|
BBC
Arsenal have registered their interest in signing Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford, 24. (Football Insider)
Derby manager Wayne Rooney is Burnley's top choice to replace former boss Sean Dyche. (Sun)
Incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants to sign Juventus and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala, 28. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)
Manchester United have indicated to Napoli they are willing to pay £84m for 23-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen. (La Repubblica - in Italian)
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, whose contract runs out in 2023, wants a new two-year deal as well as a wage increase. The 33-year-old Poland international has been linked with a move to Barcelona. (Marca)
Liverpool are considering a summer move for Monaco's 22-year-old France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. (Mail)
Real Madrid want to sign Tchouameni and bring in 29-year-old France midfielder Paul Pogba, whose contract at Manchester United runs out in the summer. (El Nacional - in Catalan)
Tottenham will listen to offers for Spain left-back Sergio Reguilon, 25, amid interest from an unnamed Spanish club. (Football Insider)
Manchester United have been invited to bid for Wolves' Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 25. (Manchester Evening News)
Crystal Palace are considering a loan move for Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The 24-year-old came through the youth ranks at Palace and made 42 first-team appearances. (Athletic)
Southampton will not listen to offers for 27-year-old England midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who is believed to be of interest to Newcastle United and Tottenham. (Mail)
Napoli have decided against signing Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe on a permanent deal. The 24-year-old has been on loan at the Serie A club since January but has made only one league appearance. (Calciomercato, via Sun)
West Ham and Aston Villa are among the teams in contention to sign Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez, 30, from Qatari side Al Rayyan. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Galatasaray and Denmark centre-back Victor Nelsson, 23, has been linked with a move to Aston Villa. (Tum Spor - in Turkish)
Aberdeen have granted Leeds permission to speak to 18-year-old Scottish right-back Calvin Ramsay. (Football Insider)
Norwich boss Dean Smith wants to sign Aston Villa's 20-year-old English striker Cameron Archer, who is on loan at Preston. (TeamTalk)
Premier League referees Martin Atkinson and Jonathan Moss will retire at the end of the season. (Telegraph)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY MAIL
The group led by US tycoon Todd Boehly are leading the race to buy Chelsea, according to rivals.
Wolves boss Bruno Lage says the club have slapped a £100m price tag on Ruben Neves amid rumoured interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham.
West Ham have said they will ban any supporters found to have attacked foreign journalists during their side's defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals - after two reporters alleged they were struck at the London Stadium.
Southampton will tell their Premier League rivals James Ward-Prowse is not for sale as they gear up for a battle to keep their captain this summer.
Wolves are set to be without Max Kilman for the rest of the season in a huge blow to their hopes of European qualification.
Mauricio Pochettino has vowed he will be staying as manager of Paris Saint-Germain and that star man Kylian Mbappe would also remain at the club.
Former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka has called for a 'reaction' against Wimbledon from the women's tour in response to player bans this year.
THE SUN
Tammy Abraham has refused to rule out a return to England amid rumours linking him with a switch to Arsenal.
Manchester United and Liverpool have been slapped with £8k fines by UEFA after Atletico boss Diego Simeone was pelted by fans at Old Trafford and the Reds caused a delay in their kick-off against Benfica.
AC Milan are the latest club set to be taken over by billionaire Arab owners.
Arsenal have registered their interest in Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, reports suggest.
AC Milan have opened contract talks with rumoured Arsenal target Rafael Leao, according to reports.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Martin Atkinson and Jonathan Moss, two experienced Premier League referees, will retire at the end of this season.
Rob Key has signalled an end to England's rest and rotation policy after admitting that the Test team are "a long, long way away" from Australia's level.
Fewer than half of cricket fans believe the sport has a problem with racism despite the major furore in recent months sparked by the Azeem Rafiq case, according to a new survey.
DAILY MIRROR
Jurgen Klopp committing to a new contract that will extend his stay as Liverpool manager to 2026 could convince star players Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to agree fresh deals of their own this summer.
Manchester United have been dealt a blow in their hopes of signing Frenkie de Jong this summer after Barcelona's former boss Ronald Koeman poured cold water over suggestions the club will cash in on the Dutch midfielder this summer.
