Real Madrid are reportedly keeping tabs on Myles Lewis-Skelly as talks over a new Arsenal contract are 'not going well'.
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Liverpool are believed to have entered talks over the signing of a “complete” Premier League player this summer, a new report has claimed.
The Reds beat Southampton 3-1 in relatively unconvincing fashion on Saturday, which coupled with Arsenal’s 1-1 draw away to Manchester United further increased Arne Slot’s side’s stranglehold on the Premier League title.
Next up for Liverpool is their crucial Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield, following last week’s smash-and-grab 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes. Huge improvements will be needed by the Merseysiders, in terms of performance level, or their European dream could easily end.
In terms of Reds-related transfer news, Marcus Thuram has been mentioned as a target for the summer, with the Inter Milan striker reportedly watched by Liverpool scouts during his side’s Champions League clash with Feyenoord last week, in which he opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman has also been linked with a move to Anfield at the end of the season, being seen as a potential replacement for Luis Diaz, should the Colombian leave. The 28-year-old has registered four goals and assists apiece in the Bundesliga in 2024/25 to date, but has been limited to just 11 starts in the competition.
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool have “initiated talks” to sign Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen in the summer transfer window and are one of several teams preparing a bid worth up to £30m.
The 19-year-old is a wanted man, following an outstanding season at the heart of the Cherries’ defence, with Arsenal and Tottenham also in the race, though they may all have to up their offers given he has a £55m release clause.
Huijsen looks like a wonderful prospect, taking to the Premier League like a duck to water following his permanent move to Bournemouth from Juventus last summer.
The Spain Under-21 international has played a big role in the Cherries’ success throughout the campaign, averaging 5.3 clearances and 2.1 aerial duel wins per game in the league, and football talent scout Jacek Kulig has called him both “complete” and “one of the most talented” teenage centre-backs in Europe currently.
A new central defender is needed at Liverpool this summer, in order to give Slot more options at the back, and bringing in a player with the long-term potential of Huijsen is a no-brainer.
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The Bournemouth man could develop into a world-class player over time, assuming he continues like he is, and he could blossom even more playing alongside elite footballers at Anfield.
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Liverpool know how to win. Rivals might not like it, but Arne Slot has created the best team in England this season, and one of the best across the continent.
Recent victories over Champions League rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton in the Premier League have underpinned the brilliance of this Merseyside outfit, capable of winning in different ways, protean to the nth degree.
So then, what makes this Liverpool side so brilliant? It’s the obvious route, sure, but you’d have to start with the superstars.
Slot is an elite level unto himself, but he’s certainly been helped by the staggering quality of some of Liverpool’s finest.
Where to start but with Mohamed Salah, whose attacking greatness has seen him chalk up 32 goals and 22 assists across all competitions, break incalculable records.
Salah is the offensive poster boy and rightly so, but he’s no more influential than his skipper, Virgil van Dijk.
The towering Dutchman is truly redoubtable, fusing inimitable defensive skill with supreme leadership and eye-catching distribution. Van Dijk is every bit as important as his flashier peer, so important in ensuring Liverpool push forward.
Along with Trent Alexander-Arnold, these players are into the final few months of their careers on Merseyside, and while sporting director Richard Hughes is fighting for them to put pen to paper, the future is uncertain and worrying.
They are each of them unsellable, untouchable pillars of Anfield’s infrastructure. Of course, this is redundant, for each can leave if they so wish.
However, they aren’t the only untouchables in Slot’s squad, with one surprise figure earning that status with his performances this season.
Not everyone in Liverpool’s first team starts every week, but each player has a role. For example, Darwin Nunez might reportedly be up for sale and struggling to hit the expected heights, but he’s still popped up with some big moments, contributing toward the multi-front title charge.
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Likewise, Harvey Elliott, 21, has been angered by his lack of game time this term but remains one of the most gifted young playmakers in the business, underscoring his value by netting an incredible winner in Paris last week.
However, similarly to Nunez, Elliott is allegedly wanted by several clubs and FSG could bank a pretty penny by selling him. Both players could be sold this summer, albeit fans would be dismayed at the 21-year-old’s playmaker’s departure.
But there’s another older fringe player in Slot’s squad who has established himself as an unsellable part of the team. His name is Wataru Endo.
The 32-year-old midfielder is approaching the end of his second season on Merseyside, having won one title to date and completed 68 appearances, scoring two goals and registering one assist.
