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Manchester United legend Eric Cantona believes Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group can bring the glory days back at Old Trafford.

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• Cantona backs Ratcliffe to restore glory days
• INEOS upgrading Man Utd squad this summer
• Red Devils set to visit the US for pre-season

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The former United captain drew comparisons between his time at the club to the time under the Glazers when they saw an epic downfall. He pointed out that the feeling of being part of one big family played an important role in the success that Sir Alex Ferguson's sides achieved in over two decades.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group took charge of the club as minority stakeholders, they have brought several changes to the day-to-day functioning of the organisation. One such reform was ending the work-from-home culture that prevailed at the club since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns. As per Cantona, employees coming back to the club will help establish the old family feeling that was lacking till now.

• WHAT ERIC CANTONA SAID

  Speaking to The Athletic, the 58-year-old said: "I believe in energy moving between people and they want to take that back at Manchester United, which is very important. When you meet the people, you see someone, you meet another woman and you say: ‘Hello, good morning’. It’s like family. I remember my time (at the club), we say hello to everybody. It was a big family, and the energy was all between us. Not only the players, not only the manager, not only the chairman but all the people who work at the club.

  "Things changed since the Glazers arrived. Since Sir Alex Ferguson left. And it’s important to take that back. To have this energy. To have this feeling of: ‘We are part of the family, and we are here, I can speak to you, look in your eyes, I can shake your hand, looking in your eyes, I can feel you, I can get a sense of why you don’t really feel good, or why you did this or why you feel great today’. It’s important. It’s very important."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

  After playing two pre-season friendlies in Norway and Scotland, the Red Devils are all set to visit the United States where they will play three friendly matches against Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Betis.

Alisha Lehmann became an honorary Brazilian for their friendly with the USMNT, as she donned a Selecao shirt when supporting boyfriend Douglas Luiz.

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• WSL star is holidaying in Florida
• Partner preparing for Copa America
• About to cross country to California

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 25-year-old Aston Villa forward is proud of her Swiss heritage and recently represented her country in Euro 2025 qualification action. She is, however, prepared to pledge allegiance to Brazil when watching her South American partner in action.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Lehmann already paid a visit to Brazil this summer after seeing the 2023-24 WSL season come to a close, and is now enjoying a sunshine break in the United States. She has been taking in early-morning beach sessions in Miami.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  An opportunity has now been taken to head for Orlando, with Luiz turning out for Brazil in Florida ahead of the 2024 Copa America. Lehmann pulled on a famous yellow shirt when heading to that fixture, before taking up a seat in the stands.

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• WHAT NEXT?

  Luiz was introduced off the bench at half-time as Brazil played out a 1-1 draw with the USMNT – with goals from Rodrygo and Christian Pulisic registered inside the opening 26 minutes. Lehmann may now decide to head across the States to California for Brazil’s opening Copa clash with Costa Rice at SoFi Stadium on June 24.

