Toby Alderweireld has regularly been mentioned in the media this season, despite the fact that he has spent a large chunk of the campaign on the sidelines with injury.
The Tottenham Hotspur defender’s future has been a talking point given that he is yet to follow in the footsteps of some of his teammates and sign a new contract.
Supporters have made it clear that they want the Belgian to pen fresh terms, but at the moment, nothing has progressed.
Alderweireld recently spent around three months on the treatment table with a hamstring injury that he suffered during a Champions League game against Real Madrid.
The centre-back made a brief recovery in February as he played in two FA Cup matches, but since then, he has been working on his fitness.
On Twitter, Alderweireld posted a photo of himself in training, which prompted a huge response from fans, many of whom are keen to see the defender back on the field.
Others, as expected, reacted by urging the former Atletico Madrid player to sign fresh terms.
Tottenham will be in action this weekend when they take on Swansea City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
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Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague has claimed that Real Madrid are not interested in signing Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah at the end of the season.
Salah joined Liverpool from Roma last summer, and the Egypt international has scored 36 times and provided 12 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions for the Reds.
According to the Daily Star, Real Madrid want to press ahead with a £150m move for Salah this summer as the Spanish giants look to overhaul their squad.
However, Balague has claimed that the Madrid outfit have not mentioned Salah, who has drawn comparisons with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in conversations, and are actually more interested in Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard.
Balague told Sky Sports:
“Salah is a difficult one because Real Madrid have no mention of him as a candidate to be a Galactico.
“You can think there is a market in Egypt and he is a star of the Premier League – he has a lot of things to go for him – but if they get Hazard they won’t need Salah.”
Salah, who has also been linked with Barcelona, has managed 28 Premier League goals for Liverpool during what has been a remarkable 2017-18 campaign.
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The 25-year-old had previously struggled to make his mark in England during a short spell with Chelsea, but has been in outstanding form for the Merseyside giants this term.
After Jose Mourinho’s latest public display of displeasure against him, Luke Shaw is reportedly set to leave Manchester United in the summer and there will be no shortage of suitors.
Spanish giants Barcelona are the biggest club who have been linked with the England international but, closer to home, two of the clubs who look set to battle it out for his signature are Everton and Southampton.
That’s why Football FanCast asked; which club would be a better destination for Shaw, who is currently valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt?
Everton have struggled at left-back this season, in the absence of Leighton Baines. The former Wigan man is back from injury now but surely the Toffees have one eye on a long-term successor for the Liverpudlian. Shaw could be that man.
Southampton have Ryan Bertrand, who has continued to impress this year and is currently ahead of Shaw in the England pecking order as well, so his path to the first-team at St Mary’s could well be blocked.
In any case, 61 per cent of those we asked said that Goodison Park would be the better destination for Shaw at this stage. Check out the full results of the poll below…
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Everton will look to beat Liverpool for the first time since October 2010 when the Merseyside rivals meet in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.It does seem incredible that Everton have not overcome their bitter rivals for almost eight years, with Liverpool utterly dominating this fixture in recent seasons.Sam Allardyce’s side won back-to-back Premier League matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Stoke City last month before being brought back to earth with a 3-1 defeat at home to runaway leaders Manchester City last weekend.[ad_pod ]The Everton supporters will be looking for a response at Goodison Park this weekend, but it seems that not many are confident of their team’s chances of picking up a result.Toffees full-back Seamus Coleman, who has been tipped to become the new Everton captain, attempted to rally the troops with some words on the derby. However, it appears that Coleman’s quotes have fallen on deaf ears.A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Brazilian winger Kenedy has made quite the impression on the Newcastle United supporters since joining the club on loan from Chelsea during the January transfer window.
The attacker has scored twice and provided two assists in his eight Premier League appearances for the Magpies, but it is his overall contribution and commitment to the cause that has made him so popular with the Newcastle fans.
