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MANCHESTER UNITED WILL NEVER WIN THE LEAGUE WITH MAGUIRE, LINDELOF CENTREBACK PARINGS.

Manchester United will not be able to win the Premier League with a centre back partnership of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, former England international Gary Neville has said.

United’s season got underway with a shock 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Sweden international Lindelof culpable for all three goals.

United have been linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho but Neville believes manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should prioritise the signing of a versatile centre back.

“We can talk about Sancho all we like but until United get a centre back who can run and defend one-on-ones they are never going to win the league,” Neville, who won eight league titles at Old Trafford, told Sky Sports.

They are never going to win the Premier League with that centre back pairing. They have to get a mobile, dominant centre half in alongside either Lindelof or Maguire.”

“Over the years, the best centre back partnerships have always had that really quick one who has lightning pace to get across and snuff out the danger. Lindelof and Maguire just don’t have that.”

United face Luton Town in the League Cup on Tuesday before returning to Premier League action with a trip to Brighton on Saturday.

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CHELSEA FINALLY AGREE DEAL FOR RENNES SHOT STOPPER, EDOUARD MENDY.

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea have reportedly finally agreed a deal for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who looks set to be officially announced as the Blues’ latest signing soon, according to BBC Sport.

Chelsea look set to continue to splash the cash after a stunning £200m summer transfer raid. The Blues have already signed Kai Havertz (£72m), Timo Werner (£47.7m), Ben Chilwell (£45.18m), Hakim Ziyech (£36m) Malang Sarr (free) and Thiago Silva (free) with the Mendy set to become the squad’s latest addition.

Mendy, 28, joined Rennes in the summer of 2019 from domestic rivals Reims in a transfer costing just £3.6m as per TransferMarkt. and has since gone onto make 34 appearances in all competitions and rack up 13 clean sheets.

Chelsea’s apparent eagerness to land a new keeper after record signing Kepa Arrizabalaga arrived at Stamford Bridge in a stunning £72m move just two-years ago (TransferMarkt).

Kepa has suffered an abysmal time in London after it was well documented that he had one of the worst save percentage stats across all of England’s top-flight at just 53.5% and conceded a goal every 63-minutes.

The BBC’s report does not state a finalised fee but with an official announcement expected soon, the transfer’s full details should be revealed soon.

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LUIS SUAREZ AGREES TERMS WITH ATLETICO MADRID FOR A MOVE TO DIEGO SIMEONE’S SIDE

Barcelona’s Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez has reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid and may arrive at the Wanda Metropolitano on a two-year deal, according to local reports from the Madrid club.

Barca’s new manager Ronald Koeman has already told the 33-year-old that he is not part of his plans. Since arriving at Camp Nou in 2014, Suarez has scored 198 goals in 283 games and won four La Liga titles, four Copa del Rey championships and one UEFA Champions League title. Since Neymar departed for Paris Saint-Germain, Suarez has been the most effective partner for Lionel Messi.

That partly explained why Messi told Barca he wanted to leave after the club made it clear that they no longer wanted Suarez.

Of course, before the transfer can be completed, Suarez and Barca must settle their compensation problem. There’s still one year left on Suarez’s contract with Barca. The 33-year-old wanted his last-year salary but the club did not want to pay him that much. According to the latest report by Catalan radio station RAC1, Barcelona have agreed to end Suarez’s contract by paying him part of the agreed salary.

That news should motivate Atletico Madrid to speed up in selling Diego Costa. Rumors suggest Fenerbahçe are interested in landing him, but so far there has been no concrete offer.

Meanwhile, Juventus who almost signed Suarez but called the deal off in the end because of a passport problem, are interested in bringing back Alvaro Morata on loan from Atletico Madrid, according to reports.

Morata played for Juventus in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, winning two Serie A titles and reaching the Champions League final with the club.

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Gundogan test positive for covid-19

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has tested positive for coronavirus.

The 29-year-old is observing a 10-day self-isolation period, the Premier League club confirmed.

As a result, the Germany international will miss City’s opening league game of the season against Wolves on Monday

“Everyone at the club wishes Ilkay a speedy recovery,” Manchester City said in a statement.

City winger Riyad Mahrez and defender Aymeric Laporte previously tested positive for Covid-19 but are now back in training.

Pep Guardiola’s side are also due to play Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup on Thursday and Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

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PSG regain form as Mbappe scores on Return

Kylian Mbappe scored on his comeback to the team as Paris St-Germain beat Nice in Ligue 1.

Mbappe had missed their opening three games – two defeats and one win – after testing positive for coronavirus.

The France forward opened the scoring on his first appearance of the season from the penalty spot after he was fouled by Kephren Thuram.

Angel di Maria doubled the lead from a rebound after Mbappe had a shot saved and Marquinhos headed in their third.

Mbappe thought he had a second goal with 15 minutes to go but it was disallowed for offside.

PSG were without Neymar, Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes, who were all suspended after their red cards in the melee against Marseille.

Patrick Vieira’s Nice are on six points from four games, the same total as champions PSG.

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Pirlo gets first win as manager

Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Juventus marked Andrea Pirlo’s first match as head coach with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sampdoria in Serie A.

Sweden winger Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring on his debut, with a calm finish into the bottom left corner.

