..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

No Man Utd bid as Willian reveals Barcelona the only side who put in offer


Willian has confirmed that Barcelona were the only club who made a bid for him during the summer, thus rejecting reports of an offer from Manchester United.Barca were in talks with Chelsea over a potential deal for Willian, but the move collapsed and the Spanish club instead signed winger Malcom from Bordeaux.

Willian has now revealed that he knew of the Catalan club's offer, but says they were the only side to formalise their interest, despite reports of interest from his former manager, Jose Mourinho.

"The only club I knew that really made an official offer for me was Barcelona," he told ESPN. However, Willian insists he is now happy to remain at Chelsea, after a rift with former manager Antonio Conte.

"I have my head here and I intend to continue in the club unless the club wants to sell me. But my head is here in the club." New manager Maurizio Sarri managed his first competitive game as Blues boss on Sunday, as Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Community Shield.Willian, however, believes that Sarri's methods will eventually pay off.

"[Sarri] is a manager who likes to play football, a manager who has a game philosophy similar to Manchester City," he added."Manchester City have been playing under Guardiola for a few years now and the players are already adapted [to his style] and already know what to do in the pitch.

"We have just started working with him [Sarri] but in the first days we have seen that he is a manager who likes to shape the game from the back, he likes to play football. It will be very important for us."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Courtois on potential Real Madrid move: It's a delicate situation


Thibaut Courtois says he is relaxed regarding his potential transfer from Chelsea to Real Madrid.The Belgium international has been consistently linked with a move to the Spanish champions, who appear determined to finally strengthen their goalkeeping position.

Courtois' agent has called on Chelsea to allow his client to move to Real, with the stopper keen to return to Spain, where he previously played for Atletico Madrid.

“I have been reading everywhere that Chelsea are saying it is up to Thibaut, but he has made it clear to the club that the best option for him is to move to Madrid,” Christophe Henrotay said, according to The Sun.“For him this is a big decision because he wants to be near his family, and there is an offer in place for Chelsea to accept.”

Goal understands that Real are waiting on Chelsea's search for a replacement for Courtois before a £35 million ($45m) deal can be completed.Both Real and Chelsea had wanted to sign Alisson from Roma, though he eventually joined Liverpool.Courtois has just one year left on his current Chelsea deal and has thus far rejected the Blues' offers of a new deal. A transfer for Courtois thus appears inevitable.

Courtois maintains that he is remaining relaxed over the potential transfer, with Maurizio Sarri reportedly holding talks with the 26-year-old following their Community Shield defeat to Manchester City."My transfer? I am not going to say anything about that now, it is a delicate situation," he told Belgian press.

"I cannot say much, I am not thinking about that, I am calm and becoming anxious would not help. What is important is to be ready for next season."Courtois has spent seven years at Chelsea, though he also spent three on loan at Atletico.

The 25-year-old has made over 150 appearances for Chelsea, winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup. He has also won La Liga with Atleti, along with the Europa League, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Super Cup. He was also a part of Atletico's 2013-14 team, which reached the Champions League final, only to lose to Real.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Everton agree €32m deal for Barcelona defender Mina


Everton have finally reached an agreement with Barcelona over the signing of defender Yerry Mina, Goal understands.

Barca, who were initially reluctant to drop their £35 million ($47m) valuation of the Colombia international, have settled on a fee in the region of €32m (£29m/$37m) following a dramatic last 48 hours of developments in the player's future.

Marco Silva's side appeared to be on the verge of signing Mina, who starred for Colombia at the World Cup, on July 26, although turned their attentions to Marcos Rojo having been frustrated by Barca's initial refusal to lower their asking price.




Manchester United then emerged as possible suitors to sign the former Palmeiras defender, only for the Red Devils to pull the plug on their interest late on Saturday night, as they focused on other targets, namely Toby Alderweireld.

Silva's Everton had appeared not to be interested in returning to the negotiating table having been messed around by Barca in their attempts to sign Mina, with United's late interest having also muddied the waters.

But Goal understands that, with only a few days remaining of the transfer window in England, there has been a change of heart on Merseyside and the club quickly moved to agree a transfer in the region of €32m.

Mina, for his part, appeared to be out of options, with the 23-year-old behind the likes of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen and now new signing Clement Lenglet in the Camp Nou pecking order.

Reports in France have claimed that Lyon had joined the race for the towering centre-back, but he now seems all set to make the move to the Premier League, with the agreement of personal terms and a medical with the Toffees to follow.

Everton have already signed Lucas Digne from Barcelona, with Watford forward Richarlison having also arrived during the summer transfer window.The Merseysiders get their Premier League campaign underway on August 11 with a trip to newly-promoted Wolves.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Willian fuels Man Utd rumours: I want to play for Mourinho again


Chelsea star Willian has admitted that he would jump at the chance to work with Jose Mourinho again, while affirming that it will not be happening in the current transfer window.

