Man Utd lining up "giant" striker for less than half price of £60m Ekitike

Manchester United are now interested in signing a £29 million “giant” as a possible alternative to Hugo Ekitike, according to a recent report.

Ekitike among Man Utd options in striker search

Given how goals have been an issue for the Red Devils this season and for the past 18 months, it isn’t a surprise that INEOS and Ruben Amorim are looking at potential strikers ahead of the summer transfer window.

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The Red Devils have been heavily linked with a move to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP, but he has many other admirers from England and abroad. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is also a player who is under consideration by the Old Trafford hierarchy, along with Wolves’ Matheus Cunha, who United are now willing to spend £67 million on to secure his signing this summer.

But the options don’t stop there, as Football Insider reported that United are one of a number of clubs interested in signing Ekitike, and now The Mirror have reported that the Red Devils have an advantage over other teams in the race to sign Ekitike, as the striker is a boyhood United fan.

Eintracht Frankfurt's HugoEkitikecelebrates

Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are also interested in signing Ekitike, but given he could cost as much as £60 million, there may be other options for the Red Devils to consider before turning to the Eintracht Frankfurt man.

Man Utd want £29m "giant" Lorenzo Lucca

According to Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb, relayed by United in Focus, Manchester United have joined the race to sign Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese at the end of the season.

The report claims that, given Etikite’s price tag, the Red Devils may look to consider cheaper alternatives, and Lucca has now emerged on their radar. However, they are not the only team chasing the Italy international, as Napoli and West Ham are also looking to secure his signature.

Despite only joining the Italian team last summer, Udinese are willing to do business this summer as long as they receive a fee of €35 million, which is roughly £29 million, much cheaper than what United would have to pay Frankfurt to sign Etikite.

Lucca, who has been dubbed “the giant from Moncalieri” given he stands at 6 foot 7, has spent all of his career in Italy, apart from a short loan spell at Ajax in the 2022/23 campaign.

Apps

29

Starts

24

Goals

10

xG

6.46

Goals per game

0.3

Shots per game

1.8

Chance conversion

19%

Assists

1

Big chances created

1

The 24-year-old has been an impressive player in front of goal this season, netting 10 times in 29 Serie A games, as Udinese sit in the top half of the Italian table. Lucca represents a different profile for Amorim than what he currently has at Old Trafford, as the Italian is a player who can be more demanding in the box and has the physicality to hold the ball up and bring others into the game.

The concern would be that United have signed two strikers from Serie A in recent seasons, and both of them are yet to fulfil their potential.

Tottenham set for £38m forward talks as Levy eyes second attacker after Tel

Tottenham Hotspur have scheduled transfer talks with an elite club, as chairman Daniel Levy eyes further forward signings alongside their potential option-to-buy deal for Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel.

Tottenham preparing for Europa League second leg against AZ Alkmaar

Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou is pinning all of his hopes on the Lilywhites’ Europa League campaign to make good on his early-season promise of winning silverware during his second full season in charge.

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He’s preparing to communicate his wish to leave.

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The Australian watched on as his side fell to a 1-0 defeat in their Last 16 first leg tie against AZ Alkmaar, and with the second leg on Thursday, Postecoglou will be busy plotting how best to set up the Spurs team to overcome this deficit.

Fulham (away)

March 16th

Chelsea (away)

April 2nd

Southampton (home)

April 5th

Wolves (away)

April 12th

Nottingham Forest (home)

April 21st

Tottenham are 13th in the Premier League table, having lost 14 top flight matches already, and are out of both domestic cup competitions after a very underwhelming campaign blighted by injuries to key players.

To make matters worse for Postecoglou, reliable football.london journalist Alasdair Gold broke overnight news that defender Kevin Danso could be set for a spell on the sidelines after he picked up a muscle injury in Spurs’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth over the weekend.

The Austria international was signed in a last-minute hijack from Wolves to provide much-needed central defensive cover for previously injured first-team duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, with Danso even emerging as a leader behind-the-scenes at Tottenham since then.

His absence will come as a major blow for Postecoglou, especially considering van de Ven and Romero have proved very unreliable when it comes to availability this term.

Tottenham are reportedly planning to reinforce the squad this summer to avoid a repeat of their disastrous 2024/2025 campaign, with Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi a top target for Spurs as they plan to reopen talks.

Crystal Palace's MarcGuehicelebrates after the match

They also want to bring in more attacking options, and Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman has now become a viable option for them.

