Everton are interested in signing AC Milan’s M’Baye Niang who impressed in Senegal’s opening game of the World Cup against Poland.
The forward spent the second half of the 2016/17 season on loan at Watford where he scored twice and assisting two in 16 Premier League games for the Hornets.
The Senegal international then spent last season on loan at Torino where he scored four goals and registered one assist during his spell at the Italian outfit.
The 22-year-old is valued at £9million on Transfermarkt but according to TalkSport, Watford were given the option to sign him for £15million and it is thought a similar offer could convince the Rossoneri to part with the striker.
M’Baye Niang statistics v Poland
Following his commanding performance against Poland in Senegal’s opening World Cup game, his stock could well rise.
Niang scored Senegal’s controversial second goal as he sprinted onto the pitch after an injury to intercept a back pass and round Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
However, he had a strong all-round performance and was constantly a threat to the Polish defence.
He registered two shots, scoring with one, made one key pass and won two fouls for Senegal.
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If he continues at this pace in the World Cup, his value would soar and if Everton are keen on bringing the pacy forward to Goodison Park, they would be wise to snap him up quickly.
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Paul Pogba is a wonderful footballer. So wonderful, in fact, that he once commanded a world record fee back when transfer fees were simply mad, rather than the hallucinatory sums they have become just two years later.
But something strange happens every time Pogba has a bad game: he gets criticised for certain issues that keep popping up. One is his disposition to neglect the defensive side of his game. The other is his supposed inability to put his stamp on games.
The first question to ask is whether or not this is actually true, and the second will then be to figure out how to actually solve the problem.
Incidentally, they are fair complaints. Pogba does often appear to neglect the defensive side of the game, but mostly because he is a superb attacking player who naturally likes to bring his team forward. He is the link between defence and attack and as such is a player who will naturally drift forward towards his attackers who he wants to support.
So perhaps not so much neglecting his defensive duties and more a style of play issue – if it’s an issue at all – but you can see how some might interpret it as a lack of back-tracking.
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The second point, though, is simply a strange one. Pogba gets criticised when United lose or draw. In that case, he’s clearly failed to put his stamp on the game. But why criticise him for failing? Why not point out where he should improve?
But the problem doesn’t appear to be Pogba, though. It appears to be his manager.
Sometimes you can criticise a player for looking lost or ineffective, even not knowing what he’s supposed to be doing on the pitch. At times, when Pogba doesn’t play well, these are the criticisms he might be getting. And yet, you have to wonder how much of that is a lack of instruction, or an issue stemming from the balance of the squad.
So far this season, Jose Mourinho has played in a defensive manner, certainly in the biggest games. And part of that defence-first football has been an unwillingness to take risks. Pogba has been the chief victim of that strategy. When you don’t trust your team to control the game, then you don’t trust your midfielders on the ball. Consequently, Pogba has been asked to play on the counter-attack, and so when most of his touches come during speedy breaks where he’s always looking to play the ball forward to pacey attackers, how is he supposed to actually control games?
What this comes down to is Jose Mourinho’s inability to get the best out of his biggest asset, and when Alexis Sanchez – who has played the first half of the season in an Arsenal team who have struggled majorly at times – has no shots on target for the first time this campaign, you have to ask whether the United boss is simply not getting the best out of his most important players.
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There will always be criticism when things go wrong, and despite defeat to Tottenham on Wednesday night, United have still been beaten only twice since October in the Premier League. There is clear room for improvement, but things perhaps aren’t as bad as they might seem after a defeat like that.
Yet if Manchester United are to improve, surely Jose Mourinho has to find a way to allow his best and most creative players a chance to actually thrive.
It seems that the past week haven’t been the best for Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood. Having been under heavy media fire after criticising his players, his staff, and even the owners, Sherwood is back in the spotlight after his team fell to a 3-1 home defeat to Benfica in the EuropaAfter some Spurs players came out to confess the hostile dressing room atmosphere after Chelsea beat thrashed them 4-0, the manager was at it again as he was spotted going head-to-head with Benfica boss Jorge Jesus.Fans on Twitter as expect, had a field day, with suggestions that Tim Sherwood is not really doing anyone favours as he is finds himself in the middle of a media storm again.Is Sherwood’s time running out at White Hart Lane?https://vine.co/v/MbgbaBJ1iMI/embed/simple
We celebrated 20 years of the Premier League last season and what a pair of decades they’ve been. There’s been incredible goals, saves and celebrations year after year produced by a number of incredible players. England’s top flight has seen some truly remarkable talent during that time, with some of the greatest players to ever play the beautiful game lighting up the league. Much was expected of stars like Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira when they first arrived, but others, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Cesc Fabregas, shot to stardom out of nowhere.
