Wayne Rooney has revealed that he cannot wait for Everton’s pre-season tour of Tanzania after completing an emotional return to the Merseyside club at the weekend.
Rooney, 31, signed a two-year contract with the Toffees on Sunday afternoon, 13 years after leaving the club to join Manchester United.
Rooney leaves Man United as their all-time leading goalscorer on 253 goals, and having won five Premier League titles with the Red Devils.
The England captain will be a part of the Everton squad that heads to East Africa later this week as pre-season gets underway, and the forward has said that he is ‘looking forward’ to making the trip.
Rooney told EvertonTV:
“I’m looking forward to it – it should be a good trip. It’ll be nice and hopefully I’ll get on the pitch and get some game-time.
‘It’s good when you go away with the team. It’s good to be around the hotel with the players, spend more time with them and get to know them more. I’ve never been to Tanzania before, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Rooney could make his second Premier League debut for Everton when the Toffees welcome Stoke City to Goodison Park on August 12.
After coming through the youth system with the Merseyside club, Rooney scored 17 goals in 77 first-team appearances before earning a big-money move to Old Trafford.
As reported by The Daily Record, Celtic are still interested in signing Patrick Roberts this summer with Brendan Rodgers going on the record to talk about the potential switch.
What’s the story?
Since Roberts left Celtic Park to return to parent club Manchester City at the end of last season, Hoops fans have been pining for his return, recognising his enormous contribution to the side during his 18-month loan spell in Glasgow.
Those hopes may not be entirely unfounded with Brendan Rodgers revealing he still holds an interest in bringing him back to the club this summer.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the Celtic boss said:
Pat would be amazing for here. I think everyone could see that. But it all goes down to, one, Manchester City and how they see his future there. He has gone away on tour with them and got some game time. They will make a decision after that. Two, the boy might not want to come back. He might want to play in the Premier League if he has somewhere to do that. He might fancy a spell in Europe. But what he knows is that he has a great place here if it comes to that. The club can bring him here. It’s more going to be whether the player sees this as the next step for him.
The door for his return is most certainly open then from Celtic’s perspective and Rodgers appears adamant that the club can do a deal for him, despite being rated at £6.4m by Transfermarkt, a fee that would break the Hoops’ transfer record.
Worth going all out?
Roberts made himself a hero in Glasgow in his short time at the club, scoring 17 goals in 60 appearances from the wing and providing many more assists, including 15 last season alone, more than anyone else at the club.
Replacing that kind of creative spark won’t be easy for Brendan Rodgers and going all out to sign the England youth international is perhaps the best way forward, if they can convince him his future lies north of the border.
He is worth breaking their transfer record for and signing him permanently would show the kind of ambition the club needs to make a splash in Europe as well as dominate domestically for years to come.
It will be no surprise to Chelsea fans if Nemanja Matic leaves the club in the coming days due to the recent speculation.
Sky Sports claim that the Premier League champions have agreed to sell the midfielder to rivals Manchester United for £40m.
The midfielder made 40 appearances in all competitions last season, but his time on the pitch was expected to be severely limited in the 2016-17 campaign due to the arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Mourinho recently made it clear that he was in the market for a midfielder, and it seems as though Matic has been chosen to fill the void.
After United’s pre-season win over Valerenga in the United States on Sunday, the Portuguese coach spoke to the media and revealed that he hopes to bring Matic into his squad in the coming days.
“I know that he wants that very, very much and when a player wants very, very much the chance is bigger, so I think we have a chance, but in football until it’s official, I have so many things happen that I refuse to say more than I am telling you now.”
Mourinho’s comments tend to spark a reaction, and this was no different as Chelsea fans took to Twitter.
