Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas still hopes he will be able to sign Joao Moutinho from FC Porto. As his top target, Villas-Boas believes Moutino is an ideal replacement for Luka Modric, who is due to complete a move to Real Madrid in the next few days.
Spurs are unwilling to pay the £25m asking price for the midfielder, however despite this, the Tottenham boss still believes a transfer could go ahead because of Moutinho’s desire to move to England. It is understood the 25-year-old is frequently emphasising his wish to play in the Premier League, a factor that could weaken Porto’s resolve.
The diverse midfielder is comfortable in a holding or attacking role, and often plays on each wing. He has been a regular call-up for the Portuguese international squad, with his first appearance at the age of 18, and he has gone on to accumulate 48 caps since 2005. In 2010, then-boss Villas-Boas signed Mountino for Porto from rivals Sporting CF, and went on to guide the Portuguese side to a treble, winning the Primeira Liga, Taca de Portugal and Europa League.
The alternative to Moutinho had been Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic. Yet this deal will be difficult to complete, as Roma manager Zdenek Zeman is counting strongly on Pjanic for the season ahead, while the player is only one year into a four-year contract and is happy in the Italian capital.
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Celtic’s utilisation of loans in recent years has overall had a benefit on the first team squad, with the likes of Jason Denayer, Patrick Roberts and now Odsonne Edouard all having successful spells at the club.
Edouard is the latest temporary signing to make himself a hero in green and white, scoring a superb double against city rivals Rangers in a title-winning derby match on Sunday.
It was a sensational performance and comes after the young Frenchman had already made a name for himself scoring a winning goal at Ibrox earlier in the season.
With Brendan Rodgers hopeful of signing him this summer, we asked the Celtic support in our recent poll whether or not the Hoops should pay the millions it would take to bring him to Glasgow permanently.
The vast majority were in favour of such a move, even with figures of £7m quoted by media with regards to his transfer earlier in the season.
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As shown below 92% believe the club should sign him when his loan expires.
Can Celtic now get the deal done with Paris Saint-Germain and kick-off their summer transfer window in a positive manner?
Manchester United head in to this weekend on the back of three straight defeats ahead of their trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Having enjoyed a terrific run of form, which included crucial wins over Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City, the Red Devils were brought back down to Earth with defeats at Chelsea and Everton before last weekend’s surprise home defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
Although they should still be able to secure Champions League qualification, a run of three games without a goal is certainly a worry for Louis van Gaal, and has once again highlighted the need for money to be spent for both goal-scorers and creative options.
The club have already signalled their intent to get business done early by announcing a deal has been agreed for Dutch star Memphis Depay, and there may well be more to come.
One man who continues to be linked with a move to Old Trafford is Real Madrid ace Gareth Bale.
Football’s most expensive signing has endured an indifferent campaign, and some out of sorts performances have led to plenty of criticism over in Spain. He looks the shadow of the player that performed so well at Spurs as well as Wales in their recent European Championship qualifiers, and could prove a realistic target should this continue.
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Madrid themselves have been strongly linked with a move for United goalkeeper David de Gea, and he is another with strong question marks over his future with the club still waiting to tie him down to a new contract.
Reports this week suggested the pair could be involved in some sort of swap deal, and it’s something United should seriously consider.
There’s no doubting De Gea’s importance to the team, and another superb season from the Spaniard has seen him perform heroics at times, and rightly earn a place in the PFA Team of the Year.
And although losing a player of his quality will be a disappointing, there are other goalkeepers out there who would be able to soften the blow and prove an adequate replacement, most notably Hugo Lloris of Tottenham.
If United can ensure they are able to replace De Gea with someone of similar stature like Lloris, they would still be left with a top class goalkeeper that can have a similar impact on their team.
And if by selling their current number one means they will be able to bring Bale back to the Premier League, it would certainly make an improvement to their attacking options.
Bale is without doubt the type of player that would make United serious title contenders. His goal threat means he has the ability to win games on his own, and could be the difference between winning and losing, and be responsible for a number of points over the course of the season.
