Earlier this week, Celta Vigo attacker Theo Bongonda told reporters that he wanted to leave his Spanish club in order to operate at a higher level.
Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid were mentioned by the 21-year-old, although Manchester United and Chelsea were the two Premier League clubs named as possible future destinations.
What’s the story?
Wide players are not expected to be priority signings for either Man United or Chelsea in this summer’s transfer window, although the chance to bring exciting youngsters to the Premier League is not an opportunity that either would want to waste.
Bongonda joined Celta from Zulte-Waregem in 2015, and the winger has already made more than 50 La Liga appearances during his time in Spain.
Statistics of just one goal and three assists in 24 La Liga appearances this season are not exactly mouthwatering, although the Belgian has shown his potential in flashes, with his blistering pace and ability to beat a man attributes that have brought admiring glances in recent months.
As of yet, it is unclear whether Man United or Chelsea are particularly interested in Bongonda, although the attacker, who has a contract with Celta until the summer of 2019, has done a good job of putting his name out there ahead of what should be a busy summer transfer window.
Do Man United or Chelsea need him?
In short, no. Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are wide options for Man United, while Jose Mourinho is not exactly a manager that favours a straight 4-4-2 formation with blistering pace in the wide positions.
At least one centre-forward is expected to arrive at Old Trafford this summer, while Mourinho is said to be considering a switch to a 3-4-3 formation on a permanent basis, which could leave Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw as his wide players, with two narrow attackers supporting the lone striker.
As for Chelsea, head coach Antonio Conte, bar some freak event, will continue with his 3-4-3 formation next season, cutting out the need for a specialist winger. A new right-sided wing-back could arrive at Stamford Bridge, although any signings further forward are expected to fill central positions.
There is no question that Bongonda has plenty of talent and potential, although it appears unlikely that his comments will spark a transfer battle between Man United and Chelsea at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.
Old Trafford was the venue for Chelsea’s worst performance yet under Antonio Conte on Sunday, as Manchester United recorded a somewhat comfortable 2-0 win over the Premier League’s pace setters.
The Blues were chaotic at the back for large periods and struggled even more going forward, failing to produce a single shot on target throughout the ninety minutes.
Part of the problem was Diego Costa, who has been in simply horrendous form since his bust-up with Antonio Conte in January, allegedly a consequence of interest from the Chinese Super League.
The Spain striker has now gone five Premier League fixtures without a goal, his longest ever drought in the English top flight, but it’s his ineffectual all-round play that Chelsea fans will find most worrying – his performance against United particularly raising cause for concern.
Indeed, as our infographic shows, Costa didn’t produce a single shot on target – and in fact only had one effort at goal – create a chance for one of his team-mates or win an aerial duel. Rather, he was dispossessed ten times, suffered six bad touches and even made his way into Bobby Madley’s notebook.
When Costa’s in top form, he’s one of the best strikers in the world. But the payoff of performances like this is becoming less and less worthwhile for the west Londoners.
Hull City suffered their first home defeat under Marco Silva on Saturday, shockingly losing to Sunderland. It’s a result that sees them drop into the relegation zone after Swansea picked up a massive win over Everton.
Sunderland have been dreadful for the majority of the season, but having already been relegated had the freedom to play without any pressure and punished their hosts. Billy Jones and Jermaine Defoe got the goals, leaving Tigers fans despondent about their chances of staying up. Anything Hull did manage to must was denied by the ever impressive Jordan Pickford.
Hull had taken 19 of their previous 21 points available at home but have no fallen at one of the final hurdles between themselves and safety.
With a tricky away fixture against Crystal Palace and a devilishly hard home tie against Spurs to come, Hull are now up against it if they are to have any hope of surviving the drop to the Championship.
Fans were disappointed with the performance and now fear the worst. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…
Victory for Arsenal over Sunderland last night means that Liverpool will be taken to the final day in their quest for a top four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
It would be only the Reds’ second foray into the competition since 2009/10, when they were knocked out in the group stages, just as they were in 2014. By all accounts, that’s a depressing record for a team that has won the competition more than any other English side, but the Anfield club has found that failure to reach the Champions League has landed them in a vicious circle: when they dropped out of the Champions League, they couldn’t sign the best players, and when they no longer had the best players, they couldn’t compete for the top four.
What often gets lost these days when talking about Champions League qualification is that one or two seasons out of the competition don’t seem to matter as much for clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea than they do for Liverpool. That’s because those clubs already have better squads, and that’s all down to the fact they’ve been in the competition more regularly and more recently than Liverpool.
