Sunderland face a fight to keep hold of keeper Simon Mignolet in the summer with Arsenal preparing an official bid for the player, according to the Independent.
The Gunners have been watching the 25-year-old on a regular basis for the past season and his consistent performances have apparently led Arsene Wenger to believe he is the man to become the new number one at the Emirates.
New Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio will not want to lose the Belgium international who has proved himself time and time again for the Black Cats since signing for just £2m from Sint-Truiden three years ago.
Wenger is set to offer in the region of £10m for the player, whose agent said recently that he would have to move to a bigger club if he wanted to get back to becoming first choice for his country – although those claims were later denied, they will not have gone unnoticed elsewhere.
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With Brendan Rodgers’ first season nearing its close, all eyes will be on what Liverpool do in the transfer window. With the Reds planning to be reaching the top four places in the Northern Irishman’s second year in charge, managing director Ian Ayre will need to be busy in the summer, in order to build a squad capable of qualifying for the Champions League.
With a new style of play, Liverpool haven’t kept their aims for next season a secret. With the possibility of playing Champions League football in 2014-15, players from across Europe will be interested in seeing who the Reds target in the summer, and may hope they can be a part of Rodgers’ long term plan. Here are 10 players that are always going to be linked with the club over the summer.
Click on Xabi Alonso to see the full list of transfer targets
Aston Villa striker, Christian Benteke, has been linked to a possible transfer to Tottenham Hotspur that is dividing opinion among Spurs fans.
The Belgium international has filed a transfer request, but Aston Villa insist that he will be sold for no less than £25 million.
Some Spurs fans are afraid that Benteke might be one season wonder, following his £7m move from Genk, while others are very keen on taking that chance and signing last season’s fourth top scorer last season in the Premier League.
Everton are set to make a move for Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry before the close of the transfer window, according to the Daily Telegraph.
However the Toffees face a problem with regards to the midfielder’s substantial wage packet.
Barry has been told he is free to leave the Etihad this summer having fallen further down the pecking order following the arrival of £35million midfielder Fernandinho.
Barry was left out of City’s opening match day squad of the season, and is desperate for a move that will guarantee him first team football ahead of the next summer’s World Cup.
Everton are keen to agree a loan deal for the 32-year-old, but are well aware they are unable to match the midfielder’s current £100,000 a week wages.
Arsenal have also been linked with a move for the midfielder, with Arsene Wenger looking for experienced cover for his midfield.
Arsenal would more likely look towards completing a permanent deal for the England midfielder, who has just one year remaining on his current contract, although it is thought Everton remain in the driving seat.
Meanwhile City captain Vincent Kompany is set to miss the opening month of the new season, after limping off with a groin injury in the second half of his side’s 4-0 win over Newcastle on Monday night.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini initially said the injury would keep his captain out of action for two weeks, although there are now fears the Belgian will be ruled out until after the international break next month.
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The burden of expectation has eased somewhat for Jack Wilshere at Arsenal. No longer is he relied upon to act as the team’s talisman on the pitch, the driving force and influence that was previously entrusted to Cesc Fabregas. Such as the talent in Arsene Wenger’s midfield that Wilshere can afford to shy away from the limelight and continue his development at his own pace.
This season has been a mixed bag from the England international. He’s been fantastic – Marseille – horrendous – West Brom, despite a goal, and Manchester City – and everything in between. But his latest non-football-related incident away at Manchester City has provided further evidence that Wilshere still has some maturing do to.
It’s not a controversy, and it shouldn’t be labelled as such. In fact, I’m struggling to see what is so frightfully heinous about a player giving the opposing fans the single-fingered salute. We’ve seen much, much worse in football in recent times, and banning Wilshere for two games – one short of the three given to a player who breaks another’s leg – seems like the governing bodies are further indulging in this climate of pick-and-choose what they want to throw the book at.
Of course, Wilshere should have known better. There’s nothing hugely wrong with what he did, but nevertheless he should have been aware that there would have been retrospective action taken. It’s heat-of-the-moment stuff, and this whole thing of footballers needing to be role models shouldn’t always come up as an excuse. Let’s not pretend that a football ground is a haven of purity. Wilshere was clearly frustrated with his own performance and became the target of the opposition support.
