Vesper

1 3 Gnabry Bayern are the best team on the planet atm especially when they get their 2 main CB¨s back

meh 1 2 Leon Goretzka

arff 1 1 Coman

Boateng burnt like toast

wooot 1 nil Alario

Coman diving like Salah

still multiple players to watch for targets 12 Edmond Tapsoba 9 Leon Bailey 19 Moussa Diaby and Alaba

fuck Havertz is out with a slight muscle injury

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/bundesliga-bayer-leverkusen-vs-bayern-munchen-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/bayern-munich/

fair enough cheers I so hope we go all out for Romagnoli, due to AC Milan being in tatters financially

Erling Braut Håland

Newcastle, Sunderland and shows of outright contempt for fans WHAT A BUSINESS It really wasn’t meant to be like this. As June approached, Newcastle fans were brimful of optimism that the long, drawn-out sale of their club by one universally reviled, despotic, tyrannical owner to another would finally be completed. They would be free to dream of a brave new dawn, a happy future in which Neymar was banging them in for fun up front and they were spending endless hours on the internet angrily pointing out London-based media agendas, typing the words “what about” more often than is humanly necessary and unconvincingly arguing that war crimes, beheadings and human rights abuses aren’t really anything to be concerned about if they are carried out in a way that doesn’t really affect you. With no sign of the handover being completed, they remain on tenterhooks, the collective mood even more furious than usual as they accuse Newcastle’s hierarchy of a “dereliction of duty” for something that does affect them: the club’s ongoing refusal to loop them in on plans for season tickets and money already spent on them. With the remainder of the current campaign set to be played behind closed doors, card-holders understandably want to know if they’ll be getting refunds for matches they have paid for but will be unable to attend, while the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust also wants season ticket payments for the 2020-21 campaign suspended. “Without supporters, Newcastle United does not exist,” it wrote. “We have previously contacted Newcastle United to express our concerns at the lack of action to assist its supporters in a time of need during this unprecedented global health and economic crisis. You have called on the fans of Newcastle United for support so often over the years and when we called for you to stand by your supporters, you did nothing.” Unsurprisingly, considering the outright contempt in which Newcastle fans are held by the club’s owner, no reply has yet been forthcoming, despite other top-flight clubs having reassured fans that they will be refunded one way or another for games they won’t get to see. Newcastle supporters should perhaps be careful what they wish for, as their neighbours have made sure to keep fans well-informed about what will be happening with their season tickets, prompting further anger. The Basket Case club in whose direction other Basket Case clubs tug their forelocks, Sunderland announced they won’t be refunding season ticket holders if the season isn’t cut short and their three remaining home games are played behind closed doors. They will instead offer fans a pass to stream the matches at home, which is much the same as an airline refusing to refund that expensive ticket you paid for a now-cancelled flight to New York, but showing you some video footage of Central Park and the Statue of Liberty instead. In an astonishing show of contempt, Sunderland have also told fans who renew their season tickets for the next campaign there will be no refunds for behind-closed-doors then either, only the same offer of a streaming pass which at £10 costs considerably less than a ticket. “What about families who have three or four season tickets in the same household? It’s nonsense,” thundered supporters group chief Michael Ganley. Despite claiming to be “in dialogue” with fans, Sunderland have yet to provide any satisfactory answers, but may well suggest each family member watches on a different device to ensure everyone gets maximum bang for their buck.

Whatever he is Gabriel is so not a Cahill style player, that is just silly. I have been a monster Romagnoli fan even with that fucker Mino for an agent, if ever there was a time to grab him, it is now, as AC Milan are FUCKED due to COVID and years of mismanagement also, take a look at Mohammed Salisu release clause is only £10.7m INTERVIEW: Q&A with Real Valladolid defender Mohammed Salisu, how he popped up in Spain, his view on the Black Stars and readiness to play for Ghana https://footballmadeinghana.com/2019/08/31/interview-qa-with-real-valladolid-defender-abdul-karim-salisu-how-he-popped-up-in-spain-his-view-on-the-black-stars-and-readiness-to-play-for-ghana/ Five facts about reported Manchester United target Mohammed Salisu https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/five-facts-about-reported-manchester-united-target-mohammed-salisu/ Pau Torres too, Barca and Pep are circling Pau Torres: 5 Things to Know About Arsenal, Chelsea & Man City Linked Star Called Up to Spain Squad https://www.90min.com/posts/6476303-pau-torres-5-things-to-know-about-arsenal-chelsea-man-city-linked-star-called-up-to-spain-squad FC Barcelona Approach Villarreal To Sign Young Spain International Pau Torres https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2020/03/22/fc-barcelona-approach-villarreal-to-sign-young-spain-international-pau-torres/#3533cf2f46a1

