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Arsenal are eyeing up young French talent Georginio Rutter from Rennes as a potential new option in attack.

According to L’Equipe (via Get Football News France), the Gunners are amongst several parties interested in snapping up the 18-year-old prospect. Newcastle and AC Milan are also said to be monitoring his situation.

Rutter currently has just 12 months left on his contract with Rennes, but he is not against remaining in France. The report states that the teenager wants be assured that he will see some game time if he extends his stay with the club.

The striker made the transition from the reserve team to senior level this summer and could be viewed as an important fringe player. Rutter made four youth appearances last season and scored one goal (via Transfermarkt).

If Arsenal are keen on bringing Rutter to the Emirates, it’s likely he won’t command too high a transfer fee. Although, his arrival could be competition for fellow young attacker Eddie Nketiah.

Despite the Gunners boasting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette up front, the 21-year-old England youth international hasn’t been short of game time.

Nketiah played 82 minutes of the Community Shield fixture against Liverpool and he made 13 Premier League appearances last season, scoring two goals.

Mikel Arteta already has young players like of Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Martinelli who have impressed on the wing, adding Rutter could provide some healthy competition between him and fellow striker Nketiah.

Would you like to see Arsenal sign Georginio Rutter? Have your say in the comments below…

Kepa Arrizabalaga had yet another nightmarish match for Chelsea at the weekend after a costly error gifted Liverpool their second goal in their 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

Before the season started, Frank Lampard had made it clear that he wanted to bring in a replacement for the Spaniard after last campaign proved to be a disappointing one for the 25-year-old.

The Blues hosted the reigning Premier League champions on Sunday and lost 0-2, allowing the Reds to put early daylight between them and their potential title rivals.

Kepa’s blunder in the second half presented the perfect opportunity for Sadio Mane to score his second goal of the day and the Senegal international duly capitalised on the error to double his side’s lead.

Alan Hudson, among many others, feels that the goalkeeper’s time at Stamford Bridge is up. In fact, the Chelsea icon has slammed the club’s board for even signing him in the first place.

“This fella doesn’t look the part for me,” Hudson told CaughtOffside. “And as for a record signing it just goes to show that those ‘suits’ upstairs that make these signings are complete fools.”

Kepa joined the Blues in 2018 for a club record fee of £71m, which is also a record for a goalkeeper in world football, and Hudson feels that the transfer fee has been completely unjustified. In his two years at Chelsea, the Spain international has conceded a total of 112 goals in 97 appearances (via Transfermarkt).

“He simply has to go, for the benefit of both his own well-being and Chelsea,” Hudson continued. “I know something about keepers having played with Bonetti, Shilton, Jennings, Clemence and Corrigan in Seattle. This fella has to go.”

Major transfer target Edouard Mendy could be about to solve these problems. According to BBC Sport, Chelsea have agreed a fee with Rennes to bring the shot-stopper to Stamford Bridge. Should all go to plan, it’s likely that Lampard will deploy him straight away and look to offload Kepa in the next window.

Do you think that Kepa’s time at Chelsea is up? Have your say in the comments below…

With just one year left on his current contract, it doesn’t look like there’s a future at Elland Road for outcast Barry Douglas.

The 31-year-old – who is currently on loan with Blackburn Rovers – has failed to make an impact on the club he joined just two years ago. Douglas missed 20 games on his debut Leeds season through a plethora of injures, including suspension, injury and simply falling down Marcelo Bielsa’s pecking order.

Before he headed out on loan, he had an even less impressive 2019/20 campaign, missing 31 matches and being limited to as little as just one minute cameo appearances. Even for Blackburn he has been left on the shelf, featuring just twice for his loan club so far.

A disappointing signing for Leeds

According to Sky Sports, the Whites forked out £3million for Douglas, who is currently on a £10,000 per week contract. For a club not known for splashing the cash, this will be an infuriating situation for Nick Hammond and Andrea Radrizzani. Given the current financial impact of coronavirus too, Leeds aren’t in a position to be wasting money.

It was a suspicious decision to send Douglas out on loan during his final 12 months under current terms. The left-back will now be able to leave the club for free next summer, unless Blackburn opt to make his stay permanent. However, they cannot rely on the Rovers to make such a deal happen. Should Douglas leave as a free agent, it will essentially be a total of more than £4million, taking into account his transfer fee and salary.

