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Leeds United have been credited with an interest in a former Championship winner as they look to do just that next season after a mini overhaul in this summer's transfer window.

Leeds on a budget

After missing out on Championship promotion last season, Daniel Farke's side could look very different come the opening weekend of the new season.

Alongside Aaronson: Leeds must bring back star who's "too good" for the EFL

The Whites should bring the impressive central defender back to Elland Road next season.

By
Dan Emery

Jun 12, 2024

Financial issues mean that they are likely to lose the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto, while they are likely only to be able to strengthen their squad via loan deals and free transfers.

With that in mind, they have targetted Chelsea defender Alfie Gilchrist, while they are also keen to re-sign Joe Rodon. And he might not be the only Spurs man making the move to Yorkshire.

Leeds target loan addition

Now, it has emerged that Leeds may line up a move for midfield man Oliver Skipp this summer. Farke has worked with the Tottenham man before, with the pair spending a season together at Norwich City, where Skipp was virtually ever-present in Norwich's title winning side.

And Farke has made his feelings on the Englishman crystal clear, admitting that his actions speak louder than words.

“I am quite careful in praising them too much but actions are more important than any words and when you look at Oliver’s season you can realise that he has played more or less every second in the league for us, for a side that has lots of competition in the squad.

“This says a lot about how much I rate him and how much I value him, I don’t want to praise him too much in public, it’s more like each and every day I keep on criticising him."

In the years since, Skipp has struggled to nail down a regular spot at Tottenham, appearing 21 times in Ange Postecoglou's maiden Premier League season but managing just five starts, while Spurs are thought to be keen to strengthen in midfield this summer, which could leave the 23-year-old further down the pecking order.

Indeed, across his three seasons in north London, he has still managed fewer league minutes than he did across his single season in the Championship.

Despite his rare outings, he has drawn praise from Ex-Tottenham icon Glen Hoddle, who hailed one particularly "fabulous" piece of defending in a defeat to Brentford.

“It’s a fabulous bit of defensive work as well. The little ball goes in, Toney’s offside, it’s true he doesn’t attempt to play the ball. He leaves it. But Skipp, his awareness defensively to get that is amazing. He covered the ground, it’s excellent defending.”

But his opportunities to showcase his ability look to be reducing further in north London.

Farke may be ready to offer him a way out, with The Athletic [via Football League World] revealing that Leeds have taken an interest in the 23-year-old as a potential replacement for either Archie Gray or Ilia Gruev, both of whom have been linked with departures this summer.

Any move would be a loan deal, with Skipp still having three years left to run on his £40,000 a week deal with the Lilywhites. The club already have a strong relationship with Tottenham, having taken Joe Rodon on loan last season and hoping to keep him permanently should they be able to afford it.

In Skipp, they could find a ready-made Farke player who can help them go one better next season after heartbreak this time around, and the move could offer Skipp a much-needed career lifeline under a coach that knows him inside out.

Victor Boniface required hospital treatment after a car crash following Bayer Leverkusen's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

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• Leverkusen won on Saturday
• Boniface shared video of damaged vehicle
• Left with bloodied hand

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Boniface scored in Leverkusen's 2-1 win over Frankfurt at the weekend, but was involved in a horror car accident afterwards. The striker shared multiple images of his wrecked vehicle, and also showed a scrape on his hand which left him bloodied.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Boniface required treatment in hospital but has since posted on social media, confirming to fans that he is safe and well.

  He simply wrote: "God is the greatest" with a love heart emoji.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Boniface has been in superb form for Leverkusen thus far this season and has scored seven goals in 10 games in all competitions. Last season, he hit 21 goals in 34 outings.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Leverkusen are unlikely to rush Boniface back if he feels he cannot compete. They are next in action on Wednesday, when they take on French side Brest in the Champions League.

A select few MLS journeymen have seen the league grow, and experienced its triumphs and struggles in the process

Thierry Henry always seemed to be on his phone. At least, that’s what Atlanta United midfielder Dax McCarty noticed when they played together with New York Red Bulls from 2011-2014, McCarty watching one of the game’s greats thrive in MLS.

