According to a report in the Northern Echo, Newcastle United are ready to step up their bid to sign Chelsea loanee Kenedy on a permanent basis now that they have retained their Premier League status for another year.
The Magpies surpassed the magic 40-point mark when they beat Arsenal at St James’ Park on Sunday, meaning manager Rafa Benitez can now start planning for next season in the top flight, with 74% of fans on Twitter already saying they want Fernando Torres.
Kenedy has certainly been an impressive performer on the left-hand side since moving to Tyneside during the January transfer window, scoring twice in the 3-0 win against Southampton and providing assists in 1-1 draw with Burnley and the 1-0 success against Huddersfield Town.
Meanwhile, The Sun reported on April 11 that the Toon were also keen on a move for 28-year-old Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand, who has been playing as a left wing-back in recent weeks.
While Kenedy has been playing as a left midfielder under Benitez, it is difficult to see that they would need both him and Bertrand given they already have Christian Atsu and Jacob Murphy that can also play on the left flank, meaning it could come down to a choice between the two.
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So, Newcastle fans, if the club could only sign one of Kenedy or Bertrand this summer, which one would you choose? Let us know by voting below…
When Roy Hodgson released his squad for England, it was always going to be cause for debate, regardless of who was chosen. But one noticeable absentee was Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand.
He didn’t even barely miss out on being called up, he was one of the last resorts it seemed. Should Ryan Bertrand be England’s starting left-back?
Ryan Bertrand has had a good season, he has been solid in the back for Southampton in the Premier League. He has two goals and two assists for this season.
His average passing accuracy is 80%. Despite his form of the season, he missed out on being called for England. The ‘one season wonder’ argument is valid for Harry Kane, but not Bertrand: why?
Leighton Baines is the first choice under Roy Hodgson, who also has two goals to his name for the season. But Baines boasts a higher average pass accuracy than Bertrand at 85%.
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The Everton defender was included in Hodgson’s 23 man squad for the World Cup, but at 30-years-of-age, he may not be featuring in many more international competitions.
Ryan Bertrand did feature against Italy in Turin, being subbed on to replace Kieran Gibbs. If his current form is justifiable for a call up, then Hodgson has it all wrong. Gibbs has played fewer games than Bertrand, and hasn’t found the back of the net for Arsenal.
Luke Shaw had to withdraw from his England duty due to injury, but he himself is not having a stand-out season. He joined Manchester United in the summer, and has been hit with a fair few injuries throughout the domestic season.
Shaw has made only 13 appearances – half that of Bertrand – and also hasn’t managed to bag a goal for the Reds. Six years separate Bertrand and Shaw; Shaw has plenty of time to play for England.
So, should Bertrand be England’s starting left back?
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Based on this season, he should definitely be further up the list than Roy has him. Being overlooked can’t – and shouldn’t – be down to his club. If Fabian Delph can be included, given how Villa’s season is going, then surely so can Bertrand.
By including Ryan Bertrand in the Italy game, hopefully Hodgson is realising the error of his ways.
With Arsenal and Manchester United crashing out of the Champions League in the round of 16 to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, every journalist across the country has been asking anyone in English football who has an inch of clout, from ex-Liverpool coach Phil Thompson to Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson, whether the Premier League has lost its way, and will this be the end of the English game?
Last night, Arsene Wenger, defiant in defeat after the Gunners’ impressive but futile efforts to turn over a 3-1 defecit, claimed that Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal’s failure to impact Europe’s most prestigious competition this season was a “massive disappointment for English football…a massive wake-up call” and furthermore, “we accept the rest of European football has caught up with us.”
But is it really all doom and gloom? Should we really let one unsuccessful year dictate the state of the Premier League, despite the fact we are home to the reigning Champions of Europe, Chelsea FC? Or rather is it a case of taking a year out, or even just a campaign riddled with slight misfortunes for the English clubs, such as Nani’s now infamous red card.
Part of the logic behind the argument supporting the Arsenal boss’s claim is the poor showing at the top end of the Premier League table this year. With the title race very quickly becoming a one-horse affair as Manchester City and Chelsea struggle for form, Manchester United didn’t need asking twice to take advantage of the situation and form a seemingly unbreakable lead on their rivals, creating a 12 point gap between themselves and second place.
In my opinion, the Premier League title was already decided when Arsene Wenger allowed Robin Van Persie to leave for Old Trafford in the summer, but it is certainly true that although the Red Devils have played well and deserve their credit for producing some exciting football along the way, the rest of the Premier League elite have hardly risen to the challenge.
