Neymar agrees new five-year contract with Barcelona

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Neymar agrees new five-year contract with Barcelona - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Barcelona forward Neymar has agreed a new five-year contract which will tie him up to the La Liga giants until the summer of 2021 and end speculation about his future.

Club president Josep Bartomeu revealed earlier this week that the Brazilian attacker has no intention to leave the Spanish champions and that the club expect Neymar to sign a contract extension to ward off interest from a host of elite European clubs.

“Neymar does not want to leave Barca and we don’t want him to go. In the next few days we will announce his contract renewal for five seasons.” Bartomeu said in a news conference on Thursday.

“It’s normal that many clubs are interested in Neymar but our club members need to be calm because our club’s lawyers and Neymar will iron out the minor details in the coming days.”

The 24-year-old was reportedly targeted by Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Real Madrid and his agent Wagner Ribeiro even went on to claim that three European clubs were prepared to pay the player’s £157 million release clause this summer.

Ever since, however, Barcelona have acted swiftly to keep the Brazilian at the club, who has created an outstanding connection with his fellow club strikers Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to form a deadly attacking trio at Camp Nou.

Neymar confirmed his stay at Barcelona by posting a picture on social media with a message: “Very happy to continue living that dream! Long live Barca! Long live Catalonia!”

The former Santos striker scored 27 goals and provided 16 assists last season as Barcelona clinched La Liga and Copa Del Rey for two seasons in the running.

Neymar, who is represented by the football agency NN Consultoria, also released a statement to confirm that the 24-year-old has decided to extend his stay at the Spanish club.

“The athlete, along with his family, has decided to stay with FC Barcelona and will renew his contract for five more years,” the statement said.

“The contract will be formalised this week. The decision puts an end to speculation about the star’s future.”

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Ibrahimovic confirms he will join Manchester United

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Ibrahimovic confirms he will join Manchester United - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has confirmed his widely anticipated move to Manchester United this summer by posting an image on his official twitter account.

The former Paris Saint Germain striker posted a picture on the social media website with Man Utd’s club logo and a caption, ‘Time to let the world know. My next destination is Man Utd.’

Ibrahimovic is expected to fly in to Manchester later this week to seal his long-awaited move to Old Trafford this summer and is expected to sign a one-year contract to reunite with his former Inter Milan boss.

The 34-year-old scored a career-high of 38 goals in 31 league appearances for PSG this campaign, to lift his fourth-straight Ligue 1 title in as many years in the French capital.

Ibrahimovic, who will join the Premier League giants on a free transfer, will become Jose Mourinho’s second signing at Man Utd after the club landed former Villarreal defender Eric Bailly for a reported fee of £30 million.

The Swedish centre forward ended his international career earlier this month following his national team’s elimination in the group stages of the Euro 16.

Ibrahimovic will be expected to be followed by Borussia Dortmund playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan to sign for the Red Devils this summer, after the Bundesliga club reportedly accepted a £26.3 million transfer fee for the Armenian skipper.

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Copa America Champions Chile Could Face Euro 2016 Winner

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Copa America Champions Chile Could Face Euro 2016 Winner - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Copa America 2016 Champions Chile could face a one-off match with the Euro 2016 winner in the coming months. Although nothing has been decided yet, but chances are high that a one-off game will take place.

At first, hardly anyone took it seriously when CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez proposed the option for a match to be played between the Copa America champions and the Euro 2016 winners, but now it seems efforts are bring made to put the plans into action.

Dominguez has revealed that a formal proposal has been submitted to UEFA for a match to be played against the European champions.

“We have received a positive response from UEFA about a match between the Copa America and Euro champions. We will study a viable date to set,” Dominguez posted via his official Twitter account.

The game is subject to the schedule of both nations, with Chile will be preparing themselves for the World Cup qualifiers in the coming months.

This year, Copa held a special edition to celebrate their 100th year and for the first time, the tournament was being held outside South America.

