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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was reported that Manchester United are lining up a £70m reunion with Wilfried Zaha.

The report states that the Red Devils – who sold Zaha for just £3m back in January 2015 – believe the Ivory Coast international is a wiser player than he previously was, and feel that he can be a success at Old Trafford this time around – as a result, they are prepared to pay the high fee Palace want.

Zaha – who turned 27 yesterday – has endured a tough campaign so far, failing to find the back of the net in 12 Premier League appearances following a failed transfer request back in the summer – he was said to be ‘devastated’ after the Eagles blocked his move.

In total, the Ivorian has just one assist to show for his efforts this season.

One Palace supporter said “please” after hearing about the transfer news, whereas another fan said that there is “no chance” of anyone paying £70m for the former Cardiff player.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

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

He might come across as a Swiss Army Knife, but it looks like he might be missing a couple of tools.

Given the recent injuries to Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton, there has had to be a couple of tweaks to the team setup. As a result of these, Stuart Dallas has been moved out of his right-back position that he started off the season in and been shifted into a central midfield role instead.

Dallas comes across as a great utility player, someone who can fit into a number of different positions given the amount he’s had to play throughout his career. But as a central midfielder, he’s just not cutting the mustard.

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On the chalkboard

Dallas has always been more effective out wide, whether that be as a winger or a full-back. In fact, if you look at where his goals involvements have come when he’s been playing for Leeds, all of his assists have come when he was playing out on the left-wing, and all of his goals have come from the flanks.

Whilst he may be cut out to fill in multiple positions on the pitch, he just isn’t creative enough when it comes to playing central midfield, and that is holding himself and Leeds back.

He averages a 74.3% pass completion rate through his career, when you compare that to the other midfielders like Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich, both of them are pushing north of 80%.

For him to play in the middle, the £1.8m-rated utility man needs to be far more careful in possession.

The injuries to Cooper and Shackleton should have been a chance for Marcelo Bielsa to try out some new players in their respective roles.

However, he should have gone for players who are more natural in those spots, like bringing young Mateusz Bogusz or Robbie Gotts into midfield, rather than shoe-horning someone who just isn’t effective there.

Hopefully this Dallas experiment won’t be carrying on much longer, or it could end up with Leeds dropping more than the five points they have already from Millwall and Preston.

قدم أشرف صبحي وزير الشباب والرياضة، التهنئة إلى منتخب مصر بعد الفوز على جزر القمر اليوم الإثنين في تصفيات أمم إفريقيا.

منتخب مصر انتصر علي جزر القمر بأربعة أهداف دون رد على استاد القاهرة الدولي، ضمن الجولة السادسة والأخيرة من التصفيات المؤهلة لبطولة كأس الأمم الإفريقية بالكاميرون.

وقدم وزير الرياضة التهنئة للجنة الثلاثية وللجهاز الفني واللاعبين والجماهير المصرية بعد الفوز اليوم وتصدر المجموعة برصيد 12 نقطة.

طالع | ترتيب مجموعة مصر بعد الفوز على جزر القمر ونهاية دور المجموعات في تصفيات أمم إفريقيا

وأكد وزير الشباب والرياضة أن الفترة القادمة تشهد برنامج إعداد على أعلى مستوى للمنتخب المصري، وذلك لتحقيق البطولة القارية للمرة الثامنة في التاريخ لإسعاد الجماهير المصرية .

يذكر أن منتخب مصر كان قد حسم التأهل إلى أمم إفريقيا بعد التعادل مع كينيا في الجولة الماضية. أهداف مباراة مصر وجزر القمر (4-0) تصفيات كاس امم افريقيا 

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

After surprisingly falling behind to a Jetro Willems strike, Liverpool battled back to secure a 3-1 victory over Newcastle and maintain their perfect record in the Premier League.

Snapshot

In the Reds’ first game after the international break, Jurgen Klopp sprung a surprise in his team selection by opting to start Divock Origi ahead of Roberto Firmino.

