Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has demanded at least £375,000 a week to sign a new contract, according to The Sun.
What’s the word?
Speculation over De Gea’s future at Old Trafford is nothing new given that he is constantly linked with a move to Real Madrid.
The Spaniard was on the verge of moving to the Bernabeu in 2015, but since missing the transfer deadline, the 27-year-old has been committed to United.
The Sun reports that De Gea is willing to pen a new contract but wants almost double his current salary.
The publication claims that Alexis Sanchez’s arrival has persuaded the goalkeeper to push for what he believes he is worth.
According to The Mirror, the Chile international is earning £500,000 per week before tax.
Should United fall to his demands?
While the Red Devils would have been overjoyed by their ability to land Sanchez, the rumoured wages that he is earning sets a precedent.
Footballers within a club earn different salaries depending on their value to the team and global brand.
There is no doubt that De Gea is one of Jose Mourinho’s most important players as he has become a world-class keeper since moving to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
While the figures being reported a ludicrous, United do not have much of a leg to stand on if they refuse to up De Gea’s wages significantly.
The Red Devils can feel safe in the knowledge that the Spaniard’s contract does not expire until the end of next season, but they cannot afford to let him get his head turned.
It has been a season of two Arsenal’s in the 2013/14 campaign and the recent form of the squad suggests it could a permanent worry for the Gunners.
Everton are still favourites to make it into the top four this season, meaning Arsenal would miss out on the Champions League for the first time since 1997.
Arsene Wenger has come under massive pressure, and even a penalty shoot-out victory over Wigan on Saturday the fans are still split over whether the Frenchman should stay.
Here is why we believe Arsenal may be set for a tough battle to get back into the top European competition if they miss out this season.
Lack of strength in depth
Injuries. A classic cry from supporters and pundits when things get tough. Every team gets them.
Some can deal with them, just look at Man City who have been without the likes of David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero for large parts of the campaign.
Arsenal have a real lack of depth to their squad which has been evident in recent weeks and is one issue that has to be addressed. Soon.
Teams below them will definitely improve
Having been outclassed by Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool this season – Arsenal have spent the majority of their time since Christmas looking over their shoulders.
Everton will be desperate to make their current form stick, by adding key players to their permanent squad.
Also, Manchester United and Tottenham will only get better when new signing come in and gel (and in the case of Spurs, they get the knowledge of a top boss this summer.)
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Wenger’s stubborn transfer approach
When Chelsea desperately needed to improve, they spent some cash and duly improved.
Liverpool and Manchester City have done exactly the same, leaving Arsenal drifting behind with Everton, Tottenham and United all closing the gap on them.
Wenger surely can’t claim that Mesut Ozil’s signing was anything but a one off – maybe with three or four more of those big money deals in the bag, Arsenal can become the force they once were.
Of all the footballers that have donned the famous Manchester United shirt over the years, few would have frustrated the club’s fans more than the undoubtedly talented man from the Cape Verde Islands.
Nani summed up his career at United in just 90 minutes of the 120 played at Stamford Bridge last night, as Chelsea got some degree of revenge for their Premier League defeat and beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s side 5-4 after extra time in the Capital One Cup.
Ferguson blamed the Portuguese international for his side giving away a costly penalty in the final minute of stoppage time, which Eden Hazard stepped up to score the Blues’ third equaliser.
Instead of playing the ball into the corner, the 25-year-old went for glory and tried to beat his man on the edge of the penalty area. Unsurprisingly, he was dispossessed and led to a Chelsea counter-attack which resulted in Scott Wooton fouling Ramires inside the box.
But on the flip side, he proved his quality after linking up superbly with Anderson to execute a delicate chip from a tight angle to score United’s third goal.
He has had his recent troubles, including a protracted contract wrangle and fallout with reserve player, Davide Petrucci, which have been well-publicised and showed his dramatic fall from grace in recent months.
The fact is, Nani was once one of the first names on Sir Alex’s teamsheet; being used down the right-hand side to terrorise full-backs and relied upon to produce a moment of brilliance and win a match.
But his reported greedy behaviour has affected his performances on the pitch, with the man being a shadow of the player many United fans had expected him to become after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure.
