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According to The Chronicle, Newcastle are likely to reignite their summer transfer interest in Manchester United defender Phil Jones.

What’s the word?

Reports in recent months had suggested that the England international was a potential target for the Magpies as they sought to reinforce the centre of their defence.

In the end, Jones stayed put at Old Trafford, but The Chronicle now claim that Steve Bruce’s side may revisit their interest in the former Blackburn Rovers starlet come the start of the January transfer window.

The report adds that with the defender yet to feature for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team this season, it’s likely that United will look to offload him, and that Newcastle could reignite their interest in him.

Would be a total disaster for Bruce

When you’re looking to strengthen your defence, you make a move for Jones. Sounds logical.

But in all seriousness, the Englishman has unfortunately endured a nightmare time of things at Old Trafford, both in terms of his record with injuries, and actual on-pitch performances too.

In fact, it was just last year that former Magpies boss, Graeme Souness, tore into the defender for his calamitous 45 minute display against Sheffield United (he was taken off at half-time).

Souness said: “Jones has done everything wrong for the goal. Protect the ball. Try and get your team a goal kick or at worse put it out for a throw in. He just gets it all wrong. Jones isn’t a cute player – he hasn’t got a great touch, so he should just put it into row Z at worst.”

Earning a reported £75k-a-week, Newcastle would just be heading for a disaster both on and off the pitch with the kind of player they would be getting, and the money that they would have to pay him as well.

It’s one that they desperately have to avoid in January.

The transfer window is called silly season for a reason, and during this time you often get your fair share of eyebrow-raising rumours.

One story that did the rounds this week was about Everton’s supposed interest in former Champions League-winning defender Branislav Ivanovic after the Serbian left Zenit earlier this month.

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The 36-year-old coming to Goodison Park was quite an exciting prospect considering the fact that he’s worked alongside Carlo Ancelotti before at Chelsea, but it seems as though it’s not to be.

What’s been said then?

Patrick Boyland and Greg O’Keeffe were discussing Everton’s summer transfer activity on the latest edition of the Gwlad Tidings podcast on The Athletic, and they inevitably came on to discussing the Ivanovic rumour.

Boyland relayed what he had been told when he asked a source at the club about this move.

“We checked it out, what came back in private was that it didn’t look like there were any legs in it at all. In fact it was rubbished a bit wasn’t it?” Boyland said (Gwlad Tidings podcast 31/6/20 29:30)

“So there’s very little legs in that one I have to be honest.”

Probably a good thing

As much as Ivanovic would add some much-needed experience to the squad after the departure of Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka over the past couple of seasons, this may be for the best.

Ivanovic is 36 now, and while he was a Champions League level defender back in the early 2010s, we’re almost a decade removed from Chelsea’s triumph in Europe, and the club would be better off going for a younger talent who Ancelotti can look to build the defence around for years to come, rather than Ivanovic who could easily be retired within the next two years.

You can never say never in football, but it looks as though we won’t be seeing Ivanovic at Goodison Park this summer.

Manchester United have signed midfielder Donny van de Beek and a lot of fans are unable to contain their excitement following the club’s tweet announcing the transfer.

The Dutchman’s statistics show that he had a very good season in 2019/20, as he managed 10 goals and 11 assists in all competitions whilst averaging 1.9 shots, 1.8 key passes and two tackles a game, per WhoScored – this shows that he can make a big impact throughout the pitch.

According to BBC Sport, the 23-year-old has signed for £35m, plus £5m in add-ons, on a five-year contract, adding to a glitzy midfield which also contains Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes. Van de Beek racked up 21 goal contributions last term whilst Pogba managed four  in 16 games and Fernandes totalled 15 for United, per WhoScored.

It is clear to see why a lot of United fans are excited by the signing and it will be interesting to see how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lines up for the 2020/21 season.

Here is what these fans said following the confirmation of Van de Beek’s arrival at Old Trafford:

Man United fans, how excited are you to see Donny van de Beek play for the club? Comment below with your views!

Chelsea welcome Watford to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a crucial match at both ends of the table, with Frank Lampard’s side looking to recover from their difficult midweek defeat to West Ham United.

