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Leeds United will be a Premier League side next season.

The Whites have been crowned Champions in England’s second-tier, and after a 16-year hiatus they’re finally set to return to the promised land.

As with most promoted sides, United will need to strengthen upon their ascension to the top-flight, and they’ve already been linked to some new additions with names such as Yan Couto and Branimir Kalaica already being floated around.

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However, with Bielsa making few changes to the side since his appointment in 2018, he may want to persevere with the players that have proved successful so far.

One man who has been a lynchpin in Bielsa’s side since day one is Mateusz Klich, with the Pole starting every single league game bar one since the Argentine’s arrival, and despite being out of favour under Paul Heckingbottom, he already looks like Premier League material.

Luckily, United have had a bit of experience playing against quality opposition, putting up a very impressive performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup that earnt them plenty of praise from pundits and supporters alike.

Klich took to playing against a team of the Gunners’ calibre like a duck to water, easily keeping up with the pace of the game, making three tackles and two interceptions, while also playing four key passes, showing that despite having less time on the ball when playing against top-flight opposition, he can still be a creative force.

United may be tempted to spend big upon promotion, especially if the long-rumoured QSI takeover finally comes to fruition, but even if they do bring in some big names, Klich should certainly have a spot in the squad, even if his streak of league starts has to come to an end.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Evening Post, Mateusz Klich has opened up the moment that really kick-started Leeds’ turnaround.

What did he say?

A 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest had left Leeds with four losses out of five in the Championship, before Marcelo Bielsa’s side clinched a point against Brentford away from home.

Despite not picking up all three points, that result appeared to be the catalyst for the Whites turning things around, with the side going on to win their next five games and not even conceding once.

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Now, the £3.15m-rated Klich has revealed that the Brentford clash was the moment they had decided to buck up. He said: “I think the Brentford game. After the Nottingham Forest game we said,‘this is enough,’ and that from the Brentford game we needed to play better. The Brentford game was a perfect game for us, we could have won it and we should have won it.

“After that we showed everyone we are really strong and we can really do it but obviously something has got in our way now.”

Moment to remember

As is often the case when it comes to a long hard-fought season, the individual moments in certain games are the ones players and fans look towards as being the moment things changed either for the better or the worse.

In Leeds’ case, doubts would no doubt have started to creep in after the Forest defeat, with painful memories of missing out on promotion to the Premier League last season still fresh in the memory.

But by digging in and getting in a point against fellow contenders Brentford, Leeds proved they could still be in charge of their own destinies, and if their return to the top-flight is eventually confirmed, it’s a game that people will be pointing to for years to come.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has delivered a Leeds injury update.

Many Aston Villa fans on Twitter have hit back at pundit Jason Cundy after he said that Jack Grealish needs to leave his hometown side for a big club.

While speaking on The Sports Bar this morning, the former Chelsea and Tottenham player has said that he looks “a hell of a player”, before saying he “has to” leave Villa Park.

While discussing it with Andy Goldstein, both agreed that if a big side comes in for him that he needs to leave the club, irking many of the supporters who saw the tweet from talkSPORT with the discussion on.

There’s no doubt that the 24-year-old is some talent. So far, from the 12 games that he’s played this season, he has been able to score three times and assist four, per WhoScored. The stats website have also given him a 7.41/10 average from those games so far, making him have the second-highest rating in the entire squad.

Many fans from the West Midlands claimed that the claret and blue are in fact a big club, and that he doesn’t need to leave just yet.

Here are some of the replies below…

Liverpool reportedly want to sign Borussia Monchengladbach’s Denis Zakaria, according to Sky Deutschland, but some fans are worried that the interest could be a bad sign for Marko Grujic.

The midfielder is a popular man on Anfield despite making just 14 senior appearances for the club, and some supporters are hopeful of seeing him become part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans when he returns from his loan spell at Hertha Berlin.

Not everyone shares the concern, though, as they believe there is space in the squad for both players due to the varying roles they fulfil, whilst James Milner’s future also hasn’t been decided, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.

Zakaria could be the preferred option of Klopp, however.

He is already more experienced than Grujic with 24 caps for Switzerland, despite the fact he is a year younger, and has a better WhoScored average rating in the league than the Reds’ player, with 7.36 compared to 6.94.