they are talking about the next season as in several months from now add in a CB and I will be shocked if we go beyond that and we might very well NOT do a CB and NOT do a another keeper we surely will have a a new LB, and it is ALL becuase Emerson was a fucking massive bust I have NO clue why Emerson went back to shit I thought he was finally healed up from that horrid knee injury and would keep on improving but nope pure dogshit we all know/knew what Alonso can and cannot do he is like a change-up for very specific types of games, and he does do SOME things immensely well, but is so slow and limited otherwise after that (LB) its a pure coin toss

we will not be in a new stadium (one that is near the present location) until the 2030's if ever the permits are all expired, we would have to start all over again (maybe with a little less hassle) and it will take years to get to a starting date, and then 5 years or so away from SB after it is started we are basically fucked for the next decade plus stadiums costs have zero impact on FFP in terms of the cost of building them it is all on the ownership, in terms of do they want to slam down 1 billion plus quid or so (we literally have the world's costliest stadium location to build at, no one else is remotely close) they (new massive, modern stadiums) do have a massive impact, however, on balancing the books in terms of revenue over the next ten years, we will be out 500 million to 1 billion quid in terms of balancing the FFP books and pumping in cash for improving/maintaining the team versus if a new stadium had opened up this summer

Exclusive: Williams to be offered new deal by Manchester United https://theathletic.com/1852552/2020/06/04/exclusive-williams-to-be-offered-new-deal-by-manchester-united/ Manchester United are set to offer Brandon Williams a major new contract to reflect his status as a first-team player. Williams currently earns £4,000 per week and United plan talks on a significantly improved deal that would see the 19-year-old paid in keeping with his role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. Williams agreed his latest contract in October after playing twice for the first team, but his rapid progress this season, which caught many by surprise, has meant a renegotiation is necessary. He made his debut as a substitute in the Carabao Cup win over Rochdale, followed by a first start away to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, and has now featured 26 times, including nine Premier League starts, this season. Williams scored in the 3-3 draw at Sheffield United and has moved comfortably between left-back and left wing-back, even playing on the right flank at times. He is expected to be an important figure on United’s run-in once the season resumes later this month, having gained high praise from Solskjaer at various points. After a stirring performance in the 4-0 win over Norwich City in January, the United manager said: “His hunger is a lesson for everyone who wants to be a footballer, the attitude he’s showing. It’ll be up to him, myself and the club to keep him that hungry. I don’t expect him to change because he’s got the heart for it.” Later that month, United predecessor turned pundit Gary Neville wrote on Twitter: “I like Brandon Williams. He has that look in his eye of someone that would eat his opponent’s nose to win the match. Keep going, kid! Oh, he can play football, too, which is always a bonus.” Solskjaer added: “He’s been absolutely outstanding since he came in. Every challenge we’ve put in front of him he’s tackled head-on.” His impact has been noted at international level, too. Gareth Southgate is understood to believe Williams has the potential for full England honours. He impressed on his debut for England Under-20s this season and is expected to be called up by Aidy Bothroyd for the under-21s at the next opportunity. Williams is from north Manchester and joined United’s academy aged seven. He has long told friends of his burning desire to make it at the club. Such was his ambition to play for United, he rejected loan offers last summer in the hope of breaking into the senior squad. That single-mindedness has paid off and even though the speed of his acceleration into the team was unexpected, his high standards prompted figures within the club to speculate he had surpassed Luke Shaw as their best left-back at one stage. Shaw responded with a series of excellent displays but the comparison now provides a reference for Williams’ negotiations. Shaw, as a full England international, is paid £190,000 per week. United are very careful with players who come through their academy however, and Solskjaer subscribes to a philosophy where emerging talents are not given too much too soon. United’s manager took an early interest as far as Williams was concerned and his relatively modest current earnings reflect the club’s firm position. When Williams signed his last contract in October his determination was to secure a place in Solskjaer’s side rather than gain a big pay rise on his previous deal, which had been his first as a professional. But United made plain that further talks would take place once his position in the first-team had solidified and negotiations are now in the works. It is accepted that Williams is due a serious upgrade, with contemporaries earning considerably higher salaries. It is well known that Diogo Dalot, for instance, receives around £50,000 per week. Williams is fully fit and ready for the restart of the Premier League, having kept busy during lockdown with regimes set by United’s sports scientists. He even roped in an unlikely companion for sessions, as revealed by coach Kieran McKenna. “I think it’s important the players feel that sense of connection,” McKenna told United’s website. “I’ve tried to ring quite a few, especially the younger boys, to make sure they’re OK, and try to stop Brandon Williams tackling his dog on a regular basis!”