Tottenham set to be offered Kingsley Coman in talks with Bayern Munich

According to GiveMeSport, Spurs are set for end-of-season negotiations with Bayern over completing a permanent deal for Tel, and during these sit-down discussions, the possibility of signing Coman will arise.

Indeed, it is believed that Bayern will offer Tottenham the chance to sign Coman during these conversations, as Vincent Kompany’s side are eager to offload the Frenchman and find him a new club.

Bayern Munich's KingsleyComancelebrates

It is unclear what Spurs’ stance is on striking a deal for the 28-year-old, who has suffered from his fair share of injury problems throughout an undoubtedly illustrious career, but other reports suggest Bayern have set a price tag at up to £34 million.

Levy and co also want more potential forward signings with a permanent move for Tel, so this could be one to watch as we slowly head into the summer. Called “unbelievable” by Rio Ferdinand, Coman has been used more as an impact player under Kompany – scoring six goals and assisting four others in all competitions with half of his Bundesliga appearances coming off the bench this term.

Derrota pela Série B custa o cargo do técnico Gilson Kleina na Chapecoense

MatériaMais Notícias

No mesmo dia em que a Chapecoense teve movimentações em seu elenco, o revés na noite desta terça-feira (5) diante do Londrina por 3 a 0, em plena Arena Condá, custou também o cargo do técnico Gilson Kleina.

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O técnico que fazia sua segunda passagem pelo Verdão do Oeste havia chegado em março deste ano e, no período, dirigiu a equipe em 16 compromissos, todos eles pela Série B do Campeonato Brasileiro.

Dentro dessa amostra, o baixo aproveitamento obtido pelo treinador acabou sendo decisivo para sua queda. Foram quatro vitórias, seis empates e seis derrotas em campanha onde o Verdão do Oeste somente a 15ª colocação.

Não há maiores informações se a equipe catarinense será comandada por um interino ou já pelo futuro comandante da Chape onde o time visita a Tombense, no sábado (9), às 11h (de Brasília).

'We enjoy confrontation as a group' – Elgar's South Africa brace for 'feisty' tour of Australia

The ‘bold and brash’ players in the opposition camp will ‘bring out the best’ in his side, South Africa captain says

Firdose Moonda01-Dec-2022

Dean Elgar’s South Africa are currently No. 2 on the WTC table•ECB/Getty Images

“Bring it,” is South Africa’s message to Australia as they head Down Under in search of a fourth, successive away series win against the opponents.It’s been more than four years since they last played each other, in the series that became known for the sandpaper-gate scandal but also ranks as one of South Africa’s biggest successes in the last decade. It was the first time they claimed a series win against Australia at home since readmission. The residue from that series litters the entrance hall to this one and there’s every expectation that the action will take place as much off the field as on it.Related

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South Africa quicks' lack of game-time remains a concern

“Because we are playing in their home conditions, it’s going to be pretty feisty,” Dean Elgar, South Africa’s Test captain, said ahead of their departure on Thursday. “The individuals they have within their squad are pretty brash and bold – in your face kind of characters and that can work in our favour. I think that plays into our hands. We enjoy that confrontation as a group and we manage it pretty well. We’ve got calm heads around that. If they want to be in your face, it’s fine. I definitely don’t shy away from that and I will be encouraging the players not to shy away from that, because I think that’s when South Africans bring out their best.”Elgar’s team, however, is not in the same state as Faf du Plessis’ was in 2018. Although they presently sit second on the World Test Championship (WTC) table, they are closer to the 2019 outfit that toured India with an interim team director at the helm, who was being sent on his first international assignment to one of the most difficult places to play Tests, and an impending administrative crisis looming. This 2022 side also has a temporary coach, who will make his debut. He too is taking South Africa to a tough place and there’s no indication of when permanent appointments will be made. But there is one difference. Elgar revealed that he requested Malibongwe Maketa to take over from Mark Boucher and that he and Enoch Nkwe (the team director from 2019 who is now director of cricket) are on the same page.”Mali is one of the coaches I asked our director (Nkwe) to try and get in to be interim. I’m glad I got that one right,” Elgar said. “It’s nice to have a DOC that has got cricket at heart and is backing his leadership that needs to be backed. Mali understands his role, which is going to be a supportive role, and he understands me as a cricketer, as a person and as a leader. Mali comes with quite a lot of experience. He has been around the block as long as I can remember.”Maketa worked as head coach for the Warriors franchise in South Africa’s domestic circuit from 2015 to 2017, as Ottis Gibson’s assistant for the national side between 2017 and 2019, and most recently as the South African A coach. He was also on the tour in England earlier this year and has worked with most of the squad members in some capacity over the last decade. He is one of the few consistent presences on the South African scene, which Elgar thinks they need more than anything as the Test team evolves.”The environment has changed drastically (since 2019) but in a good way. We’ve tried to keep our core players so the consistency has always been pretty stable. We have evolved immensely and really played good cricket in the Test arena but we are still trying to push for the consistency factor which is going to be key going into a big series,” he said.Arguably, this is the biggest test for South Africa for at least the next three years. It’s their last three-Test series until they host Australia in 2026, a must-win if they are to reach the WTC final and their first in Australia over the festive period since 2008. That means no-one in the current squad has played a Test at the MCG or the SCG or soaked in the atmosphere of such an occasion.”Growing up as a kid, you’d always wake up for these Boxing Day Test matches Down Under and you don’t mind losing a few hours’ sleep,” Elgar said. “Now we’ve got 16 players who are going to experience it first-hand. It’s a childhood dream of mine to experience this. Playing a Boxing Day and a New Year’s Test in Australia – I don’t think you get bigger than that.”

