Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol thinks Jurgen Klopp “to get rid of” Divock Origi despite his Champions League heroics.
Origi spent last season on loan at Bundesliga side Wolfsburg before returning to play a bit part for the Reds this season as he made seven starts in all competitions.
The Belgium international bagged crucial goals in their Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona and in the final against Tottenham on Saturday.
The striker has been offered a new deal by the club and is expected to sign a long-term contract – but Nicol doesn’t think that Origi should stay for his and “Liverpool‘s sake”.
“For Liverpool’s sake, they should get rid of him, let him go, depends on how harsh or nicely you want to put it,” Nicol said.
“He has to go for his sake but for Liverpool’s sake, they’ve got themselves into a place now where they need to think ‘how do we take the next step?’.
“And for me taking the next step is making the squad better and bigger.
“I don’t feel that Divock Origi makes our squad better.
“Whenever he has played, whenever he has come on, generally for Firmino to give him a break, the level has dropped too far in my opinion.
“That’s why ultimately they have to get rid of him.
“Now, he’s going to be remembered forever and a day, not only for the Champions League goal in the final, but obviously for the one against Barcelona and against Everton.
“So he will be remembered but unfortunately, as a player, he’s just not good enough to be playing at the level Liverpool need to be every time they step on the field.”
Manchester United and Arsenal have added Stuttgart defender Ozan Kabak to their transfer shortlists this summer, according to reports.
The 19-year-old completed a move to Germany from Galatasaray back in January and he managed 17 appearances in total as Stuttgart ended up being relegated from the Bundesliga.
However, talkSPORT claims that a number of top European sides are ready to move for the youngster, who may well be available for a cut-price fee of around £13million.
The reports states that United and the Gunners are set for a transfer battle in the coming weeks, while Tottenham are also keeping a close eye on Kabak‘s situation.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Unai Emery are both expected to revamp their squads after disappointing seasons, with defensive issues haunting both sides at various points of the campaign.
Arsenal are expected to potentially lose veteran star Laurent Koscielny this summer, while United are still searching for a partner for their most consistent performer last term in Victor Lindelof.
Kabak is known as a tough tackler who is composed in possession and won his first call up to the Turkey squad in the second half of the campaign.
Kieran Trippier says his future lies in the hands of Tottenham this summer amid interest from home and abroad.
The right-back, a key player for England at last summer’s World Cup, has had a disappointing campaign, not helped by a niggling groin injury picked up in Russia.
That poor form, despite playing in a side which reached the Champions League final and booked a top-four spot in the Premier League, has seen him dropped from the Three Lions’ squad for this week’s Nations League finals.
Spurs are understood to be willing to allow Trippier to leave the club and he has been heavily linked with a move to Napoli and Manchester United.
Trippier, who again disappointed in the defeat to Liverpool in Madrid on Saturday, does not know where he will be next season.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked about his future. “I go home now, spend time with my family, just recover after a long, difficult season. Everybody’s got a decision to make, no matter what.
“Obviously this club has been very good for me over the last few years but I’ll enjoy my summer, come back in pre-season and that’s when I’ll sit down with the manager and have a talk about my future.
“I see a lot of speculation about me not being here. I give everything, 100 per cent every game, win lose or draw. So we’ll see what happens in pre-season.”
Trippier has been heavily linked with a move to Serie A side Napoli, while Manchester United and Atletico Madrid are also reported to be keen on him.
The English duo started in Madrid on Saturday – despite missing a lot of football recently – as Liverpool beat Spurs 2-0 to win their sixth European Cup.
“I’m sure Pochettino agonised over whether to start Harry Kane but he got that one wrong,” Shearer said in The Sun.
“Kane didn’t look fit at all and didn’t turn up in Madrid — he was nowhere near as sharp as he could and should have been.
“I imagine Harry was in Pochettino’s ear all week and he has had a week to judge it based on seeing him in training. I’ve been in the same situation myself.
“He may never feature in a European Cup final again so he would have been desperate to play. But you have to judge him on his performance and he simply wasn’t 100 per cent fit.
“Harry Winks was exactly the same — he hadn’t played for over two months yet he was risked to start in such a huge game for the club.
“To play one was a gamble, to play two who haven’t played for that long was a huge risk and it didn’t pay off.
“I’m sure Pochettino will be thinking ‘If only’. If only he had done something different. Lucas Moura could have offered them an alternative way of playing.
“The big difference was Klopp had the same decision to make with Roberto Firmino, who started the game despite clearly not being fit.
“After 55 minutes, Firmino made one bad pass too many and Klopp dragged him off and put Divock Origi on, while Kane was left on all night and offered hardly anything.”
Xherdan Shaqiri expects to be at Liverpool next season to try and help the club win the Premier League amid speculation over his future.
The Swiss international started off the season well and he has scored six goals and assisted two in just 11 Premier League starts this term.
However, he struggled to find a place in Jurgen Klopp’s side over the last few months with an embarrassing ‘pubic’ injury holding him back.
He did start in Liverpool’s unbelievable Champions League comeback against Barcelona earlier this month – but a recent report in Goal claimed Shaqiri could be on his way out this summer.
