Month: June 2020

Double boost for Chelsea in race to sign €100m Havertz

Chelsea seem to be out in front in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen attacker Kai Havertz, according to reports.

The 21-year-old has been on fire for Bayer Leverkusen this season, scoring 15 goals and providing eight assists, leading him to be one of the hottest prospects in European football.

There have been reports that Chelsea have held talks over a deal for the Germany international – who wants to leave Leverkusen – but that the Premier League club are far from the only interested outfit.

MAILBOX: Grealish is no better than Pereira, and the new normal sucks…

A report yesterday claimed that the Blues owner Roman Abramovich – who is prepared to pay €100m – has even ‘personally contacted Havertz on the phone to make the new “Chelsea Project” palatable’.

Despite that, it is understood that the London club still face huge competition for his signature from the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The Daily Telegraph reckons Chelsea have sensed ‘an opportunity’ to get Havertz now with Man Utd pursuing ‘other high-profile targets such as Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish’ while Real Madrid’s ‘spending plans are unclear’.

And SportBild claim that Bayern Munich have pulled out of the race for Havertz as they concentrate all their efforts on signing Leroy Sane from Manchester City.

 

‘Incredible’ interest from Liverpool, Man Utd ‘very cool’ – Jimenez

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez says “it is an incredible thing” to be linked with the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd.

Jimenez joined Wolves permanently for £32m towards the end of last season, and has scored 22 goals in 44 appearances this season.

The Mexican has been regularly linked with Man Utd with the likes of Liverpool and Spurs also credited with an interest.

MAILBOX: Grealish is no better than Pereira, and the new normal sucks…

“It is something very cool, I do not know if they will be true, they are rumours,” Jimenez said in a YouTube interview.

“Since they are talking about me, different teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool – they are teams that are important in football history.

“It is an incredible thing to be on the radar and on the lips of those teams. It is something good for me to continue growing, making an effort and taking it as an incentive so that, if possible, I can achieve it.”

Jimenez stopped short of picking out the team he would like to join because he wants to avoid getting “into trouble”.

“My dream team? Whatever one that signs me would be incredible,” Jimenez added.

“Imagine that right now I tell you one and in the end I go to the rival, they will reproach me all the time, I will get into trouble!”

 

Arteta pushed after five-word Ozil explanation

Mikel Arteta had to be pushed to expand on his reasons for leaving Mesut Ozil out of his 20-man squad after initially answering with just five words:  “It was a tactical reason.”

The Arsenal manager was pretty brusque in his interview after their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City and initially did not want to expand on leaving Ozil out of his 20-man squad.

But he was pushed and eventually answered: “Because I need players in other positions as well, so that’s why I decided to leave him out.”

READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal

Arteta chose to play both Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka against City, leaving record signing Nicolas Pepe on the bench and leaving out Ozil altogether.

Reacting to the team news, which also saw David Luiz benched before a disastrous cameo, Jamie Carragher said: “Well to be honest I think that’s Arsenal going forward, that’s what I’d like to see next season.

“I wouldn’t really want to see those players involved to be honest next season, whether Mikel Arteta’s thinking like that.

“I think he is with David Luiz, I don’t think he will be there next season and I think Ozil has been a problem for the last few managers really that they can’t get him out because of the wages he’s on.

“Whether it’s a tactical decision because it’s away at Man City and they’re not going to have much of the ball, is he someone to come off the bench and really do anything from there with energy or pace?”

 

 

Luiz takes blame for Arsenal defeat amid contract ramble

David Luiz insisted on speaking to Sky Sports to accept the blame for Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City.

Luiz was left out of the starting XI for the clash at the Etihad amid speculation about his future; his current contract expires on June 30.

But he came off the bench after an injury to Pablo Mari and in 27 disastrous minutes he made a mistake for Raheem Sterling’s opener and was then sent off for giving away a penalty for City’s second.

READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal

Luiz appeared in front of the Sky Sports cameras after the game and said: “It was not the team’s fault, it was my fault.

“I take the decision to play, I should take another decision the last two months but I didn’t.

“Today I think the team did well, especially after they went down to 10 men. The coach is amazing, all the players did amazing, it’s just my fault.”

Asked to clarify by Geoff Shreeves, Luiz said: “I should have taken a different decision, in the last two months and I didn’t.

“It’s about my contract, if I stay here or not. I have 14 days left to be here. And that’s it. So today was my fault.”

When pushed again about whether he actually wanted to stay at Arsenal, Luiz said: “A different decision, to decide to try to decide my future, to try to decide as early as possible but I didn’t. I don’t want to use that as an alibi or an excuse. It’s my fault and that’s it.

“I love to be here, that’s why I continue to train hard. That’s why, I came here today. That’s why, I try to do everything.

“That’s why I said to the players [after the game], “nobody needs to speak”, I need to show my face and be here. So, I want to stay. The coach knows. The coach wants me to stay. We are waiting for the decisions.”

 

 

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Manchester City v Burnley: When is it, where can you watch it, team news and what are the odds?

When is Manchester City v Burnley?

Barring any health emergencies, the game is scheduled to take place on Monday June 22.

What time does Manchester City v Burnley kick-off?

The game is the return of Monday Night Football, so will kick off as usual at 8pm.

What is at stake?

Very little, in truth. Manchester City are in no real danger of slipping out of the Champions League places, but also are too far behind Liverpool to make a push for the Premier League title.

Burnley perhaps have an outside chance of forcing their way into Europa League contention, but for the most part the Clarets are safely tucked up in mid-table without a care in the world.

Where can I watch Manchester City v Burnley?

It’s Monday Night Football, and that means Sky Sports.