Club will interview a minimum of one BAME candidate to replace Jim Troughton

George Dobell02-Nov-2020Warwickshire believe they have become the first “professional first-class county” to adopt the principles of the Rooney Rule in launching the appointment process for a new head coach of their men’s team.The club, which sacked Jim Troughton from the position last week, published an advert for the vacant position on November 2. Applications must be received by November 14 with an appointment expected around a month later.In that advert, the club has reiterated its “commitment to representing the communities it serves” and its desire to employ “a diverse and inclusive workforce at all levels of the organisation”. As a result, Warwickshire have confirmed the “principles of the Rooney Rule will be adopted to encourage applications from suitably qualified BAME candidates.” This is, they state, “the first time that a professional first-class county has adopted these principles”.The Rooney Rule – named after Dan Rooney, the former chair of the NFL’s diversity committee – is a form of affirmative action that demands ethnic-minority candidates are interviewed for head coaching and senior administrative positions.”In line with Warwickshire’s Equal Opportunities policy and desire to adopt the principles of the Rooney Rule, should the club receive applications from suitably qualified BAME candidates they will be added to the vacancy short list with a minimum of one BAME candidate invited to first interview,” the advert continues.While Warwickshire recently signed Manraj Johal, a seamer who has graduated from their own academy, by the time the 2020 season finished the club had no non-white player or senior coach on their staff. And while the club played a part in the development of the likes of Kabir and Moeen Ali as young players, both felt a need to move to Worcestershire to win greater opportunity. Their nephew, 16-year-old Ismail Mohammed, recently made the same decision.The current management at Warwickshire are acutely aware of this failure of the squad to reflect the local community and are determined to rectify it. As well as this adoption of the Rooney Rule, they have recently signed up to the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme.”There shouldn’t be a barrier in the mind of anybody with the right experience who wants to apply for this job,” Stuart Cain, Warwickshire’s chief executive, said. “So, we think it’s right to adopt the principle of the Rooney Rule in the same way as many of the world’s leading sports organisations have.”Birmingham is one of the UK’s, if not Europe’s, most diverse cities and we have to reflect this when holding a mirror up to the club and how we operate at every level, from the board down”.Among the other criteria required by the advert, a “tangible proof of developing teams capable of winning domestic cricket competitions” is demanded, as is “proven success at winning trophies, domestically or internationally”. The likes of David Saker, currently with Sri Lanka, and Ottis Gibson, currently with Bangladesh, would be certain to gain an interview if they apply while, from closer to home, Graeme Welch, the club’s current bowling coach, would also be a strong candidate.The principles of the Rooney Rule will also be utilised by the ECB when appointing specialist coaches to work with both the England team and the most promising county players. They are expected to appoint specialist batting, seam bowling and spin bowling coaches in the coming months.Marcus Trescothick and Jon Lewis (the former Durham head coach) are expected to challenge for the batting position, while Jon Lewis (the former England seamer and current England U19 coach) and Welch are well placed for the seam-bowling job. Jeetan Patel is favourite for the spin position.

Shane Bond, though, believes Ferguson could bring “intimidation factor” to New Zealand’s red-ball attack

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2020Six New Zealand players who were involved in the IPL and will also feature in the upcoming series against West Indies are currently training in a managed isolation facility in Lincoln. With them are Shane Bond and Brendon McCullum, who were part of the coaching staff at the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders respectively, with New Zealand roping them in as guest coaches during the quarantine period.Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson is one of the players in this bubble, and he’s thrilled to spend time with Bond, whom he describes as “a hero of mine while growing up”.”We had a tour to the UAE with the New Zealand A side two years ago,” Ferguson said in a virtual media interaction. “He was the coach there and that’s the biggest stint I’ve had with him. [We have] similar ways of bowling – obviously he was super impressive. But we’ve had some great chats there. He was even asking [about] one of the plans, [which] was coming around the wicket so much and bowling short to guys. He asked me why I wasn’t doing it as much as I used to. So he remembers it as well. It’s been great to have him to bounce ideas off and get some notes on West Indies.”Ferguson will feature in the three-match T20I series against West Indies, but he isn’t part of the squad for the two Tests that follow. Ferguson is keen to make a return to the longest format, having had to endure a rough first stint in whites. Making his Test debut against Australia in Perth last year, a calf strain curtailed his bowling output to just 11 first-innings overs and ruled him out of the rest of the tour as well as the subsequent home Tests against India.While Ferguson was away, the towering Kyle Jamieson made his debut for New Zealand, picking up nine wickets across two Tests against India, including 5 for 45 in a Man-of-the-Match performance in Christchurch, while also contributing runs down the order. But Ferguson isn’t bothered by the competition, and is instead looking forward to “keep doing the work in the background”.”I think it’s a fantastic time to be playing for the Black Caps,” he said. “You see the depth – Kyle Jamieson, one of my good mates, coming through and taking his opportunity [and] playing very well. [This] puts pressure on all bowlers to perform well and he’s started the [domestic] season very well this year – he’s taken five-fors pretty much every game, so I think it’s great. For me, that means I’ll have to work hard to get an opportunity and have a chance in the side. And if that opportunity comes, I’ll do what I can to take with open arms.”… [Jamieson] certainly deserves a spot in that side. But having said that, the Test side is a tough team to make – there’s so much depth and obviously our big three (Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner) have been so successful for a long period of time. But you can only take it game by game – tough to look too far ahead.”Kyle Jamieson reacts after his five-for in Christchurch•AFP

