Tag: Football

Image Credits: Getty Images

There comes a time in every footballer’s career that they decide to hang up their boots.

This summer saw a list of world class players draw their careers to a close.

Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara, Pepe and Leonardo Bonucci are four such names that drew the curtain on their illustrious careers.

But they’re not the only players to finally call it a day.

A former Manchester United midfielder has officially announced that he’s bringing his career to a close.

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In the summer of 2015, many clubs were looking to add a new midfielder to their ranks.

The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool were all believed to be in the market for some defensive steel in the middle of the park.

Louis van Gaal, who was looking to build on his first season at the club, needed a midfielder to add quality that had been missing.

One of the players that was getting a lot of attention at the time was Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

Having signed for the Saints when they were still in the Championship, Schneiderlin took to the English Premier League like a duck to water.

The biggest clubs in the country were linked with him and it was United who won the race when they paid Southampton £25m for the player.

But it didn’t quite work out at Old Trafford for Morgan Schneiderlin.

After two rather underwhelming campaigns in Manchester, he was sold to Everton for £24m.

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Despite reuniting with the manager who helped his career at Southampton, Ronald Koeman, things didn’t go much better at Goodison Park.

Three years after joining Everton, Schneiderlin returned to his native France.

Last season, he signed and played for Super League Greece club A.E. Kifisia.

Yesterday, Morgan Schneiderlin uploaded a video to his Instagram page to announce his retirement from the game.

In the video, Schneiderlin thanks his former clubs.

He thanks United and labels them one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Morgan Schneiderlin then says that he’s ready to write a new chapter in the next stage of his career.

Congratulations to Morgan Schneiderlin on a hugely successful career and happy retirement.

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Image Credits: Reuters

The first day of the new English Premier League season brings with it a swathe of hope for players.

Some are hoping to get their hands on a trophy, others are hoping to survive relegation and others are looking to put themselves in the shop window for a late transfer.

Getting an injury in the opening game is a bit disappointing.

Suffering an injury that puts you out of the season is a disaster.

And one player linked with Manchester United has surely seen that chance wiped away as he’s suffered a season ending injury today.

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Nottingham Forest played Bournemouth at the City Ground today hoping to get three points in early.

To do that, they included Brazil midfielder Danilo.

Earlier this week, TNT Brasil reported that Manchester United made an enquiry for his availability.

United have been looking to reinforce their midfield – an area that was stretched last season due to injury and loss of form for a number of players.

Danilo had impressed in his first season in the English Premier League and had clearly caught the attention of the MUFC hierarchy.

However, he’s now not going to be moving to Old Trafford any time soon.

Inside the first 10 minutes of Forest’s game, Danilo suffered a horror injury that looks to have ended his season.

The midfielder fell after being in a tackle with Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo in the seventh minute.

Danilo’s teammates called the medical staff on and the game was delayed for ten minutes, before Danilo was stretchered off the pitch with a splint in his left leg.

Reporters on the ground called it a really nasty clash and it would be a surprise to see Danilo back on the pitch again this season.

If United do want to bring in another midfielder in this window, it certainly won’t be the Brazilian.

We wish the best of luck to Danilo in his recovery.

Our thoughts are with Nottingham Forest’s Danilo who appears to have suffered a season ending injury during their first game pic.twitter.com/GsbEz2iKe6

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 17, 2024

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Last night saw Manchester United get off to a positive start in the opening fixture of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Fulham thanks to a debut goal from new signing Joshua Zirkzee.

New boy Zirkzee came on in the 61st minute and in the dying moments of the game grabbed his first goal in a United shirt, sealing the victory, and at Old Trafford, making it a debut to remember.

Throughout the game, two players who were struck in a heated battle were Fulham’s Adama Traore and United defender Lisandro Martinez.

Traore won the first round, speeding past Martinez at the start of the match to gain a crossing position. Martinez drew even, knocking Traore over despite the Fulham man’s size.

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However, after the final whistle, Martinez made his thoughts known on his battle with the winger.

Martinez and Traore set up Round 2

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Martinez said: “I sent him to the gym. I learned from the first one where he killed me, I killed him back. He is difficult to play against and I learned from the first situation.”

However, it seems that Traore hasn’t taken to kindly to Martinez’s words, teeing up a new rivalry between the two.

Taking to his Instagram, Traore fired back with a post tagging Martinez, saying: “Don’t worry, we will meet again,” alongside a winking emoji.

The pair are set to do battle again for their second leg in the Premier League on 25th January 2025 at Craven Cottage.

Adama Traore on IG:

“Don’t worry we will meet again.” pic.twitter.com/lEzqGyWhJ6

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) August 17, 2024

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With the opening day of the season, Mason Greenwood is off to an amazing start in his Ligue 1 debut.

The former Manchester United winger joined Marseille this summer for €31.6 million, being the biggest sale of the summer for United so far.

The 22-year-old went out on loan to Getafe last season as a way of kickstarting his footballing career following his suspension at United. After a great season, getting ten goals in 36 appearances, clubs across Europe ere interested in signing the striker.

He’s preferred option out of the interest from Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Juventus, Napoli and Lazio however was in fact Marseille, resulting in a dream move for the star.