The German’s thinking may have revolved around him having one eye on the Champions League clash against Napoli on Tuesday night, but the decision back-fired early on. Steve Bruce’s side caught the Reds off guard in the opening few minutes, and duly took the lead through a fine Willems goal.

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Sadio Mane then equalised for the home side with an impressive effort of his own, before the true turning point of the game occured. Origi was forced off with just ten minutes remaining in the first-half, and Firmino’s introduction simply turned the game on its head.

Off the bench

The Brazilian is a real live-wire with his movement off the ball and constant pressing of the opposition. His style of play makes him every manager’s dream. And on Saturday, Firmino proved exactly why Klopp simply cannot afford to just leave him on the bench – no matter the policy on rotation.

The Liverpool boss’ initial game-plan saw Origi play from the left, and Mane occupy the middle. Firmino’s introduction however saw normal service resume, and the 27-year-old under-lined why he is such an important cog in the Reds’ attacking machine.

In just over an hour of play, the Brazil international registered four key passes – one of which forced a mistake for Mane’s second goal, and another oozed quality and panache to set up Mohamed Salah’s strike. His tricks and flicks all seemed to come off, and he helped stitch the play together up front. There were a lot more patterns to the Reds’ play, and there seemed to be more cohesion than when Origi was in the side.

If there is one lesson Klopp must take away from the clash at Anfield, it is that Firmino is simply irreplaceable.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Kieran Trippier… Seriously? Gareth Southgate’s eyebrow-raising decision to select the duo ahead of Kyle Walker genuinely boggles the mind.

Wan-Bissaka had such a nightmare U21 Euros that after scoring an own-goal against France to hand Les Bleus all three points, he was dropped for the final two games of the Young Lions’ tournament. Trippier, on the other hand, had such a disastrous campaign last season that the usually reserved and genial Mauricio Pochettino publicly called out the full-back for his defensive frailties.

All while Walker has been bossing it up and down the right-flank for the champions of England. Yeah, makes total sense. The 5 foot 10 ace has enjoyed a blistering start to the campaign – quite literally – making a sensational goal-line clearance in the Community Shield win over Liverpool, and a superb assist for Gabriel Jesus against West Ham.

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For Southgate to leave him out after such performances really raises questions over the England manager’s decision-making. The upcoming games aren’t friendlies. They’re qualifiers for next year’s European Championships. Whilst experimentation can be understandable, does the Three Lions boss genuinely consider Wan-Bissaka and Trippier to be ahead of Walker in the pecking order for next summer?

According to The Athletic, the England boss privately reassured the 29-year-old he is still the side’s number one right-back and that he can expect to be “involved in future squads”. But what kind of underlying message does that send to Walker? Less than a year remains before the competition proper starts next summer, and it is surely time to be picking the best team available to see how they gel.

The time for trying to see how others get on has long gone. Southgate needed to be more ruthless and stick to picking players on merit, not just handing out chances at such a late stage. Indeed, his comments on his decision behind opting for Trippier raised more questions than it answered.

He said, as quoted by The Manchester Evening News: “We also want to reintegrate Kieran Trippier to know he is still on our radar. It’s an area of the pitch where we have a lot of quality. Kyle started the season really well so I explained the situation to him.”

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Selecting Trippier to simply let him know they’re still thinking of him is nearly laughable. Could he not have called the ex-Spurs ace and told him he is still on the “radar”? Or maybe just sent him a text? ‘Hey buddy, still thinking of you’.

Instead, a Premier League winner, who has been a mainstay of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side, has been overlooked for an unproven 21-year-old and a man who wasn’t deemed good enough to play for Tottenham. Walker should quite rightly feel disrespected.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to Leeds Live, Liam Cooper has spoken about the challenge of international football after he earned his debut for Scotland.

What’s he said?

Cooper was called up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland team for the first time for games against Russia and Belgium during the current international break.