The Japan captain struggled to win Slot over across the opening months of the Premier League campaign, only playing 20 minutes across six matches before Christmas. However, he’s become a regular feature in recent months, instrumental in keeping Liverpool afloat as they chase down multiple major honours.
That said, Endo has been used prominently across domestic cup competitions, showcasing his value by completing 91% of his passes in the Carabao Cup, also averaging two tackles per game and winning 63% of his duels, as per Sofascore. His efforts have been key as Liverpool prepare for the final against Newcastle United this weekend.
Though he hasn’t started a single Premier League match in 2024/25, Endo has been a core part of Slot’s plans, hailed as a “red machine” by talkSPORT’s Steve Hothersall.
Recent weeks have seen him hit a new level of appreciation at the club. Liverpool have won each of the five fixtures listed below, in no small part down to Endo’s combative late injection.
|
Endo – Recent Performances |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
# |
Wolves |
Man City |
Newcastle |
PSG |
Saints |
|
Minutes |
19′ |
17′ |
13′ |
11′ |
9′ |
|
Accurate passes |
5/5 (100%) |
1/1 (100%) |
16/16 (100%) |
5/5 (100%) |
3/3 (100%) |
|
Tackles + interceptions |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Clearances |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Duels won |
3/5 |
2/4 |
0/0 |
0/0 |
1/2 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|||||
Remarkably, Endo hasn’t misplaced a single pass over his past five appearances in all competitions, so underrated in his ability to slow games down and ensure Liverpool have control and composure in the dying embers.
He’s the perfect shop-shutter. As per FBref, the 32-year-old ranks among the top 8% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for pass completion, the top 15% for tackles, the top 20% for interceptions, the top 13% for blocks and the top 18% for clearances per 90.
Such impactful late-stage displays have seen Endo cultivate a cult hero status from those of a Liverpool persuasion. He is adored.
How curious that Liverpool were met with derision when purchasing him from Stuttgart for £16m in August 2023, mocked for missing out on Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo to Chelsea. Well, Endo bested Chelsea’s crop in last season’s Carabao Cup final and is now heading for a Premier League title and perhaps even more.
Drafted in by Jurgen Klopp as a stop-gap option at number six, Endo has proved himself as a priceless part of Liverpool’s team.
As per Football Transfers, the tough-tackling midfielder is valued at just £11m. Where would be the value in selling him, especially when he brings something different, almost diametrically opposed to Ryan Gravenberch as a number 6.
Indeed, this player’s value is found on the pitch. If you pay attention you’ll see. We’re deep into the second half, and there he is. Bib off, jogtrot down the sideline, and then he’s unleashed to an uproarious Anfield crowd, who delight in his defensive impact.
Fair play to Salah and Van Dijk, they are two of the finest players of their generation. But fair play to Endo. Klopp saw something in this industrious athlete, who is now invaluable as the Premier League title draws near.
Liverpool struck gold on "world-class" star who's worth more than Isak
Liverpool are indebted to this star’s greatness.
1
By
Angus Sinclair
Mar 10, 2025
England star Angel Gomes has reportedly agreed to join Marseille despite links with Manchester United and Arsenal.
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What a week it has been for Manchester United’s number nine, Rasmus Hojlund. You wait so long for a goal, and two come along in quick succession.
The Danish speedster had endured a dismal 21-game goal drought prior to finally getting on the scoresheet again on Sunday evening away at Leicester City, with the struggling striker showcasing remarkable composure to slot home on his weaker right foot against the relegation-threatened Foxes.
Just days on from that long-awaited goal, the 22-year-old leapt off the bench to clinch victory for his country against Portugal on Thursday night, the former Atalanta man condemning Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Cristiano Ronaldo to a 1-0 defeat in their Nations League quarter-final clash.
While a return of nine goals this season for club and country makes for grim reading for the £64m signing, he has helped to lift the pressure on his shoulders this week, not least with 17-year-old sensation, Chido Obi, waiting in the wings for a starting berth back at Old Trafford.
|
Selected strikers – Record for Man Utd |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Zlatan Ibrahimovic |
53 |
29 |
10 |
|
Romelu Lukaku |
96 |
42 |
12 |
|
Odion Ighalo |
23 |
5 |
1 |
|
Edinson Cavani |
59 |
19 |
6 |
|
Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd spell) |
54 |
27 |
5 |
|
Wout Weghorst |
31 |
2 |
3 |
|
Anthony Martial |
317 |
90 |
46 |
|
Rasmus Hojlund |
82 |
24 |
4 |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt |
|||
That youthful pairing are currently vying to be Ruben Amorim’s main man through the middle, with the Portuguese coach still no doubt looking to find his next goalscoring talisman, in the mould of Sporting CP’s, Viktor Gyokeres.