Argentina looked like clear favourites to win the trophy but it was Chile who emerged triumphant in the end beating Tata Martino’s side 4-2 on penalties. Chile waited 99 years to lift their first trophy in any major competition, they now have won two in a row, having won the previous Copa America edition in 2015.

If the match takes place, at all, it will be seen a special edition and will serve as a prelude to the Artemio Franchi Trophy.

The tournament has been held twice before (1985, 1993) between the winners of the Copa and Euros.

In 1985, France (1984 Euro Champions) defeated Uruguay 2-0 at Parc des Princes. In 1993, Argentina won 5-4 against Denmark on penalties, after it finished 1-1 at the normal time.

The third edition of the Trophy will be played at March 2018 in Milan, Italy and will comprise of four teams by adding the runners-up of both Copa America 2015 and Euro 2016 tournaments.

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Wales vs Belgium: Chelsea winger to return from injury, Manchester United star to miss out, Possible starting XI, Live stream

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Wales vs Belgium: Chelsea winger to return from injury, Manchester United star to miss out, Possible starting XI, Live stream - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Euro 2016 Championships

Date: Friday, 1st July 2016 

Time: 20:00 BST 

Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille

Live Stream: Watch Euro 2016 Live Online 

 

Last time when Wales were in the quarterfinals of a major tournament, it was in the 1958 World Cup. A 17-year-old Pele scored his first goal for the Selecao to end Wales’ dream run. It has taken 58 years for the nation to find themselves back into a major competition.

If they lose against Belgium, they will go back to their nation as heroes. They will receive a warm welcome. But Wales are not thinking of returning early. Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale says Wales are the Belgians’ “bogey team” and that he is confident of beating Marc Wilmots’ side on Friday.

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During the Euro qualifiers, Wales went to Brussels and earned a hard fought 0-0 draw. When the two sides met again at the Cardiff City in June 2015, Bale scored the only goal in a 1-0 win. Surely, Bale has every reason to feel confident about. Bale is 11/2 with Ladbrokes to score the opening goal of the match.

“We know we have done well and the country is proud of us even if we do get knocked out,” Bale said prior to the match. “But we want to keep going, we want to keep riding this wave. We want to go as far as we can and try to win the tournament.”

Wales have a fully fit squad to choose from but Chris Coleman is sweating on the fitness of captain Ashley Williams who picked up a shoulder injury in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.

We all know Belgium have a world class star-studded squad but somehow one gets the feel that Marc Wilmots hasn’t been able to get the best out of his players. But considering how the draw has panned out, Belgium now stand as one of the hot favourites to win the trophy. The Red Devils are 4/5 with Ladbrokes to win the match against Wales.

Belgium suffered a 2-0 defeat in their opening game against Italy but they have bounced back strongly winning next three games on the trot, including a 4-0 win against Hungary that put them into the last eight.

Thomas Vermaelen is suspended for this game after he picked up his second booking in Belgium’s last game on Sunday.

Wilmots has a big decision to make as to who partners Toby Alderweireld at the heart of defence. Jan Vertonghen is the obvious choice but throughout the tournament the Spurs defender has been used as a left-back. In such a scenario, Jason Denayer could come in as centre-back though he has dropped the pecking orders and remains to be seen whether Wilmots is ready to expose him in front of a pacy forward like Bale. Romelu Lukaku’s brother Jordan Lukaku might get a surprise call-up at left back.

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard suffered a minor injury against Hungary but he is fit enough to play. Radja Nainggolan to once again start in midfield while Manchester United’s Fellaini is likely to miss out.

Possible Wales starting line-up: Hennessey, Chester, Williams, Davies, Taylor, Ramsey, Ledley, Allen, Gunter, Bale, Vokes

Possible Belgium starting line-up: Courtois, Vertonghen, Denayer, Alderweireld, Meunier, Nainggolan, Witsel, Hazard, Bruyne, Mertens, Lukaku


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Euro 2016: Ronaldo vs Lewandowski - The battle of two great forwards

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Euro 2016: Ronaldo vs Lewandowski - The battle of two great forwards - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When Poland take on Portugal in the first quarterfinal at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, the whole world will keep an eye on two of the finest forwards of this generation, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski.