The West London side will be looking over their shoulder as Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers continue their chase for Champions League football, with anything less than a win potentially seeing Chelsea drop out of the top four.

Watford also need a result as they look to build on their one-point gap to the bottom three, with Bournemouth and Aston Villa close behind if they continue to slip up.

The return of football has been difficult for Nigel Pearson’s side and he will hope to cause another upset like their 3-0 win over Liverpool in February.

Form

Chelsea come into the match on a decent run of form despite their 3-2 defeat to West Ham and have won four of their last six league fixtures.

They have also won their last three matches at Stamford Bridge, with top-four rivals Manchester United the last side to get the better of them.

Watford on the other hand have been in wretched form, losing four of their last six Premier League matches and their last two in a row.

Away from home, the story isn’t much better, with the Hornets winless in their last five and on a run of three consecutive defeats.

Team news

Long-term absentees Marco van Ginkel and Fikayo Tomori will be both continue to miss out on Saturday, but otherwise Chelsea have no fresh worries.

Lampard will have been disappointed to concede three times against West Ham, though, and could look to rotate his backline.

Like Chelsea, Watford will be without their long-term injury absentees, with Isaac Success, Gerard Deulofeu and Daryl Janmaat all unlikely to feature again this season.

Andre Gray, Nathaniel Chalobah and Domingos Quina have all been disciplined by the club following a breach of lockdown, but it remains to be seen whether this will influence their selection.

How to watch

A huge match at either end of the table, Chelsea vs Watford kicks off at 20:00 UTC at Stamford Bridge.

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, and if you live stream football you can also do that online.

Key information about Liberty Stadium

Liberty Stadium was built in 2003 but wasn’t officially opened until 2005 and is now the home of Swansea City. The ground is located in the Landore area of Swansea in Wales and is the largest purpose-built venue in the county.

Its capacity is 21,088 and it has a pitch that measures 105m by 68m. The surface is covered with hybrid grass with undersoil heating already installed and no running track surrounding it.

The record attendance at the Liberty Stadium was set on 1 May 2016 when 20,992 spectators watched Swansea take on Liverpool.

A history of Liberty Stadium

At the beginning of the new millennium, Swansea City had to move away from their previous home, Vetch Field, because the ground was deteriorating and was simply outdated by that point. After all, they had been playing their football there for over a 100 years and a change was long overdue.

In 2003, with the help and support of City and County of Swansea Council, the Liberty Stadium was built along with the Morfa Retail Park only a stone’s throw away from the very centre of Swansea City. The whole project was reportedly worth around £50m and would entail a bowl-shaped venue for 20,520 seats.

On 10 July 2005, Liberty Stadium was finally opened – even though it broke ground two years prior to that – and officially became the home of both Swansea City football club and the Ospreys – one of four professional rugby union teams in the country.

The first game to be played at the ground was a friendly clash against Fulham which ended in a 1-1 draw. The club then erected a statue of Ivor Allchurch, a legend of the squad, and this was followed by the first league game ever played at Liberty Stadium – Swansea City against Oldham Athletic in October 2005.

Interestingly, the first capacity crowd recorded there was for a rugby game between the Ospreys and Australia A with the home side winning 24–16. Swansea City would have to wait until 1 May 2016 to tally their record attendance of 20,992 for a clash against Liverpool.

The most recent changes to the ground were first made at the beginning of the 2014/15 campaign with new screens and advertising boards added over time. There were more expansion plans conceived that could potentially boost the capacity to over 40,000 but we’re still waiting for the ideas to materialise.

IInterestingly, in European matches, the Liberty Stadium is called Swansea Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship while on 8 May 2015 it was renamed The Katie Phillips Stadium for one night only following a competition won by Ospreys supporter Katie Phillips.

Tickets to watch Swansea City at Liberty Stadium

All tickets to watch Swansea City play at Liberty Stadium can be found and purchased on the club’s official website. The average adult ticket will cost you around £35.

However, there are memberships discounts as well as a season ticket scheme that can save you money in the long run.

Related links

https://www.swanseacity.com/ – Official website of Swansea City

https://www.swanseacity.com/club/liberty-stadium – Information on Liberty Stadium

https://www.eticketing.co.uk/swanstickets/ – Swansea City Ticket Office

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to Sky Sports (as quoted by Football.London), Arsenal’s interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg has named Reiss Nelson as the “future” of the club.