Some would say he is gradually being phased out of the team, as Ferguson adopts a new diamond formation without the need for traditional wingers. Although against Chelsea in the league encounter, he decided to revert to a more familiar 4-4-1-1 shape, but elected to use Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia on the flanks.
These players are the more consistent performers than the Portuguese winger, especially Valencia, who is a typical no-nonsense kind of player that does the simple things effectively while not taking the uncalculated risks which Nani does.
He has had ample time to shine, much more than many other players during their time at the club, but has simply flattered to deceive.
His frustrations at letting the match slip away from his grasp were evident in last night’s game, sparking a melee after clashing with Oscar in what was a rather innocuous incident, but he still took issue with the Brazilian.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The fact that Ferguson rarely vents his criticism to individual players shows the significance of his public rant at Nani. It appears he is being pushed towards the exit door and a summer transfer move will come as a shock to no one.
SkyBet have placed Middlesbrough as the 4/6 favourites to bring Robert Huth back to the Riverside Stadium this summer.
Huth is available on a free transfer following his release from Leicester City, and it is understood that the 33-year-old has no plans to hang up his boots.
The defender played a key role in Leicester’s 2015-16 title-winning Premier League campaign, but did not make a single appearance the Foxes last term due to a number of injuries.
SkyBet have placed Boro as the favourites to sign the German defender this summer, and if the bookmaker is to be believed, they are well ahead of the likes of Stoke City and Aston Villa.
Huth turned out for Boro between 2006 and 2009 – making 63 appearances for the club before leaving for Stoke City.
The Boro supporters have been reacting to the news on social media, and it would be fair to say that they have contrasting views on whether it would be a good deal.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Indeed, there are plenty who are struggling to look past Huth’s recent injury problems, although there are also those who feel that the German would be a brilliant signing.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Liverpool have sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona and loaned out Daniel Sturridge to West Bromwich Albion with no signs of any replacements, and Reds fans have urged the club to sign Lyon attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir, rated at £45m according to Transfermarkt, before the January transfer window slams shut on Wednesday night.
Jurgen Klopp hinted in his pre-match press conference on Monday that the Merseyside outfit were unlikely to be busy in terms of incomings in the last couple of days of the window, even though the club has suffered successive defeats against Swansea City in the Premier League and West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup at home on Saturday.
That seems to be a decision that the Anfield faithful disagree with, and Fekir has certainly been in impressive form this season with 19 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 side.
Liverpool supporters were quick to have their say on the 24-year-old via social media, and while one said “I’d be willing to throw every penny of the Coutinho money at Nabil Fekir to save the season”, another said “would love to see Liverpool sign Nabil Fekir”.
Arsenal had a good thing in their grip and they let it slip.
There was a feeling around the Emirates that they could do better than Gonzalo Higuain, that the player just wasn’t quite ideal. But Arsenal were in need of a top striker and Higuain was the only one on the market. Perhaps Arsene Wenger would have done well to remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good.
If there was anyone to forget this, you wouldn’t have suspected it to be Wenger. The Arsenal manager has long had to do with the good alone, and often a lot less than this. The constrained finances at the club meant that Arsene Wenger always had to settle for a slightly lower category of player than their rivals.
But last summer the chains had finally been lifted, and Arsenal were in the market for quality.
As early as May last year, there were stories suggesting that Higuain had agreed to join Arsenal. The Argentine was deemed surplus at the Bernabeu and all of Europe’s elite clubs were made aware of this. Arsenal’s priority for the summer was to bring in a striker, and in Higuain, the club had the opportunity to conclude their business uncharacteristically early in the window. But still they waited.
By July 27th, Napoli would have successfully hijacked the deal and signed Higuain on a contract for the next five years. By August 3rd, the Argentine would be playing against Arsenal at the Emirates for his new club. No one knew quite knew how it had happened. The Arsenal fans booed Higuain for choosing Naples over London. But in truth, it’s the club that they should have been aiming their frustrations at.
If Arsenal really wanted to sign the Argentine, they could have. Instead, the club dithered as they waited for something better to come along. And while they waited, their something good went elsewhere.
