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Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips could the subject of a transfer offer from Manchester United following the appointment of Erik ten Hag as manager. 

That’s according to Paul Hirst and Pol Ballus for The Times.

The lowdown

Phillips has come through the academy at Leeds United and established himself as a key figure, reaching 228 appearances for the club at the age of 26 and bagging 14 goals.

His £38,000-per-week contract – hardly impressive wages given his impact as a now England superstar – is due to expire at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Transfermarkt rate Phillips as the most valuable player at Elland Road with an estimated value of £45million, £4.5million more than winger Raphinha.

It could be the most lucrative sale in Leeds’ history, eclipsing Rio Ferdinand’s £41.4million move to Old Trafford in 2002.

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The latest

Hirst tweeted on Friday morning that Man. United had granted Ten Hag a ‘£120m budget to save’ the ‘broken’ Red Devils.

In the attached story for The Times, published late on Thursday evening, he and Ballus write that Phillips is ‘viewed as a possible alternative’ to West Ham midfielder Declan Rice.

Man. United have apparently been ‘put off’ by The Hammers’ £150million demands, with Phillips a cheaper plan B.

The verdict

It would certainly hurt to lose Phillips, who has been dubbed ‘phenomenal’ and ‘extraordinary’ by former England boss Fabio Capello and was named men’s player of the year for his country in 2021.

Leeds could reinvest the funds, but the problem is that he’s not the only star attracting interest.

Transfer insider Dean Jones says that ‘big clubs’ are also eyeing Raphinha ahead of the summer transfer window.

Losing both in one summer could be destabilising for the club ahead of Jesse Marsch’s first full season in Yorkshire, so don’t be surprised to see them dig in and resist offers for at least one of the players.

In other news, this Leeds man’s loan spell is now a disaster. 

Durham captain Phil Mustard rediscovered his best one-day form by thrashing 90 off 72 balls in a five-wicket home win against Group C leaders Warwickshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40

22-Aug-2010
ScorecardDurham captain Phil Mustard rediscovered his best one-day form by thrashing 90 off 72 balls in a five-wicket home win against Group C leaders Warwickshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40. Since making 61 in a defeat at Edgbaston, Mustard had totalled 53 runs in four innings in a competition in which he averaged 52 last season.Put in by Mustard, Warwickshire made 243 for 8, but with legspinner Imran Tahir absent through illness they never looked like defending their total and Durham got home with 10 balls to spare. The home side had lost four of their previous five CB40 games, the only win coming against Scotland, and rested three experienced men in Dale Benkenstein, Steve Harmison and Michael Di Venuto.Mustard hit a Keith Barker long hop over extra cover for six then whipped the same bowler over long leg for six as the 10th and 12th overs produced 28 runs. He also hit 10 fours before he tried to whip Chris Woakes to leg and skied a catch to backward point in the 24th over.Woakes had only one over left and there was little else for Durham to fear as Boyd Rankin, Barker and Darren Maddy all bowled poorly. By the time Neil Carter returned, Durham needed only 13 off four overs and Gordon Muchall’s unbeaten 49 off 50 balls saw them home.Opener Varun Chopra made his top score in any cricket for Warwickshire with 70 off 90 balls, but his progress in mid innings in company with the out-of-touch Maddy was too slow. Chopra drove Ian Blackwell for a straight six, but hit only three fours before driving Gareth Breese to long on.After conceding six runs an over for the first 12, Durham did well to restrict Warwickshire to 96 in the next 20 overs before a high full toss from Ben Harmison set the visitors on the way to collecting 75 runs off the last eight overs. That Harmison delivery cost six runs as it was signalled a no-ball and was steered behind square on the off side for four by Jim Troughton, who made 48 not out off 47 balls.Rikki Clarke hit Harmison for two leg-side sixes in scoring 29 off 17 balls but Warwickshire were restricted by a good four-over spell from Ben Stokes at the end of their innings.

According to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur have now made a ‘formal move’ to sign Peterborough United defender Benjamin Mensah, with an offer already tabled.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye rising stars…

Reports over this past week have claimed that the Lilywhites and transfer chief Fabio Paratici haven’t just got their sights set on marquee first team additions, but also potential stars for the future.

