Erik ten Hag has hailed Alejandro Garnacho after his electric cameo performance for Manchester United against Southampton.
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A significant update has emerged regarding the future of Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager, courtesy of Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg.
The future of Ten Hag at Old Trafford has been a big talking point throughout this season, with the Dutchman enduring a disappointing campaign after having a strong first year in the job. He is believed to be under pressure to keep his job, with a number of potential replacements reportedly being lined up.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is believed to be interested in bringing in Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, with the 37-year-old guiding his side into the Premier League, not to mention having a United past. Former Barnsley manager Danny Wilson has lauded his playing style, saying back in September: "Kieran’s team are setting a terrific pace along with Leicester forging an eight-point gap to third place at this very early stage of the season, playing some sublime football with a steely determination."
Brighton leader Roberto De Zerbi is also seen as a target for the Red Devils, even though the Seagulls' season has petered out a little, and Gareth Southgate has also received a mention in the recent past.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel could be an option, too, once he has left Bayern Munich, with the German departing at the end of the season, potentially after he has inspired his team to Champions League glory.
Taking on X on Sunday evening, Sky Sports journalist Plettenberg claimed that Ten Hag is now wanted by Bayern Munich this summer, being seen as a top target to replace Tuchel: "News Ten Hag: After the rejection of Rangnick he’s back on the list of FC Bayern! There were talks between Bayern and Ten Hag‘s management in the last weeks. No direct talks with Ten Hag yet.
"His future at ManUtd is still uncertain. He would like to fulfill his contract until 2025. However, if it's certain that he has to leave at the end of the season, then he's ready for Bayern. Two more teams have already expressed concrete interest in Ten Hag. Bayern are currently considering several options. Among them are Ten Hag and Lopetegui."
This is a rumour that has come from nowhere, considering this is a period in which Ten Hag is generally being linked with being sacked, rather than getting another high-profile job.
To some United supporters, seeing the 54-year-old move on will be the best thing possible this summer, allowing Ratcliffe to bring in a superior option in the dugout, heralding the start of a new era at the club. There is also a section of the fanbase that will want Ten Hag to stay put, however, seeing him as the right option who should benefit from the arrival of Dan Ashworth and having more of an organised recruitment system in operation.
|
Erik ten Hag's managerial career |
Matches |
Points per game |
|---|---|---|
|
Manchester United |
109 |
1.93 |
|
Ajax |
215 |
2.34 |
|
FC Utrecht |
111 |
1.74 |
|
Bayern Munich II |
72 |
2.14 |
|
Go Ahead Eagles |
39 |
1.72 |
It does seem strange that Bayern consider him such a good choice, however, given his struggles this season, but if the United boss' head is turned by a move to Germany, it could be the best outcome for all parties.
Dan Scarr believes Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will be seeking bragging rights over counterpart Tom Brady when Wrexham take on Birmingham.
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The striker looked lost against Liverpool and the time has come for Amad Diallo to take his place in the Red Devils attack
Manchester United fans do not usually boo their own players, even during an atrocious defeat like Sunday's trouncing by Liverpool. But lately they have been making their displeasure heard at Erik ten Hag's substitutions.
Last season, the Dutchman got an earful of abuse for taking off Rasmus Hojlund for Anthony Martial against Brighton, and received a similarly angry reaction when he took the Danish striker off for Amad Diallo against Burnley late in the campaign.
Martial has now left the club and Hojlund was injured for the Liverpool clash, but boos still rang out when Ten Hag made his second change after ruthlessly hauling Casemiro off for Toby Collyer, bringing on Amad for Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentina international is still in his honeymoon period with United fans, but he was not playing well at all against Liverpool.
The reaction, therefore, could only be interpreted as them venting their fury that Marcus Rashford was remaining on the pitch. Rashford had scored in two of his previous three games at home to Liverpool, but he was one of the worst performers in another dreadful defeat.
His malaise is no longer a surprise, it is a pattern that is repeated regularly, and Ten Hag needs to stop giving him so many chances.
Leeds United are about to make a bid for Club Brugge star Charles de Ketelaere, according to RTL Sport journalist Alexandre Braeckman.
The Whites have already brought in three players this summer and appear to be closing in on a fourth addition in Manchester City midfielder Darko Gyabi.
A £5m transfer for the 18-year-old is separate from Kalvin Phillips’ pending £42m move to the Etihad Stadium.
De Ketelaere could become the fifth arrival in Yorkshire, with Leeds’ interest ‘serious’ according to Phil Hay, and it looks as if Victor Orta and co are about to make a formal bid for the Belgian.
Speaking to MOT Leeds News, Braeckman had this to say on Leeds and De Ketelaere, revealing that an opening €30m (£25.8m) proposal is set to be made ‘in the next days’:
“Leeds is about to submit a first €30m bid, it could be done in the next days, but I can’t tell exactly when.
“Bruges is expecting €40m, they know they could have a huge amount of money for this player. It could easily be the biggest transfer of the Belgian football (currently €27m for Jonathan David, from Gent to Lille).”
