Manchester United target Wesley Sneijder will not be leaving Inter Milan to move to the Premier League, according to his agent.
The Dutch midfielder has been recently linked with a move to big spending Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala and is the subject of long-term interest from the Red Devils.
The 28-year-old has been out of action since September, following an injury sustained whilst in Serie A action against Chievo.
His absence has coincided with an improvement in form for the Milan giants, which has led to reports that they could be tempted to cash in.
However, the playmaker’s agent Soren Lerby claims that his client will not be leaving the club to join Anzhi, or anybody else:
“Wesley doesn’t want to go to Anzhi. I feel that these are just rumours and I don’t know where they’ve come from.” He is quoted by ESPN.
“At this point you should probably ask Anzhi and Guus Hiddink about it. It’s the first time I’ve heard anything about it because Wes is very happy at Inter and has a great relationship with everyone.”
United are believed to have been chasing the Holland international for some time and were said to have made an approach during the summer transfer window.
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A deal could not be reached, but Sir Alex Ferguson is still thought to be keen on adding the midfielder to his Old Trafford squad.
The clamour from Manchester United fans to sign Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is growing after he played a central role in Serbia’s World Cup win over Costa Rica on Sunday.
With the summer tournament in full swing, fans of clubs from all over the world are casting a close look at the top performers and considering who they should and shouldn’t be making a move for this summer.
Scouting at the World Cup could arguably be seen as risky, but it’s often a great chance to see how players cope at the elite level under the maximum pressure possible.
One man that United fans would love at Old Trafford is Lazio midfielder Milinkovic-Savic, who they have been linked with consistently over the last few months.
Still just 23 years of age, he produced excellent form for Lazio last season before heading to Russia, scoring 14 goals from midfield in all competitions.
Is he the player to complete Jose Mourinho’s midfield puzzle?
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Fans took to Twitter after Sunday’s performance to share their thoughts…
With Henrikh Mkhitaryan cup-tied, an Arsenal victory in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday will require some effective re-jostling of their forward line from Arsene Wenger, the ultimate point of contention being the left flank – Mesut Ozil looks set to create play from the right, while January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will almost certainly lead the line.
Following the departure of Alexis Sanchez, the north London outfit don’t exactly boast an embarrassment of riches in that position. But the main candidates to face Manchester City there on Sunday are England international Danny Welbeck and 21-year-old Alex Iwobi.
We put that exact selection headache to Arsenal fans earlier this week, and it was the latter who came out on top in our poll with a convincing 73% of Gunners supporters voting in his favour.
The Nigerian international hasn’t always impressed this term but it appears Arsenal fans back him far more than Welbeck, whose campaign has once again been disrupted by injury problems.
How would you line up Wenger’s side on Sunday, Arsenal fans? Let us know by commenting below…
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The captain’s armband looked out of place at first, Arjen Robben taking over for the suspended Robin van Persie in Holland’s win over Chile on Monday night. But there’s a completion about Robben now, one that made the captaincy fitting at this stage of his career.
Robben has been one of this World Cup’s best performers. It was always to be expected considering his talent, but he’s been one of the standout players while also shouldering the responsibility of helping to lead a relatively young and inexperienced team through the tournament.
It’s a far cry from what we saw from the Bayern Munich winger two years ago at the European Championship, storming off after being substituted in a game against Germany, choosing to walk round the pitch and past his supporters rather than crossing the field, as is customary.
In a way that incident became something of a turning point for the Dutchman. His quality as a player is well-known, but so too is his reputation for selfishness and petulance.
There were questions raised about Robben’s character in big games, having lost in the final of World Cup 2010 to Spain after having a chance to seal the win for Holland. Against Chelsea in the Champions League final, he missed a penalty awarded to Bayern during extra-time, forcing a shoot-out, which the Bavarians lost.
Another issue many in the football community have with Robben is the ease with which he goes to ground, particularly in the opposition penalty area. Arsene Wenger for one wasn’t fooled by the Dutchman, with both having an exchange of words during Bayern’s 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates last season.
But this World Cup has been another impressive step forward for Robben. Few are accustomed to seeing the winger line up as a centre-forward, as he did against Spain and Australia. He doesn’t exactly fit the criteria, importantly being extremely reliant on his left foot, while he doesn’t have the physical stature normally associated with modern centre-forwards.
But it was a success for Louis van Gaal, deploying Robben alongside Robin van Persie as a means to exploit space behind opposition defences and maximise on the creativity of both van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. Three goals across both of Holland’s opening games suggests there could be a future for Robben in that role.