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Indeed, as well as Mensah, who has a confirmed admirer in Spurs according to Peterborough club chief Barry Fry, the club are also targeting exciting Middlesbrough wing-back Djed Spence amid his brilliant loan spell at Nottingham Forest.

As Tottenham step up their chase for Mensah in particular, Football Insider have shared news on an offer from the club.

The Latest: Tottenham bid tabled…

According to their sources, Spurs have tabled a £200,000 bid to sign the 19-year-old, but it has swiftly been rejected by Posh.

Tottenham have apparently made a ‘formal move’ for the player this month but, as it stands, Peterborough are holding firm over their promising talent.

As the Championship club hold out for a higher fee, Spurs are weighing up whether to return with an improved bid as they ‘set their sights’ on signing Mensah.

The Verdict: Get it done…

The right-back comes as a potential alternative to Spence, who is attracting interest from a few big Premier League clubs, and he has certainly shown signs of promise after signing his first professional deal in December 2020.

Able to pay as a more conventional right-back or even at right wing-back, he could be of use to Spurs manager Antonio Conte in future seasons.

Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson has said that the 19-year-old has all the qualities in a modern day full-back, whilst calling him ‘aggressive’ and ‘excellent’ in one-vs-one situations (GhanaWeb).

If Tottenham decide to come back in with a bigger offer for Mensah, they could yet secure a real one-to-watch for years to come.

In other news: Spurs ‘edging closer’ to signing ‘massive’ £15m defender, find out more here.

Speaking to Give Me Sport, journalist Pete O’Rourke has shared some transfer news out of West Ham United involving Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa.

The Lowdown: Sky Sports break news…

Earlier this January, Sky Sports were the first to break news on West Ham’s attempts to sign Barbosa with reporter Dharmesh Sheth even claiming the player was eager on a move to England.

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Manager David Moyes has earmarked the signing of a striker as one of his transfer priorities before January 31, coming over a year after they sold club record signing Sebastien Haller to Ajax.

Jamaica international Michail Antonio, as things stand, remains Moyes’ only natural senior frontman with O’Rourke now sharing an update as they remain in negotiations for Barbosa.

The Latest: West Ham attempting negotiations…

According to his information, West Ham are currently attempting to negotiate a loan deal with the option to make his move permanent – but the Brazil striker’s club are holding firm.

“They’re still in and around Gabigol but the problem is Flamengo would prefer a straight-up sale for the Brazilian striker,” he said to GMS.

“West Ham are trying to negotiate a loan deal with an option to buy and so far Flamengo are not interested in that, so it’s a bit of a stalemate at the minute.”

The Verdict: Get it done?

The 25-year-old scored a phenomenal 29 goals over 2021 in all competitions, adding to his impressive career tally of 129, and we believe West Ham could be striking a prolific signing if they can agree a move.

As both clubs continue to lock horns in talks, concessions and compromises must be made as manager Moyes seeks to finally end his side’s long, drawn out search for an alternative frontman.

Former Premier League boss Alex McLeish believes Barbosa could be worth it, telling Football Insider the Brazilian has ‘ticks all the boxes’ to be a success in east London.

As the January deadline looms, the Irons and recruitment chief Rob Newman may have to speed up their discussions.

In other news: ExWHUemployee: West Ham agreement for ‘world class’ £17.10m attacker now ‘there to be done’, find out more here.

As well as sitting in eighth place in the Premier League table and beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in their previous match, Wolves have been rather busy in terms of transfer business this month by recalling Dion Sanderson and Ryan Giles from their loan deals, as well as signing midfielder Hayao Kawabe, showing that things are going quite well for Bruno Lage and his side at the moment.

However, one factor at Wolves that could be cause for concern at the moment is the current situation regarding winger Adama Traore.

With his contract set to expire in the summer of 2023, there have been previous reports suggesting that efforts from the Old Gold to get him to sign a new deal have been unsuccessful.

Now that recent transfer links have emerged suggesting that fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur could make a move for him, this has thrown his immediate future at Molineux into question.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Pete O’Rourke had this to say about Traore’s current situation at the Midlands club and what the future could hold for him, which some fans may not be happy to hear.

He said: “He’s refusing to sign a new deal at Wolves, so that might force them to sell Traore this summer.

“They might need that money to strengthen the squad elsewhere.”

