What the papers say
Who should Manchester United sign if Paul Pogba leaves?
Paul Pogba says this summer could be ‘a good time for a challenge somewhere else’, but who should take his place?
By Martin Laurence for WhoScored
Manchester United need to start planning for life without Paul Pogba. When asked about his future this week, Pogba said it could be “a good time for a new challenge somewhere else”.
When it comes to transfers, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has made it clear he wants the club to move away from the model that has failed in recent years. The manager wants to bring in young, hungry players whose wage demands will not break the bank. So, who could fill the void if Pogba leaves?
Related: The top transfer targets in action at the Copa América
Continue reading...Manchester United fans top list of arrests involving racism as a factor
• Club says percentage of fanbase is ‘minuscule’
Manchester United supporters have been involved in more football-related arrests where racism was an aggravating factor or feature than any other club in England in the four seasons to 2017-18, data from the Home Office shows.
Data released under a Freedom of Information request by the Press Association shows that 27 individuals recorded as United fans by police were arrested during the seasons 2014-15 to 2017-18.
Continue reading...'It could be a good time for a new challenge': Pogba hints at move from Manchester United – video
Manchester United midfielder and former world record signing Paul Pogba says the time may have come for a move away from the Premier League club. The Frenchman told reporters in Tokyo that now 'could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else'.
The 26-year-old, who moved to Old Trafford from Juventus for a then-world record transfer fee of £89.3m in 2016, has been linked with a possible move to Real Madrid to work with Zinedine Zidane, or with a return to his former club Juventus.
Continue reading...Paul Pogba: ‘It could be a good time to have a new challenge’
• Pogba has been linked with Real Madrid and Juventus
Paul Pogba suggested on Sunday that he could be open to a move away from Manchester United, telling reporters in Tokyo that now “could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else”.
The midfielder is wanted by Real Madrid, where he would work with Zinedine Zidane, and by his former club Juventus.
Related: Juventus tell Manchester United they are interested in signing Paul Pogba
Continue reading...West Ham fear missing out to Valencia in race for Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gómez
• West Ham tell Manchester United Issa Diop is not for sale
West Ham face an uphill battle to convince Maxi Gómez to choose them over Valencia after lodging a £25m bid for the Celta Vigo striker.
Manuel Pellegrini is determined to continue improving his squad after signing Pablo Fornals from Villarreal on Friday and has long been an admirer of Gómez. However, West Ham fear they will miss out on the Uruguayan to Valencia, who can offer the 22-year-old Champions League football.
Related: Manchester United step up Wan-Bissaka chase with fresh talks over transfer
Continue reading...Manchester United step up Wan-Bissaka chase with fresh talks over transfer
• Atalanta’s Timothy Castagne a possible replacement
Manchester United are holding further talks with Crystal Palace this weekend aimed at agreeing a fee for Aaron Wan-Bissaka after the player indicated his preference would be a summer move to Old Trafford.
An opening bid for the England Under-21 international that would have been worth in excess of £40m was rejected by the south London club earlier this month, but United remain intent upon securing Wan-Bissaka as a key component in a revamp of their back-line. The 21-year-old is under contract until 2022 and Palace had no great desire to sell, but the youth-team graduate has made clear to his current employers that he would be keen to seize what he considers might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Related: The rise of Aaron Wan-Bissaka: ‘A lot of the time I can’t get my head around it’
Continue reading...Premier League fixtures 2019-20: Manchester United host Chelsea on opening weekend
• Manchester City start the defence of their title at West Ham
• Liverpool play opening match of season at home to Norwich
Manchester City will start the defence of their Premier League title at West Ham. The 2019-20 fixtures, announced on Thursday morning, handed Pep Guardiola’s team an opening match at a venue which has proved to be productive for them since 2017.
City, who have won successive Premier League titles, have picked up three points in east London in the last three seasons – scoring four goals on each occasion.
Related: Football transfer rumours: Nicolas Pépé to Manchester United?
Announce 2019/20 #PLfixtures
Full list https://t.co/iQKSNaf596#PremierLeaguefixtures pic.twitter.com/dKBinVJGV9
Liverpool v Manchester City, 9 November
Continue reading...Daniel James’s exceptional pace will benefit United, says Solskjær
• James says it is ‘perfect club’ to continue his development
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said Daniel James’ “exceptional pace and work ethic” was one of the reasons Manchester United wanted to sign the 21-year-old from Swansea.
