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

AS Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi has said during Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first press conference (via Calcio Mercato) that the Armenia international has “given up on lots of money” to join the Serie A outfit.

What did he say?

Mkhitaryan joined the Giallorossi on loan on the final day of the European transfer window from Arsenal with an option to buy at the end of the current campaign.

The player was presented to the press in his first press conference as a Roma player on Tuesday, with sporting director Petrachi also present.

Talking about the switch, the latter said: “The idea was to invest in important young people. In situations where we found ourselves at the end of the market, or we made investments in young people or operations like those for Micky.

“He is a top player with very high costs, the boy has given up on lots of money to come to Rome. Time will tell if we have the chance to keep players like that.”

How do football vloggers afford to watch their team week in, week out? Find out in the video below…

Refreshing in today’s footballing environment

The money involved in football at times is often obscene, particularly in the Premier League. Last year, the average player in England’s top tier earned £3.2m. Even in the Championship, players brought in an average of £25,000 a week, which is more than 46 times the salary of a worker in the United Kingdom over the same time period.

Players are often criticised for the money they chase. Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar, for example, was slammed for his move to the Chinese Super League, where he is said to be earning wages in the region of £400,000 every seven days.

Mkhitaryan does not earn that kind of money, but he is unlikely to have felt too hard done by as he picked up his £180,000 weekly salary with the Gunners. While it is not understood what kind of sums are involved at Roma, it is refreshing to hear that he has been willing to take a pay cut of some sort in his quest to find first-team football.

Contrary to popular opinion, perhaps not all footballers are just driven by the amount of cash in their bank accounts.

One can only hope that more players follow the 30-year-old’s lead by putting their careers first.

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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 The Daily Mirror, former Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas has revealed Arsenal’s front two of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will fire the Gunners into the top four next season.

What did he say?

The north London side’s strike pair struck up a fine relationship both on and off the pitch, and provided the bulk of the goals last season.

Now, Jenas has compared the duo to Liverpool’s much-vaunted front-three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, and claimed the Lacazette-Aubameyang partnership could see the Gunners return to the Champions League.

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He said: “Emery has the best front two in the league in Aubameyang and Lacazette. The front three at Liverpool are a machine but in terms of front twos, old school style of play, they are as good as it gets. They have that chemistry like Firmino, Mane and Salah. When it really happens, it happens. I think that is what will get them into the top four.

“But they won’t go toe to toe with the Liverpool attack yet, but if they deliver on a weekly basis, maybe in the future. If you look at the defensive structure at Liverpool, that midfield and defence, it allows Liverpool’s front three far more freedom that Arsenal’s.

“There is no doubt they are an attacking force, they proved that last year with the amount of goals they scored, they just leak a lot of goals. If they fix that they will definitely finish top four.”

Emery’s toughest job

After the signing of Lille winger Nicolas Pepe for a club-record fee, there is no doubting that Unai Emery’s job of trying to juggle all of his attacking weapons just got that much harder. The Gunners boss ended the campaign with Lacazette and Aubameyang starting up front together, but pre-season has seen more of a return to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.

As Jenas suggests, Arsenal simply don’t have the defensive solidity that Liverpool possess, and are far more reliant on their forwards to track back and help out. But if the side’s big-money strikers can gel and adapt to Emery’s new style of play, then there will certainly be a great chance that the Gunners can take advantage of another closely-fought race for the top four.

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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…

A stunning start to the 2018/19 campaign saw Joe Gomez emerge as a standout player for Liverpool and England.

The former Charlton man was starting week in, week out alongside Virgil van Dijk and had iconic centre-backs such as Rio Ferdinand championing him to become one of England’s best.

Ferdinand said: “This kid for me, he’s on the march to be the best defender we’ve got in England. I rate him so highly. He’s calm, he’s cool and you need that when you’re under pressure.”

“It reminds me of a bus seat!” – Watch a damning verdict on Chelsea’s new kit in the video below…

Sadly for the 22-year-old however, he suffered a lower leg fracture in a 3-1 away win against Burnley before the turn of the year and only managed to make three more appearances for the rest of the season – those showings amounted to just 12 minutes of action.

Gomez lost his place to Joel Matip, who in fairness didn’t put a foot wrong after he came in – the Liverpool supporters loved his display in the Champions League final.

However, two key moments from the 6 foot 2 defender in pre-season so far have shown that he is desperate to impress Jurgen Klopp and get back in the team alongside van Dijk.

The Charlton academy graduate was allowed to have an extended holiday after appearing in the UEFA Nations League with England, and was due to be back at Melwood later this month.