Ronaldo started his career as a winger who operated mainly from the right. He had (and still has) a frightening pace and used to torment defenders with his dazzling skills. Following a move to Manchester United, and especially under the watchful eye of Sir Alex Ferguson, he gradually developed himself into a matured forward.

The technique was always there, it only got better, but where he went a massive change is in his understanding of the tactical side of the game. Not only he improved on his positional awareness, did learn to play across all positions up front, but he was now being able to score plenty of goals and creating for others as well.

With the passage of time at Real Madrid, Ronaldo has transformed his game completely. Gone are those days of flashy moves and crazy dribblings, instead he has turned into a great goal scorer. The boy from Madiera has scored over 50 goals in each of his last six seasons compared to 30-average prior to that shows his massive transformation.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, is a typical #9. The boy Polish supporters lovingly call as ‘Bobek’ has a similar background to Ronaldo. Like the Portuguese, he has had a difficult upbringing and lost his father when he was just 16. He was so thin and lanky that many thought he could do a better job as a runner. Little they knew one day he would become Poland’s poster boy and one of the best strikers in the world.

Unlike Ronaldo, who already grabbed the media limelight at an early age due to his high-profile move to Manchester United, very few or hardly anyone knew about Lewandowski when he started his playing career.

In the summer of 2010, Jurgen Klopp, then Dortmund manager signed a ‘hidden gem’ out of nowhere. He needed a striker to replace Lucas Barrios and took a gamble with an ‘unknown element’ Lewandowski. He was initially forced to play at no 10, a role that he didn’t like but a year later he understood how much it helped him developing into a complete player. Klopp made him the striker what he is today.

‘You have become a better player. Then I realised why the coach had asked me to play as a No.10; he made me a more complete player,” said Lewandowski in an interview last year.

Lewandowski was slowly becoming a star in Dortmund but the entire world took notice of him seriously when he scored four goals against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in the Champions League some three years back. No more was he seen as a ‘talent’. He etched him name into “world class” category.

Both Ronaldo and Lewandowski are different types of forwards with different types of skillsets. Ronaldo, in general, is very good at dribbling and his strength lies in acceleration. His ball control is immaculate and at 31 he is still capable of beating players with pace, sharp dribbles and strength easily. Lewandowski is a typical modern day striker who brings lot more to the game than just simply scoring goals. Unlike Ronaldo, he doesn’t get a free role especially when he is playing for his country where he often drops deep to make room for other forwards. He is not a great dribbler but his close control is excellent and can make room for himself and move forward at a pace even within a cramped space.

Both of them are very good at shooting from distance and are equally brilliant with their headers. Ronaldo has this unbelievable capability to head a ball from spot jump. It requires a very dificult skill-set and not many players in the world is good at that like the Portuguese. The interesting thing about Ronaldo’s heading technique is how accurately he gives direction to the ball despite jumping so high from a spot. Lewandowski’s biggest strength is his situational awareness and the timing of his jump is almost perfect everytime and that’s why he scores a lot of goals through headers.

Lewandowski has scored 42 goals for Bayern Munich in 2015/16 including five goals against Wolfsburg in the space of just eight minutes and 59 seconds. While Ronaldo is a goal machine, but Lewandowski is probably more of a natural finisher.

Interestingly, both these forwards have had struggled in Euro 2016 so far. While Ronaldo have scored twice against Hungary and provided an assist for Quaresma against Croatia, Lewandowski so far has yet to open his account. His did create some lovely goal scoring opportunities for his striker partner Arkadiusz Milik but apart from that he has had a very dull campaign.

