Catégorie : Sport News

Manchester City are eyeing up top players from across Europe in the January transfer window, as Pep Guardiola looks to address the issues his side currently faces.

Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United compounded matters for Manchester City, with that result now leaving them nine points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, having played a game more. They’ve picked up just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions, too, highlighting how serious changes are needed.

And it seems like Guardiola will be allowed to make the changes necessary in the January transfer window, with a player he’s worked with before at the top of his transfer shortlist.

Manchester City to reunited Guardiola with Joshua Kimmich

According to the Daily Star, Manchester City are eyeing up a January move for Joshua Kimmich, who Pep Guardiola managed to great effect at Bayern Munich in 2015/16.

Signed by the Catalan boss for €7m as a 20-year-old, Kimmich made 36 appearances in his first season in Bavaria, operating at centre-back, centre-midfield and right-back over the course of the campaign.

That verstaility could prove abundantly useful for Guardiola as he looks to turn things around at Manchester City, with issues in defence and midfield limiting his team so far this season. Kimmich could prove most useful at the base of midfield, however, with Rodri out injured for the rest of the season and the German extremely capable dictating play from a deeper position.

There’s potential for Manchester City to sign Kimmich for much less than his £41.5m Transfermarkt valuation, too. With his Bayern Munich contract expiring at the end of the season, Kimmich is free to start speaking to clubs outside of Germany from January 1, ahead of signing a pre-contract agreement to move at the end of the season.

With the risk of losing him for a free a very real possibility, Bayern could therefore look to cash in on the 29-year-old in January instead, with the aforementioned report suggesting as little as £10m could tempt the German giants into a sale.

In FourFourTwo‘s view, Kimmich seems like the perfect player Manchester City need right now to fix some of their problems. While we expect a fee of more than £10m is needed for a deal to go through, it’ll still be a cheap price regardless.

Whether or not the diminutive star would want to leave his home country for Manchester is another issue entirely, especially when Bayern are back to dominating and City are struggling.

Liverpool have begun talks with a Brighton superstar over a mega-money summer move.

The Reds are flying in four competitions, sitting top of the Premier League, six points clear of second, and having won every single game in the Champions League. It’s been a dream start for new manager Arne Slot, who only added Federico Chiesa over the summer.

But with big changes potentially on the horizon at Liverpool – plenty of players have uncertain futures – it looks as if the wheels have started on a potentially huge summer buy

Liverpool have opened talks to sign the next Roberto Firmino

As Liverpool look to the future, they could be about to sign a successor to Roberto Firmino – ranked at no.78 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League players of all time.

Plenty of Brazilians have played for Liverpool over the years, from Lucas Leiva to Alisson, but Firmino holds a special place in the hearts of Liverpool fans for his elegance and ability to score in the big moments.

Brighton’s Brazilian forward Joao Pedro could well be that man to assume the mantle, according to Trivela in Brazil, with Liverpool in talks to sign the Brighton man.

Fellow Brazilian outlet, UOL, has claimed that the 23-year-old is Liverpool’s priority target for next summer, with Slot seemingly unconvinced with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota’s continued injury issues.

Pedro is “100 per cent prepared” to make the step to a bigger club next summer, with Manchester United apparently also engaged in talks. In FourFourTwo’s view, however, Liverpool have the edge in this race.

Not does the Merseysiders’ form this season mean that they’re a more attractive destination for Pedro, Liverpool’s existing relationship with Brighton is a plus, having negotiated an excellent deal for Alexis Mac Allister previously.

Price will be the only obstacle. The Seagulls signed Pedro for a club-record €30 million, as per the BBC, meaning that any move away from Sussex could be for as much as double.

Pedro is worth €50m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool take on Southampton this week in League Cup action, as the quarter-finals begin.

Chelsea are close to changing the look of their 2024/25 home, away and third kits this season.

FourFourTwo rated the Chelsea 2024/25 home kit as the worst in the entire Premier League this season, the away placed 56th out of 60, while the third strip climbed as high as, err, 51st.

