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According to The Daily Express, West Ham are lining up Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic as a possible replacement for Sebastien Haller.

What’s the word?

After arriving for a club-record fee last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt, Haller endured an inconsistent debut campaign in English football, netting just seven times in 32 Premier League games.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

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Now, The Daily Express claim that French side AS Monaco are keen to end his stay at the London Stadium, with Niko Kovac – his former boss at Eintracht – keen on a reunion.

The report adds that in Haller’s exit, the club will target the likes of Jovic and Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi.

Compared to Luis Suarez

Out of the two options, Jovic certainly seems like the stand-out one. Whilst his first season with Real Madrid hasn’t exactly gone to plan – he played just 27 times across all competitions and completed the full 90 minutes just once in La Liga – he still remains an elite finisher.

Former Serbia manager Mladen Krstajic said: “He’s a classic goal-getter with great control of the ball and a good understanding of the game. I’d probably compare him to Luis Suarez. He’s courageous and dangerous at any moment because he’s always lying in wait for his chance or any inattention from the opponent.”

Jovic’s final campaign with Frankfurt saw him rack up an impressive 27 goals, with ten of them coming in the Europa League alone as the Bundesliga side were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals stage by Chelsea.

His teammate at Eintracht, Alexander Meier, spoke just as highly about his finishing abilities, saying: “In training you could see immediately that he’s just amazing in front of goal. He has everything. Heading, shooting, left foot, right foot. Inside the box he knows exactly where the ball will fall down.” Kevin-Prince Boateng meanwhile simply insisted he could go on to become a world-class striker, and that he is a “street footballer” at heart.

Whilst GSB may get criticism for splashing out a club-record fee for a signing like Haller and then letting him go just a year later, if that means potentially bringing in Jovic as a replacement, then it really would be something to give them some credit for.

نجح لاعب وسط الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، نابي كيتا، في الفوز بجائزة أفضل هدف عن شهر سبتمبر داخل العملاق الإنجليزي متفوقًا على ثنائية محمد صلاح، أمام ليدز يونايتد وكريستال بالاس.

وأعلن نادي ليفربول عن فوز هدف كيتا الرائع والصاروخي في مرمى كريستال بالاس بجائزة الأفضل عن شهر سبتمبر الماضي، في المباراة التي انتهت بفوز الريدز بنتيجة 3-0 على ملعب “أنفيلد”.

وفي استطلاع المشجعين على موقع ليفربول الرسمي، تصدر هدف كيتا التصويت متفوقًا على هدف محمد صلاح الذي أحرزه في نفس المباراة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ميرور تكشف عن بند سري في عقد محمد صلاح مع ليفربول يمنحه الرحيل لـ إسبانيا شاهد هدف نابي كيتا الرائع في مباراة ليفربول وكريستال بالاس

جاء في المركز الثالث، هدف جوردان هندرسون في مباراة ليفربول الافتتاحية في دور المجموعات ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا على ملعب “أنفيلد” أمام ميلان.

واحتل هدف محمد صلاح رقم 100 في الدوري الإنجليزي أمام ليدز يونايتد المركز الرابع، وجاء هدف كورتيس جونز بعيد المدى في برينتفورد في المركز الخامس.

ويتصدر محمد صلاح جدول ترتيب هدافي ليفربول في الموسم الحالي برصيد 9 أهداف في بطولتي الدوري الإنجليزي ودوري أبطال أوروبا، مع صناعته لثلاثة أهداف أخرى.

Manchester United have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of Jude Bellingham this summer. 

Bellingham has received plenty of attention from a number of European clubs after an impressive debut season in the Championship.

Reports emerged last week that the teenager has decided to join Borussia Dortmund instead of Man United. However, according to The Sun, as relayed by The Evening Standard, Dortmund are struggling to afford Birmingham City’s £31m valuation.

This could be the perfect opportunity for the Red Devils to gain an advantage. Understandably, this latest development spells bad news for Nemanja Matic.

After breaking into the first team, Bellingham has made quite a name for himself at St Andrew’s, as he has played in 32 games in the Championship for the Blues, scoring four goals and providing two assists as well as averaging 1.2 shots per game and making 2.3 tackles on average (WhoScored).

Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has previously described him as a “young Steven Gerrard,” amid interest from United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Dortmund – to name but a few.

Meanwhile, Nemanja Matic, who was a favourite of old boss Jose Mourinho, has had quite a dramatic fall from grace.

While the Serbian has struggled with injury, he has made 12 appearances in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, producing one assist, registering 2 tackles per game, and attempting fewer than 1 shot on average (WhoScored).

At 31-years-old, Matic isn’t getting any younger, and although his performances improved prior to the nationwide lockdown, he is arguably entering the twilight of his career.

It is fair to say United have pulled out all the stops to try to persuade Bellingham to move to Old Trafford. Indeed, the club rolled out the red carpet by giving the 16-year-old a private tour of Carrington, led by none other than Sir Alex Ferguson himself.

Moreover, the Serbia international is the team’s only recognised defensive midfielder, which means the two players would be competing for game time if the transfer goes through.