Henry was such a recognized face in world football, and susceptible to mass attention in public. So, to create a cocoon of privacy, every time the Red Bulls were in public spaces, such as walking through a major airport, Henry would pull out his phone and spend the entire check-in process – from arriving at the curb to the second he got on the plane – talking.

That’s just one of many stories that McCarty and other MLS journeymen recall. These days it’s a glittery affair. Teams take chartered flights, play in front of tens of thousands of fans, and have all of their games streamed globally thanks to an Apple TV deal worth billions.

But 20 years ago, this was a vastly different setup, one of stodgy training pitches and unrecognized European veterans. Through it all, a select group of journeymen have survived, bouncing from club to club, city to city, and growing alongside a league that is still expanding. GOAL spoke to three MLS veterans who played for a combined 23 teams, and have tallied more than 1,000 appearances.

There's McCarty, a 19-year veteran. There's Eric Miller, who has played for six teams. And of course there's Kei Kamara, now of LAFC, who through trades and signings boasts perhaps the most extensive travelogue of any player in MLS, having worn the jerseys of 11 different clubs over his 20 years in the league. He is the journeyman of all journeymen, and, like no other, has seen MLS from all of its viewpoints, bouncing across the U.S. and Canada.

His North American tour makes for remarkable reading. In order, Kamara has played for Columbus, San Jose, Houston, Kansas City, Columbus (again), New England, Vancouver, Colorado, Minnesota, Montreal, Chicago and Los Angeles.

And the common thread among these MLS journeymen? Their passion for the game.

"I would much rather be a guy that has been around a long time, that's maybe played for a couple different teams and seen a bunch of different cities in this league than a guy who didn't make it as long," McCarty told GOAL. "That's the dream."

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  Change is a constant

  McCarty has been along for much of the MLS ride. A talented prospect when drafted in 2006, the Atlanta United midfielder has played for 19 years. He is perhaps the definition of the career journeyman, a box-to-box player who had adapted his game, and managed to find a spot at six different clubs. He has never won MLS Cup, but has seen far more of the league – and has more stories to tell – than some of the biggest stars to grace American soccer.

  “It felt pretty amateurish when I got to the league,” he says. “I mean, look not to – I don't use that word as a derogatory word. It's just kind of, you know, it's just the reality of what MLS was.”

  It is an odd thing to be dubbed an MLS veteran. After all, the league has only been around for 30 years. There are admittedly few players around from the mid 2000s – arguably the period in which the MLS began to take off. The turning point for it all? McCarty highlighted a key moment.

  “We signed a World Cup winner in Denilson,” McCarty, then of FC Dallas, said. “That barely scratched the surface of interest. And so when (David) Beckham arrived, there was a massive mania around that.”

  But there are other memories, too, some that might paint a less favorable picture of MLS.

  “San Jose’s locker room was essentially connected to their basketball gym,” he recalls, “and you had to walk this winding walk through a bunch of different people and a bunch of different fans and a bunch of different fields just to go warm up and just to play, to get ready for the game.”

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  Getting recognized

  It never failed to surprise McCarty just how infrequently he and his MLS teammates were identified by fans – despite wearing team tracksuits. It would happen at airports, or walking around cities – or more accurately, it wouldn’t happen, badges of professional sports franchises going unrecognized.

  For McCarty, it served as a perfect excuse for some casual banter – especially on flights (MLS teams flew commercially until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020).

  “Back in the day, at the time, we just started making sh*t up,” he says. “We were just like, ‘We're a marching band.’ Or ‘We play basketball, but we play against the Harlem Globetrotters.’ We just made anything up that we could because we were just sick of the questions.”

  And it wasn’t just the American-born MLS vets who managed to live in relative anonymity. Big names, such as World Cup winning midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, was in on all of the jokes.

  “You’re trying to sleep or something, and he would strike up some sort of good vibe with the flight attendant, and they would let him get on the PA system and make an announcement to the entire plane,” McCarty said. “He did that once or twice, and everyone was just like, ‘How is this guy doing this right now?’ The flight attendants, maybe they knew who he was. Maybe they didn't.”

• European superstars

  The influx of European players into MLS started with Beckham’s arrival to the LA Galaxy in 2007, and has steadily continued ever since. But when the England superstar first arrived in MLS, there was admitted skepticism as to how seriously he would take the league. After all, here was a Champions League, LaLiga and Premier League winner, moving to Los Angeles. This could be a vacation.