If he’s not feeling loved at Madrid, that would certainly change were he to move to United, and they look like the perfect team to bring out the best in the attacker once more, and a side who would certainly give him the freedom to express himself.
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United fans would be really frustrated at seeing De Gea leave the club, and the Red Devils should be doing all they can to retain one of the world’s best keepers. But if he has his heart set on leaving, then they have to ensure they can get the best deal possible, and should only consider listening to offers if Gareth Bale is involved.
And if there’s no chance of landing the Welshman, then that should put an end to negotiations once and for all.
After being built up as the biggest south east London derby in years, it didn’t live up to expectation, and I’m sure the Lions are happier with the result as it ends 0-0 between them at Crystal Palace.
We’re still not safe, but I’m a tiny bit more confident than before this game, because of this point Posh and Barnsley now have to win and hope we slip up, and now Sheffield Wednesday are dragged back in.
The game was a stretched one, plenty of tackles flying in but not many clear cut scoring opportunities.
In all honesty I expected Palace to be better with all the hype about them. I thought Bolasie had a decent game, but Alan Dunne showed how to get £15million in your pocket for 90 minutes, as Wilfried Zaha done the bare minimum.
This game basically summed up our second half of the season.
A good display from the back five, but no creativity on the wings, a non-existent midfield and we do not look like scoring, three shots on target in two home games is seriously dire.
Against Palace we also saw what is very likely to be the first of the wage-stealers to leave the club, Dany N’Guessan…
He had a 10 minute cameo, which involved him barely breaking a sweat, and if he did get the ball he’d try and get past three or four players and be the hero, he can barely get past one…
He was then subbed off to massive boos from around the ground…
It was the way he went off that disgraced fans, you know how an opposing player walks off when they’re winning, that slow? Yeah it was exactly that, and then stormed down the tunnel.
Not exactly what you need when you’re in a relegation battle…
Every player gave their all last night, gave absolutely everything for the cause, and then we have DNG just out for a stroll.
Charlton wanted to sign him last summer, let’s hope they want him again…
It was a game that we just could not lose, it puts us now in a very good position, well as good a position as you can be in for a relegation dogfight. This also means that Palace will have to beat fellow relegation battlers Peterborough in order to secure a play-off place.
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Unless an unlikely turn of events happens on Saturday the Lions will stay up, most fans would have been happy with another year secured in this division, especially on our budget; money isn’t everything, just look at Wolves. And then having a cup run which took us to the semi-finals and a day out at Wembley.
Let’s just hope the money gained from the cup run will be used on transfers rather than line Berylson’s pocket…
Dimitar Berbatov has rejected the chance to join Fiorentina by pulling out of a deal at the last moment.
The Bulgarian striker is surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and as such is on the market for around £5 million.
The Viola were frontrunners to sign the gifted attacker, but they have revealed that Berbatov has turned his back on a switch to Florence.
“ACF Fiorentina announce that the transfer for Dimitar Berbatov definitively collapsed after an agreement with Manchester United had been concluded (with shared exchange of contracts, the first instalment paid and the financial guarantees for the second instalment ratified) and after reaching a verbal agreement with the player over his contract,” read a club statement, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“During today the English club had allowed their player the written permission to come to Florence for a medical and to sign his contract.
“The player got on the flight with his agent and on tickets paid for by Fiorentina. He never arrived in Florence.
“This was down to outlandish and arrogant behaviour of other clubs, who have nothing to do with fair play and sporting ethics that go even beyond the confines of fairness.
“As for the player, apart from his characteristics and his value on the field, at this stage we are happy he didn’t come to Fiorentina. He did not deserve our city, to wear our jersey or the values that represent it,” it concluded.
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Fulham have now emerged as the favourites to sign Berbatov, as the player worked with Martin Jol whilst they were both at Tottenham.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will reignite two of his biggest feuds this Sunday, for one final time before he leaves the club.
The Frenchman’s rivalry with Manchester United, when they and the Gunners were battling for supremacy in the days of Alex Ferguson, was a huge clash of personalities and styles that spanned a great deal of the Premier League era.