The former defeated Spain at the 2018 World Cup whilst the latter are the number one ranked team in the world so it’s a rather harsh baptism of fire for the defender.

He was named in the starting XI against the Russians but despite going 1-0 up through John McGinn the Scots eventually succumbed to defeat.

Speaking after the game, he told Leeds Live:

“Championship football is fast and frenetic so I wouldn’t say the pace was different, but our mistakes get punished a lot more.

“We started well and got in about the Russians but after we scored the goal we sat off a bit. When you give good players time on the ball they’ll hurt you and we paid the price.

“For the second goal, we lost the ball in the middle of the park and were out of position when the ball was played in behind.”

Harsh lessons can make him even better

Having been named in the PFA Team of the Year for the Championship last term, Cooper has become a key man in the Leeds side and his call-up to the Scottish team was rather deserved.

International football throws up all sorts of challenges and that will again be the case when Scotland’s defence face off against players like Romelu Lukaku tonight.

For Cooper, that will be an altogether different test to the one that usually presents itself to him on a matchday at Leeds.

As the centre back says, mistakes are punished more regularly at a higher level but it’s that sort of experience and learning curve that can potentially make him a better player going forward.

Considering Leeds have aspirations of competing in the Premier League this could be key. If the 28-year-old can begin to fine-tune his game and learn from how forwards punish you, it would be hugely beneficial if they do go up.

Facing off against high-class strikers is a challenge but ultimately, that’s what he’d have to do in the Premier League if promotion is secured for Leeds this season.

There is the unwanted chance of injury whilst he’s away from the club but if it helps to make him better, it could be of great benefit to the Whites going forward.

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West Ham United supporters have been left in awe of Mark Noble after another fine display for the Hammers.

The Irons captain missed the first two games of the season through injury but returned against Watford this weekend, scoring a penalty in the 3-1 victory, the first of the Irons’ season.

Noble, of course, is 32 and has seen his role somewhat limited in recent years.

In 2018/19, the Englishman, who has not been capped by his country, made 29 starts in the Premier League and completed the 90 minutes on just 10 occasions.

Noble, though, was in exceptional form at Vicarage Road and has again been hailed by supporters after insisting that he did not expect to still be playing at the highest level.

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Per the club’s official Twitter account, he said: “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be playing 15 years on when I made my debut, especially at this level. I’ve worked hard, kept myself in the best condition possible and I’m still going strong and hopefully, I’ve got many more years to come.”

The veteran midfielder has been with the Irons since 2004 and has made 468 appearances for the club; many fans believe that he is ageing like a fine wine and is simply improving as the years continue to tick by.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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According to French media outlet La Voix du Nord, Crystal Palace are leading the race to sign Lille centre-back Adama Soumaoro, and Eagles fans have been quick to offer their views on a potential move on Twitter.

La Voix du Nord suggest that it is a two-horse race for the 27-year-old involving the south London outfit and Monaco, although the player would prefer to have the chance of playing in the Premier League.

The central defender would certainly arrive at Selhurst Park with some pedigree seeing as he captained his team to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last season – securing Champions League football for Lille as a result – as well as successfully completing a remarkable 94.3% of the passes he attempted in 20 French top flight outings.

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Should Palace buy him, he would likely provide some strong competition for the likes of Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins at the heart of the backline, with Scott Dann being linked with a move away from SE25 this summer.

Eagles supporters have been quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, and there are certainly some differing views.

In the video below, find out which Chelsea academy prospect is reportedly being lined up to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka at Crystal Palace…

While one said “we’re not buying a CB unless someone is offering us LOADS for Sakho”, another said they would “take him” even if a new right-back and striker should be more of a priority.

Another individual looked at it in a slightly different way, suggesting that manager Roy Hodgson should give a younger player a chance instead if Dann does end up going, which of course would be a risk but was something that paid dividends with the use of Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right-back.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Neil Lennon has offered Celtic fans a positive transfer update ahead of the club’s pre-season training camp in Austria next week, as reported by The Scottish Sun.