If the youngster decides to join the Red Devils, it is the former Chelsea player who will probably miss out the most, as Solskjaer has given the youth plenty of chances so far.

United fans, do you think Ed Woodward should sign Jude Bellingham in the summer? Let us know down below!

MatériaMais Notícias

O JMalucelli entra em campo neste sábado para a segunda partida nas quartas de final do Campeonato Paranaense. O primeiro duelo terminou 3 x 0 para o Jotinha, mas se engana quem pensa que a equipe está tranquila em relação ao compromisso deste final de semana. Para o meia-atacante Dinélson, não existe acomodação no elenco por conta desta vantagem.

– Vamos entrar em campo como se não houvesse essa vantagem, que é muito boa. Mas não podemos pensar nisso. Precisamos respeitar o PSTC e fazer nosso jogo sem pensar na primeira partida. Nosso objetivo é fazer uma grande apresentação para conquistar a classificação para a próxima fase do Campeonato Paranaense – afirmou Dinelson, confiante para a partida:

– Nosso elenco está muito focado desde a primeira fase. A palavra de ordem aqui é humildade. Temos que manter os pés no chão para chegarmos aos nossos objetivos. Estamos muito confiantes.

Name: Mungo Bridge

Club: Aston Villa

Date of Birth: 12 September 2000

Position: Centre-back/Full-back

Mungo Bridge – his career so far

At the age of 19, Mungo Bridge is slowly but surely getting ready to make a potential step up into the senior world of Aston Villa’s football over in England. The talented centre-back has penned his first professional contract with the Villains in 2019 as the club managed to fend off the interest from abroad and some big European names.

The kid with the dreadlocks has, however, been a huge part of both their U18 and U23 squads, even captaining the latter one despite his struggles to stay fit throughout the campaign.

Bridge can boast with 24 appearances for the youngster squad and with 16 for the older team. Naturally, since he’s a centre-back by trade, he is yet to tally a single goal or assist for the club but that is also not expected from him in the first place.

Given Aston Villa’s defensive troubles throughout the campaigns, the 19-year-old centre-back could very well get his opportunity sooner rather than later. He’s been already seen training with the first squad on numerous occasions despite never actually tallying a first-team appearance (as of yet).

The Daventry-born youngster was interestingly enough put through his paces by John Terry and even reportedly used as a makeshift forward against Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels during the team’s final training session, as Dean Smith encouraged the youngster to become acclimatised to the first-team setup just prior to football being put on hold due to the recent outbreak.

And some reports even suggested the 19-year-old was more than just able to hold his own against some of the senior players in the squad, which is definitely a great sign and fantastic Aston Villa news for the fans.

Maybe when football resumes in the near future, we finally get to see Bridge get his Premier League bow.

Transfer latest

The biggest piece of Aston Villa news surrounding Bridge was undoubtedly the little scare they got prior to the youngster actually penning his first professional contract with the club. Back in early 2019, AC Milan were reportedly very interested in the centre-back but he ended up deciding to stay put and develop at Aston Villa.

Since then, there were no concrete transfer rumours on the topic and Bridge seems to be on a steady course towards the first team, having already trained with the seniors on various different occasions, which we’ve pointed out earlier.

The next thing on the agenda, however, would be to tie him down with a new and improved contract so that they can ensure he will not be lured away by other European giants who might come snooping around.

With the exposure he’s getting with the seniors and the sheer talent under his belt, that one would be a given despite the lack of any real transfer rumours surrounding him at the very moment.

Player profile

Bridge has recently become the U23s’ captain and is slowly but surely moving up in the world due to his sheer talent and ability. Even though he’s still just 19 years of age, the classy centre-back is solid defensively but actually stands out for his attacking attributes as well.

In many aspects, you could say that he’s definitely not your everyday traditional defender but fits the mould of the modern centre-back perfectly. Apart from doing his defensive duties quite admirably and having the ability to time his tackles perfectly and win duels, Bridge also has a keen eye for a killer pass.

One of the issues he’s faced throughout his early years have been sloppy mistakes, however, and this is an area that may still need some polishing if he is to step up to the senior team. But the 19-year-old is also quite quick and agile, which gives him an opportunity to rectify his errors and put out the fire before it’s too late.

He might, however, still be a bit too slim for Premier League football and his injury record does show he’s had some fitness issues in the past. But even with that being said, the talent is certainly there and Aston Villa will have to keep their eyes peeled for this youngster.

Jose Mourinho has been announced as the new Tottenham Hotspur boss and the appointment could well see the former Real Madrid manager finally link up with Gareth Bale – who takes home a salary per week of £350k with the La Liga giants.

The two bypassed each other in summer 2013 as Mourinho departed Real Madrid to re-take the reigns at former club Chelsea, and Bale left Tottenham in a world-record transfer.

Ever since, there have been rumours of Bale either returning to White Hart Lane, where he previously won the PFA Player of the Year award, or completing a major move to Manchester United who – until around this time last year – were being managed by none other than Mourinho.

He certainly suits Mourinho’s style of play as a dynamic wide forward famed for his ability to create something out of nothing, and Bale’s situation at Real Madrid certainly suggests a move could be on the cards, having found himself behind the likes of Eden Hazard and Rodrygo in Zinedine Zidane’s pecking order this season.

