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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Craig Gordon has decided to stay at Celtic until at least January, despite losing his spot in the team to Scott Bain, according to Football Insider.

What’s the story?

The 36-year-old has spent a long time debating his future at Parkhead after losing his starting place in the second half of last season, per Football Insider.

The former Hearts stopper was clear first choice under Brendan Rodgers when fit, but since suffering an injury he has lost his place as an almost unchallenged number one at Celtic Park.

Having started against Nomme Kalju in the away leg of the Champions League second qualifying round, in which many of the tried and trusted stars were rested, it seems Neil Lennon sees him as no more than a back-up to Bain.

Can he be trusted?

In Bain, Celtic have a keeper confident with the ball at his feet and as commanding as the 36-year-old. Given Bain is now the clear first choice, you’d imagine it would take something out of Gordon’s control, such as a sudden loss of form or injury to the former Dundee man, for him to regain his starting spot.

Moreover, Conor Hazard has shown promise during his two loan spells away from Parkhead and given it’s now August and he hasn’t left on another temporary deal, he might expect the odd start this season.

Hazard did well at both Partick Thistle and Falkirk, earning a Northern Ireland cap in the process, and at 21 will hope to make his mark on the first-team sooner rather than later. A back-up goalkeeper is a glorified bench-warmer for the most part, and the youngster’s experiences away on loan are surely enough to see him lock up that role.

Gordon has been a great servant but has seen his career ravaged by unfortunate injuries since leaving Hearts for Sunderland, in what ended up being a British transfer record for a goalkeeper back in 2007.

Now, though, it might be best for all involved for him to reverse his decision and look for pastures new, allowing young Hazard to challenge the ever-improving Bain. Keeping an injury-prone 36 year-old to sit on the bench when a 21 year-old on lower wages could do the same job simply doesn’t make sense.

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One of the biggest transfer busts in recent memory, Alexis Sanchez’s time at Manchester United has been nothing short of a disaster.

The forward has struggled immensely with form and fitness since arriving at Old Trafford in the January transfer window in 2018, and reports had even suggested the club could be looking to move him on this summer.

The 30-year-old was on international duty with Chile at the Copa America and appeared to pick up a hamstring injury during his country’s third/fourth play-off against Argentina.

However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now confirmed that he hopes Sanchez will be back soon and expects him to feature before the end of pre-season; something that didn’t seem to go down too well with United fans on Twitter.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Red Devils supporters urged the club to get rid of the Chilean as soon as possible and felt frustrated that he would still be on the club’s books this summer.

Indeed, some insisted that it was time the club cut their losses on Sanchez and suggested that the club’s injury update on Sanchez was a way of hinting that he would be remaining at the club.

Check out some of the angry reaction of United fans below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Sun, Manchester United have avoided playing Romelu Lukaku in pre-season despite him being fit, as they do not want to scupper his potential big-money move to Inter this summer.

What’s the word?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Serie A giants Inter are very keen on luring Lukaku to Italy this summer, and Antonio Conte even admitted that the Belgian could be an “important player” for the club.

Whilst United have been on their pre-season tour, Lukaku has continued to miss games for the side with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stating that he was carrying an injury.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, The Sun claim that whilst the 26-year-old has been fit enough to take part in matches, both United and Lukaku have decided it is for the best that they do not risk him potentially getting injured in light of a possible move away.

 The smart decision

For all the talk of United’s transfer strategy this summer seeing them continue to struggle to get deals for their top targets over the line, the Red Devils’ stance on Lukaku has to be applauded.

The Manchester side have refused to get bullied into accepting a low-ball offer from Inter, and have seemingly made it abundantly clear that their Italian counterparts need to match their valuation of the striker.

Keeping Lukaku away from the games and wrapped up in cotton wool is a smart precautionary measure to ensure that the risk of injury doesn’t get increased, and potentially put his move to Inter in jeopardy. Solskjaer has looked to implement a fast, pressing game in pre-season, and for all of his qualities, the Belgium international doesn’t quite fit that system.

Ensuring that he is fit and would have no troubles passing a future medical gives United the safety of knowing that Inter will not back out of a possible move due to something out of their control. A smart, well-thought out decision in what has been a crazy transfer window.

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According to The Evening Standard, Southampton will be happy to just recoup the £18m they paid for Mario Lemina if they are to sell him this summer, and that is a baffling decision for a number of reasons.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 25-year-old has made it clear that he is keen for a move away from St Mary’s this summer, having joined from Juventus in 2017.

The Evening Standard report that Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester City have all expressed an interest in a deal for the Gabon international, who they would need to pay at least £18m to secure.

Lemina has made 52 appearances in all competitions for the south coast outfit – scoring two goals and providing two assists – but he spent the majority of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s reign so far on the sidelines with an abdominal injury.

When he did return towards the end of the 2018/19 campaign, he only started one of Saints’ final five Premier League fixtures.

Watch Southampton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Club’s confusing decision

In a day and age where transfer fees are going crazy, it seems mad that Southampton would seemingly be willing to accept just £18m for a player like Lemina.