Polish supporters are already proud of their team for making it to the quarterfinals and probably they won’t be disheartened too much if they lose to Portugal. But one thing is for sure, the fans will surely feel bad if Lewandowski fails to score a single goal in Euro 2016.

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Versatile forward completes Liverpool transfer; Five year deal agreed

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Versatile forward completes Liverpool transfer; Five year deal agreed - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Liverpool striker Jerome Sinclair has agreed to leave the Anfield giants for Watford.

The highly talented young striker was out of contract at the end of June and has now agreed to join the Hornets.

Watford reportedly agreed a fee of 4 million pounds for the talented front-man.

Earlier this summer there were reports that the English forward is not too keen on staying at Anfield beyond this summer.
The Watford official website has confirmed that Sinclair has agreed a 5-year-deal with the club.

Sinclair is represented by Aidy Ward, the agent who orchestrated Raheem Sterling’s move to Manchester City last season.

Sinclair is one of the best youth players at Liverpool and the fans will certainly be disappointed with him leaving them. Liverpool have also lost the likes of Jordan Rossiter and Teixeira this summer. They could also sell Sergi Canos after a contract dispute.

His departure is a bit of surprise considering how good Jurgen Klopp is at developing young players. Furthermore, joining Watford is a massive step down for Sinclair.

The young forward scored his first senior goal for Liverpool against Exeter this season and is also the youngest ever debutant in the history of the club. Sinclair has attracted a lot of attention from other Premier League sides due to his explosive style of play. He can also operate out wide as well as a central striker.

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Top quality European star joining Man Utd, reveals move with text message

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Top quality European star joining Man Utd, reveals move with text message - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s transfer to Manchester United should be made official soon.

The Armenian midfielder will join Jose Mourinho’s team after turning down a new contract at the Westfalenstadion.

Mkhitaryan has 12 months left on his current contract and could leave on a free next summer. Therefore, Dortmund have decided to cash in on the Bundesliga star now.

Dortmund executive Watzke confirmed earlier this week that a decision will be made on the player’s future soon and that Manchester United have submitted a considerable offer for him.

According to latest reports, Dortmund are very unhappy with the player’s behaviour. Mkhitaryan and his agent Raiola have forced Dortmund into selling. His agent has also used the press to criticise the German outfit.

All of this was after the player and his agent agreed a new contract with the club back in May. Dortmund’s new deal was worth around 7 million Euros per season.

The report also adds that Mkhitaryan informed Thomas Tuchel about his Manchester United move through a text message.

‘I go to Manchester United’, his text message read. 

As things stand, this is messy situation for Dortmund and with the player and his agent holding all the cards, it is better for them to get rid and move on.

The German giants have lost a star player for free in the past and doing so again would be nothing short of ridiculous.

Manchester United’s offer for the Armenian is thought to be around 40 million Euros and for a player in the last year of his contract, that is a considerable amount of money.

As for the Premier League club, Mkhitaryan would be an outstanding signing. The Borussia Dortmund man contributed to 44 goals last season and would be an instant improvement on Mata and Rooney.

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Barcelona failed with €80m Dybala move

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Barcelona failed with €80m Dybala move - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

La Liga giants Barcelona failed with a mega-money bid for Juventus’ star striker Paulo Dybala earlier this summer, the player’s agent has revealed.

The 22-year-old joined the Turin club last summer from Palermo for a reported fee of €40 million, providing nine assists and netting 19 league goals this campaign to become Serie A’s second highest goal scorer.

The Argentine has attracted interest from several elite European clubs including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona and according to the striker’s agent Gustavo Mascardi, the Spanish champions failed with a transfer bid worth around €80 for Dybala, with the player said to be focused on his future at Juventus to acquire maximum playing time.

“When I speak with Paulo, I know that the lad is really on the right track,” Mascardi told Gazzetta dello Sport. “His career at Juventus has only just begun. As for his future, the transfer market can offer a lot of temptations, but Paulo has shown himself to have clear ideas.

