What the papers say
Football transfer rumours: Thomas Tuchel to take over at Manchester United?
Today’s tell-all is scraping the bottom of the barrel
Underwhelmed by Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s stint at the wheel, Manchester United are hoping to replace him with Thomas Tuchel. Reports from France suggest both United and Barcelona are interested in luring the German away from Paris Saint-Germain and after the French club’s smiting of Real Madrid last night, we’re guessing there could be plenty of interest from the Bernabéu as well.
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Continue reading...Manchester United’s Greenwood ‘one of best finishers I’ve seen’, says Solskjær
• Solskjær intends to rotate and give younger players game time
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has described Mason Greenwood as one of the best finishers he has seen and is ready to give the 17-year-old a first senior start of the season in Thursday’s Europa League group game against Astana.
The Manchester United manager intends to make several changes, with one or two regulars nursing injuries and a testing game at West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday. Daniel James has joined Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial on the sidelines after picking up a knock in the last league match against Leicester, and Solskjær hinted that Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot, Jesse Lingard and Fred are likely to face the Kazakh champions at Old Trafford.
Related: Chelsea open talks with Abraham and Tomori over new five-year contracts
Continue reading...‘My future is fixed’: David de Gea signs new four-year Manchester United deal
• De Gea moved to Old Trafford in 2011
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has signed a new four-year deal with the club, ending speculation about his future.
De Gea’s moved to Old Trafford in 2011 from Atlético Madrid and firmly made himself one of the team’s key players over the last eight seasons. The Spain international’s new contract will keep him at Manchester United until the summer of 2023, with the option of extending it for a further season.
Related: Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Buendía the architect of City’s bad day, Arsenal were woeful in defence and Maguire deserved better from Leicester fans
The way in which Norwich turned a negative into a positive was quite something. With nigh-on a full team of players out injured, the odds of stopping Manchester City looked insurmountable. Instead Daniel Farke’s men gave their best performance of the season by far, not only cutting the champions open but looking solid at the back for the first time. There was kudos for the debutants in defence, Sam Byram and Ibrahim Amadou, but also for more seasoned Norwich players. Emi Buendía and Marco Stiepermann were central to a buccaneering style in the Championship yet had struggled to bring that form to the top flight. With the gauntlet down, however, they delivered. Buendía contributed two assists and regularly sprung the City press. Stiepermann sparked several counter attacks and crucially reestablished his understanding with Teemu Pukki. Paul MacInnes
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Continue reading...James Maddison has Brendan Rodgers eulogising about his potential
• ‘He is a humble boy, has a lovely swagger, a lovely arrogance’
James Maddison’s turn as a roving No 10 was the standout display as Manchester United broke a three‑game run without a win at Old Trafford. Leicester City may have lost to Marcus Rashford’s early penalty but their 22-year-old midfielder lit up the contest via a performance that illustrated how he would immediately make Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side better. Maddison embodies the type of quick-minded, technically astute player the United manager wants.
To hear his manager, Brendan Rodgers, say Maddison has a “swagger” and is reminiscent of “Philippe Coutinho” strengthened that sense while also highlighting the situation vacant at United marked “playmaker”.
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Related: Marcus Rashford’s early penalty edges blunt Manchester United past Leicester
Continue reading...The Dozen: Guardiola's grief and David Luiz's lunge – the best Premier League pictures
Our picture editors choose their favourite images from the weekend’s matches
Continue reading...'We want to play better than this' says Solskjær after 1-0 win over Leicester – video
'The performances have been miles better than this' were the words of Ole Gunnar Solksjær after his side snuck a 1-0 victory over Leicester City. An early penalty kick from Marcus Rashford was the difference. In a game that saw a number of key players missing for Manchester United. The manager insisted that his side 'want to play better than this'
Continue reading...Marcus Rashford’s early penalty edges blunt Manchester United past Leicester
The good news for Manchester United is that they have rediscovered their winning habit. They won this game despite missing a number of key players with injury and, for that alone, Ole Gunnar Solskjær can probably accept the fact their performance never got any higher than six out of ten – lots of huffing and puffing, but none of the old panache.
Leicester certainly had enough of the ball to believe they ought to have extended United’s winless sequence to four matches. Ultimately, though, Solskjær and his players can reflect on a decent afternoon’s work bearing in mind Leicester have ambitions of their own to break into the Premier League’s top four this season.
Continue reading...Rashford and Martial told by Solskjær to raise Manchester United goal rate
• Forty goals between them would still not be ‘top, top-class’
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said that even if Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were to improve their Premier League goal return to one every two games for Manchester United this would still not be “top, top class”.
United have spurned chances in a run of uneven form in which they have drawn twice and lost once since the opening 4-0 win over Chelsea. Rashford and Martial, who is injured, have each scored twice this season. The former has 29 league goals in 115 appearances, the latter 36 in 116 for the club.
Related: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the credibility conundrum at Manchester United
Continue reading...Manchester United v Leicester: match preview
Ole Gunnar Solskjær is almost in crisis-management mode. His Manchester United team have not won since the opening day and as he continues to bemoan missed chances, the decision not to replace Romelu Lukaku becomes ever more odd. Leicester arrive with three more points – they have eight – so this is a real challenge for Solskjær and his side. Jamie Jackson
Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the credibility conundrum at Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjær asked to be judged on this season and four matches in his credibility is being questioned within Manchester’s United squad.