England likely to make 'couple of changes' going into the third T20I, says Moeen Ali

England are set to make “a couple of changes” in Friday night’s third T20I against Pakistan in Karachi, as they look to manage their squad through a hectic schedule of seven games in 13 days.They made one forced change for Thursday’s ten-wicket defeat as Liam Dawson replaced Richard Gleeson, who left the field in the first T20I after experiencing “some minor discomfort”, but are likely to shuffle their pack for the third game in the series.Related

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England fielded three left-arm seamers and three spinners in the second T20I and may look to change the balance of their attack, with Olly Stone and Tom Helm in contention for debuts. David Willey has struggled in this series, leaking 85 runs in 7.3 wicketless overs, while Luke Wood found his second international appearance significantly tougher than his first.”There will be a couple of changes tomorrow, with guys coming back,” Moeen Ali, the England captain, said. “We’re not sure exactly who yet, but it’s about coming up with ideas and different ways to get wickets. That’s the crucial thing when you get a big score: if you’re taking wickets, most of the time, you’re going to win the game.”I thought we bowled well. Dawson was fantastic today and bowled four really, really good overs. [But] I thought we could have done a lot more. Nobody really bowled a bouncer, and we could have tried a few more things. But we can learn from that.”England’s changes are likely to come in their bowling attack in the first instance, with Moeen suggesting that Will Jacks – one of two fit batters on the sidelines in the first two games, along with his Oval Invincibles team-mate Jordan Cox – would have to wait his turn.”When their chance comes they’ll get a go,” Moeen said. “You don’t want to just give people games because there’s a big reputation. They have to earn their spot. Alex Hales has come in, Phil Salt is opening, Jos Buttler still has to come in. Someone like Will Jacks will wait.”He’s a brilliant player, everybody in England knows that, and I’m sure you guys will see him at some stage on this tour. We’re going to change it up a little bit throughout these next five games because we want to give players some game time and there’s a lot of guys coming back from injuries.”Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are not expected to feature before the Lahore leg of the tour but have both bowled with good pace in training and in pre-match warm-ups, while Reece Topley could also come into contention as England look to ease him back from an ankle niggle.

'He helped me a lot' – Antony hails ex-Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag and admits he holds no grudges against Dutchman despite lack of minutes at Old Trafford

Antony hailed former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag as he expressed his gratitude to the Dutchman.

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Antony praised ex-Man Utd boss Ten HagCredited Dutchman for shaping his careerAntony left United three months after Ten Hag was sackedFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Antony moved to Old Trafford shortly after Erik ten Hag took charge at United in the summer of 2022. Before starting their journey together in the Premier League, the Brazilian winger had spent two years under the Dutch manager's tutelage at Ajax. Antony slowly fell out of favour under Ten Hag at Manchester United though. He eventually left the English giants three months after the head coach was shown the door, with the winger moving to Real Betis on loan.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT ANTONY SAID

Speaking to , Antony said: "Erik ten Hag is a coach I'm very grateful to. He helped me a lot in the Netherlands, and in England too, even though the opportunities didn't come the way I wanted to. But that's the coach's choice, I don't hold any grudges or anything. On the contrary, I'm very grateful for everything he's done with me, for all the conversations too. He's a coach who will certainly be in this story because he helped me a lot."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Since moving to La Liga, the Brazilian has somewhat revived his career. He has scored four goals and provided as many assists in 16 matches across all competitions. He has played an important role in Real Betis winning six out of their last eight La Liga matches, which has catapulted them to sixth place and are now on course to secure an Europa League spot.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR ANTONY?