Gomez instead made an early return on Saturday, and went one better by wowing his teammates and the staff by running James Milner all the way in the annual lactate test – a running drill designed to assess the player’s fitness levels after their time off.

“Everyone knows how fit Millie is, he’s a machine, but I tried to do as much as I could in the off-season to come back as fit as possible. It’s nice to be up there competing with him, to get to that stage, but Millie speaks for himself,” said Gomez, and it’s clear to see that he has been working hard on his fitness in the off-season.

Reporting back early for pre-season training, and then running the fittest player at the club all the way in the endurance test shows that Gomez is serious about preparing for the 2019/20 campaign properly.

He certainly looks determined to get his place back from Matip and impress Klopp.

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Lots of Everton fans have been reacting to a possible summer exit, as Sandro Ramirez has been linked with another return to Spain.

According to Sky Sports, the striker is in talks over a move to Real Valladolid.

Reports in Spain (via Sport Witness) broke the news on Tuesday morning, with one journalist claiming Sandro’s switch to Valladolid is getting “closer and closer”.

The 23 year-old has played just 16 times for Everton’s first-team after joining in the summer of 2017, and he has since been loaned out to Sevilla and Real Sociedad.

He hasn’t exactly set the world alight during those two loan spells either, not registering a single goal in 44 combined appearances between the two clubs. This is clearly a striker bereft of even the smallest shred of confidence.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And while many fans are happy to see the back of him, others are worrying whether it’s a permanent or loan deal – the reports say it is not yet clear if the move is permanent.

Take a look at some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

كشف الحكم الدولي الإنجليزي السابق، مارك كلاتنبرج، مدى صحة قرار الحكم مارتين أتكينسون، الذي ألغى هدفًا لجناح ليفربول، محمد صلاح، في مرمى توتنهام، خلال مباراة الفريقين بالبريميرليج.

ليفربول انتصر خارج قواعده على توتنهام بثلاثة أهداف لهدف، في المباراة التي جمعت بين الفريقين، مساء أمس الخميس، على ملعب توتنهام الجديد، ضمن لقاءات الجولة العشرين من البريميرليج (طالع تقرير المباراة).

صلاح لعب في المباراة كأساسي مُنذ ضربة البداية وحتى صافرة النهاية، وقدم أداءً رائعًا وسجّل هدفًا صاروخيًا، ولكن الحكم ألغاه لوجود لمسة يد في بداية الهجمة على روبرتو فيرمينو. شاهد هدف محمد صلاح الملغي في مباراة ليفربول وتوتنهام 

وقال كلاتنبرج في تصريحات عبر صحيفة “ديلي ميل” البريطانية: “لو لمس فيرمينو الكرة عن طريق الخطأ، لكان لم يتم إلغاء هدف محمد صلاح”.

وأضاف: “ولكن ما اقترحه حكم الفيديو، للحكم أتكينسون، كان صحيحًا، حيث رأى أنّ لمسة اليد كانت مُعتمدة”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. جماهير ليفربول تهاجم حكم مباراة توتنهام بعد إلغاء هدف محمد صلاح

وواصل: “لقد رأى كيف حرك فيرمينو ذراعه نحو الكرة، خلال تصارعه مع إريك داير، واحتفظ بها بفضل ذراعه قبل أنّ يتمكن محمد صلاح من التسجيل”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “لقد قام بمراجعة الأمر في شاشة الفيديو، لأن لمسة اليد كانت مُعتمدة، وبشكل عام في المباراة تم استخدام تقنية الـVAR بشكل جيد، بدءًا من هدف هيونج سون مين الملغي وهدف صلاح”.

لايزال يحاول نادي إنتر ميلان الإيطالي، التخلص من الدولي الدنماركي، كريستيان إريكسين، صانع ألعاب الفريق، خلال نافذة الانتقالات الشتوية الجارية.

إريكسين، انضم إلى انتر ميلان في العام الماضي، ولكن بعد 6 أشهر فقط، أصبح خارج خطط المدرب الإيطالي، أنطونيو كونتي، المدير الفني للنيراتزوري، لذا يرغب الدنماركي في الرحيل.

وبحسب صحيفة “توتو سبورت”، فإن مسؤولي إنتر ميلان عرضوا إريكسين على نادي آرسنال، في مقابل الحصول على خدمات لاعب آخر من صفوف الجانرز.