Bond believes it won’t be long before Ferguson is back in the Test side despite having fallen behind in the queue.”He’s sitting in behind – you’d argue – three, maybe four or five [bowlers], with Matt Henry around as well,” Bond said. “I think everybody is more than aware of what he can do in terms of pace. He offers an intimidation factor, he’s just part of our wider Black Caps bowling squad. So when he gets his chance to play four-day cricket for Auckland, it’s just [about] continuing to bowl well and put in good performances. And either through retirements, injuries or his own performances, he’ll get his chance sometime in the future perhaps.”What Ferguson can bring to the Test attack, Bond says, is the “intimidation factor”, which can be especially useful against the lower order.”I think we’ve seen that in Australia over the past period of time, where they really do clean up the tail through using their fast bowlers and intimidating sort of from [number] eight down,” Bond said. “Because no one wants to face the sort of pace that Lockie bowls, particularly when he loves to bowl around the wicket as well, it’s pretty horrible.”Ferguson, Bond says, could be especially useful on the flatter pitches in New Zealand, particularly in the second innings.”Wickets in New Zealand are flat, they’re generally green at the start, they flatten out, they don’t turn, they become a sort of run fest in the second innings in particular, so if you use him in those short, sharp spells, then he can come on and create some chaos through the middle there, and particularly in the back end where people just don’t want to face that stuff, that can make life easier for the rest of the order. “Bond also credited the New Zealand management for investing in Jamieson.”I thought last season he was sensational,” Bond said. “He’s certainly taken his game to another level, and I think that’s a sign of the investment New Zealand Cricket have put in him – the value of those A tours, programs, what he’s learned about travelling and what’s required to be at the top.””And then the second part is the credit to Kyle himself for going away and continuing to improve on areas that he had to to be successful. So he’s a hugely exciting talent, obviously offers multi-skills, and just offers that point of difference with his height and his bounce as well.”Despite Jamieson yet to make his T20I debut, Bond already foresees an IPL opportunity for him and is looking forward to him playing T20 cricket.”I’m looking forward to see how he goes in T20, and there’s always opportunities in the T20 game as well,” he says. “With another IPL around the corner, who knows what can happen. Things in this game can change pretty quick, so looking forward to seeing what he can do.”While New Zealand’s IPL contingent have cleared two Covid-19 tests, they will need to take a third one before being allowed to join the rest of the squad ahead of the T20I series starting November 27.

Captain’s unbeaten hundred sees Lancashire declare on 494 for 6 and set about pursuit of victory

