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Manchester City continue to be linked with Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland and the 20-year-old wonderkid can be the man to solve a big problem for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

The Citizens look set to lose legendary striker Sergio Aguero in the summer when his contract expires, although injury problems in recent seasons have suggested that he is no longer the threat he once was.

City have kept faith in Gabriel Jesus in recent seasons, perhaps in the hope that the Brazilian could become Aguero’s natural successor, but his goal return this season, in particular, has been nowhere near good enough.

The 23-year-old has just three goals in 10 appearances in all competitions this season, whilst he has failed to find the back of the net in any of City’s last five games in the Premier League.

In the Citizens’ most recent game with West Bromwich Albion, in a game where Guardiola’s side created a whole host of chances, Jesus failed to register a single shot on target, which again emphasises his lack of predatory instinct.

Therefore, it could definitely be argued that City would be a lot more free-scoring if they were able to sign a natural goalscorer such as Haaland, as they are currently underperforming when it comes to the number of goals they have scored in relation to their ‘expected goal’ tally.

Since joining Dortmund from RB Salzburg, the Norwegian international has featured 32 times for the Black and Yellows, in which he has contributed an incredible 33 goals and six assists.

The prolific 20-year-old is likely to attract interest from the majority of Europe’s elite, but if City can secure his signing, he would surely help them become a lot more clinical in front of goal.

Haaland’s old teammate, Maximilian Wober, was full of praise for the young striker after he scored a hattrick on his Champions League debut back in 2019, saying:

“He is phenomenal. With his height, to be so nimble and have such command of the ball. It’s really hard to play against him in training – you just have to foul him. Once again he proved why he’s definitely going to become one of the best strikers in the world.”

Therefore, perhaps the £90 million rated star can be the man to bring an end to what has been something of a nightmare for Guardiola with Jesus at City in recent times, with the Brazilian nowhere near the level he needs to be when it comes to scoring goals for the Citizens.

And, in other news… 100% duels won: MCFC beast was Guardiola’s one positive vs WBA

Peter Lawwell can repeat Celtic’s success from signing Scott Sinclair by acquiring rumoured target Jesse Lingard from Manchester United.

What’s the word?

According to TEAMtalk, the Hoops hierarchy are measuring up their chances of bringing Lingard to Parkhead as his Old Trafford future hangs in the balance.

Lingard is ready to quit the Red Devils in January unless the Premier League powerhouse opt to active their one-year extension clause, with his £75,000-per-week contract otherwise due to expire at the end of the season.

The 27-year-old has plummeted down the pecking order at Old Trafford this year with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer awarding Lingard just two appearances across all competitions, with each coming in the EFL Cup in September while omitted from eight of 10 Premier League matchday squads.

Several Premier League, German, Spanish and Italian sides would be interested in offering the 24-cap England international a chance to revive his career outside of Manchester, who may also be offered a future in Glasgow with Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers both keen.

Lingard will happily remain at Old Trafford should United opt to active their one-year extension clause, feeling he can still fight for his place under Solskjaer, but wishes to have his future decided by the New Year.

The Red Devils, themselves, are weighing up the benefits of retaining Lingard, who has won the FA Cup, Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield, as the extra year on his deal would protect his market value after demanding £20million this summer.

Shades of Sinclair

Lawwell striking an agreement with Manchester United for Lingard to move north of the border could see the Celtic CEO complete a swoop with shades of the Hoops’ £3million deal for Sinclair in 2016.

Sinclair had fallen down the Aston Villa pecking order in what proved to be his final season in Birmingham, with the Bath-born winger starting just 19 of his 27 Premier League appearances.

Reuniting with Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead proved a masterstroke for Celtic as he settled in straight away with 25 goals and 13 assists across all competitions during his maiden campaign.

The 31-year-old left Lennoxtown this January after 167 appearances in green and white and with three Premiership titles in his trophy cabinet, while twice being named as Celtic’s Player of the Year and as the PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year for 2016/17.

Lingard would no doubt be in the running for the gong if the £12.6m-rated midfielder arrived in Glasgow and helped Celtic overturn their deficit to Premiership leaders Rangers, while dealing the added blow of being one of Steven Gerrard’s winter targets.