Since joining the Midlands club back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Championship club Middlesbrough in a deal worth a reported fee of £18m, the Spaniard has gone on to make 151 appearances in a Wolves shirt across all competitions, scoring 10 goals and providing 18 assists along the way.

Now that O’Rourke has claimed that Traore has no intention of signing a new deal at Molineux, it could be worth them cashing in on him either in the current January window if Spurs are willing to offer a suitable fee for his services, or even in the next summer window if Lage doesn’t want to lose one of his attacking players midway through the season.

Either way, it’s not worth keeping hold of a player that doesn’t want to be at the club and making extra efforts to change his mind.

In other news: Forget Saiss: Lage could save Shi millions by unleashing Wolves’ 22 y/o “Rolls Royce” – opinion

يصر مدرب يوفنتوس ماسيميليانو أليجري على أن اللاعبين ليسوا ضد المعسكر التدريبي الذي فرض بعد هزيمة يوم الثلاثاء في دوري أبطال أوروبا أمام مكابي حيفا.

يستعد يوفنتوس لمباراة رئيسية في الدور الإيطالي ضد تورينو منافسيهم في المدينة غدًا بمنافسات الدوري الإيطالي.

لقد خسروا آخر مباراتين أمام ميلان في الدوري الإيطالي ومكابي حيفا في دوري أبطال أوروبا، لذا فرض أليجري معسكرًا تدريبيًا، وفقًا لتقارير متعددة، لم يقبله العديد من اللاعبين.

وقال أليجري في مؤتمر صحفي: “ليس صحيحًا على الإطلاق أن أحدًا رفض الحضور، لم يطلب الفريق أبدًا عدم التراجع عن التدريب وكان ذلك بمثابة عقاب”.

وتابع: “عدنا  يوم الأربعاء الساعة 6 مساءً وتدربنا على الفور، في صباح اليوم التالي كنا في الملعب في الساعة 10 صباحًا”.

وأضاف أليجري: “نحن نركز على كيفية إنهاء هذا الوضع، والطريقة الوحيدة للقيام بذلك هي من خلال الحصول على نتيجة”.

واستطرد: “لدينا ديربي غدا، مباراة مهمة لكلا الفريقين، تورينو فريق شرس، ولديهم قوة، لذلك نحن بحاجة إلى توخي الحذر والعمل كفريق واحد يجب أن نحصل على نتيجة جيدة”.

أصر أليجري على أن يوفنتوس “لديه نفس الأهداف دائمًا” على الرغم من بدايته السيئة للموسم.

وأفاد: “نحن متأخرون كثيرًا في الدوري الإيطالي، لقد تأثرنا بالمباريات ضد مونزا وساليرنيتانا، وهذا ما أخطأنا فيه، الآن، تبقى 29 مباراة ونريد التعافي، سنركز على دوري أبطال أوروبا بعد المباراة مع إمبولي”.

وشدد: “يجب أن نولي المزيد من الاهتمام، خاصة في المرحلة الدفاعية”.

وأكد رئيس يوفنتوس أندريا أنييلي ثقته في المدرب يوم الثلاثاء بعد الخسارة بهدفين دون رد في دوري الأبطال.

وأشار: “لقد أعطى الرئيس دافعًا للبيئة، والآن يجب أن نكون أكثر اتحادًا، يجب أن نكون جميعًا لإنهاء هذه اللحظة، يجب علينا القيام بأشياء بسيطة”.

وأصر أليجري: “هذا ليس تحديًا شخصيًا، هذا الوضع يشمل الجميع نحن نفوز ونخسر معا، لقد عمل الفريق بشكل جيد في هذين اليومين، واليوم لدينا جلسة تدريبية أخيرة ونلعب غدًا”.

وواصل: “من الخارج، قد تعتقد أن الفريق ليس متحدًا، لكنني أعتقد أن لديهم جميعًا الرغبة في التغلب على الصعوبات، المباراة لن تحل جميع مشاكلهم، نحن بحاجة إلى أداء جيد غدا”.

وانتقل أليجري للحديث عن جاهزية لاعبيه، وقال عن مويس كين: “لقد شعر بمشكلة صغيرة قبل المباراة في دوري الأبطال، لذلك لم أرغب في المخاطرة، غدًا، سأختار اثنين بين كين وفلاهوفيتش وميليك، لم أقرر التشكيلة بعد، لدينا آخر تدريب اليوم”.

