Stoke have made an offer of £4 million for Liverpool fringe midfielder Charlie Adam, according to The Daily Mail.
The Scotland international moved to Anfield last summer from Blackpool for £9 million, and featured under countryman Kenny Dalglish last term.
However, new Reds boss Brendan Rodgers does not have a place for the playmaker in his team, with a central midfield trio of Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva and new signing Nuri Sahin in the Northern Irish manager’s thoughts.
Rodgers will allow Adam to leave before the end of the transfer window, with Stoke launching a bid.
It has yet to be revealed whether the Merseysiders have accepted the offer from Tony Pulis’ men, who want the Scot to replace Wilson Palacios in the Britannia Stadium side.
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Fenerbahce have also been accredited with an interest in Adam, who looks likely to leave Liverpool over the next 48 hours.
With the season about to enter its tenth round of fixtures, we are a quarter of the way through the league campaign, which while it may not be enough to judge either fully or accurately how the season will eventually turn out, is enough time to make an opinion on which players have done well since signing for their new clubs.
While Manchester City and Newcastle have predominantly relied on those players who helped them so much last season, most clubs have sought to bring in fresh first-team bodies. They don’t always have to be the most expensive acquisitions, but the way you can tell whether they’ve been a success or not at this stage is if their presence is already missed from the starting eleven.
Click on Arouna Kone to unveil the top 10
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Louis van Gaal has been at Manchester United long enough for us to judge his progress so far and compare his qualities against the man he replaced.
After seven games last season, the Scotsman had the Red Devils sitting in 9th place in the league with 10 points, scoring 10 goals and conceding nine. The Dutchman on the other hand has achieved fourth place in the league with 11 points, scoring 13 goals and conceding 10. Fourteen points was the benchmark at this point last season. What this shows is the league isn’t as competitive this season as it was at this stage last season, meaning van Gaal is having a slightly easier time. But this is the Premier League, one of the toughest leagues in the world, and every point has to be earned so this still puts van Gaal ahead, 1-0.
Before the signing of Spaniard Juan Mata from Chelsea for £39m in January 2014, Moyes had only had one recognisable signing in Belgian Marouane Fellaini from Everton for £27.5m. Mata did make an impact when he arrived but Fellaini did not, and was told by van Gaal in the summer that he was no longer needed.
Van Gaal on the other hand has notably signed Argentine duo Angel Di Maria and Marcos Rojo, Englishman Luke Shaw, Dutchman Daley Blind, Spaniard Ander Herrera, and Colombian Radamel Falcao on loan. All of them except Shaw have already had some sort of impact on the squad and results. Bringing these players to United cost van Gaal over £150m, and if you want to include the inevitable permanent deal of Falcao, even more than that. The squad van Gaal is trying to create is guaranteed to improve upon last season’s finish.
A huge advantage you could have going into a job like managing United is experience. Moyes was hand-picked by United’s greatest ever manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Just one Champions League play-off and one fourth-placed finish was the highlight of his C.V. Van Gaal, though, is a completely different story, filled with many impressive achievements. He has won eight league titles in four different countries and a Champions League with Ajax back in 1995. The Dutchman knows what it takes to finish on the top of the pile and how to motivate a side.
A stat that Moyes does succeed in compared to van Gaal at this point of the season is defence. So far during his time at United, van Gaal’s side has been switching between three at the back and four at the back for different games. They have conceded 14 goals across all competitions, including an embarrassing 4-0 loss to League One side MK Dons. His side takes on Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games, so his defence definitely needs to improve. Moyes however, his United side had only conceded 12 goals at this point of the season in all competitions including the Champions League. His side was also still in all competitions at this point as well, but we all know how that turned out.
It therefore seems van Gaal clearly has had the better start and is the better manager thanks to his past experience and the players which he has brought to United. He just needs time for his ideology to set into the team as he clearly has a proven track record which is better than what Moyes has.
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The hope would be that it has set in enough already, especially the defence part, so that his side can limit the damage they take from Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games.
