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Rashford, James, Pogba star as Manchester United hammers Leeds in Perth

By Kyle BonnJul 17, 2019, 9:12 AM EDT
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Manchester United topped Leeds 4-0 in a comprehensive victory in Perth that saw Marcus Rashford and new signing Daniel James run rampant down the flanks.

Rashford scored in the 27th minute with a beautiful move down the left that threw two Leeds defenders into each other, while James struck the post just before halftime on an overlap down the right in his Red Devils debut.

Also on the scoresheet was 17-year-old Mason Greenwood who received a hard, low cross from fellow debutant Aaron Wan-Bissaka and beat two Leeds defenders in a footrace to the ball on the doorstep for a sliding finish. The move was started by Paul Pogba who found the new Manchester United defender down the right with a wonderful through-ball, leading to the delivery into the box. Greenwood has had quite the last 12 months, scoring for the Manchester United U-17, U-18, U-23, and now senior side all in that span.

After the break, Phil Jones found the back of the net by powering home a corner with his head, while Anthony Martial finished off the scoreline with a penalty after Tahith Chong was fouled in the area by Liam Cooper. Chong impressed throughout the second half, linking well with fellow Manchester United youth product Angel Gomes.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer found playing time for just about every first-teamer, completely changing the side at halftime. Nemanja Matic was one of the halftime introductions, but was curiously withdrawn with 12 minutes to go, unclear if due to injury. The only Red Devil in the squad to not see the field was 21-year-old Axel Tuanzebe.

Transfer Rumor Roundup: James to Atletico, Rondon to China

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By Kyle BonnJul 15, 2019, 12:29 PM EDT
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It has seemed for weeks that James Rodriguez is just a formality away from becoming a Napoli player, with Real Madrid motivated to offload the Colombian and Napoli appearing equally as excited to bring him on. However, as the weeks drag on without any official announcement, things may have begun to sour.

According to a number of reports in Spain, Real Madrid were upset with Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis due to comments made by the Italian. With Real Madrid insisting any would-be suitor pony up immediately with a permanent deal, de Laurentiis went public with his insistence on a loan with an obligation to buy. “We are all prepared to make sacrifices for James Rodriguez, but we ask Real Madrid to make them too,” de Laurentiis said to Sky Sport Italia. “We’ve not given up, but in order to break the ice we need Madrid to consider that rather than have an unhappy player sitting around, they should send him out to play. Perhaps on loan.”

That reportedly upset Real Madrid enough to the point where they have shifted focus to Atletico Madrid, willing to deal with a direct rival rather than capitulate to Napoli’s wishes. The reports also state that Rodriguez is on board, growing frustrated with Napoli’s wavering desire for his services. Atletico is also an attractive destination for the Colombian given the gap up front created by the departure of Antoine Griezmann. They have spent all the Griezmann money on Portuguese youngster Joao Felix, but with such a departure, there is always a power vacuum Rodriguez could exploit.

According to Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports, Championship side West Brom has agreed to sell Salomon Rondon to Chinese club Dalian Yifang where he will reunite with manager Rafa Benitez.

The report states the deal between the clubs is done and the player now must agree to personal terms, with the possibility for official confirmation of the deal in as little as 48 hours. It is unclear what the value of the deal is, but Sky mentions that Rondon has a release clause in his contract worth $20.6 million.

Rondon spent last season on loan at Newcastle with Benitez after West Brom was relegated the season before. He was a superb creative force, scoring 12 goals across all competitions, good for second on the team behind Ayoze Perez. The 29-year-old is an experienced attacker with 78 international caps for Venezuela.

Sheffield United is preparing for its first season in the Premier League since the 2006/07 campaign, and they are looking for reinforcements to bolster their lineup and avoid the straightaway drop they faced last time in the top flight. Having already broken the club transfer record by acquiring Callum Robinson from Preston North End for $10 million, they are now looking to beat that number again.

According to The Guardian, the Blades had a $19 million bid for striker Oli McBurnie rejected by Swansea City. The Championship side is reportedly desperate to keep the 23-year-old after already offloading Daniel James to Manchester United.

McBurnie, a Leeds-born Scottish international, scored a massive 22 goals for the club in 42 Championship appearances last season as the club finished ninth in the table, plus he another two in a pair of FA Cup games. He first arrived at Swansea in the summer of 2015 in a deal with Bradford and was loaned out three separate times before sticking with the first team last season.

