This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Celtic have had an attempt to offload Olivier Ntcham to Bordeaux turned down, with the Celts hoping to get rid of their midfielder in this transfer window, according to 20 Minutes.

What’s the story?

The Frenchman has made no secret of his desire to leave Parkhead this summer, but things had been beginning to look up for Ntcham in Glasgow. The central midfielder started the league win over Motherwell and the crushing defeat to Cluj, and it now looks as if the club are actively trying to end his time at Celtic Park.

A Japanese “wizard” better at free-kicks than Ronaldo and Beckham? Find out who in the video below…

Per the report, the Ligue 1 side turned down Celtic’s approach as they’re looking for a more experienced player than the 23-year-old.

Ntcham’s time in Scotland has been tumultuous, starting well after signing from Manchester City, but playing poorly last season after a move to Porto failed to materialise.

The 23-year-old has a Hoops contract until 2022, so it’s somewhat surprising to see the reported figure involved in a potential deal with Bordeaux is a measly €4m (£3.7m).

Celtic simply must hold on

While you can understand why Neil Lennon and the Celtic board may want rid of the wantaway ace, holding off selling him until next summer may be a better plan of action. Ntcham could yet have a big part to play in the club’s fortunes this campaign, so keeping him for the next 12 months would make sense.

We’ve seen Scott Brown look a shell of his former self a few times already this season, so the 23-year-old could take his place in the side more often than he did in the last campaign. Similarly, he could be in for some more game time as a number ten, with Tom Rogic perpetually injured and Ryan Christie only just getting used to his role as a key player in the side.

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If Ntcham were to get a run in the side then there’s no reason why he can’t rediscover his form from his debut season in the Premiership. If this were to happen then you can bet the club will get more than the paltry €4m they want for him next summer.

Keeping the Frenchman is a win-win. Ntcham will have better clubs shopping for his services after another good season, Neil Lennon will get a versatile player who can help cover both the central midfield and number ten positions, and the club will surely be able to scoop up more than the meagre sum currently being reported.

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أكد الفرنسي زين الدين زيدان، المدير الفني لـ ريال مدريد، أنه لا توجد مباراة سهلة، وعلى فريقه مواصلة العمل دون النظر للآخرين، متحدثًا عن المنافسة على الليجا مع أتلتيكو مدريد.

وفاز ريال مدريد على ليفانتي بهدف دون رد، ليقلص فارق النقاط إلى ثلاث مع المتصدر أتلتيكو مدريد، الذي تعرض لهزيمة من ليفانتي بهدفين دون رد.

ونشرت صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية، تصريحات زيدان خلال المؤتمر الصحفي عقب المباراة، وعلّق كذلك على المواجهة المقبلة أمام أتالانتا في ذهاب دور الـ16 بدوري أبطال أوروبا.

في غياب سيرجيو راموس وكريم بنزيما، تقدم كاسيميرو بأداء مثير للإعجاب، بل وأحرز هدف الفوز، وقال زيدان: “نعرف كم هو لاعب جيد”.

وأضاف: “في الكرات الثابتة هو لاعب مهم، نعرف المواقع التي يتواجد بها، نعلم أنه قادر على التسجيل، أنا سعيد لأجله وللفريق بأكمله”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. زيدان: لن أخاطر بـ بنزيما أمام أتالانتا في دوري أبطال أوروبا

واستطرد زيدان: “لا توجد مباراة سهلة، هم أيضا بحاجة إلى النقاط، كانت المباراة معقدة، علينا أن نكون سعداء بالنتيجة وبالشباك النظيفة”.

وعن رسالته للاعبيه بعد الفوز وتعثر أتلتيكو مدريد، أردف زيدان: “لا داعي لإرسال رسالة، إنه فوز مهم، انتصار رابع وعلينا أن نواصل عملنا دون النظر إلى الآخرين”.

وبشأن مستوى الفريق، شدد زيدان: “نحن جيدون، لدينا استمرارية في النتائج، الفريق بأكمله يدافع بشكل جيد للغاية”.

وأتم زيدان: “علينا أن نرتاح جيدًا، سنستعد للمباراة يوم الأربعاء أمام أتالانتا بأفضل طريقة ممكنة وسنحاول مواصلة ما نقوم به”.

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After seemingly settling on him being one of their targets for this summer in central midfield, it appears Sean Longstaff’s potential move to Manchester United has taken a fresh twist.

Reports in recent weeks and months had suggested that the Red Devils were very keen on taking him to Old Trafford this summer following a breakthrough campaign with the Magpies.

However, recently appointed Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has now insisted that he is “very confident” Longstaff will remain on Tyneside and revealed that the club “don’t want to sell our best young players”.

After hearing Bruce’s defiant comments, United fans took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the matter and there was certainly a sense of relief that a move for Longstaff could be dead in the water.