Timo Werner – How Chelsea recruit became one of Europe's most feared strikers In terms of goals-per-minute, Werner currently ranks higher than Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah and Neymar https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/06/05/timo-werner-chelsea-recruit-became-one-europes-feared-strikers/ As a man who was once driven to dizziness by the deafening sound of a Turkish home crowd, Timo Werner could hardly have been blamed for being affected by all the noise around his future. For months now, each week has brought a new rumour about where he might go or which club is leading the race for his signature. Through it all, though, this ruthless 24-year-old has remained focused on underlining his status as one of Europe’s most feared strikers. Now, at last, the speculation can end. As reported by Telegraph Sport on Thursday night, Werner has agreed to join Chelsea, with Frank Lampard’s side on the brink of tying up a deal reported to be worth around £53 million. Even in these strange times, with transfer fees expected to shrink as a result of the coronavirus crisis, it feels like shrewd business. The move to Chelsea caps quite the turnaround for Werner, who not long ago was the most hated player at Germany’s most hated club. RB Leipzig are still widely detested in Germany, but the distaste for Werner has gradually turned into admiration for a striker who appears perfectly suited to the physical demands of the Premier League. There is a versatility to Werner’s game that makes him such an exciting attacking player: he can run in behind with his speed but he can also operate on the wings or in a deeper forward position. “Timo now has a good sense not only of letting himself attack on the wing, but also of going into the No 10 position,” said Julian Nagelsmann, Werner’s coach at Leipzig, after a hat-trick against Mainz last month. “Coupled with his speed, this makes him more variable and more difficult for his opponents to get to grips with him.” In Europe’s top five leagues, only two players ⁠— Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile ⁠— have scored more league goals than Werner this season. In terms of goals-per-minute, Werner currently ranks higher than Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah and Neymar. No player in the continent’s leading divisions has scored more than his five goals from “fast breaks”, which highlights his counter-attacking potential. “He is absolutely rapid, but that is not one of the qualities I would say sticks out the most,” Leipzig’s Tyler Adams told ESPN. “I would say one of the qualities that sticks out the most is how many ways he is able to score: from the right, left, centrally. “We have played him as a No 10 this year and he is running out of midfield and scoring goals. There are just so many different dynamics that you can fit him in, and that is what makes him such a unique piece. “If you’re able to score in that many different ways, you’re going to be able to play at the highest level for a very long time, the biggest clubs in the world, for the national team scoring goals. “He’s a pleasure to play with. Obviously it makes it easy as a midfielder that you can just hit the ball over the top and know that he’s going to catch it, no matter what.” It is easy to see why it was assumed that Liverpool would be the perfect fit for Werner. He has even said so himself, pointing out that his high-energy style of play would suit Jurgen Klopp’s approach. But Liverpool are understood to have stalled on his release clause, providing Chelsea with an opportunity to make a decisive move this week. Although he represents a significant loss of talent from the German league, few outside Leipzig will be upset by Werner’s departure. The club’s rapid rise, fuelled by the investment of drinks company Red Bull, has earned them plenty of enemies in their 11 years of existence. Werner was the first Leipzig player to represent Germany and a national anger was channeled towards him following a dive in December 2016, for which he later apologised. In his second appearance for his country, at the age of 21, he was booed and whistled by his own supporters. “That is simply not OK,” Joachim Low, the Germany manager, said at the time. Werner added: “People are making a big thing out of it because I play for RB Leipzig. His reputation was not helped by an extraordinary night in Turkey a few months later, when he asked to be substituted during a Champions League match against Besiktas. The noise of the crowd had left him needing ear plugs, and then he left the pitch feeling dizzy. “As a coach it is important to see who I can rely on in moments like this,” said a scathing Ralph Hasenhuttl, his manager at the time. Werner had joined Leipzig from Stuttgart, where he had been prolific at youth level before becoming their youngest ever first-team player at the age of 17. He has struck 92 times in 154 games for Leipzig, and 11 times in 29 international appearances for Germany. With numbers like these, and such obvious talent, there is some surprise he has remained at Leipzig this long. He was expected by many to join Bayern Munich last summer before slipping through their grasp. If he can maintain his current form, in a different league and a different team, then Bayern’s loss is sure to be Chelsea’s gain.