  But McCarty, then early in his MLS career, remembers the exact opposite. Beckham was here to play.

  “When Beckham first came to play us in Dallas – I believe it was a day game, sell out crowd, national TV game – and one of my teammates, a Canadian guy, he was a little bit of an enforcer. His name was Adrian Serioux. He gave Beckham a tackle that I don’t think he will soon forget. It was borderline assault, and he got red-carded,” McCarty recalled. “[Beckham] popped right back up and got in the guy’s face… You could tell in that moment that he cared.”

  The same goes for Didier Drogba. Miller, now of the Portland Timbers, who has played for six teams over the course of 10 years in the league, spent a handful of months with the Chelsea great.

  It was August 2015, and Drogba had just joined Montreal. Registration issues meant the Ivorian couldn’t play in his first game, but he watched from the stands as the Impact turned in a miserable first half showing against D.C. United. Most players would take in all 90 minutes, but Drogba, still less than three weeks into his Montreal tenure, walked into the dressing room at half time.

  And he yelled.

  “He came down at halftime and was having a go at everyone,” Miller said. “He's like, ‘Guys I came here to win. I came here to make it to the playoffs. This is completely unacceptable… When I start playing, we're not going to be doing this anymore, we're going to win games, we're going to try to make it and win MLS Cup.’ It was so inspiring.”

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  Getting traded

  But there are also the harsher realities of bouncing from team to team. Most of the time, it’s after a player has been traded. Miller, who has been traded three times, and then selected by Nashville in an expansion draft, knows the challenges of relocation all too well.

  Sometimes, it happens under admittedly funny circumstances, Miller revealed. The defender received a call from Montreal’s GM briefly before a scheduled preseason trip – and knew that a move was imminent.

  But the setting for the news wasn’t standard.

  “It was Valentine's Day, and so me and the GM met up in this very beautiful French Cafe in Montreal,” he said. “There's all these couples having these, very romantic lunches, a roses and candy thing. It's just kind of like, maybe this wasn't the best place for this.”

  There have also been more hectic moves – ones that required uprooting family. Miller was delighted to sign for Portland as a free agent in February 2023, but did so when his wife was 36 weeks pregnant. He was still unpacking and buying groceries when his wife was induced and gave birth – less than four days after they had hurriedly moved from Nashville. A bassinet was built with 48 hours to spare.

  “It was a wild one,” Miller admitted.

  While it all can seem like a blur at times, like his fellow journeymen, Kamara says he’s adjusted, and that MLS “just feels like a part of me now, a part of my life, whether or not you’re winning or playing a lot of games.”

  That doesn’t mean the itinerant lifestyle of a MLS journeyman doesn’t come with challenges, especially on the family front.

  “It came to a point when it was tiring for the kids because they kept losing friends from school, and then make new friends again and again and again. So I had to keep up, but it’s really hard to move with the family,” Kamara said of his travels across the league.

There simply aren’t enough superlatives in the English dictionary to describe just how fantastic and irreplaceable Bruno Fernandes is at Manchester United.

Absolutely everything positive involves the Portuguese Magnifico somewhere down the line, and he’s truly the club’s saviour.

It’s not unreasonable to say that without the captain, Erik ten Hag would no longer be in a job, as he ranked first for goals, assists, and chances created at the Red Devils last season.

However, with Fernandes turning 30 years old this year, it may be the perfect opportunity for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS to look for his successor.

Man Utd’s search for a young talent

According to a report from The Guardian, Man Utd are interested in signing talented youngster Desire Doue.

The young French player is on the radar of the Red Devils, as Ratcliffe looks to sign up-and-coming gems over big-name stars.

It’s said that the Rennes player will be available for £33.7m this summer, with their president knowing his departure won’t be too far around the corner.

However, unfortunately for United, plenty of teams across Europe are also keen, including Bayer Leverkusen, Paris Saint-Germain, and Arsenal.

Why Doue could become the perfect Fernandes successor

Although Doue’s talent is only truly becoming known as of late, the 19-year-old already enjoyed his breakthrough campaign in the 2022/23 season.