Rafael Benitez’s side are obviously desperate to sign him on a permanent deal, but it is thought that Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and indeed Arsenal will also be in the running if Chelsea decide to sell at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
On Wednesday, Kenedy was voted Newcastle’s Player of the Month for March by the club’s official shirt sponsors Fun88.
The Newcastle fans were not surprised to see the 22-year-old pick up the award, and a large number took to social media to lavish praise on the in-form attacker.
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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
As reported by The Daily Mail, Rangers are interested in signing Burnley midfielder Scott Arfield during this summer’s transfer window.
What’s the story?
After another disappointing season at Ibrox, the Light Blues will again be on the hunt for affordable talent this summer that can improve their squad to the extent they are capable of competing with Celtic for major honours.
One name on their radar, according to The Daily Mail, is Canadian international Scott Arfield.
The paper report that the out-of-contract English Premier League star is one of Rangers’ priorities heading into the transfer window, as they plan to make the £20,000-a-week midfielder one of their first acqusitions.
The big hurdling block is wages, reckons the report, but can they convince him his future lies in Glasgow?
Would he be a good signing?
With six years of experience playing regularly in either the English Premier League or Championship with the likes of Burnley and Huddersfield Town, Arfield is exactly the kind of player that Rangers should be looking to bring to the Scottish Premiership this summer.
A player who shows desire and fight at Turf Moor on a regular basis, he doesn’t just have the right skills to fit in at Ibrox but the right attitude too. His hard work and determination would help strengthen a midfield that has at times looked too lightweight this season.
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Another benefit is obviously his knowledge of the Scottish top-flight, given he started his career at Falkirk before they were eventually relegated.
On a free transfer, signing him would be a great bit of business despite his reported wage demands and if they can get the deal done, it’s something of a no-brainer for Rangers.
Tottenham cruised past Watford on Monday night without ever even touching second gear, and fans are heaping praise on captain Hugo Lloris for securing the three points.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side had a little bit of a lucky escape at Wembley on Monday night, as a subdued atmosphere and performance was rescued by Hugo Lloris.
Dele Alli gave Spurs the lead after a mix-up at the back for the visitors, before Harry Kane found his 27th Premier League goal of the season after a fine first touch cross from Kieran Trippier.
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Despite the comfortable scoreline though, it was anything from a comfortable performance, as mistakes at the back mostly from Trippier and Eric Dier let Watford have their fair share of chances.
Lloris had to be smart to stop efforts from Richarlison and Abdoulaye Doucouré in the first half, and raced off his line to stop Doucouré again shortly before the interval.
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Lloris is second only to Arsenal’s Petr Cech in errors leading to goals this season in the Premier League, so a performance like this is both a relief and a reminder of what he’s capable of.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
It is becoming increasingly difficult for those in charge of social media accounts to get it right, and indeed read the current situation.
After a defeat, it is better to post nothing than something that attempts to raise the spirits. That is just one of the rules.
West Ham’s official Twitter account is currently in a decent position when considering that the team finished their 2017-18 Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win over Everton at the weekend.
On Monday, a tweet was posted which pointed out that Marko Arnautovic’s 11 Premier League goals during the 2017-18 season was the most for a West Ham player in the top flight for 11 years.
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However, instead of bringing praise from the supporters, many claimed that the statistic was embarrassing, and said that Javier Hernandez, who is set to leave this summer, would have broken that record if the Mexican was given enough opportunities to start throughout the season.
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Sometimes it is difficult for social media accounts to win, and here is another example of things going wrong. A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
According to West Ham United news website Claret & Hugh, the club are reportedly considering selling Aaron Cresswell, rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, if they receive an acceptable offer this summer.
Claret & Hugh report that the east London outfit’s hierarchy haven’t been impressed with the 28-year-old – who has played as a left-back, left wing-back and a left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence in recent weeks – from a defensive point of view.
