Premier League
Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte make short-list of coaches targeted by Man United
Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte are both in the race to replace under-pressure Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the club are also reportedly considering Brendan Rodgers and Erik ten Hag.
The Red Devils are in disarray after a 5-0 mauling at the hands of fierce rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday compounded a poor start to the season with Solskjaer fearing his time in charge may be coming to an end.
And according to The Sun, the club have drawn up a four-man shortlist of potential successors including the out-of-work pair, as well as Leicester’s Rodgers and Ajax’s Ten Hag.
United are understood to be keen to sound out ex-Real Madrid manager Zidane and former Chelsea boss Conte and gauge their interest in taking over.
Club chiefs are said to have told a prominent agent to get in contact with several leading managerial names to discern their contract demands and vision for United if they took over.
Although the Red Devils remain reluctant to sack Solskjaer, having handed him a three-year contract extension in July, the Liverpool capitulation was probably the nadir of his reign and could force the club’s hand.
Following a day of deafening silence at United, sources emerged to offer Solskjaer lukewarm support on Monday night more than 24 hours after the humiliating defeat.
Earlier, chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer held crisis talks with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and managing director Richard Arnold as the shock of losing so pathetically to their bitter rivals continued to reverberate around the club.
Meanwhile, Solskjaer spent two-and-a-half hours at the training ground around lunchtime after giving his squad and coaching staff the day off.
A vast and immediate improvement in performances and results may extend his stay of execution, but after another lavish summer of spending to bring in Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane expectations are understandably higher.
It remains to be seen whether Rodgers’ links with Liverpool would affect his chances of landing the United job but he has impressed with Leicester since taking over in 2019.
He has introduced a free-flowing style of play and almost eclipsed several bigger names to qualify for the Champions League two seasons running, only to narrowly miss out twice.
Rodgers did manage to win last season’s FA Cup and the Community Shield at the start of the current campaign but ruled himself out of the running to take over at Newcastle last week.
Conte, who is available after leaving Inter Milan earlier this summer, won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2016-17 and retains a reputation as a bonafide winner.
Meanwhile, Zidane secured a record three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid but left the Bernabeu in May.
Ten Hag has won nearly three-quarters of his 181 matches in charge of Ajax since joining from Utrecht in December 2017.
He masterminded their unlikely run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 – where they were narrowly beaten by Tottenham – and has a reputation for playing eye-catching football with young players.
The Dutchman has won two Eredivisie titles but it remains to be seen if he has the pedigree United would look for if they are to change manager.
It emerged on Monday that senior United players are now questioning Solskjaer’s tactics and leadership over concerns that he lacks the experience to get himself out of trouble and is too soft on them.
It is not the first time the 48-year-old has faced an uncertain future since he returned to the club in December 2018. Whereas United have previously offered Solskjaer unequivocal backing, however, the message on Monday night was less emphatic.
Sources stressed the need to pull together and move on from Sunday’s embarrassment, adding that there is nothing to say Solskjaer won’t still be in charge when United visit Tottenham on Saturday.
– Daily Mail
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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