He has played for the likes of Juventus – including an appearance in the 2017 Champions League final – and Marseille during his career, and outshone Paul Pogba in a 2-2 draw between Saints and the Red Devils at St Mary’s in December of last year, as you can see via WhoScored.

Having completed 55 of the 62 dribbles he attempted in 2017/18, and 23 out of 35 last term, it is clear how talented the African is on the ball. If he can find that consistency that was sorely lacking in red and white, he will be a real force to be reckoned with.

Additionally, Aston Villa have just signed a player one year older than Lemina in Tyrone Mings for an initial fee of £20m, which could rise to £26.5m with add-ons, even though he has only played 857 minutes of top flight football in his career.

Southampton’s new man Moussa Djenepo divides opinion amongst fans in the video below…

Similarly, Bristol City are reportedly demanding £30m for centre-back Adam Webster – someone who has never played in the Premier League.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, Southampton are really under-selling themselves when it comes to their midfielder, and in reality they should be demanding a lot more money for his services.

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A number of Everton stars are away competing in international tournaments this summer, giving the Goodison Park faithful something to keep an eye on whilst domestic football takes a break.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is away with England’s Under-21 side at the European Championships, but Yerry Mina is also in action for Colombia at the Copa America.

Not just in action, but he is starring – the centre-back is starting to return to his best form.

Check out a fan’s outrageous call for England to take a leaf of out cricket and rugby’s book after a limp Nations League performance in the video below…

His latest game may only have been against Qatar, but you can only beat what’s in front of you and Mina did that and more on an impressive night for himself personally.

The 24-year-old endured a mixed first season on Merseyside following a €30.25m (£26.9m) move from Barcelona last summer which had one fan questioning if they had signed a ‘dud’ – he made just 15 appearances in total whilst suffering niggling foot and hamstring injuries.

However, he has since recovered and look back to normal for his country.

Mina had two shots on goal against Qatar; unusual for a centre-back, but not really for himself personally after he notched three goals in three games at the World Cup last summer. The former Palmeiras man likes to get involved in front of goal, and the fact that he hit two shots last night suggests that he was back in a confident mood.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He was also near-perfect with his passing as he normally is, completing an impressive 93% of his passes on the night as Colombia recorded a 1-0 win thanks to Duvan Zapata’s late strike.

Mina will have been happy with the clean sheet and the win, a victory that put them four points clear at the top of Group B with six points from two games.

It was a tough first season in the English top-flight for the £26.9m man, but hopefully he will have settled by now and is ready to kick on next term.

Having suffered an incredibly disappointing end to the 2018/19 campaign, Leeds United’s future suddenly looks very unclear.

With Marcelo Bielsa yet to commit to a new deal at Elland Road, it would not be at all surprising if the Whites end up having to recruit a new manager this summer.

However, when you consider that the Argentine is immensely popular amongst Leeds’ supporters, they will be hoping that chairman Andrea Radrizzani can offer the necessary incentives required to keep him at the club.

Yet regardless of who is in charge at Elland Road next season, in order to launch a sustained push for promotion the Whites must get their recruitment spot on over the coming months.

Although the club need to bring in a forward to challenge the likes of Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford, they should steer clear of signing Michael Frey when the transfer window opens in July.

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, the 24-year-old is reportedly on Leeds’ radar despite experiencing a difficult year with Turkish side Fenerbahce.

Having scored just three goals in 14 league appearances for the Istanbul-based side, it would be a huge risk for Leeds to take if they were to bring him in, especially when you consider that is extremely injury-prone.

During the last six months alone, the £2.25m-rated ace (via Transfermarkt) has been sidelined on four different occasions with his inability to stay fit clearly hampering his development as a player.

Instead of wasting their money on Frey, the Whites should focus instead on targeting a marksman who has a track-record of firing in the goals in English football.

What do you think Leeds fans? Would signing Frey this summer be a mistake? Who do you want your side to sign in the transfer window? Let us know below.

The pain of today’s play-off defeat will linger for a long time. We know that, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. Two Wembley defeats and a 5th placed finish this season have been incredibly tough to stomach for the Black Cats, but here we are. The Mackems now need to look forward, and they need to keep Ross on-board as they look forward.

Jack Ross may come in for a lot of stick over the next couple of days as the Sunderland supporters come to terms with the fact that they’ll be travelling to face Lincoln, Tranmere, MK Dons and Bury away next season, but the Scottish gaffer is the man for the job. Just because his side has been unable to convert their chances at Wembley this season doesn’t mean he’s not fit for the job.

When Stewart Donald sits down with the board and looks ahead to the 2019/20 season he simply cannot afford to try and go it in the new season without Ross in charge. The entire club has been in transition this season and considering how close they’ve come to making a swift return to the Championship, now they’ve got one more year of experience and another two transfer windows to prepare, promotion is much more likely.

It won’t be easy to go into next season and until next May there will be a lot of heartache and regret about today from the Black Cats. Those that stayed in Sunderland and watched the game on TV and those who made the 540-mile roundtrip from the Northeast to the capital will struggle next season in the third tier again, but no rash moves can be made just yet.