But to declare the English game is in disarray is rather short-sighted, and ignoring the cases of each particular club. Manchester City have struggled with the inevitable burden of being reigning champions for the first time. It’s an experience none of the squad have had before, and the situation wasn’t improved by some the mild calibre of reinforcements brought in during the summer; Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair are all good players, but should they really be part of a title-defending side?
Similarly, the ticking time-bomb that was Mario Balotelli’s City career finally exploded, and there has been an overall struggle at the club to meet fans’ expectations. Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and Gareth Barry are still yet to find fifth gear this campaign, and it is now most likely too late.
Chelsea’s season was essentially over before it had started following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo back in November last year. It was not the Italian’s departure that sealed their fate, but rather the appointment of Rafa Benitez, which would put the interim manager, the players, the owner and the club under constant media scrutiny with a new controversy or dramatic episode rearing its ugly head on a weekly basis around Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have lost out this season simply due to the club’s inability to find any stability on and off the pitch, and furthermore, the first-team is transitioning between two generations of players that are fundamental opposites; whilst the Old Guard pride themselves on their physicality and mechanical nature of their play, the new boys, such as Eden Hazard and Oscar, are all about technique, skill, flair and improvisation.
Meanwhile, Liverpool and Arsenal, two Premier League heavyweights and former members of the traditional top four, which Alan Hansen once declared would never be broken, have been suffering from their mistakes in the transfer market. Whilst the former can be accused of being rather over-zealous in their offers made for mainly English talent, the latter have been unambitious, and it has lead to the gradual depreciation of the first team. Although I have firm faith in Chelsea and Manchester City putting on a better showing next season, the problems at Anfield and the Emirates are structural, and will take longer to overcome – especially now that Tottenham have proved themselves as real contenders this year.
One can’t deny however, that defending has quite simply gone out of the window this year. It’s created some excellent episodes of Match of the Day, but it’s not hard to work out how English clubs have been caught out by their more clinical and defensively organised continental rivals, proven by some statistics provided by The Guardian calculating English teams have let in on average 1.4 goals per game in Europe this year, up from the 1.1 goals per game from last season, and the 0.89 from 2010/2011.
It’s not an institutional problem as such, but rather how the English game evolves in terms of cycles. Whilst this campaign, scoring goals has been the impetus – a characteristic personified most by Man United, who have three strikers capable of scoring at least 20 goals per season – that at some point will naturally shift back towards organisation and defensive stability, as soon as one club proves it is the most efficient way to win the title, just as Jose Mourinho did back in 2004.
Similarly, the Premier League’s reputation for being the best in the world is perhaps a case of hyperbole. Although we have the thickest spread of talent throughout the division, compared to the top flights of other European countries, I find it difficult to claim the title of being the world’s best whilst the two figureheads of World football currently, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, both ply their trade in La Liga. Furthermore, the startling ease at which the ex-La Liga cohort at Swansea City have took to the English game and performed well, without requiring time to acclimatise, should go some way to change English preconceptions about middle-order players from the Spanish top flight.
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The German League is also on the up. The rise of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga has improved the whole division, and there is now considerable quality throughout. But to say that they have “caught up” with us would certainly be an overstatement. This season is the first year since 2001/2002 that there have been two German clubs in the quarter final stages. Furthermore, since 1996, English clubs have reached the quarter-finals 33 times, whereas Spain sits at 32, and Germany a long way off with 20.
Just as it would be wrong to base your opinions on Manchester City’s, Arsenal’s, Chelsea’s or even Liverpool’s future on one season alone, it would be wrong to judge the English game on the same premise. It is clear that this year represents a blip in form, with some transitions at domestic level affecting performance in Europe.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have all had poor campaigns by their usual standards, and the Premier League’s most in-form team, Manchester United, that could have gone on to mount a serious challenge for the Champions League trophy, were eliminated from the tournament via a rather dubious refereeing decision. To truly discover whether English football is falling to the wayside, it must be judged on a season in which our clubs are firing on all cylinders, and yet still come up short in Europe, not whilst our top teams are still getting their houses in order.
On Friday, Liverpool will discover who they will need to get past in order to reach the final of the Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp’s side earned their place in the final four with an impressive 5-1 aggregate victory over Manchester City.
Mohamed Salah was one of the stars of the show as he opened the scoring in a 3-0 triumph at Anfield in the quarter-final first leg, and netted a crucial away goal in the 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
On the night of Liverpool’s joy, elsewhere in Italy, Rome caused a huge upset by clawing back from 4-1 down to oust Barcelona from the competition.