And so when this season is over, we’ll probably hear a lot about Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool stumbling over the line, having underachieved in the second half of the campaign. And yet, that’s only really a half-truth. They have failed since Christmas – there’s no getting away from that – but they’ve also overachieved to be leading the charge for the fourth spot at all. That’s because they’ve had to make do with what the likes of City, United and Chelsea would probably regard as second tier signings for the last few seasons.
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Whereas City splurged on Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane, Liverpool bought Sadio Mane. To United’s Pogba, Liverpool bought Georginio Wijnaldum. You can hardly argue the Reds have spent a pittance, but they certainly haven’t been able to attract the biggest names in the game – that is, the sorts of players teenagers want in their FIFA 17 teams. This summer, Champions League qualification could change that: money to spend, a big name manager and a shot at the big Cup make for one heady cocktail of an aphrodisiac.
With the Premier League’s influx of TV cash, it’s no longer about the Champions League that lends money to the biggest teams to buy the biggest names, it’s about the lending of prestige.
The flip side of that, however, is that failure to beat Middlesbrough this weekend could damage the summer’s recruitment. Given the fairly obvious flaws in the side (their inability over the last few weeks to score goals without Sadio Mane in the team, their penchant for conceding from set-pieces, James Milner at left-back…) the difference between qualifying for the Europa League and the Champions League means the difference between Europa League players and Champions League players. If Liverpool have overachieved by finishing in the top four, it’s only because there are four better, more expensively assembled squads in the league.
So where does that leave two of the most naturally-gifted players in the squad, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge? These are two very different situations: Coutinho is one of the side’s stalwarts, whilst Sturridge has made only six Premier League starts.
Another season out of the Champions League might make Coutinho’s departure more likely than not, but he’s surely the type of player Liverpool can’t afford to lose if they’re to progress as a side. A top four spot will make for a big summer and the chance to turn the team into one which can maintain its level for the next few years.
That might be a reason why Daniel Sturridge’s future at the club shouldn’t seem quite so uncertain.
Last weekend at West Ham (and admittedly, against a team whose season ended a week previously with their own ‘cup final’ against Tottenham) Jurgen Klopp did something he hasn’t done for most of the season – he played a new formation.
The diamond heralded by many as a new tactic for Liverpool, though, isn’t really all that different to the normal 4-3-3. It’s still a back four and still requires a trio of central midfielders, one of whom will probably drop deeper than the other two and between the centre backs to form a back three when attacking. That leaves three attacking players left, though probably a number 10 and two attackers who pull wide, rather than the striker and two wingers traditionally thought-of as the front three in that formation.
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Liverpool haven’t played with a normal attack line for most of the season. Coutinho has made for an unlikely winger, whilst Roberto Firmino is certainly not an out-and-out striker. And yet, the idea that Sturridge and Divock Origi can work well together as a front two is certainly food for thought when it comes to a plan B – something Klopp has lacked this season.
The fact that Liverpool will be playing European football next season means that a bigger squad will be needed next season, and although Sturridge has found himself frozen out this season, that doesn’t mean he will be next year when the games come thicker and quicker.
Champions League qualification might have a big effect for Liverpool this summer in terms of keeping their best players and adding top talent, instead of settling for younger, unproven players. But its biggest impact might just be with the sorts of players who haven’t played much this season – next year, there’ll be more games and Klopp will need a plan B more often that this time around.
Following Paris Saint Germain’s last game of the domestic season in France, Blaise Matuidi spoke to the press regarding his future, which raised some speculative eyebrows.
The 30-year-old stated; “Honestly, I don’t want to lie, I don’t know (about my future) yet”.
Matuidi has been linked with a move to Manchester United for some time now. With only one year left on his current contract with PSG, the French club may look to sell the 56-cap French international this summer in order to accrue a fee.
The midfielder has been an ever-present in the Paris Saint Germain team for a number of years, including this season, where he made a total of 52 appearances and contributed seven goals.
In the wake of Matuidi refusing to confirm whether he will leave PSG this summer, Manchester United fans took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the potential signing…and safe to say none were suitably impressed.
A few weeks ago, The Independent reported that Gareth Bale’s long-discussed departure from Real Madrid is more likely than ever before, with the Welshman willing to sign for Manchester United if his current employers decide to sell.
Bale’s comments after lifting a third Champions League title with Los Blancos last weekend strongly suggested otherwise, but his club have a long reputation of being cut-throat in the transfer market – they’ve cashed in on Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria at the peak of their powers to help finance Galactio signings.