Manchester United are reportedly leading the race to sign Victor Osimhen this summer as Erik ten Hag looks to bolster their ranks up front.
THE TIMES
Manchester City are hopeful Kyle Walker will be available for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid next week.
The three bidders vying to buy Chelsea have been left stunned by a request to raise their offers by £500m - even though the US bank leading the sale is expected to identify the preferred candidate within days.
The Premier League is to change the way it handles scrutiny of club takeovers after it was revealed that a law firm run by its interim chairman did the bulk of the work.
DAILY EXPRESS
Ralf Rangnick won't speak to his Manchester United successor Erik ten Hag until mid-May.
Aberdeen star Calvin Ramsay has admitted "it's good" to be linked with a summer transfer to Liverpool.
Tottenham Hotspur have received an encouraging boost in their hopes of bringing Christian Eriksen back to the club this summer.
Arsenal will likely look to sign a new right-back this summer as reports claim Cedric Soares will leave at the end of the season.
Chelsea could thwart Manchester United's summer transfer plans by hijacking the Red Devils' interest in Villarreal centre-back Pau Torres.
DAILY RECORD
St Pauli could yet battle Hearts and Aberdeen to land Wolves midfielder Connor Ronan this summer.
St Mirren will sign Trevor Carson from Dundee United this summer for a nominal fee and is poised to reunite with his former Morecambe manager Stephen Robinson.
The Northern Ireland international is poised to reunite with manager Stephen Robinson when the new season kicks off.
Calum Butcher may have kicked his last ball for Dundee United as Tam Courts revealed the midfielder won't play for the club again this season.
SCOTTISH SUN
Hundreds of Rangers fans have been heard singing a banned sectarian song on the streets of Leipzig ahead of the Europa League semi-final.
Former Manchester United and Rangers star Henning Berg is in the running to become the next manager of Hibs.
Guardian
West Ham face uphill task after Kamada rewards Eintracht Frankfurt dominance
Jacob Steinberg at the London Stadium
In the end the only consolation for West Ham was that they are still alive. Nobody should mistake this for a hard-luck story, even if Jarrod Bowen was desperately unfortunate to hit the bar with an overhead kick in added time. The reality is that Eintracht Frankfurt were dominant for long spells and, when David Moyes picks through his side’s messy performance, his overriding emotion will be relief that West Ham’s hopes of reaching the Europa League final have not been consigned to dust.
Equally there is much for West Ham to improve before they travel to Germany next week. For a start they will have to take far more care in possession. At times West Ham simply seemed to be forcing the issue, almost as if the emotion of their first European semi-final in 46 years had dented their focus, and for all their endeavour it was difficult to remember much in the way of control as they strained to contain Eintracht, who will feel disappointed not to have departed with more than a 2-1 lead.
Angeliño (centre) celebrates with Josko Gvardiol (right) and Marcel Halstenberg after scoring for RB Leipzig
For West Ham, the signs had felt ominous from the moment the electrifying Ansgar Knauff put Eintracht ahead after 50 seconds. It was galling for Moyes. West Ham tend not to give goals away cheaply but they never looked comfortable dealing with Eintracht’s counterattacks. There were plenty of openings for the Bundesliga side and while West Ham fought hard, levelling through Michail Antonio, it felt fitting that the winning goal came from Daichi Kamada, whose nifty footwork and eye for a pass marked him out as the game’s outstanding player.
West Ham’s creative players could not match Kamada. Pablo Fornals was disappointing and Manuel Lanzini’s touch eluded him. Bowen was a pest but lacked composure at crucial moments. Even the set pieces, so often a source of strength for West Ham, were poor. “We didn’t show enough quality,” Moyes said. “Sometimes the opposition make it hard for you.”
Eintracht certainly did that. They were not intimidated by a passionate home crowd after stunning Barcelona in the last round. Oliver Glasner’s side are strong on their travels and it was not a surprise that Kamada was involved when they sucked the energy out of the stadium by scoring with their first attack.