The versatile gem made 28 Ligue 1 appearances that year, starting 11 times, and picking up a relatively impressive four goal contributions.

However, his importance to Rennes became apparent last season, playing 31 times with 17 of them from the off in the league.

Progress had occurred, and there’s no better way to support that than his output, which increased to four goals and assists apiece, but what makes Doue a “one-of-a-kind” star, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson?

Firstly, the French ace is the definition of a technical mastermind who can genuinely do anything with the ball at his feet, which sounds rather similar to a certain United number eight.

Doue is a creator, a player who isn’t content with letting a game go by without his influence being felt, as shown by his key passes, passes into the penalty area, and shot-creating actions.

As displayed by his high progressive passes received, the number 33 is a master of linking the midfield to the attack, popping up in pockets where he can cause havoc, which shows he has the intelligence of a Fernandes-esque player.

Another attribute that Fernandes and Doue share is their ability to not just operate in multiple roles but also perform to the exact same standard, whether that’s as a winger, an attacking midfielder, or even a slightly more defensive number eight.

Yet what Doue already has in his locker over the former Sporting midfielder is that he’s pure “cinema,” as per Mattinson, when running with the ball, whether that’s taking players on with ease or driving into the heart of the defence with intent.

Nevertheless, in some ways, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Doue take on a role similar to what Phil Foden did while serving as an understudy to David Silva, and it’s common knowledge how that plan turned out – Foden named the Premier League Player of the Year for 2023/24.

Therefore, with the brilliance of Doue in mind, United simply must do all they can to beat the competition to his signature this summer, as he has the potential to become a world-class talent.

What Man Utd's dream XI could look like after £230m spending spree

Marcus Rashford doesn’t make the best eleven.

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By
Tom Lever

Jun 7, 2024

INDIVISA looks at how the eight USWNT stars representing teams in Europe in the 2024-25 campaign are faring

In the NWSL, focus is starting to drift towards the postseason. The Orlando Pride secured the NWSL Shield and, week by week, those playoff spots are starting to be filled. In Europe, it's a different story, with the 2024-25 campaign just beginning.

Competitions such as the English Women’s Super League, French Premiere Ligue and UEFA Women’s Champions League have all kicked off, and there have already been some fantastic games and incredible results – with plenty of USWNT stars involved.

Lindsey Horan, Emily Fox and Korbin Albert were the only Europe-based names on Emma Hayes' USWNT Olympic roster, which won gold at Paris 2024, but there are many more that will be of interest to fans of U.S. women's soccer – be it veteran midfielder Kristie Mewis or promising teenager Lily Yohannes.

So, now that the season has started for these USWNT stars in Europe, how are they getting on? Let INDIVISA catch you up.

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  Emily Fox (Arsenal)

  It's not been a good start to the season for Emily Fox's Arsenal. The defender has been getting plenty of game time, starting all eight of the Gunners' fixtures to date, but only four of them have ended in victory.

  The good news is that the English side have made it through to the Champions League group stage this year. Twelve months ago, before Fox's January arrival, Arsenal crashed out in qualifying and there was fear that could be the case again, when they lost the first leg of their second round qualifier to Hacken. However, a 4-0 home win made amends for that result.

  The bad news is that the Gunners started the group stage with a shocking 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, which followed a really disappointing goalless draw with Everton in the league.

  Having also dropped points on the opening weekend against Manchester City, it means the upcoming clash with Chelsea is a must-win for Arsenal's title hopes and a big performance from Fox would go a long way to helping them be successful. Whether it is Lauren James, Guro Reiten or Aggie Beever-Jones, the USWNT defender will be matched up with an attacker of incredible quality and will need to be ready as her team try to turn things around.

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  Lindsey Horan (Lyon)

  No USWNT star abroad has had a better start to the 2024-25 season than Lindsey Horan, who is flying in France right now. The midfielder has five goals from her first four games of the campaign, helping Lyon to win each of those fixtures in rather convincing fashion. Fleury are the only side who have been able to score against them so far, and even that game finished 6-2 to the French champions.

  Perhaps the most impressive thing about Horan's incredible goal-scoring form is how different each of her five strikes have been. There's been a clinical penalty, a curling free-kick, a bullet header, an improvised bicycle kick and a timely arrival into the box to smash home a loose ball.