They’re all look set for a redesign in the coming weeks, however, in what is welcome news for Chelsea fans.

According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are on the verge of agreeing a deal for a new front-of-shirt sponsor, with four or five brands all vying for the visible real estate on the Blues’ kits.

While entertainment platform Fever has occupied the sleeve of Chelsea’s kits this term, the front portion of the kit has been left blank as they looked to strike a deal. Talks were ongoing before the start of the season with Saudi Arabian airline Riyadh Air, but they failed to come to an agreement, leaving Chelsea sponsorless.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive season seemed a key stumbling block in negotiations, making valuations far apart.

Similar happened last year, with Chelsea playing until mid-September without a front-of-shirt sponsor until striking an agreement with Infinite Athlete. The sports technology company paid £40m for the privilege, before then transitioning to sponsor the sleeve of Chelsea’s training kit this term.

The Blues were reportedly hoping to bring in a similar sponsorship fee over a longer duration, but that never materialised. But now they’re performing strongly in the Premier League, sitting second in the table behind leaders Liverpool, Chelsea are now receiving offers much better than what they were initially getting before the start of 2024/25.

As a result, it seems Chelsea’s kits this term will have a new-look to them in the near future. The five potential sponsors are suggested to be three airlines and two technology companies.

In FourFourTwo‘s view, it makes perfect sense that Chelsea would start receiving much better offers now they’re performing well in the Premier League again. It’s essential revenue for the club to get such a lucrative sponsor sorted as quickly as possible, too – while it might just help make all three shirts a little bit better…

An Arsenal star has told his agents to get him out of the Emirates Stadium, as the Gunners continue to falter in the league.

Mikel Arteta’s team sit just three points ahead of Manchester City and four behind Chelsea, having won just eight of their first 16 fixtures in the Premier League. Saturday’s bore draw with Everton highlighted their lack of creativity of late, with several fans voicing their discontent over the team’s difficulty scoring from open play.

Arsenal take on Crystal Palace this week in League Cup action, as a welcome distraction from league form – but could face a busy January transfer window looking to rectify their issues.

Arsenal star wants to leave following bid

Arteta has opened the door to movement in the transfer window next month, starting that he never expects to be “super busy” during the winter windows – but that there is the chance for “some surprises”, perhaps akin to the likes of Leandro Trossard, who joined in January 2023.

“Some surprises can come. We are prepared for that. Some opportunities too,” he claimed. “We have to see. Hopefully the availability of the squad will be better in a few weeks. We have to wait and see.”

Arteta may well have to act to replace an outgoing player – which could be the surprise he’s alluding to. Italian newspaper Il Mattino, via by Tuttomercatoweb, claim that Jakub Kiwior is pushing for an exit.

The Pole has apparently asked his agents to “find him a new team” after being benched at the weekend against Everton. The dropping came after Kiwior had played the last four games in his preferred position of centre-back, covering for the injured Gabriel, with teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly preferred at left-back.

Napoli are believed to be the prime suitors for Kiwior, with their €15 million bid deemed to be €10m short of Arsenal’s asking price.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Kiwior will go next month – but only if that €25m figure is reached.

Every player has a price, with Kiwior one of the more sellable assets in the Arsenal setup. He clearly wants more minutes – but Arteta would be loathed to lose a valuable squad player midseason unless a bid comes in too good to turn down.

Kiwior is worth €30m by Transfermarkt. 

Arne Slot crouched down shaking his head at the Anfield grass. His Liverpool side had rained shots on Fulham’s goal and a 93rd-minute chaotic scramble, worthy of any Sunday League pitch across the country, had failed to result in a breakthrough.

This latest siege was the cause of Slot’s exasperated demeanour, but as he confirmed after the game, it was the body language of a manager who knows how close his side was to a hard-fought winner.

A draw at home, when down to ten men for over 75 minutes, to a Fulham side who have recently taken points off Arsenal and Tottenham, is no calamity. But Slot’s angry pacing in his technical area and his consistent head shaking are testament to the resilience his side showed and the aspirations of the whole squad.