However, his move to the French club was not straight forward, with the city mayor trying to block the transfer. Ultimately however, the deal went through leading to Greenwood joining the Ligue 1 side, making his first appearance in the pre-season, which was not warmly received.

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The French press merely labelled his debut performance by saying: “The Englishman distinguished himself with a few attempts without being able to score.”

However, his Ligue 1 debut has been very different, with an incredible performance from the former Red Devil.

Mason Greenwood and his Ligue 1 debut

Today saw Marseille take on Stade Brestois, commonly known as Brest, away from home in the opening game of the Ligue 1 season. Greenwood’s new side came off as the dominant force, with a 5-1 win.

Greenwood took no time at all in setting the French press straight with his abilities, having opened the scoring in the third minute of the game from a Amine Harit assist. The winger fired the ball into the left hand side of the net from inside of the box, leaving Brest goalkeeper, Marco Bizot helpless.

Then half hour later in the 31st minute, thanks to a foul from Jonas Martin, Marseille were awarded a penalty which Greenwood stepped up to take. Taking the spot kick calmly, Greenwood fired the ball low at the left side of the goal once more, shooting past Bizot for his brace.

Greenwood’s performance throughout the whole game was impressively strong, build on his Getafe Player of the Season winning season last year, ultimately getting him the Man of the Match.

Although it’s only the opening game of the season, no doubt Marseille fans will be hoping this is a sign of more to come.

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The new English Premier League season kicked off last night.

Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 in front of an Old Trafford crowd that’s hoping to see some silverware at the end of the season.

Last season saw the Red Devils add the FA Cup to the trophy cabinet.

This season, the club have the chance to add four trophies.

Erik ten Hag’s men are competing in the English Premier League, UEFA Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup.

Fans will hope that there will be success in at least one of those competitions.

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Even though the new season has started, there are still some cups that other United XIs are competing for.

A United side already competed and lost the final in the Mladen Ramljak Memorial Tournament.

Another United side were looking to do one better in another competition taking place right now.

Otten Innovation Cup is a tournament taking place in Eindhoven right now and has youth teams from the likes of United, Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Anderlecht and more.

Earlier today, a United side played Eindhoven for a place in the semi-final.

PSV took a 1-0 lead in the second half and ended up holding onto the lead, but not without controversy.

United thought they had equalised through substitute Amir Ibragimov, only for the goal to be struck off for offside.

Ibragimov had put in a rebound after a shot cannoned off the crossbar and was miles onside.

To his shock, the flag went up and the game stayed 1-0.

It was an unfortunate way for the young team to get knocked out.

Nevertheless, the experience of playing an international tournament will do the young men some good in the long term.

The likes of Gabriele Bianchieri, Jack Fletcher and Bendito Mantato are all highly rated within the club and all started the game.

Hopefully next year, a United side will have better luck if the club participate in the Otten Innovation Cup again.

Horrendous refereeing may have just robbed United of a chance to progress into the semi-finals.

Fletcher’s deflected effort is put away by Ibragimov but the goal is bizarrely called offside for no apparent reason.

Absolute joke. pic.twitter.com/tNVIhIsNa7

— SCOOP. (@AcademyScoop) August 17, 2024

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Yesterday evening, fans were stunned by the actions of United legend Eric Cantona.

The former Red Devil was on punditry duty alongside fellow ex-United man Owen Hargreaves for the Premier League opening fixture of Manchester United vs Fulham.

The 58-year-old was asked by presented Julia Stuart on who he thought would be top goalscorer this Premier League season. His simple response was: “We’ll see.”

His fellow pundit Hargreaves appeared shaken by this and took over, giving more of an answer, however this was only the start of Cantona’s antics.

Stuart then asked Cantona what this coming season would have in store for “the millions of fans watching on their television sets”.

The France international then laughed, replying “Television….” before standing up and taking of his microphone.

Delivering a monologue to the camera, Cantona began by saying: “We call this the beautiful game, but how many people in this world don’t even own a television? What of them?”

He continued: “How can we sell this [the Premier League] to them?

“The game should be everywhere. It cannot be stuck on the wall or just in a bar, no. It must fly…

“No-one should believe the Premier League is ours. This marks the beginning. The revolution has begun.”

The former Red Devil then walked off set with astonishment to those in the studio.

However, non of this as improvised.

It turns out, the entire incident was a skit to promote Showmax, an online subscription service holding the rights to showing the Premier League in Africa.

South African entrepreneur Mike Sharman tweeted: “Showmax hijacked the entire Premier League feed with Eric Cantona to promote its mobile offering across Africa – the most affordable package on the planet.

“The most phenomenal stunt you’ll see in 2024.”

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Image Credits: Getty Images

When it rains, it pours.

Manchester United have had terrible luck with injuries over the past few seasons.

And the defence has taken the biggest beating.

Luke Shaw, it seems, has been perpetually injured.

Leny Yoro suffered an injury in pre-season and is now out until the new year.

Harry Maguire picked up a knock in the win against Fulham last night.

And now it seems that another player is set for a spell on the sidelines.

