Category: Sports news

Vinicius Jr reiterates desire to stay at Real Madrid amidst €100m transfer speculation

Vinicius Junior has given Real Madrid fans hope for the future as he reiterated a desire to stay at the club amidst transfer speculations.

Vini Jr is in hot form for Real Madrid this season and has become one of the subjects of recent transfer speculation. Speaking ahead of the Madrid derby in LaLiga at the weekend, the Brazilian forward quelled the latest transfer news surrounding him.

The 21-year-old Brazilian prodigy, currently valued at €100 million by Real Madrid and €50 million by football data collection platform Transfermarkt, was asked by Spanish outlet Movistar what he thinks of his valuation and what price he would put on himself.

“Better not to put anything and remain at Real Madrid,” Vinicius answered. “The most important thing for me is to win with the team and win many titles with Real Madrid.”

Vinicius Jr confident of Ballon d’Or nomination in the future

The winger is repaying the trust of Real Madrid in him, who brought him from Flamengo in Brazil to Spain in 2018 for €45 million.

After an underwhelming first three seasons, he has already scored 12 times and provided seven assists in 22 matches across all competitions for Los Blancos this season.

The Brazil international is confident that he can become one of the main candidates for the Ballon d’Or if he keeps these performances up for Real Madrid in Spain and Europe.

“I have to work hard [to win the Ballon d’Or],” Vinicius Jr said when asked by Movistar about his Ballon d’Or chances in the future.

“I have to keep playing here, do things well and always be at my best. If I keep playing like this, of course I can win it, but the main thing for me is to win with the team and win many titles with Real Madrid.”

Carlo Ancelotti praises Vini Jr and Rodrygo for defensive contributions

Vinicius has been impressive in all facets of the game, and not just in attack which is his primary responsibility. Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti singled him and the club’s other Brazilian youngster Rodrygo Goes for praise, calling “unsung defensive heroes” this season.

After a shaky start due to key injuries in the defence, Real Madrid have regained a good balance defensively speaking.

Los Blancos have only conceded 15 times in 16 games this season thanks to a solid defensive pairing of David Alaba and Eder Militão and the heroics of Thibaut Courtois.

However, defence in football begins from the front and Ancelotti has praised both forwards for their contributions to the side’s general defensive record.

“Courtois had a great game against Sevilla, Militao the same,” he told Mundo Deportivo. “Alaba continues playing with a lot of quality, Mendy also.

“That’s after the good work in front of them. Vini Jr, for example, he has stood out for what he has done with the ball, but is also doing very good work without the ball, Rodrygo equally.

“The defensive work of those two helped the team to avoid conceding goals.”

According to stats collection website WhoScored, Vinicius Jr averages 1.5 tackles per game in all competitions. Sofascore puts his statistics for duels won at 51% in all competitions.

Madrid fans will be looking forward to more, and will be hoping that Vinicius Jr makes the Ballon d’Or nominees next season.

Former Liverpool man seeking Premier League return

Georginio Wijnaldum is reportedly open to a return to Premier League football, according to Sky Sports.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has struggled for game-time since his move to the club for free in the summer. He has gone from an integral member of Jürgen Klopp’s side to a squad player at the star-studded PSG, a situation he is now looking to get out of.

Wijnaldum has made 20 appearances across all competitions for PSG this season with 10 coming as a starter. He has scored three goals for the French side, two of which have won valuable points for PSG as they seek to reclaim their lost Ligue 1 title from LOSC Lille this season.

Sky Sports reports that Arsenal are interested in bringing Wijnaldum back to the Premier League, especially with Thomas Partey’s impending absence from the squad in January due to the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Wijnaldum was signed by PSG to add goals from the middle of the park to their squad, because his competition in the PSG midfield aren’t known exactly for their goalscoring.

However, he has struggled to get a starting spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad with the same midfielders being preferred over him.

Wijnaldum finding new squad role hard to adjust to

After a hugely impressive five-year spell at Anfield where he played 237 games and scored 22 goals in which he won the Premier League and Champions League, the Dutchman was in high demand during the summer.