His outcast status at Old Trafford should not be considered a detrimental factor in discussions at Parkhead over the benefits of a swoop, as Lingard is a player who Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand widely lauds for all the right reasons.

“This is a kid who I’ve seen grow up through the ranks at Man United,” Ferdinand said, via quotes by the Express. “His movement is phenomenal, his touch, his awareness of players around him and he gets important goals. I think that his relationship with the other players in the attacking-third is key to this team and he’s someone who I just love watching play.”

AND in other news, Peter Lawwell can deliver Celtic’s next Virgil van Dijk by signing an “unbelievable” enforcer.

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Prestes a iniciar a quarta temporada com a camisa do Flamengo, o meia-atacante Gabriel ainda luta para se firmar, de vez, como titular da equipe. Nos dois treinos desta semana, o técnico Muricy Ramalho deu um voto de confiança para o atleta. Sem poder contar com Marcelo Cirino, que voltou a fazer um trabalho à parte com fisiologistas, o baiano, de 26 anos, é observado pelo treinador no time principal, e espera agradar para continuar com moral.

– Ele (Muricy) nãodefiniu o time, ainda não tem todas as peças na mão, mas espero que quando tiver eu possa estar bem, agradar e jogar. Tenho que continuar jogando, jogando bem, para conseguir uma sequência boa para ganhar a confiança do professor. Espero que ele me confirme na equipe – disse.

GALERIA DE FOTOS:
>Veja as dez últimas camisas utilizadas pelo Flamengo
>Veja quais foram os últimos jogadores que vestiram a camisa 10

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Gabriel também falou sobre dois dos assuntos mais comentados nesta semana na Gávea. Para o meia-atacante, enfrentar o Vasco em São Januário – conforme a Ferj marcou a partida da 5ª rodada do Campeonato Carioca, não é um problema. Ele também revelou que não assistiu ao polêmico vídeo do lançamento da terceira camisa do clube, embora tenha elogiado o uniforme.

– Não vejo problema em jogar com o Vasco em São Januário, mas isso é com a diretoria. Só vi a terceira camisa pelo Instagram e achei muito bonita. Acho que a torcida vai comprar. O vídeo não tive a oportunidade de ver – comentou.

O Flamengo ainda treina na Gávea na manhã desta quarta-feira e logo em seguida viaja para Fortaleza, onde enfrenta o Ceará, quinta, às 21h30, no Castelão, em jogo válido pelo Troféu Asa Branca.

Former Glasgow Rangers player Neil Murray has said that Glen Kamara could drop out of the starting XI against Standard Liege despite impressing in the Old Firm derby last Saturday.

Kamara could be dropped

Kamara was in fantastic form against Celtic at the weekend as he managed a SofaScore rating of 7.2, winning eight from his 12 duels and completing three of his four attempted dribbles.

Rangers kick off their Europa League campaign in Belgium on Thursday, but Murray believes the Finland international will not start. He said:

“Kamara was excellent at the weekend and he really is an intelligent footballer.

“He has so much ability on the ball, although if you don’t have that then you just won’t play in Gerrard’s midfield.

“We tend to forget how young he is and how much better he is going to get.

“Yet, as good as Kamara was at the weekend, Rangers still had Jack, Aribo and Hagi, who they paid a lot of money for, sitting on the bench.

“The manager has another big decision to make for the Liege game and you could see Kamara missing out if he switches it up.”

Gerrard has plenty of options

As Murray says, Steven Gerrard is spoilt for choice in the middle of the park. He selected experienced veterans Scott Arfield and Steven Davis alongside Kamara at the weekend, but Ryan Jack and Joe Aribo came on from the bench, whilst £3m summer signing Ianis Hagi remained as a substitute for the whole 90 minutes.

As European competition returns, the games will now come thick and fast, and that means Gerrard must be clever in rotating his squad. As such, with the number of options he has available to him, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that £1.08m-valued Kamara is a substitute tomorrow evening.

Let us know what you think by commenting below!

The West Bromwich Albion hierarchy will have some interesting decisions to make as the season draws on with no fewer than 11 players out of contract at the end of the campaign.

One of which is Baggies stalwart Kyle Bartley, who has often been a favourite and first-choice under Slaven Bilic since his appointment last summer.