There is an argument to be made that Amorim has found his new attacking, Gyokeres-like figurehead in the form of Bruno Fernandes, although for all the playmaker’s brilliance, there is still a need for United to acquire a reliable, prolific presence to lead the line.
Indeed, in 82 games for the Red Devils to date, Hojlund has scored just 24 goals, while young Obi is still waiting to break his first-team duck, albeit while having made just four senior appearances. Summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, meanwhile, has scored just six times in his new surroundings.
With that in mind, it is then no surprise that the signing of a new centre-forward appears high on the agenda, with journalist Florian Plettenberg only recently naming the aforementioned Gyokeres among a raft of targets that Amorim and co are looking at.
The Swedish goal machine has been a revelation in Portugal since arriving from Coventry City for just £17m back in 2023, having notably scored 66 goals in just 68 games under Amorim’s watch.
Unsurprisingly, ever since the new United boss made the move to England, there has been talk of a reunion. However, The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell reported back in February that while Sporting could cash in for around €70m (£59m), it is ‘unlikely’ that the 26-year-old follows his former boss to Manchester.
As per Whitwell, the one-time Brighton and Hove Albion man is likely to want to join a team competing in the Champions League – something United, currently, won’t be able to offer – while the club themselves may have reservations, amid the pursuit of ‘younger signings’.
While there may be frustration at not handing Amorim the perfect attacking tool in Gyokeres, perhaps the Red Devils are already brewing the next version of the Swede…
As two towering, Scandinavian marksmen like Gyokeres, it could be argued that both Hojlund and Obi are primed to evolve into that type of figure for Amorim, provided they are given time to develop.
That said, there could well be another, more suitable option in the equation, in the form of academy star, Ethan Wheatley, with the 19-year-old also a “clinical finisher”, in the words of analyst Ben Mattinson.
As per Mattinson, the promising Englishman possesses a lot of the “typical hold-up, link-up and channel running” that Gyokeres has shown at Sporting, while he is also deemed to be a “closer fit” to the former Coventry man than fellow youth star, Gabriele Biancheri.
Currently out on loan at League Two highflyers Walsall – for whom he has actually made just three appearances since arriving in January – Wheatley has previously dazzled in the youth set-up at United, scoring ten times in just 22 U21 outings.
The Stockport native – who, like Gyokeres, stands at 6 foot 2 – was also previously the star of the U18 side, after netting 14 goals in 28 games at that age group.
While it hasn’t worked out so far during Wheatley’s temporary stint away from Old Trafford, he did score for England’s U19 side against Wales in midweek, having also been awarded a new long-term contract with United earlier this month.
That show of faith by the club has indicated how highly regarded the teenager is at Carrington, with the rising star already making four first-team appearances for his parent club, including a late cameo in the 4-2 win over Leicester in the EFL Cup back in October.
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With Amorim having already shown his willingness to utilise the academy in recent weeks, amid the emergence of Obi and Harry Amass, United’s 250th graduate may still have hope of forcing his way into the senior reckoning next season.
Who knows, Wheatley could even prove himself to be the 40-year-old’s next Gyokeres.
Amorim's next Gyokeres: Man Utd plotting move to sign "the new Haaland"
Manchester United are still targeting a striker to hand Ruben Amorim with the firepower he craves.
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Ethan Lamb
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Manchester United have agreed a new deal with a homegrown player to remain at the club into his 40s.
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Manchester United will, unsurprisingly, be focused on potential incomings this summer, albeit with manager Ruben Amorim having already confirmed that the club will need to sell to buy, amid their concerning financial situation.
Talk has already been rife in recent months regarding the futures of both Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho – following January interest from rivals Chelsea – while there have also been suggestions that LaLiga giants, Real Madrid, are plotting a £90m offer for Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese playmaker – who revealed he turned down an “offer” to leave last summer – has warranted those admiring glances following what’s been another fine campaign on an individual basis, with the United skipper leading the way at Old Trafford for both goals and assists in 2024/25 to date.