Barcelona – who have turned down a chance to sign him on loan this January according to latest reports – were in the final stages of a deal with the midfielder’s entourage which PSG hijacked.

Now at PSG, Wijnaldum has shown signs of what enticed Barcelona and made PSG hijack their deal to sign him, but his style has yet struggled to oust the midfielders at the club.

Wijnaldum commented on the situation back in October 2021, after only five months at the club. The 31-year-old said that he was “not completely happy” in Paris due to his lack of playing time.

He told Dutch news outlet NOS: “I can’t say I’m completely happy, because the situation is not what I wanted.

“But that’s football and I’ll have to learn to deal with that. I’m a fighter. I have to stay positive and work hard to turn it around.

“I have played a lot in recent years, was always fit and also did very well. This is something different and that takes getting used to.

“I was really looking forward to the new step and then this happens. It is very difficult.”

A great signing for Arsenal

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has showered praises on the Dutch midfielder. The former Manchester United right back took to Twitter earlier this year to call Wijnaldum the most underrated player in the Premier League.

Another Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit, Paul Scholes, has also previously been full of praise for Wijnaldum.

“I think he is a player who doesn’t get probably the credit he deserves, but he has got everything in midfield,” Scholes once said after a Liverpool win last season in which Wijnaldum played a key role.

His former boss, Jürgen Klopp, has also described him as “perfect” because he fit very well into his playing style. For this reason, Wijnaldum was one of Klopp’s most fielded players during his time at Anfield.

Arsenal will end up with a solid signing who can help turn their season around if he seals a loan move to the club in January.

Liverpool submits bid to Egypt, Senegal and Guinea FAs to delay key departures from Anfield for AFCON tournament in January

Liverpool is under pressure ahead of a crucial run of games in January when Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane will be leaving the squad to participate in the African Cup of Nations with their countries.

The Africa Cup of Nations begins in Cameroon on January 9, and FIFA regulations require players called up for national team tournaments to be available at most 14 days before the start of said tournament.

African players who will be called up by their nations are expected to start leaving their clubs in the coming weeks to join their nations to prepare for the African showpiece tournament, with some nations already making camp preparations.

Liverpool have submitted a bid to the football associations of Egypt, Guinea and Senegal to delay the call-ups of Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane until after the Chelsea game on January 2.

The Egyptian Football Association especially is making Liverpool sweat over Mohamed Salah’s African Nations Cup departure.

Jürgen Klopp is especially hoping to have his top scorer around for the crucial Chelsea clash a day after New Year’s, which is a week before AFCON begins in Cameroon.

The German manager told journalists that Liverpool are still waiting for a response from the Egyptian Football Association to learn whether Salah will have to leave Anfield to link up with the Egyptian national squad before the turn of the year.

Per the FIFA rules, Salah and co will be required to leave Liverpool for their countries’ AFCON camps immediately after the Reds’ Boxing Day match against Leeds United.

However, Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool hope to be able to keep them for a little longer for the games against Leicester on December 28 and Chelsea on January 2.

A decision is yet to be made, says Egypt FA; no word from Senegal and Guinea yet

Egyptian Football Association authorities have acknowledged the receipt of the plea from Liverpool but have not made a decision yet on the issue.

“We already received the request. It is still under consideration, and no answer has been given yet,” the spokesman for the Egyptian Football Association, Osama Ismail, told Ahram Online, an Egyptian news outfit.

Egypt manager Carlos Queiroz is key in making this decision, and according to Ahram Online, is yet to speak on it as well.

Klopp remains optimistic on the issue, regardless. “I am an optimistic person, so I hope so, but it’s not written in stone and not completely in our hands,” he said earlier in November.

Egypt will kick off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Nigeria on January 11.

Guinea and Senegal have not sent any word concerning their players Mane and Keita. They will be playing their first African Cup of Nations game on January 10.

Allegri unhappy with Juventus game despite finishing top of UCL group

Juventus’ manager Massimiliano Allegri chose to dwell on his side’s finishing despite beating Chelsea to the top spot of their 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group.

