Month: January 2020

The pair went head-to-head in Wolves’ 1-1 draw with the Magpies on Saturday.

Despite Willems limiting the impact of Traore, who has five goals and four assists to his name this season, he dubbed the winger ‘unbelievable’.

And Willems lavished more praise on the Barcelona academy graduate by rating him higher than Juventus forward and Real Madrid legend Ronaldo, who he faced at Euro 2012 while playing for the Netherlands.

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• Manchester United vs Wolves (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
• Fulham vs Middlesbrough (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Watford vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Arsenal vs Burnley (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Newcastle vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT

The 25-year-old, who is on loan at Newcastle from Eintracht Frankfurt, said: “I have played against some very good players in my career but no one quite as fast as Traore.

“He is unbelievable, definitely a beast. Not only is he incredibly fast, he is so, so strong as well.

“He’s known as the fastest man in football and now I know that is true.

“I like to think I am quite fast, too, at least I did before playing against him – that was something else.

“I have played against Ronaldo who is fast but not that fast. Of course, he is so skilful but sometimes that is easier than being up against someone with incredible pace.

The 26-year-old underwent surgery on a hamstring injury on Saturday after rupturing a tendon in Spurs’ New Year’s Day defeat at Southampton.

He is expected to return to first-team training in April, but Mourinho’s recent comments have put a three-month comeback in doubt.

When asked for an update on Kane’s return on Monday, Mourinho suggested there could be some doubt surrounding his availability for Euro 2020.

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Check out all the LIVE commentaries coming up on talkSPORT, below…

• Manchester United vs Wolves (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
• Fulham vs Middlesbrough (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Watford vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Arsenal vs Burnley (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Newcastle vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT

The Tottenham manager said: “News on Harry we don’t have and if you ask me every time we come here the answer will be the same.

“We expect him to be out until, I don’t know, mid-April, end of April, May, next season I don’t know.

“I have no updates to give on Harry.”

The 55-year-old was given his marching orders after a run of just one win from five matches.

His successor, Setien, has been out of work since leaving Real Betis last June.

Setien has signed a contract until June 2022 as Barcelona part ways with Valverde after a two-and-a-half-year spell.

Despite winning back-to-back LaLiga titles, Barcelona suffered two successive humiliating Champions League exits to Roma and Liverpool during Valverde’s time in charge.

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The Whites, under Marcelo Bielsa, came so close to winning promotion last season before falling in the Championship play-offs, and they remain one of the favourites to go up this term after an excellent first half of the season.

They currently sit second in the table with 27 games played, behind league leaders West Brom, due to losing their most recent match, at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

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Whether this was a one-off defeat or the start of Leeds’ annual second half of the season collapse remains to be seen, though fans are fearing the worst given the club’s recent history.

This is Leeds’ 16th season since their relegation from the Premier League and many followers of English football want to see the Elland Road outfit back in the top-flight.

One man who shares this view is Howard Wilkinson, who spent eight years as Leeds manager and guided them to the final ever First Division title before the creation of the Premier League in 1992.

“I sincerely hope [Leeds are promoted],” Wilkinson told talkSPORT’s Jim White. “I didn’t know until I actually moved from Leeds how big – in a different sense of the word to size – the city is.

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Sheffield Wednesday scored two late goals at Elland Road to take a 2-0 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Jacob Murphy netted in the 87th minute before Atdhe Nuhie added a second to seal the points.

Monk was Leeds boss for the 2016-17 season but quit after Andrea Radrizzani completed his takeover of the club.

Wednesday moved up into the Championship play-off places while Leeds’ stutter sees them just six points clear of Brentford in third place.

After the game, Monk said: “I want to win every single game I play in. I’ve done that as a player and I will do that as a manager, it doesn’t matter who I’m playing against.

“I’ve said it all along, whatever club you represent you have to give everything you’ve got and have to show your heart with it. I think that represented it in our heart today.

“Full allocation, a really difficult atmosphere to deal with and a difficult team to play against and we knew that before.

“They key is always to send such a great fanbase, in terms of travelling support, home happy.

“Even if we had lost that game today they would have seen the players that had given everything. I’ve said as much as you would have been disappointed you can live with it and that’s the key to any football team.

“Obviously we are pleased with that result. League leaders away from home. It was a difficult game for us and we knew that coming into it and it proved to be all the way through. They make it very difficult for you. Structurally you have to be very good and organised.

“Most of all, you have to match their intensity and that’s a difficult thing to do at a place like this I know very well.

Danny Mills predicts 'tough times' for Leeds if they fail to win promotion this season

“Especially in the second half, we tried to step ourselves up a little bit and we did that. You have to deal with the pressure but then when you get your chances you have to take them.

