Simon Mignolet has appeared as a shock transfer target for Newcastle, and fans are having none of it.
According to the Daily Star, Newcastle are one of six clubs interested in taking Mignolet from Liverpool this summer, and the Chronicle reports the ex-Sunderland stopper could be an alternative to Martin Dubravka if he returns to Sparta Prague.
Celtic, Napoli, Stoke City, Southampton and Burnley are the other clubs tipped to have an interest in Mignolet, who is certain to leave Liverpool this summer after being forced out of the side by Loris Karius.
Newcastle fans are of course delighted with the form of Martin Dubravka, but despite the Slovakian expressing his desire to stay longer than six months, it’s still anybody’s guess whether the club will secure a permanent deal for Dubravka.
If Dubravka were to return to his parent club, Rafa Benitez would surely target a goalkeeper this summer, but we’re not sure fans would take too kindly to a move for Mignolet, who made over 100 appearances for Sunderland.
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Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
The long-term future of Mousa Dembele at Tottenham Hotspur is uncertain after the player was quoted on international duty giving ambiguous comments about the prospect of staying beyond this season.
As quoted by The Telegraph, the Spurs midfielder said: “I told my agent to wait for the summer to tell me about any offers. For now, I’m only focussing on Tottenham. Maybe this is my last season. Or maybe I’ll sign a new deal. We’ll see.”
Not exactly the most firm indicator he is committed to life in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad and they are comments which haven’t gone down well with supporters.
Dembele has been in fantastic form this season but has had his fair share of fitness issues in recent seasons that fans have had to remain patient with.
They are now looking for him to show loyalty and stay at the club, with a new contract reported to be in the offing.
Will the Belgian international commit, or will fans be left disappointed when the summer transfer window opens?
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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his comments…
West Ham United defender Pablo Zabaleta has hailed Joao Mario for the midfielder’s impressive performance against Southampton in the Premier League at the weekend.
Mario joined the Hammers on loan from Inter Milan during the January transfer window, and has largely struggled to make an impact at the London Stadium.
The Portugal international notched his first goal for West Ham against Southampton, however, as the London club recorded a hugely important 3-0 success.
Zabaleta has lavished praise on Mario, claiming that the 25-year-old had his best game for the Hammers against Mark Hughes’ struggling outfit.
Zabaleta told West Ham’s official website:
“Joao Mario showed his outstanding quality for us on Saturday. He has great technique and works hard for the team.
“On Saturday he played his best game for us so far and we were all happy for him. He took his goal really well and this his cross for Arnie (Marko Arnautovic) was also fantastic.
“These moments are the difference in matches and Joao has the qualities to help us win more games, for sure.”
Mario, who is wanted by the majority of West Ham fans on a permanent deal, was linked with a move to Manchester United before ultimately joining the Hammers on loan for the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign.
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The Euro 2016 winner managed five assists in 14 Serie A appearances for Inter in the first half of the season.
The rivalry between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal is a fierce one, and there seems to have been a power shift over the last few seasons.
Spurs have always been in the Gunners’ shadow in the modern era, and they remain there with regards to trophies, but in the Premier League, Mauricio Pochettino’s team are rising.
The club are on course to finish above Arsenal in the standings for a second consecutive season.
At the moment, Tottenham occupy the final Champions League spot in the table and are 13 points above their North London rivals, who reside in sixth place.
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In fact, Arsenal could end up being in a race for sixth place given that Burnley are lurking behind just two points adrift.
Tottenham require just three more points from their final five matches to ensure that they finish above their arch enemies.
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Pochettino’s men, who were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at the weekend, could potentially end the campaign as high as second as Manchester United are just four points above them.
What is clear, though, is that Tottenham fans are not concerning themselves with Arsenal’s position.
Arsenal are preparing for life after Arsene Wenger and they eventually secured a comfortable win in their first game since the legendary Frenchman announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season with a 4-1 victory over West Ham on Sunday.
Three goals in the closing eight minutes secured the victory over the Irons and the man who made it 2-1 was Aaron Ramsey, who is now 10th on the list of top Gunners scorers under Wenger’s stewardship.