لياندرو باريديس كان من بين أكثر اللاعبين تعرضًا لانتقادات مؤخرًا، وأتم أليجري معلقًا: “لم يلعب كثيرًا مع باريس سان جيرمان قبل مجيئه إلى هنا، ثم لعب بعض المباريات الجيدة، باريديس ليس المشكلة، لاعبو خط الوسط الآخرون ليسوا المشكلة، الأمر يهم الجميع”.

David Dwyer, Pakistan’s fitness trainer, has decided to part ways with the team after two and a half years with the side because of personal reasons.Dwyer, who is from Sydney, has been a popular member of Pakistan’s support staff and has become very close to most of the players in the side. “I have simply decided to move back to Sydney after two and half great years with the team purely for personal reasons,” Dwyer told Cricinfo.”It was a very difficult decision to make because I can see that we have made very good physical improvements in all of the players over the course of my time with the team,” Dwyer said. “Most importantly the friendships that I made with the coaches, players and all of those involved with the team.”Dwyer’s contribution is widely hailed within Pakistan’s set-up; a number of players have spoken of the benefits he brought to them and former captain Younis Khan, in particular, has benefitted in terms of his fitness and diet.Dwyer came to the Pakistan set-up with former coach Geoff Lawson in 2007 on a two-year contract and stayed on for over a year after Lawson was removed late in 2008. It was believed at the time that Younis and other members of the side were key in having him stay on. Dwyer’s background is in rugby – he played club rugby and his uncle Bob has coached the Australian rugby team.Though Dwyer was set to leave at the end of Pakistan’s current tour to Australia – there remains a Twenty20 in Melbourne on February 5 – it is believed that he is considering a request from the PCB to stay on and work with the side in preparing them for the World Twenty20, due to be held in the West Indies in April.

Leeds United suffered their third Premier League defeat in a row tonight with a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal at Elland Road.

Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka put the visitors 3-0 up before half-time with Raphinha managing to pull one back for Marcelo Bielsa’s side from the penalty spot, only for substitute Emile Smith Rowe to seal the three points for the Gunners with another goal.

In what was yet another disappointing night for Leeds, one player who stuck out for all the wrong reasons on this occasion was Tyler Roberts, who failed to have much of a positive impact on the pitch for his side and arguably let Bielsa down.

In his 90 minutes on the pitch, Roberts only had 42 touches of the ball, five fewer than Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier, and he lost possession on 13 occasions.

From an attacking point of view, while the Welshman – who is currently earning a weekly wage of £22k-per-week according to Salary Sport – had three clear shots at goal, only one of them was on target.

Defensively, things weren’t much better for Roberts either after failing to win any of his three ground duels, as well as failing to make even one tackle or interception to try and win the ball back for his side.

This display earned the 22-year-old an overall match rating of 6.2/10 from SofaScore, making him the second-lowest rated Leeds player on the day, highlighting how disappointing he was.

Leeds Live picked up on Roberts’ poor performance against the Gunners by saying that the attacker “time and time again found himself in a position to hurt Arsenal or create something for a teammate and repeatedly chose the wrong option or executed his decision badly.”

With Leeds having the likes of Patrick Bamford, Dan James and Rodrigo out injured, Bielsa is having to rely on Roberts among others to help the team score goals and get points on the board. However, this performance has shown that the Welshman isn’t capable of stepping up when he is most needed.

Moving forward, with Leeds set to take on Liverpool for their next league game, if players such as Bamford, James and Rodrigo aren’t fit enough to feature, the pressure will be on Roberts to at least deliver a better performance than the one he did tonight.

In other news: Phil Hay shares interesting update at Leeds United that’ll surely have fans buzzing

Having joined Celtic in what was a £4.5m deal back in the summer of 2020, the general opinion at Parkhead was that the Bhoys had signed their number one goalkeeper for, at the very least, the length of the 27-year-old’s four-year contract.

Indeed, upon Vasilis Barkas’ arrival in Glasgow, The Athletic’s Celtic correspondent, Kieran Devlin, wrote an article suggesting that the Greece international was the solution to Celtic’s goalkeeping crisis, with the journalist dubbing the shot-stopper “calm, commanding, tall – a complete keeper.”