The 25-year-old will be back in action for Manuel Pellegrini's side this Monday when they take on Girona in La Liga.

Chelsea contact £195k-per-week striker as Maresca eyes January transfer

Chelsea chiefs have reached out to the representatives of a top-class striker, with his January exit seen as a real possibility before deadline day.

Chelsea looking at potential forward signing for January

Christopher Nkunku has already given Bayern Munich real encouragement that they can strike a deal for the 27-year-old before time runs out, so a mid-season departure for one of Enzo Maresca’s top scorers in all competitions could even happen.

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Stamford Bridge officials are apparently convinced.

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Nkunku is believed to have agreed personal terms with Bayern, giving the green-light for Vincent Kompany’s side to attempt a January deal for him, but both Chelsea and the Bavarians still need to shake hands on a club-to-club fee.

Chelsea’s next Premier League fixtures

Date

Man City (away)

January 25

West Ham (away)

February 3

Brighton (away)

February 14

Aston Villa (away)

February 22

Southampton (home)

February 25

Chelsea will demand north of £60 million to let the Frenchman leave, so there is clearly work to do on that front, and it is unclear whether Bayern would be willing to pay such a price tag for Nkunku – despite him clearly being a top target.

In the event Nkunku does quit Stamford Bridge, it is believed Chelsea will push to bring in a new striker before February 3rd (Simon Phillips). Ipswich Town star Liam Delap is high on the wishlist of co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, with the Blues making consistent approaches to the 21-year-old.

Chelsea made contact with Delap’s camp for the second time in the last few weeks, and fairly recently (Simon Phillips). This interest comes amid his impressive Premier League campaign at Portman Road, where he has shone as one of Kieran McKenna’s star players in a relegation-threatened side.

The former Man City gem is by no means their only reported striker target, though, and there are suggestions that Chelsea could even rival Arsenal for RB Leipzig starlet Benjamin Sesko.

Chelsea hold talks with Dusan Vlahovic via his representatives

Interestingly, according to a report by Calciomercato in Italy, Sesko isn’t the only striker who Chelsea could look to challenge Arsenal for.

Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is a target for both London clubs, with the Serbia international facing an uncertain future as his contract expires in 2026. Chelsea have already held made contact with Vlahovic’s camp, alongside Arsenal, as the two sides both hunt for a new striker.

The 24-year-old, on around £195,000-per-week according to this report, has scored 12 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions so far.

Calcio claim that Vlahovic will be allowed to leave before deadline day, but not unless a club pays the required asking price of up to £51 million. The former Fiorentina star racked up 21 goals in the 2020/2021 season for La Viola, his best campaign to date, but came pretty close to that tally with 18 strikes for Juve last season.

Vlahovic is clearly a player who knows where the net is, so Juve don’t plan on letting him go cheaply, regardless of his contract situation.

Move over Salah & Gakpo: 8/10 Liverpool star is showing shades of Coutinho

Liverpool fell behind and Leicester City fostered hopes of scoring an unlikely upset at Anfield, but Arne Slot’s crew knew their jobs and operated like consummate and cultured professionals.

The campaign is less than a week away from the new year, and the dream of lifting the Premier League title is starting to take a tangible shape. Liverpool have simply been the best club in England this term, so stylish and skilful and single-minded in their drive toward stardom.

Liverpool managerArneSlot

Leicester fought their fight and they fought it well, but when an outfit is rooted in such deep conviction and belief, anything feels achievable and the Reds have married such belief with the abundance of talent layered through Anfield’s first team.

Jordan Ayew struck early, but Liverpool’s sharpest attacking points made sure to turn the situation on its head and send the Reds seven points clear.

Liverpool's best performers vs Leicester

There’s a burning passion within this crop of players, desperate to reach the loftiest heights this season. Liverpool faced adversity yet again against the Foxes but stuck to their plan and triumphed.

Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah bagged the goals, all three taking their strikes well as they propelled Liverpool deeper into the driving seat. Even if Arsenal defeat Ipswich Town this evening, the Merseysiders will be six points clear with a game in hand.