Wilshere’s actions will put Arsenal at a disadvantage over the coming games, but in that time he will have an opportunity to reflect on himself and his performances this season. It may even be worth looking at one of his teammates who has seen similar hurdles thrown his way during his career.
Aaron Ramsey’s path has been strikingly similar to that of Wilshere, but the difference is the manner in which the Welshman conducts himself. He’s never in the spotlight – at least for negative reasons – and has shown, not only through his interviews but also with his captaining of Wales as a teenager, just how mature he is for his age.
Wilshere, on the other hand, is equally as talented but has taken plenty of flak for his actions or behaviour away from the pitch. Fortunately, in a way, Wilshere isn’t the only Premier League star who gets dragged down by off-pitch incidents.
Wenger has surely done his part. As he has with the majority of young players at Arsenal, he’s been patient with Wilshere. The manager is unlikely to take this latest incident as a personal slight, but he will be right to feel disappointed. Again, it’s not that Wilshere did anything terrible, it’s just that players at Arsenal, and other clubs, are responsible for the image of the team they represent and upholding certain standards.
Wilshere’s Man City salute will be forgotten soon enough. The important factor is that he starts to address his own game. Wenger and the Arsenal coaching staff will be on hand to continue to guide him, but Wilshere’s issue is that he needs to take some of that responsibility himself, much in the way Ramsey has done. Despite Wenger’s faith and patience in the Welshman, it can’t be said that Ramsey has put little in to his current run of form.
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Wilshere, for all his talent and ability to be a match-winner, hasn’t reached the top of the mountain yet.
Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has no intention of selling winger Shaun Wright-Phillips this winter, he told the club’s official site.
The former England winger has failed to make much of an impact at Loftus Road this season in the Championship, making only nine appearances most of which from the bench.
Sunderland have been linked with a move for the 32 year old who would jump the chance at another shot at the Premier League.
Others such as West Ham, Cardiff and Newcastle are rumoured to be interested in Wright Phillips but Redknapp wants to keep the experienced winger to aid Rangers’ push for promotion back to the Premier League.
“I have no problems with Shaun Wright-Phillips,” Redknapp said.
“He still has an important part to play with us. He is not a player I am looking to move on.”
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Redknapp is trying to fund his own spending this January with a striker the main target, so if offers came in for SWP they would be considered
Manchester United defender Patrice Evra is considering a return to Serie A, reports the Mirror.
The Frenchman is out of contract in the summer, and could leave the Premier League after more than 8 years at Old Trafford. Evra joined United from Monaco in 2006 for under £6million, but played for Marsala and Monza in the lower Italian leagues before then.
But now the vice-captain looks set to end his stay at United, with the club not extending his contract past this season. Evra will join captain Nemanja Vidic out of the club on a free transfer, and could even follow the Serbian to Serie A. Federico Pastorello, Evra’s agent, claimed it’s a possibility: “Even though he turns 33 in May, he still has another three to four seasons at the highest level in his legs.
“Inter and Roma? Speaking with him, I have understood that technically Serie A is a possibility. He is very attached to Manchester United even if recently things have changed a bit. But Evra still has not taken a final decision.”
Evra has rarely been rivalled for his position at left-back during his time at United. But with suggestions that the Red Devils will bid for Southampton defender Luke Shaw this summer, the Frenchman could find himself on the Old Trafford bench next season if he was offered a new deal.
For your chance to WIN two tickets to Everton vs Manchester United on Sunday April 20 AND a copy of FIFA14, simply comment below with your score prediction for the game…
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[ffccomp link=”https://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/win-tickets-to-everton-vs-manchester-united-a-copy-of-fifa-14″oneliner=”For your chance to WIN two tickets to Everton vs Manchester United on Sunday April 20 AND a copy of FIFA14, simply comment below with your score prediction for the game…” step=”PREDICT THE SCORE
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It’s not the first time an inspiring youngster has left my beloved Charlton Athletic for bigger and better things and it will unlikely be the last. The latest case of Addicks escapism being Diego Poyet, son of Sunderland boss Gus, deciding against renewing his Valley contract and instead agreeing terms with Premier League side West Ham.