Those rumours have, however, subsequently been put to bed by Amorim, with the 40-year-old outling that his compatriot is “not going anywhere”, particularly with his current deal not set to expire until 2027, plus the option of a further 12 months.
In truth, the Red Devils simply can’t afford to be without their captain and their talisman, with the former Sporting CP hero representing a real outlier with regard to the club’s recruitment over the last decade.
While there have been promising signs from recent arrivals such as Noussair Mazraoui, not since Fernandes has a marquee signing truly hit the ground running in a United shirt – perhaps that could be set to change…
The arrival of Amorim and the change to a 3-4-3 has ensured that specialised targets will need to be considered this summer, albeit with CEO Omar Berrada having only recently outlined that the club will look to acquire versatile players who can play in “multiple positions”, amid the potential of a possible change in the dugout later down the line.
While that approach may be sensible considering the Red Devils have too often been led by the manager on the transfer front – as indicated by Erik ten Hag’s raft of Eredivisie or Dutch signings above – the Old Trafford hierarchy do still need to ensure that Amorim is handed the appropriate tools to fit his preferred system.
With that in mind, reports in Spain have suggested that United are among the clubs who are interested in prizing Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, with the England international currently operating in Oliver Glasner’s own 3-4-3 set-up.
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The suggestion is that INEOS are preparing to make an offer to land the 26-year-old ahead of next season, with the Eagles set to accept nothing less than his reported £60m release clause.
The former Queens Park Rangers starlet – who moved to Selhurst Park on a £20m deal in the summer of 2020 – is also reportedly the subject of interest from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, with United thus facing a real fight if they are to land his signature.
Should Berrada and co move to the front of the queue, however, landing this ready-made, proven Premier League sensation could represent the club’s best move since acquiring Fernandes back in January 2020.
Having been linked with a move to Manchester City in the summer of 2019, Fernandes eventually made his way to England less than six months later, with the Red Devils forking out an initial fee of around £46m.
From a Man of the Match performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers on debut, the Portugal star simply hasn’t looked back, registering 95 goals and 82 assists in 278 games in all competitions.
What has been a particular feature of the £300k-per-week star’s game, excluding his creativity and availability, is also his willingness to slot into a variety of roles, having lined up as a deep-lying midfielder, a number ten or even on the flanks in recent years.
Those traits are no doubt shared by Eze, with the one-time Wycombe Wanderers loanee comfortable in either of the two number ten berths in Glasner’s system, as well as part of the midfield two. Equally, on international duty, the in-demand playmaker scored for the Three Lions against Latvia, having been introduced off the left flank.
Described as a “frightening” talent by teammate Joel Ward, at 26 – just a year older than Fernandes was when he moved to Old Trafford – Eze could well be entering his prime years, having stayed put in south London despite persistent speculation regarding an exit in recent times.
As previously stated, his proven quality in the Premier League should ensure he is able to slot straight into Amorim’s ranks and make an immediate impact, in a similar mould to Fernandes, having registered 58 goals and assists in 156 games for Palace to date.
In 2024/25, meanwhile, Eze boasts six goals and nine assists in all competitions, with that tally including a return of two goals and six assists in the top flight to date for Glasner’s in-form outfit.
|
Eze PL season in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (*per game) |
Record |
|
Games |
25 |
|
Goals |
2 |
|
Assists |
6 |
|
Big chances created |
9 |
|
Big chances missed |
7 |
|
Key passes* |
2.0 |
|
Touches* |
52.4 |
|
Pass accuracy* |
82% |
|
Successful dribbles* |
2.1 |
|
Possession lost* |
14.5 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
Those numbers may not be too eye-catching, yet dig a little deeper, and it is easy to see the Englishman’s quality, as outlined by the fact that he ranks in the top 14% among his Premier League peers for successful take-ons, as well as in the top 12% for shot-creating actions per 90.
That dribbling prowess was on show in last week’s FA Cup win over Fulham as Eze weaved his way past a sea of defenders before curling home a stunning effort into the far corner, having also teed up teammate Ismaila Sarr following a delightful jinking run down the left wing.
Previously described as a “Champions League player” by BBC pundit Danny Murphy, the £100k-per-week genius is – as Fernandes was five years ago – ready to make that next step. United should welcome him in with open arms…
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Diogo Costa has told Porto wants to move abroad as he has attracted the interest of Premier League clubs Manchester City and Manchester United.
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