Allegri’s side finished top of group H thanks to Chelsea playing a 3-3 draw away to Zenit St Petersburg on the last matchday of the group stages, as they beat the visiting Malmö by a lone Moise Kean goal.

Allegri was grateful to finish at the top of his group which looked unlikely at some point but was more concerned about the chances which Juventus missed in the game.

““It was a great evening for the result, but we wasted too many scoring opportunities,” the 54-year-old Italian manager said in his post match comments to Sky Sports Italy.

“We cannot think we’ll get far if we continue to waste all these chances. We must be more clinical, more determined when we are in front of goal. This is absolutely something we need to improve.”

Juventus fielded a much changed side for their final group game with qualification guaranteed and a very busy schedule in the coming weeks. Allegri spoke on the idea behind his rotation of the squad for what turned out to be a very fortunate game.

“I wanted to see how everyone was doing and they all gave a good response,” Allegri continued. “Arthur, Rodrigo Bentancur, Daniele Rugani, Mattia Perin and Koni De Winter all played with character.”

He still went on to mention his side’s poor finishing in the game despite this praise for his squad.

“It was a difficult match and we were able to break the deadlock early, but then failed to kill off the game with 2-0 so many times. We have to improve this, because we cannot keep games in the balance like this,” the Juventus boss said.

Juventus travel to Venezia at the weekend to continue their Serie A top four race following a poor run of form in front of the attack which has seen them only score 20 goals in 14 games so far this season in the competition.

“I told the lads that a much more difficult match awaits us this weekend against Venezia, because none of them have faced Venezia before,” he added.

“I’ve been there, it’s a beautiful city, but also a very difficult stadium to play in and we need a completely different performance to what we saw today.

“Their pitch is very narrow and they are aggressive. We must be organised and focused, above all improving our effectiveness in front of goal.”

Juventus must reach quarter finals, says Bonucci

Legendary defender Leonardo Bonucci said after the match that the minimum target for Juventus is reaching the last eight of the Champions League after topping their group in fortunate circumstances.

“It would be hypocritical for us to say that Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool don’t have something more than Juve right now,” said Bonucci in his post-match press conference.

“We can only call upon our best physical and mental shape in the Round of 16 to go forward. The minimum target for Juventus is reaching the last eight of the Champions League.

“Whatever the draw holds for us, and it could be Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, we need to reach those fixtures in the best possible shape. We need to at least reach the quarter-finals.”

Elsewhere, 19-year-old Koni De Winter who made his UEFA Champions League debut against Malmö for Juventus’ is the youngest player to ever start a Champions League game for the Bianconeri.

It is not his debut in the competition, however, as he had already come off the bench for 10 minutes in their 4-0 loss to Chelsea earlier during the group stages.

Allegri will be happy with the Belgian U-23 player’s performance and will definitely have him in his plans for future games in the competition.

World Cup winner expresses “desire to leave” German champions Bayern Munich

Corentin Tolisso has expressed a “desire to leave” Bayern Munich after an underwhelming five years at the club on a personal level.

The 27-year-old French international has won a host of titles with the German Bundesliga giants which translates to a successful professional career but all of the titles have come as a squad player.

The midfielder is seeking opportunities to play a big role in the success of a club and believes he will not get those opportunities at the Allianz Arena, which is why he’s seeking a move away from the club.

The France international has been with Bayern Munich since 2017. He joined the club for an initial fee of around £35 million from Olympique Lyonnais in France and has been in and out of the team due to injuries and manager preferences.

Tolisso has only played 63 times in the Bundesliga since he joined Bayern Munich at the start of the 2017/18 season and has made a total of 107 appearances for the club in all competitions in that time frame.

This season, the 27-year-old has only started five times across all competitions and has not been able to add to his 19 goals and 14 assists for Bayern since he joined the club.

The World Cup winner is out of contract next year, and Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with him in recent weeks. Foot Mercato reports claim that the midfielder is also open to a January exit due to his desire to leave Bayern. Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma are also said to be interested in his services.

Tolisso is looking for a club that will give him consistent playing time so that he doesn’t fall out of favour with Didier Deschamps who still counts on him ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Champions League football, although very important to Tolisso, has taken a back seat in his mind as he seeks an opportunity to defend his World Cup title from 2018 in the next global showpiece in December 2022.