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford14-Jul-2019
Invitations do not come any pleasanter than that offered to Lancashire’s batsmen on the second morning of this game. They already possessed a 22-run lead on first innings and now had the opportunity to extend it for as long as they wished; they had nine wickets in hand and the pitch was good, although you would not have guessed so from the way Sussex had batted on the first day. Lancastrians, by contrast, had the chance to be greedy.Yet rather like polite diners when presented with a huge and delicious smorgasbord, Lancashire’s batsmen displayed perfect manners. Almost everyone helped themselves to something substantial but only Dane Vilas partook of rollmops, fläskkorv and isterband by making an unbeaten century. That, of course, was not the intention of the four other batsmen who made fifties in this innings; they wanted centuries as well. Yet when Vilas finally called his players from the table by declaring on 494 for 6 seven overs before the close, their combined efforts had given Lancashire a monstrous lead of 367. Sussex’s openers trimmed 15 runs from that advantage in four overs before the close but Ben Brown’s players face a colossal test of their techniques and temperaments over the next couple of days. At least they will hope it is a couple of days and not a session and a bit.Ah yes, Sussex. They were so far behind after the first day of this game that it was occasionally hard to see what Brown’s team could salvage from affairs. Respectability might have been identified as one aim but that has always been a poor consolation prize and almost an admission of inferiority following only three sessions of cricket. These, though, are the days when coaches discover a great deal about their players: in Sussex’s case their ability to fight when even a draw seems a distant goal. It is often forgotten how tough a game professional county cricket can be.Judged by all these standards, Sussex performed creditably on the second day of this game. They never quite let their heads drop even when Vilas was cutting loose in his 123-run stand with Steven Croft after tea. They prevented Lancashire collecting a full haul of bonus points, although the pitch may have had something to do with that, and they produced the moment of the match when Delray Rawlins leapt from backward point to complete an astonishing one-handed catch to remove Keaton Jennings for 65 off the bowling of Mir Hamza in the seventh over of the day. Rawlins sprinted away delightedly; Jennings, who had middled a full-blooded cut, just stood there for some seconds before dragging himself off.That first breakthrough for Sussex was followed five overs later by a second when Haseeb Hameed, the only Lancashire batsman to fail, was leg before wicket to David Wiese for 11. Replays suggested the point of contact was outside the off stump but the truth remained that Hameed’s very patchy season had continued.All the same Sussex had enjoyed their best moments of the day. For the rest of the morning Glenn Maxwell and Jones played with increasing assurance and had taken their partnership to 93 when Maxwell skied a pull off Abi Sakande and Phil Salt pouched a straightforward catch running back from slip. The Australian had made 59, his highest score in first-class cricket since December 2017, and he had nursed Jones through the early stages of what was to be another significant innings in the fast developing career of this remarkable young batsman.Indeed, at one stage it seemed that Jones would also make a century but he had to be content with a mere 88 after once again revealing a rare ability to thread the ball through midwicket off Rawlins or straight drive Luke Wells. And these were just two of his delights. However, in the over before tea Will Beer gained a little revenge for the spin bowlers’ collective when he tempted Jones forward with a legspinner on a good length only for the batsman to then go back and be bowled when failing to cover the turn. But young Jones had passed 500 runs in the Championship and can look back on a good season. Whether Sussex are able to do the same thing will depend on the degree to which they locate their powers of resistance over the next two days and then over their final four Championship matches of the season. One has the feeling that so much at Hove rides on how they perform at Old Trafford tomorrow.

The abject Azzurri suffered an embarrassingly meek exit at Euro 2024, losing 2-0 in Berlin to a vastly superior Switzerland side

Italy's reign as champions of Europe is over – and about time too. The Azzurri may have illuminated Euro 2020 with their uncharacteristically adventurous style of play but their title defence in Germany has been seriously tough to watch.

Indeed, the one good thing about their Euro 2024 campaign is that it was brought to a mercifully premature end by Switzerland on Saturday evening, with Murat Yakin's side sealing a fully deserved spot in the quarter-finals with a shockingly comfortable 2-0 win.

Remo Frueler took advantage of some non-existent Italian tracking to give the Swiss the lead just eight minutes before the break, as the defending champions fell behind the fourth time in four games in this tournament.

The Swiss struck again immediately after the interval, with the impressive Ruben Vargas given all the time in the world to pick his spot before bending the ball past the completely unprotected Gigi Donnarumma and into the top corner of the Azzurri net.

Below, GOAL rates all of the Italy players on show as Luciano Spalletti's side were dumped out of the Euros with embarrassing ease by the Swiss, who will now face the winners of England's last-16 meeting with Slovakia…

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  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Gianluigi Donnarumma (6/10):

  The only Italy player that could leave the field with his head held high. Made a good save from Breel Embolo before being twice betrayed by those in front of him.

  Giovanni Di Lorenzo (3/10):

  His lack of pace was once again brutally exposed. Genuinely remarkable how steeply he's declined since captaining Napoli to the Serie A title in 2022-23.

  Gianluca Mancini (2/10):

  Riccardo Calafiori's stock has only risen after seeing how his replacement struggled in his stead. Completely out of his depth – against Switzerland.

  Alessandro Bastoni (4/10):

  Hard not to feel sorry for the Inter man. Not at his very best but deserves to have much better players around him.

  Matteo Darmian (4/10):

  Offered nothing like the same threat as an in-form Federico Dimarco (which we didn't see in Germany, in fairness) but was solid enough, winning a fair bit of possession. By no means the worst Italy player on show, which is not saying much obviously.

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  Midfield

  Bryan Cristante (2/10):

  Italy fans feared the worst when they saw the Roma man included in the starting line-up – and rightly so. His passing accuracy was decent but only because he took zero risks. May as well have not been on the pitch.

