|
BBC
Aston Villa are considering a move for Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 29, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan from Chelsea. (Todo Fichajes - in Spanish)
Manchester United are prepared to sell club captain and England centre-back Harry Maguire, 30, and Sweden defender Victor Lindelof, 28, this summer. (Football Insider)
Manager Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool to offer veteran English midfielder James Milner, 37, a new deal. (Football Insider)
Chelsea are interested in a move for Inter Milan and Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana, 26, in the summer. (InterLive, via Fichajes - in Spanish)
Chelsea and Newcastle are both monitoring former Manchester City forward Brahim Diaz. The 23-year-old Spaniard is currently on loan at AC Milan from Real Madrid but could become available at the end of the season. (Sun)
Arsenal want to sign Galatasaray's French right-back Sacha Boey, 22. (Aksam - in Turkish)
Germany attacking midfielder Marco Reus, 33, wants to stay at Borussia Dortmund, where he is captain, until the end of his career. (Sky Germany - in German)
Tottenham could reignite their interest in Napoli and South Korea centre-back Kim Min-jae, 26, this summer. (Football Insider)
Everton will move for West Ham's Jamaica striker Michail Antonio, 32, in the summer, if they avoid relegation. (Sun)
Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus, 22, hopes to stay at Ajax beyond the end of the season despite interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. (De Telegraaf, via 90min)
Besiktas are preparing to trigger the purchase option in their loan deal for West Ham's Congo defender Arthur Masuaku, 29. (Fanatik, via Inside Futbol)
Former Everton boss Frank Lampard is ready for his next managerial role, nearly two months since he was sacked by the Toffees. (Sun)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Everton will make an ambitious move for West Ham striker Michail Antonio if they beat the drop.
Chelsea and Newcastle are keeping an eye on former Manchester City forward Brahim Diaz.
Several Tottenham players want Antonio Conte to be sacked "now" after being stunned at his weekend rant against them and the club's owners.
Nike and Puma are to stop making football boots from premium kangaroo leather after pressure from animal rights activists and a crackdown in the United States.
Ipswich are planning to make a move for Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop if they secure promotion to the Championship.
DAILY MAIL
Chelsea are plotting a move to sign Napoli's red-hot striker Victor Osimhen in the summer and will include winger Christian Pulisic in a player-plus-cash deal according to reports in Italy.
Steven Gerrard is set to be part of Channel 4's broadcast team for their coverage of the European Championship qualifiers.
Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy will not be linking up with Australia for two friendlies against Ecuador because of a lingering back problem.
Chelsea have been in talks with Premier League rivals Fulham over a four-year ground share while they redevelop Stamford Bridge.
A friendly match between England and Italy supporters has been targeted by hooligans in a chilling development ahead of this week's European Championship qualifier in Naples.
England fans have been left stranded after the FA's official travel partner cancelled their trip to Naples just days before Gareth Southgate's side face Italy in a repeat of the EURO 2020 final.
Tottenham and Antonio Conte have held crisis talks following a stunning verbal assault on his players with chairman Daniel Levy set to gauge opinion before deciding his head coach's future.
Franck Kessie came off the bench to score an injury time winner as Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Madrid and take a 12-point lead in LaLiga.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United and Liverpool could be set to rival each other for the signing of Ruben Neves in the summer.
Liverpool are expecting interest in some of their fringe players from Ajax in the summer with sporting director Julian Ward set to join the Dutch club.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Former referee Keith Hackett says Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic deserves a 10-game suspension for his shove on referee Chris Kavanagh on Sunday.
DAILY MIRROR
Former Newcastle defender Jetro Willems was punched by a supporter as tensions boiled over when Gronignen hosted Heerenveen in the Dutch top-flight.
DAILY STAR
Bayern Munich plan to send Joao Cancelo back to Manchester City at the end of the season.
DAILY RECORD
James Tavernier has called on Rangers to produce an awesome April as they look to make amends for February's Old Firm flop.
Dundee United are set to demand a "VAR summit" after being left furious by a controversial penalty call in their draw with St Mirren on Saturday. Motherwell and Kilmarnock were also critical of weekend decisions made with technological assistance.