“It’s true that in recent months Barcelona were interested in La Joya, I think they made a bid of double what the Bianconeri paid.

“But the player’s first consideration was that it was more important to consolidate his experience at a club which is giving him the opportunity to succeed at the highest levels.”

Nicknamed La Joya (The Jewel), Dybala is dubbed as one of the best young prospects in the game currently and is considered as a genuine contender for the Ballon d’Or award in the near future.

A host of European clubs could be set for an odious tug-of-war for the highly talented striker, if and when Dybala opts to leave Juventus to push on with his outstanding start to his playing career.

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Euro 2016: Who will Survive the Exodus after Spain’s Elimination?

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Euro 2016: Who will Survive the Exodus after Spain’s Elimination? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Italy’s 2-0 win over Spain in the last 16 of Euro 2016 spelled the end for Vicente del Bosque’s side in the competition, with many even hailing the defeat as the end for La Roja’s ‘Golden Generation’ after successive major international tournament failures.

The manner in which Antonio Conte’s Italy dominated the Spanish at the Stade de France in Paris on Monday was testament to the fact that Spain have lost the fear factor which helped them to successive European Championships in 2008 and 2012, as well as their first ever World Cup in 2014.

The Azzurri covered 117.8km during the game, a full 7.8km further than Spain, with Spain keeper David de Gea arguably keeping the score to just 2-0 with a series of fine saves as Italy ran Spain ragged. Vicente del Bosque looks odds-on to step down as Spain manager in the aftermath, with a number of the so-called Golden Generation not getting any younger.

1467046425236_lc_galleryImage_Spain_s_Sergio_Busquets_a

Del Bosque failed to adjust tactically to Conte’s imposing style, with his bringing on of 35-year-old striker Aritz Aduriz on at half-time for the ineffective Nolito particularly baffling considering La Roja’s need to an injection of pace and guile.

Aduriz of Athletic Bilbao will have played his last match for his country, and there will be question marks over a fair few others as Spain inquest begins.

Defence

The future of Spain’s defence looks secure, with a number of highly talented individuals either at the peak of their powers or now coming through the ranks. Both Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique had poor games against Italy, with the latter dropping too deep amid waves of Italian pressure. Ramos was out-of-sorts, but remains, with Pique, as one of the top ten best defenders in world football.

Spain’s Euro 2016 exit must surely spell the end for captain Iker Casillas, who has already been ousted by the brilliant David de Gea in the starting lineup. The 35-year-old Porto keeper was partly to blame for his nation’s premature exit in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and has little chance of regaining the gloves.

Premier League duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Hector Bellerin are surely future Spanish starters with both young and extremely talented.

Midfield

While the defence pretty tight, the Spanish midfield looks a little shaky. Chelsea man Cesc Fabregas, despite having an awful season, was given plenty of responsibility in the middle of the park along with Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, with the latter looking sluggish of late.

Round of 16 Italy vs Spain

Iniesta is not getting any younger and will be 34 in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Manchester City man David Silva will be 32 in that tournament, with Koke and Thiago currently in the frame to take the midfield mantle.

Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke is a tidy operator but is often utilised on the wing by his club and is yet to make the jump to truly world class. Bayern Munich man Thiago is one of Pep Guardiola’s favourites but can be seen as lightweight and a bit of a flair player.

The emergence of a truly special midfield talent next season would be timely. First there was Xavi and Iniesta, now there’s just Iniesta. Soon, Spain’ll need a new pair.

Attack

Alvaro Morata is the current striker for Spain, with the 23-year-old the joint-top scorer at Euro 2016. The attacker has moved back to Real Madrid from Serie A side Juventus this summer after a decent season in Turin. However, Morata is not a great goalscorer and bagged just 12 goals in 47 games. In Fernando Torres’ last season at Chelsea, he scored 11 goals in 41.