Where Robben was once wasteful in major finals, he’s now been a vital part of Bayern’s successes over the past two seasons. Against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final in London, he scored the winner in the 89th minute. In the German Cup final against the same opposition this past season, he scored the first of Bayern’s two goals, as they completed the domestic double in Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge.
And the former Barcelona coach has held Robben in high regard for much of the campaign, with Guardiola talking up his love for the Dutchman and citing his professionalism through the season.
Louis van Gaal will naturally be contemplating a bid for the Bayern winger when he takes on domestic coaching duties later this summer, and it would be more than understandable for Manchester United fans to want to see the incredibly in-form Dutchman arrive at Old Trafford during this transfer window.
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But this is a player who looks to be defying his age, playing some of the best football of his career. The pace hasn’t gone and he’s learning new tricks by adapting to different positions on the field.
For Holland, the one-two punch of Robben and van Persie is the appropriate response to the disaster of Euro 2012 and the criticism levelled at the Dutch for their performance against Spain in South Africa.
Making your debut for a new club can be as daunting an experience as they come. But playing your first cup game for your employers can be equally as intimidating given what is riding on the outcome of one game.
Cup competitions, in their essence, are free grey areas as teams battle to progress and avoid elimination. So to score or save a penalty at your first Capital One Cup match and ultimately emerge successful must produce a feeling of jubilation that a player will struggle to replicate throughout the rest of their career.
Obafemi Martins – Birmingham City
The Nigerian international had only joined Birmingham a month earlier but was summoned from the sidelines in the 83rd minute by Alex McLeish with the game poised at 1-1. It proved a masterstroke as Martins capitalised on a mistake from Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny to score the winning goal just six minutes after his introduction and bring the cup back to St Andrews.
Robbie Fowler – Liverpool
Nearly two decades have passed since the Toxteth Terror made a goal-scoring debut as a fresh faced 18-year-old away at Fulham. Alongside club legend Ian Rush in attack Fowler gave the Anfield faithful a taste of what was to come with a superb left footed volley to cap a comfortable 3-1 win. It was the beginning of an inseparable Merseyside love affair.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Arsenal
With a £15 million transfer fee weighing on his shoulders, you couldn’t blame Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for being apprehensive in the early weeks of his Arsenal career. But such was the teenager’s confidence following his move from Southampton that Arsene Wenger threw him straight into the first team fold. A League Cup bow against Shrewsbury saw him notch up his first Gunners’ goal with a stunning 25-yard strike and announce himself to the rest of England.
Paul Scholes – Manchester United
When Sir Alex Ferguson named 19-year-old Paul Scholes in the starting lineup against Port Vale in 1994 it hardly turned any heads. Two expertly taken goals later and the teenage debutant had undoubtedly justified his selection. Who knew that Scholes would go on to become of the greatest players of the modern generation?
Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal
It would be an exaggeration to say the fanfare that followed Cesc Fabregas’ arrival from Barcelona in 2003 was low key. But when the Spaniard made his Arsenal bow against Rotheram in the League Cup a month later, becoming the club’s youngest player at 16 years and 177 days, he was the toast of North London. A remarkably mature display from the midfielder certainly whetted the Gunners’ appetite as he went on to become the heartbeat of Arsene Wenger’s side.
Lenny Pidgeley – Millwall
With a goalkeeping crisis to contend with and a 4th Round tie against Birmingham looming, Millwall called upon the services of Pidgeley signing him on a seven-day emergency loan in 2005. The Chelsea stopper saved Jermaine Pennant’s penalty in the shootout but couldn’t save the Lions from elimination.
Fernando Torres – Liverpool
Goals were always guaranteed for Liverpool following Torres’ arrival from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007 and he duly delivered his first hat-trick in a red shirt on his League Cup bow. Poor Reading were on the receiving end as the Spaniard demonstrated the ruthless nature that would bring him 81 goals in 142 games on Merseyside.
Jan Budzt – Manchester City
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Arguably one of the more interesting League Cup debuts came in 2005 as League One Doncaster knocked out Manchester City. It was made all the more special by Budzt as he came on for injured goalkeeper Andy Warrington in the 105th minute of extra time and saved two penalties in the shootout to become an instant hero.
Julio Baptista – Arsenal
Despite managing to score three goals in 24 games, Baptista found his scoring touch on his first League Cup appearance for Arsenal. The striker, on-loan from Real Madrid, rattled in four goals and missed a penalty during the quarter final tie against Liverpool at Anfield.
