Former England manager Steve McClaren has advised Liverpool to move for Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez if Philippe Coutinho leaves.
According to The Times, Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder thinks that he has played his final game for the Merseyside outfit amid interest from Barcelona.
However, the publication states that the Merseyside outfit will not be tempted to sell this month unless an offer of around £133m is tabled.
The Spanish giants were rebuffed in their efforts to secure Coutinho’s signature in the summer, but it appears that they have renewed their interest.
If Barcelona get their way, there will be a position to fill in Jurgen Klopp’s team, and McClaren thinks that Sanchez is the right fit.
The Chile international will come to the end of his contract at Arsenal next summer, which means that he could potentially leave for a cut-price figure this month.
Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been prominent in the transfer gossip pages when Sanchez is mentioned, but McClaren has tipped the attacker to move to Merseyside.
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The Liverpool Echo quotes the ex-England boss as saying:
“It’s difficult. I would look at Sanchez from Arsenal as there may be a bit of movement there. £160million is a lot of money. You can buy a lot for that [but] Liverpool won’t want to lose Coutinho’s quality. I could [see Sanchez at Anfield]. Sanchez will be ambitious and he’s that type of player that could replace Coutinho.”
West Ham United have been linked with an array of midfielders in the last few weeks.
Bournemouth’s Harry Arter is one of them, but it seems that the pursuit is not going to plan for the Hammers.
According to The Sun, the East London outfit tabled an initial £5m bid, which has been rejected by the Cherries.
The coastal club reportedly feel that the midfielder is worth much more given his five-year spell at the club.
Arter has been struggling to keep a regular spot in the team lately, though, with his most recent appearance being in Bournemouth’s 2-2 draw with Brighton on New Year’s Day.
So far this season, the midfielder has had 15 outings in all competitions, and 11 of those have been Premier League starts.
West Ham have less than three weeks to recruit a new man to strengthen the middle of the park, but their rumoured pursuit of Arter has not got off on the best foot.
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After the news emerged on Twitter, fans had their say.
To celebrate 25 years of the Premier League each week in Football Fancast we’re going to be looking back at a memorable game that took place on the corresponding date. This time out we revisit an infamous evening in south London.
So far in 2018 this feature has cast its mind back to two unforgettable Premier League classics at Anfield and a ding-dong affair at Carrow Road. Combined those three games lavished us with twenty goals. This time out we head to Selhurst Park for a 1-1 draw played out between Crystal Palace and Manchester United in 1995. Both scorers were centre-backs.
So what gives? On first glance the ordinariness of this contest jars and you wonder why it is that when the referee blew up in the ninety-gazillionth minute to conclude a clash that represented two precious points dropped for the visitors this low-scoring draw entered the pantheon of all-time greats.
Then your memory catches up. Oh, it was that game.
Four days earlier United had beaten Blackburn Rovers 1-0 to claw back a slim deficit at the top as Jack Walker’s expensively assembled side looked on course to parade a major trophy around Ewood Park for the first time in seventy years. That match had been all about Andy Cole, Ferguson’s guarantee of goals whose arrival for £7m ten days before had shocked British football to the core. Only Cole flattered to deceive on his debut – in fact the pressure was so great that he was virtually anonymous throughout. Instead the deciding, crucial goal came from the boot of Eric Cantona.
The following Wednesday evening Cole was again in the spotlight with all eyes on his performance but away from his initial toils a fascinating sub-drama was brewing that the more astute of observers switched over to. Palace defender Richard Shaw had been instructed to man-mark Cantona and was doing his job a little too well, bumping and shirt-pulling and generally being a rash on the Frenchman’s patience. Having been sent off on three occasions the previous season the stocky virtuoso was undoubtedly a man with a short fuse and by the time half-time came around it had been whittled down to a nub. “Yellow card!” he plaintively cried to the referee as they headed to the tunnel. Ferguson, typically, was more forthcoming, telling Alan Wilkie to ‘just do your f***ing job’.
Cantona endured another four minutes of smothering before he snapped. A long punt downfield by Peter Schemichel had Shaw on his heels and straight after on the deck as Cantona kicked out in sheer petulance. Alan Wilkie had no other option but to do his f***ing job and brandish a straight red.
