Month: July 2021

Jurgen Klopp has played down hope that Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez will appear in Liverpool’s next friendly as he refuses to rush the pair back from injury.

Both Van Dijk and Gomez missed most of last season through injury but are expected to be fit to return for the start of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.

Neither of the centre-backs have appeared in a friendly match so far with Klopp leaving them out of side in a win over Mainz on Friday.

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When asked whether Van Dijk or Gomez would play a part in their next friendly against German side Hertha on Thursday, Klopp told Liverpool’s official website: “Yeah, it would still be a surprise, unfortunately. But they look really good.

“Look, I think, they do everything, they play football, we keep them in training, we do the things we can do, they don’t too much and stuff like this. We just have to be patient – we prepare for a full season, not for a pre-season game.

“I will not risk it for a game here, so we have to see. We have a lot of games still coming, pre-season games, but I don’t see them being involved for the next one.”

On their 1-0 victory over Mainz that saw an Luca Kilian own goal decide the match, Klopp added: “You always consider what you did in the days before. We had a double session yesterday, we trained this morning, so it’s exactly what you need.

“That’s how training works, you have to do the intensive stuff, go through it, try to play the best football you can. It’s the pre-season. Yes, I am happy about a lot of situations I saw; I saw in the first half some really good football where we came through, we passed, we passed the ball quite quickly, quick enough against a good, organised side, a deep-defending side and this kind of stuff.

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“It was far away from being perfect, but it is absolutely OK. Second half I saw the boys, the kids, fought for a result and they got it. They forced it and I am happy about that. We had to defend, of course, because they are good – and organisation-wise, it is not even close to where we have to be, but as I said, when you are tired you try to bring the best organisation possible on the pitch.

“It is never about 100 per cent, it is about the available per cent – and I think the boys did that today, so I am happy. Nobody injured, that’s important as well, everybody came through, so fine, really fine for today.”

 

Liverpool have reportedly had a gargantuan £86million bid rejected for Juventus forward Federico Chiesa.

According to Italian paper Repubblica, the Reds have made an offer that would make the Italian the joint-eighth most expensive transfer of all time.

Manchester City and Chelsea have also expressed their interest in the winger, but the Anfield club are the latest to make an official offer.

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Chiesa is currently contracted with Fiorentina but is midway through a two-year loan spell at the Old Lady.

His loan will become permanent for £36m next summer if certain conditions are met.

Despite Fiorentina, and indeed Juve’s, reluctance to sell him to a Premier League side, Liverpool are attempting to sign him.

Chiesa is thought to be Klopp’s “perfect” winger for his current 4-3-3 system, competing with the likes of Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mane for a starting spot.

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri is also said to consider Chiesa as ‘non-transferable’ with the club’s president Andrea Agnelli seconding Allegri’s stance.

The 23-year-old is off the back of an excellent Euro 2020 campaign as he helped Italy win the competition.

He made seven appearances for the Azzurri, scoring two goals, including a beauty against Spain in the semi-finals.

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Chiesa went off injured in the final against England, as his side won 3-2 on penalties to lift the trophy.

As well as his impressive form for Italy, the forward scored contributed towards a very decent 26 goals in 46 Juve appearances last season.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are linked with Jarrod Bowen, with West Ham looking for around £35m for the winger.

Bowen joined the Hammers from Hull in January 2020 for £22million and his performances last season have piqued the interest of Klopp.

Bowen is contracted at the London Stadium until the summer of 2025, but the Merseyside club’s interest won’t come as a surprise to Hammers boss David Moyes, who claimed he’s not far away from an England call-up.

“Jarrod’s a player where I think there’s room to improve,” said Moyes. “He can step up again. He’s got another level to go to and I hope we can do that in the next year or two.

“If he can continue with his form, if he can keep his goals tally up, he’ll not be levels away from being close to England squads.”

Spurs have informed Harry Kane that they ‘expect him’ to remain in north London this summer amid interest from Manchester City, according to reports.

The Sun claimed late on Thursday that Tottenham were prepared to sell Kane to Man City for £160m this summer after Daniel Levy had performed a U-turn and decided the England captain could leave.

However, almost as quickly as the report had surfaced, it had been dismissed with The Athletic journalist David Ornstein saying that the story took both City and Spurs by surprise.

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The striker has reportedly made it clear that he wants to leave Tottenham this summer but it is thought Spurs chairman Levy has no intention of granting his wish.

The Times wrote today that Kane ‘believes’ Tottenham are ‘are willing to sell him this summer in what he considers to be a shift in the club’s position’.

Reacting to the drama of the last few days, The Athletic have now issued an update on where Spurs, Kane and City stand over the deal.

They reckon Tottenham are still adamant that Kane is ‘not for sale, with senior figures confident he will stay at the club’ while ‘Manchester City are not yet willing to throw in the towel’.

The story by Charlie Eccleshare and Sam Lee backs up Ornstein’s claim that Spurs and City were ‘taken by surprise’ over the report by The Sun and have ‘taken an extremely dim view of suggestions an agreement for Kane had been reached’.

The Sun‘s report has apparently reinforced Levy’s determination to keep Kane at the club, with three years left on the  27-year-old’s contract.

Tottenham have told Kane that they ‘expect him to remain a Spurs player’ while City have confirmed that ‘there is no way they would go as high as £160m’.

City, though, do not ‘consider their pursuit of Kane over’ but ‘they are not prepared to pay the sort of numbers being quoted on Thursday, or anything like it’.

There is ‘increasing scepticism’ that any club will now be able to afford Kane this summer with Levy determined to get at least £150m for the striker.

 

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Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann has hailed Jadon Sancho as “the best winger in world football” following the completion of his move to Manchester United.

The return to Manchester has been a long time coming, with United narrowly missing out on an acquisition last summer after failing to agree on a transfer fee with Borussia Dortmund.

This time around, though, the German outfit would sanction a £73m deal, providing Sancho the chance to make his mark in the Premier League after tearing up the Bundesliga.

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The 21-year-old racked up 37 goals and 47 assists across his last three campaigns, and is credited by Hamann as a player who raises the game of others as he “pulls defenders out of position”.

The German told the Racing Post: “It’s a big season for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United too and I expect Jadon Sancho to be a star at Old Trafford.

“I’ve rarely seen a winger who can beat his man so easily, he drops the shoulder and just walks past defenders.

“Sancho could galvanise the likes of Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba at United too. Having watched him in the Bundesliga, he makes other players better, creating chances and pulling defenders out of position, and we saw glimpses of that in England’s quarter-final win against Ukraine at Euro 2020.

“I was surprised that he was on the periphery of that tournament, he would be my first choice as a manager.

“In my view, not only is Sancho England’s best winger, he’s the best winger in world football and United fans should be very excited about his return to Manchester.”

Sancho will recognise a few familiar faces upon his arrival at Old Trafford, having befriended Luke Shaw, Rashford and Harry Maguire on international duty.

The quartet were part of the England squad that made it to the final of Euro 2020, though Sancho would miss a costly penalty in the shootout against Italy and, along with Bukayo Saka and Rashford, was later racially abused by supporters.

“I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t see the racial abuse that me and my brothers Marcus and Bukayo received after the game, but sadly it’s nothing new,” he said on Instagram. “As a society we need to do better, and hold these people accountable.

“Hate will never win. To all the young people who have received similar abuse, hold your heads up high and keep chasing the dream.”