Control as usual, but resilience was key to avoiding a serious slip-up

As Tony Harrington pointed to the tunnel to confirm that Andy Robertson would be sent off for a lunging tackle on Harry Wilson a murmur spread around Anfield. Not a murmur of surrender nor of anger, but one of speculation, and even anticipation, given the recurrence of comebacks at Anfield. This was unchartered waters for Arne Slot, whose time at Liverpool has been relatively plain sailing.

A goal down and a man down after 16 minutes and the Liverpool faithful could sense a special performance was needed if their gap at the top was to be sustained. And that was what they got.

“I am very, very, very happy about the performance. I couldn’t have asked for more. Being two times a goal down, so many things go against you except for one thing and that is our players and our fans, who were outstanding today,” commended Slot, who ranks at no.9 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best managers in the world right now.

Control has been the buzzword around Slot’s Liverpool side, but against Fulham, they had to utilise a tenacity that has rarely been required this season. Liverpool’s character was more impressive considering the stop-start nature of the game.

After the game Slot said, “What doesn’t help – we had great momentum – [was] that the game was again delayed for three, four or five minutes immediately after we scored the goal because they were on the ground and that happened a bit too much for us to keep the momentum going”.

Here Slot had another taste of how useful a weapon the Anfield crowd can be to Liverpool’s armoury. It has become a common occurrence for the Kop to use mid-game lulls to get behind their side and after Cody Gakpo’s equaliser this method was out in full force.

With Fulham’s Kenny Tete being treated on the pitch the roar of The Fields of Anfield Road surged round the ground. It is clear that from the stands there is a huge belief this season with players and fans alike feeding off of each other in these moments.

Arsenal’s draw at home to Everton ensured a point was enough for Liverpool, but most significantly, it was yet another performance that adds to the growing sense of hope that silverware will once again arrive at Anfield come the end of the season.

Whilst Slot praised his ‘outstanding’ players, substantial credit must go to the Dutchman whose tactical tweaks helped Liverpool brush aside one of the hardest challenges he has faced so far in the dugout.

When down to ten men, a straightforward, and perhaps negative option, was to swap one of the starting front three for Jarrel Quansah, and shift Joe Gomez to left-back. Instead, Slot opted to push Ryan Gravenberch into a back-three alongside Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk.

When FourFourTwo asked Slot for his thoughts on Gravenberch’s performance he said: “Impressed, like everyone who was in the stadium or saw the game. Ryan did outstanding again today.

Without the ball, he was mostly in our last line, had to play sometimes against a nine, against wingers who are really fast. And with the ball, he came into the midfield. An outstanding performance from him.”

This alteration proved key to the control of the game, as shown in Liverpool’s 61% possession. Despite being a man down, Liverpool had 5% more of the ball than they’ve averaged across Premier League matches this season.

For context, an Arsenal side who like to dominate possession, averaged just 37% of the ball in matches they have received a red card in this season.

Out-of-possession Slot took a leaf out of the Ange Postecoglou book by sticking to his principles. Gesticulating at his players from the sidelines he urged them forward to press Fulham. The result was clear – in no game this season have Liverpool had more tackles in their attacking third.

Yes, Liverpool were pushing for an equaliser at two stages in the game but this was against a Fulham side who have the third highest average possession outside of the traditional big six this season. Credit must be given to Marco Silva’s side, who were dogged in midfield and countered well. As Slot said, “Unfortunately for us, maybe the only chance they got with [us having] 10 men led to a goal”.

Perhaps of prominence due to his opposing number’s poor performance, left-back Antonee Robinson in particular was aggressive in defence whilst still extremely proactive going forward. At 27, his age may be the only aspect deterring a top side from making a move for the American.

It was no surprise that Slot seemed relaxed as he talked to reporters after the game, despite his frustrated mannerisms towards the end of a whirlwind game. The former Feyenoord coach has sailed over this latest hurdle knowing that the spirited performance his players showed puts them in good stead for the continuing onslaught of games over the winter period.

