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Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri is still a long way off becoming the next manager of Manchester United, but the move would “make sense,†according to ESPN pundit Julien Laurens.It’s got to that stage in the season again when the papers and pundits are talking about the future of United.Indeed, it doesn’t feel all that long ago that the likes of Gary Neville and friends were debating whether former coach Jose Mourinho should be sacked so early in the season. The 56-year-old was ousted from his post by the ever deluded Ed Woodward on December 18, 2018, and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who appeared at first to be the answer to the club’s problems.ÂHow could anyone forget about the clip of Rio Ferdinand getting a little too excited about Ole being ‘at the wheel’?

Fast forward 40 games, 20 wins, 8 draws, 12 losses and United’s worst start to a season in 30 years and we’re back to square one again.

Is United a “damaged brand”, as pundits from ESPN sports have suggested?

Tuttosport recently revealed that Ed Woodward is very close to bringing six-time Serie A winner Allegri to Old Trafford.

However, with a number of other top jobs potentially opening up around Europe, most of which are more appealing than the current wayward Old Trafford rebuild, Alejandro Moreno is probably justified in asking: “what manager in their right mind would go ‘yeah, I’m going to go in that direction even though there is no direction’?”

Shaka Hislop, too, echoed Moreno’s sentiment and said: “If somebody else, for argument’s sake, let’s say PSG decide we’ve had enough of Tuchel…and they join the race, PSG is the more likely destination.

“So you act now whilst he’s still available.”

Speaking to Polish outlet Prezglad Sportowy (via the Metro) Allegri apparently refused to rule out taking the job and said: ‘I speak English too poorly for now, but I am learning.’

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Leicester City came from behind to record a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday afternoon’s Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium.

Harry Kane had sent Spurs into a first-half lead, but Ricardo Pereira levelled the scores in the 69th minute before James Maddison won it late on.

Both teams had goals disallowed by VAR, notably one for Spurs which would have seen Mauricio Pochettino’s side take a two-goal lead on the afternoon.

It was not to be for the capital outfit, though, and a number of Leicester fans have lavished praise on centre-back Caglar Soyuncu.

The 23-year-old defender actually conceded the penalty that saw Manchester United record a 1-0 victory in last weekend’s clash at Old Trafford.

Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Soyuncu was back on form against Spurs, though, winning three tackles and two aerial duels during his 90 minutes on the field, according to WhoScored.

And the Leicester fans absolutely adored his performance:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Leeds suffered a huge blow on Wednesday as it was confirmed that club captain Liam Cooper would be out for six weeks.

Cooper has been a huge figure at the back under Marcelo Bielsa and was named in the PFA Team of the Year last season.

Since then, he’s been handed a new deal and been part of a backline alongside Ben White that’s only conceded five times in 2019/20.

He’s only missed one league outing this season and without him, there could be concerns over the defence.

After all, during pre-season, supporters were worried by the prospect of Gaetano Berardi featuring. They’ve begun to change their minds on the Swiss defender but even so, he’s still an incredibly unreliable figure.

Since joining the west Yorkshire club he’s been handed six red cards. It seems like an unfathomable amount so whether or not he can be trusted is up for debate.

20-year-old Pascal Struijk is someone that could prosper in his place while Luke Ayling is also a viable option.

The 28-year-old was handed a new four-year deal this week despite only returning from injury.

However, he might have to be fast-tracked back into a central role, rather than the more familiar right-back position he’s occupied previously.

Ayling hasn’t played at centre-half for ten months. The last time he featured there was in the FA Cup third round all the way back at the beginning of January.

He’s featured just four times for Leeds in that role in the Championship but overall it’s a position that he’s taken up 27 times in the second tier, according to Transfermarkt.

During that time he’s kept just six clean sheets and conceded a whopping 45 goals – something that might be an issue.

Just one of those clean sheets have come in a Leeds shirt but he’s still been solid individually.

Why are Leeds fans the best in the country? Find out in the video below…

According to WhoScored, Ayling has managed 1.7 tackles per game and 1.8 interceptions each outing. That final statistic equates to more than he made at right-back in 2018/19.

He’s meanwhile won an average of 2.8 aerial duels per game as a central defender.

It could be that this position drives the best out of his reading of the game and with Stuart Dallas unlikely to be moved from the right, it’s in the middle where the former Arsenal man’s imminent future might lie.

Whether Bielsa opts for the Lambeth-born man at centre-back remains to be seen, but he’s certainly someone to consider.

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Lots of Manchester United fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was reported that David de Gea is set to snub the club’s offer of a new contract and leave on a free next summer.