Many supporters of the Manchester side appeared to “thank” Bruce for keeping Longstaff at Newcastle and insisted that the 21-year-old was simply not good enough.

Indeed, some even pointed back to Bruce’s history as a United player as evidence that the current Newcastle boss was still thinking of the Red Devils’ best interests by not allowing Longstaff to join.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Mark Lawrenson has made a career out of being a much-maligned pundit since retiring from football, where his comments, their tone, and his embarrassing dad-like approach on Match of the Day often find themselves facing ridicule.

Today will be no different.

The former Liverpool player has spoken out on what he thinks his old side should do in the transfer market, with Real Madrid outcast Gareth Bale the topic of conversation.

‘Lawro’ believes that the Reds should sign the Wales international, but his reasons leave a lot to be desired.

What did he say?

Lawrenson said: “I think Klopp could get the best out of him. He’s such a good player and such a talent. He just needs to be loved and Klopp would be the perfect fit to do that.

“People say he’s got injury problems and all that but Klopp would get him mega fit.”

Utterly bizarre

How does Lawrenson think injuries work?

There’s a reason why Bale has missed 96 games through injury alone since the 2009/10 season, as a result of 25 separate problems.

If the £85m man himself can’t solve his own issues, nor can the most prestigious club in world football help the 6 foot 1 man become less injury prone, how does ‘Lawro’ think that Jurgen Klopp can just get him “mega fit”?

Does the German have a magic wand that we don’t know about?

Additionally, he doesn’t “just need to be loved” as Lawrenson states. A big bear-hug from Klopp won’t eradicate the fact that the 30-year-old earns an eye-watering £60ok-a-week at Madrid, and Liverpool’s current highest earner is Mohamed Salah on £200k-a-week – staggeringly, a third of Bale’s salary.

There is simply no logic behind Lawrenson’s words. This would be one of the most difficult transfers to complete this summer, and it feels as if the 62-year-old pundit has merely plucked the reasoning for his comments from thin air.

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Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are both interested in signing Emre Can from Juventus, according to Tuttosport via Calcio Mercato. 

Juventus are keen on offloading Can as they look to substantially trim their midfield ahead of the new campaign.

The Serie A champions already had a lot of central midfielders, before adding two more to their ranks this summer in the form of Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey, who signed from PSG and Arsenal respectively.

They also added defender Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax, but have kept hold of almost all of their squad from last season, barring 19-year-old forward Moise Kean who joined Everton for £25m earlier this summer.

Because of this, Juve have a huge wage-bill to contend with this season – which includes Cristiano Ronaldo’s reported £538,000-a-week salary and Aaron Ramsey’s bumper £400,000-a-week contract – so are looking to offload some members of the first-team squad, with Can sitting top of the list.

Barcelona were rumoured to be interested in the Germany international, with a swap deal for Ivan Rakitic being mentioned as a possibility last week, however that is not thought to be an option now as the Catalans are also trying to trim their midfield area instead of adding to it.

Tuttosport claim that former club Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are both thought to be interested in the 25-year-old, though, which could serve as a much better alternative for the ex-Liverpool man as it looks unlikely he will receive consistent game-time in Turin under new boss Maurizio Sarri given their engine room recruitment.

Can certainly has good pedigree, having featured in some of the biggest footballing occasions throughout his career. Still only 25, the midfielder has won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, Serie A with Juventus and the Confederations Cup with Germany. 

Only two Barcelona midfielders – Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal – averaged more tackles per game than the former Liverpool ace last season (2.2) while he also maintained a higher passing success rate than the likes (87.1%) of Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez, so could make an impact for either suitor. PSG have signed Idrissa Gueye and Ander Herrera to beef up their midfielder so a move to the French capital would seem unlikely.

He has also played in the League Cup and Champions League final during his time with Liverpool, so would bring a wealth of experience to any side he joined if he did leave Juventus in the next week.

Is Emre Can good enough for Barca or Bayern? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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West Brom boss Slaven Bilic will be pleased with his decision-making after Kenneth Zohore opened his Baggies account with a late equaliser after coming on as a second-half substitute.

The 25-year-old was introduced for fellow summer arrival Charlie Austin in the 76th minute before he confidently stepped up to slot home a penalty with just two minutes to go in the match.

Young Liverpool starlet Ovie Ejaria had opened the scoring for the visitors five minutes before Bilic brought Zohore into the action.

After three Championship starts without a goal, the striker found himself on the bench but his late heroics meant West Brom’s unbeaten start to the season continued on.

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A number of fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his performance.

One supporter thought it was all starting to come together as the 6 foot 2 forward troubled defenders with his running which changed the game in the Baggies’ favour.

That was echoed by another member of the Hawthorns crowd who claimed that Zohore did more in five minutes than Austin had managed all game.

The former Denmark U21 international joined the club in the summer from Championship rivals Cardiff City for £8m and has a pretty reasonable goalscoring record in England’s second tier.