Whether Spurs can afford his wages remains to be seen, but Mourinho will want to kick off the January transfer window with a statement to truly announce his arrival at Tottenham and signing Bale would more than fall into that category.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Prior to his sacking, Ray Parlour expressed his surprise that Tottenham Hotspur did not back manager Mauricio Pochettino, per talkSPORT.

What’s he said?

Pochettino was officially sacked on Tuesday evening.

And Parlour, a former Arsenal midfielder, believes that the Argentine should have been given greater support in the transfer market.

He said: ““I’m surprised they haven’t backed him, I really am, by saying ‘right, what do you need? We got to the Champions League final, amazing season for Spurs last year, let’s kick on, let’s try and move closer to Liverpool and Man City, we’ve got a great stadium now.

“‘I know a few players will be leaving but we’ve got to try to get players in, with the quality to keep us up there, with the likes of the top two.’”

Not done enough

Daniel Levy didn’t do enough for Tottenham during Pochettino’s tenure.

That doesn’t just include the summer, but also the transfer windows that have come before it.

Spurs became the first club in Premier League history not to buy a single player in the summer transfer window last year and were then inactive in January, too.

The solution to that in the most recent window was to buy three first-team players in Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon. Only the former has made more than one start in the Premier League so far this season.

It simply doesn’t add up, especially when one includes the departures of Kieran Trippier and Fernando Llorente; neither player was directly replaced.

And so the Spurs squad is weaker now than it was as it headed into the Champions League final which, really, is unforgivable.

Pochettino is a manager, not a miracle worker, and managers, like carpenters, are only as good as their tools.

Levy hasn’t been providing them as he should have been and he is as culpable as anyone for Pochettino ultimately losing his job.

Florian Lejeune made his return from a serious knee injury for Newcastle United’s Under-23 outfit on Monday night.

Indeed, the central defender played the first 45 minutes of their Premier League 2 clash with Middlesbrough Under-23s before leaving the field.

Lejeune suffered the injury to his left knee against Crystal Palace in April, having only just recovered from the same injury to his opposite knee.

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The 28-year-old has had rotten luck when it comes to injuries over the last 18 months, but the fact that he came through the first 45 minutes of Monday’s U23 affair is huge news for Steve Bruce’s side at this stage of the 2019/20 season.

There is currently no indication when the defender might be available for Bruce, who will surely be keeping a close eye on developments.

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

However, as expected, a number of Newcastle fans took to social media on Monday night to reveal their delight – a selection of which can be seen below:

With Liverpool confirming this week that they will use two separate squads for their Carabao Cup game at Aston Villa on December 17th and Club World Cup semi-final in Qatar a day later, @TrollFootball on Twitter came up with a mock Reds team for the game at Villa Park.

They substituted in people and places with names similar to those in Liverpool’s first team squad, suggesting that American actress Alison Becker would take the place of Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

She took the joke with good humour, responding with a tweet saying “Haha this is awesome” [via @thealisonbecker]

It is not the first time that she has poked fun at the similarity of her name to that of the Liverpool and Brazil goalkeeper. She previously tweeted a photo of her head on Alisson’s body after he was named Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season for 2018/19, as well as joking that she would play in goal against Newcastle in September while Alisson was out injured with a calf problem.

These Liverpool fans on Twitter reacted with a similar degree of humour to her latest Reds-related tweet:

What did you make of Becker’s tweet about Liverpool? Comment below with your views!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Pablo Hernandez is almost back from injury, and while that may be music to the ears of many Leeds United fans, one man may not be too happy about the Spaniard’s return.

Indeed, Helder Costa’s spell in the starting XI may be coming to an end once Hernandez is back, and Phil Hay’s recent tweet certainly suggests that the Spaniard will slot straight into the team at the expense of Costa once he returns.

Costa’s poor run

Leeds fans had been crying out for the Portuguese winger to get a run in the starting XI before Hernandez was sidelined, but his time as a starter hasn’t quite gone how they would have hoped.

Costa hasn’t scored a single goal since Hernandez limped off against Derby County, and on top of that, he’s not provided an assist either.

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It truly has been a torrid time for the former Wolves man, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s immediately out of the team once Hernandez is back.

Bielsa’s comments

Hay tweeted a paraphrased version of Bielsa’s comments after the game against Sheffield Wednesday as the Argentine agreed that Leeds were missing Hernandez, while also pointing out some things that were missing in Costa’s game.

For the manager to say these things publicly certainly hints that Hernandez will be back in the team as soon as he is once again available.

Ever wondered how modern day skills would cope with the world’s oldest football? Find out in the video below…

It’s hard to disagree with the sentiment that Leeds have missed their Player of the Year in recent weeks as they’ve failed to score more than one goal in their last seven matches.

Having Hernandez back will be a huge boost, but the fact that Costa’s form has been so woeful during his absence is a huge worry, and it’s made Bielsa’s decision much easier once the 34-year-old is back fit.

After all, he had a hand in 24 goals for the Whites last season. His reintroduction could prove game-changing.