Gabriel is very good on the ball. how many games have you watched him? I have seen around 10 or 12. also, unless you count the soon be 36yo Giorgio Chiellini , Juve have no left-footed CB's Lampard wants a left-footed CB these are the only ones remotely worth buying Lucas Hernández (Bayern will never sell him now) Alessio Romagnoli (the cunt Mino Raiola as his agent makes this shit hard, but he is the perfect buy otherwise) Gabriel Magalhães I say buy him now, IMHO, if we cannot get Romagnoli Clément Lenglet (Barca will not sell I think) Mohammed Salisu - Real Valladolid, young, tall 1.91m, very pacey, good on the ball, very, very large upside, we should be scouting him, number 3 on my list for left footed CB target,all things considered Pau Torres - Villarreal, 23yo, tall 1.91m, good on the ball, large upside, we should be scouting him Presnel Kimpembe (I doubt PSG will sell him) Alessandro Bastoni (worth looking at,, 21yo, 1.90m, but Inter probably will not sell) Benoît Badiashile (too young atm to come right in I think, just turned 19yo, but is huge (1.94m) and we have scouted him), Monaco is friendly team for us Dan-Axel Zagadou (even bigger at 1.96m, not sure if he is that good on the ball atm, and is not the paciest, 21yo) Samuel Umtiti (has collapsed in quality of play ever since he was superb at the WC, no clue what is wrong with him, massive enigma)

I rate him really high. He is very smooth and comfortable on the ball, (most Brasilians CB's have that, its just in their DNA, lol) has great instincts, and knows how to put a proper tackle in. He also is capable of pull off some great long balls. Tall, and lanky, but has decent strength. I would still prefer Romagnoli, but we have just the worst luck with the fucking Italian teams, plus Alessio's agent is that cunt Mino Raiola (arfff) Gabriels' agent is Elenko Sports Ltda (same as Emerson, so we have a working relationship already) Gabriel Magalhaes' strengths, weaknesses and what Chelsea will get if they seal £30m transfer The Lille centre-back has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge when the transfer window re-opens - but would he be a good fit for Frank Lampard's side? https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/transfer-news/chelsea-transfer-news-gabriel-magalhaes-18002723 In the world of twenty-four hour sports news and up-to-the-minute coverage on social media, it has become increasingly difficult for football clubs to keep their transfer business quiet. Yet somehow Chelsea appear to be doing so. The Blues' move for Christian Pulisic was completed without so much as a single column inch being filled. Hakim Ziyech, meanwhile, was signed from Ajax last month despite Chelsea’s interest barely being reported. And this trick may have worked for a third time as Manu Lonjon, a journalist for Eurosport in France, claims a deal to bring Lille centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes to Stamford Bridge is on the verge of completion. Everton had been linked with the 22-year-old. Arsenal and Tottenham, too. But nothing about a potential switch to Chelsea until Saturday night. It’s why many Blues fans are unlikely to know too much about the Brazilian. So here’s what to expect if Gabriel does arrive this summer. Few European clubs can rival Lille when it comes to identifying future stars and nurturing their talents. Eden Hazard and Nicolas Pepe blossomed into elite wingers with Les Dogues while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Divock Origi, Lucas Digne, Dimitri Payet and Idrissa Gueye also enjoyed spells in northern France. It’s a production line of talent and Gabriel is the latest off the conveyor belt. The Brazilian is relatively inexperienced - he has only 34 Ligue 1 starts and six Champions League appearances to his name - yet his performances alongside Jose Fonte have been composed and commanding. Gabriel joined Lille in January 2017 from Brazilian second division club Avai and his first 18 months at the club were far from settled. There was an unsuccessful loan spell at Troyes and a six-month switch to Dinamo Zagreb for whom he played just once. Lille decided to keep the young centre-back at the club for the 2018/19 campaign and it was a decision which paid off, eventually. He played just one minute in Ligue 1 prior to February but an injury to club captain Adama Soumaoro presented a first-team opportunity. It was one Gabriel took. He played but all two of the remaining Ligue 1 matches last season and has kept his place this term. Such has been his form, Lille allowed Soumaoro to leave on loan for Genoa in January. “It took me a while to get used to things in Lille, it was very difficult,” the defender admitted earlier this year. “Today I am happy. The coach shows me that I am important for the team, I have responsibilities. Lille is my home now.” Perhaps not for too much longer, however. Chelsea have been on the search for a left-footed centre-back for some time, it’s why links to former Blue Nathan Ake have persisted for over a year. Gabriel ticks that box yet also has the skill set required to thrive in the Premier League. The Brazilian isn’t blisteringly quick but he controls space well and that enables him to handle even the most nimble of wingers. He doesn’t dive into challenges, either. Instead Gabriel waits for the right moment to claim the ball and that is why his 11.98 ball recoveries per 90 is only bettered by 12 other Ligue 1 defenders. And at 6ft 3ins, he isn’t easily beaten in the air, evidenced by the fact he wins 64 percent of his aerial duels. That’s all well and good but a centre-back in Lampard’s side must be comfortable on the ball. Again Gabriel fits the bill. He is completing an average of 49.23 passes per 90 in Ligue 1 this season and these are not simply safe passes as 42.8 percent go forward. Gabriel’s long game is also a big weapon. He can hit crossfield balls or passes over a defence with unerring accuracy, which is why he has completed 46.7 percent of long passes this term. In this sense he is a deep-lying playmaker. Add in his ability to effortlessly play as part of a back three or back four and Gabriel seems an ideal signing for Chelsea at £30million. He could just be a bargain, one nobody saw coming.

Nicolo Zaniolo is ‘part-Gerrard’ in style and Roma hope he can be Totti’s heir https://theathletic.com/1854044/2020/06/05/horncastle-zaniolo-roma-italy-serie-a/ “You know I wanted to bring him with me,” Stefano Vecchi tells The Athletic. After cleaning up in youth football with Inter Milan Under-19s and impressing in a caretaker role with the first team, Venezia thought Vecchi was the man to succeed where Pippo Inzaghi had come up short and take them back to Serie A for the first time since 2002. Perhaps he would have done too if Nicolo Zaniolo, the star of his treble-winning Inter side, had jumped aboard a vaporetto water-taxi and joined him at the Pierluigi Penzo stadium. Fabio Capello regards Zaniolo as “the biggest talent in Italy”. Vecchi knows that as well as anyone. Zaniolo scored 14 goals from midfield under his stewardship to inspire Inter’s kids to a national championship in 2018. “It wasn’t enough,” Vecchi laughs. “Nicolo could have scored more! It wasn’t hard for him to get on the scoresheet. It didn’t take much. I’ve always compared Nicolo with players from the English game: part-Gerrard, part-Lampard. Players who run the length of the pitch, get into the box, and score goals.” Vecchi expected the teenager to take Serie B in his stride. Zaniolo had already got a taste of the second tier with Virtus Entella in 2017. That was where Vecchi first laid eyes on him. Out of nowhere, the innovative Entella (owner Antonio Gozzi provided the seed money to start Wyscout) made it to the final of the Under-19 Coppa Italia for the first time in club history. You didn’t need an encyclopedic online scouting platform to identify who was behind the fairytale cup run. The box scores were enough as Zaniolo’s name kept appearing in print next to big upsets. When he wasn’t eliminating richer, better-resourced youth sectors from Bologna, Torino and Fiorentina, he was training and playing with the Entella first team in Serie B. Ciccio Caputo, the Sassuolo striker who led the line for Entella’s seniors at the time, says Zaniolo had “absurd ability”. All of a sudden, big clubs started circling the 17-year-old. Entella’s opponents in that Coppa Italia final, Roma, got in touch about signing him but by then, it seemed almost certain Zaniolo was set to become a Juventus player. Except Inter swooped in and placed him in Vecchi’s hands. Given the success they enjoyed together — a league title, a Super Cup and the prestigious Viareggio tournament trophy — it was only natural that Vecchi wished for a reunion. Everything happened so damn fast that summer, though. Inter were in talks to sign Radja Nainggolan from Roma, with how the deal was to be structured a matter of negotiation. They could have paid the asking price and let that be that. But keeping some cash in reserve for other signings and the chance to book a profit on one of their young players, offered as collateral, started to have some appeal. Roma’s recruitment department, headed at the time by Monchi, looked at Inter’s academy and expressed a preference for one of two players; one was Ionut Radu, the Romanian goalkeeper, and the other was Zaniolo. “Radu had already gone to Genoa (on loan) though and Inter didn’t want to sell Zaniolo. They’re not idiots,” Monchi recalled. “They really wanted Radja though, so a compromise had to be made. The deal would still have gone through without Zaniolo, though. It wasn’t a non-negotiable.” Which is why it now looks like Inter committed a gaffe in letting him go. Their sporting director Piero Ausilio compares it with the time the club used Leonardo Bonucci to persuade Genoa to give up Diego Milito and Thiago Motta in the summer before the 2009-10 treble-winning season. The move was justified as sacrificing the future in order to win now. Except its nine years and counting since Inter won something and Nainggolan now finds himself out on loan at Cagliari. Ausilio maintains he has only one regret in football and this isn’t it — selling Philippe Coutinho to Liverpool in 2013 is — but, as Vecchi can attest, the speed at which Zaniolo’s career took off from here was astounding. Zaniolo had spent that summer at the Under-19 European Championship in Finland. Italy reached the final and took Portugal to extra time before losing 4-3. Roberto Mancini, the senior national team coach, came away impressed with Zaniolo. “We went to have a look at his profile and saw he still hadn’t played anywhere really — neither in Serie B or C. So we said to ourselves, ‘Alright then, we’ll have a go’.” As was the case with Massimo Maccarone at the start of the millennium and Marco Verratti a decade later, Zaniolo was called up to the full Italy squad without ever having played a top-flight minute. “I was watching Sky Sports when the squad came out,” he said. “I saw my name and couldn’t believe it. I thought there must have been some mistake with the graphic.” When he joined up with the squad in September 2018, he had still yet to play a single minute for Roma and it seemed Mancini was making a point, daring clubs to be more courageous and start picking the talent from within. Roma had thought about sending the kid out on loan. “We didn’t think he’d get the game time and put in the performances he did,” Vecchi says. Next thing he knew, Zaniolo was making his professional