The January transfer window will be a bit of a misnomer again this year with the winter registration period actually set to extend into February.

Clubs across the world will be looking to take the opportunity to bolster their squads, with the window set to open in early January and remaining open for around a month.

Will there be any late transfer window drama this year? Here’s the key dates for your diary…

When does the January 2025 Premier League transfer window close?

The Premier League window opens on Wednesday January 1 2025, which seems logical – but it’s actually going to close on Monday February 3 2025 at 11pm UK time. The window will run to the same dates across the EFL, too.

Scotland, Germany Italy, France, and Spain will all close their windows on the same day (February 3), though not necessarily all at the exact same time of day.

Why the later closure, when the usual January 31 is a perfectly good working day (a Friday)? The answer seems to be ‘because’, really. Clubs across Europe stated a preference for a slightly later closure date because not all of them are opening on January 1.

There are a handful of countries closing slightly later (the Netherlands and Portugal on February 4, for instance), but as far as Premier League clubs are concerned, that only means they can sell to those countries after the English deadline has passed – not buy.

The Saudi Pro League will meanwhile close its transfer window a bit earlier, on Thursday January 30.

That leaves Turkey as the most likely Premier League dumping ground after the Premier League window shuts: their window is not set to close until Tuesday February 11.

Can players be signed after the transfer deadline?

As far as Premier League clubs are concerned, only if the players is a free agent and the club in question has room in their 25-man squad, otherwise they’ll have to wait until the summer.

That means we’re very unlikely to see any incomings after the January transfer window.

Players can be released by Premier League clubs at any time, but will generally be unable to sign for another club outside the buying country’s transfer window.

It’s football quiz time – can you tell us the club that these players all played for?

We’ve got 40 groups of footballers for you to mull over. Can you tell us the club that they all played for?

In some cases, you’ll have four, five or six players grouped together – in others, we’re only telling you two or three. You just have to tell us the club they have in common. Easy, right?

Well… we might have gone too far with this one. It’s a difficult quiz but given that there’s no time limit and no penalties for wrong answers, you can mull this one over all day.

There are no trick questions, either. Just the one club per player and no international teams, obviously. How’s your ball knowledge?

No time limit for this one, 40 groups of players to guess. Remember to tweet your scores @FourFourTwo and share with your friends.

Remember, you can get a hint – just sign into Kwizly, click the button and we’ll give you the next letter you’re looking for.

We use Kwizly for our quizzes – find out more here 

Can’t see this quiz? Play it here

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Given his injury history, Lakers fans are often on the edge of their seats when Anthony Davis goes off on the floor. Last night, AD was battling Jaren Jackson Jr. for an offensive rebound when he hurt his left shoulder. The 31-year-old quickly sank to the hardwood, clutching his arm in pain as Crypto.com Arena waited with bated breath.

Halfway through the third, Davis had poured in 28 points and grabbed 13 boards already, helping LA to an 81-61 lead against Memphis. He tried to brush off the shoulder pain but had to exit the game with 5 minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the quarter.

JJ Redick kept AD off the court till the fourth as the Grizzlies slowly clawed their way back into the game. With 9 minutes and 19 seconds remaining, Davis finally checked back in and made an immediate impact. The Brow scored 7 consecutive points for the Lakers in 4 minutes.

By the end of the night, he would tie his season-high of 40 points, shooting 15 of 22 from the field and securing 16 boards in 33 minutes, putting any concerns about his shoulder to bed. During a post-game locker room interview with Spectrum SportsNet, the nine-time All-Star reflected on his third quarter scare.

“Just a little stinger,” Davis said. “Just went in the back, got some work done. I had four fouls anyway so, about time for me to come out anyway.”

When the Brow was vying for a loose ball against JJJ, he was already in foul trouble. With the game also comfortably in hand at the time, there wasn’t much reason to keep Davis on the floor, particularly since he was at risk of picking up his fifth personal foul with a lot of basketball still to be played.

To be fair to Redick, AD was called for his fourth foul just 30 seconds before he nicked his shoulder. And regardless of the coach’s decision, the 2020 NBA champion showed his maturity upon returning to the floor.

