Sports
Carlos Baleba ‘Only Wants’ £100m Man Utd Transfer
Manchester United have ‘put the brakes’ on midfield recruitment following the arrivals of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, but know that one transfer target is desperate to make the move to Old Trafford.
It’s been an impressive start to the window for the Red Devils, with around £85million already invested in the centre of the park following the departure of veteran Casemiro.
Carrick now has Santos and Tielemans joining Kobbie Mainoo as he builds a midfield around star man Bruno Fernandes, with Mason Mount also an option, should he remain at Old Trafford. However, Man Utd are expected to add one more player into the mix in order to compete on Premier League and Champions League fronts next season.
Carlos Baleba ‘only wants’ Man Utd
That player could well be Brighton star Carlos Baleba. The 22-year-old signed for the Seagulls from Lille for £23million in 2023 and has gone on to impress over his 92 Premier League appearances to date.
Speaking to the United Stand, GIVEMESPORT senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs has provided the latest on the player. He said: “If they’re prepared to meet the asking price, they could again do it relatively quickly because he is in a scenario like Youri Tielemans, where he said last summer he only wants Manchester United, and the player’s perspective hasn’t changed. So if they come calling, personal terms will not be a problem.
“They could get the player buy-in, which means that they could get that singular negotiation with Brighton instead of a bidding war. But we’re just not at that stage yet because it’s Manchester United that have put the brakes on as they assess who this third midfielder is going to be.”
Brighton want £100m for midfield star
Baleba’s progress hit some turbulence last season as he regularly cut a frustrated figure at the Amex Stadium. The player may not have been helped by a summer of rife transfer speculation 12 months ago, when he had agreed personal terms with Man Utd.
Ultimately, that move did not happen, with no official bid from the club, despite reportedly being willing to pay £75million for the Cameroonian. Brighton could now ask for closer to £100million for a midfielder contracted until 2028, even after falling off the pace last term.
Carrick and chiefs at the Theatre of Dreams will have to weigh up that Seagulls asking price, but are in the privileged place of being afforded time to do so, with Baleba’s heart set on Man Utd.
Sports
Tottenham Reach Verbal Agreement With Man City to Sign Savinho
Tottenham Hotspur chiefs have reached a verbal agreement with a club to finalise their seventh summer signing.
Tottenham and ENIC have gone into overdrive with the summer transfer business as they look to avoid being involved in a Premier League relegation battle for a third successive season.
That is already looking like an unlikely possibility with Roberto De Zerbi at the helm for a full season and with the quality of signings they have already made this summer, with Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, Martin Dubravka, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali all joining – the latter two in club-record transfers.
With the defence and midfield transformed from last season, attention now turns to getting players out the door and strengthening De Zerbi’s attack as Spurs look to return to the top six next term.
Luka Vuskovic has already left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a big-money deal to Brighton and Hove Albion, and he is unlikely to be the last with the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison among those heavily linked with an exit away from the club.
Tottenham could also be closing in on their next summer addition of a window they appear to be winning right now.
Tottenham Reach Verbal Agreement With Man City to Sign Savinho
Tottenham’s next transfer priority has been to land a new left-winger, with Manchester City star Savinho emerging as their number one target for the position.
Spurs wanted to sign the Brazil international 12 months ago but were unable to find an agreement with City over a deal, but now it appears as though they have reached a breakthrough.
According to a reliable Tottenham source on X, the north Londoners have now reached a verbal agreement with City to sign the 22-year-old.
A separate report has claimed that a deal could be finalised for £65m, as Spurs look to get another big summer deal over the line.
Tottenham Still Targeting Eli Junior Kroupi
There may have been some concerns that once Tottenham decided that Savinho was their top left-wing target, that it reduced their chances of moving for Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi too.
However, it is claimed that even if Spurs do secure a deal for Savinho, they will still target a move for the highly-rated French attacker too following an outstanding breakthrough campaign in the Premier League.
Sports
Will Keane Once Partnered Harry Kane For England But Is Now Unemployed
While Harry Kane continues to break new ground, proving himself as one of the greatest strikers in world football, the same certainly cannot be said for one of his former England partners. That comes in spite of the fact he was once tipped to be Manchester United’s primary number one and be a regular part of the national team.
Indeed, nobody needs reminding of Kane’s success on the international stage. No one has captained the Three Lions to more major international tournament semi-finals than him, and his goalscoring tally is way beyond that of his predecessors, having managed an incredible 85 goals in 120 caps.
Over the course of that time, though, he’s never found a reliable strike partner. He’s come closest to finally discovering one at this year’s World Cup, with Jude Bellingham netting six times to prove himself as one of the best midfielders in the world. But as for out-and-out number 9s, Kane hasn’t been blessed with right-hand men.
