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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

“A special talent”. The exact words Pep Guardiola used to describe the signing of Leroy Sane when the Germany international joined Manchester City in a reported £37m deal back in the summer of 2016.

Since his arrival at the Etihad, the winger has shown real flashes of truly exceptional ability and his stats make for quite impressive reading considering he only turned 23 earlier this year. In 89 Premier League games, the German has fired in 25 goals and provided a further 31 assists; perhaps what is just as good is the fact that not all of those games came with him starting from the off.

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

So when reports claim that Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are very much interested in taking him back to his native Germany this summer, the reasonable answer would be to tell the Bavarian giants they haven’t got a chance in the world. Instead, City boss Pep Guardiola has left the door open for an exit, despite acknowledging that he wants him to stay.

The Spaniard said: “Two times, three times I said: we want him to stay. That’s why he has an offer to extend his contract. It’s not in our hands. The agreement is good and if he wants to leave, I’ll be sad. Hopefully, he stays.”

Guardiola’s words are of a man who seemingly wouldn’t be overly distraught were Sane to leave the club, and were that to happen, that would create a major black mark on the former Barcelona manager’s career.

Sane’s talent is undeniable; the pace, the skill and the devastating ability to destroy teams on his own. Guardiola’s treatment of the winger has been negligent at best, and shocking at worst. Indeed, The Telegraph claimed that back in February 2018, the City boss gave Sane a “furious dressing down” at half-time after suggesting that the German had failed to carry his weight in the FA Cup defeat to Wigan.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Certain players require different methods of motivation to get the best out of them, and Sane’s possible exit would feel like the City manager has missed a trick.

Guardiola’s coaching career is unparalleled in the modern era in terms of the level of success he has enjoyed. But failing to coax the best out of Sane, and seeing him flourish in his prime years elsewhere, could go down as one of the Spaniard’s greatest mistakes when it’s all said and done.

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Today’s Arsenal transfer roundup includes an update on an English right-back, a potential bid for a Hungarian international and the sale of a veteran goalkeeper.

West Brom interested in Jenkinson

Sky Sports News is reporting that West Brom are in the race to sign right-back Carl Jenkinson. The 27-year-old played just eight games for the Emirates outfit last year and would like to play regular football. Celtic are also interested, but talks between the Gunners and the Baggies are reportedly already underway.

Szoboszlai bid being prepared

Arsenal are preparing a bid for Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai according to Football Insider. The club have reportedly been long-time admirers of the 18-year-old and are ready to make an offer for the RB Salzburg midfielder, who is valued at £9m.

Nketiah available for loan move

According to the Mirror, Arsenal manager Unai Emery is prepared to let youngster Eddie Nketiah spend next season out on loan to further his development. As it stands, Charlton Athletic looks to be the next destination for the Englishman.

أعلن بيتسو موسيماني، المدير الفني للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالأهلي، قائمة الفريق استعدادًا ‏لمواجهة البنك الأهلي المقررة ضمن منافسات الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلتقي الأهلي أمام نظيره البنك الأهلي مساء غدٍ الأحد على استاد المكس في ‏الجولة الثامنة من المسابقة المحلية.

وشهدت قائمة الأهلي عودة عمرو السولية وظهوره بعد غيابه لفترة طويلة بسبب معاناته من فيروس كورونا، إلى جانب محمود وحيد العائد من الإصابة. قائمة الأهلي لمباراة البنك الأهلي في الدوري

حراسة المرمى: محمد الشناوي – علي لطفي- مصطفى شوبير.

خط الدفاع: أحمد رمضان بيكهام ورامي ‏ربيعة وسعد سمير وياسر إبراهيم ‏وأيمن أشرف وبدر بانون ومحمد هاني، وعلي معلول، ومحمود وحيد.

خط الوسط: حسين الشحات – حمدي فتحي – محمد مجدي أفشة – أكرم توفيق – وليد سليمان – أليو ديانج – عمرو السولية.

الهجوم: والتر بواليا – محمود كهربا – محمد شريف – طاهر محمد طاهر.