اقرأ أيضًا.. آرسنال يحذر أتلتيكو مدريد بشأن توريرا: سنقطع إعارته في تلك الحالة

وأوضحت الصحيفة أنّ إدارة النيراتزوري تُريد التعاقد مع اللاعب الأوروجوياني لوكاس توريرا من صفوف آرسنال مقابل ترك إريكسين ينتقل إلى النادي اللندني.

توريرا انضم إلى أتلتيكو مدريد، في الصيف الماضي، قادمًا من الجانرز، على سبيل الإعارة حتى نهاية الموسم الجاري.

ولكن توريرا لم يبدأ ألا في مباراتين فقط في الموسم الحالي من الليجا الإسبانية، وتدرس إدارة النادي اللندني قطع إعارته.

This summer is already shaping up as a massive one for a lot of clubs. Clearly, Newcastle United are one of those clubs where changes are expected to be made, starting at the very top with the ownership. The latest update as Sheikh Khaled attempts to buy the Geordies off of Mike Ashley has come through the BBC, as the Sheikh claims to have proof of funds.

In truth, it seems absolutely ludicrous that someone who has the obvious wealth that a member of the UAE’s royal family does has taken this long to provide proof of funds to buy a football club. The Geordies are desperate for their football club, and their city, to be rid of Mike Ashley, yet the grass is not always greener on the other side and Sheikh Khaled may end up being no better, or even worse, than Ashley.

MIKE ASHLEY

The Geordies are desperate to get rid of Mike Ashley and would do literally anything to see the Sports Direct owner and as previous takeover attempts from both Amanda Stavely and Peter Kenyon have fallen through, the supporters have been left absolutely gutted. This time, though, things seem different and they’re dead set on having an owner who won’t wait over a decade to break their transfer record.

All that is left for Ashley to do if he is to sell the club is to make sure that Rafa Benitez signs up to a new deal at the club. His current contract runs out on June 30th and if that day is his last at St. James’ Park then the fans will be livid. It will be a dark day for Ashley if that happens, but even he is not that stupid and will be keen to at least leave the fans on a positive note by ensuring Benitez stays, even if his tenure to this point has been nothing short of horrendous.

TT GRADE: C

SHEIKH KHALED

Before we start, yes, we know, the picture above is not the Sheikh who will be moving to buy Newcastle United. However, the impact that Sheikh Mansour, the man actually pictured above, has had on Manchester City is not what can be expected of Sheikh Khaled if he does take over at St James Park.

It can be very easy to forget that Mike Ashley did break the Geordies’ transfer record in January, even if it was overdue, and he’s also the man who made sure that Rafa Benitez came into the club to take them up from the Championship before securing back-to-back mid-table finishes. Transfers are not guaranteed straight away under the new owner and it could take a while for the Tyneside club to get settled, and the fans may be wishing for something under false premise on this one.

TT GRADE: D

TT VERDICT:

The Geordies will not be repenting anytime soon on their wishes for Mike Ashley to sell the club, although if this sale does go through and things don’t improve dramatically and very quickly then the supporters won’t wait around before getting stuck in on social media. Sometimes, changes aren’t always a good thing, and the Magpies might need to be careful what they wish for in the coming weeks.

Newcastle fans, who do you think of is better to own your club? Let us know, comment below!

There’s no question that Steven Gerrard is one of the best players to represent and wear the armband for Liverpool.

The midfielder was the heartbeat for the Merseyside club for the good part of 17 years, slipped from Liverpool’s grasp in the 2013/14 season in the final games.

A moment in time – Steven Gerrard’s last game for Liverpool

Gerrard is and will always be a Liverpool legend, and when it came time for him to leave the club at the end of the 2014/15 season, fans were hoping the Reds captain would be able to cap off nearly two decades with the team in style.

The former England international’s final Premier League match would be against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, easy enough, right?

If you were to tell a Liverpool fan before the game it was going to be a record-breaking match in many ways, they would have suspected the Reds were about to put Stoke to the sword and give their titan of a captain the send-off he deserved after years of immaculate service.

Oh, how wrong they would be.

Three goals in the space of eight minutes from Stoke saw the Potters 3-0 up heading into the half-hour mark, and two more strikes from former Red Charlie Adam and future France international Steven N’Zonzi in the first half made it 5-0 to the hosts as the teams walked down the tunnel for half-time.

Disbelief, horror, and laughter ran across the stadium. Gerrard, one of the best Premier League midfielders of his generation and a hero to Liverpool Football Club, was on the receiving end of one the worst send-offs in the history of send-offs, surely it couldn’t get any worse?

It got worse.