  Nicolo Fagioli (3/10):

  Strange that he even made the squad after missing most of the season because of a betting ban. Why he was selected here is anyone's guess. Made a couple of tackles but his awareness of midfield runners around him was non-existent and he consistently gave the ball away.

  Nicolo Barella (2/10):

  If we're being kind, we could say that he was hindered by injury coming into this tournament, and he picked up an early knock here, but he's made a mockery of his reputation as a world-class midfielder in the last few games. Meant to be the one Italy midfielder capable of picking a pass and causing problems in the opposition box but offered nothing going forward. Picked up a booking borne of pure frustration before being hooked midway through the second half.

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  Attack

  Federico Chiesa (4/10):

  Always wanted the ball but did very little with it. Depressing to see how much he's regressed since Euro 2020.

  Gianluca Scamacca (3/10):

  Once again horribly isolated up front but failed dismally to prove a decent out-ball for his side. Italy's lack of striking options is truly shocking.

  Stephan El Shaarawy (2/10):

  Hadn't kicked a ball in the group stage yet inexplicably selected to start here with predictably disastrous results. Subbed at half-time after 45 painfully ineffective minutes.

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  Subs & Manager

  Mattia Zaccagni (5/10):

  Entitled to ask why El Shaaraway started ahead of him after his crucial goal against Croatia. Brought on during the break and at least showed some energy and enthusiasm.

  Mateo Rategui (5/10):

  Thrown on in place of Barella in the 64th minute but never looked like scoring.

  Lorenzo Pellegrini (N/A):

  Only came on for the last 15 minutes.

  Andrea Cambiaso (N/A):

  Part of a double substitution with Pellegrini, replacing Darmian. Not enough time to make an impact.

  Davide Frattessi (N/A):

  Came on for Fagioli with seconds to go.

  Luciano Spalletti (3/10):

  It has to be acknowledged that the former Napoli boss is working with a terribly weak group of players but even still, this was the worst performance of a seriously underwhelming campaign from the Azzurri – and by some distance. Some of Spalletti's selections were utterly bizarre and his formation didn't work at all, meaning the notoriously combustible coach is going to come under serious scrutiny in the coming days. An acrimonious exit cannot be ruled out, particularly when one considers Italy only made the last 16 thanks to a 98th-minute equaliser against Croatia.

Liverpool midfielder Fabinho is expected to win his battle to be fit for the Champions League final, The Daily Mirror’s David Maddock reports. 

The lowdown

Fabinho was forced off half an hour into Liverpool’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Tuesday night with an apparent hamstring injury.

It’s since been confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, as well as the Reds’ remaining league games against Southampton and Wolves.

That means that the no. 3 faces a race to be fit for the meeting with Real Madrid in Paris at the end of the month.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-32/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The latest

Maddock, northern football correspondent for the paper, shared the ‘big news’ on Fabinho on Thursday evening.

The Brazilian ‘should be fit for the Champions League final’, he wrote, news which has now been confirmed by Jurgen Klopp himself.

The verdict

This would be a significant boost for Klopp and Liverpool. Fabinho is typically one of the first names on the team-sheet, starting 26 of the 30 Premier League games for which he’s been available.

What’s more, Klopp has previously hailed him as ‘the best’ defensive midfielder on the planet.

And with Fabinho on the pitch, Liverpool are outscoring the opposition by an average of 1.7 goals per 90 minutes.

Injury played a part last time Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the UCL showpiece, with top goalscorer Mohamed Salah forced off in the first half, and they won’t want it to be a factor this time around.

In other news, there’s been a ‘major development’ in the Aurelien Tchouameni race. 

When Granit Xhaka left Arsenal in the summer of 2023, Mikel Arteta and Edu knew they needed to go to great lengths to replace his extraordinary output last season.

A £105m move for Declan Rice was signed, sealed and delivered while Kai Havertz, certainly to less fanfare, arrived from another part of London in Chelsea.

The £65m addition hasn't quite made the grade after moving to the north of the capital, with it taking until November for the German to finally score a goal in Arsenal colours from open play.

Perhaps realising the error of their ways, the Gunners have been looking at signing another midfielder according to reports.