Here is how Liverpool fans have responding to the latest rumour, with Grujic at the forefront of their thoughts…

تحدث حمد إبراهيم المدرب العام لفريق الإسماعيلي عن الفوز أمام الإنتاج الحربي، في اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما ضمن منافسات الدوري المصري.

وانتصر الإسماعيلي أمام الإنتاج الحربي بهدفين دون رد، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات المسابقة المحلية طالع التفاصيل.

وقال حمد إبراهيم في تصريحات عبر إذاعة الشباب والرياضة: “مباراة صعبة وثلاث نقاط مهمين جدًا، تحدثت مع اللاعبين أن مباراة اليوم هي الأهم لأننا نواجه الفريق الذي خلفنا في جدول الدوري، واللاعبون قدموا مباراة كبيرة جدًا”.

 وتابع: “كنا نستطيع الفوز بنتيجة كبيرة ولكن الإنتاج الحربي قاتل حتى آخر دقيقة”.

وأكمل: “أسوأ شىء اليوم هو غياب إيهاب جلال عن المباراة، التحاليل جيدة جدًا ولا توجد لديه أي أعراض، وطوال المباراة كان يتابعنا وخلال يومين أو ثلاثة سيكون متواجدًا مع الفريق”.

واختتم: “اللاعبون نفذوا التعليمات بنسبة 55%، وهذه نسبة كبيرة في الوقت المتواجدين فيه، وسنقدم كرة أفضل من ذلك في الفترة المقبلة”.

كشفت تقارير صحفية بريطانية، أن نادي تشيلسي الإنجليزي يخطط للتعاقد مع نجم بوروسيا دورتموند الألماني الشاب، جودي بيلينجهام.

عزز لاعب خط الوسط، 17 عامًا، سمعته المزدهرة بأداء رائع آخر ضد مانشستر سيتي في دوري أبطال أوروبا.

حاول مانشستر يونايتد ضم لاعب نادي برمنجهام سيتي السابق، بيلينجهام، في الصيف الماضي لكن الشياطين الحمر خسروا السباق أمام بوروسيا دورتموند.

وتوضح صحيفة “ذا صن” البريطانية، أن دورتموند يستعد لصيف آخر صعب حيث يهدف إلى الحفاظ على مواهبه الشابة، بيلينجهام وجادون سانشو وإيرلينج هالاند.

ويفيد التقرير أن تشيلسي هو النادي الإنجليزي الذي يُظهر حاليًا أكبر اهتمام ببيلينجهام.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سيناريو كابوس.. آرسنال وتشيلسي قد يحرمان ليفربول من التأهل لدوري أبطال أوروبا

ارتبط تشيلسي من قبل بديكلان رايس من وست هام لتعزيز خط الوسط، لكن يبدو أن الاهتمام قد تضاءل منذ أن حل توماس توخيل محل فرانك لامبارد في يناير.

يُزعم الآن أنهم يشعرون أن بيلينجهام سيكون أكثر ملاءمة للأسلوب الذي يحاول الألماني تطبيقه في ستامفورد بريدج.

يقال إن دورتموند يريد الحصول على حوالي 100 مليون جنيه إسترليني عندما يقررون البيع في النهاية.

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

According to TEAMtalk, Arsenal are in the race to sign Celtic youngster Karamoko Dembele but face stiff competition for his signature.

What’s the word?

Dembele, 16, has been on the scouting list of many top European clubs since the age of 13 after making his debut for the Celtic U20s, per Sky Sports.

Some of Europe’s top clubs including Juventus, Paris-Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund are all keen to swoop in and secure Dembele as their own.

However, with Arsenal’s connections with Celtic after recently securing a deal for Kieran Tierney, the Gunners are hopeful they can use their strong relationship to come to an agreement for Dembele, according to TEAMtalk.

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit described the youngster as “exceptionally good” after watching a Youtube montage of him in action, per The Independent.

After making his first-team debut for Celtic during their 2-1 win over Hearts in May, Dembele is yet to make another appearance for the Hoops as the youngster patiently awaits his next opportunity.

