⚽ English Premier League Season: 2024/2025

[bastisisca]

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MANCHESTER CITY:
Manchester City manager Guardiola does not know if goalkeeper Ederson will stay or leave for the Saudi Pro League.
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You seem very knowledgeable, I wanted to ask you, do you know if the rumors of Pep Guardiola as England manager are true or are they just fake news or speculation given that Southgate should have left.  Let us know if you have any first-hand news (with sources).  Thank you

[JollyGood]

I am just picking up news from widely available online sources, that is where the knowledge comes from  

Regarding any rumours about Guardiola becoming England manager, I have never read abut any such rumours. He seems to be staying at Manchester City for at least one more season and maybe longer when next season ends. Not many England football fans would be happy at seeing a foreign coach again after the failures between 2001-2006 when Sven-Goran Eriksson was manager and 2008-2011 when Fabio Capello was manager.

In both of the cases, they not bring any success. I saw a report regarding Klopp being asked if he would take the job if the FA offered it to him and he categorically said he would reject it because he resigned from Liverpool in order to take a break from football. The only other foreign manager that stood out on the shortlist was Pochettino.

I think English fans would want to replace Southgate with an English manager or at the very least a foreign manager that has successfully managed in the Premier League.

You seem very knowledgeable, I wanted to ask you, do you know if the rumors of Pep Guardiola as England manager are true or are they just fake news or speculation given that Southgate should have left.  Let us know if you have any first-hand news (with sources).  Thank you

[Distraction]

MANCHESTER CITY:
Manchester City manager Guardiola does not know if goalkeeper Ederson will stay or leave for the Saudi Pro League.

He did say the club did not receive any offers from the Saudi Pro League for De Bruyne therefore he will be staying even though his contract expires at the of next season.

No decision has been made about Kalvin Phillips after he returned to Manchester City following his loan last season to West Ham United. It seems as though Guardiola does not want him and it is best he finds a club that will buy him.

I hope Ederson stays for another season. Otherwise Manchester City doesn't look like they have an intention to fill his place with a new signing. They are okay with continuing Ortega in that case. Ederson would be much more reliable clearly. 

De Bruyne is staying yeah. I think he will still be very useful for the team. His creativity is making an important difference. But after another season I guess he would leave.

MANCHESTER UNITED:
Fulham are trying to sign McTominay.

West Ham United are trying to negotiate a deal for Wan-Bissaka.

Good news for Manchester United.    Both names are in the list of players to be sold. Many other players are expected to be sold also like Maguire, Sancho and so on. I have heard PSG is interested in Sancho. 

[Igebotz]

I had to check the latest news about this. Yes Chelsea have agreed terms with Atletico Madrid but reports say that Gallagher will be back from holiday next week therefore we do not know whether he will go to Spain (even though rumours suggest he would prefer it) because Tottenham could be making an offer too and he might opt to stay in the Premier League.

It seems the reason why Gallagher wants to leave is because he wants to be a regular starter and not just a squad player. If fairness to him, he is highly talented in his position therefore he has a case but it will always be up to the manager to make the selections. If it were about the money he would simply sign the new contract with bumper salary increase but he wants to play regularly at the highest level.

I'm not sure playing in the Premier League is the issue after turning down a record fee move to Aston Villa in June after rejecting Chelsea's third contract proposal to become one of the highest paid, and I don't think it's about game time either, as he was a member of the first team last season and led the team (captain) for the majority of the season.

There could be more to the contract that the club isn't telling us about since it no longer makes sense. Gallagher loves Chelsea and would never turn down such a contract, and he is also unwilling to leave the club. Maybe he should break the silence to speak to us.

One other report suggest Napoli want to sell Osimhen because the recent contract he signed includes a massive salary they no longer can afford if they want to bring in other players. It seems Napoli will accept taking Lukaku if he takes a pay cut and sell Osimhen to Chelsea to get him off their payroll. It seems to suit both players and both clubs if a deal can be agreed.

Lukaku is our highest paid player too and we're looking to free up some space in our book so both players would need to accept wage cut to make everything go smooth both ways.

[JollyGood]

Good news for Manchester United.    Both names are in the list of players to be sold. Many other players are expected to be sold also like Maguire, Sancho and so on. I have heard PSG is interested in Sancho.  

I did not read anything of substance about Maguire or any other player but it is true PSG have been in negotiations with Sancho.

The sad part is he is a very talented player, he can step up and play to a high level when he is focused but unfortunately for him he never lived up to expectation at Manchester United. Now that Radcliffe has given Ten Hag support by extending his contract by another year it probably means Sancho will not return because his relationship with Ten Hag cannot be repaired.

They probably do not want to send him out on loan again as they do not want him back and that means they would have to take a huge loss on the £73 million they paid to buy him.