The part-time poets’ reaction to this is pertinent. For a short while he stays rooted to the spot not in outrage but similarly with scant surprise. It’s as if he’s absorbing his actions and subsequent decision that may now cost his team the chance to get their nose in front in the title race. It’s as if somebody else lashed out in anger on his behalf and he’s just been told about it.
Instinctively he strays towards the dug-out but Ferguson doesn’t want to know, studiously staring away, and perhaps it’s this indication of disorientation that prompts a member of United’s backroom staff to begin shepherding Cantona towards the exit.
This right here is football’s version of Kennedy’s final wave on Dealey Plaza, those insignificant few seconds before history is made and forever seared onto our consciousness.
As Cantona is buffered along close-by the touchline a 20-year-old double glazing fitter named Matthew Simmons rushes past 11 rows of seating unknowingly casting himself in infamy. “Off you go Cantona, it’s an early shower for you,” is what he hilariously claimed later to be his words. Others more realistically attest there were mentions of the player’s nationality mingled up with a litany of f-bombs. A lady unfortunate enough to be stationed on the front row, standing mere yards from the controversy as it unfolded, later insisted that so great was the noise that Simmons’ words were drowned out by it.
Whatever the truth – and we can of course rule out the first option – Cantona’s alter-ego took over once again and he released himself of his chaperone. It could be said this was the first time all night that he’d slipped his man-marker.
The kick that knocked Simmons staggering backwards has gone down in legend as being karate in origin. If so it’s the inelegant fling a child takes on his first lesson. The punch that followed, well that was straight from any rough boozer on a Friday night.
“Millions of times people say these things, and then one day you don’t accept it,” the enigmatic striker offered up on a later date. Once that day came he was off for an early shower.
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What happened next?
Blackburn pipped United to the title by a single point while Palace were relegated despite finishing fourth from bottom due to a rejigging of the league structure.
As for the player, the seagulls that followed the trawler gleefully reported on an eight month ban and 120 hours of community service.
Arsenal do not tend to be one of the busier clubs when it comes to the transfer window, but this time around, plenty of work is going on behind the scenes.
The Alexis Sanchez saga came to an end earlier this week when the Chile international moved to Manchester United.
Within the deal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan switched to the Emirates, and it seems that the Gunners’ transfer business is not done just yet.
Widespread reports have claimed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the club’s top target.
The Borussia Dortmund hitman has not yet signed on the dotted line, and it appears that a deal could potentially depend on Olivier Giroud.
The Daily Mail reports that the Bundesliga outfit are keen on signing the French forward, but at this stage, deals for Aubameyang and Giroud are being kept separate.
The latter has struggled for a starting spot at Arsenal this season having been restricted to just one Premier League start so far.
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With a potential move to Dortmund on the horizon, fans have been debating whether the Gunners should let him go.
Arsenal have been dealt a huge blow ahead of the latest episode of the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Saturday after Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld returned to first-team action in the 2-0 win against Newport County on Wednesday night to put himself in contention for a start this weekend.
The Gunners would have been hoping that they would come up against Davinson Sanchez following his horror show in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, but now Alderweireld could be lining up alongside fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen at the heart of the defence instead after he played the full 90 minutes against the League Two outfit.
The 28-year-old made his long-awaited return against the Exiles having been sidelined with a hamstring injury he picked up in Mauricio Pochettino’s men’s 3-1 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League on November 1.
Arsene Wenger would have been hopeful that the centre-back wouldn’t have been fit enough to start against his team – and he still might not be risked from the start by Pochettino – with the French manager ready to unleash Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on their arch-rivals’ defence as they look to close the gap between the two to just one point with a win.
The Gabon international started and scored on his debut in the 5-1 win against Everton last Saturday, and he is likely to get the nod ahead of Alexandre Lacazette again this weekend too.
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Reported former Newcastle United target Eliaquim Mangala has been ruled out until the end of the season because of a knee injury, and Magpies fans have been quick to have their say on the news.
The Daily Mail reported on January 29 that United manger Rafa Benitez had enquired about bringing the £80,000-a-week star to St James’ Park on loan before the January transfer window slammed shut last month, but the 26-year-old joined Everton in a similar deal instead.