Phil Hay recently claimed that the club are looking to give the veteran an extension in order to avoid his deal running out next year. No talks have come to fruition yet, meaning they must act fast if they want to salvage a fraction of what they initially paid for the Elland Road flop.

In other news, Leif Davis could make huge statement with performance against Nicolas Pepe…

Key information about bet365 Stadium

The bet365 Stadium was built in 1997 and now houses the Championship side Stoke City. The ground is located in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire and is one of the country’s first newly built modern stadiums.

Its capacity stands at 30,089 and it has a pitch that measures 105m by 68m. The surface is covered with natural grass and it has undersoil heating installed with no running track surrounding it.

Bet365 Stadium’s record attendance of 30,022 was achieved during Stoke City’s clash against Everton on 17 March 2018.

A history of bet365 Stadium

Bet365 Stadium was built in 1997 and it served as Stoke City’s replacement for their old home, Victoria Ground, where they played their football for 119 years. The first talk of potentially moving to a different venue started in the early 1990s and following the Taylor report. The idea was to either convert their previous ground into an all-seater or move to a different stadium altogether.

By early 1996, the decision had been made and the construction started during the 1996/97 campaign. In August next year, the bet365 Stadium was born but, back then, it was called the Britannia Stadium due to sponsorship reasons. However, despite the erection of their new home being done rather quickly, the opening didn’t exactly go as planned.

With only one clear access road towards the stadium, supporters from the city had to take different routes, effectively going the other way for over a mile only to use a roundabout and then turn back towards the ground. This, unsurprisingly, caused great congestions on the road. Still, after the initial complications, everything was finally set.

Club legend Sir Stanley Matthews officially opened the stadium and the first game to be played there was between Stoke and Rochdale in the League Cup and it was watched by 15,439 fans on the day. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and unfortunately for Stoke, the whole season ahead was a disaster, ending in their relegation from the league.

A decade after it was first opened, the club finally obtained full ownership of bet365 Stadium in a £6m deal after the previous joint-partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd. Of course, it wouldn’t be until the sponsorship deal in 2016 that the ground would get its current name.

Interestingly, in 2006, the access to the stadium was finally fixed when work took place on the A50 that allowed entrance to the ground from the eastbound direction along with an addition of a bridge across the road.

After long talks and promises of possible expansions, bet365 Stadium finally got a boost in capacity in the summer of 2017, which took the final tally to just over 30,000 that still stands to this day. The ground has been used for other events such as musical concerts, funfairs, firework displays and so on.

Interestingly, in European competitions, the bet365 Stadium is known as the Stoke ground due to UEFA regulations on sponsorships.

Tickets to watch Stoke City at bet365 Stadium

All tickets to watch Stoke City play at bet365 Stadium can be found on the club’s official website. The price varies depending on the age and the stand you choose to be seated in but the cheapest adult ticket costs £25.

The club also offers a season ticket scheme as well as memberships that can get you discounts over the course of the season.

Related links

https://www.stokecityfc.com/ – Official website of Stoke City

https://www.stokecityfc.com/club/bet365-stadium/stadium – History of bet365 Stadium

https://tickets.stokecityfc.com/ – Stoke City Ticket Office

It was Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s first full season with Manchester United, having joined the club in December 2018 after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

The club sent big during the summer transfer window, breaking the world record on Harry Maguire as the most expensive defender in the world – as well as spending a further £65 million on Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James.

United finished last season in sixth place, and five points off of a Champions League spot – and would have set out their aims to secure Champions League football this season, given that the club has only finished in the top four twice since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in at the end of the 2012/13 season.

It would be a tough challenge, with Liverpool and Manchester City setting the bar for the standards and quality needed to contest at the top – as well as clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal investing heavily to contend for those same places, so just how well did Manchester United do?

Player of the Season – Marcus Rashford

Mr. Manchester United himself – Rashford has really stepped up this season and become the club’s main talisman upfront alongside Anthony Martial.

The pair have fantastic number the boast in the league with 17 goals each, but it is the Englishman that takes the crown for Player of the Season.