The move – in no small part due to Charlton receiving nothing more than a compensation package, most likely around the £500k mark, for the seven years’ worth of investment of time and resources into the midfielder – has prized open sore wounds in South East London. Echoing the same controversial switch Jermain Defoe made back in 1999, many have labelled Poyet as the Addicks’ latest Judas.
I however hold a more realistic and rounded opinion. Before I beat you with a series of superlatives detailing the 19 year-old’s abilities, I will say this; it took just a matter of moments on the pitch for the Valley faithful to realise they were witnessing a special player.
Dubbing youngsters as future stars is done only too willingly nowadays, especially in the lower tiers of English football. Yet there is something so telling about Poyet’s manner, his tranquillity and confidence, his ability to play with his head up at all times, his manipulation of the ball, that suggests the Spanish-born playmaker isn’t your typical overhyped Championship hotshot.
Despite only making his league debut in February, the teenager was voted the Player of the Year at the Valley. And the kind of orchestrating influence that can only truly excel with quality surrounding him, in my opinion, a move to the top flight this summer was inevitable.
But one lingering concern still persists; is West Ham, a club drenched in an attritional philosophy masterminded by footballing revolutionary Sam Allardici, the right home for the Charlton prodigy? Especially considering he’s reportedly rejected offers from Chelsea and Arsenal to name a few to secure a switch to Upton Park.
If you haven’t seen Diego Poyet in action before – of which I cannot blame you, as the Valley has hardly been a vanguard of tica-taca over the last twelve months – the best fitting, instantaneous description that I can give is a comparison with Premier League cult favourite Tugay, of Blackburn Rovers fame. Or failing that, a Pirlo-esque, quarterback playmaker, albeit still rather raw around the edges.
In other words, the 19 year-old’s footballing path, in my opinion, is already set in stone. Whilst Poyet senior was a ferociously energetic, free-scoring midfielder, Poyet junior’s influence is better felt over the course of 90 minutes. His average of 49 passes per match and completion rate of 83% last season were the highest of any Charlton regular, typifying his greatest assets of quality in possession and the ability to conduct play.
Not that technical mastery is all that West Ham’s latest signing has to offer. His 4.2 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per match were also the best returns of any player on the Addicks roster last term; as well as his quality on the ball, Poyet is aggressive, physical and determined off it.
But you can probably already see where my scepticism is heading – ‘possession football’ is not a term included in the Allardyce vocabulary. Players are capable of change – just look at the sensational transformation at Everton last season – but attempting to turn Poyet into a different kind of footballer would be an enormous disservice to the player himself, and the beautiful game as a whole.
Although the likes of Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Matt Jarvis, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing are all proven Premier League talents, it’s hard to envisage any particularly benefitting from Poyet’s majestic, foreign-influenced style. It’s equally tough to imagine the West Ham manager particularly emphasising it over a brand of direct football that has not only secured him two safe Premier League finishes with the Hammers, but furthermore at former clubs Blackburn, Newcastle and Bolton.
Furthermore, for a club that has such a prestigious history of investing faith in young players, Allardyce has disturbingly bucked the trend in recent years. Last season, barring 21 year-old Ravel Morrison, who was eventually sent packing on loan to QPR in January and a two minute substitute appearance from Elliot Lee, aged 19, the youngest player to feature for the Hammers in the Premier League was Jack Collison at 25 years of age. Even Allardyce’s own youthful acquisition Danny Whitehead, sourced from Stockport last summer, is yet to make his league debut for the East Londoners.
Rather, the current Irons gaffer’s approach to promoting youth is throwing them in at the deep end – I’m sure we all remember West Ham’s 5-0 drubbing to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, a match which featured eight members of the Hammers’ development squad.
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Perhaps my doubts are unwarranted. After all, Allardyce appears keen to readdress the age balance of his squad this summer, having already signed Ipswich’s Aaron Cresswell and Anderlecht’s Cheikou Kouyate, both aged 24. Likewise, after falling afoul of the Upton Park faithful last season, club Chairman David Gold has charged big Sam with the task of evolving the Hammers’ attritional style into something more commendable next season. Poyet, the Pirlo of Greenwich, could become a major part of that process.
But it would be a tremendous shame – and from my biased point of view, an unforgivable sin – if a youngster so naturally talented as Poyet went to waste, engulfed by a 19th century brand of football and Allardyce’s insistence upon results over performance.
Should the Hammers embrace the 19 year-old and his aesthetic style, they will have an incredible player on their hands. Should they shy away, should they turn Poyet into an unimaginative midfield bruiser or failing that, leave him to rot in the reserves, they will have committed a footballing atrocity.
Louis van Gaal’s anticipated great cull is yet to take place at Manchester United.
Anderson, Marouane Fellaini, Javier Hernandez, Wilfried Zaha, Shinji Kagawa, Anders Lindegaard and Nick Powell were all expected to be hastily moved on this summer, but we are yet to see significant progress and with just four days of the transfer window remaining, there’s a good chance the Old Trafford gaffer will be stuck with them until January at the earliest.
One player however who looks increasingly likely to leave the Carrington club before September 1st, rather surprisingly, is winger-forward Danny Welbeck. The 4-0 defeat to MK Dons is expected to be his last appearance as a Red Devil – he, van Gaal and Ryan Giggs had ‘a conversation’ last week, assumedly over his future and assumedly not a particularly positive one.
But in my opinion, relinquishing the 23 year-old this summer would be a fatal mistake, not least because, Danny Welbeck epitomises everything good about the old Manchester United.
Perhaps he doesn’t parallel the quality of his many world-class predecessors on the left side of United’s attack, and admittedly, 26 goals in 117 Premier League appearances is a rather disappointing return for an international forward.
It’s no great challenge to pick holes in specific performances for club and country, and one can rightly doubt whether Welbeck would ever feature more than in a bit-part role for United – his athleticism used to defend from the front in important games, his pace and poaching occasionally called upon against the Premier League’s more rank-and-file sides to give Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie a rest.
But look past Welbeck’s consistencies – of which, there are quite a few – and he is the personification of the Sir Alex Ferguson ethos. Perhaps that’s why the retired Scot issued the England international 40 appearances during his final season at Old Trafford, despite him finding the net on just two occasions. Perhaps that’s why Louis van Gaal, amid his mission to instigate drastic, unprecedented philosophical changes at United, feels that Welbeck’s presence has become an issue.
First of all, Welbeck is English, which may seem like superficial and pragmatic point. But Ferguson constantly infused his own side with the national team, for the same reasons Arsene Wenger is now attempting to do the same. The 2010 Spain side had six players from Barcelona, the 2014 Germany side contained six players from Bayern Munich – synergy is important for both club and country and the positive effects are expected to eventually go full circle.
Furthermore, that intrinsic bond with the Three Lions gave United their sense of identity – their blend of hard-working, counter-attacking and clinical football encapsulates the key characteristics of the English game. Ferguson thought this was so important that he invested £27million in Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in the space of two transfer windows. He also once threw £25million at a then-19 year-old Wayne Rooney, assuring United have a player at the heart of the national team for at least the next decade.
Welbeck isn’t the only England international in the United squad, but with the exception of Wayne Rooney and the now-retired Michael Carrick, he’s been by far the most predominant in the Three Lions fold over the last few years. A return of 8 goals in 26 is a decent contribution for England, and Roy Hodgson has continually maintained faith in the 23 year-old even when United appearances have been hard to come by.
Secondly, Danny Welbeck is frighteningly quick – in fact, physically, he’s a walking definition of the perfect footballer, giving even Cristiano Ronaldo a run for his money. You can once again question the triviality of this, but if there’s one core difference between United now and the United that used to win back-to-back Premier League titles, it’s undoubtedly the absence of a consistent threat in-behind.
Whether Louis van Gaal could find a role for Welbeck in his 3-4-1-2 formation – despite his versatility as an attacker – is open to debate. His defensive game is not up to the standards of a wing-back, his link-up play is good, but not imaginative enough to play at No.10, and the chances of anyone usurping Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney as United’s front two remains exceptionally slim.
That being said, Welbeck gives van Gaal options. United struggled to stretch both Sunderland and Swansea in their two opening fixtures but the England international, whether he’s on the pitch for nine minutes or ninety, is more than capable of doing that. Indeed, an injection of pace could well be the missing ingredient, considering how vital Arjen Robben was tactically for the Netherlands at the World Cup.
Thirdly and most importantly, Welbeck is a grafter. John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville and Park Ji-Sung, to name a few, were never the most talented of players but their personalities, their undying determination and their obedience to Ferguson was as intrinsic to United’s Premier League dominance as the world-class qualities of their flagship stars. Welbeck firmly belongs to this category, all the more so considering he’s a genuine product of the Carrington academy.
The 23 year-old has United in his blood. If Ferguson were to draw an annotated diagram of the perfect Red Devil, it would closely resemble him; quick, resilient, dangerous in front of goal and deadly on the break, young, determined and unquestionably loyal. It’s a new era at Old Trafford and quite clearly, Louis van Gaal wants intrinsic changes. But the heart of the Red Devils must remain the same and there must be some sense of continuity between new and old regimes.
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Furthermore, for a player that has such a marmite effect on the English public, the long list of suitors for Welbeck that have emerged over the last week is an enormous testament to the forward’s talents and utility. With Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle, Hull and Sunderland all linked to his signature, the situation reminds me of Theo Walcott’s in January 2013 when he had just six months left on his Gunners contract and was holding out for a better deal.
The enormity of clubs attracted to the 25 year-old changed perceptions of him, eradicating the myth that blistering pace made him a one-trick pony. And I believe that, in a likewise manner, moving clubs would positively change opinions on Welbeck too.
But that sway of opinion would come too late for Manchester United. Here’s a player who epitomises the ethos of the club and many of van Gaal’s own ideals. For the Red Devils and for England, I stand firm that Welbeck still has an important role to play.
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Louis van Gaal looks to have finally secured the perfect formation for his side as he refuses to alter anything with risk that his squad will lose their winning touch, meaning players who are benched, are likely to remain where they are.
The international break will actually be the perfect time for players who aren’t given enough time to play to prove their worth to the manager on an international level in hopes of being selected to play in United’s upcoming matches.
So, here are three Red Devils stars that have something to prove when they play for their national team in all important Euro 2016 qualifiers.
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CLICK ON ADNAN JANUZAJ TO SEE THE FULL LIST
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Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw only recently came back into the Manchester United first team, but given his price tag as well as his wages, he is under huge pressure to perform. The 19-year-old is yet to return to full fitness with Roy Hodgson deciding to let him play for the Under-21 squad instead.
He faces Croatia in the European U-21 qualifiers and will have to prove himself to Louis van Gaal as well as Hodgson that he is ready to step up his game and feature regularly for both club and country. With United’s current defensive problems, Shaw will need to make the left back slot his own.
Marouane Fellaini
The saga of Marouane Fellaini’s future at Manchester United is still a doubt, but he did get some playing time at the weekend against his former side despite only returning from an injury. Playing for Belgium, the midfielder is given a much more advanced role than that of his club responsibilities, causing concern for Louis van Gaal and where he should play him.
He faces Andorra during the break and will need to show that he can still be an effective player like shown during the group stages of the World Cup. We all know that he has great aerial ability, but nobody is exactly sure which position can bring out the best in him.
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Adnan Januzaj
Adnan Januzaj entered the Manchester United first team and became an instant hit under former manager David Moyes, but with the club’s recent additions, his role has gone from limited to almost non existent.
He has already impressed Louis van Gaal for the United U-21 squad, but will now need to prove himself on an international level when Belgium face Andorra in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. With barely any time the senior squad, the international break is exactly what Januzaj needs to try and earn his way back into the first team.