Arsenal's midfield shortlist

Two names on the club's shortlist for 2024 reside in the Premier League with Amadou Onana, touted at £60m, interesting Arsenal, while Joao Palhinha of Fulham is another to be tipped with a move to join the ranks at the Emirates Stadium.

A wildcard option could well be that of Joao Neves, Benfica's next hot property in the middle of the park after Enzo Fernandez.

The teenage sensation has been strongly linked with Manchester United in recent months but Arsenal are another casting their eyes towards Neves. Reports in the build-up to the January window suggested that the Gunners were tracking the 19-year-old but with a release clause of £103m and no intention of selling, any move is incredibly unlikely, at least for now.

All confirmed Premier League done deals: January transfer window 2024

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Feb 1, 2024

Yet, if the Kroenke's were to dip their hands into their pockets again for another mega midfield signing, Neves would offer some extreme quality to Arteta's side. Does anyone fancy another round of Santi Cazorla?

How Joao Neves compares to Santi Cazorla

Who is Neves we hear you ask? Well, a quick look at his FBref scouting profile indicates what a fine young individual this budding teen is.

Compared to positionally similar players across Europe's top five leagues and the top continental competitions, he ranks among the best 11% for passes into the final third (via FBref), indicating his progressive nature in possession of the ball.

Further sitting inside the top 17% for passes attempted, it's clear Neves is a player who offers plenty of protection and composure on the ball. However, he's more than just about passing play. Neves happens to be adept in the defensive and offensive phases of play.

Indeed, the Benfica starlet is in the top 1% of midfielders in Europe for goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, the best 1% for tackles won (3.95) and the finest 13% for interceptions (1.58 per 90). To put that into context, Rice makes 2.01 tackles per 90 and 1.73 interceptions.

Can you imagine the thought of the two playing together, therefore? Yeah, it's a dreamy picture to envisage. The progressive and classy nature of the two is a tantalising prospect.

Already we're getting a sense of why Neves is similar to Cazorla though. He's intricate with his passing play, progressive and capable of doing his fair share of the dirty work. The comparison is supplemented by analyst Ben Mattinson.

Cazorla was one of the most gifted players in the Emirates Stadium era and is remembered particularly fondly by those of an Arsenal persuasion. He played a key hand in ending the club's trophy drought in 2014, scoring a scorching free-kick in the FA Cup final versus Hull City but overall, he was just marvellously gifted at football.

The Spaniard left in 2018 after a period of sustained injury hell that nearly ended his career but he did so with a mighty fine record in Arsenal colours, scoring 29 goals and supplying 45 assists in 180 outings.

With such a creative marvel in mind, let's dive a little deeper into how he compares to Neves.

Despite there being some differences in the volume of each stat, you can see how their playstyles are alike. Both registered a high number of progressive passes and shot-creating actions, showcasing a preference for getting on the ball and creating openings for teammates.

Cazorla was one of the finest in the Premier League era at such a quality and thus, signing Neves would be truly exciting for supporters. With such a huge asking price, however, we might never see him in Arsenal colours.

Barcelona sporting director Deco has rejected the idea of Neymar returning to Barcelona in the summer.

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• Neymar won't return to Barcelona
• Deco ruled out Neymar's dream move
• Neymar wants to come back to Europe in the summer

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Neymar, who left Barcelona in 2017 to join Paris Saint-Germain for a world record fee, has been linked with a move back to Catalunya as the Brazil is eyeing a return to Europe ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. The 33-year-old forward spent six years in the French capital before heading to Saudi Arabia, where he had a nightmare outing as he spent the majority of time on the sidelines due to an ACL injury. In January 2025, Neymar mutually terminated his deal with Al-Hilal to move back to his homeland and sign for boyhood club Santos.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Amid the Brazilian star's transfer links to the Blaugrana, claims that sporting director Deco has reportedly ruled out any chance of re-signing Neymar in the summer. The reason stated by the ex-Portugal is reportedly Neymar's declining form in recent years. The club also do not want Neymar in their dressing room as they feel that his influence could prove to be negative for several budding superstars in the team.

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  The former PSG star enjoyed a lot of success during his first stint at Camp Nou as he scored 105 goals and provided 76 assists across all competitions in 186 appearances. He won La Liga twice and also bagged the Champions League title.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR NEYMAR?