What did he say?

The Swede took over the reins at the Gunners after Unai Emery’s sacking last week, and enjoyed his first game in charge against Norwich in the Premier League on Sunday.

And speaking before the contest at Carrow Road, Ljungberg named Nelson as someone who has an incredibly bright future at the club, after leaving him out of the match-day squad.

He said: “As the manager, I need to pick the team I believe in. I’ve used a bit of experience, and I think they need to take the lead in a hard time like we’re in at the moment.

“There are difficult decisions to be made, for example I left Reiss Nelson back home in London, which for me is really hard because he’s the future of this club in my opinion, a great talent, but I had to leave him out. Those are the decisions you have to do as a manager, and it’s not always easy. I believe in how people treat me, I give everybody a possibility. I felt that was the best balance of our team.”

Promising

For Ljungberg to personally name-check Nelson, and shower him with such high praise, speaks volumes of how much the Swede rates the winger. The 19-year-old has made just six appearances across all competitions for the senior side this season, with injuries certainly playing their part in his lack of game-time.

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But with club’s former U23s boss at the helm, it gives Nelson some much-needed hope that there may be a turnaround in fortune for him. Having had the experience of playing in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim last season, the teenager is arguably ahead of the rest of the pack when it comes to testing himself at the highest level.

And Ljungberg’s words will certainly act as a source of comfort that he could be seeing more regular game-time very soon indeed.

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It was a difficult evening for Liverpool’s youngsters against Aston Villa on Tuesday evening.

The Reds fielded the youngest XI in their history at Villa Park due to their first-team squad being in Qatar for the Club World Cup, and the difference in experienced showed. The Villans, who also didn’t play their best team either – but still featured a host of internationals – were too clever for their young opponents, and ran out 5-0 winners in the end.

Watch Leicester vs Liverpool Free Live and Free with Amazon Prime on Boxing Day

However, there were some positives for the Anfield outfit, one of which was Harvey Elliott. The 16-year-old was fantastic on the night, and was by far his team’s most creative player. He made five key passes, and had an 88% passing accuracy. Everything good that Liverpool managed to create going forward went through him, and it was clear that of all those who played, he has the brightest future ahead of him.

No clues: Can you name the season these iconic Liverpool images belong to?

Given his eye-catching performance, many would have thought he was a dead-cert to make the trip to Qatar to meet up with the rest of the senior squad. However, it turns out that he will not be on the flight out. Instead, Caoimhin Kelleher, Sepp van den Berg and Ki-Jana Hoever are those who have been selected to travel.

Elliott can certainly look at this as a snub, and it is a move from Klopp that does not make sense. Neil Critchley, the club’s U23 coach – and also the man who took over for the quarter-final – said that he is “not too far away [from being a first-team regular] because he trains with our first team on a regular basis”. Not only that, he has also appeared in all three previous rounds of the competition, and has also played in the Premier League before – albeit not with the Merseyside club.

Maybe it is because he is a new arrival, but it still seems unfair that the best performer does not get a reward for his display. In regards to Hoever and van den Berg, it makes sense that they would travel – after all, the injuries to Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have left Jurgen Klopp light in defence – but Kelleher disappointed on Tuesday – his 5.1 SofaScore rating was the worst on the pitch – and the former Borussia Dortmund manager already has Alisson and Adrian at his disposal. Elliott was far more deserving of a place – this is one that Klopp has got wrong.

In other news, Liverpool fans react to this man’s display against Aston Villa.

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

Charlton Athletic are showing an interest in signing Blackpool striker Armand Gnanduillet, as reported by London News Online.

What’s the word?

The Addicks have previously made a move for the Ivorian striker, though it fell through in the late stages of negotiations.

However, they could be set to move in for the 6ft 3 striker during the January transfer window, with his current record being 12 goals in all competitions, 10 of which have come in the league.

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Gnanduillet’s current contract with Blackpool will be coming to an end in the summer of 2020, which could help Charlton’s negotiating position.

While there is a chance that Charlton could move for the Blackpool striker regardless, it has been said that they will “definitely” try to sign him if Lyle Taylor is taken away from the Valley during the winter window.