However, just two matches into his time with the Merseyside outfit the centre-back picked up a knee injury that will keep him on the sidelines until after the climax of the campaign, with Toffees boss Sam Allardyce confirming he will be out for the long-term.
Newcastle supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the injury update, and while one said “another bullet dodged”, another said “phew that was a close one”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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Martin Dubravka has revealed that he is desperate to sign a permanent deal with Newcastle United following his impressive start to life in the Premier League.
The 29-year-old joined Newcastle on loan from Sparta Prague last month, and the Slovakian has made a positive impression since arriving in England.
Indeed, the stopper starred against Manchester United on his debut, and also made a series of impressive saves in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at the weekend.
It is understood that the Magpies will have the opportunity to make the deal permanent at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, and Dubravka is hopeful that he will stay in England.
Dubravka told The Guardian:
“I hope I’ll stay. It’s amazing here. Everybody in Slovakia knows about Newcastle; it’s a big name in my country.
“I know many people talk about the top six in England but, in Slovakia, Newcastle’s one of the most famous clubs.
“Everyone wants to be a hero of a club like Newcastle but I have to take this step by step. If you think things are going to go well, then they won’t.”
Dubravka, who is a nine-time Slovakia international, only joined Sparta Prague from Slovan Liberec in June 2017.
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Newcastle have only lost one of their last eight Premier League matches, but sit down in 15th position in the table – just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda has warned Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon about moving to the Premier League club.
The 17-year-old has been in sensational form over the last few seasons for the Cottagers.
Rumours were rife last summer that the teenage wide player would be scooped up by one of the elite clubs.
However, he opted to sign his first professional contract at Fulham and has gone from strength to strength.
This season, the youngster has scored 14 goals, 10 of which have come in his last 13 appearances.
Earlier this month, The Mirror reported that Sessegnon would prefer to join Tottenham over Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Given Mauricio Pochettino’s proven track record with giving young players a chance, it would be understandable if the Englishman chose Spurs.
The fans, as well, have made it clear on social media that they are keen for the club to bring him in.
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However, Chimbonda, who played for the North London outfit across two spells, has suggested that Tottenham may not be the best place for the youngster at this time of his career.
In an interview with Betstars, the 39-year-old said:
“He’s still young, he’s good for the Championship but there’s a difference between being good in the Championship and arriving in the Premier League. If he comes to Spurs he won’t play regularly or may go out on loan, he will only come on sometimes and that’s really hard for the player. I think he needs to go to a team below Spurs, where he will play football.”
The footballing gods have thrown together a tasty Champions League quarter-final tie as Liverpool will take on Manchester City.
The match-up means that an English team will definitely be in the semi-finals of the competition, and given the results between these two clubs this season, it is anyone’s game.
So far, Liverpool are the only club to beat Pep Guardiola’s City in the Premier League this season and they did it in a dramatic 4-3 victory at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were outclassed in the first top-flight fixture between the two sides this season as the blue half of Manchester waltzed to a 5-0 triumph.
The scoreline was not the only miserable thing for the Reds; they lost Sadio Mane to a red card after the Senegal international inadvertently kicked goalkeeper Ederson in the face.
Interestingly, the timings of the quarter-final tie slot in between some huge league matches for both clubs.
Anfield will host the first leg on April 4, with the return leg at the Etihad Stadium on April 10, and in between those outings, Liverpool will take on Merseyside rivals Everton and City will play a potential title-winning game against Manchester United.
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Liverpool could have been drawn against Real Madrid, Juventus, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Roma or Sevilla, but they will face an all-English tie.
Celtic defender Jack Hendry took a massive forward step in his career on Tuesday night, making his debut for Scotland in a friendly away to Hungary.
Winning the match 1-0, it was an important victory and performance for Alex McLeish’s side, who are embarking on a new era after yet another failed qualification campaign and were looking to bounce back from defeat against Costa Rica on Friday night.
The clean sheet will be of particular delight to central defender Hendry, who dealt with the attacking threat of the Hungarians well all evening, showing why Celtic moved for him in January and justifying his inclusion in McLeish’s first squad.
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The 22-year-old has had a meteoric rise this season, signing for Dundee from the fringes of the Wigan squad last summer before joining the Hoops.
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Fans were certainly impressed with his international debut with fans of clubs other than Celtic taking to social media to praise the player in the wake of the friendly win…