Harry Kane’s Former England Strike Partner Now 32 and Unemployed
Having started alongside Kane in an England Under-19s friendly against Switzerland in 2012, Will Keane is spending the next few weeks in a PFA pre-season camp laid on to help unemployed players find new clubs.
His downfall started just days after playing up top with Kane, as he suffered a serious knee injury which sidelined him for 16 months. He told BBC Sport recently:
“I made my senior debut [for United]. We won the Youth Cup. I was doing well for England. Everything was taking off. That first injury was at a crucial time. I had my foot in the door.
“The feeling was I would probably have been around the first team. If the injury had happened a couple of years later, I might have been an established squad player.”
Keane grafted his way back to fitness, gained experience out on loan and was once again knocking on the door of the United first team by early 2016. But, by then, another Englishman had already taken his place, slumming the door shut on his chances of getting enough playing time to prove himself.
Keane tore his groin, allowing Marcus Rashford to get a run in the senior side. The Carrington Academy graduate scored four goals in his first two Red Devils’ games, which he admits was like a dagger to the heart. He recalled: “I went to America for an operation, landed in Philadelphia, turned my phone on and saw he scored two more. It was hard to take, but I had to move on.”
The 32-year-old did move on, bouncing around the second and third tiers before finding a safe haven at Wigan Athletic, where he played the best football of his career between 2020 and 2023.
The Stockport-born striker, whose twin brother is Everton defender Michael Keane, also spent part of last season on loan at League One Reading before his Preston contract expired. He is now having “a few chats” with interested clubs and hopes things will “open up” once the season starts.
Keane Always Knew His Compatriot Was Special
The past few weeks have given Keane the perfect opportunity to watch his former partner in crime at the World Cup and reflect on what has made him so successful. He said, as per The Sun: “I remember when we were young, people said he wasn’t mobile, but technically, the time he put into his finishing and his obsessiveness to be the best in terms of shooting, you see it don’t you?
“He’s so sure of himself, because he’s put the work in. He knows he’s a complete striker. He’s obviously got that belief in himself. If he didn’t have certainty in his mind, he wouldn’t be as prolific.”
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Sports
Argentina Complain Spain Have Unfair Advantage
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has vented his frustrations about his team’s training schedule ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain, implying that they have been put at an unfair disadvantage.
The South American nation secured their spot in football’s showpiece event by beating England in dramatic circumstances on Wednesday evening in Atlanta. Late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez cancelled out Anthony Gordon’s opener, sending the reigning champions to their seventh World Cup final.
Meanwhile, Spain booked their place in the showdown in New Jersey by seeing off France 24 hours before the clash at the Atlanta Stadium. A penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a neat finish from Pedro Porro were enough for La Roja to progress.
Argentina only arrived in the New York area late on Thursday night, and Scaloni feels this is already a significant setback for his side heading into the game at MetLife Stadium.
Lionel Scaloni Complains About Training Schedule Ahead of World Cup Final
Spain reportedly flew into New Jersey on Wednesday night, the day after their semi-final victory over France. Argentina’s encounter with England only concluded on Wednesday evening, and they had to wait over 24 hours before landing in the north-east of the United States.
La Albiceleste arrived around 11pm on Thursday night, before FIFA instructed them to train briefly in the sweltering heat on Friday afternoon in New York.
Speaking at his press conference on Friday evening, Scaloni addressed this schedule and how it clearly favours Spain, who were able to train in more favourable conditions and enjoy an additional day’s rest.
“We’re just now resting because we arrived last night around 11pm,” he said. “Today they forced us to train at a time we didn’t want.
“But with the press conference and everything, we had to do a strange, quick training session, and we hardly got to try anything out.
“We are focused on rest, and based on that we will see how they arrive, because there are players who are not at 100%.
“We will evaluate how they are. We play thinking about ourselves, but being mindful of the good things that the opponent has.”
History Shows Spain Have Huge Advantage Over Argentina
While fans might feel Scaloni is looking for excuses before the final has even commenced, the Argentina boss might actually have a point.
The Athletic revealed last week that in 13 of the last 14 World Cups and European Championships, the team who played their semi-final first has emerged with the trophy.
Clearly, having an additional rest period and more time to prepare tactically for the opposition gives teams significant advantages in these tournaments. That said, there isn’t really a way around this.
Ultimately, unless the two semi-finals are played at the same time or within a few hours of each other, one team is always going to have an advantage. Being first is the luck of the draw, and it’s unavoidable.
However, Scaloni’s complaints towards FIFA were more concentrated on the scheduling of the press conference and the training session. The football organisation could have allowed Argentina to train in the evening when it was cooler, scheduling the press conference for the afternoon.
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