Mkyhailo Mudryk has revealed that he was wearing inspirational shin pads when finally breaking his Chelsea goal duck at the 24th time of asking.
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Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he can understand why former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has called out the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie.
Celtic endured a disastrous season as they handed over their title to their fierce rivals, and McAvennie has not held back when discussing some of the players at his old club.
The retired forward told The Herald last month that he can’t work out why Ajer doesn’t want to head the ball, while he hit out at Christie for not doing enough when speaking to Football Insider.
Scathing criticism, but it did not surprise Hendrie, who spoke exclusively to TT about Celtic’s miserable campaign. On the subject, the ex-Aston Villa midfielder said:
“Yes, you can single out those players. I think they’re players you certainly look at and you want to stand up and be counted for, so there’s no surprise Frank’s dug a few of those players out.”
Ajer may not be a Celtic player for much longer, with the central defender currently being linked with a move to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Christie’s contract is set to expire next year, though there has been some confusion about exactly when.
Mikel Arteta's side picked up a first win at Goodison Park since 2017 thanks to a second-half strike from Leandro Trossard.
Leandro Trossard staked his claim for a place in the starting XI at Arsenal after coming off the bench to score the winner for the Gunners at Goodison Park.
The Gunners did find the back of the net in the first half through Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian's effort was ruled out for offside and he was then forced off injured and replaced by Trossard.
Mikel Arteta's side made hard work of breaking down Everton until a flowing move in the second half involving Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka was finished off by Trossard in spectacular fashion to secure all three points.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Goodison Park…
The Arsenal and Man City stars headline the group as the six nominees for the Men's PFA Young Player of the Year award are revealed
The PFA Awards have been a highlight of the footballing calendar for 50 years, and the organisation has now revealed the shortlist for the 2023 Men's Young Player of the Year, with six hugely exciting talents aged 21 or under nominated for the prestigious award.
Manchester City's goal-scoring phenom Erling Haaland and Arsenal's dazzling winger Bukayo Saka find themselves among the nominees for both the young player and players' player of the season awards for 2022-23. Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey and Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli also make the shortlist, along with Brighton duo Evan Ferguson and Moises Caicedo. The latter has just completed a British-record £115 million ($146m) move to Chelsea.
Haaland's City team-mate Phil Foden was the winner last year. Find out more about the six-man shortlist for 2023 below…
Wayne Rooney could be planning a move to bring Lee Gregory back to Derby County this summer.
That’s according to a report by Derbyshire Live, who claim that the 35-year-old Rams boss may be targeting a move to bring the Stoke City centre-forward, who spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Pride Park, back to the club for next season.
Speaking last month about the possibility of the £450,000-rated 32-year-old returning to Derby, Rooney, as cited by Derbyshire Live, stated: “Losing Lee was a blow because he was in good form. He’ll do his rehab and we will help him get back fit, and [will] obviously make a decision on Lee at the end of the season.
“I think he has been fantastic – attitude, energy, hunger. He’s very good inside the six-yard box, his anticipation to get himself in the right position to score goals is very good.”
While Gregory did manage to score three goals and provide one assist over his 11 appearances while on loan at Derby County, prior to picking up a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the club’s last seven Championship fixtures, there are a number of reasons why Rooney must avoid a move for the former Millwall man this summer.
Firstly, while the Derby boss may well be impressed with the striker’s hunger, energy and attitude, the fact remains that, throughout his career, Gregory has only ever scored 10 or more goals in a Championship season on two occasions – in his 2017/18 and 2018/19 Championship campaigns with the Lions, when he scored 10 and 12 goals respectively.
Secondly, with the £17,500-per-week forward still under contract for a further year with Stoke, unless Derby can somehow persuade the Potters to allow them to take Gregory off their hands for nothing, then he will cost a fee – something that, considering the state of Derby’s current finances, would appear to be a waste of money on a 32-year-old with little to no resale value.
Finally, there is an argument to make that there are much better options available for Derby in the transfer window, not only in terms of quality but also in price, with a number of impressive talents becoming available on free transfers this summer – such as Sunderland’s 29-goal hitman Charlie Wyke.
As such, it would be highly advisable for Rooney to resist the temptation to simply return to a player he knows in the upcoming transfer window, as the Rams need to make considerable improvements, rather than just treading water.
In other news: Alan Nixon delivers encouraging Derby County update, fans will surely be buzzing – opinion
Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts believes Steven Gerrard should be a candidate to become the next Spurs boss, though he has told Football FanCast that he doubts he would be willing to take the job.
The ex-Liverpool captain has done brilliant work with Rangers and has guided them to the Scottish Premiership title this season.
Indeed, the Gers are currently 23 points clear of second-placed Celtic, and have yet to lose a single game in the top flight.
With two matches of the season remaining there is a very real chance of Gerrard, who has only tasted defeat twice in 2021 against Slavia Prague and on penalties to St Johnstone in the cup, and his side achieving an unbeaten season.
Spurs, of course, are on the lookout for a new manager after sacking Jose Mourinho earlier in April.
Roberts played for both clubs and he believes Gerrard should be considered as a candidate, though he holds doubts over whether he would be willing to move to north London.
Gerrard, of course, spent all but one season in his professional career at Liverpool.
Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “Steven Gerrard has done an unbelievable job at Rangers but maybe this is another step higher.
“I think what he’s done there, I’m not saying a bigger club, I think Rangers are a massive club. But what I’m thinking is the Premier League, it’s another step.”
