Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez believes his super-sub reputation was his undoing at Manchester United.
Mexico international signed for Bundesliga outfit Leverkusen in August and has revelled as the main striker, scoring 19 goals in 22 games across all competitions.
Hernandez was a surprise signing at Old Trafford, when Alex Ferguson secured his signature in 2010 and he went on to become an instant hit at United, scoring 20 goals in his first season to help clinch the Premier League title.
Under current United manager Louis van Gaal, Hernandez was loaned to Real Madrid in 2014-15, after the club signed Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan, before being sold last year, having struggled to impress the Dutch boss in the opening stages of the 2015-16 season…
Wolverhampton Wanderers are closing in on a deal to re-sign Benik Afobe from Bournemouth, according to Sky Sports.
The forward, who moved to the Vitality Stadium from Molineux in January 2016 returned to the Midlands club on loan for the second half of the 2017/18 campaign.
His six goals helped Nuno Esperito Santo’s side clinch the Championship title and was enough to persuade the Portuguese to pursue a permanent return for the DR Congo international.
During his first spell with Wolves, Afobe scored twenty-three goals in forty-two games in all competitions before netting eleven times in seventy outings for the Cherries while his most prolific goal scoring season came in 2014/15 while he was on loan at MK Dons.
Having represented England at every l…
Verdict: Celtic/Celtic
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Scottish Premier League holders Celtic kick off the new campaign at home against Hearts, a team that have been on a downtrend of late. The Bhoys did well to secure their place in the Champions League play-offs, but it’s time to focus on getting the league championship to a good start.
Celtic
With their bitter rivals Rangers spending the last few years in the lower echelons of the Scottish league system, Celtic didn’t really have a worthy opponent on domestic stage, easing off to six successive SPL trophies. The Bhoys began the new season with a virtually unchanged squad, as Oliver Ntcham was the inly notable addition and there were no major departures. Celtic enjoyed a bright start to the Champions Leag…
Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a sensational return to Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane faced questions over the Juventus star s future on Friday.
It was reported this week that Ronaldo s agent, Jorge Mendes, had contacted Madrid over a potential switch back to the LaLiga champions.
Portugal captain Ronaldo is Madrid s all-time leading goalscorer after finding the back of the net a staggering 451 times in 438 matches before joining Juve on a four-year deal in July 2018.
Madrid boss Zidane could not escape the speculation at his latest media conference as talk over the possibility of the 36-year-old rejoining Los Blancos continues to rumble on.
We all know what he means for the club, what he did for the club, he said.
I coached Rona…
#POGBACK?
That was the hashtag used for Paul Pogba s high-profile return to Manchester Untied from Juventus in 2016 – a world-record transfer at the time.
The hashtag could be recycled as Pogba reportedly nears a return to Turin.
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TOP STORY – JUVE FAR AHEAD FOR POGBA
Juventus have stepped up their interest in wantaway Manchester United star Paul Pogba, according to Tuttosport.
The reports says Juve are already far ahead with Pogba in terms of contract talks as the Serie A champions look to start negotiating with United.
Pogba – valued at €100m (£86m) – left Juve for United in 2016 and the French midfielder has also been linked to Real Madrid.
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Newcastle United are interested in signing Joe Rodon from Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the Wales international central defender is among the defensive options that Newcastle are considering signing when the transfer window opens in January.
Rodon joined Tottenham from Swansea City in the summer of 2020. The 24-year-old central defender has struggled for playing time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and has made only 13 appearances in the Premier League for the North London club so far in his career.
It is hard to see Rodon get much playing time under Conte at Tottenham in the coming weeks and months. Although the former Chelsea and Inter Milan tactician could see Rodon as a back-up to Eric Dier, it would make sen…
Jurgen Klopp selected Diogo Jota in attack and dropped Roberto Firmino to the bench for Liverpool s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Real Madrid.
Jota came on with the game goalless and netted a brace in Saturday s 3-0 Premier League win at Arsenal.
Although Firmino was initially on the field along with Jota, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at Emirates Stadium, the Brazil forward had to be content with a place on the bench in the Spanish capital.
Jota s brace took him up to 12 goals for the campaign in his debut season at Anfield, level with Mane and double Firmino s six, despite injury restricting him to 1,269 minutes on the field.
Firmino has played 2,661 minutes, meaning he averages a goal every 443.5 minutes, with Jota s one per 105.75 minute…
Jadon Sancho will train away from the Manchester United first-team squad for a period, the Premier League club have announced.
The development comes after the England international recently complained about his treatment in a social media post.
Sancho claimed he had been made a “scapegoat” after manager Erik ten Hag said he left him out of the squad for the game at Arsenal on September 3 because of poor performance in training.
The is back this weekend ||
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
United have confirmed the matter is now being treated as a disciplinary issue.
A statement from the club read: “Jadon Sancho will remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline iss…
Arsenal utility man Ainsley Maitland-Niles has joined Serie A side Roma on loan until the end of the season.
The 24-year-old will link up with fellow England internationals Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham under Jose Mourinho at the Stadio Olimpico.
Maitland-Niles has made eight appearances for Arsenal this season but has not featured since coming off the bench in the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in November.
Mourinho has reportedly been seeking reinforcements at full-back, with Italy international Leonardo Spinazzola missing since suffering an Achilles injury at Euro 2020.
Maitland-Niles, who can play at full-back or in midfield, spent the second half of last season on loan at West Brom, where he made 15 appearances for the ultimately relegated Baggies.
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Borussia Dortmund sealed their place in next season s UEFA Champions League with an enthralling 4-2 win over Mainz on Saturday.
In a high-tempo encounter, the hosts took the lead after just six minutes at Signal Iduna Park courtesy of Milos Jojic s deflected opener, before Shinji Okazaki levelled with a deflected effort of his own eight minutes later.
Robert Lewandowksi restored the advantage after finishing a wonderful breakaway, only for Okazaki to pounce on a Nuri Sahin mistake to restore parity again shortly after the break.
However, from that point, Dortmund stepped up the pace to seal the points, and a Lukasz Piszczek header put them back in front before Niko Bungert was sent off for handling in the box.
Marco Reus stepped up to convert the resulting spot k…