Premier League
Zidane In The Picture As New Man United Owner Schemes For Ten Hag Sack –
Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to replace Erik ten Hag with former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, according to reports.
Ten Hag is under pressure to finish the season strongly and lead the Red Devils back into the Champions League.
It has been a very shaky campaign for United, who currently sit eight points behind Aston Villa in fourth, although they could be bailed out by a fifth Champions League spot being granted to the Premier League.
They did the league no favours in their bid to earn a fifth slot by finishing bottom of their Champions League group this term.
A lot has been said about Ten Hag’s long-term future at Old Trafford with Thomas Tuchel leaving Bayern Munich and Zidane out of work.
Rumours have accelerated in recent weeks following Ratcliffe’s minority takeover of the club.
INEOS chief Jean-Claude Blanc is expected to join the Red Devils as a director wants Zidane, who he is ‘a great admirer’ of and was desperate to bring to Paris Saint-Germain during his time at the Ligue 1 side.
This is claimed in a report from Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, who says Ratcliffe and Blanc are eager to appoint Zidane, as the former aims to bring United back to the top of world football.
The report says Ratcliffe has ‘outsized ambitions’ and a part of his bid to make Manchester United a force again is to replace Ten Hag with the three-time Champions League-winning manager.
Ratcliffe’s lack of public support for Ten Hag is noted, which ‘is not good news’ for the Dutch manager, especially as INEOS ‘work behind the scenes on the recruitment of a new major coach’.
The ‘dream’ is to give Zidane the reins at Old Trafford, although ‘it will not be easy’ to bring in the ex-Real Madrid boss.
Zidane is currently ‘waiting on the right project to get back on track’ and has recently said he is open to managing in Italy, while the Bayern Munich job will be available at the end of the season.
The next weeks will be critical and speaking this week, Zidane has said he wants a job having not worked since leaving Madrid in June 2021.
“Why not? Anything can happen,” he said when asked if he would return to coaching. “Now I’m doing other things, but we’ll see – I’d certainly like to return to the bench.”
-Football365
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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