Is Manchester City v Burnley free-to-air?

It’s not. Monday Night Football has always been a flagship subscription offering for Sky Sports, and so it apparently remains.

What is the team news?

 

John Stones or Ilkay Gundogan are injury doubts for Man City, but not serious ones. German winger Leroy Sane is also back for Pep Guardiola’s men, which is a welcome bonus after missing him for so much of the campaign.

Burnley will likely have to do without strikers Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood for their trip to the Etihad. Barnes has failed to recover from a double hernia after encountering some complications. Wood, meanwhile, is battling an Achilles injury.

What happened in the reverse match?

Gabriel Jesus helped himself to a brace back in December as Man City powered to a 4-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.

What are the odds?

Manchester City are very strong favourites at 1/6. Burnley can be backed at 14/1, and the draw is available at around 6/1.

 

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Arsenal defender ‘hurt’ by ‘out of hand’ criticism from fans

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi says he is his own “biggest critic” but admits he has been “hurt” by criticism received from some fans.

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The Germany international has only started 15 matches this season in all competitions as he’s struggled for form – but he managed to impress a bit more before the Premier League was halted, starting five matches in February.

His performances over the last couple of seasons have seen him become a target for criticism from Arsenal fans with some “out of hand” comments.

FEATURE: Gossip: £168m duo want City move to avoid Arsenal, Man Utd ‘limbo’

“Through social media, you can hear everything, you can no longer protect yourself so well from criticism or insults,” Mustafi told SportBild (via Sport Witness).

“Then you read things that hurt you. That’s pretty out of hand in places. But as a professional athlete, you have to be able to handle it.

“I’m my biggest critic – I watch my games and am rarely satisfied.

“I know exactly when I can do something better and when not. If others criticise, that’s perfectly okay, and I’ll take it. If it’s an unfair criticism, I try to ignore it.”

He has come under pressure from former Arsenal players too with Emmanuel Petit labelling Mustafi the “king of blunders” in 2019 after the German made a number of high-profile errors.

“You could expect more understanding from some ex-players and today’s TV experts,” Mustafi added.

“In their career, they have certainly not always done everything right either. You should actually be able to understand it and perhaps not hit it with the smallest mistake.

“But you can’t expect everything to work out the way you want it to.”

 

Watch: Matt Hancock praises ‘Daniel Rashford’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he may have had “Harry Potter on the mind” when he mistakenly praised “Daniel Rashford” for his work on free school meals.

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford led a campaign to extend the children’s food voucher scheme into the summer holidays, which forced a change in policy with a £120 million fund to feed 1.3 million children in England over the six-week break.

Denying that the Government made an embarrassing U-turn on the subject, Mr Hancock told Sky News on Wednesday morning: “Righty-ho, I will tell you what happened, the Prime Minister talked to Daniel Rashford, he considered it and made his decision – I think it’s terrific.”

 

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The minister later told radio station LBC that his child’s fondness for the JK Rowling novels may have been to blame and “maybe I had Harry Potter on the mind”.

Harry Potter was played by Daniel Radcliffe in the movie adaptions of the popular books.

Mr Hancock added: “My seven-year-old listens to Harry Potter and reads Harry Potter avidly, including at 5.30 this morning when I got up to do this morning’s media round.”

He suggested it had been “too early in the morning” and laughed as he told BBC Breakfast: “I completely misspoke.”

Arteta sends message to Arsenal board over Luiz contract

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says that David Luiz has been a “key role model” around the club since he took over this season and that he is keen for him to stay.

Luiz joined the Gunners in a surprise move in summer 2019, with Frank Lampard deeming the Brazilian surplus to requirements at Chelsea with the fee reported to be £8m at the time.

Sky Sports added at the time that the Brazilian will leave Arsenal this summer with Luiz ‘out of contract next month and no negotiations over a new deal planned.’

FEATURE: Marking every Premier League club’s pandemic response

However, his agent Kia Joorabchian claimed at the beginning of this month that the chances of Luiz staying at Arsenal beyond this summer were ‘very high’.

And now Arteta says that he would “love” to keep Luiz around the club, especially considering the “influence” he has on other players.

“I’m really happy with David, I want to keep him here with us,” Arteta said. “He’s been a key role model for me since I joined.

“I like what he produces on the pitch, I like his influence around the players and around the club. I would love to keep him.”

 

“Underworld 4” : première bande-annonce ! [VIDEO]

Avec le retour de Kate Beckinsale, la saga “Underworld” entre dans une “Nouvelle ère”. Attendu pour le 1er février 2012, le quatrième épisode de la franchise se dévoile aujourd’hui grâce à une première bande-annonce.

Kate Beckinsale ayant abandonné la combi moulante de Selene, la saga avait fait un retour dans le temps avec un troisième épisode en forme de prequel, où Rhona Mitra tapait du loup-garou devant la caméra de Patrick Tatopoulos. Mais l’héroïne des deux premiers opus a finalement décidé de reprendre du service et on (ou plutôt elle) nous apprend qu’elle a été cryogénisée pendant 12 ans, soit beaucoup trop longtemps à son goût, surtout qu’une nouvelle menace plane à son réveil. Le 1er février prochain, et comme son titre l’indique plutôt bien, les Underworld entreront donc dans une “Nouvelle ère”, dont la bande-annonce ci-dessous nous donne un premier aperçu. Et que les fans se rassurent : même si Måns Mårlind et Björn Stein (Le Silence des ombres) sont à la barre, l’ensemble ne donne pas pour autant dans le drame intimiste, puisque cascades, combats, ralentis et images de synthèse ont toujours le droit de cité. Le preuve en images.

Maximilien Pierrette