It was believed that the Spain international had agreed terms on a new six-year deal this summer, which would see him earn a salary said to be worth £117m across the entire length of the contract, at £375k-a-week.

However, it is now being reported that the former Atletico Madrid glovesman isn’t too keen on renewing his deal at Old Trafford, and he will be allowed to leave for free if he continues to refuse the club’s advances.

De Gea could even agree a pre-contract deal with another club as early as January, leaving United sweating over the prospect of losing one of their biggest assets.

Let’s take a look at how the United fans on Twitter reacted upon hearing the news…

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Mings has launched his coaching academy in Birmingham, seemingly settling in as well off the pitch as he is on it, where he has recorded two clean sheets and earned an England call-up.

They will now run sessions every Wednesday in the city, and setting up this venture suggests that the defender is certainly not making plans to make another career move any time soon.

Of course, it’s also always great to see a footballer doing good things for their local community, and if this post is anything to go by, Villa fans may have a new local hero around for years to come.

[ad_pod ]According to BBC journalist David Ornstein, Arsenal have made an approach to sign Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic on a loan deal with a £35 million option to buy.

What’s the story?

A loan move is seemingly the only option for the Gunners at this stage, as Unai Emery recently admitted that the club are not in a position to make any permanent signings in this January transfer window (BBC).

Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin may be out for the season but it’s given him a chance to show off his new accesory. Check out the video below to see for yourself…

However, Emery’s squad certainly lacks depth on the wings, especially in light of Danny Welbeck’s long-term injury (Independent). Alex Iwobi is currently the only senior natural wide player available for selection.

A move for Perisic would be a smart one on the part of the north London club, in the short term at least.

An injection of experience

The 29-year-old has been in decent – but not spectacular – form so far this season. According to Transfermarkt’s stats at the time of writing, he has registered three goals and two assists in Serie A.

The 78-cap Croatia international would bring some much-needed quality depth to Arsenal’s ranks, but his experience could also be a key factor behind Emery’s pursuit of the forward.

The Gunners have made a habit of signing experienced players recently, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis and Stephan Lichtsteiner all having arrived in the last year. Perisic would bring yet more top level experience to the Emirates Stadium, which could help Arsenal become a more competitive, steely and combative unit under Emery.Â

However, £35 million is a huge price to pay for a player coming towards his latter years. A balance must be struck at Arsenal between buying in experience and building for the future.

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The sale of Ryan Kent has taken Liverpool’s transfer income to more than £50m this summer, prompting fans to target players they would love to see join the club.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho is a name of many fans’ lips, although they acknowledge that he won’t come cheap either in January or next summer, particularly as he still has three years remaining on his contract and in 34 league games last season scored 12 goals and made 14 assists, with a further three of the latter already this term.

The Reds signed only one senior player this, Adrian, who arrived on a free transfer, whilst 11 players departed either on loan or permanently for a total of £53.2m, which could mean Liverpool are planning for a major signing at some point in the future.

Jurgen Klopp has previously stated he is happy with the state of his squad, however, and Liverpool’s strong start to the season indicates they are not in need of major changes to the squad over the summer.

Despite that, Reds are getting their hopes up that the income from this summer will be put towards a transfer kitty, as evidenced by the reactions below – with former Manchester City youngster Sancho the main target.

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An update has emerged in Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Adama Traore this week…

What’s the word?

According to the Telegraph’s Matt Law, Spurs are hoping to sign the Wolverhampton Wanderers star on loan with an obligation to buy in the summer.

It’s thought that the Midlands outfit may be forced into accepting such a deal as the 25-year-old wide man has entered the final 18 months of his current contract, though they would prefer a straight £20m deal.

The north Londoners’ willingness to offload Steven Bergwijn could help fund a permanent move before deadline day.

Traore is believed to be manager Antonio Conte’s first-choice to fill one of the three positions – right wing-back – that the club have prioritised this month.

Imagine him and Kane

Spurs have certainly been lacking in the final third this season, with leading talisman Harry Kane horribly out-of-sorts in the Premier League. He has scored only four goals in 17 games, as per Transfermarkt.

That accounts for 17.4% of all their goals scored – compare that to last season and the England skipper produced a whopping 33.8% of their goals.

With wing-backs ever so crucial to Conte’s system, there is a need for him to find the right option in order to provide Kane with sufficient service to get him back firing again.

This is where Traore fits the bill immensely.

A combination of his brute strength and dribbling ability make him a lethal threat along the flank. There have been concerns with his end product but ultimately, you aren’t being played at right wing-back to deliver goals.

He leads the Premier League on the ball, averaging a massive 4.5 dribbles per game – by comparison, Conte’s current first-choice option, Emerson Royal, manages just 0.8 successful attempts per outing.

Former Manchester United defender turned pundit Rio Ferdinand once dubbed the Wolves man as a “machine” to BT Sport (via BirminghamLive). “I was watching him pre-game and he could be a powerlifter or a cruiser-weight boxer – he’s huge,” he added.

It’s his physicality that makes him a terrifying prospect for any Premier League defender, which is why Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has previously deemed him to be “unplayable” and “undefendable.”

Therefore, sporting director Fabio Paratici could form quite the lethal duo in N17 as Traore could be the attacking wing-back that Conte desperately needs to bring the best back out of Kane.

It’s no wonder the £25.2m-rated Spain international is a priority this month.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold drops worrying behind the scenes Antonio Conte claim…

Following on from their disappointing 1-1 draw against Watford at St. James’ Park that saw Newcastle United miss out on securing all three points thanks to a late equalising goal, the Magpies are on their travels again with a clash against Leeds United at Elland Road this afternoon.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Toon manager Eddie Howe could select to be in his starting XI on this occasion and what changes he could make from the team he picked to play Watford, one figure that ended up being an unused substitute last weekend that we feel should be given the chance to play from the start against Leeds is midfielder Joe Willock.

Having not made an appearance for Newcastle in the league since their 4-0 defeat against Manchester City last month, now could be the right time to get the Englishman back in the team to get some minutes in his legs again and back into the rhythm of playing regularly.

Even though the 22-year-old hasn’t managed to score a goal or provide an assist for Howe’s side in the Premier League this season with 16 appearances under his belt, Willock showed in his loan spell at the Tyneside club last season that he can be a real goal threat in the team by scoring eight goals in 14 league games.

Labelled as a “special” player by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in terms of the qualities he has on the pitch, Willock certainly has the ability to make the difference for Newcastle, not only in this game against Leeds who he could terrify with his attacking talents as they have managed to concede 39 goals in 20 league games this season but also throughout the remainder of the season if Howe keeps him in the team.

In terms of who could make way for the midfielder this afternoon if Howe does decide to start Willock, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £80k-per-week according to Salary Sport, the fact that Sean Longstaff had a rather underwhelming performance in the game against Watford that led to him being listed as Newcastle’s lowest-rated starting player on the day according to SofaScore with an overall rating of 6.6/10, could make him a likely option to drop down to the bench.

In other news: Terms agreed: NUFC could land masterstroke with gem whose “shorts look like underwear”…

Despite managing to score more goals than both Burnley and Norwich City, Newcastle United have only managed to win one of their 18 Premier League games so far this season, drawing seven and losing ten along the way.

With new ambitious owners in place and a manager aiming to avoid getting Newcastle relegated from the Premier League, the January transfer window could see the Tyneside club splash the cash to strengthen their squad to make sure they don’t end up in the Championship next season.

One name that Newcastle apparently think they have a chance of signing in January is Chelsea attacker Timo Werner according to journalist Christian Falk.

Prior to joining Chelsea back in the 2020 summer transfer window, Werner racked up a total of 95 goals in 159 appearances for German club RB Leipzig.

Since joining the west London club, the 25-year-old, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £268k-per-week according to Salary Sport, has scored 17 goals and provided 17 assists in 66 appearances across all competitions, winning the Champions League in the process.

Labelled as an “unpredictable” player by fellow Chelsea and Germany teammate Kai Havertz, Werner has played in 14 games for Thomas Tuchel’s side across all competitions with five goals and two assists under his belt.

In terms of a potential move to Newcastle in January, with the German international having racked up an average of four shots at goal per game in the Premier League so far this season and two key passes per match, Werner could slot into Newcastle’s attacking line nicely alongside the likes of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin who have contributed to 50% of the Toon’s Premier League goals this season.

Even though Newcastle have conceded more times in the league than any other team in the division and the focus in January should mainly be on bringing in defensive players to fix their leaky defence. That said, given the player’s pedigree and knack for scoring, a move for Werner could stun plenty of Toon fans if the club were able to bring him to St. James’ Park.

However, with Chelsea pushing for the Premier League title and gunning to win the Champions League for a second year in a row, it would presumably take a lot from Newcastle to convince the German international to leave Stamford Bridge halfway through the season to help Howe’s side avoid relegation instead. That only adds to the stunning nature of this potential deal if it was concluded by PIF.

In other news: Hammond could save NUFC’s season with “colossal” £24k-p/w beast, “nothing fazes him” – opinion