Brentford’s Cameroon attacker Brian Mbeumo was in great form last season, scoring 20 goals and making 8 assists, mainly with his pal Yoane Wissa. He is approaching the final year of his contract and has attracted a lot of interest from several PL clubs. He has now made a decision that Manchester United is his chosen destination if he leaves the
Bees next year. Brentford are a small club and the chances of them holding onto the 25-year-old will be difficult.
Newcastle made initial contact with Mbeumo but he told their representatives that his decision, should he move, is final and he will be heading for Manchester. Newcastle did offer European football next year whereas United could not but he will earn a much bigger wage packet at United. Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali all earn around £150,000 a week at Newcastle but Mbeumo will earn nearer £200,000 a week in Manchester. For Newcastle to have matched this figure would have put them in jeopardy of breaking the current PSR financial rules.
Alisson Becker eyes another 12 months at Liverpool
Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker says he is expecting the club to extend his contract by one year.
His current deal has only 12 months to run and he has made it clear that he wants to remain at Anfield before eventually returning to finish his career in his native Brazil.
The 32-year-old has made 298 appearances between the posts for Liverpool since joining from Serie A team Roma in 2018. He has won two Premier League titles with the Reds and the Champions League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. Recently Neymar, Thiago Silva and former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho have returned to play in Brazil and Alisson said, “I talk to athletes who have made this move to return, some have had good experiences and some have not. I want to return and probably to Inter (Sport Club Internacional) but I am not sure when and for now I am very happy at Liverpool.”
Frank could bring Spur’s players together again
As I mentioned in last week’s column, if Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy sacked coach Ange Postecoglou, there could be a backlash of discontent and anger from the players who were fiercely loyal to the Australian.
Sure enough the emotional outbursts from the Tottenham dressing room have been very supportive of Postecoglou and it will be difficult for any incoming coach to motivate the players and gain their respect and trust.
Postecoglou will always be connected with heroism at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium because after 17 years of winning nothing, he brought a European trophy to the club and they are winners for the first time this century.
After an impressive first season was followed by injuries, defensive weaknesses and a record number of defeats in the Premier League, opposing coaches worked out how to play against his strategies.
And so Daniel Levy pulled the plug and he set off to find his 14th manager in 24 years as chairman.
He has total autonomy and answers to no one…he is king of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium castle.
In many ways Postecoglou was his own worst enemy by not adapting his playing style when opposing coaches worked out how to combat his Angeball method. Playing with two quick centre halves to make sure of cover, he played an almost suicidal high defence and opponents were playing the ball up into the space left at the back leaving the goalkeeper exposed. They targeted keeper Vicario at set pieces and suddenly Tottenham started losing big games and against opponents who they should have beaten at home such as Ipswich Town. Injuries certainly played a big part and at times Ange’s teams have been decimated leaving him to rely on substitute and loan players.
Rather in the mould of Real Madrid, Tottenham under Levy’s control for 25 years, do not accept under performances lightly. The European trophy was quickly followed by dismissal.
Big stars miss the Club World Cup
The exit door for Jack Grealish at Manchester City is opening wider now that the £100m star has been left out of their Club World Cup squad and will remain at home wondering what happened to his career at the Etihad Stadium.
A summer loan deal is most likely given his huge £300,000 a week wages and there are two years remaining on his contract. New signings
Rayan Ait Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki are all named in Pep Guardiola’s travelling party.
Other big names who will remain at home include Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.
Wesley Fofana has been left out because of his end of season hamstring problem. New signings Liam Delap, centre-back Mamadou Sarr, goalkeeper Mike Penders and midfielder Dario Essugo all make the trip.
Jobe Bellingham chooses Dortmund
I fear Sunderland have made their first mistake after being promoted to the Premier League for next season.
They have agreed to sell one of their most influential players.
Jobe Bellingham talked at length with his brother, Real Madrid star Jude, about his next best career move. They discussed Jude’s progress to the German Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund and his eventual transfer to Madrid after three years. Consequently, Jobe has resisted Sunderland’s efforts to keep him and the Black Cats have agreed a £28million transfer fee and a sell-on clause of 15 percent. If Jobe’s value reaches £32m, Sunderland will trigger further payments which will break their selling record of £30million for Jordan Pickford to Everton in 2017.
Ayden Heaven is United’s future in defence
Manchester United plan to build much of their defence around Ayden Heaven next season.
The centre-back is not on the club’s selling list unlike almost all United’s players at the right price.
He is a ball-playing defender who, at age of 18, proved he is reliable and effective at 6ft 2ins which enables him to challenge the biggest of strikers. He currently has a contract until June 2029 and United have a one-year option should they decide to keep him when he will still be only 23 years-of-age.
As a left-footed player, he gives coach Ruben Amorim options at the back and alongside Harry Maguire and either Luke Shaw or Nathan Mazraoui, he is a future captain of the side. If he does prove his current potential, it will be a loss for Arsenal who let him go to United in January for only £1million.
Enrique says PSG will conquer the world!
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has issued a chilling warning to all Premier League clubs, widely acknowledged as the best in the world. “My Paris Saint-Germain side will conquer the world,” said the Spaniard.
He is now targeting the Club World Cup for his next football mission as he wants to complete a grand slam following PSG winning the Champions League and a French domestic treble.
He is particularly gunning for Manchester City and Chelsea who represent England in FIFA’s £600 million tournament being held in America later this month. After demolishing Inter Milan in the Champions final, they are also joined by Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter.
He said, “The Club World Cup is an incredible competition and if we win it, it would be the cherry on the cake.”
A PSG victory in the final on July 13th would add strength to Ousmane Dembele’s bid to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
