Spaniard
Manchester United ready to listen to offers for Dean Henderson
Manchester United are willing to listen to offers for goalkeeper Dean Henderson amid concerns over his attitude, Football Insider claims. The England international started last season as the back-up goalkeeper behind David de Gea, but he became a regular during the back end of the campaign. Despite this, he was ignored for the Europa League final against Villarreal. The club lost via a penalty shoot-out, with De Gea failing to save any of the 11 spot-kicks. Ahead of next season, the club are planning a radical overhaul of the goalkeeping department, and they have already released Sergio Romero and Joel Pereira. The club are also open to offers for Henderson and De Gea but acknowledge that they may struggle to offload the latter due to his hefty £350,000-a-week wages. Henderson is said to b...
Italian Open: Rafael Nadal beats Denis Shapovalov to reach quarter-finals
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal saved two match points to defeat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in a three-set battle and advance to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday. Second seed Nadal won through 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) after nearly 3hr 30min on court against the 13th-seeded Shapovalov. “It was a really difficult match, the score was against me almost all the time, but I was there, I was fighting all the time, I didn’t give away anything,” said the 34-year-old. The Spaniard will be making his 16th last-eight appearance in Rome. It will also be his 97th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final. Nadal trailed by 0-4 in the opening set, and 0-3 in the second. Shapovalov also broke for 3-1 in the third set but Nadal broke back immediately and held on despite two match points against him in the...
Novak Djokovic beats Alejandro Fokina to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
World number one Novak Djokovic swept into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Thursday with a straight sets wins over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in front of spectators who were allowed to watch in the Foro Italico for the first time. The five-time Rome champion won through 6-2, 6-1 in 1hr 10min against the 48th-ranked Spaniard with the venue filled to 25 per cent of capacity. “It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd,” said the 33-year-old Serb. “It was nice to see them back.” After losing his opening service game, Djokovic powered back with five breaks of serve, outclassing his rival, despite a late fightback, to seal the win on his sixth match point. “He started well, but I managed to break back straight away and establish the control and consistency. “I thought I played at lea...
Arsenal set for complete overhauling, close in on £43 million move
Arsenal are set for a busy summer in the transfer market as Mikel Arteta looks to better the Gunners’ underwhelming season this time out, and the north London side are being linked several names. With only four Premier League fixtures remaining, attention has already turned to the summer transfer window. It could prove to be a decisive period for Arteta as Arsenal look to close the gap to the top four next campaign. Attracting new faces to the Emirates Stadium could prove challenging, but there is no doubt that change is needed at the club. The ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic will mean many clubs are restricted in their efforts to improve, with Arsenal among those, though winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League will surely boost their hopes of landing ...
Rafael Nadal beats Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 12th Barcelona title
Rafael Nadal saved a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5 on Sunday and claim a 12th Barcelona Open title in the ATP’s longest match of 2021. The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo last week. Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarter-final loss to Tsitsipas and will return to second in the ATP rankings on Monday by climbing back above Daniil Medvedev after his marathon 3-hour 38-minute win. “It means a lot for me to play the final here and win,” said Nadal. “I improved my level during the week and this trophy means a lot.” Nadal redeemed himself after a surprise quarter-final exit in Monte Carlo, but the three sets dropped en route to...
Manchester United linked with Nick Pope with club concerned Dean Henderson is ‘too inexperienced’
Manchester United are being linked with Burnley stopper Nick Pope this summer, with the club concerned that Dean Henderson is not ready to be the club’s number one. Following Henderson’s return from two seasons on-loan at Sheffield United in the summer, there has been constant debate over who should be the Red Devils starting goalkeeper, particularly with David De Gea having been inconsistent in the last 18 months or so. The majority of this campaign has seen the Spaniard remain as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-choice, with the younger Englishman largely having been deployed in domestic cup competitions. With De Gea granted leave to return to Spain for the birth of his first child last week, the 24-year-old has been handed the chance to impress with a run of games, although after a strong p...
