfect start in the Europa League qualification. 

A lot of new faces have arrived at Ibrox this summer ahead of the new Steven Gerrard era at the club and that should continue if Rangers are serious about challenging Celtic for the Scottish Premiership. A former team-mate of Gerrard in the form of Peter Crouch could be an interesting move for both parties as the 37-year-old could prove he still has great ability in those long legs.

Last season, the Stoke City man proved a number of doubters wrong as he still managed to score 5 Premier League goals in only 14 starts, a tremendous return for an ageing forward. Crouch provides goals as well as experience and knowledge around any club he is at, something that could be useful in the Rangers dressing room.

He also offers something completely different in attack, if the Gers are in need of a goal, more likely than not you can find his head in the box. Having been relegated with Stoke, Crouch may find a new, exciting challenge alongside former team-mate Steven Gerrard.

Time is soon to expire on his football career so a late move to Rangers could reignite his playing chances and prove that he is more than capable in another league as well. Steven Gerrard has already brought Jon Flanagan to the club, another former team-mate of the Englishman so could Crouch similarly follow suit?

Thoughts… Let us know!

According to reports in The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a £2m deal to make Southampton goalkeeper Paolo Gazzaniga their first signing of the summer.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Spurs have been quiet in the transfer market during the off season with Kyle Walker’s initial £45m move to Manchester City the only real action the club has seen.

However, The Sun says that Mauricio Pochettino is set to raid old side Southampton for Gazzaniga as he looks to provide Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm with more competition in a season where the fixtures will once again pile up because of their participation in the group stages of the Champions League.

He knows his fellow Argentine well from his time at St Mary’s and The Sun adds that current Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino is willing to listen to offers for the 25-year-old as he currently lies behind Fraser Forster, Alex McCarthy and Stuart Taylor in the pecking order after being loaned out to Rayo Vallecano last season.

How did Gazzaniga do in Spain?

The stopper joined the Segunda Division outfit last summer after making just 23 appearances in all competitions for Saints in four seasons at St Mary’s, and he finally got some regular game time under his belt.

The 25-year-old made 34 appearances in all competitions for Rayo as they finished in 12th position, and he kept 11 clean sheets as well as conceding 34 goals in 32 league outings.

Would he be a good signing for Tottenham?

It’s a bit of a strange one really considering he is unwanted by Southampton.

The Argentine has struggled to really impress any of the managers he has played under during his time on the south coast, and he also come under criticism from Saints supporters for his inability to keep the ball out of the net when he has made it on to the pitch.

Of course, last season with Rayo Vallecano was the first time that he has had a consistent run in the side although he was still guilty of making some pretty bad mistakes.

What’s the verdict, then?

Well, while Tottenham supporters will trust Pochettino’s belief in the signings he brings to the club the addition of Gazzaniga would still be a weird one, and fans may be praying that nothing happens to Lloris or Vorm if the move comes off.

Lucas Leiva could be leaving Liverpool this month as he mulls over an offer from South America, according to Brazilian station Radio 98FM.

What’s the word?

Brazilian side Atletico-MG are keen to sign a top-midfielder for the forthcoming season and have approached Liverpool about the option of signing Lucas Leiva, who sees his contract at Anfield expire at the end of the season.

Whilst he has a few months remaining on his deal, Leiva is open to an exit this month but his preference is to remain in Europe- which is why he’s asked the South American side for a few days to think about his options.

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Further approaches could be forthcoming, especially if any interested party feels the offer from Atletico could tempt the Brazilian to return to his homeland, with Inter Milan regularly linked with a swoop.

Should he leave Liverpool?

The 30-year-old has achieved vast success with Liverpool since joining the club a decade ago but has seen his importance amongst the squad decline in recent seasons. Featuring 15 times this season, only three have been Premier League starts.

Leiva’s other opportunities have come in the cup competitions or off the bench and Leiva is likely to want a more important role in a side. At his age, it’s certainly not a request that will be difficult to adhere to and Liverpool should respect the player’s wishes given the service he has provided the club.

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