And Leonardo Bonucci prodded in the second for Juve, who are chasing a 10th successive Scudetto.

Ronaldo, who had earlier hit the crossbar, rounded off the scoring late on from Aaron Ramsey’s pass.

Like Sunday’s other Serie A matches, a small number of supporters were at the season opener after the Italian government allowed up to 1,000 fans to attend matches for the first time since March.

Former Milan and Juventus midfielder Pirlo had no senior coaching experience before he was chosen to replace Maurizio Sarri in August, and only received his coaching badge last week.

However, this was a relatively comfortable introduction to his new role, with his side easing to victory against Claudio Ranieri’s team.

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PSG Want Dele Alli

Paris St-Germain are interested in Tottenham forward Dele Alli.

The Champions League finalists are aware of the England international’s potential availability and senior figures at the club are known to be admirers of the 24-year-old.

Spurs sources insist they expect Alli to stay and fight for his place.

However, the player was not in the squad for victories against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League and Southampton in the Premier League.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has recently added to his attacking options with the signing of Gareth Bale from Real Madrid.

The Wales international is expected to be fit to join Mourinho’s squad after the October international break.

By that time, the transfer window will have closed and, although Premier League clubs can do business after the 5 October deadline, they can only trade with English Football League clubs.

It means Alli has a fortnight to sort out his future or risk an extended spell on the sidelines until the January window opens.

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BARCELONA HAVE BIDS REJECTED FOR NORWICH STAR, MAX AARONS

Barcelona have had two bids rejected for Norwich City defender Max Aarons as they look to replace Nelson Semedo, sources have confirmed.

Barca first made contact with Aarons’ agents over a transfer in May and have already agreed on personal terms with the right-back.

However, they have been unable to strike a deal with Norwich, with an initial offer to take Aarons on loan with an option to buy next summer for around €20 million knocked back by the Championship club.

A second offer has also been turned down but sources asay that Barca haven’t completely given up hope of landing the England under-21 international yet after making him their No.1 full-back target.

Sources at the Catalan club have revealed that Semedo could leave in the next week, with talks at an advanced stage with a Premier League side.

Barca hope to sell Semedo for over €30m. They plan to re-invest that money on a younger right-back to compete with Sergi Roberto this season.

Aarons, 20, has emerged as their preferred option but they are also managing a number of alternatives in case they are unable to find a breakthrough in negotiations with Norwich.

Ajax defender Sergino Dest has also been followed by Barca for a while and is another name on the table if Semedo is sold in the coming days.

In the case of both Aarons and Dest, Barca face competition from Bayern Munich. Sources close to the United States international confirmed that youthe Bundesliga champions are in pole position.

That would clear the way for Barca to move for Aarons, although they have also sounded out the chances of doing deals for Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot.

Barca could still push ahead with signing a full-back even if Semedo stays. However, they cannot buy until they offload players, which is why they initially proposed a season-long loan when negotiating for Aarons.

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LA LIGA BANS RONALD KOEMAN FROM SIGNING LIVERPOOL’S GEORGINO WIJNALDUM.

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman is currently banned from making a move for Georginio Wijnaldum because of La Liga rules.

The former Netherlands boss has arrived at the Nou Camp with a very clear idea of what players he wants to bring in.

And he has also not been afraid on kicking players out after telling the likes of Luis Suarez and Riqui Puig to leave.

Koeman has been eyeing some players from the national side he coached not long ago.

The two that are on his wish list are Memphis Depay and Wijnaldum.

The former is being touted to replace Suarez up front to form a fluid attack with Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi.

Whereas Wijnaldum is wanted to bring some balance and control into Barcelona’s midfield, which was badly exposed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

However, Koeman will not be able to sign the Liverpool star or anyone for that matter because of some binding rules from La Liga.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit Spain hard, with football taking a huge punch as a result of the lack of revenue.

Barca were already in a rut, with huge transfers for the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Griezmann setting them back.

Clubs in Spain are under strict guidelines as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

Barcelona are operating on a £510m-a-year wage bill which has been classified unsustainable.

It means they must sell players before they will be allowed to bring anymore in, meaning any move for Wijnaldum is off.

But a program in place means that any transfer fee must be paid in double, with the other half going to the government to help out smaller clubs.

La Liga has outlined to top-tier clubs how much they can spend on transfers, dependant on their finances over the past five years.

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Liverpool maintain their title defence

Liverpool were helped by Christensen’s moment of sheer panic that reduced Chelsea to 10 men right on the break – but they were head and shoulders ahead of a negative home team even before that crucial moment.

The champions dominated from the first whistle and it seemed only a matter of time before they scored, pinning Chelsea back in their own territory and probing for openings at will.

And when the breakthrough came, no-one deserved it more than Mane, now comfortable in world-class and willing to do the dirty work as well as apply the finishing touches.

Mane’s first goal was a superb header but in many ways he summed up what makes him the complete attacker with his second, reacting with fury at giving the ball away before chasing down Kepa.

The Senegal forward’s pace forced the error from a goalkeeper who does not necessarily need forcing into errors and effectively finished the contest with Liverpool’s second.

It was all so easy for Liverpool after that, Thiago easing his way in as a substitute although there will be a concern about yet another injury for captain Henderson, who went off at half-time.