Michael Owen – Liverpool
Goals had been Owen’s currency for over a decade before his decline and during his formative years at Liverpool he couldn’t stop scoring. Grimsby felt the full force of his powers as the teenage striker scored a hat-trick in just under an hour at Anfield on his first League Cup start.
West Ham United endured a disappointing 2017/18 campaign in which they came far too close to flirting with relegation at times, and they now need a strong transfer window under new boss Manuel Pellegrini in order to ensure they improve significantly and aim for a top-half finish minimum next term.
The Chilean, who wants a £45m attacker who would ensure fans forget about Manuel Lanzini’s injury blow, will be keen to bring the feel-good factor back to the London Stadium that often dwindled towards the end of David Moyes’ reign, and that could include undertaking a major overhaul of his squad – which could see some new arrivals in east London, as well as some notable departures.
Yet, transfer business can be complicated – especially with less time to get deals over the line this year with the window slamming shut on August 9 – and interconnected, and we’ve taken a closer look at how their dealings might interfere with the plans of their Premier League rivals this summer…
Michail Antonio joins Crystal Palace
According to reliable club insider @ExWHUemployee in his latest The West Ham Way transfer blog, the east London club are ready to sell winger Antonio this summer if they receive an acceptable offer for the 28-year-old.
@ExWHUemployee reports that Crystal Palace made an offer for the England international last month, but that it wasn’t worth entertaining as it clearly came way below their valuation of the player, who was hampered by injury and being played out of position by David Moyes in 2017/18.
It is unclear exactly how much the east London outfit want for the former Reading man, but given he only signed a new four-year deal in 2017 it is clear they want a big fee that will allow Manuel Pellegrini to re-invest the money into his squad.
West Ham sign Jean Seri
According to reports in The Sun earlier this month, West Ham have joined the race to bring Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri to the Premier League.
Both Chelsea and their other London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for the Ivory Coast international, who has a release clause of £35m in his contract, as per The Sun.
While that price would smash their transfer record, if they get the money they want for Antonio it could tempt the Irons owners to then match the huge fee that it would take to bring a player that was a target for Barcelona less than 12 months ago, to the London Stadium.
Tottenham sign Rafinha
Pellegrini is clearly keen to bring a new midfielder to east London this summer having been linked with Seri, as well as Barcelona midfielder Rafinha, as per Spanish media outlet Sport, although he could face competition from Premier League rivals Spurs according to a more recent report from Sport.
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Should West Ham sign Seri it would it would leave their London neighbours in a good position to sign the Brazil international, who looks to be surplus to requirements at Barcelona having spent the 2017/18 season on loan at Inter Milan.
The 25-year-old could prove to be a replacement for the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Mousa Dembele, who Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly ready to move on this summer.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]
Robert Snodgrass was one of the many Aston Villa players who impressed in the Second City derby against Birmingham City on Sunday.
The attacking midfielder played the full 90 minutes of the Championship clash, which ended in a 2-0 win, thanks to goals from Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane.
Snodgrass has impressed at Villa Park since joining the Midlands outfit on loan from West Ham United.
The Scotland international has started 25 league games and has come off the bench in one.
During that time, the midfielder has scored six goals and produced nine assists, helping Villa reach second in the table.
The 30-year-old’s form has raised questions about his future and whether he will return to West Ham.
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The Scotsman struggled for game time at the East London outfit, and it is uncertain whether he will get much of a chance under manager David Moyes.
From the point of view of Villa’s fanbase, the majority are keen for Snodgrass to sign a permanent deal, and they made it clear when the player sent a post-match tweet.
He had his own statue in the grounds, and a stand in his name. He won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League trophies. He won the Cup Winners Cup, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
David Moyes had won the Second Division with Preston North End in 2000.
Succeeding Ferguson was never going to be easy, but the Scot may have left his successor with a harder job than necessary.
Ferguson’s final years at Man United may be characterised by myopia. Long-term stability was sacrificed for short-term success. He was done with building. He’d built a club. Now he wanted to have some fun.
It was the summer of 2012. Manchester United had just lost out on the title on goal difference, with Wayne Rooney scoring 27 league goals along the way. The team was crying out for a central midfielder. Never mind replacing Paul Scholes, Man United still hadn’t found a successor for Roy Keane.
But Ferguson opted to spend £24m on a 29-year-old striker from Arsenal. A very good 29-year-old striker, but an injury prone player with no sell-on value and high wage demands.