Even though he has largely been playing as a central defender, the former Ipswich Town man is still the club’s top assister with seven in 34 Premier League appearances, while he scored his first goal of the campaign in the 4-1 defeat at home to Manchester City last month.
We decided to ask West Ham fans to vote on our poll to see whether they would like to see the versatile defender sold this summer, and a huge 73% of them were against it.
Cresswell certainly looked to have answered some of his critics with a clean sheet in the 2-0 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, which coupled with other results ensured that they preserved their top flight status for at least another 12 months, but Irons fans on Twitter post-match were not impressed with his performance.
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The summer before Michael Carrick joined Manchester United, he went with England to World Cup 2006 as part of the most talented Three Lions squad of its generation.
Despite it being clear that the Gerrard-Lampard conundrum could be solved by introducing a holding midfielder, Carrick was not contemplated as the answer.
Owen Hargreaves was the belated solution Sven Goran Eriksson reached for – and Sir Alex Ferguson completed his signing the summer after Carrick’s arrival – but it was the former West Ham man that the Scotsman chose to replace Roy Keane.
Following the Irishman’s acrimonious departure during the previous season – United’s third consecutive campaign without winning the Premier League as Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea machine looked set to dominate – the understated Carrick was brought in to replace him, as well as inheriting the famous number 16 shirt.
Carrick was the only new arrival at Old Trafford in the summer that proceeded a Premier League title win that led to a period of sustained dominance that saw the Geordie collect five Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a Champions League winners medal.
The deep-lying playmaker was a quiet, unassuming character, often deferring to Paul Scholes in the early days of his United career before blossoming into the last standard-bearer of the excellence Ferguson demanded, retiring five seasons after the legendary Scotsman.
Speaking ahead of Carrick’s testimonial, which took place at the end of last season, Gary Neville summarised why the playmaker made such a success of his time at Old Trafford, underlining his dedication to improvement and setting a standard.
“One of the biggest compliments you can pay Michael is that the team-mates around him had huge appreciation for him. He made everybody play better. What people may not understand is the quiet, introverted passion that he holds for Manchester United.
“When we won leagues, Michael would be the one singing the most and going home last from the parties; the one that would look the happiest and most joyous behind the scenes at having won a trophy.
“Behind the scenes he showed how much he loved the club. He absolutely loves United. He’s also an incredible role model.
“Michael would always do every single rep in the gym, every single inch of every warm-up; he made sure he ate every single thing right, did absolutely every single bit of pre-activation, was always in the gym with the fitness coaches and sports scientists, always did the hydration tests.
“He did absolutely everything by the book and set an incredibly high standard not only for himself, but also in the dressing room.”
Those words from Neville, who himself was not the most naturally talented but carved out a hugely successful career at his boyhood club through unstinting hard work and professionalism reveal the level of dedication that went into maximising Carrick’s talent to allow him to thrive under constant scrutiny at Old Trafford.
There aren’t many joyous highs that stand out from Carrick’s United career – the double in the 2007 7-1 against Roma, the 2008 Champions League final penalty and the 2009 late winner at Wigan are the three that come to mind – but similarly it is hard to remember many nightmares he had.
Never the quickest or strongest, Carrick was only truly outmaneuvered by the Barcelona sides of 2009 and 2011 – where his attempts to stifle the most talented midfield seen in modern times on the biggest stage of all were hamstrung by the presence of an aging Ryan Giggs alongside him in central midfield.
It is easy to say he was underused by England – and there are times when he would have undoubtedly added greater balance to a midfield lacking the ability to look after the ball – but Carrick himself has admitted that his enthusiasm for international football could have been greater, as could his performance level at certain periods.
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It was that single-minded desire to succeed at United that created a classy, ultra-professional playmaker who remained in a vastly successful side under Ferguson.
He is the last of that Fergie-era side to retire but the fact that Jose Mourinho wants to keep Carrick around to instil that same high standard of consistency into the current crop speaks volumes about how rare that personality is to find.