The Brazil international lifted the Premier League with the Blues under Mourinho in 2014-15, before a disappointing title defence saw the Special One end his second spell at Stamford Bridge.This summer, meanwhile, Willian has been closely linked with a move away from Chelsea, with both Mourinho's Manchester United and Barcelona mooted as possible destinations.

But having previously stated his intention to stay at his current club, Willian has underlined that a reunion with Mourinho must wait a little longer."Mourinho is the best manager I've ever worked with. We have a good relationship, we are friends," Willian told ESPN Brasil.

"Sometimes we talk, we text, we send messages to each other via WhatsApp. He is a great manager, I really enjoyed working with him. I hope I can work with him again someday.""I don't know if there was any official bid [from Manchester United], but some things have happened.

"Also, everything comes out on the internet, too. But Mourinho talks to my agent all the time, he says 'bring him, bring him'."No, he has never called me, but he always sends me text messages."

Despite that close contact, Willian repeated that his future lies in west London. "But I am very happy at Chelsea, I want to stay in the club," he said. "I also like living in London, it is an amazing city, and my family is well adapted. So yeah, I intend to stay at Chelsea."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Everton close to signing Brazil international Bernard on free transfer


Everton are closing in on the free transfer of Brazil international Bernard, Goal can confirm.The Blues look to have won the race to sign the former Shakhtar Donetsk man, who is expected on Merseyside to complete a medical and finalise personal terms on Tuesday.

Bernard, 25, rejected Shakhtar's offer of a lucrative new contract, and had been attracting serlous interest from a number of clubs across Europe, including West Ham and Inter Milan.

Everton, though, are his preferred choice, and he is now set to become the third major signing of the Marco Silva era at Goodison Park.Silva has been desperate to add to his squad before Thursday's transfer deadline, with Everton starting their Premier League campaign away to newly-promoted Wolves on Saturday.

He has already brought in another Brazilian, Richarlison, in a £40million ($52m) deal and last week spent around £18m ($23m) to bring Lucas Digne to the club. More are expected to follow this week.

Bernard, who can play as a wide player or centrally as an attacking midfielder, has built a stellar reputation during five seasons at Shakhtar, where he made more than 150 appearances, including 43 in European competition. He has 14 caps for Brazil, though the last of those came in 2014.

Silva remains keen to sign a centre back, with Manchester United's Marcos Rojo and Barcelona's Yerry Mina still on his radar. A central midfield player, too, would be a welcome addition, though the manager appears to have missed out on one target, Abdoulaye Doucoure, who has penned a new contract with Watford.Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck has been linked, with a loan-to-buy deal for the England international likely to appeal.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Man Utd refusing to sell Pogba amid Barcelona & Juventus links


Manchester United are unwilling to allow Paul Pogba to leave the club amid claims that his agent has been lining up a move to Barcelona or Juventus.

Reports emerged in recent days that super-agent Mino Raiola has been attempting to secure Pogba a move away from Old Trafford two years on from his return to the club for a then-world record transfer fee of £89.5 million ($116m) from Juve.

A meeting between Pogba and his former France team-mate Eric Abidal in Los Angeles was construed by some as a potential approach by Abidal, now technical secretary at Barcelona, while there have also been suggestions that Juventus were willing to offer midfielder Miralem Pjanic in part-exchange for the 25-year-old.

But Goal understands that United have never considered allowing Pogba to leave in the current transfer window, with this Thursday’s deadline for purchases by English Premier League clubs making a sale of such a key player even more irreconcilable.

While Pogba would technically have until the European transfer deadline day on August 31 to secure a transfer to any continental club, United would only have until 5pm BST on Thursday to sign a replacement.United also have no interest in agreeing a part-exchange deal, with Juventus themselves believed to be keen to hold on to Pjanic despite reports to the contrary.

Jose Mourinho has already become perturbed at the need to wait so long to discover the result of the attempted capture of Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld and is not ready to entertain such a momentous loss to his existing playing group this late in the day.

Pogba remains a key part of Mourinho’s plans at Old Trafford despite a dip in form last spring resulting in the manager leaving him out of the starting line-up for a number of fixtures, including both legs of their Champions League exit to Sevilla.

The addition of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk this summer is seen as a signing to complement Pogba and Nemanja Matic in Mourinho’s first-choice midfield rather than helping to clear the way for a sensational sale.
The manager has recently challenged Pogba to recreate with United the kind of form which saw him star in France’s World Cup triumph over the summer.“I hope that he understands why he was very good,” Mourinho said. “I think that’s the point about his performance level, his contribution to a winning team, for him to understand why he was so good, especially in the second part of the competition, the quarter-final, semi-final and final where in my opinion he was absolutely brilliant.”