Liverpool’s owners and manager Brendan Rodgers are set to come to loggerheads again, after the club announced plans to form a “technical committee” in light of the Andy Carroll debacle. The Telegraph reports.
Supporters are still fuming at the decision to let £35million signing, Carroll leave with Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini as the only options upfront.
The Reds were interested in securing a deal for Daniel Sturridge to bolster their attacking options, but were only willing to bring him in on loan whereas Chelsea were keen on a permanent deal.
But the most high-profile failure came after the club could not meet the £6million valuation which Fulham set for Clint Dempsey, resulting in the USA international joining Tottenham instead.
This new proposed committee will be set up to avoid future situations like this, advising both Rodgers and owners John W Henry and Tom Werner about all aspects of the club, including transfer dealings.
It is likely to cause even more tension between owners and management, particularly as Rodgers made it clear he wants total control over all first-team matters, but the owners have since said this so-called British model is unsustainable and costly.
The American owners want to replicate a similar kind of model that is already in place at West Brom, where Dan Ashworth has the role of sporting and technical director and is now wanted by the Football Association.
Under this new model, Rodgers will have to discuss prospective transfer targets with members of the committee, who in turn will advise the manager on the best way forward.
Ian Ayre, the current managing director is likely to hold a key role in the new set-up, along with a chief scout and an experienced football administrator.
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Liverpool fans will hope this goes some way in improving the club’s fortunes, especially as they seem a long way off from competing at the top level in the near future.
Wayne Rooney has poured cold water on rumours that he could leave Manchester United.
The England international has been decidedly off the boil recently, both in Euro 2012 and in the Red Devils’ opening games to the 2012-13 season.
With Sir Alex Ferguson bolstering his attacking options with the signatures of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa this summer, the British tabloids have speculated whether the Old Trafford outfit were getting ready to cash-in on Rooney.
However, the attacker has dismissed this as nonsense and stated he wants to stay with United.
“Read the nonsense in the papers and heard what people have to say it is absolute rubbish. #heretostay,” he told his Twitter followers.
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Rooney suffered a nasty gash on his leg in the 3-2 win over Fulham at the weekend, with the extent of the injury meaning the striker could be out for as long as two months.
Swansea City are going to find it very difficult to keep hold of Lukasz Fabianski this summer following their relegation to the Championship.
The 33-year-old was named Supporters’ Player of the Year following a string of impressive performances during the 2017-18 campaign.
However, Fabianski, who has just 12 months remaining on his contract at Swansea, could not prevent the Welsh club from being relegated from the Premier League.
Fabianski is undoubtedly one of the best shot-stoppers in the top flight of English football, and there will be a number of clubs taking a look at him this summer.
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Liverpool are believed to be in the market for a new goalkeeper despite Loris Karius spending the second half of the 2017-18 campaign as Jurgen Klopp’s number one.
AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma has been linked with a move to Anfield, but the Liverpool fans have offered up a cheaper alternative.
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Indeed, Fabianski has been mentioned as a possible arrival at the Merseyside club.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
كشف مصدر بالجهاز الفني للنادي الأهلي بقيادة السويسري مارسيل كولر، عن اللاعبين المستبعدين من قائمة الفريق الخاصة بمواجهة الزمالك، ضمن منافسات بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.
الأهلي يتواجه مع الزمالك مساء غد الخميس، على ملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي، في اللقاء المؤجل من الجولة الحادية والثلاثين للمسابقة المحلية.
الأهلي يتواجد في المركز الأول في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 75 نقطة، بعد خوض 29 مباراة، فاز في 23، وتعادل في 6 مواجهات.
طالع.. خاص | اتحاد الكرة يبلغ الأهلي بموقف أليو ديانج النهائي من مباراة الزمالك
بينما يحتل الزمالك المركز الثالث في جدول المسابقة، وفي جعبته 59 نقطة، حصل عليها من 32 مواجهة، إذ فاز في 17 لقاء، وتعادل في 8 وخسر في 7 مباريات. المستبعدون من قائمة الأهلي أمام الزمالك في الدوري
حمزة علاء ومصطفى مخلوف وأيمن أشرف وشادي حسين ورأفت خليل ومحمد أشرف وكريم الدبيس لأسباب فنية.