Sunderland fans, do you agree? Let us know by commenting below!

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Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool could be in for a fiery Champions League final after Damir Skomina was appointed referee for the encounter in Madrid on June 1st.

The name may not be too familiar for either team but Skomina has history in this season’s competition.

Indeed, Manchester United fans owe the Slovenian ref a debt of gratitude, as he was the man in the middle during the Red Devils’ victory over PSG in France.

United lost 2-0 at Old Trafford but won 3-1 in Paris to progress to the quarter-finals, with their third goal coming from the penalty spot in injury time. Indeed, Skomina awarded the spot-kick following a VAR review, judging that Presnel Kimpembe had handled Diogo Dalot’s long-range shot.

He is a card-happy official, too, with WhoScored noting that, in four Champions League appearances this season, he has shown an average of 4.5 yellow cards per game but he is yet to send a player off.

He has also awarded an average of 23.75 fouls per game, while the home team has won just once when he has been in charge; he has not overseen a draw this term.

There should be a winner in 90 minutes, then, when both Spurs and Liverpool lock horns for the right to be called champions of Europe.

Skomina was in charge as Liverpool beat Napoli 1-0 in the group stages, with Mohamed Salah scoring the winner to secure the Reds’ place in the knockout stages.

He refereed the 2017 Europa League final between United and Ajax and was also the fourth official for the 2013 Champions League final, when Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund.

Skomina has yet to referee Spurs this term.

يُتابع أكثر من نادٍ أوروبي، الدولي الفرنسي ماركوس تورام، مهاجم فريق بوروسيا مونشنجلادباخ الألماني، تمهيدًا لضمه في نافذة الانتقالات الصيفية القادمة.

تورام، تألق مع جلادباخ هذا الموسم، وآخرها الثنائية التي أحرزها في شباك ريال مدريد، بدوري أبطال أوروبا.

تألق تورام رفقة فريقه في الدوري الألماني ودوري أبطال أوروبا، جعل مدرب منتخب فرنسا ديدييه ديشامب، يقرر استدعاءه لقائمة الديوك اللندنية، لمباراتي البرتغال وكرواتيا في دوري الأمم الأوروبية (طالع قائمة فرنسا).

اقرأ أيضًا.. بعد تألقه.. ميلان يستعد لشراء إبراهيم دياز “نهائيًا” من ريال مدريد

وبحسب صحيفة “بيلد” الألمانية، فإن العديد من الأندية، على رأسها برشلونة وريال مدريد الإسبانيين، يراقبان صاحب الـ”23″ عامًا.

وأوضحت الصحيفة أنّ هناك اهتماما أيضًا من جانب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، وتحديدًا مانشستر سيتي وصيف البريميرليج، إلى جانب ناديين من الدوري الإيطالي، وهم يوفنتوس واي سي ميلان.

تورام والذي يُجيد اللعب في مركز المُهاجم، والجناح الأيمن والأيسر، شارك في 10 مباريات بمُختلف المُسابقات هذا الموسم، وسجّل ثلاثة أهداف وقدم خمس تمريرات حاسمة.

كشفت صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو” الكتالونية أن نادي برشلونة قد حاول التعاقد مع مدافع الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي لاتسيو، لويس فيليبي، في آخر أيام الميركاتو الصيفي الماضي.

وكان برشلونة يسعى إلى تدعيم خط دفاعه قبل انتهاء سوق الانتقالات في 5 أكتوبر الماضي، لكنه فشل بسبب الأزمة المالية الطاحنة التي ضربت النادي بسبب فيروس كورونا.

وأشارت الصحيفة الشهيرة إلى أن برشلونة كان يرغب في ضم فيليبي، بعدما تعقدت مفاوضاته مع مانشستر سيتي للتعاقد مع المدافع، إريك جارسيا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ديبالا: حاولنا للنهاية أمام فيرونا والآن وقت التفكير في مواجهة برشلونة

وحاول برشلونة ضم جارسيا مقابل 5 ملايين يورو، لكن مانشستر سيتي أصر على الحصول على 20 مليون يورو رغم اقتراب عقد المدافع الإسباني من الانتهاء في يونيو 2022.

كانت هناك رغبة أيضًا من جارسيا في ترك مانشستر سيتي والعودة إلى برشلونة، لكن هذا لم يكن كافيًا أمام الإدارة الإنجليزية لترك المدافع في الميركاتو الصيفي.

لذلك وضع برشلونة اسم فيليبي على طاولة المفاوضات في آخر أيام الانتقالات، لكن في النهاية، تراجعت الإدارة الكتالونية ولم ترسل عرضًا رسميًا إلى لاتسيو رغم وجود مفاوضات مع وكيله على مدار اليوم.

الخيار الأول دائمًا أمام نادي برشلونة هو التعاقد مع جارسيا، وهو ما جعل التعاقد مع فيليبي غير ضروري نظرًا لأن هناك ثقة من جانب الإدارة في قدوم مدافع مانشستر سيتي سواء في يناير أو الصيف المقبل مجانًا.