Related: Daniel James joins Manchester United a huge prospect but with work to do
Continue reading...Daniel James joins Manchester United a huge prospect but with work to do
Graham Potter is not the sort to get carried away but as the questions about Daniel James kept coming, and the realisation that everyone had witnessed something special started to sink in, even Swansea’s manager was sounding like an excited supporter. “There were a few instances, not just the goal,” said Potter, smiling, almost laughing, “and it’s just off-your-seat stuff, like ‘wow’.”
It was February, FA Cup fifth-round day, and the best way to describe James that afternoon is unplayable. Three Brentford players were booked for bringing him down and Ezri Konsa received a red card for a professional foul on the Wales international, who was involved in three of Swansea’s four goals. Including that goal: 84yds covered in 8.48sec, with a ball at his feet, and three Brentford players trying, and desperately failing, to keep up.
Related: Ryan Giggs tells Daniel James: ‘Be yourself and you’ll succeed at United’
Related: Manchester United set to seal £15m signing of Swansea winger Daniel James
Continue reading...Manchester United make £40m bid for Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka
• West Ham target Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gómez and Stanislav Lobotka
Manchester United had an opening bid worth in excess of £40m for Aaron Wan-Bissaka rejected by Crystal Palace earlier this month and are weighing up whether to make an improved offer for the England Under-21 international.
Wan-Bissaka enjoyed an eye-catching first full season in senior football last season after graduating through the south London club’s academy, excelling at right-back and making 39 appearances in all competitions. The 21-year-old, originally a winger, is currently preparing for the summer’s junior European Championships in Italy and San Marino, with United having earmarked him as part of a radical revamp of their back-line.
Related: Ryan Sessegnon wants Spurs move and tells Fulham he will not renew contract
Continue reading...Ryan Giggs tells Daniel James: be yourself and you’ll succeed at United
• ‘I know United fans will get behind him and enjoy watching him’
The Wales manager, Ryan Giggs, has told Daniel James to “enjoy the challenge” and just be himself when he joins up with Manchester United later this summer. The 21-year-old winger is set to join United next week after the two clubs agreed a fee that could rise to £18m.
Giggs, talking before Wales’s crucial Euro 2020 qualifer in Croatia on Saturday, praised James for the way he has coped with the death of his father, Kevan, last month as well as the upheaval of moving clubs.
Related: England fans say police raised batons amid ‘dangerous crushing’ at semi-final
Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport
Continue reading...Football transfer rumours: João Cancelo to Manchester City?
Today’s tell-all is ruing another international semi-final defeat
One of several England defenders who failed to impress against the Netherlands last night, Kyle Walker may be disheartened to learn Manchester City are hitching their skirts at Juventus right-back, João Cancelo. Bought from Real Madrid for £26m, Danilo is expected to leave the Etihad this summer and City are reported to have rejected a £13m bid from Inter for the Brazilian. With Juve also believed to be interested in the full-back, a player-plus-cash deal could be in the offing.
One man who had a more enjoyable evening in Guimaraes was Matthijs de Ligt, who has been consistently linked with a move to Barcelona but is now being tipped to join Paris Saint-Germain. With Leonardo due to return to his former role as sporting director with the French champions, ESPN say the Brazilian has been in constant contact with Mino Raiola, the player’s agent and is apparently more inclined to meet what are described as the broker’s “high commission demands” than Barcelona. PSG are also believed to have offered Tottenham Julian Draxler in exchange for Christian Eriksen.
Related: Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues
Continue reading...Manchester United set to seal £15m signing of Swansea winger Daniel James
• James having medical after fee rising to around £18m agreed
• Wales international to be Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s first signing
Daniel James is set to become Manchester United’s first signing of the summer after Swansea City accepted a fee that could rise to around £18m for the Wales international. The 21-year-old is undergoing a medical at United on Thursday, after Wales gave him permission to leave their training camp, with the winger poised to sign a long-term contract.
United’s interest in James first surfaced towards the end of the season but the move was put on hold after the player’s father, Kevan, died suddenly. With James back in the international fold this week, after telling Ryan Giggs, the Wales manager, that he felt up to joining up with the squad, the wheels were set in motion for his transfer to go through.
Related: Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues
Continue reading...Juventus tell Manchester United they are interested in signing Paul Pogba
• Juventus told by Lazio that Milinkovic-Savic would cost €90m
Juventus have made contact with Manchester United to see whether they would consider selling Paul Pogba this summer.
The Serie A champions are keen to sign a world-class midfielder before next season starts and they were initially looking at Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and made an offer of €60m (£53.2m) last month but ended their interest in the Serb when Lazio said they are holding out for €90m.