Lukaku is our highest paid player too and we're looking to free up some space in our book so both players would need to accept wage cut to make everything go smooth both ways.

Lukaku is earning around £250,000 per week at Chelsea, that was a huge gamble the owners took when Tuchel (the then manager) clearly did not want him because he probably did not rate him.

If Osimhen does come to the Premier League it will be fantastic for Premier League fans but it could give Chelsea a huge boost as aiming for a minimum top four spot and champions league football will be a real possibility. He is just 25 years old, having had some of the best form of his career at Napoli as they won Serie A for the first time in 33 years.

The last time they won it was when the great Diego Maradona was playing for them.

[nelson4lov]

I've seen two of Liverpool's last two preseason games and I'm currently enjoying Arne Slot game style and the overall team performance. So far so good, it's different style and I've seen some really promising display so far. That win against Arsenal gladden my heart even though it was a really huge win margin, that win is enough to silence some arsenal fans  .  I also noticed that Chelsea won their first preseason game against Club America which is good because their next games will be against City and Real Madrid — two of the top teams in the world right now.

[Igebotz]

They probably do not want to send him out on loan again as they do not want him back and that means they would have to take a huge loss on the £73 million they paid to buy him.

Going on another loan would further devalue his present market price for someone earning 370k per week doing nothing and adding no value to the club; he's valued at £40m, a significant loss on investment, yet PSG and Dortmund are unwilling to pay because his wages are unreasonably expensive.

Manutd wants Urgate but not unwilling to pay the asking price of 70m, maybe a swap + cash could be an easy solution for both parties.

I also noticed that Chelsea won their first preseason game against Club America which is good because their next games will be against City and Real Madrid — two of the top teams in the world right now.

That performance gave me a little bit of hope, everything was perfect and everyone is looking sharp can't wait to watch them go against those big guns.

[nelson4lov]

I also noticed that Chelsea won their first preseason game against Club America which is good because their next games will be against City and Real Madrid — two of the top teams in the world right now.

That performance gave me a little bit of hope, everything was perfect and everyone is looking sharp can't wait to watch them go against those big guns.

Definitely. I'm sure Enzo and some of you Enzo fans will breathe a sigh of relief after that win regardless of those back to back losses. Like you, I'll be keeping an eye out and ensure I get to see those games against both City and Madrid. That would be a different ball game and a better test for Enzo ahead of the premier league resumption. Btw, If you're going to get beaten, try to collect as little goals as possible while at it.

[Igebotz]

I also noticed that Chelsea won their first preseason game against Club America which is good because their next games will be against City and Real Madrid — two of the top teams in the world right now.

That performance gave me a little bit of hope, everything was perfect and everyone is looking sharp can't wait to watch them go against those big guns.

Definitely. I'm sure Enzo and some of you Enzo fans will breathe a sigh of relief after that win regardless of those back to back losses. Like you, I'll be keeping an eye out and ensure I get to see those games against both City and Madrid. That would be a different ball game and a better test for Enzo ahead of the premier league resumption. Btw, If you're going to get beaten, try to collect as little goals as possible while at it.

Those were some good beaten we needed for the players to adapt faster to Enzoball and they're gradually blending to it, Gusto is inverting into the midfield way better than James at the moment so we may likely see James play at the RCB this season. The process is going well.

The Celtic games wasn't important, their league resumes this week and we didn't want to take any risk with their players - Enzo

[JollyGood]

There is plenty of time between now and the transfer window closing, whether it will end up PSG of any other club I think a deal can be done. In order for Manchester United to minimise their loss on any Sancho deal, they might be better trying to do something similar to what Chelsea and Napoli are attempting with Lukaku and Osimhen.

He was at Borussia Dortmund last season on loan, got to the Champions League final and still Borussia Dortmund did not want to make the deal permanent. They bring out the best in Sancho yet he is being returned to Manchester United. It is best he is sold to PSG or another club because Sancho will probably never play for Manchester United while Ten Hag is manager.

Going on another loan would further devalue his present market price for someone earning 370k per week doing nothing and adding no value to the club; he's valued at £40m, a significant loss on investment, yet PSG and Dortmund are unwilling to pay because his wages are unreasonably expensive.

Manutd wants Urgate but not unwilling to pay the asking price of 70m, maybe a swap + cash could be an easy solution for both parties.

[Igebotz]

He was at Borussia Dortmund last season on loan, got to the Champions League final and still Borussia Dortmund did not want to make the deal permanent. They bring out the best in Sancho yet he is being returned to Manchester United. It is best he is sold to PSG or another club because Sancho will probably never play for Manchester United while Ten Hag is manager.

A typical Dortmund and Inter Milan business practice. They sell their players at a higher rate and wouldn't want to spend more than $20m to repurchase them; instead, they prefer to take them on loan, use them, and then dump them. Inter Milan had the opportunity to re-sign Lukaku from Chelsea for as little as 30m, but they rejected.

