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The transfer season is upon us and for Manchester United, it is starting to feel like their biggest summer in some time.

A poor end to the season which saw them lose eight of their final 12 games will likely see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under immense pressure right from the get-go at the start of next season, so making the right signings this summer could be crucial for the Norwegian.

But according to Sky Sports, United are interested in West Ham defender Issa Diop, who despite only playing in the Premier League for a single season has caught the attention of the Red Devils.

United are in need of a big shake-up in defence after conceding 54 Premier League goals last season, the second-worst return in the top half. But here are two reasons why the club shouldn’t even be thinking about a move for Diop, who could prove to be one of their biggest mistakes of the summer if a deal gets over the line…

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Diop won’t take United to the next level

Diop has impressed in his first season at West Ham having played all but five Premier League games for Manuel Pellegrini’s side and averaged 1.9 interceptions and 2.1 tackles per game along the way, the second and fifth highest returns in the squad respectively.

But there has been nothing to suggest he can really take United to the next level. He’s never played in European competitions before, is still yet to be capped by the French national team and despite United’s defensive woes last season, Diop was part of a backline that conceded one goal more in the Premier League.

The Red Devils need someone proven and experienced to bring composure and organisation to the heart of defence, but Diop is a mere 22-year-old. Despite a decent debut season, it’s not clear he’s actually an upgrade on Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly or Victor Lindelof – so why take a punt on him?

The fans in the video below had some very strong words for Michel Platini who was detained over alleged corruption this week…

Too much money

West Ham clearly know they’re in the driving seat here with The Telegraph reporting that they’re valuing Diop at an incredibly audacious £75m – the same fee Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk 18 months ago.

Few would argue that investment hasn’t worked out after the Dutchman helped clinch the Champions League title for Liverpool, but van Dijk arrived at Anfield with Champions League, international and considerable Premier League experience under his belt and through his combination of impeccable defending, physicality and quality in possession, already looked like a top-end centre-half.

Diop just isn’t in the same category at this moment in time; one season in the Premier League certainly isn’t enough to go on when judging whether he deserves such a lofty fee. And to put into perspective how ridiculous that fee is, West Ham paid less than a third of that to sign him a year ago, while Harry Maguire – an England international with more than 100 Premier League outings under his belt – is about to move to Manchester City for just £65m.

If United are prepared to meet West Ham’s valuation of Diop, clearly something has gone incredibly wrong in their transfer department.

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Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure from Old Trafford, things just haven’t been quite right for Manchester United either on the pitch or off it.

The club have seen numerous managers come and go and the players on the pitch have been underwhelming to say the least; it was therefore no surprise to see reports in recent months suggest that the club were looking to bring in a sporting director to oversee the recruitment side of things.

Now, in an update from Sky Sports, Ferguson himself has seemingly recommended United to appoint Leicester’s former head of recruitment Steve Walsh in a “consultancy role to help with structural changes at the club”.

However, the report adds United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward favours bringing in an ex-United player for the position, which prompted a huge reaction from the club’s fans on Twitter.

Many were highly critical of Woodward’s decision to essentially ignore the advice of the club’s greatest manager and to pursue his own way.

A few however were slightly more receptive to Woodward on this occasion and pointed out that Ferguson’s last recommendation to the club in David Moyes was hardly a success.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

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According to reports in The Portsmouth News, Leeds United are interested in signing Matt Clarke.

The Portsmouth centre-back has had a stellar campaign down in League One, and he has a whole host of Championship clubs chasing his signature.

Clarke’s style

The 6 ft 2 defender does have an intimidating physical presence at the back, but it’s his ability on the ball that catches the eye when you watch him.

The youngster is incredibly confident in possession, and you often see him dribbling out from the back before making a pass to kickstart an attack.

His goal against Crawley in the Checkatrade Trophy a couple of years ago highlights this. The defender made a jinking run from his own half, beating three men before passing to his teammate, who took a shot which was spilt into the path of Clarke to apply the finish.

He seems like the perfect defender for Marcelo Bielsa’s system, but the fact that he is just 22 years of age means that he could be converted into a midfield player.

Jansson or Phillips leaving

There has been plenty of speculation about departures at Elland Road.

Phil Hay recently said that he expects one big name to leave the club this summer, but nobody has been able to pinpoint exactly who it will be. Kalvin Phillips, Pontus Jansson and Jack Clarke seem to be the three most likely candidates, and the signing of Matt Clarke could open the door for either Jansson or Phillips to go.