Higuain’s quality has been evident in Italy. The striker has managed 17 goals in his 27 Serie A starts thus far, and created another seven for his teammates. Higuain scored four goals for Napoli in his five Champions League games this season, including one against Arsenal. The Argentine’s form has been such as to all but guarantee his club Champions League football for next season, something that Arsenal are yet to achieve.
But Champions League qualification was no longer where the club were aiming their sights. Finally, they allowed themselves to look higher. For the first time since agreeing to build a new stadium in 2002, the club were in a financial position to compete with Europe’s elite clubs in the transfer market. They’d had their years of settling, and they were fine. But now they could buy who they wanted, and they only wanted the best.
And Arsenal got one of the best. The 42.4m paid for Mesut Ozil very much represented a new era for Arsenal in the transfer market. But the club would have done well to remember how they’d so consistently overachieved in the past.
Arsenal were right to try and buy the best players they could, but wrong to only attempt to recruit on the basis of quality alone. Mesut Ozil is a very good attacking midfielder, but the club already had several good attacking midfielders. Gonzalo Higuain may not be the best striker in the game, but he is a good one, and Arsenal didn’t have any of those.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
But Arsenal couldn’t sign Higuain because they were unable to accept that the Argenetine was the best striker that they were going to get last summer. Excited by the newly earned wad in their wallet, the club starting looking around the room for something better to bring home. They flirted with Luis Suarez, but it turned out to be nothing more than a tease. And with their eye off the prize, their Argentinian stallion bolted.
Arsene Wenger’s desire to finally bring the best to Arsenal was admirable, but ultimately foolish. The manager would have been wise to learn from the barren years that sometimes you just have to settle.
Sadly, in Arsenal’s search for perfection, they’ve ended up falling short of the good.
Manchester United have carved themselves a reputation as comeback kings, a reputation that dates back to the Premier League’s earliest days.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are notoriously known for turning deficits into victories, often leaving it until stoppage time to ensure some of the most dramatic and iconic Premier League moments.
Fantastically entertaining to watch, but this season United have been on the comeback trail far more frequently than they would have liked.
Tuesday nights 3-2 win over Braga was yet another example of United making things as difficult as possible for themselves, falling 2-0 down before half time, leaving them a mountain which they inevitably climbed.
Teams leading United know by now you can never ever afford to feel comfortable, even at 2-0 up with a minute to go you wouldn’t put it past Fergies men to stage an improbable comeback, but the amount of times they have had to do so this season leaves a big question toward their title credentials.
United have fallen behind in six of their eight Premier League fixtures this season, coming back to turn four deficits around at home to Fulham, away at Southampton and Liverpool, and once again at home to Stoke last weekend. Add to this their midweek Champions League performance, United have picked up 15 points from losing positions in all competitions.
Whilst you must commend their attitude, desire and spirit, you must also ask the question as why this season United are simply so slow out of the blocks?
They had conceded within three minutes against Fulham, inside 16 at Southampton, and inside 11 minutes against Stoke. They conceded less than a minute after the restart at Anfield, leading you to wonder why their concentration levels seem so poor when emerging for the start of either half.
The loss of Nemanja Vidic is noticeable, despite his replacement Jonny Evans showing signs of definite improvement over the past year. The Serbian has been missing from United’s back four for the best part of a year, and during his absence United have often looked vulnerable.
Defensive lapses and individual errors have haunted United on too many occasions, with goalkeeper David De Gea still not looking entirely convincing. Injuries to Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have also been disruptive, with Michael Carrick having to fill in at centre back on the odd occasion, notably during the opening day’s 1-0 defeat at Everton.
Whilst United continue to win matches, everything will appear rosy. But with Ferguson stating his disappointment at the manner in which his team fell behind after only the second match of the season against Fulham, you do wonder why his side have continued to make the same mistake over and over again.
The pressure being put on the likes of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck has been far too much, and they and in particular Van Persie deserve tremendous credit for the goals they have produced to ultimately turn so many matches around.
It is a habit United need to nip in the bud as soon as possible, as the early indications this season suggest three teams will be battling it out for the title all the way to the wire.