The result was one last sweet title for Ferguson, but one massive headache for Moyes. The Rooney and Van Persie conundrum aside, Moyes also inherited a starting back four that included three players of 32 or over, a starting right-back who was a liability and no left-winger deserved of a starting place.
But even so, the squad is of good enough quality to be higher than the 7th place that they currently occupy.
However, if we are to blame Ferguson for Manchester United’s demise this season, should we be praising David Moyes for Everton’s success?
David Moyes managed Everton for 11 years. He built a stable structure at the club while working with a lot less money than other managers around him. No one worried about Everton with Moyes. The only thing they worried about was what they’d do when he eventually left.
But apparently such concerns were idle, as Everton under Roberto Martinez appear to have moved onto another level. With four games left to play, the Toffees have Champions League football in their sights, and recently comprehensively defeated their rivals for this position 3-0.
Many have pointed to the strong defensive structure and solid scouting policy under Moyes as reasons for the Scot to take credit from Martinez’ success. And while these areas were undoubtedly strong, both have changed significantly under Martinez.
Moyes left behind a solid back five in Howard, Baines, Distin, Jagielka and Coleman. And while Martinez hasn’t made a changes to personal barring injury, he has changed the manner in which the team defend.
Under Martinez, Everton defend much higher and try to win the ball back further up the pitch. Sylvain Distin in particular has excelled in this role, having one of his best seasons at the club while sweeping up in between defence and keeper.
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Roberto Martinez has also benefitted from the strong squad that Moyes left behind, with players such as Mirallas, Naismith and Pienaar all impressing under the Spaniard.
However, the former Wigan manager has made quite a few changes to a squad that didn’t seem in need of overhaul, most notably by bringing in Lukaku, McCarthy, Barry and Deulofeu. These players have had a major impact at the club this season, and Everton certainly look like a Roberto Martinez’s team from the midfield on.
The truth, as it often does, probably lies somewhere in the middle. While Ferguson has certainly had a part in Man United’s poor season, he left David Moyes a squad that was better than the 7th place which he’s steered it to.
Similarly, while Moyes left a strong structure in place at Everton, it would be unfair on Martinez to give Moyes the credit for their success this season. Roberto Martinez has changed a lot in his first year at Everton, and often to positive effect.
Real Madrid look set to lure keeper David De Gea away from his current club Manchester United this January.
The La Liga Champions are currently on red alert where the keeper is concerned according to the Daily Mail after De Gea complained of feeling “homesick” and still struggling to fit in at the club and indeed in the Premier league after last season expressing surprise at the physical nature of English football.
De Gea admits losing his grip on the number one jersey: “I don’t believe I have been at the top in the last couple of months but with each game I am rediscovering my level.”
Despite declaring his intention to become first choice once again Real Madrid are confident that their relationship with De Gea’s agent Jorge Mendez will be the tipping factor in securing the deal with the agent not only being close to manager Mourinho, but also the representative of a host of key Madrid players including Pepe and Di Maria.
Madrid captain and current keeper Iker Casillas has already issued a glowing review of the youngster claiming “he will pension us all off” and supporting the player in the wake of criticism due to his age and performances, noting that he too experienced similar comments and that “between us all he has to be looked after.”
With such a glowing endorsement from the man De Gea calls his “point of reference” and indeed a growing unhappiness in Manchester a move to his former city rivals is not as unlikely as it once seemed for the Spaniard.
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Experimental side captained by Nat Sciver-Brunt made to work before getting home in final over
Valkerie Baynes11-Jul-2024England mixed it up, put it in a test tube, found themselves under pressure and still came out with a win and an unassailable 3-0 lead in their T20I series against New Zealand.Sophie Ecclestone’s four-wicket haul smothered Sophie Devine’s defiance before Alice Capsey’s T20I career-best of 67 not out saw the hosts win by six wickets with four balls to spare in Canterbury.With two matches left, the hosts could well continue their experimental approach which saw Sophia Dunkley take her chance with a 26-ball 35 returning to the top of the order and sharing a 66-run partnership with Capsey to put England in control. Two quick wickets to Fran Jonas preserved the hope that Devine had given New Zealand but Capsey’s 60-ball innings, and an cool cameo by Freya Kemp of 16 not out from eight balls saw England home as the White Ferns were left to rue a rash of missed chances in the field.