Roma technical director Gianluca Petrachi has issued a hands-off warning for Tottenham target Nicolo Zaniolo, saying the defender isn’t for sale.

“I have to work to try to get the best out of Zaniolo,” Petrachi said during a press conference for Leonardo Spinazzola’s unveiling. “I am also a very practical person, I have direct contact with my players. I never put Zaniolo up for sale, nor did I say it was on the market. The market is full of surprises, but today Zaniolo is not on the market.”

The 20-year-old joined from Inter last summer and signed a contract through the summer of 2023. There have been reports that Spurs are circling due to Zaniolo’s unhappiness with Petrachi reportedly breaking off new contract negotiations upon his arrival. There were even rumblings of a swap deal for Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld.

The youngster was a mainstay for Roma last season once he earned a starting place in early November, making 27 Serie A appearances and scoring four goals.

Transfer Rumor Roundup: Dunk to Leicester City, Everton to Arsenal

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By Kyle BonnJul 14, 2019, 1:34 PM EDT
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The news that Manchester United has agreed with Leicester City on a world-record transfer fee for Harry Maguire has dominated the Sunday morning transfer talk, but there are a few more deals that are seeing movement this weekend.

[ MORE: Maguire nearing $100 million move ]

Directly connected to the Maguire deal is a rumor that Leicester City has already lined up his replacement, spending half the reported Manchester United payment on Brighton Hove & Albion defender Lewis Dunk. The Sun reports that Dunk, a Brighton youth product, will take over the Leicester City transfer record from newly acquired Youri Tielemans at a price tag of $56 million.

Brighton finished 17th last season, narrowly escaping relegation by a mere two points. Still, the defense was solid, conceding 60 goals in the campaign, fewer than any Premier League side in the bottom seven. Brighton gambled on Dunk on back in 2015 amid heavy interest in the player from Fulham, turning down a number of reported bids. The 27-year-old has repayed that faith, making 270 appearances for the club across all competitions and helping them earn promotion in 2017. Now, he will net the club an enormous payment should the move go through.

Brazilian winger Everton, who has been linked heavily with a move away from his current club Gremio, has added fuel to the fire by confirming he has a tabled offer and suggesting things are progressing rather quickly.

In quotes to Brazilian radio station Radio Grenal confirmed by The Mirror and Italian journalist Gianluca di Marzio, Everton said, “At this moment I have an offer, but I can’t say the name of the club. Just like I can’t promise that on Thursday I’ll still be playing for Gremio [against Bahia], we’ll see.”

The 23-year-old winger burst onto the scene at the Copa America this summer, helping Brazil cope with the absence of Neymar by scoring three goals and assisting two across the six games en route to the title. He has been linked with Arsenal and AC Milan, with the Gunners reportedly holding talks with his representatives. With Arsenal’s pursuit of Wilfried Zaha looking unlikely due to Crystal Palace’s high price tag, Brazilian reports state new Arsenal technical director Edu is using his many contacts in Brazil to take a deeper look at Everton’s situation.

Two days ago, reports claimed Roma representatives were in London to discuss a possible transfer of Toby Alderweireld to the Serie A side. The Belgian defender has a clause in his contract that would let him leave for a seemingly cheap price of $31.4 million before July 25, but Roma apparently wanted an even cheaper price.

According to Italian publication Il Tempo, Daniel Levy isn’t moving a muscle on the release clause, sending Roma packing. Very few clubs have shown interest in Alderweireld despite the cheap price, with rumors stating the Belgian is asking for heavy wages, and at 30 years old is not a massively valuable asset long-term. Still, it’s odd that teams like Manchester United would rather spend an exorbitant amount of cash on a defender like Harry Maguire when Aldereweireld could be had for far cheaper.

Sky Sports reports that West Ham defender Reece Oxford could be on his way out of London Stadium, with the 20-year-old being traced by Championship clubs Swansea City and Fulham as well as German side Augsburg.

Oxford was not part of West Ham’s 23-man squad that departed for its preseason trip to China, and after making just eight top-flight appearances last season while on loan at Augsburg, Oxford’s future is in flux. A West Ham youth product, Oxford has spent time on loan at Reading and Borussia Monchengladbach before last year’s half-season spell at Augsburg, and while the German club has been rumored to be in for a permanent move all summer, Swansea and Fulham entering the fray is new news.

Longtime Premier League striker Peter Crouch retires

By Kyle BonnJul 12, 2019, 7:42 AM EDT
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At 38 years old, Peter Crouch has finally decided to call time on his career, hanging up his boots after a fabulous 19-year career that saw him attain numerous highs. Literally.