More midfield departures for Bayern on the books with Tolisso’s departure

Tolisso is not the only Bayern midfielder who wants out due to a lack of playing time. Former Espanyol man Marc Roca and Mickael Cuisance are also seeking exits from the club from January.

While Tolisso’s exit could open up opportunities for both players, their playing time depends on Leon Goretzka’s fitness and manager Julian Nagelsmann’s tactical decisions every game.o

Tolisso is currently enjoying a run in Bayern’s midfield due to Goretzka recovering from an injury and is sure to be sent back to the bench once the German returns to full fitness.

Nagelsmann has stated in the earlier part of the season that the midfielder’s exit is not a favourable situation for the club. “It’s always a shame when players leave for free. It is never good for the club, and never good for the coach when players leave.”

Still, it is just a matter of when rather than if for the 27-year-old French midfielder to leave Bayern Munich. But that will also mean that the Bavarians will have to let either or both of Roca and Cuisance go, forcing them to go back into the transfer market for another midfielder or two.

Chelsea hapless as defender agrees deal with Spanish giants

Reports have claimed that key centre-back Antonio Rudiger is on his way out of Stamford Bridge after five years at the club as he has reached an informal agreement to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the summer.

The 28-year-old defender and Chelsea have failed to come to an understanding in their contract negotiations, with reports suggesting that Antonio Rudiger is rejecting the club’s offers.

The Germany centre-back is understood to be weighing his options at Chelsea due to receiving more lucrative offers from his home country of Germany as well as Real Madrid, stalling the contract talks with the Blues despite claiming in the past that he would like to continue at the London club.

Real Madrid is now reportedly in pole position to get the UEFA Champions League winner on a free transfer next season to finally replace Sergio Ramos, who left the club at the beginning of this season for Paris Saint-Germain.

According to The Independent, Madrid reached an informal agreement with Rudiger’s brother and agent, Sahr Senesie, for the centre-back’s signature.

Per the reports, negotiations are supposed to begin at the turn of the new year between Rudiger’s entourage and Real Madrid as facilitated by Senesie who met with Los Blancos chiefs a few weeks ago to discuss a potential free transfer for his sibling.

Chelsea now have just under a month to convince Rudiger, who is reported to be looking for a new contract worth £12 million a year, to stay in London or risk losing one of their most important players on a free transfer.

Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern also in the race for Antonio Rudiger

Manchester United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick is a big fan of the defender and is rumoured to have mentioned him to the hierarchy at Old Trafford as one of his preferred transfer targets.

Rudiger’s agent Senesie is also said to have met with Bayern Munich management bigwigs last week as the German champions look to beat Real Madrid to the negotiations.

Tottenham Hotspur is also under pressure from Antonio Conte to get the German as an addition for their very depleted defence, but the reports claim that not much may come out of this rumoured push for Rudiger by Conte as the defender prefers a move abroad if he leaves Chelsea.

Dilemma for Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel has come to trust his 28-year-old compatriot who was left frozen out of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea a year ago. Rudiger is one of the players with the most minutes in the squad and his departure would be a major blow for Tuchel.

Tuchel commented on the situation last month: “The situation is the situation. We want him to stay, this is very clear and he knows it. 

“But sometimes in these situations, there is a certain delay and, obviously, there is a delay in these talks and his decision.”

Rudiger is not the only headache Tuchel has currently. While the German will be focused on getting Chelsea back on track after a slight dip in form in the last few games, he’ll be worrying about the contracts of most of his defence.

Trevor Chalobah is his only defender without contract issues, as Andreas Christensen, club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva are all out of a contract in the summer.

Backup defender Malang Sarr is also looking for a way out as he has found game time hard to come by at Stamford bridge.

Lionel Messi loses 11-year record to PSG teammate

Lionel Messi has lost one of his numerous records to fellow Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe following the 22-year-old’s 30th and 31st goals in the UEFA Champions League.

PSG hit top gear in their final Champions League group game against Club Brugge with goals from Messi and Mbappe making Parc de Princes erupt in rapturous applause for the first time in a while.