Noisy neighbours Manchester City are enduring defensive problems of their own, and have mirrored United’s performances at times, Saturday’s comeback victory at West Brom being the most noticeable. The strength in depth they have in their squad will be enough to ensure they are in the title hunt once again come May.
But most worrying for United has been the emergence of Chelsea, who currently hold a four point lead the top of the Premier League table. Roberto Di Matteo’s new brand of expansive football has drawn plenty of admirers, and plenty of points. Defensively they have looked for the best part sound, with goalkeeper Petr Cech particularly outstanding.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Sir Alex will know his team cannot continue the way they are going without being caught out sooner or later. A positive way to look at would be the fact United have not played to their full potential so far this season, and despite their defensive difficulties they still sit second with an impressive 18 points from a possible 24.
With the front three of Welbeck, Rooney and Van Persie looking irresistible against Stoke City, United have arguably the strongest strike force in the league. Whether they continue to fall behind or not, I would back that trio to ensure United are well within the title hunt come May. And I think we can expect plenty more dramatic comebacks along the way.
As reported by The Sun, Everton are ready to raid Newcastle United for club captain Jamaal Lascelles during this summer’s transfer window.
What’s the story?
New boss Marco Silva is still settling into his role as the new manager at Goodison Park, with fans eager to see what kind of first team squad he will build during the upcoming transfer window.
One player on Silva’s radar is Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles.
That’s according to The Sun, who report that the Toffees are lining up a £30m bid for the Magpies captain, hoping to capitalising on uncertainty regarding Rafa Benitez’s future at the club.
The paper say that Silva is looking for a long-term defensive partner to Michael Keane.
[ad_pod ]
Would he be a good signing?
Lascelles emerged as a classy and committed performer in 2017/18, leading Newcastle United to a top ten finish on their return to the top-flight from the English Championship.
On the verge of an England call-up, the 24-year-old has shown qualities beyond his years since bursting into the Magpies first team, typifying the spirit that Rafa Benitez has brought to the club.
A composed and physical defender, Lascelles ticks plenty of boxes for Everton and at the reported £30m he is a steal in today’s transfer market and someone that the Toffees should strongly consider a defensive partner for the likes of Keane.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Do you think Everton should sign the Newcastle man?
Arsenal’s pursuit of a top four position in the English Premier League took another blow on Sunday after bottom half Bournemouth defeated them 2-1.
With rivals Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea all picking up points this weekend, it was vital for the Gunners to win away to Eddie Howe’s side but had to return home empty handed.
Arsenal took the lead in the match thanks to Hector Bellerin, but Jordan Ibe and Callum Wilson turned things around in a four minute spell that shocked Arsene Wenger’s side.
Part of their problems in recent weeks has been the lack of goals from big summer signing Alexandre Lacazette, who hasn’t scored in his last nine appearances, the last coming at the start of December against Manchester United.
However, supporters aren’t blaming the Frenchman for the drought, instead taking aim at the players tasked with producing creativity and providing the striker with chances.
Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the situation…
Galatasaray striker Didier Drogba has said it was a ‘special game’ after playing out a 1-1 draw against his former club Chelsea in the last-16 of the Champions League last night.
This was the Ivorian’s first game against Chelsea after leaving them in 2012, with his last contribution helping the Blues beat Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.
The Blues coped well with his attacking threat during the tie, but still came close when his header was volleyed against the post by Selcuk Inan.
And Drogba is looking forward to the second leg back at Stamford Bridge, where he believes his side can still make it into the quarter-finals after an impressive second half display.
“It was a special game, to play against my old team-mates,” he told Sky Sports.
“I didn’t get a lot of chances but the header was perfect – well, not perfect because I didn’t score, but it was a great cross, I wish I could have scored this one but there is another game.
“It was a great game and I think it is a good result.
“Chelsea are the better team on paper but second half we showed we can create them some problems. Now we have to go out and do it at Stamford Bridge.”
“They played on the counter-attack and we were a bit naive two or three times. We know they are dangerous, we have to work on that and solve these problems.
“If we manage to score a goal there, it’s a different game. One-one is a good result.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Torres scored early in the first half to give Chelsea an important away goal, but Aurelien Chedjou equalized in the second period to even out the tie.
Click below to watch the Capital One Cup final for FREE