Despite that, Shaqiri has made it clear that he wants to stay and help bring more success to Anfield after Liverpool’s Champions League triumph.
“Is this why I came to Liverpool? Yes,” Shaqiri said.
“This club needs to win titles, and it’s a good start to win this one, no? Now next year we are going to go again and try to win the Premier League.
“That’s my big dream, to win the Premier League with this club.
“It just feels amazing. It’s been a long time since Liverpool won this title, 2005.
“It’s amazing to give the fans what they deserve.
“This club deserves everything, the staff, everyone involved. I think we’re going to have a big, big party!
“Of course if we didn’t win it, we’d have been very disappointed.
“We played such a good season, and we deserved to win at least one trophy.
“Now we won the biggest title in Europe, it’s amazing. It doesn’t happen every day.
“We are a very good team and we work hard together every day. I hope we can go on, this is just the start and we can win many more titles.”
SPURS FAIL IN TWO BIDS
With the dust settling on their Champions League final defeat, Mauricio Pochettino is now looking for a signal of intent from Tottenham. Daniel Levy, apparently, is trying to make several with a number of bids for Pochettino’s most-wanted targets.
The only problem is, they are all being rejected. According to The Mirror, Levy has approached Real Betis and Lyon with offers for Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele but both have been unsuccessful.
The same story claims Spurs are serious about Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez and Fulham teenager Ryan Sessegnon but Levy has not gone so far yet as to even make a low-ball offer.
RAFA’S TWO TOON TARGETS
Rafael Benitez is another manager looking for proof of his club’s ambition. Like everyone else, Rafa is waiting to see what comes of the proposed takeover of Newcastle by the Bin Zayed Group, which very few people know anything about aside from the fact that it’s not fronted by Mike Ashley. And that’s good enough for most.
If the deal goes through, Benitez has a couple of targets in mind. One is from PSG but, sadly, it’s not Kylian Mbappe.
According to the Daily Express, Rafa fancies their third-choice keeper. Kevin Trapp impressed last season on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt but the German appears no closer to Thomas Tuchel’s first team. If David de Gea rocks up in Paris this summer, Trapp might struggle to get a game for the reserves.
But the player Benitez really wants is Jan Hurtado. The 19-year-old Venezuela international currently plays for Gimnasia La Plata in Argentina and could be available for around £7million, which has also alerted Sampdoria, Atalanta and Marseille.
A teenager on the cheap and a keeper who can’t get on PSG’s bench. And Rafa has to wait for a takeover before being fed even those scraps…
INTER LUK-ING ELSEWHERE?
Inter Milan are also struggling to grant their manager’s wishes. Antonio Conte wants Romelu Lukaku and Man Utd would be happy to sell for £62million, according to reports in Italy. But The Sun reckons Inter need to raise around two-thirds of that figure before the end of this month just to avoid an FFP violation.
Apparently, Inter were hopeful of doing that by swapping Mauro Icardi and Paolo Dybala with Juventus, but Dybala wants no part of it. Inter thought of offering Icardi to United too, but the last thing the Red Devils need that dressing room is another bad egg.
News of Edin Dzeko agreeing personal terms with Inter is unlikely to make Lukaku’s path to Inter any smoother. Calcio Mercato claims the Roma striker has a deal in place over his salary and the 33-year-old is now waiting to see if the Nerazzurri can agree a fee with his club, who are said to be looking for around £18million.
AND THE REST
Kieran Trippier could be Maurizio Sarri’s first signing at Juventus… Xherdan Shaqiri wants to stay at Liverpool… Everton have offered Roma £24m for Cengiz Under… Valencia forward Rodrigo Moreno could be heading to Barcelona… Glenn Whelan may return to Stoke after being released by Aston Villa.
Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool’s sixth European Cup win “would not have possible” without James Milner.
Liverpool won the Champions League for the first time in 14 years with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham in Madrid.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring with an early penalty before Divock Origi crowned the success three minutes from full-time.
Virgil van Dijk was named man of the match on an evening where fellow big-money signing Alisson also shone, but Klopp paid tribute to Milner, a freebie brought in by Brendan Rodgers in 2015, after the game.
“What is satisfying is I am happy for the boys,” Klopp said.
“You know what people have said about a couple of the players of this team.
“Jordan Henderson is captain of the Champions League winner of 2019. That is satisfying, actually.
“All the boys did it. They are all very important.
“Without Millie’s dressing room talks before the games, with a non-native manager, I think it would not have been possible.
“It’s so important, the little things that they did during the weeks, how they lifted them when we had a little down.”
Jurgen Klopp could not contain his delight after securing Champions League glory with Liverpool and beamed: “This is the best night of our professional lives.”
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi earned the Reds a sixth European crown with a 2-0 win over Tottenham for their long awaited first trophy under Klopp.
Klopp was understandably thrilled at the final whistle and hailed it the “best night of his professional life”.
“I am so happy for the boys all these people, and my family. They suffer for me, they deserve it more than anybody,” he told BT Sport.
“Did you ever see a team like, this, fighting with no fuel in the tank? And we have a keeper who makes difficult things look easy.