What’s he said?

Celtic’s squad now compared to the end of last season is a undeniably depleted and despite David Turnbull’s imminent arrival in midfield, the priorites in defence remain just as urgent.

Lennon though has called for patience and insists he is happy with the work Celtic are doing behind the scenes to ensure the necessary players arrive.

How does Neil Lennon turn his doubters into believers? The answer lies in the video below…

Asked how many signings fans could expect to see this summer, as quoted by The Scottish Sun, the Hoops boss said:

“I don’t know, maybe half a dozen. Certainly we’re looking in defensive areas to strengthen.

It’s important to be patient. We are very, very calm. We are talking about it every hour of every day.

No matter what people think of Peter [Lawwell], he has the club’s best interests at heart and is a very good negotiator.”

Upcoming UEFA deadline

Mikael Lustig, Cristian Gamboa and Jeremy Toljan have all left the club since the end of last season, so the Hoops only have the inexperienced Anthony Ralston available at right-back currently, and that’s the clear first priority position for the recruitment team at Celtic Park.

There’s a lack of quality in cover at centre-back too, with only the disappointing duo of Jack Hendry and Marvin Compper available in support of first-choice defenders Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer.

Clearly though the Hoops manager’s comments suggest the necessary defensive overhaul is on the way.

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While Lennon stresses patience, there is an urgency required to get the right players in because there can be no complacency when it comes to the Champions League qualifying process.

With Celtic playing FK Sarajevo on 9th July in Bosnia, the initial UEFA signing deadline for that round of qualifying is 4th July and the club need to get bodies in the door for then.

ظهر الدولي الصربي، لوكا يوفيتش، مُهاجم ريال مدريد الإسباني، والمُعار لنادي آينتراخت فرانكفورت، في مؤتمر صحفي، للحديث عن عودته للنادي الألماني من جديد.

يوفيتش كان انضم إلى ريال مدريد في صيف عام 2019، قادمًا من فرانكفورت مقابل 60 مليون يورو، ولكن عانى تحت قيادة زين الدين زيدان، الذي فضل الاعتماد على مواطنه الفرنسي كريم بنزيما.

يوفيتش خرج مُعارًا هذا الشتاء بعدما فشل في الحصول على أي دقائق مع زيزو، وفي 3 مباريات سجّل ثلاثة أهداف خلال 76 دقيقة فقط.

وقال يوفيتش: “أنا سعيد جدًا بالعوة إلى فرانكفورت أنا بخير، ومن يراني سيقدر ذلك، أشعر براحة شديدة، وأرى ذلك على أرض الملعب، مع ريال مدريد لم أسُجّل ألا هدفين، والآن هنا سجّلت ثلاثة أهداف”.

وأضاف: “لقد حظيت بوقت سيء في ريال مدريد، عانيت بسبب الإصابات، ولكنني أشعر الآن أنني محظوظ لأنني تمكنت من العودة إلى فرانكفورت، حيث استقبلوني بشكل رائع”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ريال مدريد يتوصل لاتفاق شفهي لضم مدافع بايرن ميونخ

وواصل: “من حُسن حظي أنني حظيت بفرصة للعمل بشكل يومي مع أفضل اللاعبين في العالم في ريال مدريد، لقد اكتسبت خبرة وأنا أعتبر نفسي لاعب أفضل الآن، على الرغم من قلة مُشاركتي حصلت على العديد من الأشياء الإيجابية في ريال مدريد”.

وأتبع: “لقد تفاجأت بمستوى فرانكفورت بعد العودة، الفريق أفضل حتى مما تركته، لن اتحدث عن شخص ما على وجه الخصوص، لكن بشكل عام الفريق أصبح في مستوى جيد جيدًا”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “أنا أعرف مدى أهمية النادي للمدينة هُنا، كنت دائمًا على تواصل مع اللاعبين، ونحن يُمكننا سويًا أنّ نفعل أشياء عظيمة”.