It was a beautifully worked goal, Kamada carrying the ball down the left, Rafael Borré spinning on the edge of the area. West Ham, who had taken encouragement from Kurt Zouma returning from injury to partner Craig Dawson in central defence, did not even seem to realise they were in trouble. There was too much room for Borré to turn and when the striker sent a curling cross behind Fornals it was almost as if he knew Knauff would be arriving at the far post, hurtling in from right wing-back to head past Alphonse Areola.
West Ham looked shocked. Had Moyes rushed Zouma back too soon? The defence looked edgy and it took a while for West Ham to shake their heads clear. Even Declan Rice was struggling to assert himself in midfield and there were times when Frankfurt, who posed problems with their enterprising 3-4-2-1 system, threatened to extend their lead.
Yet West Ham fought. They soon imposed themselves and the equaliser should have arrived when Antonio combined with Tomas Soucek, who sent Bowen racing clear. The winger’s low finish looked good enough, only for Kevin Trapp to guide the shot on to the left post.
Back came West Ham, pushing again. The concern for Eintracht, who were missing the influential Kristijan Jakic and Evan Ndicka, was how they would fare physically. It was easy to see why when Lanzini lifted a free-kick to the far post in the 21st minute, Zouma headed across goal and Antonio volleyed West Ham level from close range.
Finally the tension was lifted, Antonio threatening to score again after an error from Almamy Touré, though Eintracht remained menacing on the break. At times West Ham’s players did not know who to pick up and it was hard not to feel for Aaron Cresswell as the left-back strained to keep up with Knauff, who kept making the same angled run and almost restored Eintracht’s lead just before half-time.
Eintracht were impressive. Their movement was too quick, the interplay too sharp. West Ham could not cope and they were behind again when Djibril Sow surged through midfield after 54 minutes, played a one-two with Jesper Lindstrøm and tried to place a low finish past Areola, who parried the ball into the path of Kamada and watched helplessly as the midfielder put the rebound away.
West Ham had it all to do. While Saïd Benrahma clipped the woodwork with a bending effort after replacing Lanzini, an equaliser rarely felt likely. More precision was required and there were howls from the crowd when Benrahma fired over with Antonio unmarked in the middle.
It summed up West Ham’s night, though Eintracht will have doubts of their own. Will they regret Kamada’s deflected shot hitting the woodwork at 2-1? It was a huge escape for West Ham and they will take confidence from Eintracht’s average home form. This tie is not over yet.
West Ham vowed to take action after two German radio reporters were allegedly attacked by supporters of the Premier League club during their Europa League semi-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tim Brockmeier and Philipp Hofmeister are understood to have been jumped on by West Ham fans after Michail Antonio drew David Moyes’s side level in the 21st minute at the London Stadium. According to reports in the German newspaper Bild, Hofmeister revealed live on air that Brockmeier’s headset had been ripped off and thrown to the floor.
Hofmeister is reported to have said: “We are being attacked here. They threw the headset down on my colleague Tim. I have to sort myself out a bit. We have to see that we can get some security personnel here.”
They are understood to have been moved to another position at half-time. Bild also reported that Hofmeister said during the broadcast: “You constantly have the feeling that something could come from behind, a punch or something. My dreams of English football have been shattered.”
West Ham condemned the incident. A club spokesperson said: “The club is aware of the incident and will be working to identify the offender. In line with our zero-tolerance approach, anyone identified will have their details passed to the police. They will be given an indefinite ban and be unable to enter London Stadium and travel with the club. There is no place for this kind of behaviour.”
The incident overshadowed West Ham’s first European semi-final in 46 years.
There were fears of crowd trouble but it is understood that there were no clashes between supporters inside or outside the ground. West Ham were aware that their supporters had clashed with Eintracht fans in Seville last month and the club worked hard to ensure no visiting fans would be allowed entry to the home sections.
On the pitch Eintracht deservedly took control of the tie before next week’s second leg in Germany. Ansgar Knauff scored after 50 seconds and Daichi Kamada scored the winner early in the second half.
“Ultimately iIt’s a disappointing result for us but we’ve still got another game to play and we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Moyes said. “Hopefully we’ll play better in the second leg. We’ve got a lot to do. We’ve got to show a lot more quality than we did tonight.”
|