Rashford has been a role model both on and off the pitch, having provided three million meals alongside charity Fairshare for vulnerable people across the UK, as well as convincing the government to make a U-turn and provide free school meal vouchers for hungry children over the summer period. A

truly remarkable person who makes a positive difference both on and off the pitch.

Goal of the Season – Marcus Rashford vs Chelsea, Oct 30th ’19

This was an absolute cracker and a goal that seems to have gone under the radar a bit.

United faced Chelsea in the Carabao Cup back in October towards the start of the season, and the Londoners were holding the Red Devils to 1-1 draw after equalising through Michy Batshuayi in the 61st minute until United won a freekick more than 30 yards out from the Chelsea goal.

Rashford unleashed a shot straight from the Cristiano Ronaldo notebook, striking the ball with such technique and conviction that left Kepa with no chance of reading the flight of the ball, until it hit the back of his net as Rashford nestled it into the top left-hand corner.

An incredible freekick and an easy goal of the season winner.

Breakthrough Player – Mason Greenwood

The young English striker did make his debut for the club at the tail end of last season – and it was thought that Ole may send him out on loan for this season to gain some valued experience.

Instead, however, the club chose to keep hold of him, and what a great decision it was. Greenwood registered 10 goals in the Premier League this season from 31 league appearances, with 19 of those coming on as a substitute.

The 18-year-old is a big talent, and will certainly become a big player at the club should the begin to progress and reach the heights they once did, and Greenwood could become a big part of that – another product of the club’s fantastic academy system.

Flop of the Season – David De Gea

The Spanish shot-stopper looks a shadow of the man that once stood between the sticks for United the past few years, but this season in particular he has had an absolute shocker in terms of form.

De Gea looks as though he has lost every ounce of confidence he once had having been named the best goalkeeper in the world repeatedly in the past.

However, this season the 29-year-old has made mistake after mistake and cost United many a point in the league – recording three errors that have led to goals in the league this season.

Defining Moment – 2-0 v Leicester City, Jul 26th ’20

Going into this game, United needed to muster just a single point against the Foxes to ensure they finished within the top four, resulting in a place in next seasons Champions League.

This would become a defining moment in the Red Devils’ season, as anything less than. adraw would mean that the club would finish in fifth place. Luckily for the United fans, they pulled off a 2-0 win and secured themselves third spot in the Premier League – which to many is a big achievement for Ole and his side.

This win proved pivotal for Solskjaer and his future at the club, and the result means that he will get the backing he deserves before the start of the next season, alongside United being back in the Champions League.

Signing of the Season – Bruno Fernandes

This was as easy a decision as they come. The Portuguese playmaker joined the club in January for just shy of £50 million, and since then has recorded 8 goals and 7 assists in the Premier from 14 Premier League games.

The club hadn’t lost a league game after he signed his deal on the 29th January – and has injected life and drive back into a United team that was missing Marcus Rashford after his injury back in mid-January.

The 27-year-old has become a starlet at the club, and the fans will be looking forward to watching him again next season.

Hit Expectations? – YES

The Red Devils would have set their sights on a top-four spot at the start of the season and they achieved that.

The financially lucrative aspect of securing Champions League football proves so important for the finances of a big club like United, and United finished third behind a Liverpool team that have set incredible standards this season, as well as a Manchester City side that has ruled English football for more than five years know.

Ole has done a great job at the club this campaign, and it will be exciting to see what he can achieve next season and beyond.

When it comes to Arsenal, the last couple of weeks have been all about Gabriel and whether he will finally sign for the Gunners and make that long-awaited switch to the Premier League. However, it’s likely the defender won’t come cheap at all.

And for that reason, Mikel Arteta might have to sacrifice some other players in an attempt to balance the books and recoup some of that money they are likely to spend. According to a new report from The Times, Hector Bellerin is among five defenders who have been made available in the ongoing summer transfer market as Arsenal’s purge continues.

The 25-year-old right-back has been in and out of the squad due to various different injuries over the years but now seems to suddenly be expendable at the Emirates. This was echoed by an exclusive report from RMC Sport who claim Bellerin was even offered to Paris Saint-Germain who are also on a lookout for a new full-back in that area.

It was also said that even though the Parisiens are not an easy club to impress, Arsenal’s star fits the profile of what they need in their squad and that could prompt a move on their side.

