Premier League
LAMPARD UNSATISFIED WITH CHELSEA’S TOP-FOUR FINISH
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said the Blues “have to be careful getting excited by top-four finishes” and will be looking to close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City next season.
Chelsea sealed a Champions League place after a 2-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday. The Blues had not ended a round of fixtures outside the top four since Oct 6.
Chelsea can cap an encouraging first season in charge for Lampard if they can beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. They also have to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 but trail 3-0 from the first leg ahead of the trip to Germany next month.
“I suppose at Chelsea we have to be careful getting excited by top-four finishes, but coming into the job, I don’t think a lot of people put us in that bracket,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “We know where we are at, it is a progress and can we get better? And now we’ve secured top four can we look to improve to close that gap?
“The gap is there for a reason and there because Manchester City and Liverpool have taken it to different levels.”
Chelsea lost 12 times in the league for only the second time since Roman Abramovich became owner in 2003. And Lampard knows his team’s inconsistent spells must be cut out to have any chance of closing the 33-point gap to Liverpool.
He has already strengthened his squad, with new German striker Timo Werner, signed from Leipzig for next season, watching in a mask in the Stamford Bridge stands. Lampard has also secured the signature of Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech, with reports suggesting he is considering moves for Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz.
Intriguingly, he dropped Kepa Arrizabalaga as Argentinian veteran Willy Caballero started in goal. Error-prone Kepa, linked with a close-season move, has struggled to live up to his price tag as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper since the Spaniard’s £71.6 million (S$126.9 million) transfer from Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
“What we’ve done this season is take the opportunity to bring in the younger players and improve the existing players,” Lampard said.
“The challenge now is to see what more we can do next season.”
AFP
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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