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The Verdict: Fingers crossed
Leeds view De Ketelaere as a forward, although he can also play in a deeper role or on the wing and has just come off the back of his best season with 28 goal contributions. [Transfermarkt]
Attacking reinforcements are needed in Yorkshire with the new season fast approaching and Raphinha’s future still up in the air, so hopefully the club can get a high-profile move for De Ketelaere over the line, especially with European giants AC Milan also circling.
James Marshment said that the 21-year-old moving to Leeds would be an “elite signing” for the Whites, and you’d like to think that the Belgian would improve Jesse Marsch’s attacking ranks straight away following his form in 2021/22.
Tottenham Hotspur are allegedly working on their fourth signing of the summer after Yves Bissouma as news emerges on Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence.
Spurs head coach Antonio Conte is showing no sign of slowing down after completing a move for Bissouma, who has now arrived in north London in a £25m deal from Premier League side Brighton.
Indeed, he joins the likes of Ivan Perisic and Fraser Foster who both joined the north London club on free transfers prior to the Mali international’s arrival.
Club chief Fabio Paratici and Conte are now prioritising a central defensive upgrade, a new striker and a right wing-back option, with 90min now sharing news on the latter position.
As per their information, a ‘deal’ to sign Spence from Middlesbrough is currently ‘in the works’ as Spurs eye their potential fourth agreement of this transfer window.
How far they are down the line in terms of concluding a move isn’t explained, but is believed that they are attempting to sign the Championship starlet behind the scenes.
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Homegrown and seriously impressing on loan at Nottingham Forest during their promotion push last season, we believe that Spence would come as a very astute signing for Spurs.
Tottenham’s need to balance their homegrown quota has been well-documented, and the 21-year-old’s arrival would go some way to helping in that regard.
Finishing last season as one of Steve Cooper’s standout performers at the City Ground, posting the squad’s sixth-highest WhoScored rating, Spence has also been called the ‘perfect player for Conte’ by journalists such as talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, so there are numerous reasons to be cheerful if the youngster is wearing a Tottenham shirt on the opening day of the new season.
Arsenal are reportedly ready to break the bank in order to land RB Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku, according to the latest reports.
As per the Independent, the Bundesliga side have set an asking price of around £100m for the exciting Frenchman, with the Gunners – as well as Paris Saint-Germain – believed to be ‘willing’ to match that figure.
That potential deal would eclipse the £72m, club-record fee that the north Londoners paid to prise Nicolas Pepe from Lille in 2019, with the Emirates outfit in need of new forward additions following the recent departure of Lyon-bound Alexandre Lacazette, having already allowed former skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to join Barcelona in January.
Premier League rivals Manchester United are also named by the report as another potential suitor, although the Red Devils are ‘unlikely’ to cough up such a sizeable fee with other areas of the squad still to address.
Having only brought in backup goalkeeper Matt Turner and promising Brazilian, Marquinhos, so far this summer, Gunners supporters will no doubt be impatient for more high-profile additions, with these latest links to Nkunku likely to set pulses racing.
Dubbed a “superstar” by journalist Robin Bairner earlier this season, the versatile 24-year-old would no doubt be able to make an instant impact in the Premier League, fresh off the back of an explosive, breakthrough campaign in Germany last time out.
In 50 games in all competitions in the 2021/22 season, the former PSG gem fired in a truly staggering 35 goals and 19 assists, notably netting a goal every 117 minutes in what was a simply breathtaking and relentless scoring spree.
That haul also included 20 league goals – the fourth-best record in the German top-flight – while he also fired in seven goals in just six games in the Champions League, despite Leipzig having crashed out in the group stage.
That tally – which included a devastating hat-trick in the matchday one defeat to Manchester City – ensured he was the joint-fifth highest scorer in the competition, while he also went on to add a further four goals after dropping into the Europa League.
Such a prolific nine months has come somewhat out of the blue, with the £72m-rated man only having scored 12 goals in all competitions across the last two seasons combined, yet that will do little to temper the excitement regarding a possible link-up with Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal are undoubtedly in need of a new focal point in attack, with Nkunku seemingly the superstar attraction who can help fire them back into top-four contention.
IN other news, Arsenal now have “genuine interest” in signing £45m “baller”, it would be a huge coup
BBC pundit Alan Hutton has criticised the ‘pile up’ of international fixtures taking place after it was revealed that Celtic ace Carl Starfelt has sustained a serious injury.
In an update on the 27-year-old’s fitness, it was reported by the Daily Record last week that the centre-back could be ruled out of action for months after he was stretchered off the pitch with a suspected hamstring problem in Sweden’s game against Slovenia.
As quoted by the same newspaper, the defender admitted that the initial diagnosis of his injury ‘does not look very bright’, meaning that the Hoops now look set to be without their man as Ange Postecoglou steps up preparations ahead of the start of the new season.
Speaking during an interview with Football Insider, Hutton claimed that the number of games being played is ‘too much’ for the international stars to deal with.