The former Turkey international became a star under Diego Simeone but he went off the rails after a disastrous spell at Barcelona…
The signing of Arda Guler is already generating plenty of excitement at Real Madrid. Vinicius Junior, for example, has hailed the arrival of the Turkish teenager as further evidence of the club's enduring ability to attract the best young players on the planet: "Another one has chosen the greatest [club]."
The Guler transfer certainly represents quite the coup for Madrid, given he was also wanted by hated rivals Barcelona, among others. Indeed, he's already being touted as the best player to come out of Turkey since Arda Turan, a hugely divisive figure who left quite the mark on Spanish football.
Turan established himself as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world during his time at Atletico Madrid, but his subsequent spell at Barcelona proved a disaster. So, why did Arda flop at Camp Nou? Was he just not good enough? Or did he simply join at the wrong time?
Certainly, some would certainly argue that his move to Barca was doomed from the start…
Having lost 14 matches in the Premier League, it hasn’t exactly been a very fruitful campaign for Crystal Palace.
What hasn’t helped is a lack of clarity over Roy Hodgson’s future with the club.
Hodgson is out of contract at Selhurst Park in the summer but it’s not known whether he’ll actually be staying in London.
The 73-year-old may well choose to retire but he hasn’t given very many hints over his future.
Palace chairman Steve Parish has been pondering replacements just in case he does leave, with the likes of Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche both being monitored.
Though, if recent news is anything to go by, he might need to ramp up his search.
That’s because The Sun claim that even if Hodgson is offered a new contract, there is no longer a 100% guarantee that he’d sign it.
As a result, there is a chance he quits football altogether this summer.
If the former England boss is intent on stepping down in a few months time, it will leave Parish with an almighty dilemma on his hands.
The question on his mind, and indeed everyone’s at Crystal Palace, will be a simple one; who is going to be the new manager?
A number of faces have been linked with the post but external factors could determine who they can lure to London.
Howe is being tracked by Celtic but recent reports indicate he’s now finalising a deal with the Glaswegian side.
Dyche is an option for the Eagles but it would take nearly £3m to prise him away from Turf Moor. That fee is without considering the backroom staff he’d want to bring with him too.
Another name that Parish may look to tempt to the club is ex Chelsea manager Frank Lampard.
He was sacked by the Blues in January and is still waiting at home to find a new job.
If Palace are hoping to establish themselves more, Dyche seems a viable option. However, it’s hard to deny that Lampard wouldn’t be a more exciting fit.
He has a proven track record of developing youngsters at Derby and Chelsea, something that could prove game-changing for players like Ebere Eze, Tyrick Mitchell and Nathan Ferguson.
Parish clearly has a lot of thinking to do between now and the summer.
The Gunners winger has made 78 consecutive Premier League appearances for Mikel Arteta's team, and he has looked tired in recent weeks
Arsenal spent a lot of time last summer looking to bring in some cover for Bukayo Saka on the right side of their attack. Raphinha was the player they wanted, and they did make a bid for the Leeds United winger. But when that bid was rejected and Raphinha’s determination to seal a dream move to Barcelona became abundantly clear, Arsenal took a step back.
At that point you thought the Gunners would move on to other targets. Moussa Diaby, the Bayer Leverkusen winger, is a player they are known to have admired for some time, and there was a feeling the north London club could make a move for the 23-year-old. But they never did.
And when the transfer window closed at the end of the summer the only right winger who had arrived at Arsenal was Marquinhos, the 19-year-old Brazilian who had come in from Sao Paulo.
The capture of Marquinhos was seen as one for the future. He was talented, but he wasn’t a player who was expected to immediately challenge for the first-team. In fact, the expectation was that he would head out on loan almost immediately. So that left Mikel Arteta once again relying almost purely on Saka on the right hand side of his front-line.
Manchester United reportedly want to add to their midfield options this summer with the addition of Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic.
According to Fichajes, Red Devils’ boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a huge fan of the Bosnian and sees him as an ideal replacement for Fred in the heart of the United midfield.
However, Ed Woodward – who is set to leave Old Trafford at the end of the year – would be rounding off his tenure with a shocking mistake should he sign-off a move.
Since arriving at the Nou Camp, Pjanic really has been underwhelming. The 31-year-old has made just 28 appearances in all competitions for the Catalans, only managing to rack up three assists. Compare this to even his last season in Turin, where he notched three goals and eight assists in all competitions, it is clear that Pjanic is currently on the decline.
That aspect is certainly exemplified by the huge hit that his transfer valuation has taken whilst in Spain.
Having been rated at £63m as recently as December 2019, the former AS Roma man now sits at just £25.2m – a huge drop of just under £38m in a year-and-a-half.
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Now over 30, there is no reason to suggest that he might be able to recover both his form and his rating.
It is mystifying then that Solskjaer wants to replace Fred – who is three years his junior – with the current Barca midfielder.
According to WhoScored, the current Manchester United man comes out on top in tackles and interceptions, clearly excelling in his preferred defensive midfield role.
Intriguingly though, the Brazilian also excels in an attacking vein too having racked up more shots, key passes and dribbles than Pjanic per game throughout 2020/21.
Again then, it seems bizarre that Solskjaer would see the Barcelona midfielder as a viable option in the centre of the park.
Should Woodward agree a deal to sign him this summer then he would be making another glaring error.
AND in more news, read which summer signing the Red Devils must hold onto for next season…