Dortmund used the same tactics on Chelsea last season, got Ian Maatsen on a loan with option to buy at £35m, had one of the best seasons of his career, made an error that led to the second goal in the CL final, and Dortmund ditched the contract and were not willing to pay more than £25m - very toxic clubs.


Atletico Madrid gave Gallagher this weekend as deadline- Chelsea banished him from first team training.

[mv1986]

He was at Borussia Dortmund last season on loan, got to the Champions League final and still Borussia Dortmund did not want to make the deal permanent. They bring out the best in Sancho yet he is being returned to Manchester United. It is best he is sold to PSG or another club because Sancho will probably never play for Manchester United while Ten Hag is manager.

A typical Dortmund and Inter Milan business practice. They sell their players at a higher rate and wouldn't want to spend more than $20m to repurchase them; instead, they prefer to take them on loan, use them, and then dump them. Inter Milan had the opportunity to re-sign Lukaku from Chelsea for as little as 30m, but they rejected.

Dortmund used the same tactics on Chelsea last season, got Ian Maatsen on a loan with option to buy at £35m, had one of the best seasons of his career, made an error that led to the second goal in the CL final, and Dortmund ditched the contract and were not willing to pay more than £25m - very toxic clubs.


Atletico Madrid gave Gallagher this weekend as deadline- Chelsea banished him from first team training.

Don't know if I would go so far and call Dortmund a toxic club. There problem has been for a very long time that they are a publicly listed company and they have to pay more attention to cost effectiveness than other clubs. It was quite interesting when the former boss Hans-Joachim Watzke talked publicly about the rules they have to follow and how tough it was to justify to keep Lewandowksi until the contract expired instead of selling him for a lot of money. Dortmund just isn't the calibre that Bayern Munich is financially. Apart from that they have had some amazing deals in the past. But I agree that sometimes it is annoying to see when literally have to let players go.

By the way, I am not sure I agree that Sancho was so great last season. 3 goals and 3 assists in 24 games played in 23/24. The guy is 24 now. He should be close to his peak now.

[Igebotz]

Don't know if I would go so far and call Dortmund a toxic club. There problem has been for a very long time that they are a publicly listed company and they have to pay more attention to cost effectiveness than other clubs. It was quite interesting when the former boss Hans-Joachim Watzke talked publicly about the rules they have to follow and how tough it was to justify to keep Lewandowksi until the contract expired instead of selling him for a lot of money. Dortmund just isn't the calibre that Bayern Munich is financially. Apart from that they have had some amazing deals in the past. But I agree that sometimes it is annoying to see when literally have to let players go.

By the way, I am not sure I agree that Sancho was so great last season. 3 goals and 3 assists in 24 games played in 23/24. The guy is 24 now. He should be close to his peak now.

Toxic - transfer dealing context, not what the club represents though.

I mean, they were literally a safe haven for Sancho when Manchester United became inconvenient for him, but not willing to spend €40-45m on someone you sold for €85m 2 years ago is insane. I mean, he's only 24 and could reach his peak and be sold for more than 40m in 2-3 years; he wasn't at his best last season, but he was improving after a terrible spell at Manchester United.

[mv1986]

~

Toxic - transfer dealing context, not what the club represents though.

I mean, they were literally a safe haven for Sancho when Manchester United became inconvenient for him, but not willing to spend €40-45m on someone you sold for €85m 2 years ago is insane. I mean, he's only 24 and could reach his peak and be sold for more than 40m in 2-3 years; he wasn't at his best last season, but he was improving after a terrible spell at Manchester United.

Yes I understand you were referring to the transfer dealing context, but everybody knows that Sancho can be a problem kid despite his advanced age. He has had some impressive years in the Bundesliga, then two horrible seasons in the Premier League (or 2.5 seasons). Then came back to the Bundesliga for half a season and was ok, but nothing special. He had a few very good games and a few games where he was nowhere to be seen on the pitch.

Look at Timo Werner, he left the Bundesliga as the German top scorer with amazing stats, played devastatingly bad in the Premier League, came back to the Bundesliga and never found back to his former great shape when he left the Bundesliga.

I understand your opinion but if you ask me, it would have been a high risk transfer for Dortmund. I bet he would have asked for a salary clearly in excess of 10 million Euro. It is not only the transfer fee, but the salary that the guy thinks he deserves for whatever reason.

Instead, Dortmund has proven they can buy players for 20 million and sell them for 80 million (and more) quite often. To me it is more like they could have done it, but it is not a snap call like you say I think. There is a reason he isn't getting along in the Premier League.

[JollyGood]

Look at Timo Werner, he left the Bundesliga as the German top scorer with amazing stats, played devastatingly bad in the Premier League, came back to the Bundesliga and never found back to his former great shape when he left the Bundesliga.