Manchester United boss rules out late title push despite derby win
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is refusing to dream of a late title push, believing Manchester City are “too far ahead” despite yesterday’s superb derby win. Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and Luke Shaw’s strike saw United triumph 2-0 at the Etihad, ending City’s run of 21 straight wins in all competitions. The result denied City the chance to go 15 points clear at the top and moved United ahead of Leicester into second but they remain 11 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s side with just ten game to play. “We just take one game at a time,” Solskjaer said. “City are too far ahead for us to think we can catch them. Last year we caught 15 points up on Leicester, but City are a different proposition. “Even today they put us under so much pressure you could see we were playing against a ve...
AC Milan ready to pay €30 million for Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz
AC Milan are willing to pay as much as €30 million (£26m/$36m) to land Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz, with the 21-year-old having made a positive impact during his loan spell with the Serie A side. Goal can reveal that Milan bosses are keen to make the loan move permanent and, although they do not have a purchase option, they are keen to discuss a transfer with Madrid. While Brahim has always wanted to succeed at the Bernabeu, Madrid will now weigh up whether to keep him beyond the end of the 2020-21 campaign or sell for what would be a significant amount amid the coronavirus crisis. Following his loan switch to Milan in September 2020, Brahim immediately took to life in Italy and has become an important member of Stefano Pioli’s first-team squad. He has made 25 appearances in all compet...
Mikel Arteta delighted with new football chief appointment
Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, is delighted with the imminent arrival of new football chief Richard Garlick. Arteta has revealed his excitement at the appointment of Richard Garlick as the club’s director of football operations. Garlick, who currently holds the role of the Premier League’s director of football, will replace Huss Fahmy, who left the Gunners board in November. “We lost Huss at the start of the season,” said the Spaniard. “He had a really important role because it is a very important link between myself, Edu the technical director, the board, Vinai [Venkatesham]. “We needed a person with a lot of experience, who knows the job really well, has all the connections in English and international football. “As well, someone that can bring some ideas and some qualities that we believe ...
Bernd Leno: Arsenal ‘don’t have time’ to feel sorry for themselves
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno says there is no time for the players to feel sorry for themselves after an eighth Premier League defeat of the season ramped up the pressure on manager Mikel Arteta. Sunday is an unhappy first anniversary for the Gunners boss as he reflects on a 2-1 reverse at Everton that extended their winless run to seven league matches and left them just four points above the Premier League’s bottom three. “A lot of things are going wrong for us but we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves, we have to fight for every ball, for our team-mates,” said Leno. “Now the confidence is not at the top level but the only thing that can be said is we should stick together and come out of this situation.” The 28-year-old German said Arsenal showed a good attitude in the second h...
Chioma Ubogagu scores first goal of the season for Real Madrid
Chioma Ubogagu scored her first goal in the 2020-21 Spanish Primera Iberdrola campaign as Real Madrid thrashed Espanyol 8-1 at Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque on Sunday. The 28-year-old had starred for the USA at youth level before playing for England at senior level thrice, albeit in friendlies, and still eligible to represent Nigeria due to the new Fifa eligibility rules. Having been handed her second start of the season, the England international put up an impressive display in front of goal as her side extend their winning streak in the Spanish top-flight. Las Blancas made a fantastic start to the encounter as Sofia Jakobsson’s perfect pass allowed Olga Carmona to score the opening goal for the visitors after just nine minutes. In the 33rd minute, Teresa Abelleira set up Ubogagu to double...
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal transfer European form into Premier League
Mikel Arteta has demanded Arsenal transfer their Europa League form into the Premier League, where he says his side need to start winning matches “immediately”. Goals from Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun helped the Gunners ease past Irish side Dundalk 4-2 in Dublin on Thursday to finish top of Group B with a 100 per cent record – the first time they have won six successive European matches since 2005. That fine European form is in sharp contrast to their domestic struggles, where the club have lost six out of their last nine matches to slump to 15th in the table. With the Europa League now finished with until February, Arsenal can focus all their attention on domestic competition, with Arteta stressing the urgent need to pick up positive results, starting wit...
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