Of course, the man who did his utmost to break that duopoly was Jose Mourinho, winning the two titles following the Invincibles season when he was in charge of nouveau-riche Chelsea.
As Wenger completes his Premier League lap of honour, he will lock horns with Mourinho and United for one final time at Old Trafford, looking to secure sixth place.
Mourinho, meanwhile, has designs on securing second place, leaping up four spots in the table this season. On the back of the 2-1 FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham, the Portuguese has no shortage of questions to answer ahead of the visit of their North London rivals.
Football FanCast have taken a closer look at some of the most pressing…
Does he bring Eric Bailly back?
Eric Bailly is Manchester United’s best centre-half but was not even in the squad for Saturday’s aforementioned Wembley win over Spurs.
That sparked fears that he had picked up yet another injury, but he appears to be fit. Mourinho is managing him very carefully but as he would surely want to face Chelsea in next month’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, it might be time to give him a run in the side.
He is the only one of United’s defenders who can match the pace of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mourinho’s men do generally look much more assured when he’s at the back.
Mourinho must be tempted to field him here.
Sit back or take the game to Arsenal?
Last time the two teams faced off, at the Emirates in December, Mourinho actually employed a 3-4-1-2 formation.
A back three of Marcos Rojo, Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling and Jesse Lingard in the hole behind Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku were the keys to victory as United stung their hosts with two early goals before pinching another on the break in the second half.
However, Arsenal could count themselves genuinely unlucky not to have won as David de Gea had to be at his very best to repel the Gunners as they frequently ripped through United, who were passive and conservative for much of the game.
So what does Mourinho do here? Does he smash and grab again? Attempt to take the game to Arsenal from the outset and keep United’s foot on the gas? Or play on the counter, but more solidly and smartly this time.
With both teams likely to use a four-man defence this time around, it will be a different encounter and Mourinho must pick his approach wisely.
Is Aubameyang Arsenal’s biggest threat?
It is no secret that Arsenal go into this one with bigger fish to fry. In days gone by, their visit to Old Trafford would be the pinnacle of their season but this game comes in between the two legs of the Europa League semi-final with Atletico Madrid.
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That tie is undoubtedly more vital than this meeting in terms of making it into the Champions League next season under their new manager – whoever he may be.
That means rotation is likely but one man who should take to the pitch at Old Trafford because he is cup-tied in the Europa League is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese international – valued at £58.5m by Transfermarkt – has the speed to trouble United and that may influence Mourinho’s gameplan, as discussed above. He is the man they’ll need to stop.
West Ham dipped into the Championship last summer to snap up two of it’s most prodigious talents – Diego Poyet and Aaron Cresswell – and they look set to do the same in the coming transfer window, amid reports the East London club are targeting Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, as claimed by Mirror Football.
The 23 year-old’s 20 league goals have all-but-mathematically-confirmed The Cherries’ promotion to the Premier League for next season, and left him third in the Championship’s scoring charts.
Whether Bournemouth would be prepared to sell their key striker ahead of their first ever Premier League campaign, or whether Wilson would actually want to ditch them at this moment in time, remains to be seen.
But laced with equally promising, youthful prospects, the Hammers would be wise to further scour the English second tier for potential summer targets.
And just to prove it, Football Fancast have listed FIVE Championship prodigies West Ham should target along with Bournemouth’s latest star.
TYRONE MINGS
With rumours rife Aaron Cresswell could be snapped up by Chelsea in a £20million deal, West Ham could find themselves in need of a new left-back this summer – and no Championship No.3 epitomises their physical style better than monolithic Ipswich Town defender Tyrone Mings.
Indeed, the 22-year-old is better famed for his blistering pace and willingness to contribute going forward, this term bagging four assists in 39 Championship appearances whilst averaging 1.2 successful dribbles and 1.4 created chances per-match, but he’s also blessed with the imposing frame of a Premier League centre-half, measuring in at a whopping 6 foot 5.
He was valued at £8million by The Daily Mail in December amid rumoured interest from Arsenal and Chelsea. But neither club made a formal offer in January, suggesting the Hammers could pick up where the Premier League powerhouses left off this summer – especially if The Tractor Boys miss out on promotion to the top flight.