Reporter DavidOCKOP said that “it wasn’t as fluid up front as it was at Tottenham but Liverpool found a way.” This is true, but with players borne with as much ball-striking quality as Gakpo and Salah, and with midfielders like Jones blessed with the positional sense to anticipate and guide home following slick sequences, Liverpool are in good hands.

But what about the unsung hero? He didn’t score, but Alexis Mac Allister was perhaps the architect of a well-earned victory, assisting twice and producing an all-encompassing midfield performance to behold.

Alexis Mac Allister was Liverpool's unsung hero

Mac Allister hasn’t stolen the headlines this season, but his tactical intelligence and combative presence have added the steel that Liverpool’s midfield requires alongside the elegant Ryan Gravenberch.

He’s only notched five goal contributions across 24 matches in all competitions this year, but he’s thrived through non-goal-metric parameters, winning possession, controlling play and creating openings from where his attack-minded peers can strike.

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister

Against Leicester, The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle praised Mac Allister, 25, for his technical quality and link-up play, acknowledging the ‘very accomplished’ performance and awarding him an 8/10 match rating.

As per Sofascore, Mac Allister complemented his brace of assists by taking control, seeing 70 touches of the ball, completing 88% of his passes, winning a whopping eight duels and four tackles besides.

With yet another all-encompassing display in the engine room, Liverpool’s Argentina sensation is beginning to look like the second coming of Philippe Coutinho, perhaps even more dynamic and complete than the former Anfield hero, albeit lacking some of the Brazilian’s raw panache and balletic art.

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Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Liverpool signed Coutinho from Inter Milan for a shrewd £8.5m fee in January 2013 and fashioned him into one of Europe’s eminent playmakers, with his remarkable displays in England’s top flight impelling Barcelona to fork out a staggering £142m fee for his signature in January 2018.

Below are Coutinho’s metrics at Liverpool in the half-season before his move to Spain. He never restored the same giddy heights.

Philippe Coutinho: PL Stats 17/18

Match Stats

#

Matches (starts)

14 (13)

Goals

7

Assists

6

Pass accuracy

79%

Key passes*

2.9

Dribbles*

2.8

Tackles*

1.2

Total duels won*

5.6

Stats via Sofascore (* = per game)

As you can see, Coutinho was a creative “genius”, as he was once described by Klopp, but also made sure to get stuck in; he rarely shirked from his defensive duties and dived in for the duel.

Mac Allister is the latest iteration. He’s different, not so awe-inspiring. Not quite. Instead, Slot has his own perfect version, and while Salah and so on stepped into the limelight with a resounding goalscoring showing, let’s tip our hats to the man in the middle who’s making this absurdly good Liverpool side tick.

Now worth more than Trent: Slot hit gold on Liverpool's "coach's dream"

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Australia prepare to 'reset' for T20 challenges after coaching changes

The Australia women’s squad will start mapping out their next World Cup campaign this week in Brisbane as they come together for the first since they lifted the ODI silverware in New Zealand and now under interim head coach Shelley Nitschke.There has been significant change in the coaching staff since the ODI World Cup final with Matthew Mott having left for the England men’s white-ball job and confirmation on Monday that Ben Sawyer, who was an assistant coach, has jumped across the Tasman to lead the New Zealand women’s set-up.Jude Coleman and Dan Marsh will join Nitschke as assistant coaches for the upcoming tours of Ireland and the Commonwealth Games after the pair took charge of Australia A’s successful series against England A that ran concurrently with the Ashes earlier this year.Although there won’t be a new full-time head coach appointed until later in the year Nitschke will likely remain the favourite. With the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham followed by the T20 World Cup in South Africa next February there are big targets to aim for.The challenge for Australia is to stay top of the tree while continuing to push themselves and though there are not expected to be major changes Nitschke will “put my spin on things” over the next couple of months.”I do have some ideas after watching us, obviously [we are] coming off a strong ODI phase and we are now moving into a heavy T20 phase leading up to a World Cup,” she said. “Part of the camp we are on this week is talking about that sort of thing, having a bit of a reset and looking at how we want to play our T20 cricket.”There’s going to be some really good discussions over the next couple of days around that and from that we’ll start to look at ways we can potentially stay in that No. 1 position knowing that other teams are coming for us but we need to keep evolving.”The gathering in Brisbane this week will be largely focused on conditioning and the first meetings since the World Cup before the players come together again at the end of June for what will be a more skills-focused preparation ahead of leaving for Ireland in mid-July. It is at that second camp that Coleman and Marsh will join up with the squad and Nitschke sees fresh voices as a good opportunity.”They work well together and think their skill sets are really complementary,” she said. “It will be nice and refreshing for the spin bowlers who have been working with me for the last four years to get a different take on things from Marshy and Jude similarly.”Nitschke has recently signed a two-year extension as head coach of Perth Scorchers in the WBBL but said that how the role plays out in the future should the full-time Australia job come her way will be something to consider at a later date.”There’s a fair bit to play out before we come to any discussions around that. If it all works for this next season then that would be fantastic to still be involved with the Scorchers. We’ll just have to wait and see on that one.”