The concerns are not thought to be universally shared, the Guardian understands, and a paradox here is that a group of players who flatlined at the end of last term and are again underperforming have their own need to prove they possess the requisite quality.
Related: Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Continue reading...Solskjær worried about 'tough' Leicester game as Pogba adds to injury woes – video
Manchester United will have to play well to emerge from their match with Leicester with any points, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said. Solskjær confirmed Paul Pogba will miss the game, worsening United's injury troubles which could see as many as seven players out of action.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Bruce might have what it takes at Anfield, Manchester United and Spurs under pressure and a six-pointer at the Amex?
Newcastle don’t have much of a record at Anfield. They’ve not won there since Steve Watson knocked Roy Evans’s side out of the League Cup in 1995; they’ve not tasted league victory there since Andrew Cole and Robert Lee secured a 2-0 win in 1994. It’s been mainly defeats ever since, though they did get a point three years ago against a starting XI featuring Alberto Moreno, Connor Randall and Kevin Stewart. The Magpies won’t be flying down the A1 with too much hope in their hearts, then. Liverpool are on a 13-match Premier League winning run, and Mo Salah and Sadio Mané have had their feet up during the international break. SM
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Continue reading...Paul Scholes and the wonderful aesthetic appeal of the perfect pass | Nick Ames
In discussions about the art of the pass, it is never wrong to afford Johan Cruyff the final word. “Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate,” he famously said, instantly creating a blueprint for a generation of players and coaches everywhere.
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He sees things that other people don't!
Outrageous vision and skill from Paul Scholes... pic.twitter.com/oju4gfh4O5
David de Gea close to signing new Manchester United contract
- Goalkeeper would earn similar wage to Paul Pogba
- De Gea’s deal is due to run out next summer
David de Gea is close to finally agreeing a new contract with Manchester United. The goalkeeper is on the verge of completing the details on terms in the region of the £290,000-a-week basic earned by Paul Pogba and the Spaniard expects to sign soon, it is understood.
Related: Gareth Southgate urges Marcus Rashford to use his speed more effectively
Continue reading...Chris Smalling describes racism as ‘unacceptable’ as he settles in at Roma
• On-loan United defender excited about playing in Serie A
Chris Smalling has described racism as an “unacceptable” and “sad” problem that affects all parts of the world but is hopeful that it will lessen in future years.
The defender spoke on the matter during his introductory press conference as a Roma player, having joined the Italian club from Manchester United on a season-long loan deal, as part of which Roma have paid United €3m (£2.7m).
Continue reading...Football transfer rumours: Oblak to replace De Gea at Manchester United?
Today’s gossip is so fresh, so clean
With the window firmly shut and an international break in full swing, today’s tidbits are a story of what may be, in a distant dystopian January, and what might have been.
The Mill should probably start paying Neymar commission. The wantaway/wants-to-stay Brazilian has got up through some lean times – and the latest whisper is that Juventus failed with an ambitious deadline-day move, which would have seen the forward form a deeply likeable strike partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Continue reading...Mkhitaryan and Sánchez prove no transfer is ever a sure thing | Paul Wilson
Arsenal and Manchester United have offloaded players whose 2018 swap deal conspicuously failed to live up to expectations
The Liverpool teenager Bobby Duncan appears to have bucked a growing trend by leaving to join Fiorentina in Italy. Whatever the rights and wrongs of a dispute with the European champions that led to the player’s exit, Fiorentina are at least getting a promising young talent at the right age.
Most of the recent Italian imports from the Premier League have been just the opposite, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan joining Alexis Sánchez in Serie A after failing to convince he was worth a regular place at Arsenal.
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Related: Alexis Sánchez says he ‘didn’t know why’ Manchester United dropped him
Continue reading...Alexis Sánchez says he ‘didn’t know why’ Manchester United dropped him
• Sánchez says he was sometimes omitted without explanation
Alexis Sánchez has said he has no regrets about his move to Manchester United. The 30-year-old, who has joined Internazionale on loan for the rest of the season, scored only five goals in 45 appearances for United after arriving as their highest-paid player from Arsenal in January 2018.
The Chilean, earning a reported £400,000 a week, came in for heavy criticism but insists he is glad he made the move.
Related: PSG sign Internazionale’s Mauro Icardi on loan as Neymar stays put
Continue reading...Transfer roundup: Hernández joins Sevilla, Darmian seals Parma move
- Javier Hernández leaves West Ham for Sevilla in a £7.3m deal
- Matteo Darmian completes transfer to Parma for £1.4m
Sevilla have signed Javier Hernández from West Ham for £7.3m. The striker has been deemed surplus to requirements at the London Stadium after the arrivals of Sébastien Haller and Albian Ajeti.
Hernández joined West Ham two summers ago from Bayer Leverkusen for £16m and scored 17 goals, the most recent in the draw with Brighton in the second game of this season.
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Continue reading...