يذكر، أن الأهلي يتصدر جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 16 نقطة وبفارق الأهداف عن غريمه التقليدي الزمالك.

Time to rejoice: Sean Longstaff is apparently keen on staying at Newcastle United another year despite interest from Manchester United being reported by the Telegraph in May.

Heading into the summer, Newcastle United are facing plenty of uncertainty; Rafael Benitez is yet to sign a contract extension, Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan is possibly buying the club from Mike Ashley, and ten players are set to be released, including midfielder Mo Diame.

It’ll come as welcome news, then, that one of Newcastle’s brightest prospects Sean Longstaff, who is said to be on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s radar, is reportedly (as per the Chronicle) keen on continuing his development at St. James’ Park.

The 21-year-old burst onto the scene on Boxing Day, and though he has only accumulated around 2200 minutes worth of first-team football, it’s become abundantly clear to us all what kind of player Newcastle fans can expect in the future – a defensively sound midfield powerhouse.

Indeed, in just his fifth Premier League start, Longstaff was given Man of the Match for an exceptional defensive performance away at Wolves which saw him manage 7 interceptions and 18 recoveries, as per Manchester Evening News, while he has produced on average 1.9 tackles and 1.1 interceptions this season.

The importance of holding onto the Englishman has been increased ten-fold by the simple and alarming fact that Newcastle currently only have six recognised centre-midfield players. Diame, of course, is leaving and Isaac Hayden is constantly linked away. Another, Jack Colback, is said to have accepted a first-team role in black and white is unlikely, regardless of whether Benitez extends his stay.

All that would leave just Jonjo Shelvey (linked away himself), Ki and Longstaff behind. Yikes. So, hopefully for every member of the Toon Army, the 21-year-old in question will be sticking around.

Obviously, just because the North Shields-born midfield maestro apparently wants to stay doesn’t mean he will, considering the fact Andy Carroll claimed he wanted to remain with his boyhood charges in 2011, only to be forced out after Liverpool’s £35m bid. Still, his apparent commitment to the cause is undoubtedly a good thing for a side already shrouded in so much uncertainty.

Newcastle fans, what does the news about Longstaff mean to you? Can you see an effective recruitment drive happening this summer? Let us know in the comments below…

After defeat on the final day of the season, Steven Gerrard certainly has a lot of work to do in the summer in order to push his Rangers side to the next level come the start of the next campaign. Following a second-place finish, there is no doubt a strong foundation to start on. 

It’s true, second in the league is certainly something Gerrard and Rangers can build on. However, with a few key players leaving back to their parent clubs, there is still a lot of work to be done over what is a crucial summer for the Scottish giants.

So, come the start of the next season, who will perform in the famous shirt? Who will struggle? Here we take a look at a couple of players we feel will not be able to perform under Gerrard.

Jordan Rossiter 

After being out on loan with Bury, the ex-Liverpool man returns back to a Rangers side with a fairly strong midfield, and unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he doesn’t look like the man to take it to the next level.

With a midfield already consisting of Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara and Ross McCrorie, the talent of Rossiter really doesn’t fit up to the standard that has already been set. The English midfielder may just find himself back out on loan come the start of the new season, a loan spell that may just determine his future in football.

Kyle Lafferty 

The 31-year-old striker joined from fellow Scottish side Hearts at the start of last season and has since struggled to really settle into Gerrard’s set up. As the campaign has rumbled on we have seen the Northern Irishman come in and out of the side before ending his season early due to injury.

With injury in mind and a breath of fresh air with the likes of Ryan Hardie returning back from loan, it seems that Kyle Lafferty’s time at Rangers could be coming to an end.

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According to Sport1, Liverpool are considering a swoop for Max Kruse this summer as the experienced forward prepares to leave Werder Bremen on a free transfer.

But it would be fair to say that the Merseyside club’s supporters are not interested in their club moving for the 14-time Germany international.

Kruse will see his current deal with Bremen expire at the end of June.

The 31-year-old actually enjoyed a very productive 2018-19 campaign – scoring 12 times and registering 14 assists in 36 appearances in all competitions.