Mbappe, 22, opened the scoring in under two minutes to score his 30th Champions League goal and break the record set by his strike partner, Messi, 11 years ago. He added a second to officially kick off a new era and the race to another record: 50 goals under 25 years old.

He also set up Messi’s first goal with some great solo work to get away from an onrushing Club Brugge defender, before squaring to Messi who found the net from almost 25 years out.

Messi achieved the milestone in 2010 when he was 23 years and 131 days old, while Mbappe – only two weeks away from his birthday – achieved it at 22 years and 352 days to give Pochettino’s side a boost for their coming games.

Mauricio Pochettino will appreciate his team’s performance after a week in which they were held to successive Ligue 1 draws by OGC Nice and RC Lens respectively.

Messi extends goalscoring record

Kylian Mbappe tore holes through the walls of the Club Brugge defence in the first seven minutes, and Messi knew he had to get in on the action.

The Argentine forward who had come into the game with only one goal in nine Ligue 1 appearances but a much better Champions League record, where he had four goals in five games, kept knocking but was denied a few times by great blocks and good saves from Simon Mignolet of Club Brugge.

He finally got his goal after going on a typical run following some good work by Mbappe, before curling in with his deadly left foot.

He scored again from the penalty spot after getting tried in the box, eight minutes after Club Brugge midfielder Mats Rits got a consolation goal back

Both Messi’s goals have now moved him ahead of Pele in the men’s career goals list, as they took his tally to 758 in total for club and country. He is now only 43 goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the outright top scorer in men’s football with 801 goals.

Club Brugge was also the 38th team he’s scored against in the competition, level with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most teams scored against. His brace was also his 35th in the competition, which took him to 125 goals in 154 Champions League matches.

Mauricio Pochettino addresses Messi and PSG internal issues; says he is calm

Mauricio Pochettino has spoken about Paris Saint-Germain’s current situation in the press conference before their final UEFA Champions League game against Club Brugge later on Tuesday.

PSG is 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 despite their recent poor showing but the poor run of Pochettino’s squad (two wins, two draws and a loss) have kept the negative press surrounding Pochettino’s time in Paris alive.

After their most recent match which ended as a draw away to RC Lens, rumours about seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi being unhappy with Pochettino began to surface.

The reports also claim that Messi’s sentiments have caused some fraction in the PSG dressing room, as he’s not convinced about his compatriot’s ability to guide PSG to a successful season.

Pochettino has struggled to find the right balance for his squad of superstars, made even more difficult following the summer acquisitions of Messi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and Georginio Wijnaldum.

L’Equipe claims that Messi and his associates fear Pochettino does not have full control of the dressing room and has lost the respect of a number of senior players.

The L’Equipe report states that Messi believes Pochettino’s game plan to be “too restrictive” and that the manager is not knowledgeable enough about the particular strengths of his players to use them to their fullest.

Pochettino is unfazed by the team’s situation, however.

“I’m feeling good, I’m calm,” he said in his pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of the match with Club Brugge.

“I am working in an organisation which is aware of the work we are putting in. I’m feeling the club’s support.

“I’m calm because I know the process we’ve set out on.”

Rumours are part of our life at PSG, Pochettino insists

The 49-year-old manager who has not been able to catch a break in the news since joining PSG also alluded to the fact that rumours will always happen as long as he’s at a club of PSG’s calibre.

The Argentine said: “You have what’s happening on the pitch but also internally, in the adaptation, communication, and the fact that links are being created.

“We know that in a club like PSG, on which the light shines very brightly, rumours are part of our life.

“In the middle of these storms, we will never stray away from our ideas. Because we know that after the storm, the sun will come out.

“And then we’ll be able to make those who love the club benefit from our work.”

Messi needs to be sincere, says Robert Lewandowski

Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski has come out to express his real feelings after losing to PSG forward Messi at the 2021 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in November.

Messi, in his acceptance speech, gave plaudits to the Bayern Munich striker and urged France Football to give Lewandowski the 2020 Ballon d’Or. “I would like to mention Robert Lewandowski, it’s been a real honour to compete with you,” Messi said.

“Everyone knows and we agree that you were the winner last year. I think France Football should award you your 2020 Ballon d’Or – you deserve it and you should have it at home.”

The Polish striker, however, expressed sadness at the loss of both awards and also expressed a hope that Messi was genuinely praising him and not just being performative.

“I felt sadness,” Lewandowski told Polish outlet Kanale Sportowym. “I can’t deny it.

“I can’t say I was happy, on the contrary. I have a feeling of sadness. To be so close, to compete with Messi, of course I respect how he plays and what he has achieved. The mere fact that I was able to compete with him shows me the level that I was able to reach.”

“I’m not that enthusiastic about getting the 2020 award,” Lewandowski added, when asked about his thoughts on Messi’s comments to France football to give him the 2020 award.

“I would like it [Messi’s 2020 Ballon d’Or statement] to be a sincere and courteous statement from a great player and not just empty words.”

Jude Bellingham in trouble with German authorities following harsh comments about Der Klassiker referee

Jude Bellingham is the subject of a criminal case complaint following his comments about referee Felix Zwayer who officiated the very controversial Der Klassiker last weekend which ended in a defeat for Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park.

The German Football Association have also begun investigations into the 18-year-old midfielder’s comments which called out the body for putting Felix Zwayer – who was involved in a German Bundesliga II match-fixing scandal over a decade ago – in charge of a high-profile game like Der Klassiker.

Borussia Dortmund felt hard-done-by when referee Felix Zwayer turned down their appeals for a penalty to award Bayern Munich a chance to break the 2-2 deadlock in the 77th minute of the match.

They felt even worse after their claims for a penalty a few minutes later was ignored by the referee, with the Robert Lewandowski 77th minute penalty proving to be the match-winner for Bayern Munich, who have now increased their lead over second-placed Dortmund by four points.

Emotions ran high during and after the match, and the young Englishman questioned the appointment of Zwayer, who was banned for six months in 2005 for his part in a match-fixing scandal, to officiant Der Klassiker by the German FA.

The German FA came out with a statement after Jude Bellingham’s comments to journalists on their official website. The statement reads: “The control committee of the German Football Association (DFB) has initiated an investigation against Jude Bellingham.

“After the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Saturday, the Borussia Dortmund player said in a TV interview about referee Felix Zwayer: ‘You are giving a referee who has already fixed matches before the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?’

“As a first step, Bellingham was written to by the DFB control committee and asked to comment on his statement as soon as possible.

“After the opinion has been submitted and evaluated, the control committee will decide on the further progress of the procedure.”

Bellingham comments reported as criminal complaint; Zwayer defends decisions

Jude Bellingham’s comments are now also reportedly being investigated by the German police after a criminal complaint was filed. The case will be forwarded to the Dortmund public prosecutor’s office who will determine if the 18-yar-old will face any criminal charges later on this week.

Felix Zwayer also went to the media to defend his decisions in the controversial game. The referee spoke to Sky Germany and gave reasons for his calls.

“The situation was a standard corner kick,” Zwayer said. “I see in the game that it’s about a touch by Hummels. The question for me was: Is the arm stretched away from the body or not? In real-time, it was not clear whether his arm was moved towards the ball.

“I checked it with [VAR officials] in Cologne and then the arm position was checked. The video assistant made an assessment for himself and said that Hummels had his arm away from the body in an unnatural position.

“In the end, he clearly deflected the ball with his elbow and I came to the decision that it was a penalty.”

On the Dortmund penalty claims, he said: “It was a contact in the upper body area, which is allowed to happen even at high speed. The situation is not black and white, I decided against the penalty because of my line of sight.”

A former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher, defended Zwayer’s decisions as correct. Commenting on Dortmund’s penalty appeal, Gallagher said to Sky Sports News, “I think [the referee] is right. There’s a clash between the players, there’s enough shoulder; I didn’t think it was a penalty.

“The players are alongside each other – I can understand why he didn’t give that. It’s a tangle.”

On the penalty awarded to Bayern Munich, Gallagher added: “The arm’s up. If the arm’s above the shoulder and the ball strikes the arm, a penalty can be given. The referee has been sent to the screen because the VAR has picked it up, he looks at the screen and there’s no doubt what happened. He’s got to give a penalty.”

Simon Jordan: Bellingham needs to be put in his place

Former Crystal Palace owner, businessman and pundit, Simon Jordan, has weighed in on the issue on talkSPORT’s latest podcast. Jordan has said that Jude Bellingham “needs to be put in his place”for the comments he made about referee Felix Zwayer.

Jordan insists that the teenager was out of line for pulling on events that happened over 16 years ago to further tarnish the referee’s name because he was angry.

“People are going to think I’m mean spirited and it’s an agenda, but sometimes these players get a little bit ahead of themselves,” he told talkSPORT.

“They are the lunatics and shouldn’t be running the asylum and this is an element where players are thinking they can say what they want and get away with it.

“He shouldn’t be talking like this.

“He’s well within his gift to say that’s poor refereeing but when you start to move into territory on something you clearly don’t know about and someone else has fed you that information, you can hide behind the fact he’s 18 years of age, and get away with it as a result of that but, really and truly, he needs to be put in his place here.”

Inter Milan confident of landing 25-year-old goalkeeper amidst Barcelona interest

Inter Milan are confident of bringing in-demand goalkeeper, André Onana, from Ajax Amsterdam to San Siro next season despite major interest from Barcelona, according to the latest reports.

André Onana’s contract at Ajax expires in June 2022 and both parties have not come to any conclusions on a contract extension, even though Ajax wants to keep the Cameroonian at the club beyond the summer of 2022.

Onana was the subject of several transfer speculations over the summer including clubs in the Premier League, Serie A and Barcelona, but now looks to be heading to Inter Milan when his time at Ajax is done.

Onana had previously hinted at an exit from the Eredivisie giants last month. Speaking after his return to competitive football with Ajax in their UEFA Champions League match against Besiktas following a doping ban, Onana mentioned that he’s the only one left from the Ajax side who impressed the world four seasons ago.

“When you open a door, at some point you have to close it,” the 25-year-old goalkeeper began. Maybe it is time for me to go. I have done my best for this club and accomplished everything I could. We have won a lot together. When I see the pictures of the Europa League final in 2017, I think I am the last one still here. That was a really great season.”

Inter and Barcelona have remained the most interested in Onana’s services, but the Nerazzurri are now reportedly in pole position to sign Onana on a free next season.

Fabrizio Romano, per Calciomercato, claims that Internazionale have a verbal agreement with the goalkeeper to replace their 37-year-old club captain Samir Handanovich in goal for the next four years. Catalan outlet El Nacional also confirms that Barcelona is facing an uphill task to get their former academy ace back to Camp Nou as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s replacement.

El Nacional reports that Ter Stegen is being considered for transfer due to the club’s financial situation, and Onana has been earmarked as a potential replacement for the German who is courting interest for the like of Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Catalan outlet also claims that Barcelona is looking to use the funds they get from Ter Stegen to fund a transfer for Erling Haaland.

And La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Onana will earn €3 million per year at Inter, although it is not sure if he will immediately take over as the first choice goalkeeper from Samir Handanovic, whose contract at Inter is also in its final stages.

Ajax open to releasing Onana despite hopes of keeping him

Ajax are still hoping they can work out a contract between the club and the Cameroonian international who will be leaving the club for the African Cup of Nations tournament in January, hosted by his home country.

However, the club has stated in the past that they cannot force the goalkeeper to a new contract and will let him leave for free when his current contract expires in June 2022 if he doesn’t sign by then.

“We’ve been very clear. We have been trying to extend his contract for some time. That has not worked out then you allow for him to make a transfer in this past window, that also didn’t work out,” Ajax director of football, Marc Overmars told the club’s media in September.

He added: “You never know in football. But I have to say that, at the moment, I don’t see that [Onana’s contract extension] happening.

“It’s possible but at a certain point it still has to be for a decent sum of money. Otherwise, as I said, we have to go our separate ways. If the offer is not enough, then he’ll leave in July for free.”