The Athletic
Manny Longelo: From ‘hurt’ at West Ham to the first team at Birmingham
By Roshane Thomas
“The day of the game I was so nervous. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t stop thinking about the match and it was so bad I couldn’t sleep. I just kept thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m actually playing’.”
Birmingham City left-back Emmanuel Longelo is reflecting on his European debut for West Ham United. The 22-year-old, also known as Manny, was named man of the match in the 1-0 loss against Dinamo Zagreb in the group stage of the Europa League in December 2021.
“I remember they scored a great goal and I thought this could either go two ways and I’d hate for it to go the bad way,” he says. “But I became more confident during the game. At half-time the manager (David Moyes) praised me and Harrison Ashby. He said, ‘The young boys are full of energy, keep giving them the ball’. That gave me a lot of confidence because he doesn’t normally give compliments.
“My family and friends came to the game. Everyone kept telling me how well I played. I actually thought I didn’t play that well. But then my phone started blowing up after. My family kept telling me I made them proud.”
Longelo is speaking via Zoom from Birmingham City’s training ground. The full-back joined on a season-long loan last summer but it was converted into a permanent deal on deadline day in January, with Longelo signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Under manager John Eustace, he has made 20 league appearances for Championship side Birmingham this season —though has been on the bench for the last few matches — in contrast to having not made another first-team appearance for West Ham after his impressive performance against Dinamo Zagreb.
Speaking of his night of European football, he says: “The build-up to the game was crazy because I was supposed to play against Crystal Palace with the under-21s, but Mark Robson (the under-21s manager) pulled me in his office and said I won’t be travelling.
“I was thinking, ‘What do you mean? Why am I not travelling?’ Then he said it’s because I’ll be training with the first team. Then Mark Noble and Declan Rice came up to me and said, ‘You know you’re playing, right?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, right’. They banter a lot so I just assumed they were joking. But then Dec said, ‘Sixty-thousand people on a European night, hope you’re ready’. Then I realised he was being serious.
“I thought I’d done enough to be around the squad. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It hurt a lot because I started asking myself, ‘What more do I need to do?’ Then I got injured after, which was annoying because I was supposed to go out on loan.”
Longelo joined West Ham when he was 10 and initially played as a forward. But given the number of attacking options, he struggled for game time until he switched position.
“The 2019-20 season I’d just turned first-year pro, but the season before that the under-21s were relegated,” he says. “It was Ricky Martin’s first season in charge as academy director and he couldn’t promise me minutes. It was my first year, they wanted to win promotion, so I didn’t see it as something negative.
“My mindset was, ‘Regardless of what happens, I want to be part of the team’. There was a pre-season tour where I wasn’t really playing. Then I got my chance and I played at right- and left-back. I could’ve been like, ‘This isn’t for me and sacked it off’. But that’s not how I am.
“I gave it my all and Steve Potts (under-21s assistant coach) helped me a lot. He was hard on me but it’s only because he wanted me to improve. Without him being hard on me, I don’t think I would’ve made my debut against Hull City. Then I started watching video clips of Ashley Cole, Marcelo, Dani Alves and Philipp Lahm just so I can add bits to my game.”
He says he wants to improve all areas of his game and believes he is at the right club to fulfil his potential. He stays behind after training at Birmingham to work on his defending with assistant head coach Keith Downing, and he regularly seeks advice from team-mates John Ruddy and Troy Deeney, building on what he learned at West Ham.
“My right foot used to be so bad when I’d take shots or attempt crosses,” he says. “It was so bad people would laugh at me so that made me determined to improve my weaker foot. Ben Male (physical development coach for West Ham’s under-21s) helped me a lot and kept encouraging me to keep working on it. I knew it would pay off one day and it did against QPR. The players signed my shirt and I want to get it framed.
“Everyone has gone out their way to make me feel so welcome. I had to do an initiation song and I was nervous. I went safe and sang Mario’s Let Me Love You and it got a good reaction.”
One of his highlights so far for Birmingham, who are 17th in the table, came in October, when he scored his first senior goal in their 2-0 victory over QPR. He also has two assists in the league.
“I’ve gone from playing under-21s to first-team football and now I’m understanding the importance of three points. It can be the difference between taking care of your family or not. That’s why I’m eager to do well. The fans have been supportive and my message to them is, the best is yet to come.”
|
