Manchester United have reportedly identified RB Leipzig’s Ibrahima Konate as their main centre-back target for the summer.
United had previously viewed Konate’s centre-back partner Dayot Upamecano as the best fit but have now turned their attentions to the 21-year-old, who has performed equally as well in Germany.
Upamecano, who is available this summer for just £38million due to a clause in his contract, had been heavily linked with United but Bayern Munich are thought to be leading the chase for his signature while Liverpool and Chelsea also have hopes of signing him.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made bolstering his defence a priority this summer in a bid to take his side to the next level, and according to The Independent will instead make a move for Konate at the end of the season.
The young French defender has been beset with injuries this term, but has impressed in the 12 appearances he’s managed so far.
Solskjaer would’ve had an up-close look at Konate earlier on this season as he played the full 90 minutes in both of Leipzig’s Champions League group matches against United.
Konate, who broke into Leipzig’s first team as a teenager back in the 2018-19 season, is just the latest example of the club’s exceptional recruitment, having poached him from Sochaux after he had played just 12 senior games.
The centre-back has already won 11 caps for France and won’t be short of potential suitors in the summer as he is generating a lot of interest from England with Liverpool and Chelsea seriously looking at him as well.
Samuel Eto’o is in hospital with a minor head injury after being involved in a car crash in his native Cameroon, according to reports.
France Football claim the former striker will undergo further examinations at the hospital after his car was hit by a bus.
The collision reportedly happened near Nkongsamba as Eto’o was driving home from a wedding.
Journalist Martin Camus says he has spoken with Eto’o, who wanted to reassure people that he was doing well.
Pictures have emerged of Eto’o’s car showing the huge extent of damage on the front of vehicle.
Reports say that no one died as a result of the crash, with the BBC quoting one of his relatives.
Eto’o retired from football just over a year ago, after a lengthy and successful career.
The Cameroonian played for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Chelsea among many others, winning multiple league titles, as well as three Champions League trophies.
He is also an Olympic gold medallist, and won the African Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2000 and 2002.
He is the Indomitable Lions’ all-time leading goal scorer, having found the net 49 times in 97 games for his country.
Paris Saint-Germain will hope to kick-start their European campaign on Wednesday after defeat to Manchester United on the opening night, but Kylian Mbappé seems relaxed.
Kylian Mbappé believes Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League defeat to Manchester United is irrelevant ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Istanbul Basaksehir, though he accepts fans will be expecting more.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side claimed a commendable 2-1 win in Paris last week, with a Bruno Fernandes penalty and Marcus Rashford’s winner coming either side of an Anthony Martial own goal.
It was seen as something of an upset given United’s underwhelming start to the season, while PSG would have hoped to begin their European campaign with a home win.
As such, PSG are already playing catch-up in Group H and go to the Turkish champions on Wednesday aiming to kick-start their campaign.
Mbappe acknowledges supporters will want to see PSG improve this time around, though he does not feel the United defeat increases the level of pressure on the squad.
“Champions League matches, you always have to win,” he told the club’s website. “Even if we had beaten Man United, it would still have the same importance.
“We must win. When you play here [at PSG], you always have to win. So, for sure, having lost, people will expect more from us, but the pressure will be the same.
“There’s always pressure when you play and that won’t change against Istanbul.”
United block Mbappé threat
Mbappé will be hoping for a more productive outing in Turkey, having failed to find a way through against United. He had five shots in total against the Premier League team, but only two hit the target – the other three were blocked.
The France international had particular difficulty against Axel Tuanzebe, who made several last-ditch tackles and clearances to deny Mbappe – he cleared the danger seven times in total.
Barcelona’s directors held a meeting on Monday with Josep Maria Bartomeu deciding against resigning as the Blaugrana president following the motion of no confidence against him and his board, who won’t step down either.
The board is awaiting the final decision of the Catalan government on whether the referendum can be held on November 1 and 2. On Monday, Barcelona sent a letter to Pere Aragones, acting president of the Catalan government, asking him to suspend the vote of no confidence.
The decision of Catalonia’s health department is expected to be known on Wednesday and Bartomeu believes that he can resist until the end, being aware that given the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a real possibility that the vote of no confidence will be suspended.