Yet, it could be argued that isn’t the case with the former Tottenham Hotspur star, who has endured the most frustrating campaign of his career this season due to injuries – netting just nine times across all competitions. He’s also missed 206 days since the start of last season due to injury, so a big-money swoop would be a real risk.
Nonetheless, Bale remains an undoubted member of world football’s winger elite and United need to find top-class quality in the final third. So, United fans, would you back a summer swoop for the 66-cap international? Let us know by voting below…
On their official Twitter account, Chelsea took the somewhat strange decision to congratulate tennis player Dominic Thiem for overcoming Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
According to the Premier League champions, Thiem is a fan of the Blues, although it was still quite bizarre to tweet about the Frenchman on Wednesday afternoon.
As expected, the response from the club’s supporters was mainly focused on transfer activity as Antonio Conte’s outfit continue to be linked with new signings in this summer’s window.
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has been strongly linked with a return to Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, and the Belgian admitted earlier this week that he already has an agreement to leave Goodison Park this summer.
Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso is also being linked with a move to the English champions, and it has been reported that Chelsea have made a move for the Frenchman over the last 24 hours.
The Blues ultimately ran away with the Premier League last season, but new signings are expected to arrive before the 2017-18 campaign, and the club’s supporters want Lukaku and Tolisso to be the first to make the move.
As reported by The Times, Liverpool are interested in signing Monaco’s dynamite winger Kylian Mbappe this summer and are prepared to bid the money it would take to bring him to Anfield.
With Real Madrid and Arsenal also sniffing about for his signature according to The Times, it’s a tall order for the Reds to be able to attract to him the club.
Mbappe is one of the hottest properties in world football right now after a sensational season for Monaco. At just 18 years old and with 26 goals in all competitions, including eight in the UEFA Champions League, he’s tipped to become one of the best players on the planet in time.
Liverpool fans appear to recognise this and a quick glance on Twitter tells a story that they’d rather the club focused on more realistic targets this summer. The Reds are a massive club but up against the likes of Real Madrid they have little pull.
This is what supporters had to say about the rumours…
The majority of Aston Villa’s fans agree with Scott Hogan’s claim that he will score plenty more goals this season.
However, the supporters feel that he will only break the 20-goal barrier if he receives the right service.
It took time for the 25-year-old to settle in after moving to Villa Park from Brentford in January.
He managed just one goal and created two assists in 13 Championship appearances, of which nine were starts.
Hogan’s target of scoring 20 or more in the 2017-18 campaign may seem slightly ambitious, but he did arrive at the club after hitting 14 for Brentford in the first half of last season.
Plenty of Villa fans believe that the forward’s success in front of goal will largely depend on his teammates and whether they can do more than play the ball long.
Steve Bruce’s side, who now have former Chelsea captain John Terry among their ranks, will be fighting for promotion to the Premier League after falling short last season.
They ended up finishing 13th in the table, 18 points shy of the playoff places.
According to reports in the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United have made an enquiry about signing Anderlecht midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who is rated at £30m according to The Sun and is similar in style to current Red Devils star Michael Carrick, but a deal looks unlikely to happen this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Manchester Evening News says that sources close to the player have confirmed United’s interest in the 22-year-old, who caught the eye against the Red Devils in their Europa League quarter-final tie last season by scoring a late equaliser in the first leg in Brussels.
The Manchester Evening News goes on to say that the club have scouted the Belgium international on many occasions and have touched base with his representatives.
However, the report adds that United are one of a number of clubs chasing the 6ft 2in midfielder and a deal will not happen this summer.
How did Dendoncker do last season?
The 22-year-old has established himself as a key player for the Belgian outfit over the course of the last three seasons and he impressed alongside Youri Tielemans – who has since joined Monaco – in the centre of the Anderlecht midfield last term.
The defensively-minded player, who also likes to break into the opposition penalty area at times. made 57 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals including the one against the Red Devils in the Europa League, and it is no surprise that the 6’2″ player is attracting interest from a number of other clubs given how mature and comfortable he is in possession of the ball.
Do United need him right now?
Probably not, no.
Dendoncker’s preferred position is in defensive midfield and with Mourinho having just signed Matic – a similar player in a way – and having captain Carrick for another season, he probably doesn’t need another option there.
The Sun says that Anderlecht rate Dendoncker at £30m and United will certainly be hoping that price tag doesn’t rise too significantly in the future if they do want to bring him to Old Trafford as a potential replacement for Carrick either during the January transfer window or next summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, United may see Dendoncker as more of a player for the future than one for the present but his Carrick-like abilities mean that a move for the midfielder may well happen in 2018.