debut. Normally, coaches ease prospects in. In Italy, especially, they are careful, too cautious perhaps not to “burn” new talent. And yet Roma’s manager at the time, Eusebio Di Francesco, threw Zaniolo straight into the frying pan on maximum heat. His first-ever game came at the very highest level; Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on a Champions League night. “I can remember every single detail,” Zaniolo later reflected. “Every touch. The morning before, I had no idea I’d be going to Madrid for the game. Di Francesco broke it to me in the final team meeting without any warning. He put me in with the senior pros, made me understand what it’s like to be in the dressing room, and how important it is to work hard every day. I owe him a lot.” The sales of Kevin Strootman and Nainggolan opened up space for Zaniolo, as did the struggles of Steven N’Zonzi and the predictable fragility of Javier Pastore. He was fortunate to encounter Di Francesco, who had established Verratti in the first team at Pescara, then dome the same with Domenico Berardi, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Simone Zaza at Sassuolo. “Sure, Nicolo had great potential but to do what he did straight out of the under-19s…” Vecchi pauses. “Well, it’s almost unprecedented. It’s not normal. To see him playing at the Bernabeu and do well there… Di Francesco did a great job putting faith in him and deserves recognition for that.” Vecchi soon had to give up any hope of Zaniolo joining him in Venice. By the time the January 2019 transfer window opened, his protege had not fizzled out. The 19-year-old instead continued to burn brightly. “If you look at how he’s built,” Vecchi observes, “he’s got devastating power. Nicolo’s got such strength that it’s hard to knock him off the ball. His (left) foot isn’t bad either, is it? Not bad at all, in fact.” Zaniolo’s first senior goal encapsulated everything Vecchi touched upon. Reporters who labelled Di Francesco crazy for starting this unknown at the Bernabeu began to see why he had been so bold. It was Boxing Day 2018 and Roma were hosting Sassuolo at the Olimpico. Zaniolo made a driving run down the right, broke into the penalty area and cut inside. He then dummied a shot and put a defender and goalkeeper Andrea Consigli on their backsides before dinking the ball up and over them into the far corner. It was reminiscent of one of the many great goals Francesco Totti scored for the club against Sampdoria, and Roma fans started to proclaim: “The King of Rome has an heir.” Zaniolo rents a flat from Totti — it’s the place Alisson moved out of when he joined Liverpool at the start of that 2018-19 season — and he looks as settled there as he does in Serie A. “He’s got to this level so quickly because physically, he stands out,” Vecchi argues. “For that reason, players who are further along in their development, even adults, they can’t handle him.” It helps that Zaniolo’s father, Igor, was also a player. He was a member of the Genoa side Gian Piero Gasperini earned Serie A promotion with in 2006 but is more of a name down the Ligurian coast at La Spezia, where he banged in a lot more lower-league goals. “I played against his dad,” Vecchi says. “He was one of those strikers who used to be so annoying for us defenders because he was a real battler, always in your ear, arguing, pushing his team on. Nicolo will no doubt have some of his dad’s character. He’ll get some good advice. Igor knows what goes through a player’s head. It’s undoubtedly an advantage.” Igor will presumably have recommended that his son avoids headbutting an opponent, as he did in 1996 — an offence that cost him a six-month ban when playing under Sandro Mazzola’s brother, Ferruccio, at Aosta. Now running a bar down by the Spezia waterfront, Igor evidently knows what’s best for his boy. He took Nicolo out of Fiorentina’s youth ranks when he was 16 and organised for him to be closer to home than Florence, just an hour up the road with Chiavari-based Entella. The commute to Tuscany was a long one and he also wasn’t convinced Fiorentina were playing his son enough for him to develop. They intended to send him on loan to play for Carpi or Cesena’s Primavera rather than give Zaniolo game time with their own under-19s and, boy, did he come back to haunt them. Zaniolo scored as Entella dumped Fiorentina out of the Coppa Italia semi-finals at that level. His most recent Serie A goal also came at the Artemio Franchi in Roma’s 4-1 win over them back in December. “It’s more than a regret,” Cristiano Masitto, Fiorentina’s former under-17s coach, tells The Athletic. “They could have believed in him more.” Masitto watched from the sidelines as Zaniolo fired his side to a national final, which Fiorentina lost to Inter, and thinks the team could have won the Viareggio trophy had its “trequartista” stuck around a little longer: “Zaniolo was vivacious in character. He always had a smile on his face. He was ingenious, creative; already a game-changer. He had the abilities you expect from a much older player. “That year with us, he was very good in how he used to control the ball on the turn. If you played the ball into him fast, it didn’t matter if it was a bad pass; he somehow managed to control it and make it playable again. Then his final