“I thought they were two really well taken goals and a clean sheet in a very difficult game for us. We have to be very pleased with that result.”

The way in which Wednesday bounced back from three consecutive defeats over the Christmas period was particularly pleasing for Monk.

They had been beaten by Stoke, Cardiff and Hull in the space of seven days before shocking Brighton in the FA Cup last weekend.

“You want to see your players play with heart after the week we had.

“When you play with real heart, you have the courage on the pitch. You feel it and that’s exactly what we needed.

talkSPORT.com understands the Dons have identified securing the long-term future of the central midfielder as a matter of priority.

The 18-year-old’s current deal expires at the end of the season, although there is an option to extend that.

However, the League One side want to reward Rudoni for his encouraging start to life in the first team with a new and improved contract.

Rudoni only made his full debut for the Dons at Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day, but club chiefs are convinced he is destined to reach the top and want to tie him down to a longer deal.

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His £25million signing from Newcastle in 2016 was met with a little scepticism because of some inconsistent performances in a team that was relegated.

However, the 29-year-old has been pivotal to Liverpool’s recent success but without the plaudits and personal accolades others in the team have received.

Wijnaldum has been a key link between the imperious defence and much vaunted attacking three.

His role at Liverpool has been that of a provider more than a scorer himself, with 16 in 166 games, but can be relied upon to get important goals when the time calls.

He scored the second and third goals in their memorable Champions League semi-final comeback against Barcelona last season.

The Northern Ireland forward, 32, signed a deal until the end of the season with the League One promotion hopefuls on Friday.

And he was officially unveiled on Monday, giving his first interview to the club website.

Sunderland originally tweeted: “He’s seven foot and he plays the flute.”

The lyrics came from a song that was chanted during Lafferty’s time at Rangers and references loyalist flute bands in Northern Ireland.

Sunderland hastily deleted the post, and a club spokesman insisted no offence was intended, saying: “It was written in all innocence by someone unaware of how it could be interpreted.”

Lafferty, who had two spells at Rangers, will be available for selection for Sunderland’s trip to MK Dons on Saturday.

The Black Cats are on a six-game unbeaten run and occupy the final play-off spot.

Lafferty told Sunderland’s official club website: “I am excited to sign for Sunderland because it is probably the biggest club I have played for in England.

LIVE on talkSPORT

Check out all the LIVE commentaries coming up on talkSPORT, below…

• Manchester United vs Wolves (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
• Fulham vs Middlesbrough (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Watford vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Arsenal vs Burnley (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Newcastle vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT

The Italian league has provided star names like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Gianfranco Zola, Marcel Desailly and Patrick Viera.

But in more recent times we have seen players like Mario Balotelli, Juan Cudrado and Stefan Jovetic fail to leave a lasting impact.

January could see more Serie A players move to the Premier League with several players already linked.

Here at talkSPORT.com, we have taken a look at five players who could make the move during the transfer window.

The Man City marksman scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa on Sunday to take his tally to 177 league goals.

He moved ahead of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry as the Premier League’s leading overseas scorer and is now joint fourth record goalscorer in history, along with Frank Lampard.

Aguero has been exceptional since joining City in 2011 and has gone on to win four league titles.

He has had numerous memorable moments, including the final day comeback against QPR in 2012 when he scored a last minute winner to snatch the trophy from Manchester United’s grasp.

The 31-year-old is often not mentioned in the same breath as icons like Henry and Alan Shearer, something former Liverpool midfielder Murphy puts down to the club he represents.

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“I think we have taken him for granted,” Murphy told talkSPORT. “This isn’t a slant on Manchester City supporters, it’s more about the brand Man City and the club and the history, but is it because he plays for Man City?

“Would we be talking about him more and putting him on a higher pedestal if he played for Liverpool or Man United?”

talkSPORT host Jim White said: “Why is that? Because he is in with Kevin De Bruyne and other top, top players?”

Murphy added: “I think he’s been part of the Man City evolution where a lot of people have linked that to money.

“You are going to be a striker who scores goals if you are in a team who has all the best players, that flippant view.

“It doesn’t matter what team you are in or how good the players are, scoring goals is an art form.

“I think we have taken him for granted. Can we put him in the same breath as the likes of Henry or Shearer?

“Henry and Shearer, probably two of the best examples, the two greatest strikers we’ve seen in the Premier League, I think, they had the ability to lift the team on their own. They were the talisman for their teams. They grabbed games by the scruff of the neck when no one else in the team was.

LIVE on talkSPORT

Check out all the LIVE commentaries coming up on talkSPORT, below…

• Manchester United vs Wolves (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
• Fulham vs Middlesbrough (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Watford vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Arsenal vs Burnley (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Newcastle vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT