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Arsenal are lining up a summer bid for Argentina international Walter Kannemann, per the Daily Mail.

The 28-year-old has won three caps for his country since making his debut in September 2018.

What’s the word?

Gunners boss Unai Emery is reportedly keen to bolster his defence this summer.

And the Mail report that the Gremio star, who plays as a left-sided centre-back, has a £10.2million release clause in his contract.

A number of South American sides, including Boca Juniors and Independiente, are also said to be interested but they will struggle to trigger his release clause.

The Gunners, however, should have no such trouble.

Emery is aware that Laurent Koscielny will turn 34 in September, while Shkodran Mustafi has endured a torrid season in terms of his performances.

Kannemann can also play as a left-back but has never played in Europe, starting his career with Argentine club San Lorenzo, before a move to Mexican side Atlas and then, most recently, to Brazilian outfit Gremio.

An untested talent

This is a risk for Arsenal.

Kannemann would clearly come in to replace Koscielny, who, while still a quality defender, is beginning to show signs of ageing.

However, it is rare that players signed from South America instantly adapt to life in Europe and there may well be a bedding-in period.

That is not what the Gunners need; they would be well advised to instead hunt for an assured, experienced centre-back with European pedigree.

While his scouts will surely be doing their homework, Emery could very easily end up with another Mustafi on his books if he is not careful.

After fifteen years away, a return to the top flight of English football is within touching distance for Leeds United.

The club’s transformation under manager Marcelo Bielsa has seen them emerge as one of the best footballing sides in the Championship this season and with just five games left to play, they are in a superb position to secure automatic promotion in May.

After securing a vital 2-0 victory away at Preston North End in midweek, the Whites moved ahead of Sheffield United in the standings after Chris Wilder’s side were held to a draw by Birmingham City.

Although they may only have a one-point advantage over the Blades, the key thing for Leeds is that they are now in control of their own fate. Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post ahead of Saturday’s clash with Sheffield Wednesday, Bielsa acknowledge the current situation by outlining that: “We have to win the five games left.

When you have few points left to win because you’re in the last few games of the league, the gap or the space for mistakes reduces. Anything can happen in one football game.”

By securing maximum points between now and the end of the season, Leeds will guarantee promotion and so it is correct that their Argentine manager is striving for perfection.

Whether they can achieve this could depend on who scores the first goal in these games. In the nineteen games this season in which the Whites having taken the initial lead, they have won every single game which is an astonishing statistic at any level of football.

Whilst the club’s supporters will understandably be keeping an eye on what is happening at Bramall Lane on Saturday between the Blades and Millwall, by focusing entirely on what his side has to achieve, Bielsa is giving Leeds the best possible chance of securing promotion.

What do you think Whites fans? Can your side win all five of their remaining fixtures? Could they still overtake Norwich City and win the league title? Let us know below.

A desperate state at Aston Villa means Dean Smith and his men need to achieve the nigh on impossible if they want to see any activity in the next window.

No one is safe from the harsh and unforgiving grasps of financial instability, and Aston Villa, one of our nation’s most iconic clubs, has demonstrated that.

According to the Birmingham Mail, the former Premier League side needed to make up a huge £40 million deficit at the beginning of the season in order to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

The issue was then exacerbated further by the £45 million wage bill they would be carrying into the following season, which is apparently more than current Premier League sides Brighton and Huddersfield, and the mammoth £87.9 million gamble they took on spending big in the 2016/17 transfer window, with which they still owed £30 million to other clubs.

Indeed, the reality of their current weakness in the market is made painfully obvious by the fact that loanee Tyrone Mings, a fringe player at Bournemouth, can only be signed if Villa secure Premier League promotion, according to Birmingham Live.

And it is perhaps easy to see why: apparently, it cost the Midlands side over £160 million when they were beaten by Fulham in the playoffs last year.

The inability to manoeuvre in the market this summer will undoubtedly make the job of convincing star players, like Jack Grealish and Josh McGinn, not to leave the club when the Premier League come knocking. As they have done many times before already.

Aston Villa fans, do you see any hope of making the jump into the Premier League this season – and if so would Mings be at the top of your priority list? Let us know in the comments below…

The race for automatic promotion in League One has seen supporters of the five clubs involved experience a roller-coaster of emotions this season.

Barnsley looked to be in a superb position to finish in the top-two alongside runaway leaders Luton Town last month yet by dropping points in their last two outings against Coventry City and Burton Albion, Daniel Stendel’s side have squandered their advantage over the likes of Sunderland, Portsmouth and Charlton Athletic.

Although the Black Cats failed to fully capitalise on the Tykes’ 2-1 defeat to the Brewers, their draw against the same opponent in mid-week was still good enough to see them to leapfrog their rivals in the standings. With Jack Ross’s side now holding a one-point lead over Barnsley and still having one more game to play between now and May, it is looking increasingly likely that the Yorkshire-based outfit may have to settle for the play-offs.

However, despite having a good recent relationship with the competition having achieved promotion via the final in 2016, the Tykes’ entire season could be shaped by the outcome of their clash with Fleetwood Town at Oakwell on Saturday. If they fail to secure a victory against the Cod Army, it could be disastrous for their hopes of making an immediate return to the Championship.

By embarking on a bad run of form towards the crescendo of a season, it can be extremely difficult for a side to bounce back when they enter the play-offs. For Barnsley, the last thing that they want is to enter a two-legged clash with either Charlton, Portsmouth or Doncaster Rovers without any confidence as all three of those sides have experienced a resurgence in recent weeks.

Therefore, by beating Fleetwood convincingly later, the Tykes could build up some much-needed momentum for their remaining fixtures in League One.

What do you think Barnsley fans? Can your side still secure automatic promotion? Or do they now need to prepare for the lottery of the play-offs in May? Get in touch below.

Newcastle manager, Rafa Benitez held his usual pre-match press conference this afternoon, during which he admitted talks about a new contract with the club have taken place, and stressed his eyes are firmly on The Magpies and nothing else.

It will be a relief to fans to hear that finally there is dialogue between the manager and Lee Charnley, particularly with the speculation building up day by day as the process keeps dragging on.

When asked about the rumours of approaches from the likes of Celtic and the Chinese Super League, Rafa quipped: “I can read the same as you.”

He added that there has been “some contact” with Charnley and that talking to Newcastle is his “priority”, but stressed that his main focus was on the games ahead.

The Spaniard said: “I can read what is going on in press. My priority is to keep talking Newcastle and see where we are. I’m not thinking about anything else.

“We have some contact, I see (managing director) Lee Charnley sometimes. It’s too early (to talk). We have to concentrate on the games.”

Newcastle travel to Arsenal on Monday Night Football this week, and Benitez confirmed that skipper Jamaal Lascelles is fit for the game, and added that, although he is suspended for Monday’s game, Schar is now fine, following the head injury he picked up in Georgia playing for Switzerland last weekend.

Benitez knows his side are just one win away from reaching the self-imposed target to be considered safe, and the speculation surrounding his future is an unwanted distraction.

He, naturally, wants to concentrate purely on the football, for now, and says that the key is to stay calm for the run-in, especially if they don’t get the win he wants at the Emirates on Monday.

He said: “We know we have to win maybe just one more game.

“But if we can’t win the next one, we just have to keep going.

“I will not put us under pressure.

“We just need to stay calm and focus on the next game, then see what happens.

It is, obviously great news for Newcastle fans that he and Charnley are talking about the future now, but as we stated in an earlier article, Rafa putting all talks off until safety has been guaranteed is, in many ways applying added pressure to the survival race.

That said, once the three points Benitez craves have been pocketed, there will be no more excuses, and no more hiding from the barrage of questions coming his way until a definitive decision is made and announced.

Everyone associated with the club — including Rafa himself by all accounts — hopes for a positive conclusion to the saga that seems to have been going on for an eternity.

What do you think Newcastle fans? Is it good news that Rafa and Charnley are talking? Will he be able to convince him to stay? Or have you lost all trust in Charnley to get any deal done? Let us know…

أفادت تقارير صحفية إيطالية، أن الدولي الهولندي ماتياس دي ليخت يقترب من العودة للمشاركة مع يوفنتوس في التدريبات الجماعية.

دي ليخت يغيب منذ بداية الموسم، بعدما أصيب في أغسطس الماضي بخلع في الكتف، وأجرى جراحة، ومنذ ذلك الحين، لم يشارك في أي مباراة مع يوفنتوس.

طالع أيضًا.. بيرلو يوضح موقف رونالدو وديبالا من مباراة فيرونا ويؤكد: لم أتفاجأ بمستوى موراتا

الصحفي الموثوق بشبكة “سكاي” الإيطالية، أكد بأن ماتياس دي ليخت هو أقرب من أي وقت مضى للعودة إلى الفريق بعد جراحة الكتف.

وأشارت التقارير، إلى أن دي ليخت ينتظر الموقف النهائي من طبيب يوفنتوس خلال هذا الأسبوع.

دي ليخت انضم إلى يوفنتوس قادمًا من أياكس في صيف 2019 مقابل 65 مليون يورو.

John Carew, Carew, he’s bigger than me and you, he’s gonna score one or two, John Carew, Carew…and all that jazz.

We think it is fair to say that Aston Villa were enjoying their finest Premier League years towards the latter stages of the previous decade. They sat in the top half of the table, for one; that beats the utter tripe the Villa faithful had to endure more recently. And they had some top quality players at their disposal. You know, “proper” talents who deserved to slip on the claret and blue. The likes of Gareth Barry, Stiliyan Petrov, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Luke Young and of course John Carew.

What a player. What a machine.

Aston Villa were in desperate need of some rejuvenating in the forward positions and John Carew was delegated the saviour.

But how much was he, you might ask? £10million? £20million? £30million?! None of the above. In what can only be described as daylight robbery, the 6ft 4in Norway international graced Martin O’Neill’s squad in a straight swap for Milan Baros (as per Independent). The Liverpool flop had been booed just the week before for wasting countless opportunities during the 2-0 defeat of Watford and registered just a single goal the season he left.

“Bargain” springs to mind.

Of course, we were not to know that Carew was going to be such a hit. The Norwegian had been in pretty poor form himself only netting once in Ligue 1, and his history off the pitch was not exactly inspiring either – having attacked international John Arne Riise on their country’s team bus.

That is beside the point, though, being John Carew, Carew…

The forward left Villa after four seasons with a pretty decent record of 37 goals in 113 appearances. Cult hero? We think so.

After another disappointing Championship campaign, Nottingham Forest remain one of the main sides desperately chasing a spot in the play-offs, despite the odds of that happening slimming by the game.

For all the effort they put into signing players over the summer, the thought was certainly that play-offs would be the minimum achievement but to not even get that shows how disappointing this season has really been.

Far stranger things have happened than a side like Forest making a late surge for the play-off places but right now, attention may be better served on the upcoming transfer market and who they can sign to improve. Indeed, after being linked with a host of players in January, Nottingham Forest should contemplate looking back through those they opted not to sign and think again.

Because a controlled, calm, midfielder in the form of Kevin McDonald would surely be a good signing for Forest.

McDonald, (who is valued at £3.6 million on Transfermarkt) played a big part in helping Fulham achieve promotion to the Premier League last season and the Championship is a division he knows well.

With just 13 appearances to his name in the Premier League, it seems for sure that alike Fulham themselves, McDonald won’t be featuring in the top flight next season. He has fallen down the pecking order with the Cottagers and may, therefore, opt for a move away from Craven Cottage this summer, given the chance.

The Scottish international – who was touted with a move to the City Ground late on during the January transfer window – is a committed player that has a good range of passing as well as the ability to break-up play and help out defensively. Looking to build a solid team for what is hopefully a sustained challenge on the top six next year, McDonald could be an ideal fit for Martin O’Neill.

Forest have already secured a couple of brilliant signings in the form of Jack Colback on loan and Yohan Benalouane on a permanent deal from Leicester City, so perhaps McDonald could be the next.

A seasoned veteran, the former Wolves and Burnley ace can bring an awful lot of experience to the Nottingham ranks, potentially becoming his Northern Irish manager’s general in the engine room, something which has certainly been a major part of his teams in years gone by.

Forest must favour the functional here and Kevin McDonald would be fantastic for that.

Nottingham Forest fans, would you back a move for McDonald after the January interest? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Luton Town boss Mick Harford is hopeful that defender Dan Potts will return to full fitness soon, per Luton Today.

The left-back picked up an injury in the club’s 4-0 win over Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

What’s the word?

Potts made his return from a groin injury against Rovers, having been out since October.

The full-back was on the pitch for a mere 23 minutes, however, sustaining a knee injury after jumping for an aerial challenge.

Goals from Pelly Ruddock, Danny Hylton, Kazenga LuaLua and Potts’ replacement, Luke Berry, ensured that Luton took all three points and manager Harford is unsure as to the extent of Potts’ injury.

He said: “He’s twisted his knee, we don’t know the extent of the injury, we’ll let it settle down over the weekend and probably have a scan on Monday.

“We don’t know and I’m just hoping he’s fit and well, as he’s a really, really important member of the squad Pottsy, he’s so reliable.”

May have to wait to come back

Regardless of the prognosis, Potts is unlikely to come straight back into the team, such was the performance of Berry.

While normally a left-back, the former started the game in midfield and the latter excelled in the role after being introduced as a substitute.

He capped a fine display with an excellent goal and his coach even took the time to namecheck the goalscorer after the game.

Harford said: “JJ started the game very well, we’re disappointed that Pottsy got injured, but I’ve got to be honest with you, Luke Berry came on and he was magnificent.”

Potts could well recover quickly but he may have to sit on the bench for a little while longer.

أكد ممدوح عباس رئيس نادي الزمالك السابق، أن قرار لجنة التسوية والتحكيم ضد مرتضى منصور رئيس القلعة البيضاء، يقبل الطعن، وليس نهائيًا، متمنياً أنه لا يؤثر على الفريق في مباراة الرجاء بدوري الأبطال. 

لجنة التسوية والتحكيم أعلنت اليوم الأربعاء بطلان لائحة الزمالك ومن ثم عودة هاني العتال وعبد الله جورج إلى مجلس إدارة النادي مرة أخرى وبطلان عضوية أحمد مرتضى منصور. طالع التفاصيل من هنا.

وقال عباس خلال تصريحات عبر مكتبه الإعلامي: “القرار يقبل الطعن عليه من المتداخلين والجهة المحكوم ضدها وهي اللجنة الأولمبية، وهي خطوة جديدة في التقاضي يحق للطرف الآخر الاستفادة منها”.

أضاف عباس أنه لا يمكن بأي حال من الأحوال أن ينظر البعض لمباراة الزمالك المقبلة باعتبارها شماعة أو وسيلة لرفض التحركات القانونية والقضائية المكفولة بحكم القانون واللوائح المعمول بها في مصر.

طالع | وزارة الرياضة: الزمالك يحق له الطعن على قرار مركز التسوية والتحكيم

وتابع: “فريق كرة القدم الممثل في الجهاز الفني والإداري واللاعبين قادر على تحقيق المطلوب منه واستكمال مشواره القاري بعيداً عن المشاكل الإدارية الحالية والتي لم تؤثر عليه في يوم من الأيام ومضى في طريقه حتى تحقق هدفه بالوصول إلى هذه المرحلة من المنافسة على لقب دوري أبطال إفريقيا”.

الزمالك يلاقي الرجاء، مساء الأحد المقبل، ضمن منافسات إياب دور نصف نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا، وكان الفارس الأبيض قد فاز في مواجهة الذهاب بهدف دون رد.