However, there’s been scores of players who simply haven’t delivered the goods at the highest level unfortunately. Countless times, an individual has broken through the ranks or signed from abroad with much expected from him, only to disappoint everyone when he fails to make the cut. It’s inevitable given the turnover of players these days among the top clubs that some of the replacements aren’t going to be up to scratch, but there have been some miserable flops over the years. We check out the top 15 Premier League players that offered so much, but delivered so little.
Click on Mario Jardel to unveil the 15 that offered much and delivered little
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Arsenal fans are absolutely losing it over the links to Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira, praying their club can get a deal over the line.Earlier this week, Gazzetto Dello Sport claimed Arsenal had entered the race to sign Torreira, alongside the likes of Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.After Calciomercato said “Arsenal mean business†in the hunt for Torreira, local outlet sampnews24 have now added fuel to the fire, saying the Gunners have actually agreed a deal with the club.According to the report out of Sampdoria, the Italian club are happy for Arsenal to trigger the midfielder’s €25m (£22m) release clause, and are just waiting for terms to be agreed with the player.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]The feisty Uruguayan is heavily linked with a move to Napoli as Jorginho’s replacement, so reports should certainly be taken with a pinch of salt, but there is definitely interest from the Gunners.Unai Emery is likely to instil a high tempo pressing style at the Emirates, and the tenacious Torreira would be a perfect fit alongside Granit Xhaka, allowing the Swiss international to fire on all cylinders.Arsenal fans are absolutely loving the links, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
Matteo Darmian was among the players that came into the Manchester United team for Friday’s FA Cup fourth-round clash against Yeovil Town.
Darmian has really struggled for football this season, and had been strongly tipped to leave Old Trafford during the January transfer window.
That might still be the case, but the 36-time Italy international was named in the United XI for the clash with League Two side on Friday night.
It was the 28-year-old’s 12th United appearance of the season, and the majority of those have come in the cup competitions due to the form of Antonio Valencia at right-back.
Whilst promising defender Axel Tuanzebe has been sent on loan to Aston Villa, Darmian is still being picked by United boss Jose Mourinho.
It would be fair to say that the United supporters have not been impressed with Darmian’s performances this season, and many were shocked when he was named in the XI against Yeovil.
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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be found below:
Domestic cup competitions across Europe offer teams without much chance of league success the opportunity to add some silverware to their trophy cabinets.
It’s widely regarded as the next best thing for the league’s proverbial underdogs, the chance to realise a dream for fans of any team brave enough to go all the way and lift the trophy.
But more often than not, we eventually see one of the country’s biggest or richest clubs winning it at the end of the season and adding it to the league title they had also nabbed that year.
Although that cannot be said for the Capital One Cup at the moment, with the competition quickly becoming the most open domestic cup competition in Europe.
Last season’s final between Swansea City and Bradford City was a breath of fresh air for many a football fan and a real advert for the competition and the opportunities it provides for smaller clubs.
The year before that, we saw Championship side Cardiff City reach the Final, only to lose agonisingly in a penalty shoot out against Liverpool.
The year before that we witnessed relegation strugglers Birmingham City stun Arsenal with a last minute winner to give them something to cling on to as they slipped down into the Championship later that year.
In fact, the last time a League Cup Final was contested by two teams from the Premier League’s top-four was back in 2007 when Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley. That was just one of three Finals involving two top-flight ‘giants’ since 1987, when Arsenal faced Liverpool.
During that time we’ve seen the likes of Luton Town, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Swansea lift the cup, while teams such as Oldham Athletic, Tranmere Rovers, Wigan Athletic , Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City have all competed at Wembley.
Since the competition’s inception in 1960, Liverpool have lifted the trophy a record eight times with Aston Villa lagging behind with just five. The likes of Chelsea (4), Manchester United (4), Arsenal (2) and Manchester City (2) have a long way to go to catch up with them.
But if you take a look at the history of the domestic cup competitions across Europe’s top footballing countries, they are not as wide open and winnable by anyone as our very own Football League Trophy.
Germany’s DFB-Pokal has seen giants Bayern Munich crowned champions a huge 16 times since it began in 1953. The second most successful side in the competition, Borussia Dortmund, has only six titles, which says a lot about how open that domestic competition is.
Moving over to Italy, and the last 10 years have seen just Lazio, Napoli, Inter Milan and Roma lift the Coppa Italia – all sides competing inside the top four, five or six of Seria A. The most successful sides in the competition since 1922 are Roma and Juventus, who both share nine victories between them.