The Welshman – valued at £36m by Transfermarkt – is enjoying a good run of form but what is really occupying the minds of the Arsenal fans is the fact that he is still yet to sign a new contract at the Emirates Stadium,
They were all united in calling on the club to make the goalscoring midfielder sign a new deal and we’ve taken a closer look at the reaction as Arsenal fans agreed on something for a change…
It has been obvious for quite a while that Harry Kane is going to be England’s great hope going into this summer’s World Cup in Russia.In an era that could not be described as a ‘golden generation’ for the Three Lions by any stretch of the imagination, the Tottenham man is a dead-eyed goalscorer to rival any of the world’s elite number nines.England have struggled for decades to coax their players’ club performances out of them at international but in Kane, Gareth Southgate has a man more than capable of netting the five or so goals required to fire the country into the later stages of the tournament.None of that has changed in recent weeks, but one other element of Kane’s rise to stardom has altered drastically lately – his popularity.Previously, Kane was almost universally liked up and down the country. The way he married a ruthless eye for goal and a constant desire for improvement with being a likeable and down to earth character endeared him to English football fans in a way some of the national team’s previous talisman have failed to.Sure, he was prone to go down easily in the box but nobody would mind if he won a crucial penalty by doing that in Russia this summer.Two Twitter storms have hit his reputation hard and the common theme is that Kane has come across as a man who takes himself too seriously.Swearing on his daughter’s life that he got the final touch on Spurs’ winning goal at Stoke last month gave rise to seemingly endless ‘Harry Claim’ memes and his desperation to catch Mo Salah in the race for the Golden Boot was roundly mocked.But at least that belied a single-mindedness and desire to score as many goals as possible, which is, again, another trait England fans would treasure if it reared its head at the World Cup.Kane’s radio silence after the FA’s official Twitter account mocked him for being snuffed out of the FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester United has drawn greater ire and presented him as someone who doesn’t know how to laugh at himself.He has allowed Mauricio Pochettino to do his talking for him and when the Argentine declared his star striker ‘very sad’ about the fiasco, it did not go down well.Tottenham and Kane interpreted the tweet as the FA mocking one of England’s star players ahead of a major tournament but surely both club and player are savvy enough to separate the comedic instincts of a social media manager and the genuine attitude of English football’s governing body towards the aptitude of a man who could – and should – travel to Russia this summer as England captain.If Kane skipper the Three Lions at a major tournament, it would see him emulate two of English football’s great strikers – Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney, who must have inspired him at various points of his career.His ruthlessness and desire to improve is reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Kane must look a few notches down in terms of quality to find a role model from whom to learn an important lesson ahead of the World Cup; Peter Crouch.The former England and Liverpool man is currently enjoying the twilight of his career, almost how Barack Obama decided to just embrace life after the stresses and strains of being US President were over; Crouch is just enjoying being Crouchy, Premier League footballer, for as long as it lasts.
Most importantly, Crouch isn’t taking himself too seriously and if Kane did similar, he would regain a great deal of popularity among England fans.
All he needs to do is take ownership of the ‘claim’ joke, by tweeting out that he’ll be taking the credit for Mo Salah or Tottenham’s next goal, or clear the air between himself and the FA, proving himself capable of laughing at himself in the process.
That would take the sting out of the situation that is threatening to transform from a mild internet joke into a saga that could undermine England’s World Cup hopes, especially if Kane is as poor in Russia as he was at Euro 2016.
Kane has already proved himself to be on another level to Crouch on the pitch, but would do well to learn from the former Tottenham man off it. When all’s said and done, he just needs to lighten up a bit, preferably in time for the World Cup.
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Jordan Henderson has not always had the easiest of relationships with the Liverpool fans.
Indeed, there are plenty that feel that the midfielder will simply never be good enough to take the club to the next level.
It was never going to be easy for Henderson to follow Steven Gerrard as Liverpool captain, but the 27-year-old has been in decent form over the last few months.
This term, he has scored once and provided two assists in 40 appearances, and will play one more time for Liverpool this season – the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
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It does seem that the opinion of a number of supporters is unlikely to change, but there are plenty of Liverpool fans that have been pleased with Henderson’s contribution.
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Indeed, many have taken to social media to claim that the former Sunderland youngster deserves more credit for the type of form that he has shown throughout the campaign.
A selection of the Twitter reaction to Henderson’s performance levels can be seen below:
Amid all the big-money superstars and ludicrously well-paid Premier League entities that are part footballer part international brand, sometimes it’s easy to overlook promising young players with unfashionable, British names that play for unfashionable clubs.