The result was welcomed by supporters of the Merseyside outfit, not only because they will avoid meeting the Catalan giants, but because their former player Philippe Coutinho left Anfield in January to win more trophies at Barca.
The Brazilian was roundly mocked by Liverpool fans following the Spanish giant’s shock elimination.
More drama ensued on Wednesday night when Juventus came close to knocking out Real Madrid by going 3-0 up in the second leg.
However, a penalty kick from Cristiano Ronaldo in stoppage time meant that Los Blancos progressed 4-3 on aggregate.
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Liverpool will be joined in Friday’s draw by Roma, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Fans have been having their say on who they want to meet in the semi-finals, and one club stands out…
Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele is adamant that his side should not alter their attacking approach despite the humbling 3-0 weekend loss at Manchester United, and that getting into the top four remains their target.
The Lilywhites’ defeat at Old Trafford, allied to wins for Arsenal and Liverpool, leaves them six points off the Champions League qualification spots, and has led many to suggest that their hopes of getting back into Europe’s biggest competition are fading.
And with a relatively inferior goal difference – the Londoners have shipped 42 – their chances will be reduced further should they fail to get a result against Leicester City in their next fixture.
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But Dembele believes that rather than change the playing style brought in by Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham must keep going and believing:
“We didn’t do it at Old Trafford and that game was different from what we are used to, but we are playing well. We have shown this season what we can do against the big sides.” He is quoted by the London Evening Standard.
“We want to end the season in a good rhythm. Has our chance of a top-four finish gone? We don’t need to think like that otherwise we could become demotivated. Let’s try to win all our remaining games and see where we end.
“We didn’t do it at Old Trafford and that game was different from what we are used to, but we are playing well. We have shown this season what we can do against the big sides.
“We want to end the season in a good rhythm. Has our chance of a top-four finish gone? We don’t need to think like that otherwise we could become demotivated. Let’s try to win all our remaining games and see where we end.
“We have three more full days before the Leicester game to concentrate. We have a good group and a good mentality so I hope we bounce back at the right moment.”
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Spurs have impressed with their swashbuckling style for much of the campaign, with their memorable 5-3 victory against Chelsea over the winter period one of the standout results of the 2014/15 season.
Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta has expressed his concern at the number of midfielders the Blues have and that he hopes to leave permanently in the summer.
Kakuta is currently on loan at Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem and has been a major part of their first team throughout the season.
The French under-21 international is not happy that the West London club continue to buy expensive midfield players when they have talented youngsters coming through.
The Blues signed Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, Victor Moses and Oscar this summer that has left Kakuta with no alternative but to find a new club.
Chelsea were given a hefty fine and a transfer embargo after illegally tempting Kakuta to Stamford Bridge in 2007 but six league appearances and four loan spells later it appears his time at the Blues is up.
Kakuta has admitted that he has given up on making it at Chelsea.
“I don’t dream about Chelsea anymore – I used to, now I know better,” Kakuta told The Sun.
“I hope I can join a club like Vitesse next season, where I can play every week.
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“Chelsea have far too many players. At my age I need to play regularly but if I go back I’ll just get 10 minutes a month and I don’t want that.”
As reported by The Sun, Manchester United are on the verge of securing goalkeeper David De Gea on a new long-term contract, ending speculation he will move away from the club back to La Liga.
What’s the story?
The paper reckon the shot-stopper is wanted by Real Madrid this summer, but United are convinced he is poised to sign a new deal after initial discussions earlier this season.
The details are now set to be hammered out before the player leaves for the World Cup at the end of the season.
The report says that he will earn a whopping £350k-a-week should he sign, making him the second highest earner in the club’s history behind Alexis Sanchez.
Is he worth that kind of cash?
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How important is he?
De Gea is regarded as one of the finest goalkeepers in the world and week-to-week he’s made countless important saves for the Red Devils whether against less illustrious competition or in big European ties and derbies.
Replacing him is almost unthinkable, which is likely why the club are ready to invest so heavily in a new contract for the player.
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At 27 years of age, the player likely has close to another decade of elite level goalkeeping left in him and ensuring the majority of that time is spent at United is a major boost to their trophy ambitions.
Securing his future, even at £350k-a-week, would be a fantastic bit of business by the club.
Arsenal’s victory over Newcastle last weekend was the classic example of a game of two halves. Having dominated the opening 45 minutes, the Gunners were seemingly cruising to victory thanks to Olivier Giroud’s brace, sending them in two nil up at the break. But a much improved second-half performance from the home side saw them run out unfortunate losers as Arsenal held on to win 2-1.