Upon his £7m arrival from Swansea City in 2018, the 29-year-old penned a three-year deal on wages thought to be around £28k-per-week, as per Salary Sport, which is £13k more each week on what he was earning at the Welsh outfit.

Bartley started 37 of Albion’s 46 matches on their way to promotion last season, where he averaged 4.9 aerials won, 4.5 clearances and 1.3 tackles per game, via WhoScored.

The former Arsenal academy graduate was dropped for the first time this season in their last outing and Bilic’s bold gamble paid off as his side picked up their first clean sheet of the campaign.

He has shown signs of regression with the Baggies’ move into the top-flight, managing fewer aerials won (1.8) and tackles (0.3) per match, which is one sharp drop off in form.

It speaks volumes that West Brom were without a clean sheet until he and Semi Ajayi were out of the side.

In fact, he has never really impressed at this level of football having last enjoyed a taste of Premier League life at the Swans, between 2012 and 2016. Bartley has played just 25 times in the Premier League and it’s easy to see why.

The ex-Leeds colossus ranks as the third-worst amongst Bilic’s squad of anyone who has featured in three or more games, averaging a rating of 6.25 – both Branislav Ivanovic and Ahmed Hegazi recorded 6.93 or better against Burnley, per WhoScored.

It would be reasonable to think that Bartley could be in line for an extension, given the fact that he has regularly featured under the Croatian, and without him, the Midlands outfit would be light on options.

However, keep him for the season and do not offer that extension. It would be an unforgivable nightmare from Luke Dowling if he were to sanction such a deal.

AND in other news, West Brom suffer blow as “gifted” warrior ruled out for several weeks…

Glasgow Rangers continue their Europa League campaign against Galatasaray on Thursday as they look to reach the group stages of the competition.

The ‘Gers have beaten Lincoln Red Imps and Willem II to make it this far, winning 5-0 and 4-0 respectively, but the Turkish outfit will represent a whole different challenge. With the likes of Falcao in their ranks, they have plenty of talent to hurt the 54-time Scottish champions.

The Ibrox side have been hit with an injury blow ahead of the match, as well. Speaking in his pre-match press conference prior to the clash, Steven Gerrard confirmed that Cedric Itten, who scored his first goals for the club in their 5-1 win over Motherwell at the weekend, is a major doubt for the game due to a knee injury.

‘Gers fans have been reacting in their droves to this news and it is fair to say that many of them are far from happy. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

‘Gers fans, how big a blow is Itten’s probable absence for the Galatasaray match? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

Tottenham Hotspur continued their newfound momentum by beating Newcastle United 3-1 at St James’ Park. 

Harry Kane’s two strikes took his tally to 201 goals in 350 games, with the majority of those for Tottenham (BBC).

Spurs are now enjoying an unbeaten run stretching back to the 1-0 win at home to Everton. Nevertheless, Noel Whelan has blasted full-backs Serge Aurier and Ben Davies for their “wasteful” performances on the wings.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Leeds United striker ripped into the defensive duo, suggesting Spurs are “missing a goalscoring opportunity without having that quality.”

Aurier and Davies have established themselves as Jose Mourinho’s first choice full-backs as they have started every game since the Premier League restart, winning four out of a possible seven games so far.

Son Heung-min opened the scoring before Kane added the extras to mark the first time Mourinho had won a Premier League game at St James’ Park.

The Ivorian’s scuffed clearance allowed Matt Ritchie to bury an equaliser, but Kane combined with Steven Bergwijn to keep Newcastle quiet.

Whelan told assistant editor Russell Edge “when you get into areas out wide where you’ve got a striker like that who’s fantastic in the air and can score all kinds of goals in the box, I think me as a striker would be tearing my hair out.

“We see it at Leeds at times, all that hard work and great work at times getting into the final third but with a wasteful ball. You’re missing a goalscoring opportunity without having that quality.

“That is somewhere that Tottenham are lacking – Aurier to me is not their solution.”

With all due respect, it seems Whelan has gone too far this time. Aurier started just two days after his younger brother Christopher was shot dead in Toulouse.

Although the 27-year-old was at fault for the error that led to Newcastle’s equaliser, he still made 3 clearances, completed 4 tackles, and finished the game with a pass accuracy rating of 85% (via SofaScore).