Pogba returned to training at United’s Carrington base on Monday ahead of Friday’s Premier League opener against Leicester City. He was among a number of players given dispensation to take a full three-week holiday after his country had gone all the way at the World Cup.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Man Utd agree Alderweireld deal but Spurs want replacement first


Manchester United have an agreement in place with Tottenham for the signing of Toby Alderweireld, but Spurs have refused to complete the deal until they have brought in a replacement for the Belgium international.

And, with United nervous as to Spurs' motives, their search for an alternative centre-back will continue to cover for the eventuality that the north London outfit will pull out of the deal at the last minute ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.

United have been pursuing the 29-year-old throughout the summer but have widened the net in recent times after the initial failure to agree a fee with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

That led to increased interest in Leicester City’s England defender Harry Maguire, but a similar £75 million ($97m) price tag to that pinned to Alderweireld put United off.But Goal understands that a compromise was finally reached between Spurs and United last week, on the condition that Spurs can cover for the loss of the defender.

And it is believed that this was the news executive vice-chair Ed Woodward was delivering to manager Jose Mourinho when the pair were seen in brief conversation in Miami after the 2-1 International Champions Cup win over Real Madrid.

The nature of the latest twist has prompted United to keep working on possible additions at centre-half, with Mourinho insistent that he needs a high-quality addition before the window closes even if Tottenham don’t bring in a new player and thus fail to release Alderweireld.

That was what brought about the brief interest in Barcelona’s Yerry Mina and their latest inquiry relating to the availability of Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng.

Alderweireld has remained their number-one target to add to their defensive stocks during the various twists and turns of this summer’s search, and the player is keen to end his spell in north London after falling out of favour with Mauricio Pochettino last season.

Whether they land Alderweireld or one of their secondary targets, United are set to listen to offers for Argentine defender Marcos Rojo before the end of the European transfer deadline on August 31 as Mourinho looks to trim down the number of central defensive players his squad.

It was also announced on Monday that Axel Tuanzebe has returned to Aston Villa for another loan spell having spent the final four months of last term with the Championship side.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

EPL Summer Transfer Window

3 days remaining!
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[RiFTeR]

Courtois Real yaida?

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Courtois Real yaida?

Yana seen ekak wage thiyenneTraining session ekatath awilla nahane.habai danma sure karala kiyanna baha mona weida kiyala.balamu


​

 

[SBWoof]

Yana seen ekak wage thiyenneTraining session ekatath awilla nahane.habai danma kiyanna baha mona weida kiyala.balamu


​

එහෙම සීන් එකක් තමයි යන්නේ

 

[Alucard_SxE]

Yana seen ekak wage thiyenneTraining session ekatath awilla nahane.habai danma sure karala kiyanna baha mona weida kiyala.balamu


​

I don't like the bugger miniha kiyana tharam hodath nehe & I'm fine with navas for another 1 or 2 years
de gea/oblak > another matter. Even Allison would've been great. I'm surprised we didn't even try for him

 

[sudokuu]

Puluvannam kiyahallako serie A italian league eka dialog my tv phone app eke active karaganna puluavnda barida kiyala?

 

[RiFTeR]

Yana seen ekak wage thiyenneTraining session ekatath awilla nahane.habai danma sure karala kiyanna baha mona weida kiyala.balamu


​

Pora Spain gihill ne. Godak welawata yai kiyala mata hitenawa.

or else he's messing around to get a sweet new deal

 

[RiFTeR]

Puluvannam kiyahallako serie A italian league eka dialog my tv phone app eke active karaganna puluavnda barida kiyala?

hello Penaldo fan

Sony Six ekeda koheda yanne. Season eka patan gannakan idapan.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

එහෙම සීන් එකක් තමයි යන්නේ

I don't like the bugger miniha kiyana tharam hodath nehe & I'm fine with navas for another 1 or 2 years

de gea/oblak > another matter. Even Allison would've been great. I'm surprised we didn't even try for him​

Pora Spain gihill ne. Godak welawata yai kiyala mata hitenawa.

or else he's messing around to get a sweet new deal ​

Chelsea la "Kepa Arrizabalaga" wa ganna hadanawa kiyala thamai kiyanne.Ahema una kiyanne nam godak durata Courtois yanawa kiyana eka thamai

Balamu mokak weida kiyala​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Guardiola closes Man City chequebook ahead of deadline day


Manchester City are unlikely to bring in more new signings ahead of Thursday's transfer deadline, according to manager Pep Guardiola.The Premier League champions' only major acquisition of the close-season so far came when Riyad Mahrez joined for a club-record £60 million from Leicester.

Another specialist holding midfield option alongside Fernandinho was also a priority but City's pursuit of Jorginho ended with the Italy international moving to Chelsea from Napoli.