Across both 2016/17 and 2017/18, Zohore netted 21 goals in 65 appearances.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

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[ad_pod ]Some Everton fans have taken to Twitter to react after the signing of Jean-Philippe Gbamin was officially announced by the club.The Ivory Coast international joins the Toffees on a five-year deal from Bundesliga side Mainz for an undisclosed fee, although it is believed that the Merseysiders parted with £25m to get their man.Gbamin, 23, seemingly arrives as a replacement for Idrissa Gueye, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £30m.The powerful midfielder has won 11 caps for his country and leaves Mainz after three years with the German club, where he made 86 Bundesliga appearances.Check out some amazing tekkers in the video below…Gbamin arrives as the Toffees’ fourth summer signing after the arrivals of Jonas Lossl, Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph, although it looks set to be a busy end to the window for Marcel Brands as a right-back and a striker are also on the wishlist – the arrival of Juventus striker Moise Kean looks imminent, however.Let’s see how some of the Everton fans on Twitter reacted to the announcement…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Having watched Liverpool’s UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea on Wednesday evening, one thing was strikingly evident – the Reds’ backline was starting extremely high up the pitch.

Whether this is something that Jurgen Klopp has coached into his team during pre-season, or merely a coincidence, it has resulted in Liverpool having to face 40 shots already this term – eight against Manchester City, 12 against Norwich and 20 against Chelsea, including extra-time.

What can Southampton do?

Ralph Hasenhuttl should’ve been watching the Reds’ game in Istanbul and thinking about what players he has at his disposal who can run in behind and penetrate vacant space, and two names spring to mind instantly.

Nathan Redmond and £15m summer signing Che Adams possess bundles of pace, and are rapid enough and smart enough to time their runs and bear down on Adrian’s goal without anyone catching up with them anytime soon.

What Hasenhuttl must instruct the pair to do is simple – stand high up the pitch on the shoulder of the last Liverpool defender, and look to eat up the grass between them and the goal once a ball has been played over the top.

Will it hurt Liverpool?

If done correctly, yes.

Chelsea managed to cause Klopp’s side all sorts of problems and had plenty of chances to win the game before it went to penalties, but for some poor finishing and some equally poorly-timed runs – Mason Mount netted with an excellent finish after running in behind, only to see the offside flag foil him.

With all due respect to Mount, the Blues academy graduate doesn’t possess anywhere near the amount of pace that Redmond and Adams have in their armoury, so the gameplan writes itself for Hasenhuttl when the Super Cup winners travel to St Mary’s this Saturday.

It could very easily be a recipe for success.

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هدد نادي مانشستر سيتي متصدر الدوري الإنجليزي نظيره ريال مدريد قبل نهاية الموسم الحالي وبداية الميركاتو الصيفي تجاه صفقة هجومية ذهبية من الدوري الألماني.

ويتصارع الناديان على ضم مهاجم الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي بوروسيا دورتموند، إيرلينج هالاند، مع بعض الفرق الأوروبية الكبرى الأخرى مثل برشلونة، ليفربول، مانشستر يونايتد ويوفنتوس.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سولشاير يرد على أنباء اهتمام مانشستر يونايتد بضم هالاند

وأفادت صحيفة “ديلي إكسبريس” البريطانية أن ريال مدريد يعتبر مانشستر سيتي هو أخطر منافسيه على الصفقة رغم وجود بعض الأندية الأخرى.

ولكن يعرف ريال مدريد جيدًا أن الإمكانيات المادية لدى مانشستر سيتي لم تتأثر بجائحة فيروس كورونا المستجد، كوفيد 19، وبالتالي سيكون الأقرب لضم هالاند.

الجدير بالذكر أن سعر هالاند لن يقل بحسب التقارير الإخبارية عن 150 مليون يورو إذا رغب أحد الأندية في التعاقد معه بعد نهاية الموسم الحالي.

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Lucas Torreira is now officially back with the Arsenal squad after his extended holiday came to an end. And it didn’t take long before Unai Emery decided to give him his first minutes before the start of the new Premier League season.

The Uruguayan midfielder took to the Camp Nou pitch to face Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy clash that saw the Catalans clinch a narrow 2-1 victory over the Gunners.

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Still, it was a good game and Arsenal were even in the driving seat after the first 45 minutes but couldn’t keep the Blaugrana at bay in the second part of the match.

Torreira quickly took to

/B0wgAzUBqrQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to share his first snaps back with the squad and playing some football.

The Uruguayan has also participated in this year’s iteration of the Copa America with his nation and that’s why he returned to training later than most. Unfortunately, Uruguay were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual finalists Peru.

Torreira himself played three of the total four games throughout the tournament but he was sadly unable to help his country to glory.

The 23-year-old midfielder had a decent 2018/19 season with the Gunners, as well.

He played a total of 50 games across all competitions and managed to contribute with two goals and a total of five assists in the process.

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