Some are happy for Matic to depart Stamford Bridge, while others are disappointed.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker had some stern words for Tottenham Hotspur pair Hugo Lloris and Victor Wanyama following the club’s defeat to Chelsea.Mauricio Pochettino’s men had a very difficult start to life at Wembley, where they will be playing all of their home games this season while the new stadium is being built.The team welcomed London rivals Chelsea to the national stadium, and the match was nicely poised given that Spurs came the closet to challenging the Blues for the Premier League title last season.Pochettino’s team were unable to get their desired result, though, as Chelsea sealed it 2-1 thanks to goals from Marcos Alonso.The Blues went ahead in the 24th minute, but Tottenham were given a glimpse of hope when Michy Batshuayi scored an own goal nine minutes from time.Spurs were unable to spark a comeback, though, as Alonso took back the lead before the full-time whistle to give Chelsea some much-needed three points following their opening-day defeat to Burnley.Tottenham’s performance came under question, with many believing that goalkeeper Lloris should have done a better job at keeping out the winning goal.Wanyama also came under the microscope for failing to keep hold of the ball, and Lineker was one of those critics.
According to reports in The Guardian, Crystal Palace are monitoring the situation of out-of-favour Barcelona forward Munir El Haddadi, who is rated at £8.1m by Transfermarkt, and could make a move for the 21-year-old before the window slams shut next Thursday.
Eagles boss Frank de Boer is keen to strengthen his attacking options after his side failed to find the net in their opening two Premier League matches this season – losing 3-0 at home to newly-promoted Huddersfield Town before being 1-0 by Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The Guardian says that the south London outfit are watching developments surrounding the young Spaniard closely, with a number of other English top flight clubs, including Newcastle United, also said to be keen on the Barca starlet who spent last term on loan at Valencia.
Meanwhile, Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino has already added Jan Bednarek, Wesley Hoedt and Mario Lemina to his squad this summer, but he could now look to bring in an attacking player after Jay Rodriguez moved to West Bromwich Albion on a permanent basis and Sam Gallagher joined Birmingham City on a season-long loan deal.
Here are three reasons Southampton should hijack any Palace bid for El Haddadi…
They need a right winger
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While Nathan Redmond has struck up a successful partnership with Ryan Bertrand on the left-hand side for Southampton, the same can’t really be said on the right flank.
While Cedric is undoubtedly the first-choice right-back, the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Shane Long, Steven Davis and Dusan Tadic have all appeared on the right of the 4-2-3-1 formation since Mauricio Pellegrino took charge, but none look to be the out-and-out winger the team is crying out for.
El Haddadi would certainly be a good addition in that respect as the majority of his 39 appearances in all competitions during a loan spell with Valencia last season came on the right wing, although he is also versatile enough to play on the left or even as a centre-forward.
Qualities
Obviously you don’t play for Barcelona if you don’t have something about you, and El Haddadi certainly made a big impression during his spell with Valencia last term.
The 21-year-old scored six goals and provided a further three assists – as well as creating 23 chances – in 33 La Liga appearances, and he showed his ability to run with the ball and at opposition defenders by successfully completing 16 take-ons.
However, tracking back is just as important for wingers in the Premier League and the Spain Under-21 international showed that he is willing to put the hard work in to after making 30 interceptions and 21 clearances in those 33 outings.
Southampton have been missing that unpredictable forward since Sadio Mane left for Liverpool last summer, and El Haddadi could once again bring that spark to the south coast outfit.
Price tag
Southampton have shown with their purchases of the likes of Sofiane Boufal, Manolo Gabbiadini, Mario Lemina and Wesley Hoedt in the last year that they often sign new players that are in the £10m-£20m bracket, and El Haddadi may well fit into that price range this summer if Barcelona are willing to sell him on a permanent deal.
With less than two years left on his contract and seemingly with no future at the Camp Nou, he may even be available for less than that with Transfermarkt rating him at £8.1m, and it would be a no-brainer for the south coast outfit to move for the 21-year-old for that price as he has huge potential and plenty of time to develop in a new environment.
Championship leaders Leeds United suffered their first league defeat of the season as they were beaten 1-0 by Millwall at The New Den on Saturday, and Whites fans were confused as to why Gaetano Berardi didn’t start the match.
After returning from injury towards the beginning of the campaign, the Italian has found himself on the substitutes’ bench because of the fine form of Vurnon Anita at left-back and the defence in general, who has kept sixth successive clean sheets as they headed to the capital.
However, Anita endured a tough day at the office in south London with Aiden O’Brien scoring the decisive goal 17 minutes from the end, and Thomas Christiansen may feel that he got his team selection wrong.