Jorginho struggled in the Chelsea side that City swept aside 2-0 thanks to a Sergio Aguero brace during Sunday's Community Shield and, after the match, Guardiola hinted his club might be closing in on a new signing.

But he sounded a different tone at Sky Sports' Premier League launch event on Tuesday when discussing the options within his squad who can operate at the base of the midfield."We have Fernandinho, [Ilkay] Gundogan can play there. At Tottenham last season when Fernandinho was suspended he played top

"But Gundogan I like as a player with a special feeling in the box. I remember a little bit Paul Scholes who had the special feeling in that position."We don't have many. I don't think we are going to sign more this season."John [Stones], I think he can play there but I don't know."

Irrespective of whether or not there are any more incomings, long-serving City captain Vincent Kompany believes there is a level of hunger among his team-mates that was not present when the club failed to defend the Premier League title in 2012-13 and 2014-15.
"Before saying anything or doing anything, you want to observe and see if you can see the same mistakes as what we made previously," the centre-back told Sky Sports.

"I've got to be honest. There was a feeling that whenever we won the league and you came back into the first training sessions everybody was a little bit lax - a little bit more smiles and happiness but a little bit less committed. Teams that just wanted it more could actually hurt us.

"I came in this time and it's completely different. We realise this is precious and we want to hold on to it."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'This is Maguire's decade' - Schmeichel backs Man Utd target to become one of world's best


Harry Maguire has been heavily linked with Manchester United, and Kasper Schmeichel believes a man destined to become among the world’s best defenders is going to dominate the next decade.

Having impressed for Leicester during the 2017-18 campaign, the 25-year-old went on to star for England as they reached the semi-finals of this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

Interest in his services has grown on the back of that tournament, with Maguire among the centre-half targets being considered by Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

Leicester have moved to end the transfer talk by reiterating their reluctance to sanction a sale, but Schmeichel has suggested that more speculation is likely as a club colleague heads to the very top of the game.The Foxes goalkeeper told Sky Sports: “I don’t think it’s going to be his year, I think it’s going to be his decade.

“Over the next 10 years or so, when he is going to be hitting his prime, he is going to be one of the best defenders in the world.“He’s got absolutely every attribute you could possibly want in a defender. He’s an exceptional football player, very intelligent, he can see a pass and pick it out, positionally he’s very astute and very clever.

“He’s a big lad so on set-pieces, both for and against, he’s a threat and for me Harry can go as far as he wants.
“He was Player of the Year here last season, Players’ Player of the Year, so that says everything about his level last season.“His work ethic, his attitude, I’m in no doubt that he’s going to kick on this season and then he’s going to be established as one of, if not the best defender in the Premier League.”

Maguire made 44 appearances across all competitions for Leicester last season after joining for £12 million ($16m) from Hull City.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'This is Maguire's decade' - Schmeichel backs Man Utd target to become one of world's best

Maguire ganna try karana ekanam boru wadak wage​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'Mourinho will walk if he isn't backed' - Man Utd boss looking 'grumpy', says Ince


Jose Mourinho is looking “grumpy” and could walk out on Manchester United if he is denied the required level of support from chief executive Ed Woodward and the Glazers, says Paul Ince.

The Portuguese has cut a frustrated figure throughout pre-season after seeing his hands tied by issues outside of his control.

World Cup duty has left him without the services of a number of senior stars, while a lack of movement in the transfer market has the Red Devils boss playing catch-up on big-spending rivals.

Ince fears issues on and off the pitch could lead to a parting of ways if they are not ironed out, with Mourinho offering little at the moment to suggest that he is enjoying life at Old Trafford.The former United midfielder told Paddy Power: “Jose has said that he wants to stay at United for life. To be fair, most managers would say that.

“But managers do get frustrated. They want to take the club forward, they want to build and bring players in. He sees Liverpool spending big and he wants to compete.

“If he feels he’s not getting that from Ed Woodward and the Glazers, he’s going to be grumpy.“If Jose doesn’t get the tools he feels he needs to win this title, then there’s a real chance that he will just go.”

United are set to open the new Premier League season at home to Leicester on Friday, 24 hours after the close of the summer transfer window.

Ince fears the Red Devils are set to stumble their way into a campaign in which much is expected of them, with optimism and positivity in alarmingly short supply.
He added: “You don’t want to see all this negativity. It’s the start of the season, it’s supposed to be an exciting time.

“The fans want to see a different Manchester United, a more attacking one which we didn’t see last season.“He [Mourinho] should be talking about the players coming to Old Trafford, how he’s changed the style and how it’s going to be exhilarating.

“But we’re less than a week away from the start of the season it’s doom and gloom. Bad signals are coming out of Manchester United, it’s not good and I just don’t see any positivity there.”