Devine intervention
From Suzie Bates’ stunning straight drive for four off the first ball of the match – bringing up her 10,000th international run – to her 52-run partnership with Amelia Kerr for the second wicket, this was more like the batting performance New Zealand had craved. At the end of the powerplay, the White Ferns were 46 for 1 and Kerr took them past the 50-mark with four off Sarah Glenn’s first delivery, a fuller one which she lifted behind square. But when Ecclestone cleaned up both in a devastating first over, Devine needed to produce the sort of innings that had so far eluded her on this tour.With Georgia Plimmer having fallen for a first-ball duck in the opening over, the spectre of New Zealand’s batting woes loomed large again and, at 63 for 3, it fell to Devine and Brooke Halliday to steady them. Devine received a life on 4 when Charlie Dean couldn’t hold a sharp return catch before Halliday spooned a Glenn delivery straight to Nat Sciver-Brunt at long-on. Devine broke a boundary drought lasting 5.4 overs when she struck Dean for two fours in four balls, swung through square leg and thundered through long-on, but as the wickets continued to fall, Devine would have to unleash if they were to turn 100 for 6 into a defendable total.Kemp made it 106 for 7 with a perfect yorker to remove Hannah Rowe but Devine slammed the first six of the match over long-on two balls later then slog-swept Ecclestone for an even bigger one over deep square leg and drove the next ball down the ground for four. Devine brought up her fifty with the first of three fours in a row off Dani Gibson, smashed down the ground, before slashing past short third and ending the innings with a heave through square leg to walk off with her first half-century of the tour.
Ecclestone’s incisions
Ecclestone came into the attack and struck with her second ball, Bates chipping straight to Sciver-Brunt at mid-off for a 27-ball 38. Kerr swung her bat in anguish after she was beaten a beauty three balls later, a flighted delivery that dipped then gripped off the pitch and sailed past the inside edge onto the top of middle stump. When Ecclestone splattered Izzy Gaze’s off stump with her arm ball, New Zealand were in all sorts of trouble. That’s when Devine shifted gears but Ecclestone claimed her fourth when Leigh Kasperek tried to match her captain’s hitting and heaved across the line, only to miss and see her middle stump rattled. It was the last ball of Ecclestone’s allocation, giving her 4 for 25, her second four-wicket haul in T20Is and bettered only by the 4 for 18 she took against New Zealand at Taunton in 2018.Alice Capsey’s half-century got England over the line•Getty Images
“What-if?” planning
England made sweeping changes in a piece of “what-if?” planning ahead of the T20 World Cup, as it was described at the toss by Sciver-Brunt, standing in as captain for Heather Knight, who sat out alongside Danni Wyatt and Lauren Bell. That made way at the top of the order for Dunkley to play her first T20I since March. Kemp returned after her unbeaten 26 and 1 for 30 playing again as an allrounder in the opening T20I in Southampton while making her comeback from a back injury. Bell made way for fellow seamer Lauren Filer in the other change, which was in keeping with a theme Knight painted ahead of the T20I series where she said England would look to try different combinations and tactics with a view to needing to adapt to changing conditions in Bangladesh.Having been dropped after England’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year, Dunkley scored 15 in her only other appearance of this visit by the White Ferns, in the third ODI in Bristol. Here she had another chance to show what she could do ahead of the T20 World Cup and the spotlight intensified here when Maia Bouchier fell on the first ball of the run-chase, pinned lbw by Rowe. In Rowe’s next over, Dunkley powered a big six over long-off, then helped herself to three fours – and 15 runs in all – off Devine’s second over, which was the last of the powerplay and ended with England comfortable on 50 for 1. But when left-arm spinner Jonas entered the attack, she had two wickets in two balls, Dunkley cramped by a full ball which drifted in and chopping onto her stumps and Sciver-Brunt to an lbw decision that would have been overturned had she reviewed with ball-tracking showed it was missing leg stump.
Capsey, Kemp get the job done
That left England needing 73 runs in 10 overs and Capsey made the most of her chance when she was pinned on the front pad attempting a reverse sweep off Kasperek and successfully reviewed, the ball shown to be going down the leg side. Amy Jones survived two dropped chances, put down on 11 by Plimmer at long-off and Devine at mid-off on 18 with England needing 28 off 17 balls. Capsey slammed Kerr over long-on for six next ball so that when Jones was run out, the equation was 22 needed from 15.Yet another chance went begging when Maddy Green failed to hold in the deep and Kemp capitalised, cleverly reversing Kasperek to the boundary through short third and smashing the next ball down the ground to leave England with five to get off the last over. They got there with four balls to spare via a streaky four by Capsey off a Jonas misfield.