“Look, I don’t think it’s a problem going away on internationals. It’s happened for as long as I can remember when the season finishes.
“You get a week off and then you go and play your international matches or if it’s a tournament. I think the problem at this moment in time is the fixture pile up.
“If you look at any of the teams, I mean Scotland could have had five games in June. That’s too much after a long season.
“I understand with everything that’s going on, you have to fit certain things in, I do get it.
“But I think the amount of football that’s being played in the season is too much. Especially for some of these top stars and top nations that compete in everything.”
Starfelt managed to play almost 45 minutes for Sweden before being removed from the field in what was only his sixth appearance for his country, which will come as a huge blow to the Australian boss.
The £17k-per-week gem was a stalwart in the Scottish Premiership this season and proved just how much of a rock he can be at the heart of the Celts backline, having averaged 3.5 clearances, 1.3 interceptions and 1.2 tackles per game, via WhoScored.
Postecoglou will want to have all of his defensive experience available to him for when the new term kicks in, but with Starfelt not even having a time frame on his return yet, whether he will be declared fully fit in time or not yet remains to be seen.
In other news… a Celtic transfer target is now pushing for an exit from his club to make the move to Parkhead.
Everton narrowly avoided Premier League relegation this season as Frank Lampard guided his team to a dramatic 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in their penultimate game to guarantee survival.
This close escape won’t be enough to satiate the Goodison Park faithful, though, and they may be expecting big things next season, especially with the manager getting a full summer transfer window to reshape the playing squad.
One move that they could make is signing defender Adrien Truffert from Rennes, as Farhad Moshiri looks to loosen the purse strings to sign the £10.8m-rated left-back.
That’s according to French outlet L’Equipe, who claimed that Everton are keen on the 20-year-old as Lampard aims to boost his porous defence.
Truffert could develop into Everton’s very own Theo Hernandez, the AC Milan and France left-back who has won the Champions League and UEFA Nations League, and the Merseyside club are in need of a defender with his quality.
FBRef’s similar player model compares Truffert with his compatriot and it’s clear to see why. Both are goalscoring full-backs and love to get forward as much as possible. Hernandez scored five goals and registered five assists in 2021/22, while the Rennes youngster notched three goals and three assists in Ligue 1.
Truffert committed fewer fouls than the AC Milan defender (24 to 39), and although Hernandez makes more interceptions (26 to 19) and tackles (40 to 21), there is plenty of time for the former to improve certain areas of his game and, at 20 years of age, he isn’t near the finished product yet.
Hernandez displayed his attacking qualities by delivering almost three times as many crosses (141) as Truffert (47) this season, but a move to the Premier League could see him gain more experience playing at a much more demanding level of football than the French top flight.
The Rennes left-back has been dubbed “incredible” by the French media, and given his performances during the season, it’s clear to see why there has been interest from England. Everton might never sign Hernandez from Milan, but Moshiri could get the next-best thing with a swoop for Truffert.
Celtic are reportedly interested in signing Maccabi Haifa midfielder Mohammad Abu Fani this summer.
According to reports in his homeland (via Daily Record), the Hoops are joined by Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege and Royal Antwerp in keeping an eye on the midfielder during Israel’s upcoming Nations League matches.
A product of Maccabi Haifa’s youth academy, the 24-year-old has racked up 99 appearances for the club across all competitions. In that time, the Israel international – who is currently valued at just £810k by Transfermarkt – has scored 10 goals and delivered seven assists along the way.
With 44 appearances and 12 goal contributions this season across all competitions, this highlights just how important he is for his club and why they may be reluctant to let him leave this summer.
On the international stage, the midfielder has made 45 appearances for his country across their youth and senior teams, scoring six goals in the process.
In January, journalist Sanny Rudravajhala quote-tweeted a now-deleted clip of Abu Fani keeping possession of the ball during a game against Maccabi Tel Aviv when his side won 3-2 having been 2-0 down, with the journalist describing the passage of play as a “thing of beauty”.
In terms of a potential move to Celtic for the Israeli gem, this could potentially bring Ismaila Soro’s time at Parkhead to an end.
Signed from Israeli outfit Bnei Yehuda in January 2020 in a four-and-a-half-year deal worth around £2m, the Ivorian has made just 43 appearances for the Bhoys.
Taking into account how the 24-year-old only started six of the 19 games in which he appeared for Ange Postecoglou’s side this season (and none since December), it’s safe to say that he is not particularly high in the pecking order at Parkhead.
Also, with a report from The Athletic claiming that the Bhoys intend moving the midfielder out of the club this summer, this could pave the way for Abu Fani to come in and take the Ivorian’s place in Postecoglou’s squad.
Should the Hoops finally manage to get rid of Soro in the coming weeks and months, adding a player like Abu Fani to their ranks, who has experience of playing as an attacking and defensive midfielder at times, could be the best option for the club.
In other news: Ange can finally axe “unbelievable” Celtic flop by signing “feisty” 19-goal sensation