In France, where it is a little bit more open, Paris Saint-Germain, Bordeaux and Marseille have each won the Coupe de la Ligue on three occasions since its change of format in 1995, which suggests it’s still a competition most commonly won by Ligue 1’s biggest clubs.
Lastly we have Spain’s Copa Del Rey, which has been won a monumental 26 times by Barcelona and 18 times by Real Madrid. But, amazingly, Athletic Bilbao have 23 titles, although their last was way back in 1984. The last time a Copa Del Rey Final was played between two sides not in La Liga’s top six was in 2008 when Valencia and Getafe went head-to-head at the Vicente Calderon.
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It’s the continuous monopoly of big European teams in their respective domestic cups that gives the Capital One Cup’s exciting and unpredictable outcome each season even more pedigree.
And with Sunderland hoping to do the impossible in the Final this year, there’s every reason to believe you can win this competition, even if you’re not a top Premier League outfit.
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Swansea will be looking to halt a run of three consecutive Premier League defeats when Reading arrive at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
Brian McDermott’s men are also in desperate need of points, after they were denied their first Premier League win of the season last weekend by Demba Ba’s hand.
The worry for Swansea boss Micheal Laudrup will be where the goals are going to come from, having seen his side fail to find the net in their last three.
There are no new suspension worries for the Swans, while midfielder Kemy Agustien is expected to make his comeback from a leg injury.
Defenders Kyle Bartley and Neil Taylor are long-term injury concerns for Laudrup’s men, with a thigh strain and a fractured ankle respectively.
Goalkeeper Adam Federici remains sidelined with a knee problem for Reading, while midfielder Mikele Leigertwood is expected to recover from a dead leg in time to feature in some part.
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Striker Jason Roberts has fully recovered from a calf problem and could make his first start of the season at the Liberty Stadium.
It is safe to say that out of the majority of England footballers, Raheem Sterling is regularly under the microscope by the British tabloid media.
The Manchester City star will never be regarded by Liverpool fans fondly following his controversial switch to the Etihad Stadium in 2015, but even they have been left baffled by the latest media storm surrounding him.
Over the last few days, the 23-year-old, who is valued at £81m by Transfermarkt, caused waves by showing off a tattoo of an M16 assault rifle.
The ink was noticed in an Instagram picture that the footballer posted of himself during a training session with England.
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The Sun, which is boycotted by Liverpool fans due to the newspaper’s reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989, ran a story highlighting the anger of anti-gun campaigners.
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The furore forced Sterling into explaining the reasons behind the tattoo, with him revealing via Instagram that it was related to his late father, who was shot dead in Jamaica when the City star was just two years old.
Unsurprisingly, City fans have come out in support of the winger, and now Liverpool supporters have had their say.
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According to reports in The Mirror, Chelsea and Manchester United may have to pay more than £40m if they want to sign Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey in the summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Mirror says that the Premier League duo, along with English top flight rivals Arsenal, are ready to battle for the signature of the exciting Jamaican at the end of the season, with all three clubs watching him in action this term.
The 20-year-old only joined Bayer Leverkusen from Genk during the summer, and after a relatively slow start to life with the Bundesliga outfit he has got better and better as the campaign has gone on.
The Mirror says that while the German club are determined to hold on to the wide-man during the January transfer window, they are braced for bids in the summer and they believe the player could fetch a fee in excess of £40m, with Chelsea already having a £22m offer turned down.
How good has Bailey been this season?
He has been extremely impressive after a quiet start.
While he started the opening Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, the 20-year-old failed to start Leverkusen’s following four German top flight matches as he took time to settle in.
However, he quickly reclaimed his place in the team and became a key part of the side, scoring eight goals and providing a further four assists in 16 appearances in all competitions.
Bailey is known for his explosive pace, trickery, dribbling ability and his powerful shooting, and according to WhoScored.com he has successfully completed 24 of the 48 dribbles he has attempted this season in 14 Bundesliga games.
Would he be a good signing for Chelsea or Man United?
He certainly would be.
While he may not be a starter for the two clubs right away, there is no doubt that he has the ability to be a key player for both teams in the future if he continues to develop and improve as he has been in recent seasons.
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The 20-year-old’s pace would make him a brilliant addition to either side’s frontline, and his ability to finish from out wide must also be admired.
Is he really worth £40m?
Given his progress and the way the transfer market is going he certainly is, and if there is a bidding war for his services from Premier League clubs in the summer it could push his price up even further.