Crouch, known for his height and the finishing abilities that came with it, came up through the Tottenham youth system, but never made it initially with the London club, instead making his professional debut in the Championship (then known as the First Division) in 2000 with Queens Park Rangers. He went on to play for Portsmouth before making his Premier League debut with Aston Villa in 2002.

Eventually, the journeyman would play for Norwich City, Southampton, and Liverpool before returning to Tottenham in 2009 to play two full seasons at his boyhood club. At Liverpool, Crouch would reach the Champions League final in 2007, a game where Rafa Benitez decided to leave Crouch on the bench instead of start him despite his contribution of six goals during the European campaign, a decision which Crouch has admitted is still a difficult memory as the Reds fell 2-1 to AC Milan.

After leaving Spurs in 2012, Crouch would spend eight seasons at Stoke City, by far his longest spell at any club. He left Stoke City this past winter after 202 Premier League appearances with the Potters, playing the last half of the season at Burnley before calling time on his career.

All told, Crouch made 467 Premier League appearances across his career, scoring 106 goals and popularizing his robot dance celebration. He would also attain 42 caps for the England national team, scoring 22 goals for the country, including his only World Cup goal in 2006 against Trinidad & Tobago. He also appeared as a substitute in the 2010 World Cup, including a 12-minute substitute appearance against the United States in the opening group stage game. Oddly enough, Crouch never appeared in a Euro match for England, as the country did not qualify for Euro 2008, the only competition that took place during the meat of his international career.

In his retirement announcement, an article with the Daily Mail, Crouch says he had hoped to play until he was 40 but said “circumstances over the last couple of seasons have made me realize that this is the right thing to do.”

Crouch admitted in his announcement he had grown weary of being a late-game bench option. “I will be 39 in January but I am physically fit and could have carried on. What I didn’t want to be was someone who was thrown on to have balls smashed up to them.”

Still, the Spurs youth product says he never could have dreamed where his career would take him.

“Football has opened up avenues that I never thought were possible when I started scoring goals in the Hayes and District league as an Under 10. Football, simply, made my dreams come true. I think back to when I was 17. I was a trainee at Tottenham then but there were 10 forwards in front of me, blocking my route to the first team. They loaned me out to Dulwich Hamlet then I went to IFK Hassleholm in Sweden. Let’s be honest – you would not have taken odds on me making it then. If you had told me at that point I would go on to play for England 42 times and score 22 goals, play for Liverpool in a Champions League and FA Cup final and score the goal that put Tottenham back in the European Cup for the first time in four decades, I would have had you locked up.”

Crouch, known for his beaming smile and happy-go-lucky attitude, has built a strong off-the-field image and seems primed for a strong post-football media career. He has built a brand with his self-titled podcast and regular written appearances in the Daily Mail.

Transfer rumor roundup: Man Utd eye Lazio star, PL clubs duel for Joelinton

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By Nicholas MendolaJul 11, 2019, 4:04 PM EDT
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Rampant links with transfer targets happen every summer at Manchester United, especially when a manager is involved with his first transfer window.

Throw in the Red Devils recent spells outside the UEFA Champions League, and there are plenty of wrinkles this go-round.

[ MORE: Latest on USMNT’s Cameron ]

For great players on middling clubs like Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, however, Europa League football is a step up considering Lazio’s underwhelming 2018-19 season.

Lazio slapped a nine-figure price tag on the exceptional 24-year-old center midfielder; Milinkovic-Savic was the club’s top performer last season, and chipped in offensively with five goals and three assists.

That was a far cry from his 12-goal 2017-18 season, but he’s only gotten better in his defensive contributions. Sky Sports says the player likes the idea of moving to United, but would also be happy to spend another season in Rome.

Hoffenheim’s big, young Brazilian striker Joelinton is looking to take the next step in his career, with both Wolves and Newcastle interested in the 22-year-old.

Joelinton scored seven times with seven assists in his return to the Bundesliga, which came after two loan stints with Rapid Vienna. He posted a combined 15 goals and six assists in league matches with the Austrian powers.

Newcastle is in dire need of a center forward, with Salomon Rondon reportedly on the verge of a move from West Bromwich Albion to Dalian Yifang in China.

Wolves would add a target forward with playmaking abilities much like Raul Jimenez, who is 28 and will need relief with the West Midlands club eyeing up a Europa League campaign.