  After being beaten to the French league's Player of the Season award last term by new teammate Tabitha Chawinga, Horan is certainly staking an early claim to be in the running for the individual accolades once again, especially if she can keep up this remarkable level of performance.

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  Korbin Albert (PSG)

  It's been a disappointing start to the season for Paris Saint-Germain. The French giants were given a tough Champions League qualifier against five-time Italian champions Juventus and it was one they couldn't come through, losing 5-3 on aggregate. It marked a first qualifying exit, with PSG having made at least the quarterfinals on each of their last nine appearances in the competition – with 2017-18 the only season in that period in which they did not qualify for the UWCL.

  Fortunately, it's been a better story in the league, which will be the club's focus now. PSG have won all of their first three fixtures as they aim to battle Lyon for the title, with U.S. midfielder Korbin Albert starting all three games. The 20-year-old got her first goal of the season in their first outing too, her intended cross sailing over the Montpellier goalkeeper's head for PSG's third goal in a 3-1 win.

  That regular game time at club level will be vital if Albert is to break into Hayes' starting XI with the USWNT and so while it has been a frustrating few weeks for PSG, it has been more positive on an individual level for their American midfielder.

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  Eva Gaetino (PSG)

  Things haven't been going so well for the other U.S. representative on PSG's roster, the uncapped Eva Gaetino. The club changed managers in the summer – appointing Fabrice Abriel after Jocelyn Precheur left for London City Lionesses, the English second-tier side owned by Michele Kang – and Gaetino has struggled for game time under the new boss.

  Initially, the 21-year-old, who won her first USWNT call-up earlier this year but didn't take to the field, appeared to be in Abriel's plans as a midfielder, rather than the centerback position she thrived in during her first few months in Paris last season. That's where Gaetino was used in PSG's first league game of the season and the second leg of their UWCL qualifier against Juventus.

  However, since that European exit, she has found herself on the bench, playing just a handful of minutes as a substitute in wins over Guingamp and Le Havre. She will certainly hope her fortunes change sooner rather than later, as she will need to be playing regularly in order to force her way into Hayes' plans for the USWNT.

Burnley will hope whoever takes on the reins after Vincent Kompany's exit to Bayern Munich is confirmed can immediately steer the Clarets back up to the Premier League, after sourly tasting relegation after just one season back in the elite division.

That relegation on his managerial CV hasn't stopped the Belgian from being linked with a big move away, however, with the Clarets no doubt flummoxed initially by the Bavarian giants being interested in their previous promotion-winning boss ahead of the new second-tier campaign.

The Lancashire outfit will now be on the hunt for Kompany's successor urgently, with a big void now needing to be filled after the former Anderlecht man had romped to the second-tier title during his tenure.

After Steve Cooper allegedly rejected the Turf Moor job post recently, according to reports, Burnley could now set their sights on this bold alternative to the Welshman instead who has been openly admired in the past by Kompany.

Burnley looking at bold Cooper alternative

According to a report late last week from journalist Alan Nixon, via his Patreon, Burnley are considering the appointment of former Chelsea and Everton manager Frank Lampard to replace the out-going 38-year-old, with his name near the top of the list for successors alongside Cooper's.

With the former Swansea City man now ruling himself out of the vacancy, all eyes will now focus in on sealing a deal for Lampard who has a rather respectable record against the Clarets as manager with just one loss picked up from four games.

Overseeing goal-filled contests too, with 12 goals notched up to the benefit of his teams, Lampard could now fancy occupying the actual Burnley dug-out to prove his credentials as a boss after a turbulent time as a manager as of late.

Bowing out of his Chelsea interim duties with an embarrassing one win from 11 when last employed, the easily mocked 45-year-old could have a fire in his belly to succeed with the Clarets having done well in the second division before at Derby County, right at the very start of his bumpy managerial journey.

Why Lampard could fit in at Burnley

Ironically, Lampard could take over from a manager who has waxed lyrical about his major influence on him in the past, with Kompany – whilst still learning the ropes at Anderlecht – stating that he "learnt so much from" him when the pair played together at Manchester City and even noted that the former midfield great was an "incredible professional."