Related: Maurizio Sarri tells Chelsea he wants to return to Italy with Juventus
Related: Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues
Continue reading...Louis van Gaal: ‘I thought Manchester United could buy every player’
The Guardian sat down with Louis van Gaal at Noordwijk’s Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, three years since his dismissal by Manchester United.
Jamie Jackson: Did you feel betrayed because Manchester United wanted you to do three years and then one day after you won the FA Cup final they turned around and said goodbye?
Related: Ryan Giggs: ‘It didn’t work for United but Van Gaal was brilliant for me’
Manchester United need a manager with experience, not a manager who has trained at one or two teams and on a lower level
We were not defending and we were looking for tactical solutions adapted to the level of our players.
Continue reading...Football transfer rumours: Roberto Martínez to take over at Barcelona?
Today’s tittle-tattle is gonna take a little time
Following Barcelona’s defeat at the hands of Valencia in last weekend’s Copa del Rey final, the future of Ernesto Valverde is in doubt – and Catalan radio station RAC1 have identified the Belgium manager, Roberto Martínez, as the favourite to succeed him. Signed for both Wigan and Everton by Martínez, jokes about James McCarthy replacing Sergio Busquets at the Camp Nou are already doing the rounds. The Everton midfielder might not get his dream move if one of Unai Emery, Ronald Koeman or Max Allegri, who are also believed to be on Barca’s four-man shortlist, get the job.
In other managerial news, the Mail report that Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has already agreed a deal with Juventus that would net him an added £1.2m per year and put an end to the thinly-veiled xenophobia he has to put up with from certain sections of the British media. Elsewhere, France Football claim André Villas-Boas, who was also much-maligned during his time in England, is on the verge of taking over at Marseille.
Related: Manchester United start rebuilding with Daniel James on summer shopping list
Continue reading...Manchester United start rebuilding with Daniel James on summer shopping list
• Manager rebuilding squad after patchy league campaign
Manchester United are confident of a successful summer in the transfer market, with Swansea City’s Daniel James one of the targets identified by Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the recruitment department.
James, a pacy wide player, impressed last season, making 40 appearances for Swansea and Wales. He scored a memorable winner against Slovakia in February’s Euro 2020 qualifier on his competitive international debut and United face competition to sign the 21-year-old from other top-six clubs.
Related: Manchester United players need to fear someone, says Wayne Rooney
Continue reading...Lothar Matthäus: ‘With Putin I talked football, judo and Brexit'
The German legend discusses Bayern’s defeat by Manchester United 20 years on, Maradona and meeting Russia’s president
It is hard to define Lothar Matthäus. A box-to-box midfielder or a libero? Germany’s most-capped player but perhaps still a little unloved? Exceptional in the air but only 5ft 9in tall. A Bayern Munich legend who probably played his best club football at Internazionale. The ultimate team player but with arrogance and an ego that all the greats of the game seem to possess. How well he fits into an interview series about 1990s footballers could even be questioned, given his career spanned four decades, but it is his highest and lowest moments that bookend the 90s, captaining West Germany to World Cup glory in 1990 and watching on as Bayern capitulated to Manchester United in 1999, almost exactly 20 years ago to the day. In perfect English, he speaks quickly and agitatedly, as though the clock at the Camp Nou is still ticking.
Related: Karel Poborsky: ‘They put me into a coma. All my face muscles were paralysed’
Related: On Second Thoughts: Italia 90 | Rob Smyth
Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport
Related: Real Madrid v Bayern Munich: the night Juanito kicked Matthäus in the face
Continue reading...Premier League finances: the full club-by-club breakdown and verdict
Financial figures for 2017-18, for the 20 clubs who were in the Premier League during that season. All details from the most recently published annual reports at Companies House. Net debt is as stated in the accounts; debts minus cash held at the bank. The separate categories of turnover are each rounded down or up, so added together they do not always tally with the total turnover figure.
Related: Premier League clubs’ record £4.8bn revenues widens gap to rest of Europe
Continue reading...Wayne Rooney says Manchester United’s players must feel the fear
• Rooney criticises current players’ lack of accountability
Wayne Rooney believes Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s coaching team need to strike fear into those Manchester United players that have shown they are happy to hide.
After enjoying a remarkable caretaker stint when replacing José Mourinho late last year, things have gone awry in the last few months for Solskjær.
Related: Massimiliano Allegri to leave Juventus at end of season
Continue reading...