Del Bosque also took the ageing Aduriz, Real Madrid bench player Lucas Vasquez, Chelsea outcast Pedro and the heralded Nolito after a good season at Celta Vigo.

Croatia+v+Spain+Group+UEFA+Euro+2016+TdLQVmww9X0l

Other than the above, Jesse of Real Madrid and Diego Costa of Chelsea are the only other options currently open to Spain. Eyebrows were raised when Costa failed to make the cut for Euro 2016, but for a striker to thrive on the international stage, they need to possess more guile and more ingenuity than the 27-year-old is able to provide and show the quality to get past their man and create opportunities off their own back to score against well-drilled and concentrated defences.

Spain simply lack a natural goalscorer that is also technically proficient to reflect the quality of the rest of the team.

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Brazil squad: Chelsea's €42m target, Anderson, Barcelona duo included in Olympic lineup

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Brazil squad: Chelsea's €42m target, Anderson, Barcelona duo included in Olympic lineup - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

After a disappointing Copa America Centenario campaign, Brazil now turn their attention towards winning the gold medal in Olympic on their home soil.

Two years after their devastating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-final, Brazil are looking to bring smile back to the home supporters with a gold medal to their three silver medals, two bronze and five World Cup titles already.

Brazil have selected a young squad for Olympics, with Neymar, Douglas Costa of Bayern Munich and goalkeeper Fernando Prass, 37, are the only three players aged over 23 in the side.

Neymar, who missed the Copa America, will play in the Olympics and lead the side.

Following a humiliating Copa campaign, head coach Dunga was fired from the job. Corinthians boss Tite was named to replace him but stand-in coach Rogerio Micale will take charge of the squad in Olympics before Tite takes over.

PSG’s Marquinhos, who is also a reported €42m target of Premier League giants Chelsea, adds experience in the defence. Likewise, Manchester United target Felipe Anderson will also look to impress while Barcelona’s Rafinha adds depth to the team.

However, Brazil have a solid attacking line up with Neymar, Costa and Gabriel Barbosa will be looking to make a strong impression in front of the home crowd.

Brazil squad for 2016 Olympics:

Goalkeepers: Fernando Prass (Palmeiras), Uilson (Atletico Mineiro)

Defenders: Luan (Vasco), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo), Marquinhos (Paris SG/FRA), Douglas Santos (Atletico Mineiro), William (Internacional), Zeca (Santos)

Midfielders: Rafinha (Barcelona/ESP), Rodrigo Dourado (Internacional), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Thiago Maia (Santos), Felipe Anderson (Lazio/ITA)

Strikers: Neymar (Barcelona/ESP), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich/GER), Gabriel Barbosa (Santos), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Luan (Gremio)

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Why £33m midfielder will be a terrific signing for Man Utd

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Why £33m midfielder will be a terrific signing for Man Utd - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United are on the verge of signing one of Europe’s top playmakers if reports are anything to go by.

We reported earlier this week that the Red Devils are closing in on the Borussia Dortmund attacker, with the latest reports suggesting that the German Bundesliga side have accepted a £33 million bid from the Premier League giants.

José Mourinho has been widely-expected to land a new playmaker as one of his transfers this summer after United scored a club record low 49 goals last season.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan would bring a different type of playmaker to United.  The Armenian international loves to run at defences and have more pops at goal than Juan Mata has had during his past two-and-a-half years.

Based on history, Juan Mata could be shipped out this summer as Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea when he flogged him off to Old Trafford January 2013, then with David Moyes in charge of the Premier League giants.

It has been a frustrating two-and-a-half years for the Spaniard in and out of the side under Louis van Gaal and often being played out on the right wing.  Whilst it’s not a given that Mourinho will ship him out during this summer transfer window, at least until he is replaced the midfield upgraded, many don’t expect Mata to be around for too long.

The Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder is both a creator and goalscorer – scoring 11 goals and adding a further 15 assists in his 31 Bundesliga appearances this past season.  Compare that to Mata who had five goals and six assists in his 38 appearances in a United shirt this past season.

Mourinho’s decision to sell Mata from Chelsea was down to his off-the-ball effort, or lack of.  Mkhitaryan works hard off the ball to win it back often setting up counter attacks from inside his own half.  He is a lot quicker than Mata and loves driving at defenders which would be another asset to United.

Juan Mata was given both the number 10 and right wing roles this past season under Louis van Gaal where he had a number of quiet games when not playing in the middle.  In contrast, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been successful playing on the right, left and middle in a 4-2-3-1 formation.  Granted the level of opposition is a lot lower when playing for Borussia Dortmund than playing for any Premier League side.

Manchester United’s recent previous experience in dealings with Borussia Dortmund is Shinji Kagawa.  Signed by Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of the 2012-13 season, the Japanese international had been a star in Germany with his quick, short passing and movement inside the penalty area.  However, Kagawa never made much of an impact in England aside from a hat-trick versus Norwich City. He was in and out of the side in his first season before being very limited with his opportunities in his second season, under David Moyes, before returning to the Signal Iduna Arena.

So where would Mourinho play his potential £33 million signing?  Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s versatility means he can quite literally fill in the weakest gap.  Currently United don’t have a right winger, whilst Wayne Rooney spent a lot of last season in the number 10 and Mourinho was a big fan of the England captain whilst Chelsea manager.  Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay and Ashley Young are all options on the left wing, though the latter is expected to leave this summer and the former is a contender to be moved back up front.

The summer transfer window hasn’t officially opened and with more than two months to purchase players it’s far too early to predict where Mkhitaryan would line up in the United starting XI, assuming they do go on to sign him.  One thing’s for sure, he’d certainly be an upgrade on the current team and an excellent signing to help Manchester United challenge for the 2016-17 Premier League titles.

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Lukaku: Manchester United's £94m target better than Chelsea superstar

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Lukaku: Manchester United's £94m target better than Chelsea superstar - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Belgium defender Jordan Lukaku, brother of Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, believes that Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale is a better player than his national team skipper Eden Hazard.

Jordan, 21, plays as a left-back for Oostende and is a member of 23-man Belgium squad for Euro 2016, although he has yet to feature in the tournament so far.

Belgium will play Wales on Friday in the quarterfinals, and ahead of the match, Lukaku has singled out Aaron Ramsey and Bale as the dangermen for Chris Coleman’s team.

He went on to reveal his admiration for Bale claiming the Welshman is a slightly better player than Chelsea winger Hazard and says that Belgium will devise a plan to stop both Ramsey and Bale from dominating the game.

“Bale is for me perhaps slightly higher than Hazard. He’s been playing longer at that level,” he said as quoted by ESPN.

“At key moments at club level Bale is the man and he stands there, while Hazard is still not consistent.

“The staff will devise a plan to neutralise Bale and Aaron Ramsey because they are the strongest players Wales have. So we will find a way to counter them but it will not be one player, it will be the whole team.”

Bale has enjoyed a superb 2015/16 campaign for Real Madrid and has emerged as an integral part of Zinedine Zidane’s squad, but rumours are abuzz that Premier League giants Manchester United are still interested in signing him and may look to offer a record £94m bid for his signature.

After a poor start to the tournament, where Belgium lost 2-0 to Italy in their opening match, Marc Wilmots’ side have bounced back strongly and are heading to the quarterfinals with full of confidence after beating Hungary 4-0 in their previous match.

Wales may have managed an ugly win against Northern Ireland, thanks to an own goal to reach this far, but they are no pushover either. Belgium failed to beat them in their Group B qualifying campaign with a goalless draw in Brussels, followed up by a 1-0 loss in Cardiff, where Bale scored the winner for Wales.

The winner of this quarterfinal clash will face either Poland or Portugal in the final four on July 7, 2016.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News | Football Blog



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