The Catalan Government is considering the possibility of confining its citizens during weekends, so it seems contradictory to allow a voting process to take place at the Camp Nou.
Frank Lampard returns to the venue of his first match as Chelsea manager on Saturday hoping for a very different result to the 4-0 defeat he suffered against Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 11, 2019.
An awful lot has changed in the 14 months since then, with the coronavirus pandemic meaning there will be 73,620 fewer fans in the ground, but the problems facing Lampard at full-time remain largely the same.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, Chelsea controlled the game, particularly in the first half. They had 54 per cent possession, 18 shots to United’s 11 and seven on target to their five. While it would be a stretch to say they dominated, Lampard was left feeling they could have earned at least a draw on another day. Instead, they were punished for defensive lapses by a Marcus Rashford brace, with Anthony Martial and Dan James also getting on the scoresheet.
Last season was in essence a free hit for Lampard, with Chelsea’s year-long transfer ban meaning that expectations were as low as they had ever been in the Roman Abramovich era. To finish fourth then, claiming a Champions League spot ahead of London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal, was a decent return for the rookie Blues boss. Their defensive record, however, was only the 11th-best in the league, with 50 more goals conceded after their opening-day 4-0 defeat by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United.
To have conceded nine goals in five games already this season then, six of those coming in 3-3 draws with Southampton and West Brom, is a worrying sign that little has changed under Lampard.
What has changed, however, are those expectations. If last season was a free-hit given the transfer ban, as Lampard blooded youngsters Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori, this season must see improvement with Chelsea’s £231million summer spending spree the highest ever by any Premier League club in a single window.
It is safe to assume Abramovich won’t be quite so pleased with fourth place and 54 goals conceded this season, and certainly not with a heavy defeat at Old Trafford.
Saturday night’s match then, as early in the season as it is, holds symbolic significance for Lampard, to show that Chelsea are moving in the right direction, not just with regards to their defending, but to their finishing too.
Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech were the marquee signings this summer, brought in to sharpen up the attack and work with those youngsters. Chelsea are delivering on that front, with 13 goals scored already, Werner and Havertz improving each game and Ziyech returning to fitness to offer a different dimension cutting in from the right.
There are signs of improvement in the defence too, despite throwing away two points against Southampton last time out. Blues optimists will point to the fact that Kepa Arrizabalaga, the error-prone goalkeeper who has been dropped by Lampard, was been in between the sticks for that game and was at his shaky worst.
Promisingly, their new No 1 Edouard Mendy returned from injury for Tuesday night’s draw with Sevilla in the Champions League and delivered his second clean sheet in three matches in all competitions. The only goal he has conceded was against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. He appears to be striking up a decent understanding with fellow French speakers Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma in front of him.
That trio will be tested by Rashford, Martial and Co on Saturday, but United fans were hoping to have at least one more attacking star to add to their ranks in the summer, with a bid to sign Jadon Sancho from Dortmund failing in a very public way. Solskjaer instead had to make do with Silva’s former PSG team-mate, veteran striker Edinson Cavani, as his main late-window signing. He may still not be ready for first-team action having not made the squad for United’s impressive win in Paris this week.
Even given that result, however, there has been a dynamic-shift between the two clubs and managers since that meeting in August 2019. This time, Lampard arrives with all the expectation on him, with Solskjaer earning sympathy for the cards he has been dealt. With the top four race wide open, it is time for Frank to prove Chelsea are making progress.
EDINSON CAVANI has made his Manchester United debut but was unable to prevent them drawing a blank against Chelsea.The Uruguayn fired just wide with his first touch while Marcus Rashford went close late on.And down the other end Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty when Harry Maguire held Cesar Azpilicueta down.But ultimately nobody could argue the goalless draw wasn’t a fair result.
2020/2021 Premier League
0 – 0
Match Events
0′ The match is about to start!