It is suggested that Lee Bowyer’s side could face competition from Brentford in the race for the 27-year-old’s signature.

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Striking options

Bowyer will certainly have plenty of striking options at his disposal if he is able to keep hold of Taylor and bring Gnanduillet into the club.

Before picking up an injury, Taylor managed to score five goals and get one assist in just six Championship appearances, offering an indication of how prolific he can be.

The Montserrat international has been missed, but Macauley Bonne has taken the step up from National League football admirably, scoring five goals in eight league starts and two substitute appearances.

Even if it is in the division below, adding someone who has already scored 10 league goals this season would leave Bowyer with some real firepower to unleash on Championship opponents.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.

Tyler Roberts went down with an injury during the first half of Leeds’ game against Reading on Tuesday, and now it has been confirmed that the issue he picked up during that game is enough to keep him out of action for this weekend’s clash against Middlesbrough.

Bad luck

This is just bad luck for the Welshman.

He was seemingly getting into his stride this season in an attacking midfield role, but once again, injuries are haunting him. The youngster scored a few weeks ago but after missing early parts of the campaign, he faces another period on the sidelines.

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The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent stated in a recent Q&A session that he’d heard it was a minor hamstring strain, but there’s been no official confirmation of what Roberts’ problem is.

His absence leaves Marcelo Bielsa with a decision to make this weekend as he has to decide whether to change his formation or use another player in Roberts’ role.

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Bielsa’s choice

So, it seems as if the Argentine has two choices in this scenario.

He can either abandon his recent experiment in playing with a number 10 and revert back to using a four at the back system or use wing-backs in his three at the back.

Or he could use another player in the attacking midfield role.

Leeds don’t really have any out and out players who usually operate in the position, but they could use Pablo Hernandez there effectively.

The Spaniard moved into the space vacated by Tyler Roberts on Tuesday, and while he didn’t have the best of games, playing just one key pass, it allowed Helder Costa to operate much more effectively down the right.

Hernandez’s passing and dribbling skills should suit him nicely to a number 10 role, and with Costa putting in a solid performance that was capped off by an assist against the Royals, now would be a great time to experiment with both Costa and Hernandez on the same pitch.

In other news, Leeds fans are worried about one Championship team creeping up on them.

In our Transfers that shook the club feature, Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at deals that had many may not have seen coming and the impact that they had during their time by using statistical data and pundit remarks.

Given that Sheffield United have broken their transfer record a number of times in the calendar year of 2019 it seems a good time to look back on some of their biggest investments of the past as we approach 2020. Indeed, in August 2007, the club broke their transfer record to sign striker James Beattie from Everton for £4 million (via BBC Sport).

The Blades had just been relegated from the Premier League after one season in the top flight, but new manager Bryan Robson was given the funds to sign players who could help them bounce back.

Beattie was very much their main signing, and his arrival had Sheffield United supporters extremely excited. This was a player who had up until that point spent his entire career in the Premier League, and had netted double figures in five of his seasons in the top flight (Transfermarkt).

Signing him was, therefore, a real statement of intent from the South Yorkshire club, and he certainly showed why the Blades made him their record signing on the pitch.

In his first season at Bramall Lane, the former England international scored 22 goals and provided five assists in 39 appearances (Transfermarkt) and was the second top scorer in the Championship.

The Blades failed to win promotion that year, finishing in ninth place but the form of Beattie was certainly a positive for them.

He then picked up where he left off in the 2008/09 season. After 23 games of the campaign, he had already racked up 12 goals and four assists (Transfermarkt), which attracted interest from Premier League clubs.

Ultimately he decided to leave Sheffield United in January 2009, joining Stoke City in the top flight. His departure was a major blow and the Blades ended up losing the play-off final that season, shaking their attempts to return to the top tier.

However, he certainly enjoyed a fruitful spell at Bramall Lane with 34 goals and nine assists in 62 appearances for the club between 2007-09 (Transfermarkt).

He remained their record signing until 2018 when the Blades signed John Egan (Yorkshire Post), and he should still a legend at the club due to his superb goals record in South Yorkshire.

Sheffield United fans, how good was James Beattie during his time at Bramall Lane? Let us know in the comments below…