Sport1 have also linked Bayern Munich with a move, suggesting that the 5 ft 11 ace will not be short of interest when his contract expires at the end of next month.

Has Alisson been Liverpool’s most important signing of the season? Check out the video below to find out why Jurgen Klopp thinks so…

It would not be the worst idea in the world for Liverpool to move for the striker.

However, it would be fair to say that the English club’s fans do not want Kruse to arrive at Anfield ahead of the 2019-2020 campaign.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Leeds fans have slammed talkSPORT’s Ian Abrahams after he claimed their team was suffering from the famed ‘Bielsa burnout’.

The Whites were comfortably dispatched by Brentford as they lost 2-0 at Griffin Park.

The players certainly showed signs of fatigue as Ezgjan Alioski had to be subbed off early on in proceedings whilst Liam Cooper moved gingerly throughout the match.

This was Leeds’ second loss in a row after being beaten 2-1 at Elland Road by a 10-man Wigan team via a brace by Gavin Massey.

Abrahams brought up the fact that Leeds’ players looked tired on talkSPORT following their defeat on Monday but he was met with a bombardment of abuse and fans who disagree with his sentiment.

The fanbase were clearly unhappy with the statement and they were quick to deny that their players were showing any signs of burning out towards the end of the season.

Here’s what Leeds fans had to say on Twitter…

أثبتت الأشعة والفحوصات الطبية التي خضع لها المدافع الدولي عمر جابر، لاعب نادي بيراميدز، إصابته بتمزق في أربطة الكاحل، تعرض لها خلال مباراة نهائي كأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية.

وكان فريق بيراميدز قد أخفق في تحقيق لقب الكونفدرالية بعد الهزيمة أمام نهضة بركان بهدف نظيف في المباراة النهائية مساء الأحد الماضي.

وخضع اللاعب لأشعة بصحبة الدكتور مصطفى المنيري رئيس الجهاز الطبي لفريق بيراميدز، أثبتت إصابته بتمزق في أربطة الكاحل، وسيغيب عن المباريات لمدة شهر كامل.

وتعرض عمر جابر للإصابة في مباراة نهضة بركان المغربي بنهائي كأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية بملعب مولاي عبد الله في الرباط بسبب العنف الذي تعرض له لاعبو الفريق خلال اللقاء.

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According to The Chronicle, Isaac Hayden has confirmed that he intends to leave Newcastle in the summer due to ongoing family issues, and Magpies fans have been quick to react to local journalist Lee Ryder’s Twitter post on the subject.

The midfielder has forced his way into the side this season and played a key role in the Toon’s push towards safety from a central midfield position.

The 24-year-old has made 23 appearances and Rafa Benitez clearly now sees him as a key part of the starting XI. As per The Chronicle, the former Arsenal player expressed his desire to leave last summer, but due to the club failing to find a replacement he ended up staying.

He was then sent off in his first appearance away at Cardiff City, leading to strong criticism from Newcastle fans with some suggestions that he did not care about the club.

Injuries, however forced Benitez to bring him back into the first team and he has since put in some excellent performances leading to many of the St James’ Park faithful now thinking totally different of the former England Under-21 international.

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Luis Suarez joined Liverpool from Ajax in January 2011.

The Uruguay international went on to make 133 appearances for the Reds in all competitions, finding the back of the net on 82 occasions and providing 47 assists.

The now 32-year-old eventually left Anfield to join Barcelona in 2014 and he has continued to enjoy success, scoring 173 times in 237 appearances.

Suarez’s scoring record across the board is absolutely fantastic.

In the grand scheme of things, the forward did not spend that long with Liverpool, but the Premier League club’s fans have an incredibly high opinion of the South American.

Indeed, in response to a video posted on social media, the Liverpool supporters were out in force to lavish praise on the 6 ft ace.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino is not a bad front three, but Suarez was a cut above all three, certainly in the eyes of a number of the club’s fans.

Some have even called for Suarez to return to Anfield, but he is too busy winning trophy after trophy with Barcelona.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: