Premier League
MANCHESTER UNITED WILL NOT CHANGE APPROACH
Needing just a draw for top four, but Solskjaer insists on victory over a weakened Leicester. Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he will not settle for the point that would guarantee his side a return to the Champions League next season when the Red Devils travel to Leicester today.
United sit third in the Premier League table on 63 points going into the final day of the season, but defeat by the Foxes (62) at the King Power Stadium would see them fall to fifth should Chelsea (63) avoid losing at home to Wolves.
“We’ve given ourselves a good chance of being in the Champions League next year but we can’t go into a game thinking about what the outcome can be,” said Solskjaer.
“We’ve just got to go and perform and perform at a high enough level and standard so we can get a result.
“We want to go there and dominate the game. We wanted to get this position to be able to go to Leicester and having to beat them, and we’re not going to change our approach. We want to go there and try and win the game.”
United have overturned an eight-point deficit to Leicester in the eight games since English football’s return from the three-month Covid hiatus, but have looked low on energy in recent games as they crashed out of the FA Cup to Chelsea last weekend and were held 1-1 at home by West Ham on Wednesday.
However, the Norwegian stresses he is still delighted with the progress that has been made, with his side on a 13-match unbeaten run in the league stretching back to January, when they lost 2-0 to Burnley.
The former United striker, 47, oversaw the club’s worst start to a top-flight campaign in 30 years and faced questions about his suitability for the team’s rebuilding, but United have turned things around in the second half of the season.
They can also secure their highest finish since the 2017-18 season, when Jose Mourinho guided them to second place.
“We’ve had some hard times this season, some setbacks, but we have shown this is a team going places,” Solskjaer added.
“We’re going to go into it with a strong frame of mind. It’s not job done, we have one more game in this season. That’s this season, and this is a journey for this team.
“Mentally I think we’ve shown more robustness, resilience, when we’ve lost the first goal in games, for example, but we’ve also shown the heights when everything’s flowing.
“We’ve got our best players fit and raring to go. I’m delighted with how the development looks.”
Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly are doubtful for today, while Leicester are without the suspended Caglar Soyuncu and the injured quintet of Ben Chilwell, Ricardo Pereira, Christian Fuchs, Daniel Amartey and James Maddison.
A return to the Champions League is vital for the health of United’s finances, but they will have a second chance even if they lose at Leicester by winning the Europa League when it returns next month. The Red Devils are 5-0 up against Lask and will host the Austrian side in the second leg of their last-16 clash on Aug 5.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, has called on his players to give it one last shot.
“What they have done has been absolutely brilliant up until this point. Now they have the chance to make a result that will be heard around the world. Let’s go and enjoy it,” he said.
AFP/ Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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