However, despite the player having a contract until 2023, RMC mention it was the English side who proposed the player to the French outfit, meaning that Bellerin is indeed on the chopping list.

Verdict

He may not have had an incredibly successful run in the last couple of years but selling him at this point does seem like a weird move by Arteta. Since Ainsley Maitland-Niles is also set to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, that would leave Arsenal with only Cedric Soares available to plug those holes.

Of course, another option is to go into the market again and buy a new right-back as well. At this point, if both Niles and Bellerin are sold, the Gunners might indeed be forced to do exactly that.

Sorry to tease you Blues about signing players when your club can’t until the summer 2020 transfer window.

But the signings from down the years at Stamford Bridge we’re going to be looking at in this list are not the Lampards, the Drogbas or the Hazards, far from it.

I bet the West Londoners wished they did have a transfer ban when they tried to acquire these ill-fated stars…

Tiemoue Bakayoko

We start with one of the more recent ones in Tiemoue Bakayoko, someone who technically still plies his trade at Stamford Bridge but we’re unlikely ever to see in blue again.

The fact that Antonio Conte’s Chelsea forked out a remarkable £40m-ish on the sub-standard midfielder will send shivers down the spine of anyone in west London and unless the club can sell up, they’re still lumbered with him until 2022.

Jiri Jarosik

From one pricy Pensioners flop to another and Jiri Jarosik, a name synonymous in Blues folklore as one of the worst to ever represent them.

The centre-back signed from CSKA Moscow in 2005 and lasted no more than half-a-season before a loan to Birmingham City and his subsequent sale to Celtic, enough time for the Chelsea faithful to very much make up their minds on him.

Asier Del Horno

Well, Asier Del Herono’s name meant that one way or another he was always going to be laughed at in English football but he would have hoped the sniggers wouldn’t have also been caused by his performances.

The overwhelming memory most were left with from the defender’s only campaign at the Bridge was not his shoddy showings, rather his horrendous UEFA Champions League tackle on a young Lionel Messi – simply shocking.

Juan Sebastian Veron

Juan Sebastian Veron, what a player, Manchester United, Internazionale, Lazio, Argentina, countless trophies and memorable moments – so what’s he doing on this list?

That’s a good question.

Having joined for around £20m from Old Trafford in the summer of 2003, things never really clicked for the seminal central midfielder in west London as his successful spell in English football ended in an anti-climax and Veron went down as one of Chelsea’s worst ever signings.

Mateja Kezman

Much like Veron, Mateja Kezman represented some very prestigious clubs throughout his career, somehow.

The hit-and-miss poacher only spent the one term in England, making 41 appearances for a meagre return of just seven goals, streets away from what Jose Mourinho would have hoped for when he captured him from PSV – at least Kezman’s only real Chelsea highlight was a special one though, scoring the winner against Liverpool in the 2005 League Cup final.

Winston Bogarde

When a manager has no idea a player is signing due to the whole deal being conducted by the sporting director behind his back, it doesn’t have the makings of a great transfer. And so this proved with Winston Bogarde.

No one seemed to want the former Ajax, Barcelona and Holland centre-back at Chelsea, however, he was determined to stay until the end of his contract in 2004 to pick up his lofty £40k-per-week salary and who could blame him?

Bogarde only ever made 12 competitive appearances for the Blues, ridiculous.

Adrian Mutu

Adrian Mutu’s Chelsea tale is a sad one. It could have been one of greatness if the Romanian hadn’t let him substance abuse issues ruin it by being sacked for his addiction to cocaine.

Mutu had a great record on the pitch in west London, registering ten goals and nine assists in just over a season before the cocaine story came out and the world came crashing down on him.

The reason the talented centre-forward makes the is the £15m the Blues threw away on him.

Marko Marin

There would be no such drama in the short Stamford Bridge stay of another failed attacker, ex-Germany prodigy Marko Marin.

The Pensioners thought they were getting something special when Werder Bremen finally gave up their budding 16-time German international in 2012 though he would only ever join the long list of Blues youngsters to be prolifically sent out on loan before exiting at the end of their contracts.