NATHAN REDMOND
With Matthew Jarvis hopelessly out of form, Enner Valencia a more natural centre-forward and Stewart Downing proving himself more accomplished in central capacities, West Ham have been without a genuine winger for much of the season.
Enter Norwich City’s Nathan Redmond, a pacey touchline-hugger equally comfortable on both flanks who’s claimed three goals and ten assists in 42 Championship appearances this term.
The 21-year-old has also averaged an impressive 2.4 chances created, 1.8 accurate crosses and 2.3 successful dribbles per match – the latter statistic being the third-best return in the entire division.
Also boasting 10 goals and 57 caps for England across the junior levels, Redmond’s potential is without doubt – which is why The Canaries rejected a £5million bid from Southampton last summer, as reported by Mirror Football.
Should fourth-place Norwich miss out on promotion back to the Premier League this season, however, they’ll likely be forced to sell the prodigious wideman.
DAN BURN
Dan Burn might not be blessed with the same natural talent as some of the other names on this list – or for that matter, some of the other youngsters to have represented Fulham this season.
But measuring in at a gigantic 6 foot 7, the centre-back is an incredible force in the air, this term averaging 4.5 successful aerial duels per match alongside 2 tackles and 2.1 interceptions, rendering him already capable of having some impact at Premier League level.
And still just 22-years of age, the capacity is certainly there for Burn to learn on the job. If he can improve the rest of his skills over the next few years, whilst gaining top flight experience, he’ll emerge as one of the better centre-backs in the division.
West Ham were linked with a £4million bid ahead of the January window, as reported by The Daily Mail, only for Fulham boss Kit Symons to issue an ever-cliched hands-off warning.
With Fulham now set to spend another term in the Championship, however, they might be more willing to cash in on their monolithic defender this summer.
JOE GOMEZ
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One of just four 17 year-olds to have featured in the Championship this season yet boasting an impressive 16 league starts, Charlton Athletic’s Joe Gomez’s recent performances have caught the attention of Arsenal and Manchester City, according to The Daily Mail.
The youthful defender is speedy and agile, comparable in style to a young Rio Ferdinand, and in addition to impressing at The Valley has also made waves within the England fold; he’s racked up 25 caps for The Junior Lions, and in May 2014 was named in the Team of the Tournament for the U17 European Championships.
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Having already shown great promise in the English second tier, Gomez seems destined for Premier League football at some point in his career. It’s believed Sir Alex Ferguson was also courting him for Manchester United until his retirement in summer 2013.
Despite such interest from the Premier League’s summit, Charlton’s apparent valuation of £8million should be well within West Ham’s financial reach this summer. And whilst Arsenal, City or United could offer Gomez the glamour of a ridiculous salary, closer locality and greater first team opportunities give the Hammers a more unique appeal.
ALEX PRITCHARD
Technically not a Championship player, but it remains to be seen if room can be found for Alex Pritchard in a Tottenham midfield already bursting with prodigious talent.
The 21-year-old is certainly an impressive prospect, however. Last season he claimed six goals on loan at Swindon Town in League One and he’s added to that this year with eleven goals and seven assists in 44 appearances for Brentford – earning him a spot in the Championship’s Team of the Season.
Pritchard offers a solid contribution to all-round play, this term averaging 1.7 tackles, 3 shots, 2.5 chances created, 1.1 successful dribbles and 1.3 accurate crosses per match, but the attacking midfielder’s defining gift undoubtedly remains his incredible potency from dead ball situations.
He’s probably not at Premier League level just yet but would be a wise addition for the Hammers with the next few years in mind.
That being said, Spurs’ rejected Brentford’s attempts to sign him permanently in January, as reported by The Daily Mail, so it might take an unjustifiable bid to convince them to sell in the coming transfer window.
Chris Brunt will be missing from the West Brom side against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday because of a knee injury.
The 28-year-old Northern Ireland international midfielder picked up a knee injury during last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle at the Hawthorns and Baggies boss Steve Clarke confirmed that he will not be ready for the Saints trip.