Despite the initial sense of relief at having made the victory hard work for themselves, there was much to pleased about for Arsenal fans. Playing their fourth game in two weeks, and third away from home, it was refreshing to see the Londoners once again dig in and show their battling qualities to hang on and claim victory.
Recent weeks have shown a new resilient side to Arsene Wenger’s side, something he was quick to praise following their latest victory. Having won at Old Trafford to book their place in another FA Cup semi-final, they were unfortunate not to progress in the Champions League, narrowly losing out on away goals to Monaco, despite looking the better side across the two legs.
And aside from their defensive naivety in the first leg of that tie, there seems to be a growing consistency regarding their ability to see out a game when in the lead. There have been plenty of examples in recent years where Arsenal have succumbed to poor errors at the back, which has ultimately cost them points as they failed to hold on to victory. At times, particularly away from home, there was almost an inevitability that no matter how well they were playing, they would do something to let themselves down and throw the game away. A prime example we all remember being their ability to squander a four-goal lead at St James’ Park a few years back.
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However, slowly but surely they appear to be developing into a side that has the ability to protect a lead in a resilient and determined fashion. Their victory at the Etihad earlier this season highlighted this perfectly in what many described as their best away performance in years. Having conceded six times in the same fixture the previous season, Wenger set his side up in a far more defensive system, with Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin flourishing in the centre of the pitch.
The way in which they were able to see out the game with apparent ease against the defending champions was hugely encouraging for the club, and something that improves their chances of competing against the very best clubs if they can repeat it.
And although visibly tired from their midweek exertions in France, they were able to show this resilient side once again on Saturday when their backs were against the wall as they hung on to remain third in the table and cement their bid for a top-four spot.
There were times when an Arsenal team would have failed to see out a game like this, but nowadays they appear much more capable at churning out results, even when they aren’t on top in the match. With the likes of Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and new signing Gabriel Paulista, they certainly have the personnel to defend a lead effectively, as proved at Newcastle.
There’s no doubting they are a joy to watch at times, and they continue to be considered the best passing team in the country. But an attractive style of football alone is not enough to win you trophies and ensure a push for the title year in year out. If they can continue to combine their qualities with the ball with the new-found resilience and defensive solidarity that has been on show at times this season, then there is no reason they cannot begin to challenge the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City and become genuine title contenders once again in seasons to come.
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St Etienne forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed that he will decide his long-term future at the end of the season.
The Gabon international has been heavily linked with a number of Premier League sides in recent months, including the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
His fine form this term has alerted multiple potential suitors, with his season’s goal tally already up to 15.
St Etienne are currently fourth in Ligue 1, just one place outside of the Champions League qualification places.
Aubameyang says that booking a spot at the top table of European football will make it difficult to leave, but that no decision has been made yet:
“I am happy with my form again. Scoring is important for a striker and I am on a good run at the moment,” he is quoted by Sky Sports.
“I would love to finish the season strongly for my team and put us in a strong position to fight for a Champions League place.
“If we qualify for that competition it would be difficult for me to leave the club. But my future will be decided at the end of the season.”
St Etienne are by no means desperate to sell the 23-year-old, but it is thought that a bid in region of £10m could be too good for tem to turn down.
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Capped 27 times for his home nation, the attacker began his career with Serie A giants AC Milan.
After struggling to force his way into the first-team, he was loaned out to Lille, Monaco and Dijon before making a permanent move to Saint-Etienne.
Toni Kroos has been linked with a move away from Real Madrid in recent months and Manchester United are one of the interested parties.
Jose Mourinho reportedly faces a battle with old adversary Pep Guardiola in the race to sign the 28-year-old midfielder, who is valued at £72m by Transfermarkt.
If the German did make the move to Old Trafford, it would be likely that he would slot into a 4-3-3 formation alongside Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, adding the balance between midfield and attack that has been lacking under Mourinho.
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Yet, after another dominant performance as Madrid swept aside last season’s finalists Juventus 3-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final clash last night, it was clear that he could well put Pogba in the shade if he made the move to Old Trafford.
Under the most intense of pressure, he had 107 touches – the most of any Madrid player – and ran the game from the deep playmaker role. Pogba is yet to do similar in a United shirt, and there is no doubt that is what he has been brought in to do.
That included 98 passes, with 96 per cent pass accuracy as he yet again proved his ability to dominate proceedings in the most refined company.
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Two key passes and four tackles shows that he is making an impact at both ends as well; he is not just a playmaker who doesn’t impact play.
Even at 28, he is the real deal and he should show Pogba that he is on the next level to him if he arrived at Old Trafford.