Still, the 45-year-old knows, in the here and now, that his reputation as a competent manager has taken a beating and he will look to get back to the peak he experienced at Derby, therefore, with the Clarets that saw him get to a Championship play-off final with the Rams.

Beating Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United across two legs that season in dramatic fashion to reach Wembley remains one of Lampard's most impressive feats as a manager, hoping to go one better if given the Burnley job to clinch a first promotion on his resume.

Boasting 26 wins from 57 games in charge of the Rams with an impressive 103 goals scored along the way, Lampard nurtured the likes of Harry Wilson, Mason Mount and more in this short stint as well who then went on to have significant careers in the division above.

Switching between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 formation at Pride Park predominantly, the first of those formations could suit the Clarets perfectly, who convincingly were crowned champions of the second tier when set up in this way for the majority of the season by Kompany.

Burnley won't want to have a managerial saga on their hands, like other clubs scrambling to appoint a fresh face, and could see Lampard as a bold but suited successor to Kompany now to soften the disappointment of Cooper's rejection.

Derby struck gold signing maverick who would be worth £11m in 2024 money

Derby County pulled off a coup when they signed this enigmatic star.

By
Kelan Sarson

May 25, 2024

Celtic are ‘unlikely’ to sign Sweden attacker Jordan Larsson during the summer transfer window, reliable journalist Anthony Joseph has reported.

The Lowdown: Celtic linked with Larsson move

Ange Postecoglou is still working hard on making new signings at Parkhead this summer as his side prepare for an exciting return to the Champions League with two new faces in Benjamin Siegrist and Alexandro Bernabei already joining the three loans made permanent.

Larsson, son of Bhoys legend Henrik Larsson, is another player who has been linked with a move to the Hoops in recent weeks, being viewed as someone who can add extra end product in the final third.

The forward has scored once in seven caps for Sweden and is now a free agent after his Spartak Moscow contract expired.

The Latest: Joseph drops update

Taking to Twitter on Monday night, however, Joseph claimed that Larsson is highly unlikely to join Celtic despite ‘contact with the Hoops’:

“UPDATE: It’s looking increasingly unlikely that Celtic will offer a contract to forward Jordan Larsson. His reps made contact with the Hoops – as well as a number of clubs, including Nottingham Forest. Larsson weighing up options with interest from England, Germany & Italy.”

The Verdict: Time to look elsewhere

This is a clear blow for Celtic, considering Larsson is someone with undoubted pedigree, given his international stature and record of 27 goals in 83 games for Spartak.

Postecoglou now needs to look elsewhere for an attacking reinforcements, as he looks to make the Hoops more potent next season, bringing in someone capable of scoring regularly.

No player netted more than 13 goals in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic in 2021/22, so signing a player capable of hitting 20+ could inspire them to more domestic glory and increase their chances of holding their own in Europe.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s now almost a decade since Sir Alex Ferguson decided to call time on his glittering managerial career, and it would be fair to say that the past nine years since the Scot led the Old Trafford side to their last Premier League triumph have been among the toughest in Manchester United’s recent history.

That may all be about to change. If you are a Manchester United fan and a sports betting enthusiast, then you might want to check out the best new betting sites in the UK ahead of a possible wager on new boss Erik ten Hag’s reign being a fruitful one.

A succession of managers have been brought in to replace Sir Alex, and some have proven more disastrous than others, but in all honesty, the search for a replacement that can ably replace the Scot was always going to be something of an unforgiving task.

Of the managers who’ve tried to get the club back on track Jose Mourinho is arguably the one that has come the closest, the Portuguese manager did at least secure some silverware, but Ralf Rangnick (in an interim role) arguably brought the club to a new low with last season’s sixth-place finish that saw the club finish the campaign with their lowest points total since 1991.

So What Now?

Erik ten Hag comes with a stellar reputation, and the success he achieved during his five-year stint in charge of Ajax can not be underplayed. Three Eredivisie titles and a host of other trophies proved he knew how to get the most out of the Amsterdam giants, and perhaps more impressive was the way the club performed in the Champions League over the course of his tenure.

In 2018-19, only a 96th-minute winner from Tottenham winger Lucas Moura prevented Ajax from reaching the Champions League final.