ball — his dribbling and final ball was what you’d expect from an older player. He was devastating in the final third. The way he used to move the ball and open up the pitch with his left foot; he was able to pull off the hardest and most difficult things, the kind of things I’d never seen from a player that age before.” Masitto remembers one goal in particular, another towering header like the one Zaniolo would score for Inter against Juventus in the Primavera semi-finals in June 2018, when “almost from a standstill, he must have been 20 or 30cm above his marker. From that moment, we realised he was getting stronger. We realised just how explosive he was. The power he has in his legs in remarkable”. That goal came after Masitto had left Zaniolo out for five games as he sought to effect a change in mentality. Vecchi also mentioned how “there were times when I used to get a bit angry with him because if he scored a goal, did well in training or had a good spell during a game, he seemed happy with that. I always tried to push him to give everything. He could have scored more”. At last summer’s Under-21 European Championship, Gigi Di Biagio also disciplined Zaniolo and Moise Kean (below) after they showed up late to a fitness session. Both were then left out for the decisive final group game against Belgium and Mancini then overlooked them for the senior squad’s next get-together in August. “For two or three days in a row, me and Moise were late for team meetings with the under-21s,” Zaniolo recently told Sky. “Di Biagio did the right thing in leaving us out. We were playing PlayStation and forgot about the meeting. We didn’t look at the schedule. It won’t ever happen again. It was a negative period for me. I was physically and mentally worn out. I let myself go. That situation taught me how I need to behave and the consequences of my actions because I had a disappointing Euros.” Capello raised the issue again after watching another exciting teenager, Sebastiano Esposito, break through at Inter and shine against Borussia Dortmund last October. His advice to the playmaker was “don’t go down the same path” as Zaniolo, later claiming he was misinterpreted amid flak from Roma fans, some of whom sang some pretty disparaging songs about their former player and coach soon afterwards. Zaniolo did more than bounce back, though. He has kicked on under Roma’s new coach Paulo Fonseca, even as a right winger, where he cuts inside and dashes between the lines to play off Edin Dzeko. StatsBomb data shows that, of players with at least 1,200 minutes under their belt this season, Zaniolo has the second-highest xG at Roma and leads them in aggressive actions and dribbles. Only Jeremie Boga, Sassuolo’s out-and-out winger, makes more successful dribbles among players under the age of 23 in all of Serie A. Zaniolo’s average carry length (7.64m) — also inferior only to that of Boga — is indicative of his box-to-box engine. “Nicolo played as a No 10 for Entella,” Vecchi recalls. “With me, he played a bit as a No 10, a bit as a No 8 on the left side of midfield. He can make the difference from the wing too, as we’re seeing at Roma. But Nicolo can play anywhere if he wants to. For me, he’s a modern midfielder, the kind that can do a bit of everything.” By Christmas, Zaniolo already had as many league goals (four) as he had in all of last season. He contributed two to Italy’s 9-1 thumping of Armenia in November and looked set for inclusion in Mancini’s squad for the now-postponed European Championship this summer. But then, while running at Juventus’ defence on January 12, his foot got caught in the Olimpico turf and his knee contorted. Zaniolo, carried off in tears, had blown out his ACL. As Roma rallied around him, putting together a moving video of fans wishing Zaniolo well, some Lazio fans left a banner outside their arch rivals’ Trigoria training ground calling him a cripple and drawing comparisons with Francesco “Kawasaki” Rocca, the lightning-fast winger whose career was cut short in 1981 by a serious knee injury. It certainly didn’t endear Lazio to Zaniolo who, perhaps understandably, rarely passes up an opportunity to express his disdain for them. Zaniolo was back doing sprint work this week and may even play a role on the run-in when this season resumes in a couple of weeks. Roma are fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Atalanta, who have a game in hand and also have an advantageous head-to-head record. Reclaiming a Champions League spot after a year out of the competition is key, particularly as the club made an €87 million loss in the first six months of this season. It would certainly go some way towards helping Roma resist offers for their best players. “Joking around with Nicolo, I always used to say to him, ‘Look, if I don’t see you playing in a Liverpool shirt one day, it’ll mean you haven’t made enough of yourself’,” Vecchi laughs. Zaniolo has kissed the badge and told fans he wants to be a “bandiera” — the team’s talismanic standard-bearer — in the same way Totti and Daniele De Rossi were in the past. Right now though, his focus has to be on coming back stronger than ever and picking up where he left off. As Mancini recently said in one of Christian Vieri’s Instagram Live shows, “He can be extraordinary”.