The ex-Paris Saint-Germain ace has played 31 games in the Premier League this season, scoring one goal, supplying five assists, making 1.1 key passes per game, averaging 2.8 tackles, and registering 2.6 clearances on average (stats provided by WhoScored).

Mourinho had been considering Gedson Fernandes, Oliver Skipp and Moussa Sissoko as possible alternatives in the event that Aurier could not play, but with so much at stake, the Ivory Coast captain showed he is a team player who is committed to the cause.

It might not have been his best performance of the season, but he still managed to play the full 90 minutes.

As a result, Spurs are now seventh in the table, a point behind Wolverhampton Wanderers, with only two games remaining.

With everything he has been through in the past week, the fact he even played against the Magpies shows real courage and determination.

Tottenham fans, has Serge Aurier gone up in your estimation for playing this week? Let us know down below!

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has called for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reverse a decision to cancel free school meal vouchers during the summer. 

The government announced that the scheme will not continue into the school holidays, which has drawn criticism from campaigners who are prepared to launch legal action.

It’s not everyday that a footballer decides to share their thoughts on important social topics, and Rashford drew upon his own experiences of relying on school meals and food banks growing up to urge the government to change their minds.

The 22-year-old posted an emotional open letter to all MPs on social media, which has received thousands of likes and retweets so far.

Former Red Devils forward Louis Saha replied to Rashford’s message, calling the youngster “an inspiration.”

The England international, who is Manchester United’s top goalscorer this season, has raised £20m to distribute three million meals to vulnerable people during the coronavirus pandemic. He is making the most of his platform to help those who need it the most throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

Unsurprisingly, loads of United fans gushed over Rashford’s “superb” tweet, with one supporter dubbing him “class” and another adding that he is “incredible.”

Scroll through some of the glowing reactions so far…

United fans, what do you think of Marcus Rashford’s open letter? Let us know down below!

Former Sunderland keeper Ben Alnwick is reportedly set for a return to the Stadium of Light after spending 12 years away from the club.

With the 2019/20 season finished for Phil Parkinson’s side, focus will now turn to next term as the Wearside club seek to return to the Championship after a second consecutive failure to gain promotion from League One.

Fresh on Parkinson’s agenda at the Stadium of Light is the renewal of some existing player contracts – one of those could have been Jon McLaughlin, but he has now joined Rangers.

A replacement for the Scottish goalkeeper is now likely to be Parkinson’s first port of call when the summer transfer window opens.

Alnwick began his professional career at the Stadium of Light before moving on to join Tottenham Hotspur.

The 33-year-old, who has also appeared during his career for Peterborough United and most recently Bolton Wanderers, is now on the club’s radar, according to journalist Alan Dixon.

Alnwick is now a free agent and will be looking to find a new club this summer, with a potential return to Sunderland possibly on the agenda.

Alnwick would be a good addition to Sunderland, although some fans of the club may be hoping for a younger ‘keeper who could provide a long-term option between the sticks.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that Parkinson needs to ensure that every transfer he makes is a good one if the Black Cats are to climb back up the leagues.

Do you think Alnwick will be a good signing for Sunderland this summer? Let us know in the comments section below…

Plenty of Everton fans have reacted to some recent footage of former striker James McFadden, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Tuesday.

Former Scotland international had two spells over his playing career at Goodison Park, but he is fondly remembered for his first period at the club during the years of 2003 and 2008.

Costing Everton £1.25m from Motherwell, McFadden immediately impressed on Merseyside, and he netted a total of 18 games during his initial five-year spell at the club.

Leaving the club in 2008, McFadden would then move on for a spell with Birmingham City, before returning to Everton for a short period which would see him make just eight league appearances over one season.

Now retired, McFadden ended his career with spells at boyhood club Motherwell, St Johnstone and Queen of the South.

Although McFadden’s goalscoring ratio with Everton was arguably not the best, fans of the club do remember his ability to score classy goals, including his strike against Charlton Athletic in 2007.

Reacting to McFadden’s birthday with footage of that goal via the club’s official Twitter account, and fans have responded with fond memories.

Below are just some of the responses from Everton fans to that memorable strike against Charlton…

Everton fans, how good was James McFadden for you? Let us know below…