كما يغيب محمود متولي وعمرو السولية وأكرم توفيق وكريم فؤاد للإصابة.
Nick Compton may not have much idea what the future holds for him as far as England is concerned but he has finally pledged his domestic future to Somerset for the next three years
Paul Edwards at Edgbaston22-Aug-2013 ScorecardNick Compton looked far more relaxed after signing a new Somerset deal•Getty Images
There can be few more obvious ways of demonstrating your loyalty to a county than by signing a new contract when they are threatened by relegation and then scoring important runs which may help avert that indignity.Nick Compton may not have much idea what the future holds for him as far as England is concerned but he has finally pledged his domestic future to Somerset for the next three years. And on a blissful late summer evening in Edgbaston, the opener put his bat where his pen was by making an unbeaten 83 as Somerset fought back on the third day of their Division One game against Warwickshire.By the close of play Compton’s innings, which had included ten crisp, confident boundaries, had helped Somerset establish a 66-run lead going into the final day of this match. A draw is now favourite and those three points may be vital in helping Marcus Trescothick’s team avoid relegation; but wherever the game is heading, it has at last become clear that Compton is moving nowhere.Opting to stay at Taunton may not have been a straightforward decision for the opener. He had been courted by richer and rather more fashionable counties, Warwickshire included. However, he has finally decided to stay at the county where he has produced his best cricket and his play on Thursday evening was both carefree and conscientious, as if he could finally apply himself to the business of scoring runs.Yet batting was not easy on the third evening. Jeetan Patel carried a continual threat and had a confident lbw shout against Compton turned down when the opener had made 63. By then the offspinner had dismissed Trescothick for the second time in the match when the Somerset captain edged him to Rikki Clarke. Nor could the Taunton hierarchy have been too ecstatic to see Chris Jones run himself out for 16 when attempting a third run to Clarke’s arm in the penultimate over of the day.But Compton remained steadfast and secure, and while he does so it is hard to see how Warwickshire will achieve the win they need to further their ambitions. A game may be “set up” of course, but it is surely unlikely that Somerset will risk three hard-won points unless the terms offered were judged to be very favourable to them.By contrast to Compton’s careful approach, Warwickshire’s batting on the third day was rather profligate. Having lost their first three wickets for 38 runs on the second morning, they proceeded to lose their last seven for exactly 100 runs, leaving Laurie Evans and Ateeq Javid’s 269-run stand as a monument amid much rubble.Evans was the first to depart on Thursday, trapped on the crease by Peter Trego when he had added only eight to his overnight 130. Tim Ambrose was then beaten by an Alfonso Thomas delivery which nipped back off the seam and the dangerous Clarke was run out three balls later when Thomas got a touch to a drive from Javid.That left Warwickshire on 327 for 6 but the 39-year-old Darren Maddy then batted with the good judgement of twenty summers, and if his colleagues had been able to support him, the home side may well have gained the 100-run or more advantage they craved instead of the 67-run lead for which they had to settle.Indeed, Varun Chopra’s team lost their last four wickets in 14 overs after lunch, the first of them when Javid pushed tentatively at George Dockrell and was caught behind for a career-best 133. Things got worse for them when both Keith Barker and last man Patel were stumped by Craig Kieswetter off Dockrell, dismissals which sandwiched No. 10 Tom Milnes holing out at mid-on, also off the spinner.All three wickets were, to some degree at least, given away by the home side in a manner unbefitting champions. Dockrell, who had maintained a tight line for virtually the whole of his 43.4-over spell, collected 6 for 96 – nice figures if you can get ’em. Maddy, who had scarcely made an error, was left stranded on 40 and could have been excused for wondering if it was, after all, time to hang up his boots and take to coaching.
Crystal Palace supporters have been in fine voice in recent times after seeing their team get back to winning ways in the Premier League over the weekend.
Roy Hodgson’s men went into their trip to Huddersfield Town off the back of three successive league defeats, with Liverpool, Watford, and Southampton getting the better of the Eagles in the last few weeks. Yet the London club picked up a vital three points at the John Smith’s Stadium to stop the rot, with influential ace Wilfried Zaha getting the all-important goal seven minutes before half time to secure a narrow 1-0 success for Hodgson’s side.
As such, there have been many thrilled Palace fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have been heaping praise on Ivory Coast international Zaha, who again proved his worth to the Eagles with another match-winning display in Yorkshire at the weekend.
And while the 25-year-old was a constant menace to the Terriers backline on Saturday, and thus certainly played his part in Palace’s success, it was the efforts of defender Mamadou Sakho, who earns £100,000 a week as per Spotrac, which appear to have gone slightly unnoticed.
The former Liverpool defender has been an ever-present in Hodgson’s side this term but was reunited with fellow centre back James Tomkins for the trip to Huddersfield, what with the latter missing the 2-0 loss to Southampton prior to the international break.
And the duo produced a commanding performance in the heart of the backline to help the Eagles to a clean sheet and thus all three points, with Sakho winning seven of the ten aerial duels he competed for at the John Smith’s Stadium, as well as making a team-high eight clearances over the course of the 90 minutes.
Add in a completed tackle, an interception, a block, and no fouls, and the 28-year-old read the game superbly to enable Palace to remain resolute at the back and thus not give Huddersfield a sniff of an opportunity, yet he also did the business on the ball as well.
The Frenchman, capped 28 times by his country at senior level, had more touches of the ball than any other Palace player (67), while his 85% pass success rate was better than the other three members of Hodgson’s backline – he gave them great composure when on the ball, while also delivered off it as well.
Special mentions must also go to fellow defender Tomkins, whose reintroduction into a backline that then kept a clean sheet cannot go unnoticed, as well as right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who again produced a professional and mature performance down the right-hand-side for Hodgson’s team.
So while talisman Zaha will again hit the headlines for providing the moment of brilliance to seal all three points for Palace on Saturday, defender Sakho was their unsung hero in victory over Huddersfield.
O volante Gilberto Jr balançou a rede pela primeira vez com a camisa do Goiás na tarde do último domingo, em clássico diante do Atlético-GO, no Estádio Antônio Accioly. O gol não foi o suficiente para garantir a vitória de sua equipe (o Atlético-GO ganhou por 2 a 1), mas o volante comemora seu bom aproveitamento dentro de campo e projeta continuidade na temporada.
– Realmente fazer gols não é o meu forte, meu papel é evitar que o adversário chegue até o nosso gol, digamos que minha especialidade é o desarme, mas eu fiquei feliz demais no momento que vi a bola dentro do gol, principalmente por ser meu primeiro com a camisa do Goiás. Infelizmente a vitória não veio, erramos em algumas atitudes e vamos corrigir antes do jogo de quarta – comentou Gilberto Jr.
O contrato de Gilberto com o Goiás vai até o final desta temporada, e o camisa 29 reafirma seus planos no time esmeraldino.
– Fizemos uma boa campanha em 2018, conseguimos o acesso e graças ao meu bom desempenho, renovei com o clube, e agora estamos fazendo um belo início de temporada. Os meus objetivos aqui são os mesmos do time, e se for o caso de eu me posicionar e ajudar minha equipe com mais gols, estarei pronto para isso, o importante é a vitória e nossa boa sequência até o final das competições. Temos que focar na reta final do estadual, e logo mais, nos difíceis jogos que temos pela frente no brasileirão, com os grandes do nosso futebol e temos que vibrar que o Goiás faz parte dessa elite – falou o volante.
O Goiás volta a jogar na quarta-feira e encara o Iporá, às 21h30, na Serrinha. O Esmeraldino lidera a primeira fase do Goianão, com 28 pontos, e precisa apenas de um empate para se confirmar no topo da classificação geral antes do início do mata-mata.