12′ Cavani is watching the game on bench
27′ James’ free kick stopped by De Gea
31′ Fernandes’ long shot too straight
34′ Pulisic’s shot wide out
35′ Rashford’s shot stopped by Mendy
41′ Mata’s shot stopped by Mendy
58′ Cavani subbed on to make his Manchester United debut
59′ Cavani’s shot wide out
80′ Ziyech subbed on to make his Chelsea debut
90′ Rashford’s shot stopped by Mendy
Line-ups
Man Utd XI: Mata, De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire, Fred, Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, Daniel James, Rashford, Wan-Bissaka, McTominay
Subs: Cavani, Matic, Pogba, Dean Henderson, Van de Beek, Tuanzebe, Greenwood
Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Jorginho, E. Mendy, Kante, Werner, Chilwell, Pulisic, Havertz, Reece James
Subs: Caballero, Giroud, Kovacic, Rudiger, Ziyech, Abraham, Mount
Manchester United have warned Paul Pogba that they won’t break their wage structure to keep him at the club, according to reports.
Pogba has long been linked with the exit at Old Trafford and that fire was stoked again when the Frenchman recently admitted that it is his ‘dream’ to play for Real Madrid.
Despite publicly flirting with a move away from the club, United decided to trigger a 12-month extension on his contract last Friday and could now be ready to offer him new and improved terms.
According to ESPN, the Red Devils would be open to giving him a ‘reasonable’ upgrade on his £290,000-a-week deal to keep him at the club for several more years.
However, the report goes on to claim that chief executive Ed Woodward is desperate to avoid another ‘Alexis Sanchez-style’ deal, after the club struggled to offload the Chilean and his mammoth £560,000-a-week contract before they finally agreed to handing him a £9million payoff as part of his move to Inter Milan.
Pogba would be given a pay rise if he decided to renew his deal but would not fight if the Frenchman demanded a hefty contract.
The report also suggests that United are ‘relaxed’ about Pogba’s future while Woodward ‘remains open’ to allowing the 27-year-old to enter the final year of his deal if he decides not to renew.
Following his comments that he would like to play for Los Blancos one day in the future, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made sure to reiterate that the World Cup winner is their player until 2022.
‘Paul’s our player,’ Solskjaer said last week. ‘He’s going to be here for another two years and I’m sure he’s focused on doing his best for us.
‘We want to see the best of Paul and I’m sure in the next couple of years we’ll get the best out of him.’
Pogba came off the bench in Paris to help United beat PSG in their opening Champions League game.
Pogba has started the last two games on the bench for United, coming on in the wins against PSG and Newcastle, and now faces a fight to regain his place in Solskjaer’s starting XI ahead of this weekend’s clash against Chelsea on Saturday.
Manchester United have announced that their debt has surpassed £474million after an increase of 133 per cent in the latest round of financial results.
United saw a £23.2m loss accumulated for the 2019-20 season, which was due mainly to 41.9 per cent drop in broadcasting income.
The overall income has taken a huge hit amid the increasing strain of the coronavirus pandemic but an £11m extension with shirt sponsor Chevrolet for another six months is thought to be ‘a pragmatic solution for both parties’ amid the backdrop of the pandemic.
Revenue dropped by 19 per cent to £509m and it was another difficult read for United supporters in what has been a tricky year of rising debt and diminishing revenue.
‘Our focus remains on the health of our colleagues, fans and community while adapting to the significant economic ramifications of the pandemic,’ executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said following the release.
Back in May, United revealed that their debt had risen by 42 per cent as figures showed the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Broadcasting, matchday and retail, revenue were down by more than £30m in the first three months of 2020.
Those figures showed United’s net debt had shot up by £127.4m to £429.1m.
Such figures saw United withdraw their previous revenue forecast of between £560-£580m for the year ‘given ongoing uncertainty due to COVID-19 and the evolving related economic and financial consequences’.
Woodward warned at the May release that things could continue to get worse from a financial stand-point with fans remaining unable to return to games in any capacity.
Retail revenue dropped by £1.1m due to the closure of the club’s megastore and that continued with fans being kept away due to rising numbers of coronavirus cases in England.
The last round of figures showed that United’s gross debt had not changed but the net debt (calculated as gross debt minus cash reserves) rose significantly.
That was because the club’s cash balance dropped to £90.3m, in part due to paying Leicester City £80m up front for captain Harry Maguire and the first instalment on Bruno Fernandes’s £46.6m initial fee from Sporting Lisbon.
MASH THE WRITER 