Of course, Clarke is a centre-half by trade, but his attributes seem very well suited for the defensive midfield role in Bielsa’s system.

He’s a top class ball carrier and is also a defensive wall, so there is no reason that under the tutelage of Bielsa he can’t be utilised in a midfield role.

It may be all dependant on which player leaves this summer, but if the Whites sign Clarke and there suddenly becomes a gap in a defensive midfield role or as a centre-back, he could competently cover either position.

علّق الأوروجوياني لويس سواريز مهاجم أتلتيكو مدريد الإسباني على وضع صديقه الأرجنتيني ليونيل ميسي قائد برشلونة.

كما تحدث سواريز بتصريح مقتضب عن فوز الروخي بلانكوس أمام البارسا بهدف دون رد، في المباراة التي جمعت الفريقين أمس السبت بمنافسات الليجا.

سواريز غاب عن المباراة أمام فريقه السابق لإصابته بفيروس كورونا، ويخضع المهاجم للعزل المنزلي.

وقال في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “eldesmarque” الإسبانية: “كصديق لليو فإن الوضع يؤلمني، إنه يقلقني كإنسان، لكنه قادر على المضي قدمًا”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سواريز بعد إصابته بـ كورونا: ارتكبنا خطأ ونطلب الصفح

وكان ميسي صرح قبل أيام بأنه سأم من كونه مشكلة كل شيء في برشلونة، بعد سؤاله عن تصريحات وكيل أنطوان جريزمان السابق، والتي أشار فيها إلى أن الأرجنتيني يرهب زملائه في الفريق.

لم يرغب سواريز في الحديث عن برشلونة، لكنه شدد على أن الانتصار دليل آخر على أن الفريق موجود للقتال من أجل أشياء عظيمة.

وعن انتصار أتلتيكو مدريد أمام فريقه السابق برشلونة، أردف سواريز: “فوز بمثابة حقنة طاقة إيجابية”.

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Everton fans have taken to Twitter to react after they realised that it was the one-year anniversary of Sam Allardyce’s departure from the club.

The former England manager received his marching orders after just six months at Goodison Park, and alienated the supporters with some awful football and negative performances.

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The Toffees won 10, lost six and drew eight of Allardyce’s 24 games in charge of the club, but did a good job in securing Everton’s Premier League status after a woeful start to the campaign under Ronald Koeman and then David Unsworth.

In that respect, given the fact he didn’t necessarily fail at the club, the Everton fans’ harsh words on the anniversary of his departure are unfair; he was never appointed to be the man to take them forward.

However, they won’t have given that a second thought bearing in mind how things are going under Marco Silva right now.

Let’s take a look at how the supporters reacted on Twitter to the anniversary of Allardyce’s sacking…

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Loads of Manchester United fans have been reacting to their latest reported transfer target – former Celtic ace Moussa Dembele.

According to The Mirror, Manchester United are eyeing a move for Dembele, who has been sensational for Lyon since making the switch from Glasgow last summer.

The Ligue 1 outfit paid just shy of £20m for the Frenchman, and he has scored 17 times and added six assists in all competitions throughout the campaign.

The Red Devils meanwhile are still struggling to find the right man to lead their line for the long-term future, with Romelu Lukaku still yet to find any real consistency.

Marcus Rashford has been mostly fantastic since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arrived, but he is just as useful as a winger as he is centrally, so it is no surprise to see the club target a more traditional number nine.

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Dembele is an out-and-out goalscorer who has already amassed nine Champions League goals in his career, not bad for a 22 year-old who has yet to make it past the round of 16.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are underwhelmed to say the least…

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Rangers reportedly want to sign Josip Vukovic, who has been linked with a move to Lazio.

What’s the story?

According to Calciomercato, Rangers, Aston Villa and several other English clubs want to sign Vukovic.

Vukovic, valued at £360k by Transfermarkt, is wanted by Lazio, but the report states that the midfielder will be available on the cheap, seemingly paving the way for other teams to swoop in.

The 26 year-old midfielder is in contract with current club Maritimo until 2021.

What sort of player is he?

Standing at 6 ft tall, Vukovic is a tough-tackling defensive midfielder who would likely operate in one of two central midfield positions in Steven Gerrard’s 4-2-3-1 system if he joined the Gers.

Whoscored lists the Croatian’s strengths as concentration and interceptions, but notes that he is weak at passing and aerial duels, evidenced by his 78 per cent pass success rate.

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He is definitely not a player who will add goals to Gerrard’s midfield, as according to Transfermarkt’s stats he has never actually scored a professional goal, mustering one assist in 126 games and 27 yellow cards.

Is he good enough?

Quite simply, Vukovic is not the type of player Rangers should be targeting if they want to compete with Celtic, or even stand a chance of stopping their arch-rivals winning ten titles in a row.

He would certainly feel at home at Ibrox with countrymen Nikola Katic and Borna Barisic already at the club, but is he going to force Ryan Jack or the ever-improving Glen Kamara out of the first XI? Probably not.

For a small fee, the Croatian could perhaps be a decent addition to Gerrard’s squad depth, but with 27 yellow cards for every one assist, he is nowhere near the calibre of player required to trump Celtic to silverware.

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Crystal Palace host Huddersfield this weekend in a clash that presents the Eagles with a perfect opportunity to right the wrongs of recent weeks – they have endured a difficult period with their defeat at the hands of Brighton compounded by their elimination from the FA Cup by Watford.

Vicente Guaita will have had sleepless nights over the international break after some questionable decision making between the sticks cost his side and the Spaniard will be put to the test again this weekend.

On the chalkboard

The former Getafe goalkeeper has been a solid addition for Palace and undoubtedly an upgrade on Wayne Hennessey, but he let himself down against the Hornets – the 32-year-old flapped at a number of crosses and was left in no-man’s land when Etienne Capoue fired the hosts ahead.

There are no questions over his shot-stopping ability – the scoreline could have been very different but for some excellent reflex saves – but his judgement when it comes to claiming crosses in particular has to be better, starting with the Terriers game on Saturday.

Testing Terriers

Jan Siewert’s side might be rock-bottom with just 14 points to their name but the Premier League is an unpredictable competition – indeed, the Yorkshire-based outfit nearly upset West Ham last time out – so Palace will need to be on top form if they are to get back to winning ways. Starting with Guaita in net.

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The £4.5m-rated ace will undoubtedly be in the wars this weekend – Huddersfield have scored more goals from set-pieces (9) than they have from open play (8) this campaign and they will feel that they can cause Guaita problems from such situations.

The Palace custodian will have to be assured when dealing with balls into the box from free-kicks and corners as this is where Huddersfield pose their biggest, and perhaps only threat..

And considering he has probably been mentally affected by his recent errors, the clash represents Guaita’s biggest challenge of the season yet. Can he bounce back?

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Andre Green played the full 90 minutes as Aston Villa recorded a 3-1 win away to Nottingham Forest in the Championship on Wednesday night.

Forest actually took the lead early on through Jack Colback, but Villa then scored three times without reply to secure a huge three points.

John McGinn earned the majority of the plaudits with a super double on his return to the starting XI, but the performance of Green also captured the imagination of the Villa supporters.

According to WhoScored, the winger made three dribbles and also won three aerial duels during his 90 minutes on the field.

The 5 foot 11 attacker spent time on loan at Portsmouth earlier this season, but now back with Villa, he has taken part in the club’s last seven Championship matches.

There is no question that the 20-year-old was impressive against Forest and his performance has led to a host of praise from the Villa fans on social media.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Arsenal will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins when they welcome Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

And Mesut Ozil must start for the Gunners, despite the recent comments from the London club’s head coach Unai Emery about rotation.

What has Emery said?

Emery has revealed that Ozil will continue to be rotated in and out of the XI, suggesting that he will be on the bench against Southampton this weekend having started Thursday’s clash with BATE Borisov.

Ozil was in the Arsenal XI for just the second time in 2019 against BATE, and the German helped his team record a 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The 30-year-old could well find himself back on the bench in the Premier League on Sunday, but there simply has to be a spot in the team for the playmaker.

Much can be said about Ozil’s energy levels and willingness to go that extra mile, but he remains Arsenal’s most talented footballer.

And he has to feature against a Southampton team who will find it very difficult to see much of the ball during the 90 minutes.

How has Ozil performed this season?

Nineteen matches – four goals and two assists. The fact that Ozil has only registered one Premier League assist this season is quite incredible when considering his talent.

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However, in fairness to the former Real Madrid attacker, who Transfermarkt value at £31.5million, it is clear that he does not have the trust of Emery as he simply does not work hard enough.

The Gunners will absolutely dominate the ball against the Saints, though, and they will not need every single player to be a workhouse.

On the contrary, it is in these type of games where players of Ozil’s quality are extremely important.

The 6 foot ace is intelligent enough to know that he has not been at his best this season, but it makes little sense to leave the German out of Arsenal’s home fixtures against the lesser clubs in the division, with respect to Southampton of course.