Manchester United have, reportedly, made a bid for Harry Maguire. The bid is in the region of ÂŁ65 million which is the value they have placed on him having had a reasonably successful World Cup.
According to experts, whoever they may be, he was actually worth ÂŁ25 million before his escapades in Russia and is now worth ÂŁ50 million so maybe Ed Woodward knows something we don’t or maybe he is just throwing an extra ÂŁ15 million in to make sure the deal happens. (more…)
With just a couple of weeks to go until the new Premier League season starts, we look at what the top six have been doing in the transfer market which, to be honest and with the exception of Liverpool, is not a lot.
Manchester City
The champions seem to be relying on last season’s heroes to retain the title this time around. They have, in fairness, added top quality in Riyad Mahrez but, having been cheated out of Jorginho by Chelsea’s immoral and unethical way of conducting business, they seem no nearer to replacing Yaya TourĂ© although they still have a bit of time left yet. (more…)
So Gareth Southgate is up for a gong. Having taken his mediocre team, which would struggle in the Premier League, to a World Cup semi-final he is now being tipped to be given the FIFA Coach of the Year award.
So what are the qualifications for this nomination? Well, apparently, not very many. He only beat teams who are ranked below his team except one. It was, unfortunately for Gawpy Gareth, the important one which prevented England undeservedly reaching their first World Cup final for 52 years. He didn’t beat a nation ranked above his team even after having been given two bites at the cherry, one of which was against their reserves.
So naturally, he should be given an award for his achievement. (more…)
Anthony “Marmite” Martial is reaching a crossroads in his career at the ripe old age of 22.
He is adored by some fans, hated by others. He is criticised for his demeanour which is, in fact, very similar to that of his manager. He is criticised for his lack of workrate. He is considered by some to be lazy, a player who only wants to be involved in the nicer aspects of a football match.
He didn’t do enough to convince Didier Deschamps that he was worth a place in the French World Cup squad although, in fairness, they did pretty well without him. (more…)
Manchester City finished last season with a few new records. Points, goals, wins – think of a record and they seemed to break it!
As of yet Pep Guardiola has only added Riyad Mahrez to his squad and, whilst he may he another world-class signing, he is still only one player.
Now it could be argued that, with the margin of victory achieved last time out there was little, if any, need to strengthen the squad. Pep, however, has always held the belief, much like his hero Sir Alex Ferguson, that you strengthen from a position of strength. (more…)
Two seasons ago three of the “big six” started their campaigns with new managers in charge. Pep Guardiola had arrived, with much fanfare and hype, at Manchester City and he would go on to lead them to….er….third place in the Premier League, 15 points behind the winners, and absolutely nothing else.
JosĂ© Mourinho rode into town, checked himself into the Lowry hotel as if anticipating a short stay and then led his new club, Manchester United, to an underwhelming sixth place finish. He did redeem himself, however, by winning both of the B trophies. He picked up the Carabao Cup and the Europa League with the latter ensuring qualification for the Champion’s League. (more…)
Nothing is happening. It’s as if somebody has pressed the global pause button. The World Cup has ground to a halt, even if only for two days. The transfer window is in danger of becoming even more boring than that game between France and Denmark.
What is going on and where is the news?
It got so bad that poor old Jim White on Sky Sports News had to resort to reporting the “incredible” news that a man had seen a bear in the woods in Montana and a shark had been spotted in the sea off the Australian coast! Truly incredible stuff!
Not to worry, avid readers, if there is any football-related news we will find it. Even if we have to actually read some other rags to do so. As far as the World Cup goes, this is what we think we know. (more…)
Everybody expected the Russian bubble to burst eventually, even the Russians. The positive aspect of their resounding defeat by Uruguay was that it was inflicted at a stage of the competition whereby they had already qualified for the last 16.
The question now is whether the players and coaching staff are good enough to raise their game when playing another top quality team. They managed it fine against Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both of whom have now exited the competition, then they failed their first real test when meeting Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani et al.
Having lost that game 3-0 to goals from Suarez, a Denis Cheyshev own goal and Cavani, there are still some positives to be grasped. (more…)
After all the pomp and circumstance, 2018’s ethics World Cup finally got underway when the hosts met Saudi Arabia in the opening game.
The enigma that is Russia, not only as a football team, but as a country, continues to confound the logic of most sane people. How can a land boasting a population of around 145 million and with such a long history of playing football, a country whose population loves the game, unlike the early days in America, be so poor at actually playing it?
They are currently ranked 70th in the world, only three places above Saudi Arabia! On that basis the result of the opening game was really quite a surprise, particularly when taking into account the fact that the hosts had lost their previous seven. So a 5-0 win was a most welcome start for them. (more…)
Having already signed Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer Arsenal are now close to finalising deals for both Sokratis Papastathopoulos and, as we mentioned yesterday, Lucas Torreira.
Next up will probably be a goalkeeper to replace Petr Cech who will be 36 next month.
The favourite is the German, Bernd Leno, of Bayer Leverkusen. He will cost around ÂŁ20 million and would be available as soon as required as he has been left out of the Germany World Cup squad, an indicator of the market in which Arsenal are now forced to conduct business. (more…)
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