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Victor Lindelof, a player wanted by clubs this summer, has been snapped using crutches.

Maja Nilsson Lindeloof, the players wife, has shared a video on her Instagram story showing the United defender hobbling out of the house with the use of a crutch.

The defender is seen to be struggling to walk as he barely makes it to what seems like a car.

Maja captions the video with ‘doing everything in slow motion these days’.

If this was a serious injury, then it likely rules out any move away from the club for the Sweden international.

More updates to follow…

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This summer has seen Manchester United launch their new line of kits ready for the upcoming Premier League season. It marks the first time that Qualcomm brand, Snapdragon, have graced the front of the kits.

The new kits have already been seen on the pitch throughout the USA pre-season tour and in Wembley for the Community Shield match up with Manchester City.

Snapdragon were the presenting sponsor for the last two pre-season tours of America, with appearances in the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego in both years.

Back in July 2022, Qualcomm became a global partner of United with the agreement for the change of shirt sponsor coming a year later.

The deal for the kit sponsorship was agreed back in September 2023 for Snapdragon to replace TeamViewer on the front of the Red Devils’ shirts.

When the deal was confirmed, United released a statement, saying: “Manchester United PLC has agreed to an expanded strategic collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. that will see the Snapdragon brand displayed on the club’s famous shirts.”

However it’s been officially announced that the deal with the Qualcomm brand has now bee extended until 2029, giving them a five-year extension.

The deal is understood to be worth £300 million for the club, with the previous deal valuing £60 million per year.

Who are Snapdragon?

Snapdragon, a subsidiary of the US technology firm Qualcomm, creates processors for devices such as phones, laptops, gaming consoles, PCs, and more.

A statement from United explained who Snapdragon are, reading: “Snapdragon processors can be found in more than 3 billion devices globally, powering premium devices from the world’s biggest brands across a large range of product categories,”

It continued: “Snapdragon’s processors will help enable ground-breaking experiences for fans across the globe, deepening their engagement with the football club they love.”

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Despite already signing Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, Manchester United are still keen to sign more additions to the defensive line up.

The Red Devils are still in the market for a left-back, after previously looking to Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell and Fenerbahce’s Ferdi Kadioglu.

Recently it was announced that Brighton & Hove Albion have submitted a €35 million offer for Kadioglu which is expected to be accepted by the Turkish club, seeing Kadioglu move to the Premier League side this summer.

Meanwhile, any news around Kerkez and Mitchell seem to have quietened down.

Now, United are looking to a former Premier League and LaLiga defender to join the Red Devils for their upcoming campaign.

Marcos Alonso keen for Premier League return

The Red Devils are now looking to free agent Marcos Alonso to address their left-back problems, with significant injuries for Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia last season.

Reports suggest that the 33-year-old Spain international is keen for a return to the Premier League, being a cheaper solution for the left-back role.

Alonso has an incredible set of experiences in elite European football, having graduated from the Real Madrid academy, followed by stints of three years at Fiorentina, six years at Chelsea, and two years at Barcelona.

Now, sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported that Alonso would “love to join” United this summer, giving hope to United fans for a deal being agreed in the coming weeks.

Alonso has a truly impressive trophy cabinet already, boasting Premier League and LaLiga titles, an FA Cup, a Champions League and Europa league title, a UEFA Supercup, a FIFA Club World Cup and a Supercopa.

Hopefully the Spanish defender will be able to add more silverware to his collection at Old Trafford.

| Marcos Alonso would “love to join” Manchester United after becoming a free agent by leaving Barcelona.

[@FabrizioRomano via @GiveMeSport] pic.twitter.com/Cwklb0KAp4

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) August 16, 2024

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Manchester United are desperate to find a left-back this summer after already recruiting to the centre-back and right-back position.

United have done a great job in signing centre-backs Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt and right-back Noussair Mazraoui.

Unfortunately though the Red Devils haven’t been able to sign a left-back.

Top target, Ferdi Kadioglu, looks likely to sign to Brighton & Hove Albion after a €35 million bid was submitted for the Turkish defender.

The Red Devils have recently been linked with a move for free agent Marcos Alonso, having proven Premier League experience with Chelsea. Recent reports from sports journalist Fabrizio Romano have claimed that the ex-Barcelona star would “love to join” the Red Devils this summer.

Now however, reports are emerging of United’s interest in a new left-back target from France.

Manchester United interested in Adrien Truffert

Reports from French publication L’Equipe have announced that United are now interested in French left-back Adrien Truffert.

The 22-year-old is a product of the Stade Rennais youth academy, having been promoted to the senior squad in 2020. Since then he’s made 156 appearances, grabbing six goals and 21 assists.

Truffert’s recent appearance in the 2024 Paris Olympics have turned a few heads, helping the French squad win the silver medal.

Now, the report has claimed that United are joined by Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest to be interested in the left-back. Closer to home for the French club, Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in the 22-year-old.

However, Rennais have previously rejected several offers for Truffert, wanting to keep hold of their graduate.

The fullback still has two years left on his contract, so the club are in no rush to sell. However, if an aggressive offer was put to the Ligue 1 club, it would be very hard for them to refuse.

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