Although Bournemouth are more stylish than most outside the current top six, who have spent much of the season resorting to hoofball tactics to avoid relegation, their creative midfielder Ryan Fraser firmly falls into that category.
Fraser’s time in the Premier League with the Cherries has been laced with little moments of quality, and Bournemouth’s 1-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday provided another example. While the Welsh side were no doubt caught napping at a set piece, Fraser’s curled finish gave Lukasz Fabianski no chance of saving his shot from the edge of the box – and that moment of perfect technique proved to be the difference in a game of minimal margins at the Vitality Stadium.
But there’s an edge to the 24-year-old’s game as well, that typical aggression players of modest stature – measuring in at just 5 foot 4 – sometimes need to survive on the same pitch as the many beastly physical specimens in the Premier League. While he’s not a hugely prolific tackler or powerful presence, there’s an energetic edge to Fraser. He was once described as an ‘anxious’ player and that really stands out in his movement – whether with the ball or without it, he always carries a sense of urgency, a desire to do things quickly and diligently.
Fraser’s shown these abilities before, but this season particularly feels like something of a breakthrough. For starters, he’s already set a career-best haul of five goals and could add to it during Bournemouth’s final outing of the campaign at Burnley. But perhaps more significantly, 2017/18 has shown what he offers Eddie Howe’s side in terms of versatility.
Previously, the two-cap Scot’s been at his best for Bournemouth when taking up advanced roles, particularly when he’s found ways to drift into central areas and really drive at the opposition with the ball at feet. But this season, his most influential performances have come at wing-back, a position that requires relentless fitness and a dose of defensive maturity – knowing when to support the backline rather than join the attack, and knowing that one positional error could leave his entire flank glaringly exposed.
That only adds to Fraser’s appeal, especially amid a period in which three-man defences have become an increasingly popular setup in the Premier League. The diminutive midfielder has played as a wing-back on both sides this season and plenty of managers in the division would like that versatile option, including David Moyes at West Ham; while Arthur Masuaku and Pablo Zabaleta have been amongst the Irons’ best performers this season, their results have desperately declined when one has been absent.
Fraser lacks Masuaku’s tricky explosiveness and Zabaleta’s impressive nous but would be a solid backup option to both – someone who offers real tenacity and quality of delivery from out wide.
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And even if West Ham revert back to a four-man defence next season, Fraser’s already shown he can be effective in more advanced roles too. Valued at just £4.5million by Transfermarkt and still yet to enter his peak years, would you back a swoop for Fraser West Ham fans? Let us know by voting…
Tottenham fans are absolutely crucifying Danny Rose, after the England full back seems to have had a change of heart.
Spurs fans were bashing Danny Rose this week when reports suggested Everton were the only club interested in the left back.
The 27 year-old, who was named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad on Wednesday, has only started nine times in the Premier League this season.
Rose was heavily linked with Manchester United, and fans were perhaps starting to get used to the idea of a swap deal for Luke Shaw.
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The former fan favourite looked all set to try and force a move away from North London as he did last summer, but now says he is focused on the future with Tottenham.
“I like to think everyone has moved on. I am here and I am looking forward to coming back to pre-season and hopefully me and Ben can start fresh and fight for the number one position,” Rose said.
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Ben Davies has of course moved ahead of Rose in the pecking order this season, and it does seem like quite a coincidence that Rose is now changing his tune after reports suggested Everton is his only other choice.
Fans are absolutely destroying him on Twitter, and some of the best reactions can be found below…
Manchester United fans are eager to sign Barcelona defender Jordi Alba, after he was linked with a move to Old Trafford earlier this week.
Spanish outlet Sport reported that both United and Chelsea were interested in capitalising on Alba’s unsure contract situation at the Nou Camp, although the player himself favoured remaining with the Catalan giants.
Alba has found great success at Barca and in the 2017/18 season was a key part of their league and cup double.
With no natural left-back staking a claim for a place in Jose Mourinho’s starting eleven, United are in dire need of reinforcements and Alba would certainly be an elite and experienced option.
Supporters certainly appear keen, with 69% of respondents to a poll we published earlier this week in favour of a move to sign the Spanish international.
Can Man United now convince him his future lies in the English Premier League?
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