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Former Liverpool manager reveals Premier League interest

Manager of “invincible” Celtic, Brendan Rodgers has revealed that several Premier League sides have tried to bring him back to the English top flight, but he has turned them all down.

Rodgers almost won the Premier League with Liverpool in the 2013/2014 season, thanks to the impact of Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling, and Daniel Sturridge upfront for the Reds, but finished second that season, after a late capitulation at Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

His Reds team however, failed to measure up to the standard they had set that season, and once Luis Suarez was sold to Barcelona they failed to finish in the top four the next season, which led to his sacking.

But since he joined Celtic in the summer of 2016, they have won five trophies and remain unbeaten in Scotland.

The Irish man who is a long-time Celtic fan, claims he is a happy man. According to him, he knows he could earn more in the Premier League, but happiness is more important than money to him.

West Ham, Everton and Swansea were credited with an interest in Rodgers, but it would be difficult to sell a club without European commitments to him now.

Four group matches you should not miss at the Russsia 2018 World Cup

With the World Cup draws over, teams are now left to prepare for how they would conquer whichever group they have been placed into.

While every team who have qualified for the World Cup have a chance of winning the tournament, any country that would win would have to overcome their group stage opponents first.

Here are a few eye-catching games in the group stages we believe you should not miss.

 

Portugal vs. Spain, June 15

Both of these sides are favourites for the competition. Spain who won the 2010 World Cup, has been on a decline for a few years now, and reigning European Champions would want to start their competition on a winning note.

Argentina vs. Iceland, June 16

This could be Lionel Messi’s chance of winning the World cup, but Iceland would not be push overs. The small island nation shocked Europe by qualifying for this competition, and seeing how Iran almost held Argentina to a Stalemate in the last World Cup means there is room for upset here.

Nigeria vs. Argentina, June 26

Nigeria beat Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in November, that game did not say much anyway, as these sides have met in five of Nigeria’s last six world cup appearances, and the Argentines have not lost a single game to them.

England vs. Belgium, June 28

By the time these teams face off, both teams should have qualified but with Colombia or Poland possible next round opponents, they would both want to top the group and get a favourable draw.

Liverpool star insists contract dispute is “not about the money” and he could still sign new deal

Liverpool and Germany international midfielder Emre Can has insisted that he could still sign a new deal with Reds, although he also admitted that he could sign a pre-contract agreement with another club this coming winter too.

The 23 years old has just seven months left on his current Liverpool contract and has been in talks with the club since the summer of 2016. However, talks have made little progress as the Reds have refused to grant him his wish of inserting a realistic release clause on the new deal.

When asked by Liverpool Echo if he would remain with the Reds next season, the German insisted it was “not about money”

Liverpool who also offered Philippe Coutinho a new deal in the summer of 2016 feel it would set off a new trend, if they agreed to insert a release clause in Can’s new current contract.

Can joined the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2014, and has become one of the Red’s most important midfielder under Jurgen Klopp.

Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he would love to see his compatriot remain at Anfield but also admitted that an ending contract has to be respected, insisting he would continue to pick Can as long as his performance does not show that his heart in somewhere else.

Arsenal star set to miss Manchester United clash

Arsenal would be without the service of their French attacker Alexandre Lacazette after he limped off from their match against Huddersfield town.

The former Lyon attacker had opened the scoring against the Terriers with a sweet effort, but was take off at half time as he struggled to remain in the match.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he has a groin problem, which makes him available to face Red Devils.

Lacazette joined the Gunners this summer for a club record fee, and although he has been slow to adapt to the Premier League, he is still one of the best performing players in the Gunner’s team.

Meanwhile, Wenger believes Mesut Ozil has found a new “fight” that has seen him help the Gunners to a succession of wins.

The German is set to leave the Gunners at the end of this season after refusing to sign a new deal. Many had expected the Gunners to cash in on him and Alexis Sanchez in the January transfer window, but that looks unlikely now as the Gunners would prefer to have them stay and help push them back into the Top Four.

Ozil, Sanchez and Lacazette bagged a goal each while Olivier Giroud came of the bench to score twice and lead the Gunners to victory over David Wagner’s side.

Liverpool join Leicester City to monitor West Brom Loanee

With their defensive woes well publicised, Liverpool appear to have started looking for defenders who would help solve that problem.

The Reds failed in their attempt to sign Virgil van Dijk last summer despite reportedly being ready to offer about €70 million for his signature, they have now reportedly turned their attention to Ahmed Hegazy at West Brom.

ESPN is reporting that the Reds have joined Leicester City in monitoring the Egyptian and could move for him in the January transfer window.

Hegazi has been a star-turned in the underperforming Baggies’ defence the season, putting in a few Man-of-the-match displays.

He is currently on loan from Al Ahly, but the Baggies have the option of making the move permanent for €5 million, and with this level of performance, they would surely take up that option.

Per the source, Leicester are also interested in signing Hegazi and this might trigger a transfer war.