“It is the best night of our professional lives.”
Asked how it feels to finally end his long wait to win a trophy for Liverpool following defeat in their previous three finals, Klopp admitted it was a something of a monkey off his back.
“It took a while, it is important for our development and improvement,” he said. “This little mark helps a lot, now we can carry on. The owners never put pressure on us. John [W Henry], Mike [Gordon] and Tom [Werner] – they deserve it so much.”
Asked why he was not soaked in beer yet, as is tradition with trophy-winning German coaches, Klopp continued: “Normally 20 minutes after the game I am half drunk, but now I have only had water!”
Maurizio Sarri has informed Chelsea of his desire to return to Italy to manage Juventus this summer.
Sarri was appointed Chelsea head coach last year, finishing third in the Premier League, winning the Europa League and losing the League Cup final on penalties in his first season in England.
But constant criticism of his style and a smattering of poor results is said to have taken its toll on the 60-year-old, who wants to end his reign after completing just half of his initial two-year contract, which had a one-year option included.
The offer from Serie A champions Juve has proved too tempting for Sarri, with The Guardian one of many outlets to report that Sarri told the Chelsea board of his intentions during a planned meeting to discuss his future this week.
Sarri cited ‘family reasons’, as well as the chance to manage Juve, as his reasons for wanting to leave. The Independent say Chelsea ‘would be prepared’ to let Sarri continue his work, but will accept his decision if Juventus buy out the final year of his deal, worth £5m.
Both outlets suggest that Chelsea have a three-man shortlist of potential replacements, including Derby County manager Frank Lampard. Which would actually make sense.
Outgoing Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri would also be considered, as well as the currently unemployed Laurent Blanc.
Most parents spend a lot of time contemplating what type of
spring wardrobe to buy for their children. Unlike adults, children will require
a new wardrobe for every season. This is mainly because they are still growing.
Children attire is far from being cheap, making the shopping experience even
more difficult, especially for parents living on a strict budget. Whatever the
case may be, a new spring wardrobe is in order for your child. To help ensure
your shopping expedition is a good one should always choose the best
clothing subscription box, to make it simpler there are lists of tips provided
in the article below.
Comfort
Children require comfortable clothing, regardless of the
season. Spring is a season that prompts children and adults to venture
outdoors. Playing indoors does require comfortable clothing and shoes, but when
it comes to outdoors there are more activities for children to participate in.
It is highly likely that your child will be spending a lot of time playing in
the park and other areas with playground equipment. Comfortable clothing that
offers flexibility is going to be your best option. T-shirts, shorts, dresses
and a light jacket will work perfectly.
Lightweight
Lightweight clothing is more suitable for spring. Since the
temperatures are warming up, heavy clothing will no longer be needed. Of
course, you will need to throw in a lightweight jacket for the cool evenings.
If possible, it may be a good idea to include a lightweight jogger for these
times as well. It is still a little too early for sleeveless shirts. So, make
sure your child’s arms are partially covered until the weather gets warmers.
This will eliminate the need for a jacket until the sun goes down.
Breathable
Active attire is a necessity for young children. The best
clothing subscription box will include a selection of active
attire. The idea is to provide your children with breathable tops and bottoms.
This clothing is designed to provide adequate air ventilation, so your children
will stay cooler for longer. Clothing made from breathable materials, such as
cotton, nylon, rayon and polyester, are going to be your best options for
spring.
Trendy And Stylish
While providing your children
with comfort and flexibility, the clothing must also be stylish and trendy.
Fortunately, manufacturers keep this in mind when they are working on their new
spring lineup. The trendy designs for this spring are pastels, tie-dyes and
prints. You really cannot go wrong with any of these designs. If you have any
apprehensions, you can always take your child shopping with you. This will give
your child the freedom to pick out their own spring wardrobe, taking some of
the pressure off of you.
Affordability
Since children outgrow their clothes very quickly, it is
impossible to reuse them the following year. That is why it only makes sense to
invest in affordable brands. Fortunately, this will not limit your options
because most manufacturers design their children’s
clothing lineups around affordability. And, do not worry because your options
will still be trendy and stylish.
Durability
While affordability is important, it is important to
remember that some children can wreak havoc on their clothes and shoes. With
that in mind, it only makes sense to invest in clothes made of durable
materials. You definitely do not want to be repeating your shopping endeavor
any time soon. So, clothing made of polyester, cotton and rayon will last twice
as long as other options. Most manufacturers will combine these materials
together to achieve both comfort and durability.
A blend of rayon, cotton and polyester will provide the best
of all worlds and save you money in the long run.
Mixing And Matching
If you encounter any issues finding the perfect attire for
your child this spring, you will always have the option of mixing and matching.
While some parents are determined to stick with one brand, it never hurts to
mix things up a bit. If you are concerned about mixing brands, you can always
remove the brand tag. Doing this will allow you to keep your little secret and
give you more options.
Conclusion
Before you set out on your spring shopping adventure, it
would be a good idea to put yourself in the right mindset. If you approach this
task from a bad perspective, you will surely not have a good experience. Doing
the opposite will ensure a great shopping experience.