News came through that Tottenham had taken the lead against Everton, meaning the Reds were likely to finish the season in 6th place and in a Europa League qualifying spot, but on the 70th minute mark, Rickie Lambert put Gerrard through on goal, and as Marc Muniesa gave up on chasing down the midfielder, the Liverpool captain slotted the ball past Asmir Begovic to score in his final game as a Red.

Former Liverpool man Peter Crouch would add a sixth five minute from time, and as the full-time whistle blew, reality had set in that Gerrard’s final ever game for his club was actually a 6-1 loss to Stoke City.

It was the first time in 52 years Liverpool had conceded six goals in the first division and the result meant Stoke finished in the top half of the Premier League table for the first time in years.

It was, quite frankly, the worst possible send-off Gerrard could have ever received, but looking back on it, it could arguably be Liverpool’s last embarrassing result as Jurgen Klopp was brought in the following season and has transformed the club completely from Europa League regulars to two-time Champions League finalists.

Liverpool fans, what was your favourite Gerrard moment? Let us know!

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According to The Daily Star, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham could all come calling for Leicester loanee Youri Tielemans this summer.

What’s the word?

Tielemans has been exceptional since he arrived in the Premier League on loan from Monaco in January. The talented Belgian midfielder has long been touted as a rising star and now he’s showing why.

The fact he signed for the Foxes raised eyebrows and he hasn’t been able to escape attention since. He’s been in mesmeric form, scoring three goals and claiming four assists in 11 appearances.

As a result, he’s attracted the interest of three huge top-flight clubs, per The Daily Star. The report cites quotes from the 21-year-old, in which he declares: “As for my future, we’ll see at the end of the season. I am just enjoying everything here and we’ll see after the next two games.”

Leicester don’t have an option to buy in his loan contract and if they want to sign the player will face serious competition. Brendan Rodgers has said previously, via quotes from talkSPORT, that the club will do everything possible to bring him in permanently.

Leicester must look to Choudhury

On Sunday against Arsenal we got a further glimpse of just how good Hamza Choudhury is. The 21-year-old is the same age as Tielemans and is some way behind in terms of development, but his future could be equally as bright if the Foxes invest time in him.

The arrival of Tielemans permanently would likely see Choudhury’s game time reduced again, but if the 5 ft 8 youngster was to become a permanent part of the starting XI, then he could flourish. Alongside Wilfred Ndidi, the Foxes would still possess a formidable midfield.

James Maddison already provides Leicester with plenty of creativity and although he played out on the wing against Arsenal, it’s a position where Harvey Barnes is only going to improve. As such, the former Norwich should become the main creative outlet again and allow Choudhury to thrive in behind.

Tielemans, therefore, is replaceable. Rather than spending what could be £40m and getting caught up in a transfer saga, they’d be better off focusing on one of their own talents.

There’s no denying of Roberto Firmino’s importance in Liverpool’s attacking structure right now.

The Brazilian often works the hardest to win back possession, create moves and also be on the finishing end of them. Truly an amazing forward and someone so clearly embedded into the Jurgen Klopp way.

Replicating last season’s heroics, Firmino’s been in stellar form this season as well. He’s supported Mo Salah and Sadio Mane perfectly, playing according to their strengths, while often sacrificing his own selfish desires and it’s easy to see why the Kop love him every so much.

Still, the Reds could do with another striker. Someone to come on and offer that predatory touch, a signing in that mould would pretty much complete their attack.

According to comments from Ian McGarry on the latest episode of the Transfer Window Podcast (via Daily Star), the Reds are closing in on agreeing a deal for German sensation Timo Werner. Hugely, hugely exciting for everyone at Anfield.

Indeed, Werner’s netted 14 goals so far for RB Leipzig this season, but it’s his overall game which suits Liverpool’s style.

While he might not be as persistent as Firmino, the 23-year-old’s definitely more clinical in front of goal. His impressive ability to link-up with those around him, work the ball into the box and take chances in around the penalty area makes him an asset for Liverpool’s system.

He’s averaging 3.7 shots per game along with 1.2 key passes (stats via WhoScored) which highlight his influence going forward. Though the likes of Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge have had their moments when coming off the bench to support the attack, Werner is pretty much a complete upgrade on those two.

Werner’s closely reaching his peak, making him primed to be the ruthless striker to continue Klopp’s heavy-metal football for the long-term. Firmino might be indispensable right now, but the 23-year-old German’s the one to take his mantle and become Liverpool’s next striking genius.

Liverpool fans, would you want Werner to be Firmino’s long-term replacement? Join the discussion by commenting below…