The Reds have also been linked with Stefan de Vrij, and they would likely go back for Virgil van Dijk next summer.

Arsenal name former Barcelona transfer guru as head of football relations

Arsenal have completed a deal to bring Barcelona’s Sporting Director Raul Sanllehi to the Emirates.

The Spaniard who has been credited with helping Barcelona make world class signings over the past few seasons, joined the Catalans in 2003.

Sanllehi led the negotiations which brought in the likes of Neymar and Luis Suarez, who was claimed to have been signed for less than the price Liverpool intended to sell him at the time.

Ivan Gazidis hailed the appointment of the Spaniard, claiming that they had been supplementing their team with some of Europe’s best hands for the past few seasons, which shows how much they want to take the club to the next level.

According to  him, Raul is well known around Europe and comes with a lot of experience having been involved in some of the biggest deals around the world.

Sanllehi is credited with assembling Pep Guardiola’s team that conquered the world in 2009.

He would be hugely missed in his home country with the Spanish media claiming it would be hard to understand how Barcelona operates without the presence of Sanllehi.

He is expected to join the Gunners in February.

Everton set to announce top English man as their new manager

Following the failed experiment of David Unsworth, Everton are set to name a new manager and, reports are claiming that former England manager Sam Allardyce is in pole position.

Allardyce had ruled himself out of the running for the position two weeks ago after it appeared not everybody was in line with the decision to name him as manager.

However, following their failed attempt to get Marcos Silva from Watford, it seem Allardyce is now top of a list of potential managers which includes Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neil and  Sharktar Donestk manager Paulo Fonseca.

Caretaker manager David Unsworth claims he should be in charge of Wednesday’s game against West Ham despite reports that a new manager would be named before the visit of the Hammers.

Unsworth admitted that he understood the club was speaking to a few people and expected them to name a new permanent boss in a couple of days.

When asked about Sam Allardyce, the former Toffees defender hailed the former England manager as a top class coach but insisted it would be wrong for him to talk too much about the former Bolton boss.

Erik Lamela set for Tottenham return after 13 months injury

Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela is set to return to a football pitch after 13 months out through injury.

The Argentine has not featured for the Lilywhites since October 25 last year when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Liverpool. He had been treated in Rome and other places before returning to London for the final phase of his recovery.

Mauricio Pochettino had earlier in the season admitted that Lamela’s injury was a mysterious one and he could not say when the attacker would be ready to play again. However, speaking ahead of his side’s match against Leicester  City, Pochettino was happy to announce that Lamela is now available for selection.

Lamela who cost Spurs £30 million in the summer of 2013 as they looked to cover the void left by the sale of Gareth Bale would also be delighted to be back as he seem to be a better player under the tutelage of Pochettino after initially struggling to justify his price tag.

Many fans may have given up on Lamela, but Pochettino insists that he believed all along that his fellow country man would be back sooner.

Michael Emenalo joins AS Monaco just 21 days after quitting Chelsea

Former Nigeria International Michael Emenalo has been unveiled as the new Sporting director of AS Monaco.

Emenalo spent ten years at Chelsea and left just 21 days ago claiming he wanted to see his kids grow and also reflect on the work his has done so far.

However,  the 52 years old has now taken up a role in Monaco and would report directly to the club’s Russian vice-President Vadim Vasilyev.

He held several positions at Chelsea before being promoted to Technical Director in 2011.

During his time with the Blues he oversaw the signing of some of their best players including Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, and David Luiz.

He also oversaw the sale of some fringe players like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohammed Salah, and Romelu Lukaku. These transfers netted the Blues huge profits, but the players would go on to have better careers and command larger fees for the buying clubs.

He is said to have fallen out with both Antonio Conte and Roman Abramovich after a poor summer that saw the Blues lose out to their rivals on the signing of some of their key targets, and he was also blamed for the sale of Nemanja Matic to rivals Manchester United.

Vasilyev is delighted to have landed Emenalo as claimed his recruitment shows they remain committed to being one of the best teams in Europe.

Coach David Fizdale fired by the Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzles have terminated the contract of David Fizdale after overseeing an 8-game losing streak.

The move was announced by General manager, Chris Wallace on Monday, and J B Bickerstaff who has been Associate Head Coach would step up on the interim basis.

This move comes just a day after he bench Marc Gasol for the fourth quarter.

Gasol was given maximum deal by the Grizzles in 2015 and has been the stand out player for the team this season. He leads the team on rebounds, assists and points, and was an All-Star in Fizdale’s first season with the Grizzles.

Gasol was unimpressed by the decision, and spend so much time after the game telling the reporters how disappointed he was to be benched.

However, Fizdale claims he just wanted to win a game with the help of his reserves and he understood a decision like that would always upset his senior players.

Fizdale was the franchise’s 13th head coach when he was appointed in 2016. In his first season, the Grizzles reached their seven straight post-season, losing to San Antonio Spurs.