The 52-year-old means business and isn’t the type of manager that is going to let a dressing room dictate proceedings, which is an issue that has been a big headache for a succession of managers.

This was something Sir Alex was adept at handling, and ten Hag will look to do likewise as he seeks to take a squad of underachieving stars more than just a sum of its parts. He’ll also look to bring in big new names, and with that in mind, he’s hot in pursuit of Dutch midfield maestro Frenkie de Jong, a player he knows well from the Barcelona star’s Ajax days.

What Can Be Achieved In the Short and Long-Term?

Since Ferguson left in May of 2013, United have employed no less than four permanent successors (as well as three interim/caretaker bosses), and ten Hag must be given time to make an impact.

This coming season will be a transition, and while this term is a dreaded one that fans hate to hear, you can expect the new Man United manager to do decidedly better than the last couple who have held the post.

We’d say a genuine push back into the top four is on the cards, and if Erik ten Hag is given the right backing, especially financially, then you can expect Man United to once again be a team that can truly be considered Premier League title challengers.

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Jordan Campbell has now revealed some significant Glasgow Rangers transfer news on Cole McKinnon.

The Lowdown: New deal

As per the official website of the Ibrox outfit, McKinnon has now signed a new three-year deal at the club after impressing for the Teddy Bears’ B team last season.

The central midfielder won their Players’ Player of the Year award, after his contributions in the UEFA Youth League, SPFL Trust Trophy and their Glasgow Cup success last campaign.

The Latest: Campbell update

Taking to Twitter, The Athletic journalist Campbell has revealed that McKinnon is now ‘expected’ to join Partick Thistle on loan after signing his new contract, adding that he is ‘highly rated’ by the Gers:

“Understand Rangers midfielder Cole McKinnon, who signed a new three-year deal yesterday, is expected to join Partick Thistle on loan.

“The 19-year-old is highly rated at Ibrox and scored in the final league game of last season. Goes box-to-box and has a knack of getting a goal.”

The Verdict: Good move

After signing his new deal, a loan move for McKinnon would be best for all parties involved.

The Scotsman scored on his senior debut in the 3-1 win away at Hearts in the Scottish Premiership last term, but that is his only senior appearance for the club (Transfermarkt), and so would benefit from some regular game time at Partick.

A side also based in Glasgow, McKinnon would still feel close to home, and in the Scottish Championship, he will be able to further his development by playing competitive men’s football week in week out after impressing at youth level for the Light Blues.

Manchester United have reportedly made an offer to out-of-contract midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer, and if he were to arrive at Old Trafford, he would arguably be an upgrade on the departing Paul Pogba.

After some impressive performances with Brentford in the second half of last season, the Denmark international isn’t short of offers from Premier League clubs ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, with United, Everton, West Ham, Newcastle and Tottenham amongst those reportedly interested in the 30-year-old.

Eriksen signed for the Bees in January after he was released by Inter due to Serie A restrictions on players with heart monitors, and the bold move certainly paid off as his excellent displays inspired Thomas Frank’s side to a strong end to the season, which helped them secure their Premier League status with comfort.

In 11 appearances for Brentford, the former Spurs playmaker contributed one goal and four assists, averaging a superb 7.37 rating from WhoScored for his performances, which certainly justified Frank’s claim of the player being “world-class” when he signed earlier this year.

It is easy to see why United are interested, and Erik ten Hag certainly needs some midfield reinforcements after the departures of Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Pogba.

The Frenchman was rarely able to demonstrate his immense ability in a United shirt and was far from consistent enough, with injuries and perceived attitude problems limiting him to just 20 appearances in the top flight last season.

Eriksen has been a consistent performer throughout his career for both club and country and has enjoyed spectacular seasons in the Premier League before, contributing eight goals and 12 assists in the 2016/17 campaign.

He was certainly a fan favourite during his time at Spurs, with former team-mate Dele Alli singing his praises in 2019 by saying: “He’s got unbelievable technique. He’s a maestro and he’s a magician on the ball.”

Eriksen averaged more key passes, more shots and fewer dispossessions per game than Pogba last season, so with a full pre-season under his belt, the 30-year-old could be the perfect man to replace the Juventus-bound midfielder in Ten Hag’s side next season.

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