Youth policy prioritised

Since Unai Emery arrived at the Emirates, his immediate priority has been the promotion and progression of youth players at London Colney. This has been evident with the emergence and regular first-team appearances for Joe Willock, Rob Holding, Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka in recent weeks.

Emery’s Sevilla sides of old would often form structures in the midfield that were designed to press the ball without leaving gaps and provide quicker transitions in attack, per Outside of the Boot.

Players like Saka, 18, fit the system with his high work rate and eye for goal, illustrated during both Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and 1-1 draw against Manchester United.

The manager is identifying players that he believes can work in his unique system and individuals that can come in and play the way that he wants to implement.

With Dembele’s future up in the air, Arsenal fans can feel reassured that their manager is focusing on the next five to 10 years at the club and putting the appropriate foundations in place for the team to benefit going forward. Dembele will be a difficult deal to get over the line.

However, if Arsenal want him, they will likely have to break the bank to get him. It’ll be interesting to see if they put up the funds for someone so young.

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Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri has suffered a tear to his calf which could mean that he is out for several weeks, and there is sympathy from some fans for his situation.

The injury means he will be missing for the trip to MK Dons, a game he was probably likely to feature in, and that will come as a big blow to him and his chances of breaking into the first-team, which could have been increased with a good display in the League Cup.

As a result, fans believe the Swiss has missed his opportunity to impress Jurgen Klopp, with one supporter claiming it could even mean the end of his Liverpool career.

It will no doubt come as a frustration to the winger who has had only 25 minutes on the pitch this season, particularly as Sadio Mane and Divock Origi are also out.

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Many Liverpool fans are feeling sorry for Shaqiri and the reactions below show that they believe it is an chance missed for the former Stoke City man.

On Saturday evening, Tottenham Hotspur released a statement confirming that Hugo Lloris had suffered a dislocated elbow during Saturday afternoon’s Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.Lloris was stretchered off in the early stages of his team’s 3-0 defeat, and it would be fair to say that the initial signs did not look great.Spurs have not given a timeframe for the goalkeeper’s recovery, although they did confirm the extent of the injury following an examination at a local hospital.The 2018 World Cup winner is surely set for an extended period on the sidelines, which is far from ideal due to Tottenham’s current problems.Indeed, the capital outfit have lost four of their last five matches in all competitions – including a 7-2 defeat to Bayern Munich last week.As expected, a number of the club’s fans took to social media in the aftermath of the Lloris announcement, and a selection of their reaction can be seen below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

West Brom are unbeaten in four Championship games so far this season with two home draws and two away wins.

Baggies boss Slaven Bilic has mainly deployed his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation so far with eight players starting every game possible.

The two at the base of the midfield are included in that – both summer arrival Romaine Sawyers and Jake Livermore, who has been at the club since 2017.

In pre-season, the Croatian revealed that youngsters Kyle Edwards and Rekeem Harper would be a key part of his plans, he said:

“Young players go up and down, but we need him. We need Rekeem [Harper], we need Kyle Edwards too.”

Yet the former hasn’t really had a say on the pitch this term.

A few weeks before those comments, the 19-year-old signed a new contract keeping him at the Hawthorns until 2022 and he also wasn’t loaned out this transfer window.

Watch the video below to find out how CR7 achieves some his best skills…

On the Chalkboard

Harper played 16 times in the Championship last season but has been restricted to just six minutes in the league, coming on as a substitute on the opening day.

He has since been named on the bench just once meaning he hasn’t even been part of the matchday squad for games against Luton Town or Reading on Wednesday night.

Sawyers and Livermore have impressed as the anchoring duo in midfield with both players averaging a 92.1% and 87% passing success rate respectively, as per WhoScored.

It would be understandable to see why Harper hasn’t been able to break into the starting XI on that basis but it is rather bizarre that the young prospect hasn’t even featured on the bench in the last few games.

It raises question marks over whether or not his development should have been focused elsewhere just like it has with Sam Field and Jonathan Leko, who have both gone on loan to Charlton Athletic.

His progress is at risk of being stalled especially as he doesn’t look to be getting any match experience anytime soon.

It remains to be seen whether there are any underlying concerns such as an injury, especially as he didn’t feature for the U23s at the start of the week – yet summer singing Chris Willock did.

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