Man City readying move to sign "ball-striking monster" to replace Alvarez

Here’s something no one has been able to say for a while: Manchester City are struggling for goals.

Right now, the Sky Blues are the joint-sixth highest scorers in the Premier League with 22 from 13 games, meaning they’ve bagged fewer goals than Brentford and the same number as Wolverhampton Wanderers, a current member of the bottom three.

As noted by Opta’s The Analyst, of Man City’s starting lineup deployed at Anfield on Sunday, only Erling Braut Haaland had scored a Premier League goal this season, a fact that remained true following their lacklustre display on Merseyside, and even the usually unstoppable Norwegian has only netted twice in his last eight league outings.

Of course, the Citizens’ current decline has been largely attributed to Rodri’s injury, leaving them exposed at the back and vulnerable to counter-attacks, but they’re also struggling to score goals too.

Thus, despite already boasting one free-scoring, often unplayable Nordic centre-forward, could the four-in-a-row Premier League champions make a move for another?

Manchester City looking at Viktor Gyokeres move

According to a report by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Deutschland on social media, Manchester City have “intensified their efforts” to sign Sporting Clube de Portugal striker Viktor Gyökeres.

The Sweden international has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in the last month or so, which isn’t too surprising considering Rúben Amorim, his now former Sporting boss has just arrived at Old Trafford.

When pressed on the matter, Gyökeres himself said: “We’re sad to see him (Amorim) go….. follow him to Manchester? I don’t know, I’m here and I like it here. I don’t think about it.”

However, could he indeed follow Amorim to Manchester, but end up donning a sky blue shirt, rather than a red one?

Analyst Ben Mattinson described Gyökeres as a “ball-striking monster”, with reference to this thunderous free-kick he scored during the Taça da Liga quarter-final against Nacional in late October.

That was one of 24 goals Gyökeres has scored already this season, including five in five Champions League appearances, most notably bagging a hat-trick during Manchester City’s 4-1 thrashing at Estádio José Alvalade last month.

He was also the top-scorer in this season’s UEFA Nations League with nine, including four when Azerbaijan visited Stockholm in November, a haul that meant he pipped a certain Haaland to the golden boot.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Where Gyökeres would fit in at Manchester City

Overall, since joining Sporting from Coventry City 18 months ago, Gyökeres has scored 67 goals in 71 appearances for the Lions, the key figure, certainly on the playing side, as they won last season’s Primeira Liga title at a canter.

Given that the Swede will celebrate his 27th birthday next June, next summer feels the right time for him to make a big-money move, having made very little impact at the highest level before exploding onto the scene in Lisbon last season.

On the face of it, this proposed move makes little sense at all, considering Man City already have the great Haaland leading the line.

However, Gyökeres should be viewed as more of a replacement for Julián Álvarez, who was sold to Atlético Madrid for a whopping £81.5m last summer, without being replaced; İlkay Gündoğan’s, so far, underwhelming return notwithstanding.

It was viewed that Álvarez’s departure would have little impact because he didn’t play much anyway, but this was a complete myth because, contrary to popular belief, only seven outfielders accumulated more than his 3,481 minutes, while only Rodri, Phil Foden, Ederson and Kyle Walker saw more Premier League action than the Argentine forward.

So far this season, Savinho, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Jérémy Doku and an ageing Kevin De Bruyne, persistently hampered by injury, have scored a combined seven goals across all competitions, with Grealish specifically approaching an entire year since he last scored a club goal against Crystal Palace; 353 days and counting.

So, as bonkers as it may be to say, Gyökeres could be just the man the Sky Blues need to bolster their attacking firepower, consequently replacing Alvarez in the process.

Man City want to sign Premier League star who could be their own Odegaard

Manchester City are reportedly keeping tabs on the impressive Premier League attacker.

ByDan Emery Dec 3, 2024

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