Chelsea paid £47.5 million to RB Leipzig to activate the release clause for Timo Werner. It was a lot of money for any player but he did score 78 goals for RB Leipzig in 127 games across four seasons therefore maybe justified the price tag. Sadly for him he scored just 10 goals in 56 games across two seasons for Chelsea. As you stated, he is not adjusting back in the Bundesliga. He scored 11 goals in 35 games on his return to RB Leipzig and after that scored 2 goals in 13 games on loan at Tottenham.

I understand your opinion but if you ask me, it would have been a high risk transfer for Dortmund. I bet he would have asked for a salary clearly in excess of 10 million Euro. It is not only the transfer fee, but the salary that the guy thinks he deserves for whatever reason.

Instead, Dortmund has proven they can buy players for 20 million and sell them for 80 million (and more) quite often. To me it is more like they could have done it, but it is not a snap call like you say I think. There is a reason he isn't getting along in the Premier League.

If Borussia Dortmund did not want to buy him back they have to have good reason. Maybe it was not only about his salary demands but about his impact and influence on his teammates.

Overall, Sancho needs to be in a team where the manager can find the perfect balance between giving him enough space to play freely but also let him know he cannot step out of line. Ten Hag clearly is not the right manager for Sancho therefore he needs to find a club as soon as possible as it would be best for the player and the club.

[Distraction]

I did not read anything of substance about Maguire or any other player but it is true PSG have been in negotiations with Sancho.

I have read this before about the players to be sold by Manchester United.



Source: Eurosport

It includes the names like Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood (already sold).

In case of signing a probably much younger defensive midfielder, Casemiro is likely to be sent. Lindelof and Maguire both are not very useful. Eriksen wasn't good enough last season. Antony is far from his performance at Ajax. I have already mentioned Sancho. They can easily find better replacements in case of selling any of them. 

[JollyGood]

I understand your point, they have to take a lot of players off their books and they have to re-invest otherwise they will not be challenging for the Premier League title as serious contenders. They definitely can find better replacements.

As far as I know from reports they took most of the players you mentioned on their US tour (excluding Sancho and Greenwood) therefore the window to sell any of them is getting smaller. They probably do not want to head in to the new season without making more signings.

It includes the names like Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood (already sold).

In case of signing a probably much younger defensive midfielder, Casemiro is likely to be sent. Lindelof and Maguire both are not very useful. Eriksen wasn't good enough last season. Antony is far from his performance at Ajax. I have already mentioned Sancho. They can easily find better replacements in case of selling any of them. 

[tokeweed]

^  I don't think Man United could 'easily' find replacements for that many players and at this time of the transfer window when transfer fees get higher.  Not without UCL football they won't.  The most promising players always want to have UCL football on the table or an assurance that they could play in the UCL next year.  :-/  But they prolly could change most of those players but maybe with players that they mostly don't really like or thought they liked but then later not really.

But dunno...  replacing 7 players in one transfer window is hard for any manager.

[JollyGood]

I assumed 'easily' to determine something I now understand had different meanings. For me, I would have thought Manchester United had the funds to buy the players they wanted to fit them in to the slots occupied by the players mentioned in the earlier post. I did not factor the issue they had to sell them because in some cases they need a backup player or one to challenge for their place in the match day squad.

You are right of course, replacing seven players is not an easy task in one transfer window especially when most of them went with the team abroad on their pre-season tour.

^  I don't think Man United could 'easily' find replacements for that many players and at this time of the transfer window when transfer fees get higher.  Not without UCL football they won't.  The most promising players always want to have UCL football on the table or an assurance that they could play in the UCL next year.  :-/  But they prolly could change most of those players but maybe with players that they mostly don't really like or thought they liked but then later not really.

But dunno...  replacing 7 players in one transfer window is hard for any manager.

[Franctoshi]

I did not read anything of substance about Maguire or any other player but it is true PSG have been in negotiations with Sancho.

I have read this before about the players to be sold by Manchester United.



Source: Eurosport

It includes the names like Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood (already sold).

In case of signing a probably much younger defensive midfielder, Casemiro is likely to be sent. Lindelof and Maguire both are not very useful. Eriksen wasn't good enough last season. Antony is far from his performance at Ajax. I have already mentioned Sancho. They can easily find better replacements in case of selling any of them.  

Offloading these number of at once wouldn't help matters at all, but rather leaving some of the experience guys like Casemero ,maybe Sancho regardless them not being in their best form now while bringing in few more energetic players would boot their performance, whereas I'm in support of selling three players out these five player being mentioned and adding three new ones, because this was part of reason's why Chelsea's team almost collapsed last season, selling Jorgino, covacic, pulisich, and alongside few other players put them in that mess which they're currently in today, Man Utd should learn from that and replace key players gradually.