Franco Di Santo

Argentine frontman Franco Di Santo was once nicknamed the “new Maradona” as well as the “little Crespo,” the fact that he’s a Wigan Athletic cult hero probably explains how far he got in living up to those tags.

After a switch from hometown club Audax Italiano, the ex-Argentina international barely made any impact at all in west London and swapped Stamford Bridge for the DW Stadium in 2010 with zero strikes to his name.

Andriy Shevchenko

In contrast to Di Santo, Chelsea supporters certainly haven’t forgotten the name Andriy Shevchenko and they’re never likely to however much they might have wanted to.

The world football icon is another who enjoyed a near-perfect career apart from the one blemish on his CV, the spell with the Blues.

Just 77 matches and 22 goals will never endear yourself at a club when they’ve broken all kinds of records to bring you in for £30m, a whopping sum back then – if only he could have been like the man he’s pictured with above.

In a disappointing 5-0 thrashing to Manchester City on Wednesday night, Steve Bruce’s Newcastle struggled to cause the home side any problems over the course of the 90 minutes.

Unsurprisingly, the Magpies hardly saw any of the ball, registering just 27% possession, and could only manage a measly one shot on target.

Having made some changes to his starting line-up for the clash at the Etihad, Bruce gave some fringe players the opportunity to impress, and none more so than USA international DeAndre Yedlin.

The Greatest Bargains in Premier League history – How much did they cost?

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The right-back has struggled with injury problems this season, making only 19 appearances across all competitions – in fact, since the restart of the Premier League, he had only managed to play 18 minutes of top-flight football before the clash against City.

And on Wednesday night, he failed his huge audition.

As per Sofascore, his overall match rating of 5.7 was the lowest of any player on the pitch, and when you look at the underlying numbers behind his performance, it is clear to see why.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes, Yedlin only attempted 11 total passes, of which only five of them were successful – truly shocking numbers for a Premier League player, even despite the kind of attacking onslaught City put on.

But whilst he was wasteful in possession, and couldn’t offer a threat going forward (he attempted no dribbles or crosses whatsoever), his defensive stats were equally weak.

He contested just three total duels, winning only one of them, whilst he only made one tackle and one interception apiece.

With Bruce having the likes of Javier Manquillo, Emil Krafth and even Valentino Lazaro who can play in that right-back or right wing-back slot, Yedlin needed to have a decent game against City to prove his worth.

Instead, he fluffed his big chance in front of his manager.

Timo Werner’s chances of joining Liverpool this summer have taken a huge dent, and it has left some sections of the Anfield faithful absolutely reeling.

According to Sky Sports, the Reds are ‘very unlikely’ to sign the German forward as it is claimed they have no plans to pursue him when the transfer window reopens at the end of the current campaign.

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It’s also believed that January addition Takumi Minamino’s role amongst Jurgen Klopp’s attack is set to increase next season, meaning the noises around a potential swoop for Werner is that it will not happen.

And this has left supporters fuming.

Werner has been a prolific talisman for RB Leipzig this season, scoring 27 goals in 36 appearances whilst also contributing 12 assists, via Transfermarkt.

He has also become one of the national team’s first choice options, notching a total of 29 caps since a debut in 2017.

With Klopp possessing the talents of Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, the 24-year-old may find it hard to cement his name down amongst Liverpool’s starting XI, unless one of the trio were to depart Merseyside anytime soon.

Here’s what fans have been saying…

AND in other news, Liverpool fans react to James Pearce’s verdict on Henderson…

According to the Daily Record’s Duncan Castles, Jose Mourinho is working hard on getting Lille’s Luis Campos to Tottenham Hotspur as their new technical director.

The same source claims that the man in question is currently one of the hottest prospects in his position – best known for his stints at Monaco and his current gig at Lille – and Mourinho sees him as a suitable man to fill in the vacant spot at the London club.

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Bringing in such a big name would definitely go a long way to helping the Special One bring some silverware back to the club, and for that reason, many of the Spurs fans were actually delighted to hear this update.

They even called Campos a potential long-term game-changer and would seemingly prioritise signing him over getting new players to join Tottenham.

Needless to say, they are all up for this move.

You can see some of their reactions and comments down in the tweets below:

Elsewhere, Graham Roberts suggested a bold transfer move just recently and it seemed to divide many Spurs fans in the process…