Leeds supporters were quick to have their say on Berardi via social media, and they believe it was the sort of game the defender “should be playing in” and one where he is ‘needed on the pitch’.
Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson has blasted referee Craig Pawson’s decision to send Jose Mourinho to the stands in the latter stages of Saturday’s clash with Southampton.
Red Devils boss Mourinho was punished by Pawson for encroaching onto the pitch in injury time of the Premier League fixture, which Man United won 1-0 courtesy of Romelu Lukaku’s sixth league goal of the campaign.
Robson, however, has claimed that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte have both previously escaped punishment for similar antics.
The 60-year-old has also claimed that he would be ‘amazed’ if Mourinho received any further punishment, with some reports suggesting that the Portuguese could now be facing a one-match touchline ban.
Robson told Man United’s official website:
“When I saw it on TV, I thought it was an absolute joke. I’ll be amazed if he gets a ban or a fine for that. I think the officials went way overboard by sending him to the stand.
“I don’t know what the officials are thinking about. Throughout the last year or so, I’ve seen managers like [Jurgen] Klopp and [Antonio] Conte run about like lunatics, out of their box, down the side of the pitch and not a thing has been made of it – it’s called passion for the team.
“But because Mourinho stepped just over the touchline, they sent him to the stands. It’ll be a disgrace if he gets fined or banned and made to watch games from the stands over the coming weeks.”
Man United’s 1-0 win at Southampton moved the 20-time English champions onto 16 points, which have been gathered courtesy of five wins and a draw in the early stages of the 2017-18 Premier League campaign.
The Red Devils will now switch their attention to the Champions League as they prepare to travel to Russian outfit CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said that in-form French forward Anthony Martial is finally releasing his potential.
The 21-year-old struggled for consistency during the 2016-17 campaign, and it had been suggested that he would be solid before the start of the new season.
Inter Milan are believed to have asked for Martial in the reported deal for Ivan Perisic, but Man United were not prepared to lose the former AS Monaco attacker.
Martial has scored five times and provided five assists in eight Man United appearances this season, and starred in Wednesday’s 4-1 victory over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Mourinho has previously been critical of Martial, but the Portuguese has claimed that the forward is now maturing as a footballer.
Mourinho told BT Sport:
“He is understanding and appreciating what I want. I think the game also adapted to his qualities, the way we played adapted to his qualities too.
“He had lots of freedom and lots of support, lots of quality around him too and I’m happy.”
Martial, who is valued at £30m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has been left out of the France squad for their upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Belarus at the start of next month.
Newcastle United released a statement on their official website on Monday saying that owner Mike Ashley had put the club up for sale, and Magpies fans were largely delighted with the news.
Ashley hasn’t been a popular figure among the St James’ Park faithful ever since he took the reins in 2007, including overseeing two relegations from the Premier League.
Now the Tyneside outfit are back in the top flight after a one-year absence, the statement says that the Sports Direct supremo is ready to let a prospective new owner lead the club “to a bright and successful future”, as well as having the “opportunity of deferring substantial payments”.
Newcastle supporters were quick to have their say on the story via social media, and while some described it as a “pleasant surprise” and “possibly the best news of my life”, others are remained cautious and said “I’ll believe it when I see it”.
Everything started off so well for Leeds United when August rolled around as they put themselves in strong contention for promotion to the Premier League.
The team went seven games unbeaten, but a 1-0 loss to Millwall changed the course of the campaign.
Since that result, Thomas Christiansen’s side have recorded five defeats and just two wins.
The most recent outing was a home clash against Derby County at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
The Whites went ahead in the eighth minute thanks to a goal from Pierre-Michel Lasogga, and they managed to keep their advantage until the closing stages of the second half.
Sam Winnall did the damage as he found an equaliser in the 72nd minute and then nabbed the winner with 10 minutes of normal time left on the clock.
Understandably, Leeds fans are frustrated with the defeat, and most have turned on Christiansen, who replaced Garry Monk in the summer.
Leeds currently sit sixth in the Championship, eight points adrift of an automatic promotion spot.