Devlin was not the only person who appeared convinced of the £20k-per-week man’s ability, with Antonis Oikonomidis stating that Barkas’ best traits are “his flexibility and his calmness.”

The Greek journalist continued: “He’s quick to save with his hands, and knows how to save with his feet, how to catch crosses and corners, how to command his defence. He’s strong, he’s tall [6ft5], he’s a good all-round keeper – a complete keeper.

“But his calmness is his best quality, how stressful the occasion doesn’t matter and he is always very calm. He knows how to handle pressure. He never looks worried even in big games.”

However, after making just 23 appearances in all competitions for Celtic to date, only one of which has come under the management of Ange Postecoglou this season, recent reports have suggested that the Hoops are ready to cut their losses on the shot-stopper, with a January departure looking increasingly likely for the 27-year-old.

It is not difficult to see why Postecoglou is looking to move the £2.52m-rated ‘keeper on, as, over his 15 appearances that came in the Scottish Premiership last season, Barkas made just one save and conceded 0.7 goals on average per fixture – with these returns seeing him earn a seasonal SofaScore rating of just 6.79, ranking him as the club’s joint ninth-worst performer in the league.

And, with summer signing Joe Hart now being Celtic’s undisputed number one, the club’s nightmare regarding Barkas’ signing has only been highlighted further, with it appearing incredibly unlikely that the Hoops will recoup their £4.5m outlay, or even his current Transfermarkt value, upon his potential sale this winter.

However, when taking into account the player who Tam McManus dubbed as “horrendous” has also cost Celtic around £1.4m in wages since his arrival at the club – bringing the total amount of money spent on the shot-stopper to a whopping £5.9m – it would very much appear a good idea to get the 27-year-old’s wages off of the club’s books in January, even if it means giving him away for peanuts.

In other news: Celtic handed major boost ahead of Bayer Leverkusen clash, Postecoglou will be buzzing

As per Calciomercato, a Tottenham Hotspur transfer update has emerged as club chief Fabio Paratici makes a personal call involving Torino’s Gleison Bremer.

The Lowdown: Paratici and Conte team up…

The Italian transfer director, as well as new Spurs manager Antonio Conte, have been tipped to work together in their search for more Tottenham talent.

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Many players from Serie A have apparently attracted both Conte and Paratici’s admiration, with the likes of Weston McKennie, Dejan Kulusevski and Dusan Vlahovic just a few names on their radar. Defensive stars are also on the agenda, with links to Bremer having emerged in recent weeks.

Paratici has apparently refused to rule out the possibility of signing the Brazilian gem in a teasing Tottenham transfer hint to his Italian ‘confidantes’ (Tuttosport via Sport Witness) as yet another update emerges on their interest.

The Latest: Spurs set sights on Bremer…

As per Calciomercato, Tottenham and Paratici have the ‘clear intention’ of bringing Bremer to the Premier League as he becomes a hot property in Serie A.

The high-flying centre-back, one of the best-performing defenders in Italy’s top flight, is also attracting interest from Napoli and Inter Milan, with the latter already contacting Bremer’s entourage.

Torino president Urbano Cairo values the 24-year-old at €25m (£21.3m), and we believe that could be a real bargain.

The Verdict: Paratici, get it done…

A very serious injury to star summer signing Cristian Romero could be a wake-up call for Spurs that they need more defensive options, and for just £21.3m, Bremer would come as a very astute purchase.

Currently in great form, Torino’s star defender has averaged a tenacious 2.1 tackles per 90 over his Serie A appearances so far this season – more than any Spurs centre-back has in the Premier League bar Emerson Royal and Romero (WhoScored). Bremer also reigns superior over every single one of Conte’s players in terms of interceptions, making a head-turning 3.9 per game in highlighting his defensive prowess (WhoScored).

At 24, the player also has many years at the top level feasibly ahead of him and would come with the promise of sell-on value.

Bremer certainly comes as one of Paratici’s more underrated defensive targets and a wonderful alternative to the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Stefan de Vrij.

In other news: Tottenham in contact over signing ‘phenomenal’ star as club directors spotted in London, find out more here.