Davis didn’t compromise on his aggression but played with poise and ended the game without picking up his fifth personal foul. He also had 2 steals and 1 block to help out the Lakers’ defense last night.

Fans undoubtedly want to see more of this AD on the court, but above all else, they want to see him healthy. When asked if he was still feeling any discomfort in his shoulder after the game, he simply said “Yes.”

Hopefully, his light-hearted demeanor about the subject means that Davis doesn’t expect it to be a lingering issue. LA’s upcoming schedule will allow him some time to recover from the bump though. Redick’s side enjoy a three-day break before their next game, when they take on their interstate-rivals, Sacramento.

Saudi Arabia’s confirmation as 2034 World Cup hosts will already have some fans planning to travel to the tournament wondering whether they will be able to enjoy a beer at the game.

Some fans were disappointed by news just before the 2022 World Cup kicked off that alcohol would only be served in corporate sections of the stadiums in Qatar. The initial messaging had been that alcohol would be on sale in select areas.

So where are things likely to sit on the booze front when it comes to the 2034 World Cup?

Will beer be available at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia?

The availability of beer is hardly the most pressing issue around Saudi Arabia’s successful bid, of course, given the concerns around the country’s human rights record.

Under Saudi law, the consumption or possession of alcohol can be punished by fines, deportation, imprisonment, or corporal punishment, such as public whipping.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal told Sky News when asked about whether the restrictions would be lifted for the World Cup: « If you are against [prohibition], and you don’t feel like you’re going to enjoy your time coming, and you can’t respect that rule, then don’t come. It’s as simple as that.”

That feels like a no, then.

Alcohol has not been available at other Saudi sporting events, including F1, where only alcohol-free beer is available for sale.

The Saudi head of the World Cup bid, Hammad Albalawi, told Reuters: “We’ve had over 100 global sporting events that already have taken place in Saudi Arabia. No alcohol was served in those tournaments. We had three million sports fans come in and enjoy those tournaments that have come and come again.”

No formal confirmation has been given of that stance at this stage, but all indications are that alcohol will not be available at the 2034 World Cup.

The decision to award the World Cup to Saudi Arabia has been criticised by multiple fan groups and human rights groups.

The Los Angeles Clippers are slated to play the Utah Jazz tonight at Intuit Dome. They have been going through a slump lately as they are on a three-game losing streak. The Clips have missed their star player Kawhi Leonard badly so far, who is yet to make his season debut.

With an easy assignment coming up against a team with a losing record, will Kawhi lace up for his team and bring their losing streak to an end?

Kawhi has been listed as ‘Out’ on the injury report because of the right knee injury which has sidelined him for months. Therefore, the Klaw will not be available for the Jazz game. Derrick Jones Jr. and Terance Mann are also listed as ‘out’ for the next game.

The Clippers are currently the ninth-ranked team in the Western Conference with a 14-12 record. Their record is expected to get better once Kawhi joins the team.

While fans are waiting for the two-time NBA Champion to make his 2024-25 debut, he has been making a lot of progress in his recovery. The 33-year-old has started practicing with the team. Although he is operating on no contact for now, Kawhi has covered a long road on his recovery journey. His presence in practices is also helping uplift the team’s morale.

Recently Clippers head coach Ty Lue talked about his star player and stated that the team needed the fresh energy that Kawhi has brought back with him. He said, “It raised our energy. Just for our guys to see him on the floor brought a juice to our team. We needed that jolt. Especially going through the schedule we’ve been through.”

As of now, there’s no confirmation on Kawhi’s return to the Clippers. Recently Bill Simmons revealed on his podcast that, “My Clippers guy was telling me Kawhi’s coming back before Christmas. I think he’s ramped up. He’s ramped up and ready to go.”

We are less than 10 days away from Christmas and the Clippers have three more games to play before the holiday. Their next three matchups, after the Jazz game are two against the Mavericks and one against the Grizzlies. If Simmons’ intel is credible, we might see Kawhi on the floor in any of these games.