“He’s not going to make it this week and it is fingers crossed for next week,” he said on the club’s website.
Full-back Billy Jones, who scored Albion’s second-half equaliser against the Magpies last week, is also struggling because of a gashed leg he suffered during the game, but Clarke is hoping he will make it.
Youssouf Mulumbu is still suspended, while Clarke also revealed that youngsters Isaiah Brown and Kemar Roofe are also missing due to injury.
However, controversial striker Peter Odemwingie, who scored both goals when West Brom defeated the Saints 2-0 earlier in the season, is set to return to the fold following a two-game absence with a knee injury.
Academy product Donervorn Daniels is set to be one of two youngsters who will be included in the squad for the trip to the south coast.
Meanwhile, loan striker Romelu Lukaku is warning his Baggies team-mates to expect a much tougher game than the home fixture back in November.
He said: “Southampton are playing very good football. I saw the game they played [2-0 win] against Reading.
“They are playing differently to the way they played at the start of the season. At the beginning of the season there was a lot of space to play, now there isn’t.
“They are very close and when they lose the ball they press to recover the ball in six seconds all the time.
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“They are dangerous up front in Lambert especially and Rodriguez, who is scoring a lot. It will not be easy but it’s up to us, we have our own qualities.
“I think they will really get at us but we have to react and take the initiative to win the game. The first goal will be really important.”
As reported by The Daily Record, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has discussed his first team plans for Chelsea loanee Charly Musonda, with the player finding his game time limited since moving in January.
What’s the story?
Musonda has made just three starts and eight appearances in total since making the switch from Stamford Bridge to Celtic Park during the last transfer window, leaving some Hoops fans wondering why he is not being utilised.
However, Brendan Rodgers is relaxed about his situation at the club, believing he has plenty of time to settle in and make an impact on the Hoops first team.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the Celtic boss said:
It’s a different type of loan for Charly compared to when he went to Spain and had to succeed straight away. Here he has 18 months to settle in, find the way of working and realising the pressures of a big club.
But he’s enjoying every minute of it and he knows that over time here that he will get an opportunity to show it in training where he works well and then in the games. It’s just time, that’s all.
He’s absolutely fine. He’s here for the 18 months and by the end of that he knows he is going to be a better player.
It’ll be pleasing for fans to hear he is very much in Rodgers’ plans, but can the player break into a starting eleven with players like Scott Sinclair, Patrick Roberts and James Forrest ahead of him?
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Massive goal contributions
Scott Sinclair has been criticised this season for failing to reach the standard he set at the club last term, but he’s still contributed massively to Celtic’s season, scoring 17 goals and assisting 17 times more.
Similarly, James Forrest has shown plenty of end product this term with 16 goals and eight assists.
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With 58 direct goal contributions between the two players, it’ll be difficult for Musonda to come and produce on a consistent basis ahead of them, despite his obvious natural ability and the excitement he generates amongst supporters.
Still, he came to Celtic Park to get match action and it’s clear from Rodgers’ words that he will get that in time. As he showed against FC Zenit, he can be a spark in the final third and that’s something that fans can look forward to.
From the first kick of all the ball – and presumably whenever they’ve seen him out and about in London during the week – Arsenal fans have been booing their former captain, Cesc Fabregas.
After Arsene Wenger’s rejected bringing back the Spanish international from Barcelona in the summer, the midfielder committed the second biggest sin to an Arsenal fan and joined Jose Mourinho over in west London at Chelsea.
Ever since then, Fabregas has become enemy No.1 for all Gooners – and he probably didn’t help things by bagging a delightful assist in the first meeting between these two sides earlier in the season.
In what has been a pulsating opening half an hour or so at the Emirates, we’ve seen Chelsea have Oscar’s neat chip headed off the line and a couple of penalty shouts for the boys in the Blue. However, one of those penalty claims was nothing more than a deceitful dive, according to the man with the cards, that is.
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Michael Oliver opted to book Fabregas – although replays suggest it may well have been a harsh call – much to the delight of every single Arsenal fan in all corners of the globe…