  The 33-year-old will be back in action for Santos on Sunday as they take on Corinthians in a Paulista A1 semi-final clash.

Manchester United have massively struggled to find the back of the net over the last couple of years, which has massively held the side back in the Premier League.

The Red Devils have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on numerous attackers under multiple managers, but largely to no avail, as seen by their measly goal tally from 2024/25.

Ruben Amorim’s men only notched a total of 44 league goals last campaign, with two centre forwards, Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, only netting seven goals combined.

The latter has rapidly fallen down the manager’s plans, leaving on a season-long loan to join Serie A side Napoli during the off-season, with such a deal having an option to buy in the summer of 2026.

In an attempt to improve the current first-team squad, many of the fanbase will have been craving a move for one talent who set England’s top-flight alight in recent years.

Alexander Isak’s form against Manchester United

Alexander Isak has been one of the Premier League’s leading attackers over the last couple of years, often being a player to be feared when coming up against the Magpies.

The Swede has registered 54 league goals in his three years in England, ending last year on 23 goals, sitting second in the goalscoring charts as he helped the Magpies secure Champions League qualification.

He is unbeaten in 63% of his matches against the Red Devils, scoring a header in the clash at Old Trafford as Eddie Howe’s side claimed a 2-0 win back in December.

Isak stated his desire to leave St James’ Park this summer, subsequently joining United’s rivals Liverpool in an English record £125m transfer on deadline day.

Such a move has massively strengthened Arne Slot’s side for the 2025/26 campaign, which could inflict more pain in the Derby matches for Amorim’s men in the near future.

The prospect of the Swede linking up with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitiké is a dangerous one for the rest of England’s top-flight, with such a trio making the Reds favourites to retain their league title.

However, despite the business conducted elsewhere, the Red Devils have also landed numerous top-quality talents who could also make themselves fan favourites at the Theatre of Dreams.

Man United's Isak-level signing

In an attempt to avoid a repeat of 2024/25, the United hierarchy splashed £200m on three new attackers during the summer to inject the needed added quality to the frontline.

Matheus Cunha was the first to make the move, joining in a £62.5m transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers after scoring 15 times in England’s top-flight last campaign.

The Brazilian has been joined by Benjamin Sesko in the final third, costing a fee in the region of £74m from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig – filling the void left by Hojlund’s departure.

The third and final player added to the attacking department was Bryan Mbeumo, with the Cameroonian arriving from English outfit Brentford as an “unplayable” star in the words of Thomas Frank.

His addition set the club back £71m, including add-ons – a mammoth sum of money, but one that could prove worthwhile after he scored 20 times in the top-flight last time around.

The 26-year-old was one of just five players in the division to achieve a total of 20 goals or more in the Premier League – highlighting the talent the club have on their books at present.

Such a move is similar to that of Isak to Liverpool this summer, with both players falling into the aforementioned bracket for goals scored in 2024/25.

Both players will be hoping to repeat similar feats at their new clubs this campaign, but for the Red Devils’ sake – they will hope Mbeumo can add further goals to add to his dominance over the Swede.

When comparing the pair’s respective stats in the league from 2024/25, Mbeumo managed to better Isak in numerous areas, subsequently highlighting the excellent addition made by Amorim and Co.

The Cameroonian, who’s been labelled “world-class” by Statman Dave, posted a better shot on target accuracy rate (44%) and a higher goal per shot on target rate (0.5).

Such numbers highlight the clinical edge he possesses within the final third, arguably making him a more threatening option than the English-record signing.

He also completed more of the take-ons he attempted (47%) whilst carrying the ball into the opposition’s box per 90 (2.1) – further highlighting his talent when in possession.

If he can replicate such numbers during his time at Old Trafford, Mbeumo may have all the tools to help the Red Devils return to their former glory in the near future.

It remains to be seen if he can once again outperform Isak in 2025/26, but if he does, his £71m transfer fee may be a bargain – especially if he can lead the side to any form of silverware.

Worth more than Baleba: Man Utd have struck gold on "generational" talent

Manchester United already have a big-money talent on their books despite missing out on Carlos Baleba.

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By
Ethan Lamb

Sep 10, 2025