Rajković is a good call and at least you addressed LB (I would add in Theo Hernandez and Telles into that mix as well, and maybe even Alex Sandro in a swap for Emerson as a 3 year stop gap, although that is not my style or preference) but you left out any upgrade at CB Lampard REALLY wants a left footed player there, so Gabriel or Romagnoli or Mohammed Salisu (Real Valladolid) surely must be added into the conversation as well our CB's are so poor on the ball, we really need one to lead from the left AC has been a huge disappointment as he simply has not shown the strength needed in the EPL he or Zouma need to be cashed in on (I do not see us doing both in one window, especially with the COVID-19 market)

Chilwell and Gabriel

Friday June 5 2020 Football Nerd Why dribbling is more valuable than ever and no longer football's 'lost art' By Daniel Zeqiri Harry Maguire has been a key part of Man Utd's ball progression this season CREDIT: REUTERS Through football's coronavirus hiatus, we are committed to providing a weekly newsletter of facts, analysis and retrospectives. If there is a topic you want us to cover please email [email protected]. Above all, stay safe. Dribbling and tackling are habitually described as football's two lost arts, but a quick survey of the Premier League suggests the primal skill of taking the ball and running straight at the opposition is still prized. Analysis of Bundesliga football has observed fewer tackles per game since the sport's resumption post-lockdown, which could offer the division's best ball-carriers even more incentive to take players on. Top flight football returns in England with Aston Villa v Sheffield United on June 17, and there can be no doubt that Villa's chances of survival rest at the feet of Jack Grealish. Grealish's cavalier style and bravery both to receive the ball under opposition pressure and ride agricultural challenges has delighted neutrals. The sight of an outstanding individual rescuing a team also resonates with the Roy of the Rovers motif embedded in English football's psyche. Grealish has drawn 127 fouls from opposition players this season, 34 more than Wilfried Zaha who has drawn the second most. Grealish has been fouled more than Adama Traore and Richarlison combined. There are several ways of measuring the effectiveness of dribbling. One metric in which Grealish shows up well is Progressive Carrying Distance, the cumulative distance travelled towards the opponent's goal with ball at feet across the season. Grealish is second in the league in this metric, carrying the ball 6,972 yards since the start of the season. Only Zaha has posted a higher number, with Adama Traore and Harry Maguire rounding out the top four. Yes that's right, Harry Maguire. Maguire is the only central defender in the top 10, so this method of distribution is both striking and highly unusual. When we talk about defenders playing out from the back, we tend to focus on line-breaking passes and long switches of play. The ability to drive forward with the ball is an overlooked skill. Maguire's 6,187 yards carried also reflects a tendency of Manchester United's opponents to sit deep. Teams dropping off to cover the speed of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James offer Maguire the invitation to begin one of his forays forward. Since Michael's Carrick retirement, United have lacked a top class distributor in deep midfield so Maguire stepping in to this area of the pitch could well be born of necessity. In fact, there might be occasions when passing early and circulating the ball with the minimum of touches is preferable. A centre-back carrying the ball before passing can make things more congested for the receiver. Do these numbers mean Maguire is one of the league's best dribblers? Not quite. Maguire has played every minute of United's Premier League season so his cumulative numbers are bound to swell. When Progessive Carrying Distance per 90 minutes is calculated, Maguire drops to 43rd - though that is still neck and neck with Nicolas Pepe and ahead of Giovani Lo Celso. Moreover, you do not actually need to beat an opposition player to record a Progressive Carrying Distance. When it comes to Players Dribbled Past across the whole season, Zaha remains well out in front 145 and you can rest easy...Maguire is nowhere to be seen in the top 10. Traore is a commendable second with 127 and his Wolves team-mate Diogo Jota is fourth with 72, which makes it plain to see why Nuno Espirito Santo's team have such a slippery and dangerous attack. Sandwiched between them is Norwich's Emi Buendia, who could be one of the bargains of the summer for those seeking a dexterous and creative midfielder. As well as gliding past players, Buendia's Expected Assists per 90 minutes is bettered only by Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez. No wonder many judges consider Norwich the best ever team to be bottom of the Premier League. Explore beyond the headlines Become a Telegraph subscriber today and access our best sport articles and analysis – free for your first month. Sign up here Pick of the week "The presence of Kane and Son means Spurs will be a different side in June to what they would have been in April. Although lots of the focus will be on the availability of the England captain, it is Spurs’ ability to use Son which is the game-changer for Mourinho. Kane will score goals in any system, so the tactical shape is not necessarily compromised with or without him. It is Kane’s strike rate which makes him so important. " Jamie Carragher on why Tottenham are lockdown's big winners - can they make the top four?

oki I give up we are not getting him now I simply cannot see us splashing £89m FUCK I thought 80m euros would shake him lose but if even Real (AND they would loan him back!) cannot get that done well grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr